VISHNUNARAYANAN NAMBOOTHIRI

VISHNUNARAYANAN NAMBOOTHIRI

Vishnu Naryanan Namboodiri, one of the most famous poets of contemporary Malayalam literature He was born in Seeravally Illam in Thiruvalla. He acquired a Masters degree in English. He was an English teacher at Colleges in Kozhikodu,Kollam ,Pattambi, Ernakulam, Tripunithura, Chittur and Thriuvananthapuram and also worked in the State Institute of Languages.“ Poetry is something that should create tranquillity in human mind and thereby lead one to ‘Karma’. Anything that evokes mental tumult and agony is not poetry,” says Vishnu Narayanan Namboodiri. When you walk along the pavement of ever busy MG Road in Trivandrum city, if you notice someone clad in greyish khadi kurta and white dhoti, at times adjusting the black rimmed specs which vainly try to mask those radiant eyes, carrying a satchel on his left shoulder, steadying up his thick hair shining white as the Siachen glacier with his right hand, walking slowly on hard chappals with that charming smile to anyone who greets him, then you have not missed him! He is Vishnu Naryanan Namboodiri, one of the widely acclaimed poets of contemporary Malayalam literature; often fondly described as a friend of controversies, though not over his poetry!

Vishnu Narayanan Namboodiri hails from a renowned Namboodiri family of Thiruvalla in Pathanamthitta District, Kerala. Born on 2 June 1939 as the only child of late Vishnu Namboodiri and late Aditi Antharjanam of Sheeravalli Illam, situated on the banks of one of the small rivulets joining Pampa, he had his schooling in the Prince Marthanda Varma High School, Thiruvalla. Having been born and brought up in the traditional Namboodiri atmosphere, his young mind had imbibed Vedic and religious cultures in the childhood itself from his father and grand father. Like other Brahmin boys he had his formal initiation into the Vedic learning at the age of eight. But it was his father’s uncle, Dwivedi Vishnu Sharma, an old man who had travelled the length and breadth of India and an acknowledged scholar in Sanskrit and the Vedas in those days, who gave him an in-depth insight into the Vedic Learning. In fact, Vishnu respectfully acknowledges him as his Guru. He had his first lessons in Sanskrit from his grandfather. His distinctly progressive and rational views on social customs and religious boundaries that were prevalent at those times profoundly inspired the young mind, which later on grew in stature and enriched the Malayalam literature with 13 volumes of poetry, three books on literary criticism, four anthologies and three translations. Vishnu, as he is affectionately called in the literary circles, was a science student in his college days and graduated in Physics from St Berchmans College, Changanacherry in 1958. He studied Hindi as his second Language. One of the most revered English professors of at that time, Prof C A Sheppard Head of English Department had a great liking for Vishnu for his uncanny ability to memories and recite Vedic and Sanskrit verses in perfection. It was Prof Sheppard who initiated Vishnu into serious learning of English and Western literature. However, after graduation for the next two years Vishnu could not pursue his college education and instead he worked as a science teacher in his alma mater, the Prince Marthanda Varma High School before he joined college again for his post graduation in English literature in 1960. He fondly remembers that it was Prof Sheppard who secured him admission to the postgraduate course in Devagiri College, Calicut. He says with great pride and satisfaction clearly visible in those radiant eyes that it was a great experience and good fortune for him to have been the disciple of Dr Ashramam Sivramasubramanya Iyer in Devagiri College. Dr Iyer had the distinction of being the first Keralite who secured a PhD in English from the University of London. Besides he was a well-known Sanskrit scholar. Vishnu recollects that he was one among the last batch of students that Dr Iyer had in his illustrious career as a teacher spanning over 45 years. World-renowned cartoonist of yester years Cartoonist Shankar was in the first batch of postgraduate students Dr Iyer had and Shri KR Narayanan, former President of India, was another of his students in one of the later batches sometime in the middle of his illustrious career. In 1962 Vishnu came out with his postgraduate degree in English literature with flying colours topping the list.

