When I sit down to scribble a few lines on MT, I am at a loss for words. Who was he actually? To me as a person and to the literary world as such?
Because his areas of activities were so wide and varied. One who started off as an award-winning story writer, subsequently bloomed into one of the best novelists the language has ever produced.
Subsequently, he turned out to be a screenwriter of eminence and went on to become an award-winning director.
Despite all these varied accolades, I would still reckon him as the best literary editor the language has ever produced. Mainly because he had the proverbial “third eye” to scout for untapped talent and the humility to nurture them for the future.
During the sixties, he was instrumental in shaping the literary career of no less than a dozen young writers ranging from Kakkanadan and M P Narayana Pillai to Padmarajan. Scouting young talents and giving them a break at the right time makes all the difference in shaping one’s career.
He was the one responsible for publishing my first story in 1967. He was also instrumental in publishing many of my stories and novels in Mathrubhumi weekly. As publication in this prestigious journal was being regarded as the ultimate yardstick for literary recognition, these kinds of timely support cannot be underestimated.
Incidentally, he was instrumental in literally forcing me to complete my well-known novel Pandavapuram, which had remained unfinished in my jotting book for quite some time.
I cherish my personal association with him spanning over six decades and I have no doubt that Malayalam literature will certainly miss the great MT in the days to come.