KOZHIKODE: 'Manassu Nannavatte, Matham Ethenkilum Aatte' (Whatever be the religion, let the minds be pure) --- each time the widely-acclaimed anthem of the National Service Scheme (NSS) is played on campuses, V A Indrani Devi's heart swells with pride. The verse was penned by her father, the late V A Kesavan Namboothiri, in the 70s.
But she is equally sad as the song's creator has not been given the credit in any official records.
Now, when the NSS anthem is one of the front-runners to be made the state's official prayer song, the retired college teacher believes her father should be given due recognition.
"It saddens me when I see news reports which say the author of the poem is not known or it is attributed to someone else," Indira Devi told 'Express' at her home in Kozhikode.
As a child, she has heard her father, a former faculty member of Devagiri St Joseph's College, sing the verse numerous times in friend circles. In 1976, it was broadcast by the All India Radio (AIR) Kozhikode station in the 'Prabhatha Geetham' programme.
"Though the AIR has the archives intact, we haven't been able to establish that it was my father's work as only the person who sang it on air was given credit," she said. After years of pursuit, Indrani was able to find a copy of 'Poompattakal', Namboothiri's anthology of poems for children in which the verse was included. A copy of it, which was traced in a school library in the city, stands testimony to the fact that Nambothiri had authored it decades before it was adopted by the NSS as its anthem in the 90s.
Indrani also notes that many words have been changed over the years and the current version is a far cry from the original song. Along with due credit to the poet, she also wants the song to be restored to its original form.
Endorsement by historian
The fact is also endorsed by noted academic and historian M G Sashibhooshan, who wrote the preface to 'Poompattakal' three decades ago. Namboothiri was Sasibhooshan's colleague at St Joseph's College.
"Kesavan Namboothiri belonged to a rare breed of poets who would not go all out to popularise his own works. Since he was a person who maintained a low profile and didn't have much clout, his works too didn't got due recognition," Sasibhooshan said.
He was part of a recent meeting convened by the government to select an official prayer song for the state. Many works, including 'Manassu Nannavatte' and Bodheshwaran's 'Kerala Ganam' are being considered.