Indian Ambassador to the United States Nirupama Rao celebrated her return to her home State reading out a poem about her ancestral home at a select gathering of writers at Alakapuri auditorium on Monday.
The poem titled ‘Tharawad’ was the first in a collection of poems in her book ‘Rain Rising’ which has been translated into Malayalam by writer and social critic N. M. Karassery.
Mr. Karassery also read out the Malayalam translation of the poem at the function.
A memorable moment
The programme was an occasion for the diplomat to walk down the memory lane to her childhood and remember brush up memories of her visits to family home in what is now Malappuram district.
Car drive
She had vivid memories of the beauty that the landscape of the region radiated and how the arrival of her car used to create a flutter in the neighbourhood.
Children used to chase the car as her mother drove it through the village roads. They were amazed by sight of a woman driving a car . All that had changed, she said, her voice steeped in nostalgia. Ms. Rao said she could understand Malayalam for she had seen many Malayalm films. She started writing poetry long back. Rain Rising was published in 2004. Some of her poems had been published in Chinese and even in Russian language.
Pilgrimage to Tibet
It was during a pilgrimage to Tibet in late 1980s that she began writing poetry. Rain Rising translated as ‘Mazha Kanakkunnu’ by Mr. Karassery is being released at Calicut University campus on Tuesday.
