The Hindu : `Uphold tradition of humaneness'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jan 29, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

`Uphold tradition of humaneness'

By Our Staff Reporter

THUNCHANPARAMBU (TIRUR), JAN. 28 . In an ambience of subdued grandeur, the annual Thunchan festival, organised by the Kendra Sahitya Akademi and the Thunchan Smaraka Trust, began at the birth place of the father of Malayalam language, Thunchathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, here today.

The hallowed precincts of Thunchanparambu reverberated to the chantings of Ezhuthachan's poetry, as a galaxy of writers from all over the country paid homage to the bard of Malayalam language. The Akademi chairperson, Gopichand Narang, who inaugurated the five-day literary initiative, said his major concern was the prevailing scenario in the country. "I feel scared. There is a crisis of culture all round - crises of human, political, and moral values. This was from within and without. These threats endanger our very cultural existence. The bane of commercialism, casteism and terrorism are on us.

"The writers of this country needed to counter these challenges, and transform it into a culture of peace, though no mechanical solution was available. Literature thrived only in an atmosphere of peace. Writers have to be alert to this great social responsibility," he said.

Quoting from Galib, Meer and other writers, he said the tradition of equality and humaneness, irrespective of caste and creed enunciated by the `Bhakti' and `Sufi' poets, which rekindled faith in the unity of mankind, needed to be upheld as never before. "Indians are inheritors of this tradition. But where have we lost this message" he queried.

Reciting a Meer couplet, he wanted writers to raise the inner truth and express dissent in society, whenever the need arose.

Prof. Narang opined that it was the Indian mind that emphasised for the first time the concept of `consciousness' , `inner mind' and `the nothingness from which galaxies are created', as the ultimate reality. And this concept holds today, while `empiricism', stands dethroned.

Paying homage to Thunchan, he said the poet who led the Dravidian tradition was to Malayalam what Homer was to Greek, or Chaucer to English.

The Trust chairman, M.T. Vasudevan Nair, reminisced that Thunchanparambu has been a cultural centre since long, and literary personalities have visited the place to pay homage to the bard. The MPs, M.P. Abdu Samad Samdani and A.Vijayaraghavan, Chathanath Achuthanunni, writer, and the chairperson of Tirur Municipality, T. Kunhi Beevi, spoke.

Homage was paid to the satirist, Vadakke Kottala Narayanankutty Nair (VKN), who passed away recently. The book `Ezhuthuchan Padanangal', by Krishnan Namboodiri, was released on the occasion.

The others highlights of the festival are a seminar on `Geography and Literature', besides Akashavani's seminar on Thunchan's works, among others.

The noted writer, Prema Nandakumar, delivered the Samvatsar lecture. Writers in Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, including G.V. Subramaniam, Rajendra Chenni, K. Chellppan, Giradi Govindaraj, Sirpi Balasubramaniam, G.S. Siddalinghiah, among others, are participating in the programmes.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Kerala