Sharing is the only golden way to stay happy, poet Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri has said. “If you have even Rs.10, be ready to share it with the next person. That will give you greater happiness,” the poet told a group of students who called on him from the summer vacation classes organised by the Kerala State Council for Child Welfare.
Nearly 70 students gathered at Mr. Namboothiri’s residence here on Saturday to meet him and seek his blessings.
Taking a trip down memory lane, he shared with the children instances that moulded him into what he is today. He said his greatest inspiration was Vyloppilly Sreedhara Menon who, he believed, was on a par with other great poets of the world. The discussion steered towards the influence of English. There was definitely a major presence of English words in regional languages. “But it will not corrupt our language. As long as we are proud of our language and practice it, nothing can corrupt it,” he said.
Asked how he led a simple life, he said, “I am an ordinary man. It is true that I travel by bicycle but that is because I do not know to ride any other vehicle. I have been wearing only khadi from the age of six because that helps families involved in khadi weaving.”
Mr. Namboothiri said it was his English teacher Shepherd who taught him what humility actually meant. ‘Humility is endless,’ his teacher used to say.
Mr. Namboothiri presented the students with a book that will be kept in the library of the child welfare council.
