I was not sure if I could talk to our own Padma Shri Awardee–Shri. P Narayana Kurup. He would be busy over visiting litterateurs and admirers, I feared. But Prof. Vrinda Jayakumar, his daughter, assured me he would definitely pick up the phone. She was right. He was so gentle and reassuring. I was so surprised that the celebrity poet remembers every detail of his first workplace – RVSM High School, Prayar. I felt so happy when he reminisced about my late father. The poet recollected the names of almost all the teachers who worked with him. He was young and straight from college when he became a teacher at RVSM High School. He couldn’t resist the temptation to visit the school once again to attend the ‘Guruvandanam’ held in January 2018. “I never dared to do anything I found wrong and I feel happy with what life has offered to me”, he said. He wanted me to convey his happiness to all connected with the school for the congratulations and good wishes.
Prof. K Krishna Pillai (School Manager) presenting Shri. P Narayana Kurup with memento.
Shri. P Narayana Kurup was born on 5 September 1934 to Parameswaran Nair and Parukkutti Amma of Erumakkattu House, Harippad. He studied at NSS high School, Karuvatta, SD College Alappuzha, and University College Thiruvananthapuram. He joined RVSM High School, Prayar, as a teacher in 1954. After one year, he joined Government High School, Chavara. He left the teaching profession on receiving an assignment with Central Ministry, New Delhi. While serving in Delhi, he took his post-graduation in English from Agra University with 2nd rank.
At the ‘Guruvandanam’ programme
Maybe his infatuation with the literary world that he prompted him to take up the job of a research officer on deputation at Language Institute, Thiruvananthapuram. He served also as a Consulting Editor to Encyclopedic Publications under the Government of Kerala. He went back to New Delhi and continued to work for the Publications Division under the Government of India as Assistant Editor and retired as its Editor.
In one interview, Shri. Narayana Kurup thankfully acknowledged the guidance of Dr. Ayyappa Panikker for his entry into the world of poetry. In another interview, he recollected that ‘Mathrubhumi’ published most of his early poems when late N. V. Krishna Warrier was the Editor. He also used his medium of poetry satirically to throw light into the wrongs in society and the rulers. His poem ‘Thozhuth’ (Stable) invited the wrath of the power centres during the ‘Emergency’ days. Though he was attracted to the Communist movement in his early life, he turned to a critic in later days.
Addressing the audience at ‘Guruvandanam’.
His collection of poems was first published in 1969 by National Book Stall. Around thirteen collections of poems, including the widely acclaimed ‘Hamsadhwani’ and ‘Nishagandhi’ have been published so far. His first collection of critical essays and studies–‘Sampoorna Viplavam’ was first published in 1977 by Navadhara Publishers. His critique ‘Kaviyum Kavithayum’ had several reprints. Besides being a great poet and literary critic, Shri. Narayana Kurup has also penned three books in the genre of prosody and published by Language Institute. His writings on travel to the Himalayas (‘Eeswarante Naadu’) were widely read. His biographical book on ‘Jawaharlal Nehru’ was published by DC Books. It was his love and affection for children that made it possible to interact with them at their pace. He wanted to whisper the folklores to the children and tell them about the innocence of rural lives, environment, and nature in his inimitable style. He has seven collections in the category of children’s books. Several publishers such as NBS, DC Books, Navadhara Publishers, Bala Sahithya Institute, Poorna Publications, CSN Books, Sahity Academy, Language Institute, Priyadarshini Publishers, Current Books, Rainbow Books, and Prabhat Books brought out his literary contributions.
He received several awards for the unparalleled service to the literary world as Kerala Sahithya Academy Award for Literary Criticism in 1986, ‘Odakkuzhal’ Award for poetry from ‘Guruvayoorappan Trust’ in 1990, Sahithya Academy Award for poetry in 1991, ‘Ulloor Award’ for poetry in 2002, ‘Amrita Keerthi Puraskar’ in 2005, ‘Vallathol Award’ from ‘Vallathol Sahithya Samithi’ in 2014, ‘Sanjayan Award’ in 2015, and Padma Shri in 2022.
He edited two encyclopedias of DC Books from 1985 to 1988. He is an ardent lover of Kathakali and folk arts and was a member of the Governing Body of Kerala Kalamandalam from 1986 to 1992. From 2004 to 2010, he was a trustee of Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal. He was the Vice-President (All India) of ‘Sanskar Bharati’, Agra from 2000 to 2004. He was appointed as a member of the Film Advisory Committee from 2002 to 2008 and was re-appointed in 2015 and continues to hold the position.
Shri. P Narayana Kurup is a member of the judging committee of Door Darshan Kendra at Delhi and in Trivandrum station. He is an expert member in Veda-Vyasa Brahma Vidya Peeth, Quilon, and is the patron of ‘Thapasya’ (Forum for Art and Literature) after having been its president for 10 years. This connoisseur of arts is also a member of the Executive Committee of Margi (Centre for Classical Art). Currently, he is the Vice President of ‘Irayimman Thampi Smaraka Trust’ and chairperson of ‘N. V. Krishna Warrier Smaraka Samithi’. He was the Chairman of ‘Sopanam Institute of Performing Arts’, Thiruvananthapuram.
He lives at ‘Chithira’, Indira Nagar, Peroorkkada Thiruvananthapuram with his wife Smt. Vijayalakshmi, daughter Prof. Vrinda Jayakumar and sons K N Viju & Vivek Narayanan.
We feel proud that this great litterateur and Padma Awardee Shri. P Narayana Kurup was once a teacher at our school. We join his family and friends to congratulate him on this glorious occasion. Best wishes.
(Dr. P Balachandran)