A life devoted to dance and social causes (1918-2016)
Ottaplakkal Neelakantan Velu Kurup (O.N.V. Kurup) who passed away recently at the age of 84 was one of Kerala’s foremost poets and lyricists, whose oeuvres over a period of five decades and more enriched the literary firmament in Malayalam and left an indelible imprint in the minds and hearts of lakhs of Malayalis.
The outpouring of grief at his passing and the sea of mourners who turned up to pay their last respects at his funeral was ample proof that this simple, unassuming man of letters who wore his humility on his sleeve and who treasured Gurudev Tagore’s words, ‘Let humility be your crown’, had touched the hearts of his admirers. Kurup who was influenced early on in his life by the romantic poet Changampuzha Krishna Pillai and the radical poetry of Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon veered from the paths taken by them and went on to carve his niche as a poet whose words flowed from his heart and whose poems spoke of the simple joys and sorrows of the have-nots, their aspirations and their way of life.
He was the last of the trinity of poets or the ‘Communist trio’ as they were dubbed at that time, which included besides Kurup, P. Bhaskaran and Vayalar Rama Varma. Although several other lyricists too made their mark in Malayalam cinema, the triumvirate held sway for several decades, and Kurup who wrote lyrics even from his hospital bed, ended up with a phenomenal figure of as many as 900 lyrics in a span of over 50 years. He countered his critics who felt that he had compromised his art at the altar of Mammon by turning into a film lyricist, by observing that the process of writing lyrics for films illuminated the soul. He also silenced his detractors by pointing out that he never abandoned his professor’s job and taught Malayalam in several colleges in Kerala till his retirement in 1986.
In his long and eventful career O.N.V. Kurup collaborated with most of the composers of the time right from veterans like Devarajan (Kaatu Pookal, Kumarasambhavam) M.B. Sreenivasan (Chillu, Yavanika, Ulkadal) Salil Choudhary (Swapnam, Madanotsavam) Ravi (Nakhashathangal, Panchagni, Vaishali) and those who came later like Ilaiyaraaja (Olangal, Yaathra) Johnson (Koodevide) and Raveendran (Sukhamo Devi). His lyric Maanikaveenayumayi… from Kaatu Pookal rendered by the inimitable Yesudas has stood the test of time, and even today remains a firm favourite of Malayalam music lovers. ONV won the National Award for Best Lyricist in 1989 for his soulful numbers in the mythological film Vaishali directed by Bharathan. He has to his credit as many as 13 state awards as well.
The towering titan of Malayalam literature also wrote lyrics for plays and as a committed fellow traveller most of these plays centred around communist ideologies and one of the most popular of these plays was Ningalenna Communist Aaki. He had 20 collections of poems and they included inter alia such acclaimed works as ’Mrigaya’ ‘Karuthapakshiyude Paatu’ ‘Mayilpeeli’ ‘Vallapaatukal’ ‘Oru Thuli Velicham’ and ‘Bhoomikku Oru Charamageetham’. ‘Bhoomikku Oru Charamageetham’ reflected the poet’s deep concern for the environment and his angst at the onslaught on nature by the human race. Two narrative poems ‘Ujjayini’ and ‘Swayamvaram’ too were a celebration of the unmatched craftsmanship of this talented writer.
A number of laurels came the way of this modest man and these included the Kerala and Kendriya Sahitya Academy Awards, the Padma Shri and the Padma Vibhushan awarded by the Central Government and the highest honour for literature in the country, the Jnanpith in 2007. A keen votary for social causes, Kurup was in the forefront of the agitation for securing classical status for the Malayalam language. He also served as the Chairman of the Kerala Kalamandalam. Perhaps the only time when Kurup was humbled was when he contested the general elections to the Lok Sabha in 1989 and this defeat forced him to beat a hasty retreat from electoral politics. This tribute from fellow litterateur, well known poet, author and former Secretary of the Sahitya Academy perhaps summed up the qualities of the people’s poet the best. In his tribute Sachidanandan quipped: “ONV is a humanist among poets and a poet among humanists’.