N. S. Madhavan | |
|---|---|
 Madhavan in July 2015 | |
| Born | (1948-09-09)9 September 1948 (age 77) |
| Occupation | Novelist,short story writer, columnist,IAS Officer |
| Language | Malayalam |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Alma mater | Maharaja's College, Ernakulam |
| Genre | Novel, short story, essays |
| Subject | Social aspects |
| Notable works |
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| Notable awards | |
| Spouse | Sheela Reddy |
| Children | Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan |
N. S. Madhavan (born 9 September 1948) is an Indian writer ofMalayalam literature. Known for his novel,Lanthan Batheriyile Luthiniyakal (Litanies of the Dutch Battery) and a host of short stories such asHiguita,Thiruthu,Chulaimedile Shavangal andVanmarangal Veezhumpol, Madhavan also writes football columns and travel articles. He is a distinguished fellow ofKerala Sahitya Akademi and a recipient of several major awards includingOdakkuzhal Award,Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story,Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel,Muttathu Varkey Award,Mathrubhumi Literary Award,Crossword Book Award and Kerala State Students Federation Sahithyolsav Award.
N. S. Madhavan, born on September 9, 1948, in the port city ofCochin did his school education atSree Rama Varma High School and graduated in economics fromMaharaja's College, Ernakulam.[1] His post-graduate studies were 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 'Shishu', in a contest organised by the Malayalam literary magazineMathrubhumi.[2] He joined theIndian Administrative Service in 1975 and started his administrative career as a member of theBihar cadre. After serving in Bihar in various capacities, he returned to his home state in 1988.[3]
Madhavan is married to Sheela Reddy, a book editor ofOutlook, an English magazine published in New Delhi. Their daughter,Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan is a well-known blogger and the author of works such asYou Are Here,Confessions of a Listmaniac andCold Feet.[4][5]
In the 1980s, Madhavan went through a decade-long period ofwriter's block, until the release of his story 'Higuita' in 1990. In this work, Madhavan models his protagonist, Father Geevarghese, onRené Higuita, the 1990 FIFA World Cup goalkeeper for Colombia and his unconventional playing style whereby he would often abandon his goal and try to score goals, occupies the priest's imagination.[6] Likewise, he temporarily abandons his cassock and saves a tribal girl Lucie from the clutches of the trafficker Jabbar. The short story was rated among the best Malayalam stories in the last century.[7] It has since been adapted into a play,Higuita: A Goalie's Anxiety at Penalty Kick, by Sasidharan Naduvil.[8]Thiruthu, based on theBabri Masjid demolition,Chulaimedile Shavangal (Corpses of Chulaimed),Vanmarangal Veezhumpol (When the Big Trees Fall),Paryaya Kathakal (Synonymous Stories),Nilavili (The Cry), Muyal Vetta (Hare Hunt) andNalam Lokam (The Fourth World) are some of his other notable short stories.[9] His stories are known to represent the uncertainties, ambiguities and tragedies of the modern world.[10]
After thirty three years as a writer, Madhavan published his debut novel in 2003 asLanthan Batheriyile Luthiniyakal.[3] The novel is about the life on an imaginary island in theKochi backwaters,[11] named after a 17th-century battery (bathery in Malayalam) of five cannons installed on its promontory by the Dutch (Lanthans in Malayalam).[12] Jessica, the young narrator of the story, is the scion of a family of carpenters with a long tradition of boat building. Her reminiscences 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 Christianity by Portuguese colonists in the 16th century.[13] The first edition of the novel was sold out in a month.[14]
The novel is set between 1951 and 1967, the first sixteen years of Jessica life, but draws upon history going back to the time ofVasco Da Gama.[13] 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 thewatermelon years – an allusion to the verdant green-canopied Kerala with its hidden red watermelons. There are captivating descriptions ofLatin catholic residents of the Dutch Battery preparing themselves for months prior to the staging ofKaralman Charitham aChavittu Nadakam or an operatic play aboutCharlemagne, originally written inTamil and pidginLatin by Chinnathambi Annavi in the 16th century.[15][16] Set against the background of the city of Madhavan's birth, Kochi, theLanthan 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 novelistM. Mukundan made the following assessment after reviewing the novel, "N.S. Madhavan has rejuvenated Malayalam fiction."[17] He summarises the novel thus: "[The book] is all about history and imagination—the protogonists of new fiction that is in vogue."[17] 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..."[17]
In 2006, Madhavan published has written two plays,Rayum Mayum andArbhudhavaidyan, published together as a book,Randu Natakangal, in 2006.[18] His novelLanthanbatheriyile Luthiniyakal was translated into English byRajesh Rajamohan under the titleLitanies of Dutch Battery and published in October 2010 byPenguin Books. The work was the winner of the 2010Crossword Book Award (Indian language translations)[19] and featured in theMan Asian Literary Prize long list[2] and the 2011The Hindu Literary Prize short list.[20]Kaya Taran, the 2004Hindi movie bySashi Kumar, is based onWhen Big Trees Fall, a short story by Madhavan about thehomicidal attacks on the Sikhs that followed theAssassination of Indira Gandhi, the then Indian Prime Minister.[3][21] He also edited one book,Malayala Kathakal, composed of 60 short stories by various writers.[22]
Madhavan, who topped the field in a literary competition conducted by Mathrubhumi in 1970 for his short story,Shishu, received thePadmarajan Award for his work,Thiruthu in 1993[23] and a year later, he received the 1994Odakkuzhal Award forHiguita.[24]Higuita was selected for another award in 1995, theKerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story;[25] he would receive another award fromKerala Sahitya Akademi in 2004,Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel forLanthan Batheriyile Luthiniyakal.[26] The novel was included in the long list for the 2007Man Asian Literary Prize, the prize eventually going to the Chinese novel,Wolf Totem.[2] He received one more award forHiguita, theMuttathu Varkey Award in 2009[27] followed by the Padmaprabha Literary Award, the same year.[28] The English translation of his novel,Litanies of Dutch Battery, was shortlisted forThe Hindu Literary Prize in 2011.[20]Kerala Sahitya Akademi honoured him with fellowship in 2013.[29][30] He received the Padmaprabha Literary Prize in 2015[31] and two awards in 2018, theMathrubhumi Literary Award[32][33] and the Literary Award of theBahrain Keraleeya Samajam.[9]
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