It was a meeting between a politician and a writer. But, neither politics nor literature came up for discussion as CPI(M) Polit Bureau member Prakash Karat met Jnanpith winner M.T. Vasudevan Nair briefly at the latter’s residence here on Monday.
‘Courtesy call’
Mr. Karat later told the media that he had come to pay a courtesy call to the veteran writer. “I came to know that MT had not been keeping well. So, just thought of enquiring about his health,” he said.
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When pointed out that both of them belonged to the same district, the communist leader said his paternal aunt’s house was located close to MT’s ancestral house at Koodallur in Palakkad district. “I used to visit there earlier.... I met MT in 1972 at the office of the Mathrubhumi newspaper when I had gone there for a research work. He helped me get access to the library,” Mr. Karat said.
Asked if political development came up for discussion, he replied in the negative. Mr. Karat was in the district to attend the 70th anniversary of the police firing in Onchiyam. Democratic Youth Federation of India national president P.A. Mohammed Riyas and Keluettan Study and Research Centre director K.T. Kunhikkannan were present.