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Exploring Thakazhi's world

Francis Zimmermann A professor of anthropology and Indian philosophy at the School of Advanced Studies in Social Studies in Paris, Dr. Zimmermann wonders why there is so little in Malayalam to help foreigners learn the language. In conversation withR. Madhavan Nair

The roots of his family tree go back to Germany; he has a German name too, but Francis Zimmermann is French by birth and teaches Indian philosophy in a university in France. Yet, he swears his first love is Malayalam language. He is engaged in a spirited attempt to master Malayalam language.

Dr. Zimmermann spent a few days in Kozhikode after giving a talk at the University of Calicut. What surprised his audience was the subject he chose to speak on - the Malayalam novel `Kayar' by Jnanpith laureate Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai.

" I am not an authority on Thakazhi," Dr. Zimmermann said modestly while speaking to The Hindu. But he could not hide his admiration for Thakazhi. "He is my favourite author in Malayalam," he says.

Dr. Zimmermann's love of Malayalam language is an extension of his interest in Sanskrit. He had studied classical philosophy, Sanskrit and social anthropology.

It was his interaction with Vayaskara N.S. Mooss in Kottayam in the late 1990s that kindled in him interest in Malayalam language. He had to make corrections in manuscripts on Ayurveda. Some of these were in Malayalam. He learned Malayalam to do his job. He spent nearly two years with Mooss studying Ayurveda.

Since then he had been pursuing three lines of research - continuing explorations into Kerala society and Malayalam literature, textual studies in the scholarly traditions of medicine, logic and philosophy in India and linguistic anthropology and the development of this discipline over the last three decades and its applications in the study of mother tongues in the context of globalisation.

Dr. Zimmermann is working on the history and social anthropology of Kuttanad as reflected in the literary works of Thakazhi.

He has authored a book on Ayurveda. It has been published under the title `The Jungle and the Aroma of Meats,' which is an essay on Ayurvedic medicine. He became interested in writings of Thakazhi after reading a book in English on the legendary writer by poet and scholar Ayyappa Panicker.

That was a year after Thakazhi's demise. Two years later he met Dr. Panicker and discussed with him Thakazhi's books.

"When you read `Kayar' you get a summary of the social history of Kerala. It contains vignettes of social life - rice cultivation, coir factories, emigration of Malayalis to Malaysia and even communism. I admire Thakazhi for his professionalism as a writer. `Kayar' is worth 20 Malayalam books," says the Professor from France.

But he is surprised that Thakazhi is considered by many in Kerala as an outdated author. "Many people talk to me be about O.V. Vijayan. He is good. But I like Thakazhi's narrative style better," says Dr. Zimmermann. P. Venugopalan, Chief Editor of Malayalam Lexicon who had known Thakazhi well, had also helped him understand the social milieu of `Kayar.'

Translation

Dr. Zimmermann, however, finds the English translation of `Kayar' brought out by Kerala Sahitya Akademi quite disappointing, mainly because of translation of dialogues in the book is not up to the mark. Dr. Zimmermann's translation of `Kayar' from Malayalam to French is already under way. The English translation will follow.

Adoor Gopalakrishnan, who is also on his list of favourites in Kerala, is already a familiar name in literary and artistic circles in France after the retrospective on Adoor's films was held in Paris.

O.V. Vijayan also has admirers in Paris. Dr. Zimmermann rates highly a French translation of Vijayan's magnum opus, `Khasakinte Ithihasam.' He hopes he would one day be able to meet the translator, Domique Vitalyos who, he had been told, visits Kerala often. There is already a French translation of Vaikkom Muhammed Basheer's `My Granddad had an Elephant.'

Despite his interest in and sound knowledge of Malayalam literature, Dr. Zimmermann is quick to admit that his grasp of Malayalam is far from satisfactory. Every year he comes to Kerala looking for new Malayalam books.

In Kozhikode he found a new print of `Uma Keralam' which he bought immediately since he had only an old edition of that book. Reading Malayalam books takes a lot of time because he has to refer an English-Malayalam dictionary which he always keeps by his side. But it has not diminished his interest in reading Malayalam books.

Dr. Zimmermann wonders why there is so little in Malayalam to help foreigners learn the language. He points out that his situation is similar to that of thousands of Keralites who migrated to foreign countries and want their children to learn their mother tongue.

"Malayalam is a difficult language to learn. The last manual to help foreigners learn the language was written by the late Dr. K.M. George. It is time for a new one," says Dr. Zimmermann.

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