This is a poem describing the situation where a couple has separated & one of them is celebrating birthday alone hence missing other partner. Hope you like it. सालगिरह आती रही, सालगिरह जाती रही, पर ना खोल सका उन गिरहों को कोई. His mastery of the medium is evident in all his poems both lyrical and narrative. Many critics consider the long poem Kudiyozhikkal (Eviction of the tenant) as his magnum opus. In the prefatory lines to the poem the poet says: 'Punchiri! Ha, Kuleenamam kallam. Nenchu keeri njan nerinekkattaam' (The smile! Oh, It's but a noble lie.

1. Kudiyozhikkal Poem Lyrics Meaning
2. Kudiyozhikkal Kavitha Lyrics

Kochi, India

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Fiction in the Foreground
In the wake of the western novel came the western short story. The stories in the puranas or in works like Panchatantra could not give rise to a modern form of short fiction. When English came to influence the prose style, it also led to the use of prose for story telling. Among the earliest practitioners of the short story in Malayalam are Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar (1861-1915), Ambadi Narayana Poduval (1871-1936), Murkot Kumaran (1874-1941), K. Sukumaran (1876-1956) and M.R.K.C. or Chenkulath Kunhirama Menon (1882-1940). In the place of a native tradition of story-telling, they developed a new mode by incorporating the western narrative tradition. But the stories of these early decades of the 20th century were quaint accounts of episodes, their main purpose seems to have been to provide entertainment to the literate population. But the short story began to forge ahead in the 1930’s. A new generation of writers was just waiting in the wings when the Sahitya Parishath was launched in 1927 in the place of the old Kavisamajam started in 1892 and the later Bhashaposhini Sabha
which had become defunct. The best link between the older writers of the short story and the new generation was E.V. Krishna Pillai, whose stories are collected in Kelisoudham. In 1937 the younger writers started a Jivat Sahitya Samiti which in 1944 grew into the Progressive Literature Association. Whatever limitations this movement may have had, the emphasis put on the realities of life and on the need to relate literature to contemporary problems had its salutary effect on the short story. Perhaps without this new awakening, the Malayalam short story would have remained where it was before. But in the new circumstances the short story got a boost. Some of the best talents went into this field. Karur Neelakanta Pillai (1898-1974), P. Kesava Dev (1904-1983), Ponkunnam Varkey (b, 1908), Vaikom Muhammed Basheer (1912-1994) S.K. Pottekkat (1913-1982), Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai (b, 1914), P.C. Kuttikrishnan (1915-1979), Lalithambika Antharjanam (1909-1987) and K. Saraswathi Amma (1919-1974) were among the masters of the new short story that began its brilliant career in the 1930’s and achieved great heights in the next twenty years. Karur was a humanist to the core and even when he used satire he had his sympathies in the right quarters in the right proportion. The moralizing strain is completely muted in his best stories such as “Marappavakal” (Wooden Dolls), “Poovampazham” (Bananas) and “Mothiram” (The Ring), Compared with the stories of E.V. Krisnna Pillai or Bhavathrathan Nambudiripad, the stories of Karur are finished products. His stories about the episodes in the life of a school teacher such as he was, are marked by selective realism and poignant pathos. He is, perhaps, the most economical of our short-story writers. Kesava Dev began as a politically-oriented writer and his sympathies lay with the oppressed classes. He is often impatient about the aesthetic side. His view is that if the writer takes enough care about what he has to say, then technical excellence will automatically follow. Nevertheless, some of his early stories are quite moving because of their raw, unselfconscious craftsmanship. No one can write without craft and it is the regard for authenticity in artistic communication that makes a writer care for the way communication is achieved. “Meenkaran Koran” (Koran, the fisherman) is a story that well reveals both Dev’s thematic obsessions and his technique of narration. Ponkunnam Varkey is also concerned with socio-political reality and his early stories are open attacks on the church. The attempt to bring to light the hidden motivations for outwardly pious actions is what Varkey is specially interested in in his stories which expose the foibles or cruelties of the church as an institution. His younger contemporary, Ponjikkara Raphy continued for a time, this tirade against the “tyranny” of the Catholic Church. Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, quite unlike Varkey, works by suggestion. He is also a social critic (here a critic of the weaknesses of the Islamic society in Kerala) but he does not shout or harangue like Dev and Varkey. He is closer to Karur in this respect. The master artist in him is fully revealed in stories like “Poovanpazham” (Banana), “Bhargavi Nilayam” and “Muchittukalikarante Makal” (A gambler’s daughter). There is humour and pathos in several of his best stories. S.K. Pottekkat is more interested in psychology than in social reality. His stories like “Stri” (Woman), “Vadhu” (The Bride) and “Nisagandhi” (Flower of the night) reveal this. The absence of a propagandist obsession enables him to use a poetic style. Some of the stories are laid in places outside Kerala. His romantic interests are reflected in the titles of his collection: Indraneelam, Chandrakantham, Padmaragam, (names of precious stones); “Rajamally”, “Kanakambaram”, “Nisagandhi” (names of flowers) Pulliman, Himavahini, Manimalika, Vanakaumudi (all words with rich associations). Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai started as a short story writer in the line of Guy de Maupassant who was probably introudced to him by A. Balakrishna Pillai. He has an unerring eye for the telling detail and in his best stories he makes this effect by using a simple unadorned style. Compared with him Pottekat and Kuttikrishnan may be said to employ an ornate style, a “precious” diction and aim at special effects. In Thakazhi, the style is not an end in itself. We do not see it, as a matter of fact, we see through it. He is capable of clinical analysis and objective reporting in a neutral style. One
of his popular early stories is “Vellappokkam” (Flood). His major themes concern the life of the peasants and the have nots. But it may be said that under the influence of his French masters, there is an overdose of “naturalist” writing in the early stories, roughly in the manner of Zola. Lalithambika Antharjanam and K. Saraswathi Amma are among the foremost women story tellers in Malayalam; they deal with the pieties of domestic life. Antharjanam’s stories are marked by her innate sympathy for people in distress. She has also a great deal of variety of themes, as exemplified by “Pancharayumma” (A sweet kiss) on the one hand and “Sathyathinte Swaram” (The Voice of Truth) on the other. The former is personal, subjective, domestic, delicate, lyrical, the other is tragic, social, public, harsh, dramatic. The problems of a Nambudiri household are also taken up at times, as in “Kuttasammatham” (Confession). Saraswathi Amma has a less sophisticated style. Her forthright analysis of man-woman relationship is not too common even in Western literature. The short stories of P.C. Kuttikrishnan present the interplay of the romantic and the realistic. Like Karur and Basheer; Kuttikrishnan also is capable of using humour as an undertone. It does not graduate into satire. He also reveals a unique insight into human nature. The psychology of the proletariat has seldom been portrayed better than in some of the early short stories of Ponjikkara Raphy, just as middle class life is vividly portrayed in the stories of Vettoor Raman Nair. The development of the novel in the second quarter of the twentieth century is a close parallel to the growth of the short story as outlined above. Chandu Menon and C.V. Raman Pillai had established two lineages in the Malayalam novel.For a long while they were without any real following. They were imitated ad infinitum. Social and historical novels came out in large numbers. But there was no creative originality in any of them. Narayana Kurukkal (1861-1948) wrote Parappuram (during the 1890’s) and Udayabhanu during the 1900’s, which may be regarded as setting up a new genre, viz., the political novel, Virutan Sanku (Sanku, the smart fellow) by Karatt Achutha Menon (1867-1913) was written in 1913. Rama Varma Appan Thampuran (1876-1942) was the author among numerous other things the novel Bhootharayar (1923), Ambadi Narayana Poduval’s Keralaputran also deserves mention here. These were not major achievements. Thus it might be said that the course of extended prose fiction in Malayalam appeared to have come to an end. It was then that in 1931 a work that was unique in many ways came out; it was Apphante Makal (Uncle’s Daughter) by Bhavatratan Nambudiripad. Like V.T. Bhattathiripad’s play Adukkalayil NinnuArangathekku, produced about the same time, this novel also had a profound social relevance. But apart from that, it was very readable story in prose, the characters were fully alive and the social situation, fully realized in the context of the novel. The fresh awakening of the novel in the thirties was due to various factors such as the arrival on the scene of a new generation of writers, the demand for reading material for the newly literate, the exposure of

