Meeting Narayana Bhattathiri, the man behind the only gallery for calligraphy in India
Sixty-five-year-old Narayana Bhattithiri is gentle and very soft spoken. But there is nothing gentle about his love for calligraphy. For him, that is an all-consuming passion. A Jikji Prize winner for calligraphy -- an award instituted by the South Korean Government and named after the first-ever book to be published -- Bhattithiri is also the force behind 'Ka Cha Ta Tha Pa', the first gallery for Malayalam calligraphy.
No wonder, he got the shock of his life when one of his young students recently asked him: 'Is there scope for Calligraphy?'. He opens up about his love for Malayalam letters and his mission to gain calligraphy its due in Kerala by 2027. Excerpts:
Who was your inspiration? How did you gain interest in this field?
Since around fifth grade, I used to indulge in a lot of writing, for myself and others, owing to my neat handwriting. Although unaware of calligraphy, I used to practise writing to make it neat and legible.
While pursuing pre-degree (higher secondary), I was assigned the job of writing articles for the college magazine, 'Kaiezhuthu Masika'. Magazines were still being handwritten as printing was a humongous task. I also used to write political posters on campus guided by my senior Pradeep who took care of the composition. They ranged from student protests to poems.
Then during my time at the fine arts college in Trivandrum, I got the opportunity to work for Kalakaumudi. I was working for my senior S Rajendran and writing film posters and the like. In 1982, when he got posted as a designer at Kalakaumudi, I tagged along and got assigned a part-time job -- to write headlines, which was usually done by the illustrator. This saw me became Kalakaumudi calligrapher Narayana Bhattathiri, the first to be designated so in Kerala. During my time there, I wrote over fifty thousand headlines. Working part time was convenient as writing headlines required just two days per week and I got more time to engage myself in other works.
Exhibition
After a brief stint at Malayalam Vaarika, my friend Sundar told me that the headlines I wrote were beautiful and suggested that we exhibit them for the current generation who were unfamiliar with calligraphy. Although I evaded his proposition multiple times, I finally gave in and we conducted an exhibition in Trivandrum in 2017. Feedback was limited during my time as a calligrapher for the two newspapers. As no byline was possible, no one would even know that there was a person dedicated to writing the headlines much less that calligraphy existed. But the exhibition got a great response from kids and adults alike. On Sundar's advice, I continued writing and posting them on social media.
Exposure
Sometime later, I got an email from Bombay inviting me for a national calligraphy camp in Pune. It was Aksharaya, a group of alphabet-lovers and font-creators. They invited 12 calligraphers from across India to prepare a calendar for the sponsors, Sona Papers. It was the first time I stepped out of Kerala solely for calligraphy. Both the people and the language were unfamiliar to me.
Achyut Palav, whom I consider to be the greatest calligrapher in India, was participating in the event. I was surprised when he showed me a Facebook post of mine and asked me about it. I was thrilled that someone like him noticed my work. The camp changed my perspective and work. It made me realise that calligraphy was much more than just headline writing, it was an artform like painting, where we make a composition out of alphabets. I got into good terms with calligraphers across India and participated in more workshops and camps. In 2019, when I conducted a national calligraphy fest in Trivandrum, a good number of Indian calligraphers participated.
Turning point
An incident affected me acutely during my time at the camp. It was when Santhosh Kshirsagar, the dean of the JJ Institute in Bombay asked me about the status of calligraphy in Kerala while discussing the success of calligraphy in Marathi, Gujarati, Devanagari, Urdu, etc. -- languages that had dedicated calligraphers. I told him that calligraphy is non-existent in Kerala. There are many who write well but even the calligraphists don't see it as work. On hearing this, he was shocked and asked me how was that possible in a land which calls itself 100% literate. I didn't have an answer. I felt it was something to be ashamed of. It was then that I took the decision to make calligraphy popular in Kerala in ten years.
How is it that calligraphy is internationally popular in a language like Urdu but not in ancient languages like Malayalam or Tamil?
What I gathered from my readings is that North India developed paper much before the South did. While they discovered more prospects in calligraphy on paper, we were still using thaliyola (palm-leaf manuscripts) which limits calligraphy. A careless stroke would tear the fragile manuscripts. I believe that's why our alphabets are more rounded. Another reason is that when paper finally made its way down south, we turned our attention to the quality of content over aesthetics. That's why we have a rich history of great literary works. It is the same elsewhere in South India. Recently, to my great satisfaction, calligraphy has been gaining more traction. I conducted an international calligraphy fest two months back. It got a great response. My wish is to conduct it every year. The problem is there is no one to work for it... to organise and pull off such events.
Any new talents?
A handful of people show interest after attending calligraphy fests. Apart from that, truly passionate calligraphers are yet to turn up. The problem with the new kids is that they lack persistence, patience and the eagerness to practice. Instead what I see is them giving up after a few half-hearted attempts. It is of my own accord that I wake up at 3 a.m and practise for 2 hours to keep up with the habit of writing. No one scolds me into it. With constant writing, I have improved the command over my hand so much so that I can even write with my eyes closed. (laughs)
Aesthetics or political message?
Aesthetics only. Yesterday, some people told me that they can't read something I had done. I told them it is not to read, but to 'see'. It is just like how we look at Arabic or Chinese calligraphy and appreciate it. Yes, alphabets make up the art but reading is secondary. However, it can be problematic if the content goes against the people's ideology or beliefs. They would oppose not the words but the work itself.
When will be the next international fest?
October 2, 2024. It will begin on Gandhi Jayanti. From my experiences over the last few years, I learnt that October is the tourism season while December is the time for exams. Also it is a good day.
Do you conduct classes?
I do but no one is interested. Some parents send their kids but I am not sure if it is an earnest undertaking or a mere means to get rid of their children during vacation (laughs). Once, I was taken aback when a kid in the sixth or seventh grade asked me about the scope for calligraphy. It's a pity that kids at such a tender age enrol after considering the benefits which often precede noble intentions. It is always about what one gets. But none should see calligraphy as a hobby nor should they be driven by selfish motives. Another depressing incident was when a boy around the same age informed me that he was quitting the classes as he was going for civil services coaching. I was dumbstruck. I doubt if he even knows what civil services is! But I don't let anything get to me. My sole focus is to popularise calligraphy by 2027 and I will do everything in my power for it even if it means I'm by myself. Scope and such wasn't in my mind when I started a gallery for calligraphy in Trivandrum called 'Ka Cha Ta Tha Pa', the only gallery for calligraphy in India. I managed to establish it even without revenue of my own.
The difference between international and local calligraphy. Are they advanced?
There is nothing here to compare it with. Yes, people outside are well advanced. Here, fine arts colleges do offer a separate paper for calligraphy, but sadly only in English. Here, calligraphy is synonymous with English. This is not the case outside. In China or the Arab world, they prioritize their own languages.
Nevertheless, calligraphy has managed to get a foothold in India and that is something to be proud of. I can only help to popularise it to an extent while the administrators can actually do something like making calligraphy a course in schools. For this, they need to have a grasp over it like Nehru must have had when he assigned Prem Bihari to calligraph the constitution, the copy of which can still be found in the parliament museum. There were no material benefits in mind when Prem pursued the task for three years using over 400 nibs.