CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ MT kochi l friday l december 27, 2024 l `9.00 l PAGES 18 l late city EDITION feeling Kerala bids tearful adieu to its master storyteller; MT leaves behind an eternal void in the state’s cultural realm A n i l S @ T’Puram Death gave him no pain; coz life never enamoured him! Thus wrote MT in ‘Shathru’. Yet he cherished each moment, endowed with a profound gaze that penetrated deep into the innermost recesses of the Malayali psyche, pouring out a slew of timeless creations. With Malayalam left bereaved of its two most precious letters — MT — that enriched its literary aesthetics for over seven decades, cultural Kerala stands orphaned. Never in its history had Kerala witnessed such a legendary writer, auteur par excellence and the most celebrated literary editor. The passing of M T Vasudevan Nair, who over the decades had attained iconic status among Keralites across the globe with his wide canvas of literary works and a brilliant bouquet of films, leaves behind an eternal void in the state’s sociocultural, literary and political spheres. A colossal, irreparable loss indeed! On Thursday, Kerala bade adieu to the doyen of Malayalam literature and cinema, who breathed his last at a private hospital in Kozhikode on Wednesday night. The 91-year-old was under treatment for severe respiratory issues. Thousands gathered at MT’s house ‘Sithara’ on Kottaram Road and the Smrithipatham crematorium in Kozhikode to catch a final glimpse of their favourite writer-filmmaker. How best would one describe MT? A writer who defied norms, choosing to portray castaways; a literary editor who paved the way for the onset of modernism in Malayalam literature; one of the most acclaimed filmographers who transformed screenplays into literary masterpieces in Malayalam; a sort of misanthrope who preferred to elude mainstream society, yet rose to be the ‘cultural editor’ of Kerala, a role that Communist patriarch EMS had once assumed with elan? Perhaps, there’s no one else who influenced Kerala’s sociocultural sensibilities like MT. Contrary to the ways of the contemporary world, here was a man who chose silence as an oft-sought companion. Rarely did he speak. But when he did, the whole of Kerala listened with rapt attention, be it his interventions to put an end to the Marad riots, genuine concern over the thousands who lost their livelihoods post demonetisation, or his recent remarks denouncing totalitarianism and cult worship of political leaders. MT was never one to mince words. More often than not, his silences too were subject to widespread misinterpretation. No other literary editor, in all likelihood, nurtured the modernist movement in Malayalam literature the way MT did, with a slew of writers — M Mukundan, Sethu, Paul Zachariah, Madhavan and Narayana Pillai, among others — being handpicked by MT the editor.  ● More on P7 mandar pardikar in a league of his own M T Vasudevan Nair’s literary excellence earned him many awards, including the Jnanpith — India’s highest literary honour — in 1995 for his contributions to Malayalam literature. His works, with their profound exploration of human emotions, have shaped generations and will continue to inspire many more. He also gave voice to the silent and marginalised In 2005, the nation honoured him with Padma Bhushan. He was awarded the maiden Kerala Jyothi, the highest civilian honour bestowed by the Kerala Government, in 2022 Narendra Modi, PM MT’s first major work ‘Naalukettu’ — published in 1958 — won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1959. He has also received Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award, Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, Vayalar Award, Vallathol Puraskaram, etc. MT presented the raw reality of ordinary life in Kerala. As he was ascending the heights of literary horizons, his feet was still deeprooted in Valluvanadan culture Pinarayi Vijayan, CM INSIDE In generations of young minds, legend lives on | p5 ‘MT led society in its progressive march’ | p5 Crisp plots, sharp characters | p4 26 Sep 1932 - 26 Dec 2024 Architect of India of our times santwana bhattacharya Editor Economical with his words, but gentle in his phrasing, the conversations he struck up were with the times. And he persuaded the times to change. That was Dr Manmohan Singh, the self-effacing savant who rose to perform two big roles for an India in transition — that of prime minister and finance minister. In both roles, he is likely to win a contest with history for having been the most clean of spirit and genuinely courteous, the most knowledgeable and, a r g u a b l y, t h e m o s t transformational. Perhaps only India’s first prime minister could run him close. If Jawaharlal Nehru was the founderstatesman of independent India, the guardian spirit of our formative decades, it was Manmohan who fathered the India we see around us today  ● More on P9 . 18 pages, including 4 pages of kochi Express + 20-PAGE BUILD & DESIGN BOOKLET Actor Mohanlal pays last respects to M T Vasudevan Nair in Kozhikode | Express Nirmalyam, MT’s directorial debut, was given National Award for best film and state awards for best film and screenplay. His screenplays earned him the national award four times and state award 11 times.