Malayalam writers to the new vistas of Russian and French fiction through the writings of Balakrishna Pillai and a general interest among the people in matters social, political and cultural, which is also seen in our national life at the time. The forties and the early fifties were a busy period for the novelists as the following shows.

1942 Odayil Ninnu (Out of the Gutter, Kesava Dev)

1944 Balyakala Sakhi (Childhood friend; Basheer

1946 Nati (Actress: Dev)

1947 Sabdangal (Voices: Basheer) Thottiyude Makan (Scavenger’s Son:Thakazhi)

1948 Vishakanyaka (Poison Maid: Pottekkat)

1949 Randidangazhi (Two Measures; Thakazhi Bhrantalayam (Mad House: Dev)

1950 Arkuvendi (For Whose Sake: Dev)

1951 Entuppuppakkoranendarnnu (My Grandpa had an Elephant: Basheer)

Kudiyozhikkal Poem Lyrics Meaning

1955 Ummachu (Kuttikrishnan)

1956 Chemmeen (Prawns; Thakazhi)

1957 Pathummuyude Aadu (Pattumma’s Goat; Basheer)

1958 Sundarikalum Sundaranrmarum (Women and Men of Charm: Kuttikrishnan).

It is clear from the above list that most of the time the same people wrote short stories and novels. Thus the early modern novel is no more than an extended short story, if the novelist does not appear on the stage and add his own comments and explanations, the novel would be still shorter. Thakazhi’s early work Pathitha Pankajam (Fallen Lotus), Dev’s OdayilNinnu, Pottekkat’s Nadan Premam (Country Love) and Basheer’s Balyakala Sakhi are novels of this kind. Dev’s Nati and Pottekkat’s Vishakanyaka have graduated into what may be called the novel proper. Thus the modern novel in Malayalam is mostly a post-war-phenomenon. What is important here is that aspects of life which had never entered into literature before with sufficient force or depth, swept into it now, through these novels. The novel as a genre in the hands of these writers is purely a western transplantation; none of them has tried to evolve an indigenous form of prose narration. The influence of Chekhov, Maupassant, Gorky, Hugo, Tolstoy, Steinbeck, Knut Hamsun and perhaps Dostoievsky; the list can be lengthened. But it must however be granted that these novelists widened the range of our readers’ interests and thus provided a much needed education in literary sensibility, Pappu, Chathan, Koran, Ummachu, Karuthamma, Majid, Suhra, Ouseph; they were all granted entry into the temple of Saraswati. The Pariah and the Nambudiri jostled shoulders in claiming the compassion and consideration of the reading public. And what is more, the novel was no more a mere means of entertainment, a decoration or an outgrowth. It was like life itself, as created by the artist’s vision. In the fifties the novel became the most productive literary form; but skeptics continued to feel there was not yet any one to challenge. Chandu Menon

nor any novel yet to stand comparison with Ramaraja Bahadur.

Literary Criticism
Among the forms of non-fiction prose that received a tremendous onward push in the modern period, was literary criticism. In the 1930’s and 40’s three names became most influential. A Balakrishna Pillai (1889-1960), Joseph Mundasseri (1901-1977) and Kuttikrishna Marar (1900-1973). Their critical writings are mostly interpretative rather than theoretical. In theory, they tried to draw upon literature in other languages. Balakrishna Pillai and Mundesseri mostly upon European literature, including Russian, while Marar was mainly confined to and contented with vedic and classical, Sanskrit literature. Balakrishna Pillai wrote elaborate studies of the selected lyrics of Edappalli Raghavan Pillai, Changampuzha Krishna Pillai, G. Sankara Kurup Kedamangalam Pappukutty and works like Kerala Varma’s
Mayurasandesam and Thakazhi’s Thalayode (skull). He had widely read in European literature, French, Russian, Italian etc., and often quoted from or referred to works in these languages for comparison and contrast with contemporary Malayalam literature. He was in a way responsible for the cultivation of the exotic in Malayalam literature. His obession with the theoretical aspects of literary schools and movements, with archaeology and ancient history, with myth and psycho analysis and with literary genres and formalist criticism, helped fertilize the otherwise barren ground of literary criticism in Malayalam. At times he seemed to indulge in oversimplification and categorization, but even then he did help readers to look for specific elements in literary works. He was mainly responsible for the modernization of literary taste in Malayalam. Respect for contemporary classics seems to have been his watchword. Joseph Mundasseri began his career as a