UNSCHOOLED POET’S WORK IS PRESCRIBED TEXT AT UNIVERSITY
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| Narayanan Namboodiri, Oravankara Illam, near Thirumukkulam Temple, Thrissur |
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He hasn’t entered the portals of any school. But 76-year-old Oravankara Narayanan Namboodiri writes in Malayalam and Sanskrit and his word-by-word translation of Bharavi’s ‘Kiratharjuneeyam’ is a prescribed textbook at Sanskrit University, Kaladi.
Oravankara’s achievements have been commendable though he lives in relative anonymity and penury. Among his major works are word-by-word prose translation of Uddanda Sastri’s ‘Kokila Sandesam’ and the translation of Maghan’s ‘Sisupala Vadham’. The latter project took him 3 years of diligent work and its manuscript, running into 600 pages, has been gathering dust for the past few years for want of a publisher. His latest translation, ‘Parijatha Haranam’, and a few original poems are yet to reach the hands of the readers.
Narayanan Namboodiri was born in the Oravankara Illam, near Thirumukkulam Temple in Thrissur district. As a young apprentice priest accompanying his father, he could not get formal education. However, an ancestral love of the muse blessed him with a felicity of words. Connoisseurs of Sanskrit literature acknowledge that his works are not mere ‘translations’ but contain creative contributions.
The poet, who lives in a partly plastered, small house and uses a thatched extension as his study room is content with his love of letters. The absence of recognition or monetary stability does not hamper this love. “The good deed of conversing with letters is sufficient for me,” he says simply.
Courtesy: Jose Thaliath (text), Vibi Job (photo), Malayala Manorama, October 31, 2002
Contributed by: Administrator
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