Kerala

‘Folklore makes our communication complete’

FEROKE: No modern communication becomes complete without the help of the folklore of a community, said K.S. Radhakrishnan, Vice-Chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady.

Inaugurating a seminar on ‘Mapila folklore’ organised by the Department of Malayalam at Farook College here on Thursday, Dr. Radhakrishnan said that many great writers had succeeded in their communication by taking recourse to the folklore.

“Our works of art, including names of films like Aranthampuran and Madampi, have an indelible association with our folklore.”

All folklores were a living entity and, therefore, could not be separated from the present generation, he said.

Citing Vaikom Mohammed Basheer as a classic example of a writer making use of the folklore, Dr. Radhakrishnan said that “we all tend to fall back on the legacy of our ancestry.”

According to him, concepts and factors like caste and community could not be rooted out from the minds of the people. “But our success is in using them in a limited sense. Most of us consider caste and religion when it comes to

marriage. Thus, caste and religion play a partial role in our lives.”

He said folklore was inextricably rooted in human life. “Perhaps none made use of mother-tongue and folklore more than prophets of religions,” he said.

T. M. Raveendran, head of the Department of Malayalam, Malabar Christian College, Kozhikode; and D. Padmini, head of the Department of Malayalam, Government Arts and Science College, Kozhikode, addressed the seminar.

Folklore experts Balachandran Keezhoth and M. Devaraj presented their expertise in ‘folklore in modern times.’ Balakrishnan Vallikkunnu spoke on ‘the folklore tradition in Mappilapattu.’

The three-day seminar will conclude on Saturday.

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