critic by looking for a means of synthesizing Indian poetics with the insights of Western literary criticism. He was able to set forth some of these views in his early work Kavya Peetika. He applied these to the works of Kumaran Asan and tried to identify the elements of greatness in Asan’s work. Thus, like Balakrishna Pillai, he was also bent upon interpreting and highlighting contemporary classics. His essays in Manadandam, show his interest in ancient classics like Kalidasa’s Meghadoot. His controversial theory about Roopabhadrata formal excellence - showed that he was not evaluating a work of art solely on the basis of the proclaimed aims of a writer. But he saw the artist fundamentally as a spokesman of his age. This established his position as the chief architect of the theory of progressive literature in the 1940’s. He was ably supported by a host of other critics like M.S. Devadas, S. Guptan Nair and K. Damodaran. Mundasseri demonstrated the usefulness of the comparative method even in contemporary studies in Mattoli (Echo), although his conclusions were not always logical. He tried his hand occasionally at fiction, but his place in literature is basically that of a critic. He was master of a sonorous kind of prose, full of sanskritisms and involved construction showing the influence of English syntax. He used this style to defend proletarian writing which employs the opposite kind of style. Exactly opposed to the stand of Mudasseri was that of Kuttikrishna Marar, a champion of Indian classics and the values of classical criticism. He started his careeer as an intepreter-commentator of the works of Vallathol, but soon emerged into the arena fully armed to defend values which seemed to be threatened with extinction under the onslaughts of the progressivists. His eleborate critical study of Mahabharata from the point of view of a dedicated and enlightened classicist (Bharataparyatanam), his open avowal that critical impartiality is a misconception where values are at stake, his advocacy of art as life itself, as against art for life’s sake, his wonderful penetration into the fundamental principles of spiritual and moral elements in literature enabled him to establish his position as a major critic although he did not know English well and did not have the benefits of western education. As sober as Marar, but with all the erudition of A. Balakrishna Pillai and the social commitment of Mundasseri was M.P. Paul who, however, did not live long enough to do justice to his talents. His studies of literary genres, especially the short story and the novel, had a tremendous impact not only on critics, but on the novelists themselves. His attempt to study aesthetics as fundamental to the practice of literary criticism shows the influence of his English education. He had an easy, unaffected kind of middle style at his command, a prose free from the mannerisms of Mundasseri and the obscurantism of Balakrishna Pillai. A number of essayists had contributed to the growth of prose and literary criticism in the forties and fifties. K.R. Krishna Pillai, R. Narayana Panikkar, P. Sankaran Nambiar, Sooranad Kunjan Pillai, Govindankutty Nair, Kainikkara Kumara Pillai and A.D. Harisarma are only a few of them. Among the writers of biographical and critical studies may be mentioned P.K. Parameswaran Nair (Sahitya Panchananan, C.V. Raman Pillai), K.M. George (Sadhu Kochukunju, Jeevacharita Sahityam), K. Bhaskaran Nair, (Daivaneetikku Dakshinyam Illa), N. Krishna Pillai (Thiranjedutha Prabandhangal) and P.K. Balakrishnan (Narayanaguru, Tippu Sultan and Chandu Menon - A study), Among the travelogues are K.P. Kesava Menon’s Bilathivisesham and numerous volumes by S.K.Pottekkat. There have been many great masters of humour, the most important of them are E.V. Krishna Pillai (1895-1938) and M.R. Nair (Sanjayan, 1903-1944). Sanjayan had a more serious face too. In Sahityanikasham are collected a number of brilliant pieces of literary criticism, which anticipate later developments in comparative literature studies. Among their followers are N.P. Chellappan Nair and P.K. Rajaraja Varma. The most important autobiographies in the language include those of P.K. Narayana Pillai (Smaranamandalam, 1938), E.V. Krishna Pillai (Jeevithasmaranakal; 1941), K.M. Panikkar (Atmakatha 1953), K.P. Kesava Menon (Kazhinja Kalam), Mundasseri (Kozhinja Ilakal) and C. Kesavan (Jeevithasamaram). The informal essay has been enriched by the writings of E.V. Krishna Pillai (Chiriyum Chintayum in 2 parts. 1936), which are marked by satire. Sanjayan wrote social satire both in prose and in verse. The light

