Sugathakumari

Sugathakumari (22 January 1934 – 23 December 2020) was an Indian poet and activist, who was at the forefront of environmental and feminist movements in Kerala, India.

Early life

Sugathakumari was born in Aranmula on 22 January 1934 in the modern day southern Indian state of Kerala (then in the Kingdom of Travancore). Her father Keshava Pillai, known as Bodheswaran, was a famous Gandhian thinker and writer, who was involved in the country's freedom struggle. V. K. Karthiyayini Amma, her mother, was a well-known scholar and teacher of Sanskrit. Sugathakumari was the second of the three daughters of her parents, following an elder sister named Hrdayakumari, and preceding a younger sister named Sujatha Devi, both of them who excelled in literary field. After graduating from the University College, Thiruvananthapuram, Sugathakumari completed her master's degree in philosophy from Government College for Women, Thiruvananthapuram in 1955, and spent three years researching on the topic of 'Comparative Study of the Concept of Moksha in Indian Schools of Philosophy' but did not complete the thesis. Raathrimazha (Night Rain) won the Kendra Sahitya Academy Award in 1978. Her other collections include Paavam Manavahridayam, Muthuchippi, Manalezhuth, Irulchirakukal and Swapnabhoomi. Environmental issues and other contemporary problems are also sharply portrayed in her poetry.

Sugathakumari has been described as among the most sensitive and most philosophical of contemporary Malayalam poets. Her poetry drew on her sadness. In an interview, she said, "I have been inspired to write mostly through my emotional upheavals; few of my poems can be called joyous. But these days I feel I'm slowly walking away from it all, to a world that is futile or meaningless". Sugathakumari's most famous works include Raathrimazha, Ambalamani (temple bell) and Manalezhuthu. Sugathakumari also wrote children's literature, receiving an Award for Lifetime Contribution to Children's Literature, instituted by the State Institute of Children's Literature, in 2008.

She won numerous other awards for her literary works, including the Vayalar Award and Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, the highest literary honour from the Government of Kerala.

Social activism

A committed conservationist, Sugathakumari served as the secretary of the Society for Conservation of Nature, Thiruvananthapuram. In the late 1970s she led a successful nationwide movement, known as Save Silent Valley, to save some of the oldest natural forests in the country, the Silent Valley in Kerala, from submersion as a result of a planned hydroelectric project. Her poem Marathinu Stuthi (Ode to a Tree) became a symbol for the protest from the intellectual community and was the opening song of most of the Save Silent Valley campaign meetings. She was the founding secretary of the Prakrithi Samrakshana Samithi, an organisation for the protection of nature. She was also actively involved with various women's movements of the 1970s and served as the chairperson of the Kerala State Women's Commission.

Sugathakumari also founded Abhaya (refuge), an organisation that provides shelter to female mental patients, after being appalled at conditions in the government-run mental hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. Three women led by social activist and artist G. Geetha, demanded a probe into the rape of a Dalit inmate woman by two counselors and the hostel warden of 'Abhaya' in 2002. They had a daughter, Lekshmi Devi. Sugathakumari's elder sister Hridayakumari was a literary critic, orator and educationist. Her younger sister B. Sujatha Devi was also a writer. The Kerala government declared Sugathakumari's ancestral house, Vazhuvelil Tharavadu, as a protected monument on her 84th birthday.

Sugathakumari died on 23 December 2020, due to complications from COVID-19 during the COVID-19 pandemic in India, at the Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, thirty days short from her 87th birthday. She was cremated with full state honours at Santhikavadam crematorium in Thiruvananthapuram on the same day.

Works

Mutthuchippi (Pearl and Oyster; 1961) Pathirappookkal (Midnight Flowers; 1967) Paavam Pavam Manava Hrudayam (Poor Human Heart; 1968) Pranamam (Salutation; 1969) Irul Chirakukal (The Wings of Darkness; 1969) Raathrimazha (Night Rain; 1977) Ambalamani (Temple Bell; 1981) Kurinjippookkal (Kurinji Flowers; 1987) Pavada was also one of her works Thulaavarshappacha (The Monsoon Green; 1990) Radhayevide (Where is Radha?; 1995) Devadasi (1998) Manalezhuthu (The Writing on the Sand; 2006) Abhisarika Sugathakumariyude Kavithakal (2006) Krishnakavithakal (2008) Megham Vannu Thottappol (2010) Poovazhi Maruvazhi Kaadinu Kaaval

Awards and recognitions Civilian honours 2006: Padma Shri 1978: Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award for Rathrimazha 1982: Odakkuzhal Award for Ambalamani 2001: Lalithambika Sahitya Award 2003: Vallathol Award 2004: Kerala Sahitya Akademi Fellowship 2004: Balamaniamma Award 2004: Bahrain Keraleeya Samajam Sahitya Award 2006: Deviprasadam Trust Award 2007: P. Kunhiraman Nair Award for Manalezhuthu 2008: Mahakavi Pandalam Keralavarma Poetry Award 2008: Award for Lifetime Contribution to Children's Literature 2009: Ezhuthachan Award 2009: Basheer Puraskaram 2012: Saraswati Samman for Manalezhuthu 2013: PKV Award for Literature 2013: Pandit Karuppan Award 2014: Nalappadan Award for his Holistic Contributions to Malayalam Literature (Nalappadan Memorial Cultural Society-NMCS) 2014: VT Literary Award 2014: Mathrubhumi Literary Award 2014: Thoppil Bhasi Award 2017: O. N. V. Literary Award 2017: P. Kesavadev Literary Award 2019: Kadammanitta Ramakrishnan Award

Other awards 1986: Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra Award 2007: Streesakti Award 2007: K. Kunhirama Kurup Award 2009: M.T.Chandrasenan Award