M. N. Vijayan

M. N. Vijayan (also known as Vijayan Mash) (8 June 1930 – Oct.3, 2007) was an Indian writer, orator and academic. He died of cardiac arrest on live television on 3 October 2007

Early life

Vijayan was born in the Lokamaleshwaram district of Thrissur, Kerala. He attended Pathinettarayalam L.P. School, Kodungallur Boys High School, Ernakulam Maharajas College, and Government Law College, Ernakulam. He was awarded a Master of Arts in Malayalam language and Literature from Madras University.

Academic career

He joined Madras New College as a teacher in 1952. He worked as a lecturer at University College, Trivandrum for a brief period before joining Brennen College, Thalassery, in 1960 as Malayalam lecturer. He retired in 1985.

Political and journalism career

From 1960 to 1999 M. N. Vijayan stayed at Dharmadam, Thalassery. Vijayan worked as the editor of the cultural weekly Deshabhimani owned by the Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPI(M)). He was President of Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham (Progressive Association for Art and Letters) and Adhinivesha Prathirodha Samithi (Council for Resisting Imperialist Globalisation), a leftist think-tank based in Kerala which collaborated with the CPI(M). He was removed as editor of Deshabhimani when leaders of the provincial Communist Party felt he did not adhere to the party line. He opposed the policy of some state level leaders and other leftist intellectuals to accept foreign funding of political work.^[1] He was also for a time the editor of the controversial periodical Padom, notably criticising a Kerala state government program called People's Campaign for Decentralised Planning ( People's Plan) and its creator Thomas Isaac. Vijayan and Professor Sudheesh's articles in Padom against the "people's plan", a program aimed at decentralisation of power, became a controversial issue. Later a Kerala court ruled that the allegations of foreign funding of the Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad (KSSP) had been proven by Sudheesh and Vijayan.[3] Vijayan and Sudheesh had started Paatom in 2000, and started to attack on CPI(M)'s social democratic stands and attitude towards World Bank and IMF . He resigned from Purogamana Kala Sahithya Sangham as a result of a disagreement with M. A. Baby, then in charge of the CPI(M).

The cultural programme Manaveeyam of CPI(M)-led LDF government of Kerala was criticised for the extravagance of the programmes and the elitist audience to which the ps catered, and also for the fact that the "people's art and culture" gave way to bourgeois concepts under the influence of neoliberalism. Vijayan also led an ideological debate against social democratic deviations. When the leader of Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad (a pro-CPI(M) Science forum) M. P. Parameswaran went ahead with his "theory of the fourth world" campaign, it was alleged that a theory that had been opposed by the late ideologue of the party, E. M. S. Namboodiripad, was now being resurrected after his death. Vijayan and his followers resisted P. Govinda Pillai's controversial critical remarks against A. K. Gopalan, Namboodiripad and others on ideological grounds. Though, initially, CPI(M) leadership was forced to expel Parameswaran and Depromote Pillai from the state committee because of the high reputation that Vijayan enjoyed among the party supporters, writers and the literate, later the Social Democrats group got control over the CPI(M) organisation. There were similar attacks against other left-leaning intellectuals like Dr. B. Ekbal (leading to Ekbal's expulsion from CPI(M)) who were trying to re-examine the direction of left-wing politics in Kerala.

Vijayan did not attend many public meetings during his last years as a result of his ill health, but continued to write weekly columns in Samakalina Malayalam, an Indian Expressgroup of publications, Janashakthi and Maruvakku. The column was originally published weekly in Deshabhimani until he parted ways with the paper. He was also the editor of the monthly Maruvaakku.

Writings

Most of Vijayan's publications are compilations of his speeches. He is considered to be a powerful orator. He used psychology, Marxism and social science as tools to analyse life and literature. Some prominent writers, including M. Krishnan Nair, Thinakkal Padmanabhan has said that Vijayan's writings are difficult to understand, as he does not follow conventional grammatical structures.V. C. Sreejan, criticises that Vijayan's style is densely figurative, hence vague and often meaningless. He was a pioneer of the use of psychological criticism in Malayalam Literature, and influenced contemporary Kerala culture.

Vijayan's works were nominated on several occasions for literary awards, but in keeping with a general aversion to institutionalism, he rejected any state-sponsored awards that he won.^[14]

List of published works

• Bhayavum Abhayavum ഭയവും അഭയവും (The Fear And Refuge)
• Pradhirodhangal പ്രതിരോധങ്ങൾ (Resistances)
• Chithayile Velicham ചിന്തയിലെ വെളിച്ചം (Light in the Pyre)
• M.N. Vijayante Prabhashanangal എം.എൻ. വിജയന്റെ പ്രഭാഷണങ്ങൾ (M.N. Vijayan's Speeches)
• Varnangalude Sangeetham വർണ്ണങ്ങളുടെ സംഗീതം (The Music of Colours)
• Kavithayum Manashastravum കവിതയും മനശാസ്ത്രവും (Poetry And Psychology)
• Sheersasanam ശീർഷാസനം (Standing Upside Down)
• Kazhchappadu കാഴ്ചപ്പാട് (Perspective)
• Vaakkum Manassum (The Speech and The Thought)
• Puthiya Varthamanangal (Latest News)
• Noothana Lokangal നൂതന ലോകങ്ങൾ (New Worlds)
• Fascisathinte Manashasthram ഫാസിസത്തിന്റെ മനശാസ്ത്രം (The Psychology of the Fascism)
• Marubhumikal Pookkumbol മരുഭൂമികൾ പൂക്കുമ്പോൾ (When The Deserts Blossom)
• Samskaravum Swathanthriavum സംസ്കാരവും സ്വാതന്ത്ര്യവും (The Culture and the Freedom)
• Adhikaram- Anuragam- Athmarahasyangal (Power- Passion- Private Matters)
• Fascism- Prathyaya Shasthram-Prayogam- Pradhirodham (Fascism- The Philosophy -Practice- Protest)
• mn vijayante lokangal:couter discources of mn vijayan(ed.shooba