  Vishnu Narayanan Namboodiri started his professional career as a Lecturer in English in Malabar Christian College, Calicut, just after his post graduation. After a long and distinguished career he retired from government service as Professor and Head of the Department of English, University College, Trivandrum in1994. Apart from teaching in colleges he had also worked as a Research officer at the Kerala State Language Institute, and as the editor of Granthalokam, the famous Malayalam literary magazine, respectively for three years each. Vishnu had also been actively associated with Kerala Sahitya Samithy, Prakrthi Smarakshana Samithi, Kerala Sahitya Akademi and Kerala Kalamandalam in different capacities. After retirement, from 1994 to1997 he voluntarily took up the assignment as the head priest of the Sree Vallabha Temple, Thiruvalla, which was his family right; none-too easy an assignment for a person of his stature.He is married to Smt Savithri Antharjanam of Mattathu Vedirama Illam, and is blessed with two daughters and three grand children. He resides at Sreevalli, Sastha Gardens, Thycadu, Trivandrum. His gracious presence is a regular feature in most of the social and cultural events in the capital.More than his reputation as a professor of English, Vishnu is much better known for his enormous contributions to Malayalam literature as a poet par excellence. He is the recipient of several awards for his poetry, which include the prestigious Kerala Sahitya Academy Award in 1979, Kendra Sahitya Academy award in 1994, Odakkuzhal Award in 1983, Asan Prize in 1996, Changampuzha Award in 1989, and Ulloor award in 1992. The Title of Sahitya Kalanidhi and the Akademi Award for total contribution also have been conferred on him. Some of the most acclaimed poems of Vishnu are Swathanthiriathekurichoru Geetham, Bhoomi Geethangal, India Enna Vikaram, Mukham Evide, Aparajitha, Athirthiyilekkoru Yathra, Aranyakam, that inimitable collection of romantic verses Pranaya geethangal and the recently published Parikramam, Ujjainiyile Rappakalukal and Sreevally.From the very young age Vishnu created his own niche in Malayalam poetry, rather a strange phenomenon for a man who has been teaching English throughout his career. His first poem ‘Varsham Varunnu’ was published in 1961 in Mathrubhoomi, which was the leading Malayalam weekly for more than half a century. Vishnu distinctly stands high compared to other contemporary poets for he writes with lot of sensitiveness, sensibility and commitment to his own vision of human life and its virtues, to what he calls ‘Athmeeyatha’, beautifully synergised with radically modern thought processes. He acknowledges with pride that, while Prof Sheppard initiated him to English literature, it was Dr NV Krishna Warrier, that master craftsman as he calls him, who nurtured his poetry into greater heights of vision on Indian spiritualism, human virtues, commitment to society, significance of travel and pilgrimage and so on. His poetic talents that came to him as gift from his traditional background got refined and revitalised over the years by learning from the lives of Sreenarayana Guru, Kumaran Asan and Vallathol Narayana Menon, and by his long associations with late poets like Edassery Govindan Nair, Vailoppilly Sreedhara Menon, to name a few. The feather touch of spiritualism in his verses that enthrals us is really the outcome of this closeness to those great minds. Then, he also attributes his achievements to his close associations that he has had with a wide spectrum of well-known writers like Mahakavi G, NN Kakkad, Thayatt Shankaran, and KP Sankaran etc. who were then part of the elite literary fraternity. Vishnu says that the greatest influence he had in fine-tuning his poetic abilities from outside had been the works of Kalidasa and WB Yeats, the Irish Poet. Several pages are available on print in various Malayalam magazines and publications describing the poetry of Vishnu Naryanan Namboodiri and its influences on society in general and the literary minds in particular of Kerala. A literary review or criticism of his verses, therefore, will be out of place here and hence is not attempted. However, a brief account of how Vishnu’s poetry becomes so dear to us, the Malayalees can be a pleasant reading to most of us.

