THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “Readers know him as a leading poet in Malayalam-one who believed in poetry bringing tranquillity to the reader and often attempted to balance his sense of spirituality with a modern thought process. But for his students his role went beyond that of a poet. To them, he was a guide to the literature of the West and the philosophy of the East,” says S D Prins, a student of the late Vishnnarayanan Namboothiri. Even after decades the memories of his classes at Kerala University are still etched in the hearts of many students.
“Every dialogue with him was enriching and he introduced all of us to new territories of literature which is beyond any academics or syllabus. Every time we speak to him he introduces us to a new author or a poet which is not part of the syllabus and after meeting him we would have this strong urge to read. We have remained in touch always.
Later his health deteriorated and had memory issues. Interestingly, he could remember almost everything from the past and had issues remembering the people he met in the recent years,” says Prins, who is currently Public Relations Officer at Raj Bhavan.Everybody remembers him coming to college on a bicycle. “He taught us BA during the early 80s and I consider myself very fortunate to have attended his class all three years.
He taught us Shakespearean plays and his teaching stands out because of the cosmic vision he had. He used to teach us everything in such a way that we could easily connect or relate to it because of the universal vision he had. In the early 80s the situation at Kerala University was violent because of the political scenario during that time. He used to be calm and I still remember him arriving at the campus peacefully but he had a clear stand always.
He had always been a father figure for many of us. I am fortunate to have received many personal blessings from him and he has influenced many of us personally. He had a clear judgement on every student he taught,” says A M Unnikrishnan, Professor of Malayalam and member of Senate, University of Kerala.
Tearful farewell to poet at Shanthikavadam
Poet Vishnunarayanan Namboothiri, who died here on Thursday, was cremated with state honours at Shanthikavadam at 2pm on Friday. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, prominent writers and politicians paid homage to Vishnunarayanan Namboothiri, who died after fighting neuro-related issues. The body was kept for public viewing at Vyloppilli Samskrithi Bhavan from 8 am on Friday.