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Intellectual mentor and counselor

Though not a qualified medical practitioner, Vijayan worked for many years as a pro bono counsellor, using Freudian techniques. Many writers, intellectuals, journalists and political activists have described him as an intellectual mentor. The November 2007 issue of Samayam Masika was devoted to articles by a variety of public figures about Vijayan and his influence, both on them personally and upon others, including M. T. Vasudevan Nair (writer, film director, Jnanpith Award winner), N .Prabhakaran (writer, academic),Mohanan Cherukadu (writer), Appukkuttan Vallikkunnu (journalist), P. Surendran (writer), Dr. Abdul Azeez (Doctor), Kunhappa Pattanoor (poet), Umesh Babu K.C. (Poet and political activist), A. V. Pavitran (writer), Anil Kumar A. V. (journalist, political activist), Dr. Vatsalan Vatuseeri (writer), Dr. Prabhakaran Pazhassi (writer, Professor), Choorayi Chandran (Political activist, Educationalist), N. Shasidharan (writer).

His studies on Vailoppilli, a well known Malayalam poet, and especially the poems "Mampazham" and "Sahyante makan", using Freudian techniques attained wide acclaim.^[17] He was a staunch critic of communal organisations and he used a significant part of his oratory and writings to back Communist Party of India (Marxist) in their ideological and material resistance against the invasion of fascist forces with venomous separatist aims in Tellicherry and Kerala. M.N.Vijayan, his wife and his residence at Dharmadam, Thalassey, provided a haven for people who faced psychological problems. With utmost affection Vijayan mash and his wife served them. He is the general editor of Nammute Sahityam Nammute Samooham (Our Society Our Literature), a four volume research book on literature and society of Kerala.

Vijayan became a mentor for many writers, leftist politicians and journalists. He was a critic of NGOs like Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad which polluted the sensibilities of Malayalees. Vijayan died while he was addressing a press conference in Thrissur, explaining how non- governmentally funded organisations like Kerala Sasthra Sahithya Parishad function in Kerala, camouflaging their imperialist agenda by wearing a leftist mask. Parishath and its activities lost credibility when Ernakulam Chief Judicial Magistrate dismissed the defamation case filed against Paatom, a magazine which exposed the fishy trails of such organisations. "You are selling your credibility... It is hijacking democracy ...", Vijayan said about Parishath and its supporters in the last press conference. Thrissur Current Books and Akam Samithi Thalassey published the early works of M.N.Vijayan. Thrissur Current Books published the Complete Works of M.N. Vijayan in ten volumes under different titles, like literature, politics, culture, interviews, speeches, biography, memoirs, etc. The first M.N.Vijayan library was inaugurated at Kannur. Govt. Brennen College Malayalam department has constituted the M.N.Vijayan endowment in 2010 for outstanding students of Malayalam literature.

Family

The son of Pathiyasheril Narayana Menon and Moolayil Kochammu Amma, Vijayan was married to Sharada, and has a son, V.S. Anil Kumar (also a writer and lecturer)worked as the students dean in Kannur university, and two daughters, Dr. Sujatha Balachandran and Sunitha Rajagopal.

Death

Vijayan died of cardiac arrest on 3 October 2007. He was speaking at a televised press conference at Thrissur to explain the defamation case filed by KSSP President Pappootty over an article that appeared in the Paadham magazine. Caught on film, his last words were "It's not the individual, but the nation is important. This language should be used if it has to be heard, it was Bernard Shaw who said this." During the speech, Vijayan had been suffering from headaches and drowsiness. The cameras continued filming, effectively broadcasting his death on national television as he rapidly lost consciousness and slumped backwards in his chair. Kerala Kaumudi left the space of its main headline blank showing respect to Vijayan and commented "The death which doesn't have any title." His body was cremated with State honours in Kodungallur, Kerala.

References:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._N._Vijayan

Kovilan

Kandanisseri Vattomparambil Velappan Ayyappan (9 July 1923 – 2 June 2010) or V. V. Ayyappan, better known by his nom de plume Kovilan, was a Malayalam language novelist and freedom fighter from Kerala state, South India. He is considered as one of the most prolific writers of contemporary Indian literature.^[1] In all, he had authored 11 novels, 10 collections of short stories, three essays and a play. Though the settings of his stories varied from military camps in frozen Himalayas to obscure village in Thrissur, he brought to bear a universal dimension on them transcending the limitations of space and time. Though initially he was branded as a writer of military stories, Kovilan soon proved that he looked at life with its varied dimensions. His works like Thottangal, A Minus Band Ezhamedangal reflected the existential dilemmas of human beings instead of depicting mere external situations and realities in a linear mode. But Kovilan received the highest critical appreciation for his later work Thattakam, a powerful and poignant portrayal of generations of people in his ancestral hamlet.

He won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1972 and 1977 and the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award in 1998. He was also a recipient of the Kerala state government's highest literary honour Ezhuthachan Puraskaram in recognition of his outstanding contribution to Malayalam literature.^[2] He had been a Fellow of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi since 1997 and Sahitya Akademi since 2005

Early years

Kovilan was born in Kandanassery in Guruvayur, Thrissur to Vattomparambil Shanku Velappan and Kotakkattil Kunjandi Kali. He did his early education at the Kandanisseri Excelsior School and Nenmini Higher Elementary School. He then joined the Sahitya Deepika Sanskrit College at Pavaratty at the age of 13. He had the good fortune to attend classes by the scholars like K. P. Narayana Pisharody, P. C. Vasudevan Elayathu, M. P. Sankunni Nair, Cherukadu and Srikrishna Sharma. Even as a student, he had shown interest in writing poems and stories. As a budding writer, poetry was Kovilan's primary passion. But life and time of his adolescence – the oppressive colonial and feudal rule, the casteist social milieu, widespread rural poverty that climaxed in stark famine during the war years, the agony of fracturing familial and social bonds and the inner urge to rebel maturing into politically conscious militancy – compelled him to switch over to fiction as a wider arena of self-expression.

