THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: From a boy who was scared of ghosts and ran to his mother for help to being the Chief Minister of the state, Pinarayi Vijayan's life has been a spectrum of colours. Yet, he has been calm, collected, almost renunciate.
"I have read to my mother books on Ramayana, Krishnapaatu, Thacholi paatu and sort. Maybe that brought in me a detachment from desires, quite sanyasi-like," he told actor Mohanlal, in a free-wheeling chat.
Mohanlal's queries to Pinarayi touched upon the lighter sides of the veteran's life, the humour he shares with friends, and his love for football. Pinarayi smiled when asked about being known as someone who smiled less, chatted freely when asked about the chatter about him in public space, and even grew emotional as he spoke of his mother, with whom he shared a special bond. "I was by her side when she passed away. She leaned on me as she breathed her last," he recollected, with palpable grief lingering in his voice.
The actor then touched upon the times Pinarayi had to spend in jail, especially during the Emergency days. "The torture was inhumane. I could sense my skin coming off. It has remained in me as a bad memory to such an extent that, as the Home Minister, when I come across custodial death cases, I make sure it is investigated by the CBI, an external agency, so that there would be an impartial investigation," he said.
The chatter of people about his 'strict demeanour' or his Singapore travel after his term as Power Minister, does not bother him much, he said. "We should make sure our mind is clean. Once that is done, no matter what people say wont affect us. And it is not that I hold grudges against those who speak. There have been cases where I have helped those who spoke so," he recollected.
Social commitment is what turns him on, he told Mohanlal, as he pitted the role of the actor in 'Amritam Gamaya' as his favourite. "The realisation of the doctor who was in a ragging case and the way he grew committed later to society was very progressive indeed," Pinarayi felt, as he remembers his point of guilt. "I had a friend when in college. He had taken to drinking. Later, he grew addicted to it totally. Whenever I think of him, I feel I should have been there for him more."
"The empathy spills over to animals too, isn't it?" asked Mohanlal. "I have felt for animals. There was a dog in my neighbourhood when I was young. It once saved me from a snake. Now, there is a dog we rear named Robin. Also, there are many crows that come to Cliff House, which my staff feeds. Come evening, it is quite an assembly by the fountain there," he said, remembering his diktat during Covid to people to feed animals too.
The politician in him takes rest as he enters home, where he finds himself grooving to the beat of his home, he replied to another query of Mohanlal on his affection for home. "People know my kids are my weakness," he claimed, saying his leisure, which is hard to come by, is filled with books and TV. "I used to watch some films before, of Rajnikanth," he said.
"Many among you are my friends. But I have a taste for his action movies," Pinarayi smiled.
To him, time with family is what he cherishes, and memories of his mother still fill him up. "I remember when my teacher asked me what my star was. My mother told him (the star), and he made my jatakam and asked my mother to teach me as much as I would study. I was also afraid of ghosts, a feeling that I overcame with time. My mother was my support, the one whose values stayed with me always," he recollected. "When I am home, I belong to the ones in my home. To me, the moments when I have lost dear ones are the real losses," he said, also mentioning the death of Kodiyeri Balakrishnan.
Responding to Mohanlal’s request for a song, Pinarayi said that as a school student, he had been part of kathaprasangam and was fond of poems and literature, including Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina, the works of Hugo, and Takazhi’s Kayar. He then recited an Upanishadic verse that his teacher had taught him. "It is about the God that exists beyond idols," he smiled, as he recited the lines.
Mohanlal said he had sensed a spiritual side in the veteran politician. Pinarayi responded, "I always feel whatever is around is nissaramaya samsaram. But I do not fear anything in particular. I am a commoner with a practicality in me. When I speak to people from that stand, they listen to me, like they did during Covid," he said.
The chief minister thanked the actor for making time to speak with him. "You are a great actor and to be interviewed by you is an honour," he smiled.