N. S. Madhavan
Encyclopedia
N. S. Madhavan is a leading writer of contemporary Malayalam literature
, whose short stories, novels, football columns and travel articlea enjoy a wide readership in Malayalam speaking areas of India
.
, 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 organized 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.
, until the release of his story 'Higuita' in 1990. In this work, Madhavan models his protagonist, priest Father Geevarghese, on Higuita, the 1990 FIFA World Cup goalkeeper for Columbia. Higuita's unconventional playing style whereby he would often abandon his goal and try to score goals, occupies the priest's imagination. Likewise, he temporarily abandons his cassock and saves a tribal girl Lucie from the clutches of the trafficker Jabbar. The short story was adjudged the best in hundred years of Malayalam literature.
Since then he has published four collections of stories, a novel and one collection of plays. Madhavan's works of short fiction are:
Madhavan's contribution to the short story genre, which is dying in most parts of the world, is reckoned by critics to be unique and noteworthy. As a short-fiction writer, his art gives importance to minute details and exemplifies the manifest skill and compact craft that writing short fiction demands. In Madhavan's works the subtle connections of criss-crossing dialogs and interlacing plots ultimately reveal an integrated narrative continuum.
by Portuguese colonists in the 16th century. In contrast, Arundhati Roy
's The God of Small Things
is about Syrian Christian upper caste converts to Christianity in Kerala.
The novel it is set between 1951 and 1967, the first sixteen years of Jessica life, but draws upon history going back to the time of Vasco Da Gama
. She was born at a time when people used to run away from cow-pox vaccinators as well as the period when Kerala embraced communism, which the novelist calls the 'watermelon years' – an allusion to the verdant green-canopied Kerala with its hidden red watermelons. There are captivating descriptions of Latin Christian residents of the Dutch Battery preparing themselves for months prior to the staging of Karalman Chavittu Nadakam
, an operatic play about Charlemagne
, originally written in Tamil
and pidgin Latin
by Chinnathambi Annavi in the 16th century. Set against the background of the city of Madhavan's birth, Kochi, the Lanthan Batheriyile Luthiniyakal is a roller coaster ride through micro histories, the nascent days of a newly independent country, the growth and decline of ideas, and the randomness of events affecting human lives. Well-known Malayalam novelist M. Mukundan
made the following assessment after reviewing the novel, "N.S. Madhavan has rejuvenated Malayalam fiction." He summarises the novel thus: "[The book] is all about history and imagination—the protogonists of new fiction that is in vogue." Mukundan added, "The novel is heavily populated with communists, priests, carpenters, cooks, boatmen, librarians, school teachers, even tailors. At times you will come across history makers from faraway Russia -- Joseph Stalin
, Imre Nagy
, Nikita Khrushchev
..."
The English translation was shortlisted for the 2011 The Hindu Literary Prize
, translated by Rajesh Raja Mohan.
long list, and was the winner of the 2010 Vodafone Crossword Book Award
(Fiction Translation).
, a short story by Madhavan, is about the homicidal attacks on the Sikhs
that occurred following the 1984 assassination of the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
and has been filmed as the Hindi movie, Kaya Taran
by Sashi Kumar in 2004.
. Their daughter, Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan
is a well-known blogger and the author of the English novel, You Are Here.
Write-up
Malayalam literature
The term Malayalam literature refers to Literature written in Malayalam language. Malayalam is the language spoken by around 35 million people, mainly the inhabitants of the state of Kerala and the union territory of Lakshadweep Islands in India. Malayalam is a Dravidian language and thus has close...
, whose short stories, novels, football columns and travel articlea enjoy a wide readership in Malayalam speaking areas of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
.
Early life
Madhavan was born in the port city of Kochi (formerly Cochin) where he attended the Sree Rama Varma High School. After graduating in economics from Maharajas CollegeMaharajas College
The Maharaja's College is one of the biggest centres of learning and higher education in Kerala, India. Located in the heart of Cochin city, it is spread over a campus of on the banks of Vembanad Lake...
, Ernakulam
Ernakulam
Ernakulam refers to the downtown area or the western part of the mainland of Kochi city in Kerala, India. The city is the most urban part of Kochi and has lent its name to the Ernakulam district. Ernakulam is called the commercial capital of the state of Kerala and is a main nerve of business in...
he moved to Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram
Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...