A staunch follower of Mahatma Gandhi, Kovilan left the Sanskrit College to participate in the Quit India Movement. That marked the end of his formal academic education. By the time he quit, he had written at least three novels.

Military life

He joined the Royal Indian Navy in 1943 and was trained in Anti-submarine Detecting Operations. He served in Bengal sea, Burma and Singapore. He quit following the Royal Indian Navy mutiny of 1946 and returned home. While back in Kerala, Kovilan maintained a close friendship with Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, Joseph Mundassery and C. J. Thomas. He also took part in the trade union movements. In 1948 he passed SSLC and worked for a while as a stenographer for Joseph Mundassery. In 1948, he joined theIndian Army Corps of Signals as Radio Mechanic.^[4] He also specialised in electronics. For five years he lived in the Himalayas. While in army, he came in contact with soldier-turned-writers Parappurath and Nandanar. He also worked as National Cadet Corps training officer at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. He retired from the Indian Armyin 1968 as Havildar Major and settled down at Pullanikunnu at Kandanassery.

Death

Kovilan died on 2 June 2010 in Kunnamkulam, aged 86.^[5] He was suffering from some respiratory problems. His wife Sarada predeceased him in 1999. They had three children: Vijaya, Ajithan and Amitha. His grand daughters are Dr. Arya Ajith Vattamparambil who works at Amrita Medical College, Ernakulam and Pournima Jayaprakash who is practising law in Attingal.

Writings

Kovilan, who led a simple life, is considered as one of the most prolific writers of contemporary Indian literature. His works stand apart by originality in their themes, sharp characterisation and style. In all, he had authored 11 novels, 10 collections of short stories, three essays and a play.

Kovilan has written 4 novels—A Minus B (1958), Ezhamedangal (Army Wives, 1965), Thazhvarakal (The Valleys, 1969) and Himalayam—with military experiences as their background. A Minus B was originally published in a weekly. However, not satisfied with the output, Kovilan dismantled and rewrote the novel. A Minus B brought Malayalam novel to new heights. This was the first Malayalam novel with characters from every part of India. In its portrayal of life in a military barrack, it doesn't have a central character or a conventional beginning or end. The novel was translated into English by N. Kunji and was published by Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Thrissur. Ezhamedangal, Thazhvarakal andHimalayam can be considered as a trilogy. Set against the impending Sino-Indian War the characters in these novels encounter the ontological questions of life and death in their own way with an apocalyptic urgency. The archetypal image of dancing Siva, synchronised in line and space with the deluging war, is invoked in Himalayam through a complex architecture and a distilled poetic diction. The cosmic dimensions of this trilogy still elude the literary pundits.

Thottangal (Incantations, 1970), the first post-service novel of the writer, narrates the delirious memories of an old woman in the night of her death whose life was shipwrecked turning the dreams of her childhood into nightmares. Bharathan, the protagonist in Bharathan, published during the prevalence of the Emergency, is a historical metaphor that incises the sociopolitical realities of post-independent India. Bharathan is implicated, persecuted an tried in a mock court of establishment and sentenced to the destined death. The novelist cruelly reveals that the wages of innocence in our pseudo society is nothing lesser than its elimination.

His most popular novel was Thattakam (The Terrain, 1995). A grand narrative of epic dimension it is the saga of a land and its people, its mythical genesis and long sojourn into a civil society. The novel unfolds itself through umpteen anecdotes sprouting from legends, oracles, revelations, fantasies and historical events themselves. The narrative invents its own time and space that allows free passage of countless generations across the past, the present and the future. The novel won him national recognition with the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award in 1998. It was described in the fellowship citation as "a saga of a land and its people, its mythical genesis and long sojourn to reach a civil society. The novel unfolds itself through innumerable anecdotes sprouting from legends, oracles, revelations, fantasies and historical events. Its structure closely follows the magic of loosely connected episodes being integrated into a meta-narrative, reminiscent of the great Indian epics. The narrative invents its own time and space that allows free passage of countless generations across the past, the present and the future. In this mission, Kovilan develops a linguistic symphony that blends the dialects and language of myriad social strata. Thattakam will certainly leave its reader spellbound to muse over the super-human imagination and artistic stamina that its author is endowed with."

Kovilan's first collection of short stories was Oru Palam Manayola (A Measure of Red Arsenic). This book was published in the year 1957. The story Tharavadu (Ancestral Home) is included in this collection. Kovilan's other collections of short stories include Ee Jeevitham Ananthamanu (1957), Orikkal Manushyanayirunnu (1960), Oru Kashanam Asthi(1961), Vendam Kadi (1969), Thervazhchakal (1971), Pitham (1971), Shakunam (1974), Adyathe Kathakal (1978), Sujatha (1979), Theranjedutha Kathakal (1980) and Kovilante Kathakal (1985). A tele-serial based on his novel Thottangal was beamed on Doordarshan. Some of his short stories also have been adapted for tele-screen.

