It is difficult for anyone who knew M T Vasudevan Nair to live with the fact of his non-existence in Sithara, East Nadakkavu, Kozhikode, his fabled address. MT’s place in Kerala’s consciousness is not only that of a writer who has scaled the heights of literary accomplishments.
To every Malayali he represents the pride of Malayalam. Literature, the best of Malayalam cinema, and the conscience of a society. In his fiction, MT represents an age of transition where old values crumbled and new values struggle to gain moral acceptance.
His stories convey this fluidity in moral values where pragmatism and emotional convictions are in constant conflict. That was the angst of a generation.
His was a generation that greeted modernity without fully shedding the baggage of another era. It is the truth of this conflict that made his characters familiar to the reader. In their pursuit of success, these characters have to break many an emotional chord and they do realise its pain.
However they are carried by an inexorable wave of self -centredness. His characters embody the psychological complexity of every individual living life with intensity and sensitivity.
What MT brought into Malayalam fiction was not only sharp psychological realism, but also the aesthetics of brevity and density. In his later day stories and fiction MT has been able to imbibe the spirit of the changing times as in stories like ‘Sherlok,’ ‘Shilalikhitham,’ and ‘Vanaprastham.’
It is often said that MT was inspired only by his village of Koodallur and familiar characters of his family and around. In the initial phase of his literary career, this observation is true.
In fact, MT was fond of saying that “More than the oceans that hold within them precious gems, it is my Nila that is dear to me.” However, his literary landscape expanded beyond Nila and Koodallur as in the novel ‘Varanasi’ and ‘Randamoozham.’ In Randamoozham, acclaimed as his masterpiece, MT has been able to deconstruct stereotypical images of the Mahabharata chatachers and remould them in human proportions and emotions. Whenever MT wrote anything new, it became a literary event to celebrate and discuss. His language was always precise and devoid of any jaded emotional overload.
His fiction created a new sensibility and conveyed a new sensitivity. Though he never spoke with ideological compulsions, he was always with those tormented men and women that peopled his world. His was a world of familiar people whose deepest pains, struggles and uncertainties were spotlighted by MT with his deep compassion.
This is not an occasion to go deep into the literary merits of his writings. Suffice to say that in the fiction of MT, one finds the agony of a crumbling social order and its values and the birth pangs of a modern society with its undefined moral values. His writings are a harbinger of modernity and subsequent modern literature with its haphazard moral choices.
MT is the link between these two phases that fuse within him the elements of defiance, struggle, conflict and a masculine will to win.
MT has straddled generations with his literary personality that has the resilience to imbibe the changing values of the times. It is no wonder that he has been adulated and accepted by all generations of writers and readers as their contemporary. An avid reader, he kept pace with the latest trends and happenings in the world literature and could relate to young writers of merit. A quintessential editor, MT was merciless in self editing and had a knack to spot talented writers.
Scores of today’s well entrenched writers are his discoveries. I recall once I sent a long poem for publication while he was editor of Mathrubhumi weekly. Prompt came the handwritten reply “Condense it to thirty lines. Will be better”. Hesitantly I revised it and the outcome was remarkable as only a thoughtful and seasoned editor could foresee.
He had a perfectionist’s quest in whatever he did. Be it autobiographical sketches, travelogue or fiction, his words aspired towards perfection. I associated with him only in one of his films- Oru Vadakkan Veergadha- as a lyricist. The last two stanzas of the now famous song, ‘Chandana lepa sugandham...’ were rewritten by me at his behest over a dozen times. And after the recording I was searching for a smile on his face. Then he tells me philosophically ‘Perfection is a quest, never fully accomplished.’
At a personal level I had the privilege to be in his proximity. During my days as the founding Vice Chancellor of Malayalam University, MT’s benevolent presence at Thunchan Parampu and his eager concern about the fledgling university was a matter of great inspiration and confidence.
His silent positioning behind the university was like a fortress for me on several occasions when I was beleaguered by unkind remarks and reactions by self-styled critics.
It is often said that MT does not mince words and does not practise PR. Those who knew him will refute this. Of course cultivating public image by PR was anathema to him. He didn’t have any value or use for such gimmicks.
But MT had his own style of HR- heart relations. To each he conveyed his affection in his own inimitable style. May be a small word, a gesture or sometimes even a rare smile. That was valuable.
His world was quite large, encompassing admirers, journalists, writers, film. directors etc. But the hallmark of those relationships was silence. In silence he communicated. And characteristically he despised flamboyance and pretences. Once while he was in Trivandrum, I offered to take him out to dinner.
On his way to the hotel he asked me rather quizzically if the kitchen at my home was closed. I got the cue and asked him if a simple meal at home was okay with him. He was extremely happy to have dosas my wife made for him that evening. He was a raw human being and valued unsullied relationships. In his demise there are several hundreds of people like me who will miss that warmth of simplicity.
MT’s voice has acquired an authenticity few writers can claim. What is the source of that authenticity? It is a truthful and intense engagement with life and a continuous renewal of oneself that gave him this authenticity.
While accepting the Jnanpith Award at the Senate Hall, Thiruvananthapuram, MT affirmed that it will be his endeavour to live life with more liveliness and at a greater depth. He lived as he wished. In his glorious life MT gave Malayalam literature its treasured works of everlasting value. He gave us contemporaries guidance and support from his heart.
And to the society at large, MT was its conscience. Kerala is poorer by the absence of one of her greatest sons. And for me, I feel deeply grateful that I have unfading memories of MT etched in my heart.
K Jayakumar
The author is a poet, former Kerala Chief Secretary & ex-VC of Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University