Edappally Raghavan Pillai
- Maninadam
- Thushara Haram
- Hrudaya Smitham
- Pavathu Neelakanda Pillai (father)
- Kalyani Amma (mother)
Edappally Raghavan Pillai (30 May 1909 – 4 July 1936) was an Indian poet of Malayalam literature and a close associate of Changampuzha Krishna Pillai.[1] The pair, the front-runners of romanticism in Malayalam, was considered by many as the Shelley and Keats combination of Malayalam poetry. Kesari Balakrishna Pillai compared Pillai to the Italian poet, Giacomo Leopardi.
Biography
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/00/Gothic_Building_of_St._Albert%27s_HSS.jpg/235px-Gothic_Building_of_St._Albert%27s_HSS.jpg)
Raghavan Pillai was born on 30 May 1909, at Elamakkara, near Edapally in Ernakulam district of the south Indian state of Kerala to Pavathu Neelakanda Pillai and Kalyani Amma, in a family with limited financial means.[2] His mother died when he was young and his father, who was an alcoholic, remarried;[3] he could not get along well with his step mother.[4] His early schooling was at a local school in Ponekkara after which he completed middle school from the English School in Edapally Chuttupadukara before completing his high school education from a school in Cheranellore and later at St. Albert's HSS, Ernakulam; he passed the 10th standard examination only on the second attempt. During this period, he worked as a private tuition teacher and he fell in love with one of his students who came from a rich family in Edapally. The girl's parents discover it and forced him to leave Edapally.[3]
Pillai moved to Thiruvananthapuram where he stayed with a friend by name M. Balakrishnan Nair and worked at various establishments viz. Bhashabhivardhini Book Depot, Sreemathi weekly and Kerala Kesari magazine as well as at a local grocery shop as their accountant.[2] He also tried unsuccessfully to pass Vidwan examination. When Kerala Kesari was closed down, he moved to Kollam where he was accommodated by V. M. Narayana Pillai, a known lawyer and a relative of the girl he loved.[4] It was here he learned about the marriage of the girl when the lawyer received her wedding invitation. On 4 July 1936, when the lawyer was away from home to attend the girl's wedding, Pillai, aged 27, bathed himself clean and wore a jasmine garland before killing himself.[5] His body was found the next morning, hanging from a tree.[6]
Legacy
Raghavan Pillai was a close friend of Changampuzha Krishna Pillai and the friends were referred to as Edapally poets[7] or as the twins of Edapally.[8] Both the poets were exponents of romantic poetry[9] which earned them the epithet, Shelley and Keats combination of Malayalam poetry.[10][11] It is believed that the pastoral play, Ramanan, by Changampuzha is an elegy based on the life and death of his friend Raghavan Pillai.[1]
Kesari Balakrishna Pillai likened Pillai to the Italian poet, Giacomo Leopardi.[12] Pillai's body of work comprises Sudha, Chillikkashu, Thushara Haaram (1935), Nava Saurabham (1936), Hridhaya Smitham (1936) and Maninaadham (1944), the last one considered by many as his best work.[13] Ramanan has since been adapted as a feature film, into a Kadhaprasangam by Kedamangalam Sadanandan and into a music album.[7] A memorial was built at Mulamkadakam in Kollam, the place where Pillai killed himself.[14]
Farewell poem
Pillai wrote a poem, Naalathe Prabhatham (Tomorrow's Sunrise), the day before his death and sent it to Malayalarajyam press with instructions to publish it the next day.[3] Maninadam, The poem he wrote shortly before his death opens as:[15]
മണിമുഴക്കം! മരണദിനത്തിന്റെ | The bell tolls; It is the sweet knell |
Changampuzha wrote a short poem, The Broken Flute, mourning the loss of his friend which reads as:[8]
നീലക്കുയിലെ, നിരാശ്രയാം നിൻ നീറും മനസ്സുമായ് നീ മറഞ്ഞു | O blessed nightingale You have vanished with your scourging despair |
Selected works
- Thushara Haaram (1935)
- Nava Saurabham (1936)
- Hridhaya Smitham (1936)
- Maninaadham (1944)
- Edappally Raghavan Pillayude Krithikal
References
- ^ a b George, K. M. (1992). Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology: Surveys and poems. Sāhitya Akādemī. ISBN 978-81-7201-324-0.
- ^ a b "Biography on Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal". Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ^ a b c "Edappally Raghavan Pillai - Veethi profile". veethi.com. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ^ a b "Memories of Edappally, poet of love, turn eight decades". Mathrubhumi. 5 July 2016. Archived from the original on 6 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ^ Sandy (4 July 2017). "Edappally Raghavan Pillai – The poet who foresaw his death". My Words & Thoughts. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ^ Saccidānandan (1996). Gestures: An Anthology of South Asian Poetry. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 134–. ISBN 978-81-260-0019-7.
- ^ a b Vijayakumar, B. (17 April 2010). "RAMANAN 1967". The Hindu. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ^ a b Es Guptannāyar (2001). Changampuzha. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 27–. ISBN 978-81-260-1292-3.
- ^ O. N. V. Kurup (2005). This Ancient Lyre: Selected Poems. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 24–. ISBN 978-81-260-1791-1.
- ^ Das, Sisir Kumar (1995). A History of Indian literature. Sahitya Akademi. ISBN 978-81-7201-798-9.
- ^ Sisir Kumar Das (2005). History of Indian Literature: 1911-1956, struggle for freedom : triumph and tragedy. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 207–. ISBN 978-81-7201-798-9.
- ^ "Poetry – The Second Generation of Romantics". Public Relations Department, Government of Kerala. 4 March 2019. Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ^ "List of works". Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ^ "Kollam, a melting pot of traditions, tastes". OnManorama. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ^ K. M. George (1992). Modern Indian Literature, an Anthology: Surveys and poems. Sahitya Akademi. pp. 789–. ISBN 978-81-7201-324-0.
Further reading
- S. Guptannāyar, Changampuzha, Sahitya Akademi (2001). ISBN 81-260-1292-7, ISBN 978-81-260-1292-3
- Rekshadas D (1978). "The poetry of Edappally Raghavan Pillai - A Study (full text)". University. University of Kerala. hdl:10603/147693. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
External links
- "Portrait commissioned by Kerala Sahitya Akademi". Kerala Sahitya Akademi portal. 4 March 2019. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
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