Style and recurring themes

Ever since Kovilan's stories started getting published in the periodicals of the 1950s, critics have marked him as 'unique and original' not only for the power of language and deftness for characterisation but also for choice of themes and intense experiences they sought to convey. Right from his debutant novel Thakarnna Hridayangal written at the age of 19 he was obsessively vigilant nit to emulate any models, set not only by others but by himself also. While many established Malayalam writers often betrayed their limitations because they hardly had any experience of living outside their immediate environs, Kovilan had hands-on experiences on riddles and dilemmas of human life as much of his youth in military camps as a radio mechanic, far away from home and hearth. Kovilan's characters depicted, subtly, how human dignity and freedom are hallowed out through regimentation, by powers that be in independent India also just as in the colonial regime. They, however, do not accept their destiny, unquestioned. Kovilan keeps this element of resistance and rebellion in his characters burning. Kovilan's stories that shed light on the lives in and out of military barracks marked a remarkable change in the way stories had been told in Malayalam literature. Kovilan has written four novels—A Minus B, Ezhamedangal, Thazhvarakal and Himalayam—with military experiences as their background. Apart from the pan-Indian lives and terrains that he introduced, through writings, he restructured the narrative concepts, hitherto familiar to Malayalam fiction. Kovilan jettisoned the idea of linear narrative woven around a protagonist. He experimented with the new technique of so many characters revealing themselves at so many junctures simultaneously in a cobweb-like narrative pattern.

Kovilan's visions are reflected in his works, right from the choice of the subject to the use of the language and imagery. Even when he shared the concerns of the progressive writers movement of the state, his sensibilities were radically different. When many of his peers were passionately experimenting with modernist trends in fiction writing, drawing inspiration from popular English and European writers, Kovilan sought his roots and soul, the traditions, culture and language of the common people, the soulful tales and tunes of the community that he lived in, and the countless characters that he encountered in his speckled life. Poverty and hunger had been the primary concerns of the writer. His quest for human dignity and art of telling complex stories in a stunningly simple language were remarkable. Writer and social critic Sukumar Azhikode once said that the gap between life and literature was very little in Kovilan's works.

Kovilan was a staunch votary of the labour class during his lifetime. Kovilan was always in the forefront in opposing tendencies against democracy. He was as one of the early leaders of the progressive literary movement. Kovilan was a storyteller who embraced leftist humanism and possessed an impressively high degree of social perspective. Kovilan's works had immensely contributed to transforming a community bogged down by conservatism to one that was progressive and socialist in outlook.^[6]

In a 1977 article titled Modernism in the Novel, Kovilan talked about one of his most important concerns as a writer: "To put a live human being on the post-mortem table in his fundamental state, without his clothes or make-up, to open him up like a frog in the zoology lab, with his chest and abdomen nailed flat, and his heart pounding still, even after the studies – we have not had many such instances in our novels, to show the beats of human character in the raw like this... Hunger is a human being's primary craving... And the war pangs of hunger are the true nature of human beings. The ruckus that happens here in the pretext of ‘modernism' is enough to drown these pangs of hunger. This is not literature, but literary vulgarity." In another article written nearly a decade later, he said: "Dialogues will never become literature. A writer cannot realise the vagaries of human life merely through dialogues. But, human being! It is never a single being. More masquerades than a chameleon. Never-ending masks. As the masks fall off one by one, the story touches you more and more deeply."

Poet and critic K. Satchidanandan notes:

“

He wrote pure prose, not poetic prose. In an era when prose writers revelled in poetic expressions, Kovilan wrote a prose that was plain and lean. Its beauty was raw and unadorned. Though Kovilan's works were initially categorised as Pattala Sahityam or soldier's writings, it was clear after the publication of Thattakam andThottangal that they were more than that. Writers seek legends. Kovilan realised that there is a legend behind every man. He sought to document this. He explored the legends of his village. His stories bridged local and regional history.[7]

”

Awards

• 1971: Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award (Novel) for Thottangal
• 1977: Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award (Story) for Sakunam
• 1995: Muttathu Varkey Award
• 1997: Kerala Sahitya Akademi Fellowship
• 1997: A. P. Kulakkad Award for Thattakam
• 1998: Kendra Sahitya Academy Award for Thattakam
• 1998: Kerala Sahitya Parishath Award for Thattakam
• 1999: Vayalar Award for Thattakam
• 1999: N. V. Prize for Thattakam
• 2004: Sahitya Akademi Fellowship
• 2006: Ezhuthachan Award
• 2008: Mathrubhumi Literary Award

Bibliography

Novels

Title	Title in English	Year	Publisher
Thakarnna Hridayangal	Broken Hearts	1946	Arunodayam Press, Vadakkencherry
A Minus B		1958	Current Books, Thrissur
Ezhamedangal	Army Wives	1965	Current Books, Thrissur
Thazhvarakal	The Valleys	1969	Current Books, Thrissur
Thottanngal	Incantations	1970	Current Books, Thrissur
Himalayam	The Himalayas	1972	Current Books, Thrissur
Bharathan		1976	Poorna Publications, Calicut
Janmantharanngal	Through Many Births	1982	Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-opertaive Society, Kottayam
Thattakam	The Terrain	1995	Current Books, Thrissur

Novelettes

Title	Title in English	Year	Publisher
Board Out		1936	Current Books, Thrissur
Tharavadu	The Ancestral Home	1963	Current Books, Thrissur

Short Stories

Title	Title in English	Year	Publisher
Oru Palam Manayola	A Measure of Red Arsenic	1957	Current Books, Thrissur
Ee Jeevitham Anadhamanu	This Life is Orphaned	1957	Current Books, Thrissur
Orikkal Manushyanayirunnu	Once a Man I was...	1960	Current Books, Thrissur
Oru Kashanam Asthi	A Piece of Bone	1961	Current Books, Thrissur
Vendamkadi	The Unwanted	1969	Current Books, Thrissur
Thervazchakal	Apparitions	1971	Current Books, Thrissur
Pitham	The Bilious Child	1971	Current Books, Thrissur
Sujatha		1971	Poorna Publications, Calicut
Sakunam	The Omen	1974	Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-opertaive Society, Kottayam
Adyathe Kathakal	Stories of Early Days	1978	Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-opertaive Society, Kottayam
Theranjedutha Kathakal	Selected Stories	1980	Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-opertaive Society, Kottayam
Kovilante Kathakal	Stories of Kovilan	1985	Current Books, Thrissur
Suvarna Kathakal	Golden Stories	2002	Green Books, Thrissur
Ente Priyappetta Kathakal	My Favourite Stories	2003	DC Books, Kottayam

