Sugathakumari teacher is a luminous presence in Malayalam literature who has enriched our lives for the past five decades. Her poems are full of love that embrace us without any formality. She possessed great humanity and kindness. Her poems are not flowery, but they reflect the stark realities of human sorrows, loneliness and endurance.
When people were after those who succeeded in life, Teacher was after losers, heartbroken ones and loners. She had her heart wide open for them.
She was preoccupied with the rivers getting dried up, snakes that lost their habitats with the destruction of sacred groves, birds that lost their nests, and young ones with shattered childhood and how to make their lives better.
While poets sought solitude, Teacher led a hard life by climbing the hills to conserve nature, organising protests and lending her shoulders to the destitute.
She might have lost time to write more poems but the life she had was equally great as her poetry. Whether I liked the poet or the altruist in Teacher, I can say that I liked both in equal measure.
As Bengali writer Bimal Mitra wrote about the vacuum created by the disappearance of large mango trees that once gave shades, I also feel agonised by the loss of ONV, Sukumar Azhikode, Akkitham and now Sugathakumari.