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 organized by the Malayalam literary magazine Mathrubhumi
Mathrubhumi
Mathrubhumi is a Malayalam language newspaper that is published from Kerala, India. Mathrubhumi was founded by K. P. Kesava Menon, an active volunteer in the Indian freedom struggle against the British.-History:...
. In 1975, Madhavan joined the Indian Administrative Service where he was seconded to the Bihar
Bihar
Bihar is a state in eastern India. It is the 12th largest state in terms of geographical size at and 3rd largest by population. Almost 58% of Biharis are below the age of 25, which is the highest proportion in India....
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.
Stories
In the 1980s, Madhavan went through a decade-long period of writer's blockWriter's block
Writer's block is a condition, primarily associated with writing as a profession, in which an author loses the ability to produce new work. The condition varies widely in intensity. It can be trivial, a temporary difficulty in dealing with the task at hand. At the other extreme, some "blocked"...
, until the release of his story 'Higuita' in 1990. In this work, Madhavan models his protagonist, priest Father Geevarghese, on Higuita, the 1990 FIFA World Cup goalkeeper for Columbia. Higuita's unconventional playing style whereby he would often abandon his goal and try to score goals, occupies the priest's imagination. Likewise, he temporarily abandons his cassock and saves a tribal girl Lucie from the clutches of the trafficker Jabbar. The short story was adjudged the best in hundred years of Malayalam literature.
Since then he has published four collections of stories, a novel and one collection of plays. Madhavan's works of short fiction are:
- Chulaimedile Savangal (Corpses of Chulaimed)
- Higuita
- Thiruth (Blue Pencil)
- Paryaya Kathakal (Stories about Names)
- Nilavili (The Cry)
Madhavan's contribution to the short story genre, which is dying in most parts of the world, is reckoned by critics to be unique and noteworthy. As a short-fiction writer, his art gives importance to minute details and exemplifies the manifest skill and compact craft that writing short fiction demands. In Madhavan's works the subtle connections of criss-crossing dialogs and interlacing plots ultimately reveal an integrated narrative continuum.
Novel
After thirty-three years as a writer, Madhavan published his debut novel in 2003 as Lanthan Batheriyile Luthiniyakal, translated as Litanies of the Dutch Battery in 2010. It was well received by Malayalam readers and has been reprinted many times. The novel is about life on an imaginary island in the Kochi backwater, named after a 17th century battery (bathery in Malayalam) of five cannons installed on its promontory by the Dutch (Lanthans in Malayalam). Jessica, the young narrator of the story, is the scion of a family of carpenters with a long tradition of boat building. Her remniscences start from the days when she was inside her pregnant mother's womb. The novel presents an intimate picture of life of the Latin Christians of the Kerala coast, descendants of poor, low-caste Hindus who were converted to ChristianityChristianity
Christianity is a monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus as presented in canonical gospels and other New Testament writings...
by Portuguese colonists in the 16th century. In contrast, Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy
Arundhati Roy is an Indian novelist. She won the Booker Prize in 1997 for her novel, The God of Small Things, and has also written two screenplays and several collections of essays...
's The God of Small Things
The God of Small Things
The God of Small Things is the debut novel of Indian author Arundhati Roy. It is a story about the childhood experiences of fraternal twins whose lives are destroyed by the "Love Laws" that lay down "who should be loved, and how. And how much." The book is a description of how the small things in...
is about Syrian Christian upper caste converts to Christianity in Kerala.
The novel it is set between 1951 and 1967, the first sixteen years of Jessica life, but draws upon history going back to the time of Vasco Da Gama
Vasco da Gama
Vasco da Gama, 1st Count of Vidigueira was a Portuguese explorer, one of the most successful in the Age of Discovery and the commander of the first ships to sail directly from Europe to India...
. She was born at a time when people used to run away from cow-pox vaccinators as well as the period when Kerala embraced communism, which the novelist calls the 'watermelon years' – an allusion to the verdant green-canopied Kerala with its hidden red watermelons. There are captivating descriptions of Latin Christian residents of the Dutch Battery preparing themselves for months prior to the staging of Karalman Chavittu Nadakam
Chavittu Nadakam
Chavittu Nadakam is a highly colorful Christian classical art form originated in Gothuruth village, Kerala state in India. It is noted for its attractive make-up of characters, their elaborate costumes, detailed gestures and well-defined body movements presented in tune with the rhythmic playback...