essay has had a number of practitioners but they are mostly scattered in various periodicals. The tradition of Cherusseri and Kunchan Nambiar have been kept up by prose writers in our time. The literature of research has grown immensely, during the period. Among the histories of literature, the greatest monument is Ulloor’s Kerala Sahitya Charitram which is a compendium of the history of Sanskrit literature in Kerala too. Dictionaries like Sreekanteswaram Padmanabha Pillai’s monumental Sabdataravali have been followed by other more diversified ones. Books on science and technology and on different aspects of Gandhism and Marx have come out in recent times. Journalism is a flourishing field and weeklies like Mathrubhumi and Malayalarajyam and monthlies like Mangalodayam used to cater to the tastes of the younger as well as the older generation of both readers and writers. The fifties began as a period of controversies set afloat by the progressive movement and its politicalization. Writers were often urged to take sides, and it was argued that not taking sides at all was itself taking a certain side. But amidst the din and noise of the polemics and the splash of slogans and catchwords and stereotyped formulas, it seems that efforts were being made somewhere for a powerful take-off after the fifties.

After Independence

Malayalam literature after independence has been making steady progress in almost all branches of literary endeavour. The influence of the poetic trinity (Asan, Ulloor, Vallathol) was on the wane, and new trends had taken roots even before the arrival of freedom. The period saw the continuation of neo-romanticism mixed with a touch of realism; theprogressive movement with its commitment to realism and even naturalism, had dissipated with the Kollam conference because of internecine dispute between Communist party hardliners like E.M.S. Nambudiripad and writers like Kesava Dev, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai and Joseph Mundassery. There was a short period of confusion among writers committed to leftist ideology, but fiction, poetry and drama appeared to steer clear of these ideological muddles and emerge into a new phase, throwing away hackneyed preoccupations and forms of expression. The second half of the 20th century could thus be termed post-progressive, post-romantic or modernist. As in many other Indian languages, changes continued to take place in Malayalam too on a par with what was happening in most literatures of the world. The quarter of a century after independence is often referred to as the modernist phase, which for a time coincided with the left-over progressive-romantic trends. And the last quarter-century has sometimes been identified as the post-modern phase. Just as independence ushered in modernism, certain political and social events, such as the Emergency (1975-77) helped the transition from modernism to post-modernism. While the emergence of no new movement marks a complete cut-off from the existing trends, there is a period of overlap, during which the dying past and the inchoate present face each other in an uneasy co-existence.