Play

Title	Title in English	Year	Publisher
Ninte Viswasam Ninne Poruppikkum	Your Faith Ensures What Happens to You	1957	Current Books, Thrissur

Miscellaneous writings

Title	Title in English	Year	Publisher
Kovilante Lekhanangal	Essays of Kovilan	1984	Sikha Publications, Calicut
Kathayum Kathakalum	Stories Behind the Stories	1957	Poorna Publications, Calicut
Athmabhavangal	Self Reflections	1995	Jwala, Ariyannur, Thrissur

Referance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kovilan

Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan

Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan (Malayalam: തുഞ്ചത്ത് രാമാനുജൻ എഴുത്തച്ഛൻ, Tuñcattŭ Rāmānujan Eḻuttacchan) was a Malayalam devotional poet and linguist from around the 16th century. Today he is known as the father of Malayalam language– the principal language of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territory of Lakshadweep – and it's literature.

Ezhuthachan was born in Trikkantiyur, near the present day Tirur municipality, in south Malabar in an under-privileged sudra caste. After the birth of his daughter, Ezhuthachan became a monk and wandered throughout southern India before finally building his monastery at modern day Chittoor, Palghat.

Ezhuthachan's contribution to the Malayalam language is widely considered as unparalleled. He brought massive changes and standardisation in the language through his works. He translated the two Hindu epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, to Malayalam for the common man with the mingling of the Sanskrit and Dravidian languages.

According historians and linguists, Ezhuthachan refined the "style" of Malayalam language and it was during his period that Malayalam literature attained its "individuality" and Malayalam became a "fully fledged" independent language. He also brought the language to the level of the non-Brahmins's understanding. Ezhuthachan used Malayalam language to challenge the prevailing social conditions. He is known for using his literary works as a powerful tool against the rule of privileged. Ezhuthachan is also considered as a significant voice of the Bhakti movement in Kerala.

Ezhuthachan's other major contribution has been in establishing an (51 character) alphabet system equivalent to Sanskrit instead ofVattezhuthu, the 30-letter script of Malayalam.

The highest literary honour instituted by the Kerala Government is known as the "Ezhuthachan Award".

Ezhuthachan is generally believed to be lived c. 16th century. Though poet – turned – historian Ulloor S Parameshwara Iyer has surmised that he was born in 1495 AD and lived upto 1575, other scholars are not sure about it. Backed by painstaking research, C. Radhakrishnan argued that Ezhuthachan’s age must have been between 1475 and 1550 AD. It is however generally accepted that he lived in the sixteenth century.

Ezhuthachan was born at Trikkantiyur, near the modern-day municipal town of Tirur, in south Malabar. His precise birthplace is now known as Thunchan Parambu. His parent's names are not known clearly and there is some confusion about Ezhuthachan's actual name as well. After completing his education he got married but embraced "sanyasa" after the birth of a daughter. Leaving house he travelled to various places in Andhra and Tamil Nadu and learnt Telugu and Tamil. Some scholars surmise that his Ramayana andMahabharata were adopted from the Telugu versions of these Sanskrit epics. Though born in an under-privileged class (a low caste belonging to the "sudra" varna) of the social hierarchy of the times, Ezhuthachan had mastered the Veda and the Upanishads.

It is believed that Ezhuthachan on his way back from a pilgrimage to Tamil Nadu had a stopover at Chittur (in Palghat) and settled down at Thekke Gramam near Anikkode with his disciples. A monastery, then called "Ramananda ashrama" and now known as the Chittur Gurumadhom, was constructed by him on a piece of land donated by the Nair barons of the area. In this village he founded a Rama temple as well as a Siva temple. Ezhuthachan lived for nearly four decades at the monastery, writing his masterpieces (such as Adhyatma Ramayanam and Sri Mahabharatam). In his monastery, he trained a group of famous disciples, such as Suryanarayanan Ezhuthachan, Karunakaran Ezhuthachan, Devan Ezhuthachan and Gopalan Ezhuthachan. Suryanarayanan's Skandapuranam, Karunakaran's Shivaratri Mahatmyam and Devan's Vijnana Ratna andVedantasaram are still considered as gems of religious literature in Malayalam.

The madhom is flanked by temples of Rama and Siva and the street has an array of Agraharas (where the twelve Brahmin families migrated along with Ezhuthachan live). At the madhom, some of the instruments used by Ezhuthachan are still preserved. A Sri Chakra and a few idols worshipped by him, the stylus, the wooden slippers, and a few old manuscripts are exhibited for visitors. Ezhuthachan's samadhi is also situated there.

Melpathur Narayana Bhattathiri, the author of famous Narayaneeyam, was a friend of Ezhuthachan. It is said that when he sought the advice of Ezhuthachan about how to start his intended book, he gave him a cryptic advise to "start with fish", meaning to start with Matsya avatara - the fish avatar of god Vishnu. Bhattathiri understood the enigmatic message and started composing his poem in the Guruvayur Temple.


Caste of Ezhuthachan

The exact "caste" to which Ezhuthachan belonged under the large umbrella of "sudra" varna - if indeed he was a sudra - is still not known to the historians. Ezhuthachan is currently an Other Backward Class (through out Kerala state) in the reservation system present in India. [19] Until the early decades of twentieth century they were popularly known by the caste name "Kadupattan" , but there after it was changed and officially declared as Ezhuthachan. Their traditional occupation was salt making and palanquin bearing. It was not uncommon in the past few centuries, that meritorious members from this community had said to been taken up various avocations,including teaching.

