A poignant moment stood out as the funeral procession of poet O.N.V. Kurup reached the Shanthikavadam electric crematorium on Monday morning, half an hour behind the scheduled time.
The crowd, which was milling around suddenly fell silent. The choir of 84 singers, offering a musical tribute to mark the poet’s 84 eventful years, sang the lines “Kaalam kaikalil ettuvaangiya Kala laavanyame” as the body was brought in.
All those who were jostling for space in the cramped courtyard stood in respect to both sides to make way. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Opposition leader V.S. Achuthanandan and all major leaders from both parties joined together as his body was wrapped in the tricolour.
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The choir continued to sing the poet’s popular songs “Oru vattam koodi”, “Illimulam kaadukalil”, “Chakkara panthal” and finally, “Maarivillin thenmalare, maanju pokayo” as the body was slowly moved to the furnace.
The choir consisted of singers from Swaralaya, Sangeethabharathi and MBS Choir, of which the poet was like a chief patron.
Leading the performance were singers Sreeram, Kallara Gopan and Sudeep.
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The city witnessed an unprecedented outpouring of grief as people from all walks of life, most of them not known personally to the poet, streamed in to pay their last respects. The crowd did create some problems for the police personnel and they had to step in to create separate queues to control the situation. The Kerala Police gave a 21-gun salute.
A large number of people made a beeline for Tagore Nagar at Vazhuthacaud to catch a last glimpse of ONV