MT Vasudevan Nair: Writer Sethu on his guru

Writer Sethu with MT Vasudevan Nair at ‘Sitara’, MT’s residence in Kozhikode (File) | Photo Credit: Special Arrangements

It is very difficult to write a few lines on MT, a writer who has become a mystical icon of Malayalam literature. I would rather write a few words about MT, the editor and what he had to say to me on a personal level.

Here I am reminded of a young man in his early twenties who was struggling to learn a few words by himself. Barsati in New Delhi. He wasn’t sure what he was getting into. But his mind was filled with the disturbing images he had seen a few days ago in a remote drought-stricken village in Bihar. It was considered the worst drought of the century, and the entire region was thirsty for water. When he finished writing, he wasn’t sure whether it was a kind of ‘reportage’ or a story, as it was not easy to group human suffering into a particular compartment. Anyway, he decided to take the plunge and had the guts to mail it to the magazine’s editor. homeland Weekly, a famous newspaper of Kerala. Of course, he was sure it would end up in the editor’s wastepaper basket.

But it caught the watchful eye of editor MT and thus the storyteller ‘Sethu’ in Malayalam was born. It was also the beginning of a close personal relationship between MT and I that spanned more than five and a half decades. Later, I would publish a few more stories and novels—all under the editor’s eye.

A rare ability

It was an intimate association that few words can describe. Apart from being a prolific writer himself, he had a rare ability to spot and nurture talent. I remember one such incident in the mid-1970s. MT had left for some reason homeland And it was left to management to persuade him to return. That’s when I got an unexpected call from him one morning. I was really shocked when he asked if I had a novel. It looked like this fire witness, Lalithambika Antharjanam’s famous novel was coming to an end and he had no notable work to follow. I was surprised at this request. Even now I don’t know what the great MT saw in me that made him think that I could fill the void left by a senior writer with only a decade in the literary world.

That’s when I admitted that I couldn’t do it, because I had only written a few lines about a possible plot and wasn’t sure if I could follow it. Still he persisted and asked me to look at the plot anew. He promised to call after a few days. This was exactly the trigger the author wanted from a senior editor of an important publication. I went back to my notepad and continuously dreamed about Devi, the main character guiding me through the story. This is how my famous novel was born Pandavapuram, Which has stood the test of time. Coincidentally, when the weekly announced my photo novel, they only received the first few chapters of the work.

I vividly remember an incident about five decades ago when he fell seriously ill and fell unconscious in a hospital in Kozhikode. I was among a few friends who were anxiously waiting to get updates on his condition, as doctors indicated that the next 48 hours were critical. But he came out of it as a true fighter and became the heartbeat of Malayali readers for the next 48 years.

There is much to write about him. I can only say that we may be able to find better writers than MT; But we cannot find a literary editor of his class in any Indian language.

The author is a novelist, short story writer and former banker