Poetry
Many of the senior poets at the coming of independence were still very productive with their mature works, marking the fruition of the tendencies that were visible in their early works. G. Sankara Kurup (1901-77) produced his magnum opus, “Vishwadarshanam,” at a time when some critics were arguing that the sprout of Malayalam poetry had stopped growing and that poetry had no future. He went on to write lyrical pieces like “Shivatandavam”(Dance of Shiva) and narratives like “Chandanakattil” (Sandalwood Bed). Petty-minded writers went on wondering whether Kurup was a poet at all, when he was chosen for the first ever Jnanpith Puraskar, which was an unpleasant surprise for them. P. Kunhiraman Nair (1906-78) too emerged from under the shadow of Vallathol and grew out of his early phase as a devotional poet; he too surprised his readers with new themes and striking imagery. Few poets have captured the beauty of Kerala’s land and landscape, people and nature, with such authenticity as he. He moved from place to place all through Kerala, looking for the vanished grace and wondrous beauty of yore. N. Balamani Amma (1909-2003), after writing brilliantly about mother and grandmother and the domestic virtues, produced a series of character studies, exploring the significance of puranic heroes like Parasurama, Vibhishana, Mahabali, Vishwamitra and others, and uncovering the hidden side of their prowess. Vyloppillil Sreedhara Menon (1911-85), whose first collection came out only in 1948, achieved his full glory during the post-independence years. His narrative piece “Kudiyozhikkal” (Eviction) was a breakthrough in understanding the psychology of the middle class in the Kerala setting. His shorter poems like “Oonjalil” (On the Swing), “Onappattukaar,” “Ujvalamuhurtam,” and “Savitri,” reveal to the reader the quintessence of poetry in a variety of forms. Vennikulam Gopala Kurup, M.P. Appan, V.K. Govindan Nair and K.K. Raja were among the others who enriched Malayalam poetry in their own ways. Despite the difficult conditions of living, Appan always maintained a pleasant attitude to life. Palai Narayanan Nair (b. 1911) is the author of a series called Keralam Valarunnu (Kerala is Flourishing), tracing the growth and development of Kerala through myths, legends, history and social progress, in addition to several lyrical pieces with a romantic or realistic touch like Amritakala (The Immortal Crescent) and Jeevitakahalam (The Bugle of Life). The dominant influence on young poets at mid-century, however, was that of Changampuzha Krishna Pillai (1911-48) with his irrepressible romantic poetic vision and exuberant style. After his death this trend survived in the poets of the neo-romantic school, some of whom cherished the language and sentiments already employed by Changampuzha. P. Bhaskaran, Thirunalloor Karunakaran, Vayalar Rama Varma, Puthusseri Ramachandran, O.N.V. Kurup, Punalur Balan and others tried to combine the neo-romantic sentiments with the ideas of social revolution. They may be said to have shared up to a time the ideology of leftist politics. In some ways this trend has continued to the end of the 20th century. Some of these writers later turned away from their earlier preoccupations, but the language and style remained without change. P. Bhaskaran (b.1924) was a Communist, went underground in 1946-47 and wrote his famous poem “Vayalar Garjikkunnu” (Vayalar Cries Out), celebrating the violent protest against autocracy in the village of Vayalar in erstwhile Travancore. Later he left the party and entered the film world, directing films and writing lyrics for the films, where he distinguished himself as a film-song writer. He wrote a few anti-communist poems like “Pretangalude Pattu” (The Chorus of the Dead).Like his popular film songs, his later poems also evoke soft sentiments about love and nostalgia. “Orkkuka Vallappozhum” (Remember at Times) is a collection of personal lyrics rich in emotion. His mature poems have a sober vision of life and perhaps a sombre understanding of man and his environs. Vayalar Rama Varma (1928-75) too was inspired by ideas of social revolution and was for a time writing on the basis of leftist political ideology. He too gradually moved away from total commitment to politics and declared that “the sword is not my weapon of war” in his well-known poem “Sargasangitam” (The Song of Creation) His narrative poem Ayisha was of great popular appeal, though not obtrusively political. But his humanist fervor never subsided. Puthusseri Ramachandran (b.1928) and Punalur Balan (1929-87) too had their commitment to leftist politics, but did not stray into writing film lyrics. Avunnathra Ucchathil (At the Top of One’s Voice) is a collection of Puthusseri Ramachandran’s representative poems. Punalur Balan’s mature poems are collected in the volumes Kottayile Pattu (The Song at the Fort) and Raman Raghavan. Thirunalloor Karunakaran added a classical touch to his poems with a rural background partly due to his close knowledge Sanskrit classics. O.N.V. Kurup (b. 1931) also belonged to this group of erstwhile pink poets for a while, but his later poems have a significance beyond any group allegiance, as is seen in his “Chorunu” (The First Feed of Rice), “Nalumanippookkal” (Four O’Clock Flowers), “Suryagitam” (Ode to the Sun) and “Bhoomikkoru Charamagitam” (A Requiem for the Earth). Among his more ambitious works are the two narratives, Ujjayini and Swayamvaram, where he achieves an excellence not quite possible in the short lyric. From historical and puranic legends he recreates in his own mellifluous style men and women who are archetypal in stature. The immediate post-independence scene in Malayalam literature presents a mixture of multiple visions and idioms: side by side with these neo-romantic trends there was another school that steered clear of the political claptrap and wrote about man as he was in everyday life, using a language that was as rugged as the life it wrote about. Edasseri Govindan Nair (1906-74) espoused a vision and a style that were diametrically opposed to those of the romantics and neo-romantics. He avoided poetic clichés, favoured common speech, had a dread of mellifluousness, cloying sentiments and hackneyed ideas—sometimes invoking a popular myth to give the poem a public dimension, as in “Poothappattu” (The Song of the Sprite) or an incident from contemporary life to project the significance of the ordinary, as in “Puthenkalavum Arivalum” (The New Cooking Pot and the Sickle). The latter poem ends with the famous couplet:

First we must reap power

And after that the Aryan crop.

Here there is no mincing of words, no resort to finery, no sound or word for its own sake.

A provocative anti-romantic stance may be found in the early pieces of N.V. Krishna Warrior (1916-89). “Madirasiyile Oru Sayahnam” (An Evening in Madras) pokes fun at the infatuation a college student feels for his Anglo-Indian classmate, whom he idealizes, only to meet with a pitiable discomfiture at the end. His “Rats” written against the background of the famine during World War II, is marked by bitter irony and satire in favour of the rats at the expense of the humans. With the same vitriolic pen he wrote the poem “Mohan Das Gandhi and Nathuram Godse,” “KallaDeivangal” (False Gods) and “Avasanathe Aspatri” (The Last Hospital). M. Govindan (1919-89), an intellectual of no mean order, exposed through his poetry as through his prose essays the hypocrisy and corruption endemic in the contemporary Indian social milieu. His “Gazette Notification,” “Lucifer’s Solicitor,” and “Pashanappattu” (Poison Song) reveal the intensity of his repulsion for the evil forces in society. His biographical poem on Kunchan Nambiar, the 18th century master humorist in Malayalam, is a touching account of the last days of that great poet. These poets may be said to have pursued the Edasseri line, as opposed to the Edappalli line. To this may be said to belong writers like Kadavanat Kuttikrishnan, Olappamanna Subrahmanyan Nambudiripad and Akkitham Achyuthan Nambudiri. Akkitham (b. 1926) sprang a surprise on the readers with his long poem Irupathamnoottandinte Ithihasam ( The Epic of the 20^th Century), which is a moving rejection of all the crippling ideologies in the minds of the young in the 1950s. He castigates those who maintain that the stomach is the central concern of man and plead that “light brings grief, darkness is happiness.” In his later writings like Balidarshanam and “Karathalamalakam” (lit. Gooseberry in the Hand) and Sparshamanikal he reveals his sterling qualities as a poet in the great Indian tradition. His “Nityamegham” (The Everlasting Cloud) is a poem that subtly invokes the spirit of Kalidasa’s Cloud Messenger: it opens with an image of the rain-cloud:

With the fire and steam of the pain

Of separation from the Beloved,

With a sigh, with a tear,

The spirit of time makes a rain-cloud,

And flies it in play

Through the sky of fancy

As a child flies a kite.

R. Ramachandran (1923-2005) had neo-romantic leanings to begin with, however he soon discovered his own style, which was not like that of anyone else. He wrote little but that little was worth a lot. G. Kumara Pillai (1923-2000) started off in the Changampuzha school, but as he grew up tried other styles. There are quite a few beautiful lyrics to his credit, such as “Arorumorathe…,” “Ee nalla nattilallo…,” “Dharmadam Dharmasankatam,” etc. Chemmanam Chacko (b. 1926) is obsessed with the decline of values in our society and he exposes to ridicule our vanities and pretensions in a number of anthologies. In “Rice,” the speaker returns from North India, fed up with chappathi, only to find that rice is scarce in his own native village in Kerala. Kunjunni (b. 1927), who happens to be the best-known poet of children’s verse in modern times, is also quick to notice the ironies in contemporary life:

After all, men rush forward

With legs that bend only backward!

But these discrepancies and resulting tensions in life go beyond simple humour and assume massive proportions of tragic irony in the poems of N.N. Kakkad (1927-87). He uses all the resources of puranic metaphors to conjure up images of horror stalking the corridors of life, as in “Invocation”:

O Brobdingnagian monster

jamming‘my‘flesh‘into

a bowl of blood and sweat,

you, my lord, come!

