KANNUR: Eighty-three-year-old Njattyela Sreedharan spent 25 years travelling across three states. Collecting books and magazines, he also spent a lot of money which he knew could never be recovered through what he was doing – compiling a multi-lingual dictionary.“It isn’t about money. This is the work of my life, the realisation of my dream,” Sreedharan says.
His work – unparalleled, as former Kerala Chief Secretary K Jayakumar puts it – connects Malayalam, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Titled ‘Chathur Dravida Bhasha Nighandu (A Dictionary of Four Dravida Languages), and published by the Kerala Senior Citizens Forum, all 500 copies were sold out within two weeks of its release last year on November 1, the formation day of Kerala. But he is now without a publisher for a second edition, with the first publisher citing financial constraints.
“This huge effort of Njattyela Sreedharan needs to be recognised properly by the government and the people concerned,” says P K Pokker, former director, State Institute of Languages, Thiruvananthapuram.
Though a fourth standard dropout, Sreedharan’s passion for languages and a steely determination to realise his dream has brought him to this day.
“Kerala Senior Citizens Forum had stepped in as publishers when the Kerala Sahitya Akademi and the Kerala Bhasha Institute had turned their backs on him,” said Nandan, who had directed a documentary ‘Dreaming of Word’ about Sreedharan and his dictionary. Sreedharan’s romance with words started from his childhood when he had learnt Sreekrishna Charitham Manipravalam and Balaramayanam of Kumaran Asan.“I could recite many portions by heart from these books even before I reached the age of 10,” said Sreedharan.
Unfortunately, he had to discontinue his studies after Class IV and soon started working at a beedi factory where the elders asked him to read aloud newspapers and magazines for them. “Those assignments ignited my passion for reading,” Sreedharan says. When he was 17, he began giving classes for older persons and later became a part of the literacy mission campaigns. A two-year stint at a beedi-making unit in Palakkad helped him learn Tamil. “Learning Tamil was a turning point in my life as I became more passionate about words and its connections to other languages,” he says.
Later, he landed a job as a temporary worker with the irrigation department. After retiring in 1994, he has dedicated his life to the dictionary.“That my educational qualification wasn’t high would have been a factor for big publishing doubting the authenticity of the work,” he says.Priced at Rs 1,500, the dictionary has 856 pages and 15,000 entries .