KOCHI: Rahul Gandhi looked genuinely stunned and a little thrilled as he spoke about writer and critic M Leelavathy, 98, moments after meeting her on Monday. Handing over the Priyadarshini Literary Award to Leelavathy teacher, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha told the audience that her daily routine had left him inspired.
“When I met her today, I asked what she did today. So she told me her daily schedule,” Rahul said. “I don’t think anybody in this room has the same daily schedule.”
Then he revealed what had amazed him most. “She wakes up at 3 in the morning. Then she reads, and then she writes. And she just wrote about caste and has been writing about it. The fact that she gets up at 3 o’clock, writes every day and reads every day is already an inspiration for all of us,” he said, drawing warm applause.
Rahul also picked up on a phrase Leelavathy had used earlier — “a culture of silence” — and sharpened it further. “It is a culture of silence, and I would like to add it is a culture of cowardice,” he said, arguing that across the country, people often believe something deeply but hesitate to speak out. “Great nations are not built in silence.
Great nations and great people are built when they express their views and opinions and fight for their views and opinions,” he said, calling the “culture of silence” one rooted in greed. For Leelavathy teacher, the moment carried the weight of history — and personal emotion.
She recalled receiving the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award from Indira Gandhi in 1987, and said Monday felt like a rare full circle. “Today I received an award from her grandson. It is a very great coincidence… to receive an award from one of the rulers of India and from the hands of her grandson nearly half a century later,” she said.
Leelavathy, who has long shared an emotional bond with the Congress, also said many of her hopes for Indira Gandhi’s grandchildren — Rajiv Gandhi’s son and daughter — had been largely fulfilled.
She donated the prize money to the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation. Leelavathy teacher recalled her association with the grand old party by mentioning that she had donated a piece of land near Guruvayur town worth several lakhs to the Congress.