According to Nair Service Society, Ezhuthachan was one of the prominent personalities who belonged to the Nair community. Meanwhile, the Akhila Kerala Ezhuthachan Samajam, the organisation that represents the Ezhuthachan community, has come forward with an objection, saying that Thunchath Ezhuthachan was not ‘Nair’, and that he belonged to the ‘Ezhuthachan’ community.

According to Arthur Coke Burnell, the famous 19th century Sanskrit scholar, Ezhuthachan was indeed a low - caste man. "His real name is forgotten; Thunchaththu being his house/family-name, and Ezhuthachan indicating his caste". In 1865, Burnell discovered the manuscript ofDevi Bhagavatam allegedly translated and adapted from Sanskrit by Ezhuthachan, allegedly copied by his sister, preserved at Puzhakkal in the Chittur taluk. He wrote that "the author's stool, clogs, and staff are preserved in the same place; it thus looks as if Ezhuthachan was a monk of some order."

There are also legends that Ezhuthachan was an "illegitimate" Nambudiri Brahmin. Ellis has noted that

"Ezhuthachan was Brahman-without-a-father and on that account has no patronymic. The difficulties with which he had in consequence to struggle gave him an energy of character which it is probable he would not have possessed had his cast been without blemish. The Brahmins envied his genius and learning and are said to have seduced him by the arts of sorcery into the habit of ebriety, wishing to overshadow the mental powers which they feared. The poet, however, triumphed on his habits, though he could not abandom them, and in revenge against those whom he considered the cause of his debasement, he opposed himself openly to the prejudices and the intolerance of the Brahmans. The mode of vengeance he chose was the exaltation of Malayalam, declaring it his intention to raise this inferior dialect of Tamil to an equality with Sanskrit. In the prosecution of this purpose he enriched the Malayalam with the translations, all of which, it is said, he composed under the immediate influence of intoxication."

Burnell agreed with Ellis, saying that "Ezhuthachan [sic] lived in the 17th century; there is no reason for supposing that he was a Brahmin father's illegitimate son; he was certainly an Ezhuthachan (or schoolmaster) by caste."

Other sources consider him as a Kaniyar by caste. This community of traditional astrologers were well versed in Sanskrit and Malayalam. During the middle ages, when people, other than Brahmins, were denied of the right for learning Sanskrit, only the Kaniyar community had been traditionally enjoying the privilege for accessing and acquiring knowledge in Sanskrit, through their hereditary system of pedagogy. They were learned people and had knowledge in astrology, mathematics, mythology, the Vedas and Ayurveda. They were generally assigned as preceptors of martial art and literacy. In addition to the common title Panicker, the members of Kaniyar from the South Travancore and Malabar region were known as, Aasaan/Ezhuthu Aasans/Ezhuthachans (Father of Letters) respectively, by virtue of their traditional avocational function as village school masters to non-Brahmin pupils.

Cultural contributions

Ezhuthachan - although he lived around 16th century AD - is considered as the father of Malayalam language and Malayalam literature. No original compositions are attributed to Ezhuthachan. However, his contribution to the Malayalam language through Adhyatma Ramayanam is considered unparalleled.

Adhyatma Ramayanam, written in Kilippattu style, is considered as a landmark of Malayalam literature. Ezhuthachan used different Dravidian metres in the cantos of his poems: "Keka" for Bala Kanda and Aranya Kanda; "Kakali" for Ayodhya, Kishkindha and Yuddha Kanda; and "Kalakanchi" for Sundara Kanda. Throughout the Malayalam month of Karkkidakam, Adhyatma Ramayanam is still recited - as a religious practice - in Hindu homes in Kerala. According to critic K. Ayyappa Panicker, those who seeAdhyatma Ramayanam merely as a devotional work "belittle" Ezhuthachan.

Adhyatma Ramayanam, his other major work Sri Mahabharatam (translation of Hindu epic poem Mahabharata), and shorter pieces Irupathinalu Vrittam and Harinama Kirtanammark the confluence of Sanskrit and Dravidian linguistic streams.[38] However, there is no unanimity of opinion among the scholars about the authorship of certain other works generally attributed to him (such as Devi Bhagavatam).

Adhyatma Ramayanam is also a spiritual text that gave momentum to the Bhakti cult in Kerala.  Ezhuthachan, along with Poonthanam Nambuthiri, was one of the prominent Bhakti devotional poets in Kerala.

Thunchan Parambu
Thunchan Parambu - the legendary location of Ezhuthachan's ancestral home - is now a Hindu pilgrimage centre. People from around Kerala come to take sand from the Thunchan Parambu to use in the initiation of their children to the alphabet (a Hindu ceremony). Every year, hundreds of people bring their children to Thunchan Parambu to write their first letters during the Vijayadasami (Dussehra) which falls in the months of October–November. Children are initiated into the "world of letters" by masters, teachers or parents by holding their fingers and writing the letters in a plate filled with rice. The letters will also be written on their tongues with a golden ring.

Cultural depictions
Theekkadal Kadannu Thirumadhuram (2004) by C. Radhakrishnan: a novel written by C. Radhakrishnan that sketched Ezhuthachan’s life and journeyed through the emotions he must have gone through. The take-off point for Radhakrishnan’s research was the tale of Ezhuthachan he heard as a child from his grandparents.

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/

Anand (P. Sachidanandan)

P. Sachidanandan (born 1936), who uses the pseudonym Anand, is an Indian writer.

Anand writes primarily in Malayalam. He is one of the noted living intellectuals in India. His works are noted for their philosophical flavor, historical context and their humanism. Veedum Thadavum and Jaivamanushyan won the Kerala Sahithya Academy Award.Marubhoomikal Undakunnathu won the Vayalar Award. He did not accept the Yashpal Award for Aalkkootam and the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Abhayarthikal.