Here is a worm that invokes you from the swarming gutter. Suddenly, as it were, the pseudo-romantic illusions of fellow poets topple down and Kakkad evokes the epiphany of a face to face encounter with the reality of this world, couched in the language of the great myths of mankind. From the poems in his early collection 1963 to his last volume Saphalameeyatra (Journey Successful), he consistently worked out a scheme for modernist poetry in Malayalam. His early poems were a puzzle to many readers but by the time of his last poems, readers had grown attuned to his style and diction and vision. Swerving away from the trodden path of neo-romanticism was the poetry of Ayyappa Paniker (b.1930), whose “Kurukshetram” too upset many a gentle reader in the beginning. He went on to write a series of cartoon poems along with “Kudumbapuranam” (The Family Saga), “Pakalukal, Ratrikal” (Days, Nights) and “Gopikadandakam” and produced a long poem of an epic journey called Gotrayanam (The Journey of the Tribe). The modernist trend was fostered by poets like Attoor Ravi Varma (b. 1930), whose “Cancer” and “Sankramanam” questioned and broadened the sensibilities of the Malayali reading public. M.N. Paloor (b. 1932) too exposes the absurdities of modern urban life in “Poet at the Airport,” but always in his mind looms large the tragicomic vision of Vyasa’s Mahabharata. Cherian K. Cherian (b. 1932) is the author of well-known poems like “Palazhimathanam (The Churning of the Ocean of Milk) and “Bhasmasuran,”. Madhavan Ayyappath (b. 1934) with his poems in Kilimozhikal introduced a new sensibility and vocabulary centring around the image of the bird, which was at variance with the fashion of the time. Yusafali Kecheri (b. 1934) is the author of many collections such as AayiramNavulla Mounam (Silence with a Thousand Tongues) and Kecheripuzha(Kecheri River). He is also a well-known film lyricist. Sugathakumari (b.1934) uses a style that is reminiscent of the romantics, but realizes the contradictions between dream and reality. Her early poems are of a personal nature, introspective and self-centred, but later on she broadens her themes and concerns to include social inequalities, man’s inhumanity to man, ecological imbalance and the problems of women, children and the tribal people. “Ratrimazha” (Rain at Night) and “Colossus” are good examples of these enlarged preoccupations. The latter poem closes with these lines:

Whom do I call through this lute?

Whom do I search for?

I search for a mighty one

Mighty as the Varaha

That rescued our Mother

From the depths of the sea.
The poetry of the sixties and seventies was marked by a renewed commitment to everyday life: it was felt that contemporary poetry had to be contemporary with our life. The echo of life’s rhythms may be heard in the poems of Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan (b.1935), such as “Kattalan” (The Woodsman), “Kiratavritham” (The Hunter’s Tale), “Santha” and “Mazha Peyyunnu, Maddalam Kottunnu” (It Rains and the Drums Beat). He may be said to have resuscitated the folk tradition behind the loud recitation of poetry before large crowds. He avoids the hackneyed vocabulary and stale imagery of the neo-romantics, and brings a fresh vigour into poetry. Kilimanoor Remakantan (b. 1935) has a more subdued tone and quieter rhythm in his narratives and lyrics. His translation of Dante’s The DivineComedy is a remarkable achievement. Neelamperoor Madhusudanan Nair (b. 1936) is a progressivist, as may be seen from his poems in UrangumMunpu (Before Going to Sleep). Pazhavila Ramesan (b. 1936) is not to be classed with any school, for his poetry pursues an independent channel of its own. K.V. Tampi (b. 1937) is the author of several works like