Vishnu started his poetic career at a time when Malayalam poetry was intensely watching the noisy emergence of what is called the Ultra-modern poetry with established poets like Ayyappa Panikkar, Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan, Kavalam Narayana Panicker   and a band of others taking the lead. But the captivating tone or texture of ultra-modern poetry did not make much of an impact in the matrix of verse making which Vishnu was known for. It never encroached on to the undefined boundaries of ultra-modern poetry marked by a sense of frustration, fear of total annihilation, rejection of one’s own culture and heritage and a loss of self confidence engulfed by a pal of gloom. His poetry always remained a mirror of his firm faith on a progressive mindset, which does not break the outer, but safer, shell of our inherited Indian culture and the human virtues that we have adored for ages. His poetic sensibility is blended with the openness of a wounded mind, which at times helplessly snivel at the erosion of human values and the self-assured willingness to see the brighter side of life and find solace through spiritualism. Probably some of us might get a bit disappointed if we search for aggressive and revolutionary imagery in his verses, which we would find in plenty among the newer generation of Malayalam poets. Surely they are more turbulent and vibrant but a bit subtle for common readers like you and me. Vishnu’s poetry is like a cool, slow stream that flows from the heights of virtuous thoughts emanating from a well-balanced mix of ‘Atmeeyatha’ and reality. It comes to you like a ballet artist, brings a very soothing breeze along, marinates you into comfort and a frame of mental tranquillity and then passes by in its own pace, of course leaving some ripples for you to ponder over. But that comfort and tranquillity of feeling or whatever you may call stay in your subconscious mind forever and pop up time and again to upper senses urging you to reinvent your own self.‘Ultimately one has one’s own poetic culture and I have mine” he says. He acknowledges with humility that a lot of smoke and dirt mired with castesim and untouchability still exists within his own community. ‘I am indebted to Veda Vyasa and the Vedas for my vision that guides my poetic endeavours. The caste systems are our own creation for protecting our vested interests. For me India is now more than a passion, She is wisdom. What I search for in the depth of the so-called passion is that pearl of wisdom; the wisdom of survival. That leads me to wide travel and Himalayan pilgrimages where I can interact with the soul of India.’ He adds.Vishnu Narayanan Nampoodiri believes that Poetry is sort of a catalyst, which promotes introspection to know and learn more about oneself. ‘Poetry is a metaphor that emerges from the depth of culture and can be experienced as a beautiful flower. It has to be blended with our greatest gift from God, music. What I am writing does not concern me alone. What I am concerned for is what the readers feel about them. History will discard those creations, which do not create any impact on the readers. That is poetic relevance too’ Dr M. Leelavathy writes ‘genuine poets are those who have the mastery of seeing the virtues of past, present and future. They sow those seeds of wisdom carefully on human mind through crafty imagery. These will neither be eaten away by hogs nor will dry to death as a sapling on the surface of a rock. They will slowly and steadily grow up incarnating the Vedic saying ”Sadaiva” and will bear fruits and spread cool shadows for weary minds. Vishnu Narayanan Nampoodiri’s poetry belongs to this genre’. She continues ‘ though Namboodiri poets like MN Paloor, NN Kakkadu and Vishnu Narayanan draw inspiration from Vedic culture and Indian spirituality, none of them shows the immaturity not to acknowledge the Marxian philosophy of rich and poor syndrome. Vishnu’s poem titled “Karl Marxinte Kuteeram” shows exactly what he stands for’It will be of interest to readers that the greatest tribute to Vishnu and his poetry came from Mohandas, a college teacher from Kodakara, near Trichur. Having been enchanted by a poem of Vishnu, ‘Yugalaprasadan’, Mohandas started a mission of planting mango trees anywhere and everywhere possible with the help of his friends and students. The project grew in stature and Vishnu himself was invited to grace the occasion of planting the 1000th sapling. Vishnu took the seed of the poem from ‘Aranyaka’ a novel by Bhibhuthibhooshan Bandhopadhyaya and gave it the title ‘Yugalaprasadan’. The extraordinary character of the novel, Yugalaprasadan takes it as his mission to transplant seedlings, which otherwise would have died their natural death, from concrete jungles of urban civilisation to virgin forests and nurture them there to grow into plants and trees. What a great mission indeed! Mohandas took rebirth as Yugalaprasadan in Kerala thus fulfilling the vision of Vishnu Narayanan Namboodithir “ Poetry is something that should create tranquillity in human mind and thereby lead one to ‘Karma’. Anything that evokes mental tumult and agony is not poetry,” says Vishnu Narayanan Namboodiri. Work:-Swaathanthryathe-Kurichu Oru Geetham, Aparaajitha, Aaranyakam ,India Enna Vikaram ,Ujjayiniyile Raappakalukal ,Bhoomigeethangal ,Mukhamevite ,Athirthiyilekkoru Yaathra ,Parikramam ,Sreevalli ,Uttarayanam ,Ente Kavitha ,Pranayageethangal –Essays ,Asaahitheeyam ,Kavithayude DNA ,Alakadalum Neyyampalulkalum Translations;-Rithu Samhaaram ,Gandhi ,Sasyalokam ,Kuttikalude Shakespear ;- Awards  Vayalar Award– 2010 , Vallathol Award-2010  , Sahitya Academy National Award-1994, Kerala Academy Award, Odakuzhal Award, Changampuzha Award, Ulloor Prize, Asan Prize.

Prof. John Kurakar