Sachidanandan was born in 1936 at Irinjalakuda in Thrissur district(Trichur) of Kerala. His father was a primary school teacher.

He graduated in Civil Engineering from College of Engineering, Trivandrum in 1958. He retired as Planning Director of the Central Water Commission after a career which included extended stints working in Gujrat, Mumbai and Bengal. He also worked in the military for four years in the Short Service Commission.


Writing

It was the famous critic Govindan who helped Anand publish his maiden novel Alkkoottam. At age 34, it was his first ever published work.

It was a new experience for the Malayalee readers and the book received rave reviews and pungent criticisms alike. He followed Alkkoottam (Crowd) with three more equally abstract novels: Maranacertificate (Death Certificate), Abhayarthikal (Refugees) and Utharayanam. These books made Anand a writer with considerable standing in Malayalam.

But it was in the late eighties and early nineties that Anand came up with two more novels, Marubhoomikal Undakunnathu and Govardhanante Yaathrakal, which made him an icon in Malayalam literature.

Contemporary Malayalam writer M. Mukundan made the following comment about Anand's style.


Anand's is the most articulate voice in Kerala today, which questions the moral premises of politics and most importantly, resists Hindu fundamentalism. His essays and novels unmistakably establish a metaphor of resistance.

The prose in Anand's novels is taut - no moon will ever rise in it, nor flowers blossom or river breezes waft through. His language, stripped to the bone, sometimes challenges the reader to go through it.

He has also written many short stories and articles, most of which deal with plight of the ordinary people who are exploited by the people in power. Anand's characters are not necessarily a Malayali, and often weaves in historical elements into his stories. More often they are also located outside Kerala.

Anand is also a prolific essayist.

Awards

1. Vayalar Award, 1993.
2. Odakuzhal Award, 1996.
3. Sahitya Akademi Award, 1997.
4. Muttathu Varkey Award, 2000.
5. Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize, 2012.

Criticisms
The 'abstractness' of Anand's writing has been a cause for criticism, from people alleging he does not actually name concrete people and organizations, instead relying on a historical and abstract narrative, even in his political essays. Balachandran Chullikkadu, a well-known poet in Malayalam, once said that Anand is the messiah of NGOs.
Books by Anand

Novels

• Alkkoottam (The Crowd)
• Maranacertificate (The Death Certificate)
• Utharayanam
• Abhayarthikal (The Refugees)
• Marubhoomikal Undakunnathu (The Deserts come into existence)
• Govardhante Yaathrakal (The Journeys of Govardhanan)
• Vyaasanum Vighneswaranum
• Apaharikkapetta Daivangal
• Samharathinte Pusthakam
• Vibhajanangal
• Parinamathinte Bhoothangal (The Ghosts of Evolution)
• Dweepukalum Theerangalum (Islands and Shores)

Short story collection

• Asantham
• Veedum Thadavum (Home and Prison)
• Ira (Victim)
• Odiyunna Kurisu (The Breaking Cross)
• Samvadam (Convesations)
• Naalamathe Aani (The Fourth Nail.)
• Kathakal, Aatmakathakal (Stories, autobiographies)

Dramas

• Savaghoshyathra
• Mukthipadham

Other Books

• Sambhashanangal (Dialogue with Sachithanandan, the poet)
• Idavelakalil
• Jaivamanushyan (The Biological Man)
• Vettakaaranum Virunnukaaranum
• Prakriti, Paristhithi, Daaridryam, Jalam, Oorjam
• Kannadilokam
• Nashtapradeshangal
• Stanam Thettiya Vasthu

Poems

• Thadhagatham

In view of the recent expose on the unholy activities at the Ashram of 'Amma ' ( Amritanandamayi ) by Gail Tredwell through her book, "Holy hell" , a systematic attempt is on in Kerala to prevent any discussion about this book. Both legal and extra- legal measures are being imposed on people to prevent 

O. Chandu Menon

Chandu Menon was born on 9 January 1847 in Kelaloor near Pinarayi in the present day Kannur District.

Chandu Menon got his first lessons from Koran Gurukkal, one of his neighbors. He learnt Sanskrit poetry, drama and grammar from Pandit Kunjanbu Nambiar. About the same time, he received English lessons from a local school and later from K. Kunjan Menon. He had higher school education in the Basel Mission Parsi Memorial School in Thalassery. While studying there he is reported to have qualified for the uncovenanted Civil Service by securing a high rank in the test for that Service. In 1864 his mother died when he was in the matriculation class and he was forced to abandon studies.

Chandu Menon got married to Lakshmikutty Amma in 1872. The couple had six children.

Chandu Menon started his career as a clerk in the government service. William Logan, author of the Malabar Manual appointed him as a clerk at Sub-Collector's office. After working in various offices in Malabar, he slowly rose to the position of a Munsiff, and in 1892 became the sub-judge of Calicut. Chandu Menon reportedly assisted Willam Logan in the preparation of Malabar Manual.

Chandu Menon was also a social reformer. He was a member of the committee constituted to inquire on Marumakkathayam and report on the Malabar Marriages Bill. His observations on matrimony among Nairs and polyandrous matrimony of Nair women that prevailed during the time are of historical importance. He was given the title of Rao Bahadur in 1898 for excellent service.

Chandu Menon died on 7 September 1899 at his Oyyarath residence in Thalassery due to cardiac failure.

Literary career

He was inspired by his wife to write his first novel Indulekha. He attempted to fashion the work after the English novels popular during those days and depicted the love and lives life of an upper caste woman and her sad destiny. The novel attempted to discuss the topics of feudalism, polygamy and caste oppression.