Kudiyozhikkal Kavitha Lyrics

Punarjanmam (Rebirth). Vishnu Narayanan Nambudiri (b. 1939) handles a variety of themes ranging from the age-old glory of Indian tradition (as in “Pitryaanam”) to the consternation of the modern Indian who wonders what has happened to his self-identity, as in his “Where is my Face?” This loss of face is a malady that he explores in a number of poems. Karoor Sasi (1939) has made his mark as a poet aware of developments in contemporary society. Sreekumaran Tampi (b. 1940), well-known as a writer of film songs, is also the author of poetry collections like Engineerude Veena (Engineer’s Lute).D. Vinayachandran Pillai (b. 1946) seems to look at poetry as a multifaceted celebration of life; he captures the rhythms of the carnival as he recites his poems aloud. His “Vinayachandrika,” “Veettilekkulla Vazhi”(The Homeward Path), “Samastha-Keralam P.O”. (All Kerala P.O.) and “Samayamanasam” (The Mind of Time) display an originality that is rare in these days of urbanized life. The breath of the open air gives them a special charm. Ezhachery Ramachandran (b. 1944) too invokes the folk tradition and espouses the tragic sufferings of poor people, as in his Neeli and Kavadichintu. The spirit of the seventies is most powerfully evoked in the writings of K. Sachidanandan (b. 1946), his ever-changing styles reveal a mind that is continually groping and growing. From Atmagita (Song of theSelf) of 1974 onwards he has evolved into a mature poet of manifold themes and styles. Being a literary critic as well, he writes with an inner understanding of the potentialities of the varied styles and forms he experiments with. Lalita Lenin (b. 1946) is a poet of balanced outlook on life and literature, as is seen in her collection of poems, Karkitakavavu (The New Moon of July-August). K.G. Sankara Pillai (b.1948) is another product of the seventies, seeing life in the raw, but portraying it with imagination and intelligence. His early poems like “Bengal,” later poems like “Kochiyile Vrikshangal (Trees of Kochi) and the more recent works embody a poetic vision which keeps his readers expecting something to turn up. This anxiety of expectation gives his poems a futuristic dimension. Nellickal Muralidharan (b. 1948), who is also a scholar and a critic, has several lyrics and narrative pieces to his credit, with a strong inclination to the folk tradition. S. Ramesan Nair (b.1948) is the author of several volumes like Suryahridayam (The Heart of the Sun); He is also a film lyricist. Kunhappa Pattanur (b. 1947) captures the spirit of Northern Kerala in several of his poems of social commitment. Desamangalam Ramakrishnan (b. 1948), in his Tataramayanam, VittupoyaVakkukal, Vicharichatalla and other collections, reveals an acute awareness of the subtleties of linguistic expression, coupled with the essence of folk culture. A. Ayyappan (b. 1949) is a breaker of conventions both as a man and as a poet. His poems, as in collections like Balikkurippukal ( Sacrificial Notes), have a secret fire in them. S. Madhusudanan Pillai (Kilimanoor Madhu, b. 1952) belongs to the modernist phase, with an occasional touch of the unfamiliar and the out of the way. Sasi Cheravalli (b. 1952), Rose Mary (b. 1956) and Umesh Babu (b. 1958) have made their own contribution to the growth of Malayalam poetic sensibility. Balachandran Chullikad (b. 1957) stormed into the scene with his vibrant voice and intensely emotional outbursts in poems like “Amavasi” (The New Moon) and “Manasantaram.” (Change of Mind).“Evide John? (Where is John?) evokes strong memories of John Abraham, the film maker, who passed away long before his time. The oral recitative tradition, often represented by the term kavi arangu (poetry on the stage) is carried on by a brilliant array of poets who hold the audience spell-bound by the quality of their voice as well as by the melody and rhythm of their rendering. V. Madhusudanan Nair (b. 1950) is the author of Naranathu Bhrantan (The Mad One of Naranath) and Gandharvam. The title poem in the former volume concerns one of the twelve children of a pariah girl, who is supposed to be the grand ancestress of all the ‘people’ of Kerala.

O ‘Mother’, who has borne twelve children,

I am the mad one among them.

Invoking folk tradition and local mythology, Madhusudanan Nair narrates a captivating tale that appeals to all Malayalis. Kureepuzha Sreekumar (b.1955) also has a mastery of the folk style and his poems appeal best when they are read aloud, since part of the meaning comes from the rhythm. “Jessy, Ninakkenthu Thonni?” (What did you feel, Jessy?) and “Keezhalan” (The Downtrodden) are moving presentations ‘of human’ suffering. There are a large number of poetic voices, now in their thirties and forties, and some in their early fifties too, who are capable of establishing a new movement with the spirit of the changing times in their new rhythms and visions. Methil Radhakrishnan is a pioneer avante garde writer. T.P. Rajeevan is equally enterprising. Civic Chandran (b. 1951), S. Ramesan (b. 1952), K.V. Baby (b. 1953, author of The Bird Broodingover the Eggs), V.G. Tampi (b. 1955), Savitri Rajeevan (b.1956, author of Cherivu) Raghavan Atholi (b. 1957), Prabha Varma (b. 1959, author of Chandananazhi), Vijayalakshmi (b. 1960, author of Mrigasikshakan), P.P, Ramachandran (b. 1962), K.R. Toni (b. 1964), Indrababu (b. 1965), Jayan, K.C. (b. 1966), Rafiq Ahamed (b.1967), Manoj Kuroor, Sreehari, Santhan, Raman, Anwar Ali, Anita Tampi, Sandhya, Rajan Kylas, Santhosh Kumar, S. Joseph, Shiraz Ali, Rupesh Paul, Sebastian, Pavithran Theekkuni and a large number of young poets have emerged during the past fifteen years, virtually constituting a new movement or new school. All of them are promising, only time can tell who among them will fulfill the promise. It is no doubt heartening to find that so many young writers are most active at the dawn of the new century, full of new visions and fresh energy and resist the attractions of sentimental cinematic verse. But the list of the movement must remain incomplete.

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