A brief personal history of time

THE VILLAGE Before Time. A novel that was born, nearly thirty years ago, when its author, Mr.V.K.Madhavan Kutty left his hometown, Paruthippulli, near Palakkad to Delhi with a `suitcase, hold all and bundle of memories'.

The suitcase and hold all, he opened in Delhi, but the suitcase he kept closed, canning the memories, marinating them in time, waiting for the propitious moment. ``I was advised not to open it by one of our great writers and so I did not. Perhaps if I had then, I would have been a big failure'', says this quintessential Malayalee. Though he is somebody who would easily fall into the `man of the world' bracket, Mr.Kutty is for himself and those who know him, a Malayalee at heart.

His book, The Village Before Time, originally written in Malayalam and later translated into English figured among the books shortlisted for the Crossword Book Award. ``I did not write with a deadline or award in my mind. I wrote it for myself'', Mr.Kutty said after a well-received book reading session at the Crossword Book Store in Chennai.

Journalists will be familiar with the writings of Mr. Madhavan Kutty, a journalist who `turned to the profession for want of anything better to do'. Having started off as a print journalist, he has moved on to TV and now, even writes on and off for Tehelka.

But this story is about his story, growing up in rural Kerala, which left its impressions on him so strong, it continues to be the most abiding influence of his life. The undulations of land, its water, the crops, the language, the poets and their poetry- ``Our generation was always taught the lines of our great poets. Even today I can quote comfortably from Vallathol and Asan and find that one line can often say a lot'', he says.

And if you probe further about his comfort with the language he quotes Malayalam writer O.V.Vijayan, ``I cannot change my parents at this stage,''. A prolific writer, Mr. Kutty has a number of publications to his credit, including his experiences as a survivor of the Kumaramangalam plane crash in 1973. There are so many publications that bear his name, it is difficult to keep count of, but what matters is that he believes there is much more to do... so much more.

Next on the cards, probably is an English translation of his published work, in which the key personae are the author and Death. Of his encounter with Death several times and how in their duels, he obviously he emerged victor, every single time. It is not curtain call yet for this strapping `young' journalist at 67 years, especially since he is still raring to go.

By Ramya Kannan

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