Ploughed a lone furrow, a phrase used loosely, fits writer S.V. Venugopan Nair than most others.
The teacher-writer, who died aged 77 following a brief bout of illness in Thiruvananthapuram in the morning hours of Tuesday, refused to align with any literary cliques or movements.
Known to lead a simple life and with a calm demeanour, he hardly threw himself into the literary boxing ring for recognition except once when he took a swipe at critics for paying attention only to writers with some Delhi connection.
An affable college teacher and principal who would move around in a simple mundu-shirt always chewing betel quid, Mr. Venugopan Nair inherited the linguistic strengths of southern Travancore straight from the legendary C.V. Raman Pillai.
A native of Dhanuvachapuram in southern Thiruvananthapuram, he brilliantly used colloquialisms and infused his short stories with the southerner’s dry sense of humour and deadpan sarcasm.
Writer Chandramathi recalls him as someone who steered clear of mainstream literary groups in a bold and uncompromising way. Derrida’s concept of ‘differance’ suited his stories what with their deferring text and the way they differed from the regular stories, she said.
Asked by poet-scholar-teacher Ayyappa Paniker to translate Venugopan Nair’s short story, Adisheshan, published in 1982, into English, she was initially hesitant as several others had unsuccessfully attempted to do it. “I was young at that time and when Paniker sir asked me to put my young brain to good use, I went and met Venugopan sir and got to understand the story, which is very poetic, up-close. That was how I was able to translate it,” Ms. Chandramathi told The Hindu over telephone.
In a small note, Ms. Chandramathi recalled that her meeting with him also paved the way for a warm and affectionate friendship. “He stood by me through the turbulent periods in my life and advised me of ways to survive nepotism and injustice in the literary world,” she said in that note.
Awards
A winner of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi award for his Bhoomiputhrante Vazhi, Mr. Venugopan Nair also received awards such as the Edassery Puraskaram, AbuDhabi Shakthi Award, Padmarajan Puraskaram, CV Sahithya Puraskaram and Lalithambika Antharjanam Janmasatabdi Puraskaram.
Born to P. Sadasivan Thampi and J.V. Visalakshi Amma in 1945, Mr. Venugopan Nair took a PhD in Malayalam and worked in many colleges as teacher before retiring from service as principal in 2000. His noted works include Rekhayillatha Oral, Mruthithalam, Garbhasreeman and Kathakalathisadaram.
In his condolence message, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that Mr. Venugopan Nair infused his stories with the simplicity of local lingo and the aesthetic brilliance of imagination.
Mr. Venugopan Nair is survived by his wife Valsala and three children. The body will be cremated at the Thycaud crematorium on Thursday.
