The Hindu : Kerala News : Ponkunnam Varkey dead

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jul 03, 2004

Kerala

Kerala

Ponkunnam Varkey dead

By Our Staff Reporter

KOTTAYAM, JULY 2. Ponkunnam Varkey, enfant terrible of Malayalam literature who waged an uncompromising war, often all alone, against injustice, is no more. His death came at the end of the day-long celebrations organised in connection with his 94th birthday.

Poor health had kept him in his Perumcheril House at Pampady for the past many months. However, he was at the centre of the celebrations on Thursday, which included paying of tributes by his children, a seminar on his life and works and a public function that was inaugurated by the film star, Mammootty.

According to his relatives, Varkey was restless all through the night. The end came a little after 10 a.m. at his residence today. The body has been removed to a private hospital. The funeral will be held later.

Born into an agrarian family in 1908 at Edathua, Varkey lost his father at an early age. His mother had to move to her ancestral house at Ponkunnam with her children. As Varkey himself had said, his childhood was not a protected one, but based on the dictum of the survival of the fittest. When he found that his neighbour was taking his child to school, the young Varkey just volunteered and asked, "shall I come with you?'' The neighbour agreed and Varkey joined the school.

Later, Varkey went on to become a teacher at a Catholic school, near Ponkunnam. But his relationship with the management was unpleasant and he left the institution when he was appointed teacher at the Vernacular Middle School in Pampady. Varkey entered the literary field in 1939 with `Thirumulkazhcha', a work of great poetic value that got rave reviews from the stalwarts of the time.

Varkey soon changed his track and chose prose, finding that drama and short story were the most effective vehicles to bring the written word close to the spoken one. He was already in the vortex of the great churning that was taking place in Kerala's social arena; he used his literary prowess to launch an uncompromising struggle against social injustice.

This brought him in direct conflict with the then Diwan who took serious exception to his works like `Manthrikettu' and `Model'. For the first time in the history of the State, a writer was arrested and put in jail for his literary work. And Varkey lost his job.

In 1944, Varkey started a bookstall, with the support of people like D.C. Kizhakkemuri. But the venture was a total failure; after a few years, it merged with the Sahitya Pravarthaka Cooperative Society (SPCS), world's first writer's cooperative. This was one of the most creative periods in his life. His entry into the film industry was through `Navalokam', for which he penned the story and dialogue. The screenplay was heavily loaded with pro-labour dialogues and the film received heavy cuts from the Censor Board. He also worked for films like `Asha Deepom', `Snehaseema', `Bharya', `Vidhithanna Vilakku', `School Master' and many others. He also produced two films - `Makam Piranna Manka' and `Chalanam'. Varkey was an honorary member of MACTA.

The focus of his works was on human relationships and man's relationship with nature. As one of his admirers said on the occasion of his 94th birthday, "Varkey was a great humanist. He rejected the Church, but was always in search of Christ''.

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