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The master storyteller gets a fitting abode

FOND MEMORIES: Basheer’s widow Fabi takes a look at the Basheer memorabilia at the Literary Museum on Saturday.

TIRUR: Vaikom Mohammed Basheer has been given a deserving niche in the ancestral home of Thunchathu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan, patriarch of the Malayalam language.

The literary museum functioning at Thunchanparambu here opened a corner exclusively for the Sultan of storytelling on Saturday.

The large left-side room at the museum’s entrance contains a wide variety of Basheer memorabilia, donated by the writer’s family.

Till recently, the personal belongings of Basheer attracted the writer’s following to Vailalil, his home at Beypore. Now, these have a new home. A dozen-odd Malayalam magazines with Basheer on the cover have been spread carelessly on a wooden stand. The room sports a rustic but matching ambience, with shades of thatches erected at regular intervals and dry leaves arrayed in plenty. Almost all works of Basheer have been displayed.

The black thick-framed glasses and the Favre Leuba wristwatch Basheer used are among the exhibits. The needles of the watch stand still at 5.39, reminding one of the passing away of Basheer.

There are enough photographs of the writer to understanding his varying moods. A cartoon by Shilet Cijo, a student of UH Higher Secondary School, Chaliyam, portrays Basheer sitting under his favourite tree and listening to music from his gramophone. A kitchen knife and a semi-ripe plantain have been displayed to indicate two of his famous works. A sample of Basheer’s manuscript convinces the visitors that the Bepyore Sultan’s pen was not cacographic.

Among the memorabilia are a flask, a cigarette case, a gramophone, an easy chair and a knife, all used by Basheer. Young artist Shabeeba’s painting of Basheer’s Balyakala Sakhi gives a visual extension to the famous story. A gathering of Basheer lovers, including M.T. Vasudevan Nair and Ronald Asher, a Basheer translator , gave the writer’s family an occasion to fall back on nostalgic memories.

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