Oduvil Kunhikrishna Menon

Oduvil Kunhikrishna Menon (26 October 1869 – 18 May 1916) was a Malayalam–language poet, short-story writer, journalist and literary critic from Kerala, India. Menon was associated with the Venmani School of Malayalam poetry and was also a major figure in early prose literature. Along with Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar, Moorkoth Kumaran, Chenkulath Cheriya Kunhirama Menon (M. R. K. C.), C. S. Gopala Panicker and Ambadi Narayana Poduval, Kunhikrishna Menon is regarded as a pioneer of the short story in Malayalam literature.

Biography Early life and career Kunhikrishna Menon was born on 26 October 1869 as the son of Alathur Manakkal Parameswaram Namboothiripad (Kunjunni) and Oduvil Kunjikuttiyamma in Enkakkad village near Wadakkancherry in the present-day Thrissur district of Kerala state. Kunhikrishna Menon got his family name, Oduvil, through matrilineal succession.

He was educated at Wadakkancherry Grant School and Trichur Mission School. He completed his FA degree from Maharaja's College, Ernakulam and Madras. He then worked as the headmaster at Wadakkanchery Middle School for two years. In 1898, he obtained his BA degree from Trivandrum University College.

Menon died of diabetes on 18 May 1916. He was the Magistrate of Ernakulam taluk at the time of his death. 23 other poems are compiled in Part 2 (Kottakkal: Lakshmi Sahayam, 1927), with an introduction by Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer. Short stories were published in Malayalam 1890s onwards. Vasanavikriti published in Vidyavinodini is a detective story. Following that, stories like Menokkiye Konnatharanu, Dwaraka, Pathalarajavu (all by Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar) and Ente Aadyathe Piece etc. also came out through the same magazine. A few more short stories emerged when Bhashaposhini started circulating as a magazine in 1897. Rasikaranjini magazine emerged around this time with the intention of publishing good stories. Menon was one of the first to write stories with a social theme. He remarkably succeeded in the narrative style and characterisation of his stories. Kunhikrishna Menon was regarded as the successor of Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar in Malayalam short story writing. He also wrote a farce called Kalyanikalyanam (Trichur: Jnanasagaram, 1923).

Menon also made a mark in the field of journalism as the editor of the magazine Ramarajan. Imitating Malayala Manorama, Menon introduced a column for poetry in Ramarajan and many major poets published their poems in it. He also published scholarly reviews of several books including Kottarathil Sankunni's Raja Kesavadasan in Ramarajan. Menon wrote a series of articles in Manorama under the name Kora Prabhu. This series was a humorous take on the state affairs of Cochin and was very popular at the time. Menon was actively involved in the debates that took place in the newspapers of that time based on Muloor S. Padmanabha Panicker's Kaviramayanam. He even adopted a pen name Hanuman just to criticise Muloor's work.