Chief Minister Oommen Chandy remembers the times when conversations were aptly punctuated with proverbs. “That time has passed. The newer generations are largely unaware of the rich collection of Malayalam proverbs,” he says, releasing the Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR) publication, ‘ Keralathile Pazhanchollukal ’, at the Vyloppilly Samskriti Bhavan on Thursday.
The mammoth hard-bound volume consists of 20,345 proverbs, most of them contributions from the public from within the State and abroad.
Dr. P.J. Cherian, director of KCHR, gives the example of a doctor in Germany who contributed 23 proverbs. He shifted to the country when a child yet he was able to recount proverbs that his grandmother taught him.
The proverbs are categorised under 24 heads and are supplemented by explanations offered by experts in the fields of linguistics and history.
With the prime incentive to “give the young the wisdom from the past”, as the tagline of the function banner read, the institute hopes the book will have widespread appeal and reach homes and libraries of schools all over.
Appreciating the campaign, the Chief Minister promises to notify the Department of Education to send circulars to educational institutions on the book. Mr. Chandy gave the first copy of the book to Devika Ajikumar, a student of Cotton Hill School, Vazhuthacaud.
Vice-Chairman of the Kerala State Higher Education Council T.P. Sreenivasan says there is a lapse in quality of education partly because research is not being given due importance.
Three other books released includes a dictionary of Latin-Malayalam-Latin edited by Kesavan Veluthat, ‘ Kolezhuthu and Malayalam Records ’, edited by Professor of Epigraphy M.R. Raghava Warrier, and the ‘Interim Report of the 6 Season’s Pattanam Excavation 2012’, edited by director of KCHR P.J. Cherian.
