THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: German Indologist Heike Oberlin has a special purpose this time to attend Loka Kerala Sabha. She had digitised the collection of books, pamphlets and lithographs which were in the possession of Hermann Gundert who had compiled the first encyclopaedic Malayalam-English dictionary in 1872. She handed the same to the state government. The collection is considered a treasure trove of research value among academics.
She with her husband, Gerhard Oberlin, a literary and cultural scientist, visit the state at least once in a year for academic and personal reasons. Clad in traditional Kerala sari, Heike spoke about her love for Kerala and the language. She plans to revise the German-Malayalam dictionary compiled by V C Chacko in 1972. “I want to add new usages and words such as ‘internet’ which was not in vogue when the dictionary was written,” said Heike. She says the new dictionary would help students in Germany to learn Malayalam.
Heike teaches at the Department of Indology and Comparative Religion in Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen. Her Malayalam classes are popular among second and third generation Malayalis settled in Germany. Students from all over Europe come to her to learn Malayalam as part of their academic programmes.
She has witnessed protest of students in Eberhard Karls University of Tuebingen where she teaches and on the streets of Kolkata and Delhi. “It is frightening. But it is good to see the participation of students in the protest.” she said.
“I wish Mahatma Gandhi had a reincarnation as the next avatar of Lord Vishnu to help India out of its (current) turmoil,” Heike said in an apparent reference to the ongoing agitation in the country. Heike said she was concerned about right-wing politics because of the perils faced by her country under Adolf Hitler. “In times like these, a Gandhi would have been ideal as people can identify with him emotionally just by seeing him,” she said.
Love for Kerala
The Indian Council for Cultural Relations has awarded Gisela Bonn Award for 2019 to Heike recognising her noteworthy contribution towards promotion of Indology and dance forms of koodiyattam and bharatanatyam.
In 2015, she in cooperation with Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University established the ‘Gundert Chair’ for Malayalam at Tübingen. She was a scholar in residence at Kerala Kalamandalam in 2018. Gerhard too shares Heidi’s love for the state. He says the concept of land distribution was not known in Europe. “Kerala is a role model for co-existence of religions and tolerance,” he said.