, an operatic play about Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
, originally written in Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
and pidgin Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
by Chinnathambi Annavi in the 16th century. Set against the background of the city of Madhavan's birth, Kochi, the Lanthan Batheriyile Luthiniyakal is a roller coaster ride through micro histories, the nascent days of a newly independent country, the growth and decline of ideas, and the randomness of events affecting human lives. Well-known Malayalam novelist M. Mukundan
M. Mukundan
M. Mukundan is one of the pioneers of modernity in Malayalam literature, belonging to Mahe, part of Pondicherry Union Territory in South India. He was born on 10 September 1942 at Mayyazhi , a one-time French territory in India...
made the following assessment after reviewing the novel, "N.S. Madhavan has rejuvenated Malayalam fiction." He summarises the novel thus: "[The book] is all about history and imagination—the protogonists of new fiction that is in vogue." Mukundan added, "The novel is heavily populated with communists, priests, carpenters, cooks, boatmen, librarians, school teachers, even tailors. At times you will come across history makers from faraway Russia -- Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...
, Imre Nagy
Imre Nagy
Imre Nagy was a Hungarian communist politician who was appointed Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the People's Republic of Hungary on two occasions...
, Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Khrushchev
Nikita Sergeyevich Khrushchev led the Soviet Union during part of the Cold War. He served as First Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1953 to 1964, and as Chairman of the Council of Ministers, or Premier, from 1958 to 1964...
..."
The English translation was shortlisted for the 2011 The Hindu Literary Prize
The Hindu Literary Prize
The Hindu Literary Prize or The Hindu Best Fiction Award is an Indian literary award sponsored by The Hindu Literary Review which is part of the The Hindu paper. It recognizes Indian works in English and English translation...
, translated by Rajesh Raja Mohan.
English translation
Madhavan's novel Lanthanbatheriyile Luthiniyakal was translated into English by Rajesh Rajamohan under the title Litanies of Dutch Battery and published in October 2010 by Penguin Books. It was selected for the Man Asian Literary PrizeMan Asian Literary Prize
The Man Asian Literary Prize, founded in 2007, is an annual literary award given to the best novel by an Asian writer, either written in English or translated into English, and published in the previous calendar year...
long list, and was the winner of the 2010 Vodafone Crossword Book Award
Vodafone Crossword Book Award
Vodafone Crossword Book Award is an Indian book award sponsored by Vodafone and Crossword Bookstores. It is India's biggest private sector award. The Award was instituted in 1998 with the intention of competing with The Booker Prize, Commonwealth Writers' Prize or The Pulitzer Prize.The award...
(Fiction Translation).
Filmography
When Big Trees FallWhen Big Tree Falls
When Big Tree Falls is a short story by acclaimed Malayalam author N. S. Madhavan, adapted into an award winning feature film Kaya Taran by director Sashi Kumar....
, a short story by Madhavan, is about the homicidal attacks on the Sikhs
1984 anti-Sikh riots
The 1984 Anti-Sikh pogroms / riots or the 1984 Sikh Massacre was a sikh genocide there was four days of violence in northern India, particularly Delhi, during which armed mobs killed Sikhs, looted and set fire to Sikh homes, businesses and schools, and attacked gurdwaras, in response to the...
that occurred following the 1984 assassination of the then Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi
Indira Gandhi
Indira Priyadarshini Gandhara was an Indian politician who served as the third Prime Minister of India for three consecutive terms and a fourth term . She was assassinated by Sikh extremists...
and has been filmed as the Hindi movie, Kaya Taran
Kaya Taran
Kaya Taran is a highly-acclaimed film directed by Sashi Kumar based on Malayalam short story When Big Tree Falls by N.S...
by Sashi Kumar in 2004.
Family
Madhavan is married to Sheela Reddy, book editor of Outlook, an English magazine published in New DelhiNew Delhi
New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
. Their daughter, Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan
Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan
Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan is a blogger and writer. She writes under the pseudonym eM on The Compulsive Confessor. Her first book, a semi-autobiographical attempt, is "You Are Here", published by Penguin Group. Her second book is titled 'Confessions of a Listmaniac'.She is the daughter of the famous...
is a well-known blogger and the author of the English novel, You Are Here.
External links
English translations of his Malayalam storiesWrite-up