NS Madhavan, creative writer

Portrait of NS Madhavan / Photography (C) Abul Kalam Azad / 1994

N. S. Madhavan is a leading writer of contemporary Indian literature, whose short stories, novels, football columns and travel articles enjoy a wide readership especially in Malayalam speaking areas of India. Madhavan was born in the port city of Cochin where he attended the Sree Rama Varma High School. After graduating in economics from Maharajas College, Ernakulam he moved to Thiruvananthapuram to study for his masters at the Department of Economics, University of Kerala. During this period he began writing, and in 1970 won the top prize for his first published short story ‘Sisu’, in a contest organised by the Malayalam literary magazine Mathrubhumi. In 1975, Madhavan joined the Indian Administrative Service where he was seconded to the Bihar cadre. His civil service career followed the usual path of initially administering sub-districts and districts, then jobs in the state and union secretariats followed by the running departments and corporations.

I met Madhavan when he was a Joint Secretary of Food and Civil Supplies Department, India. AK Anthony was the minister during that period. One day, cartoonist EP Unni called me and said, “Madhavan needs to take for his book to be published by the DC books”. I agreed and the shooting was indeed organised in a hurry. There were several props for the photograph – black background, red shirt, chiaroscuro lighting etc.,  Madhavan explained to me this long list the publishing company demanded to make his book cover.  I and Unni rushed and organised all these props. We fixed a make-shift studio at his house in Kakkanagar, Delhi. I was working as a photo-journalist during that period and hence didn’t have any of the studio accessories. So, we collected all the table lamps and other available small lamps from his house to create the chiaroscura effect in the make shift studio and took this photograph. I made many images of Madhavan that day. I had to make him work with me for more than an hour. Amidst his busy, maverick schedule, he also enjoyed the shoot.

Madhavan, is a protean, maverick writer of my generation. And, he is continues to be an inspiration for the new generation as well.I have met him during several other occasions and I also have many photographs while he was writing his first novel Lanthan Batheriyile Luthiniyakal. He was based in Cochin and we meet very often during those days. Those memorable days of Cochin remains fresh in my memory. We used to search the details about boat making, the names of the different parts of the boat, the Portuguese names for these parts etc., We used to travel to the backwaters of the Cochin, going to different islands to look the life and lifestyle of the people. We enjoyed first hand, Madhavan’s picturesque observation and his strong sharp wits. I felt that he is searching for his roots and was driven by his childhood memories, when he was on the look out for the different fish recipes, Kaika’s Biryani etc., After this intimate moments, I lost connection with him. We were both held up with our own worlds. We do keep in touch over phone at times. Thank you NS for your help in my life.

Abul Kalam Azad

13th January 2014

(C) All rights reserved. All the images published in this blog is copyrighted property of  contemporary Indian photographer Abul Kalam Azad. Text transcribed by Tulsi Swarna Lakshmi. Reprinting / publishing rights reserved by the author and prior permission is required for reproduction / re-publishing, For more information call {0}4175 237405 / {0}94879 56405  or mail to ekalokam@gmail.com / FACEBOOK – Abul Kalam Azad 

 

Legendary Pathumma and her goat

Pathumma and her goat / Photography (C) Abul Kalam Azad / EtP archives

[Vaikom Muhammed Basheer (21st January 1908 – 5th July 1995) was a Malayalam fiction writer from the state of Kerala in India. He was a humanist, freedom fighter, novelist and short story writer. He is noted for his path-breaking, disarmingly down-to-earth style of writing that made him equally popular among literary critics as well as the common man. He is regarded as one of the most successful and outstanding writers from India. Translations of his works into other languages have won him worldwide acclaim. His notable works include Balyakalasakhi, Shabdangal, Pathummayude Aadu, Mathilukal, Ntuppuppakkaranendarnnu, Janmadinam, and Anargha Nimisham. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1982. He is fondly remembered as the Beypore Sultan].

In the year 1985, Ramavarma Thampuran started a Malayalam newsweekly called ‘Preview’. Jamal Kochangadi was the editor in chief. The editorial team policy was to cover investigative journalism including photo-features. I was part of the editorial team. PREVIEW was one of the first few dedicated news magazines in Malayalam. Due to financial challenges, the magazine was closed after a  few issues. Those few issues did enhance investigative journalism in an effective way. Together, we did few good stories. One of the story was about the female infanticide practice prevailing in Usilampatti, Madurai District, Tamil Nadu. The infanticide story was done by Pattatu kumaran and I was the photographer.  We decided to do a story on Basheer’s characters of the noted autobiographical novel Pathummayude Aadu (Pathumma’s Goat; 1959). In this humorous novel, the characters are members of his family and the action takes place at his home in Thalayolaparambu. The goat in the story belongs to his sister Pathumma.

During those times, the tradition was to give the negatives to the agencies. Usually these negatives are neither archived nor preserved. So most of these valuable images are lost forever to the public. Due to my keen interest to preserve these images, I now have few images from this series of work that we had done. These images weave the story of this unique genius. Twenty years has passed since his demise. However, his memories and his words continue to vibrate in our heart. Basheer, Sulthan of words and legend, his real characters and the surrounding landscape continue to linger fresh in my mind. Salute you Basheer Ji. Thank you.

(C) All rights reserved. All the images published in this blog is copyrighted property of  contemporary Indian photographer Abul Kalam Azad. Text transcribed by Tulsi Swarna Lakshmi. Reprinting / publishing rights reserved by the author and prior permission is required for reproduction / re-publishing, For more information call {0}4175 237405 / {0}94879 56405  or mail to ekalokam@gmail.com / FACEBOOK – Abul Kalam Azad