My friend and Librarian
of the college where I teach, Mr.
Sudheendran went on Emergency Leave on the
afternoon of 11 February 2012. By
morning the following day this news appeared in the Malayalam Daily, Mathrubhoomi.
It was only when Sudhi, who is himself a
writer of essays and fiction returned after
the funeral and Condolence
Meeting held in the late Poet’s home town, did he
confide in me the special relation he had with the Teacher–Poet, Sri. Vinayachandran.
It led me to recall the 1980’s
when I was a student of H.H.The Maharajah’s University College,
Thiruvanthapuram. Then, the Second
Language which I had chosen for my Under Graduate Course was Malayalam
and twice every week Sri. Vinayachandran,
would engage Poetry class quoting avidly
from classic literary pieces.
As a student of Literature, I found every class which he engaged, a literary treat. He had the unique ability to communicate something of the spirit of the literary work which he was assigned to teach. And the kind of adoration, the students displayed for the Teacher-Poet’s literary acumen could have easily drawn the envy of lesser teachers!
As a student of Literature, I found every class which he engaged, a literary treat. He had the unique ability to communicate something of the spirit of the literary work which he was assigned to teach. And the kind of adoration, the students displayed for the Teacher-Poet’s literary acumen could have easily drawn the envy of lesser teachers!
Last year, on 24 August
2012, Sri. Vinayachandran, was the Chief Guest for the Onam Celebration
in my college. When he spoke,
I could perceive a sense of
gloom. As he spoke about the celebration of Onam in God’s Own
Country in yesteryears and the
normal practice in which he rounds off
his speech with a
rendering of his own composition, there was a perceivable absence of the magnetism which
he is capable of generating through his voice. I doubted it to be ill
health... now I realize,
it was the commencement of his swan song...
The following are notes which I made during the talk on 24
August 2012:
Perhaps the earliest
reference to Onam is available in Sangham Literature (AD 825). It is a
pity that today,
how Onam is to be celebrated is dictated by the
Visual Media and large companies!
In a book written by a British writer, one hundred years
ago, it is mentioned that almost every house in Thiruvananthapuram
city had in their front yard, scores of
coconut trees, banana plants, mango
trees and Jack fruit trees.
Years ago, men with good
physique, wearing the mask
of a tiger would emulate the
moves of a wild tiger in
‘Pulikali’. Today, in its place we perceive the shaking of pot bellies
creating more of a comic effect!
His advice to the trainees of the college: “Only a love of the mother
tongue can help you grasp the essence of Malayalee culture... We have had great
scientists who were lovers of music and
language...”
A poem of his which he
recited from memory at the end of his
talk, had for its theme thoughts
of a girl when she returns home,
and what her mother thinks about her.
The imagery was one of a baby
in the innermost circle
surrounded by its mother, father and grandparents in the outer circle and the
society in the outermost circle...
Today, I wonder whether the imagery of
the ‘baby’- an uncommon theme in
poems which I have heard him recite, was anticipating the return of the Poet’s soul to
his Creator...
May his memory ever
remain with us... filled with a charm a baby is capable of evoking...
Posted by Dr. C. Praveen
