MALAYALAM
Memoirs
B.R.P.BHASKAR
NINAVINTE NANAVUKAL: K. Kunhikrishnan; Mathrubhumi Books, MM Press, Cherooty Road, Kozhikode-673001. Rs. 50.
FROM THE village of Peralam in north Kerala to Copernicus Marg in New Delhi as head of Doordarshan, K. Kunhikrishnan has travelled a long way. Starting life as an agricultural research officer, he had switched to the media, foraying also into literature, where he made a mark as a translator.
The volume under review is a collection of essays which reflects his varied experience.
He wistfully remembers the Peralam of his boyhood — its temple, farms, groves, schools, all of which wear a romantic aura in his recollection. Now things have changed. Pathways have become roads. Paddy fields have shrunk. Houses in different shapes and sizes have come up. Vehicles scream along the road threatening pedestrians. The village has lost its purity and simplicity. It is beginning to look like a town.
The essays, which number a baker’s dozen, are rich with personal anecdotes. However, many of them go beyond the limits of a personal story. A collector of fountain pens, the author presents a brief history of the writing instrument in one essay. In another, the sight of cashew trees in bloom sets in motion a train of thought that unfolds a plethora of information on the commercial crop. The mango, the jack fruit and the tender coconut also come up for examination. The tone, normally soft, turns sharp when the writer discusses the changes that have come over the marriage ceremony, especially the practice of decking the bride with gold.
The essays, which are more than fragments of an autobiography, make pleasant reading.
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