His 1889 work, Indulekha, was the first Malayalam fictional work which met with all the requisite characteristics of a novel according to widely accepted Malayalam literary convention. It is not the first novel per se, as Kundalatha (a much inferior work) by Appu Nedungadi pre-dates it by a year. Indulekha throws light on the Nair community during the second half of the nineteenth century when it was undergoing a transformation following western influences and English education. It exalts education and satirizes the orthodox practices of temporary marital alliances between Nair women and Namboodiri men. Indulekha was translated into English 1891 by the-then Collector of Malabar district. Indulekha is claimed to be the only Malayalam novel to be reprinted every year for over hundred years.

He began a second novel named Sarada, the first part of which appeared in 1892. This novel was meant to be in two parts. However, he was unable to complete the sequel, which never got published.

Two English speeches made by Chandu Menon, one on Administration of Justice in Ancient Times and another under the auspices of the Sir T.Muthuswamy Iyer Memorial Committee have been published in book form.

Major awards and recognitions

• He reportedly received a letter from the Prime Minister of England, W. E. Gladstone, passing on Queen Victoria's appreciation of Chandu Menon's services to Malayalam literature in 1892.
• 
  
• The Government of India conferred on him the title of Rao Bahadur in 1897.
• 
  
• Madras University recognised his merits, appointed him as Examiner for the Law Degrees in 1898.
• He was also honoured by Madras University by nominating him as a Fellow of the University.

Watch the melodious romantic song, "Varivande Nee" sung by Kamukara Purushothaman Nair from the classic Induleka, based on the famous novel written by O Chandu Menon.

Olappamanna (Olappamanna manakkal Subramanian Namboothirippad)

Olappamanna (Olappamanna manakkal Subramanian Namboothirippad; 1923-2000) was a famous poet of Kerala, India. He was born on January 10, 1923 in Vellinezhi in Palakkad district into Olappamanna mana, a wealthy family with a feudal past known for its patronage of artists and musicians. After his college education, he was engaged in the timber and rubber business and was associated with Yogakshema Sabha and Purogamana Sahithya Samkhadana for some time. During the period 1950-1964, he was the president of the Ezhakkad and Kotteppadam panchayaths of Palakkad district.

He was awarded the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1967 for the collection of Kathakavithakal and Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award in 1989 for Nizhalana. The other awards include the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Lifetime Contribution (1998), Odakkuzhal Award (1988) and N. V. Puraskaram(1992). He has also held the office of Chairman ofKerala Kalamandalam. He died on April 10, 2000.

Works

• Veena
• Kalpana
• Kilungunna Kaiyamam
• Kulampadi
• Asareerkal
• Ehisoonari
• Olichupokunna Njan 
• Panchali
• Elathalam
• Nagemakkutty
• Kadhakavithakal
• Aanamuthu
• Amba 
• Suphala
• Dukhamavuka Sukham
• Rubberwifum Mattu Kavithakalum
• Nizhalana
• Jalakappakshi
• Varinellu

എന്റെ വിദ്യാലയം -ഒളപ്പമണ്ണ 

ക്ലാസ്‌- V (പുതിയ സിലബസ് 2014) മലയാളം പാഠപുസ്തകത്തിലെ കവിതയുടെ പൂർണ്ണരൂപം

Vailoppilli Sreedhara Menon

Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon (11 May 1911 – 22 December 1985) was a renowned Indian poet of Kerala. He was born on 11 May 1911 in Kaloor in the Ernakulam district. After taking his bachelor's degree in science he took B.T. and joined as teacher in government service in 1931.

He started writing under the pen name 'Sree' and his very first collection 'Kannikkoythu' (Maiden Harvest), which came out in 1947, attracted the attention of critics by its innovative style free from the clutches of the Romantic tradition. He was associated with Samastha Kerala Sahithya Parishath the biggest forum for Malayalam writers at that time, for more than 10 years. He represented Kerala in the national poets' meetings held at Delhi (1951 and 1969) and Bangalore (1965). In 1970 he toured the Soviet union. He was the first President of Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham, a forum of progressive writers led by leftist intellectuals and artists.

He is considered by literary historians as one of the major voices in Malayalam poetry who marked the transition from the Romanticto the modern era. A scientific insight into the historical roots of social evolution and a deeper understanding of the psychological undercurrents of the human mind characterise his poetry. His mastery of the medium is evident in all his poems both lyrical and narrative.

Many critics consider the long poem Kudiyozhikkal (Eviction of the tenant) as his magnum opus. In the prefatory lines to the poem the poet says: "Punchiri! Ha, Kuleenamam kallam. Nenchu keeri njan nerinekkattaam" (The smile! Oh, It's but a noble lie. Let me tear open my chest and show you the truth). The poem is a ruthless self-examination of a middle class land owner who realizes that the future belongs not to himself but to his poor tenant whom he despises at heart.

He died on December 22, 1985 and his body was cremated on the banks of river Bharathappuzha (also called 'Nila'), as he had wished.



Awards and honors

• Madras Government Award
• M. P. Paul prize
• Kerala Sahithya Academy Award (1965) for Kaipavallari
• Kendra Sahithya Academy Award (1972) for Vida
• Vayalar Award (1981) for Makarakoythu
• Sovietland Nehru Award (1964)
• Odakkuzhal Award

Selected works

• Kannikoythu
• Sreerekha
• Onappatukar
• Makarakoythu
• Vithum Kaikkottum
• Vida
• Kaipavallari
• Kuruvikal
• Kudiyozhikkal
• Minnaminni
• Pachakkuthira
• Mukulamala
• Krishnamrigangal
• Charithrathile Charudrisyam
• Anthi Chayunnu
• Kunnimanikal
• Risyasringanum Alexandarum (Play)
• Kavyalokasmaranakal (Autobiography)
• Mambazham
• Yugaparivarthanam

Mambazham -- Vailoppilli Sreedhara Menon

Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/