Vaikom Muhammad Basheer Beypore Sultan Author of Baalyakaalasakhi /Shabdangal / Paaththummaayude Aadu


       Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (21 January 1908 – 5 July 1994) 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 pathbreaking, 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 worksinclude Baalyakaalasakhi, Shabdangal, Paaththummaayude Aadu, Mathilukal, Ntuppuppaakkoraanaendaarnnu and Anarga Nimisham. He was awarded thePadma Shri in 1982. He is fondly remembered as the Beypore Sultan
                           Basheer , born in the village of Thalayolaparambu in northern Travancore,he the was the eldest child of devout Muslim parents. He resolved to join the fight for an independent India, leaving school to do so while he was in the fifth form. Part of his purpose in joining the Indian National Congress was to help ensure that there was some Muslim representation in the pan-Indian movement. Since there was no active independence movement in Travancore or Kochi – being princely states.He went to Malabar to take part in the Salt Satyagraha in 1930. 
                                  The major theme of all Basheer stories is love and humanity.Basheer is known for his unconventional style of language. He did not differentiate between literary language and the language spoken by the commons and did not care about the grammatical correctness of his sentences. Initially, even his publishers were unappreciative of the beauty of this language; they edited out or modified conversations. Basheer was outraged to find his original writings transcribed into "standardized" Malayalam, devoid of freshness and natural flow, and he forced them to publish the original one instead of the edited one his works have been translated to English and eighteen Indian languages.

He would like to sit sipping “sulaimani” (tea) under the shade of his pet mangostein tree, listen to ghazals.He died in Beypore, on 5 July 1994.
Famous works
v   Premalekhanam
v   Intuppappackoranayundayirunnu
v   Pathummayude Aadu
v   Balyakalasakhi
v   Mathilukal
v   Mananathinte Nizhalil
v   Manthrika Poocha

Awards
v Padma Sri(1982)
v Kendra Sahitya Academy Fellowship
v Kerala Sahitya Academy Fellowship
v Kerala State Film Award for Best Story - Mathilukal (1989)
v Lalithambika Antharjanam Award(1992)
v Muttathu Varkki Award (1993) (Paaththummaayude Aadu)
v Vallathol Award (1993)
         
          More about him in Malayalam clickhere
       
         Mathrubhumi special page on him click here
SHORT STORIES



Title
Translation in English
Year of Publishing
1
Janmadinam
The Birthday
1945
2
Ormakkurippu
Jottings from Memory
1946
3
Anargha Nimisham
Invaluable Moment (See Anal Haq)
1946
4
Viddikalude Swargam
Fools' Paradise
1948
5
Paavappettavarudaey Vaeshya
The Prostitute of the Poor
1952
6
Vishwavikhkhyaathamaaya Mookku
The World-renowned Nose
1954
7
Vishappu
The Hunger
1954
8
Oru Bhagavadgeethayum Kuraey Mulakalum
A Bhagavadgeetha and Some Breasts
1967
9
Aanappooda
Elephant-hair
1975
10
Chirikkunna Marappaava
The Laughing Wooden Doll
1975
11
Bhoomiyudaey Avakaashikal
The Inheritors of the Earth
1977
12
Shinkidimunkan
The Fools' God Man
1991
13
Yaa Ilaahi!
Oh God! (published posthumously)
1997
14
Jeevitham Oru Anugraham
Life is a Gift (published posthumously)
2000
NOVELS

Title
Translation in English
Year of Publishing
1
Premalekhanam
The Love Letter
1943
2
Baalyakaalasakhi
Childhood Companion
1944
3
Shabdangal
The Voices
1947
4
Ntuppuppaakkoraanaendaarnnu
My Grandad Had an Elephant
1951
5
Maranaththinte Nizhalil
In the Shadow of Death
1951
6
Muchcheettukalikkaarante Makal
The Daughter of the Cardshark
1951
7
Sthalaththe Pradhaana Divyan
The Principal Divine of the Place
1953
8
Aanavaariyum Ponkurishum
Elephant Scooper and Golden Cross
1953
9
Jeevithanizhalppaadukal
The Shadows of Life
1954
10
Pathummayude Aadu
Paaththumma's Goat
1959
11
Mathilukal
Walls
1965
12
Thaaraa Specials

1968
13
Maanthrikapoochcha
The Magic Cat
1968
14
Prempatta
The Loving Cockroach (Published posthumously)
2006

No comments:

Post a Comment