KOCHI: It was a joyous occasion for fans and well-wishers when the 98-year-old writer and critic M Leelavathi came to the Kesari Smaraka Sahrudaya Grandhashala in Kalamassery on Monday to witness the inauguration of a book corner dedicated to her.
Playing down her worth, she pointed out that she did not deserve such a space in an establishment set up in memory of one of the most influential thinkers of modern Kerala, Kesari Balakrishna Pillai.
“This is a huge honour for me,” Leelavathi said. “I have not done any big deeds to deserve such an honour. You have given me the biggest honour I have ever received in my life. On this occasion, we should also remember Balakrishnan Nair, former government secretary, who donated 10 cents to set up this library in honour of Kesari,” she added.
This is the first among three book corners being installed in three libraries in the Kalamassery assembly constituency under the ‘Granthashalaykku Oppam Kalamassery’ project initiated by Industries Minister P Rajeeve, the Kalamassery MLA.
Ambat Vijayakumar, president of the library, told TNIE, “More than a hundred of Dr Leelavathi’s works have been made available at the book corner. All the books were bought, the library renovated, and the corner set up using the CSR fund of BPCL and TCC, besides the MLA fund.”
Next in line under the ‘Granthashalaykku Oppam Kalamassery’ is a book corner honouring writer Sethu, which will be set up at the Mangalodayam Library, Kadungallur. It will be followed by the Thoma Mathew book corner at the AKG Library in Edappally, Vijayakumar said.
“Besides Leelavathi teacher’s books, we also have books written by M K Sanu and other prominent authors. The next stage will see bringing in books written by all Malayalam critics,” he added.