Professor Rathi Menon is extremely busy the day we meet her. Her cell phone rings constantly, there are incessant questions and queries. It is a day she has been working relentlessly towards for close to a year, the book release of Vaagartha Pratipathi . The book is a collection of essays on Prof. M. Leelavathy, a teacher who taught her more than lessons in the textbook.
The book released on March 13, is a tribute to not just one of Malayalam literature’s foremost critics but also to a great teacher and human being.
“The book is long overdue, Madam (Prof. Leelavathy) deserves much more for the work she has put in. She has touched every aspect of literature except possibly plays,” says Rathi. The book has been published by Developmental Initiatives for Societal and Human Advancement (DISHA Global) of which she is a part.
With K.P. Sankaran as chief editor, Rathi and Dr. Hema Malini edited the collection which comprises 49 essays and two poems dedicated to Prof. Leelavathy.
Of the essays, three are memoirs - by author C. Radhakrishnan from a writer’s perspective, B. Vijayaraghavan from a student’s point of view and M. Mohanan (Leelavathy teacher’s brother) a sibling’s take. The book boasts of a sizeable collection of Leelavathy’s photographs that show her in many roles – as daughter, wife, mother, sister and teacher. This book is a labour of love, for a teacher who has touched the lives of many.
Plans were afoot to make a documentary on Leelavathy, which unfortunately didn’t pan out. The footage which was shot, Lilaamritham , was screened at the book release. It has writers such as Satchidanandan, Priya A.S., C. Radhakrishnan and others talking about Leelavathy, her family too.
“Beyond academics, there is another aspect to madam’s personality that very few people are aware of. Of how she goes out of her way to help and the ways in which she touches lives,” says Rathi. From pre-degree to her post-graduation in Malayalam Literature, she was taught by Leelavathy at Maharaja’s College.
“There is another connection; madam was my mother’s student.” Rathi’s mother, Kalyanikutty Amma was among the first recipients of the President’s Award for teachers.
This is not the 61-year-old’s first literary endeavour. She has translated several books too, including Rachel Carson’s seminal work Silent Spring ( Nishabdavasantham ). Rathi, incidentally, followed in her teacher’s footsteps and became a teacher. She retired as Head of the Department, Malayalam, St. Xavier’s College, Aluva.
Malayalam literature and Silent Spring seem like worlds apart, but Rathi found a connect. At the time she was at British Columbia (Canada) where her husband, Prof. Mohan B. Menon, was based .
“I spent close to three years researching Rachel Carson and her works. I read up on her and whatever was available on her before I embarked on the project,” she says.
It was published at a time when Endosulfan contamination was in the news. As translator, Silent Spring demanded a certain degree of familiarity with science and here her background in zoology helped.
Rachel Carson, a marine biologist and conservationist, was among the earliest proponents of the environment movement. As the conversation meanders between Leelavathy and Rachel Carson, both path-breaking in their chosen sphere of work, Rathi draws a parallel between them. “Rachel Carson wanted to be a writer but became a scientist and for madam it was the other way round.” She has also translated Chris Williams’ Ecology and Socialism ( Paristhithiyum Socialisavum ).
Rathi also translated Rachel Carson’s biography for the Shastra Sahitya Parishath and the late Indira Goswami’s unfinished autobiography. Indira Goswami, was the Head of the Department at Delhi University’s Department of Modern Indian Languages and Literature where Rathi was pursuing her post-doctoral fellowship.
It hasn’t been all ‘serious’ translations that she has been involved with. In the early 90s the Guinness Book of World Records was translated into two Indian languages of which Malayalam was one of which Rathi was editor.
Currently in Malaysia, where her husband is based, the internet keeps her connected with Kerala.
“I am constantly on the Net. Therefore I am constantly in touch with whatever that is happening,” she says with a laugh. She is involved in a couple of other projects which also keep her busy, she says.
