V. Madhusoodanan Nair | |
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| Born | (1949-02-25)25 February 1949 (age 76) Aruviyodu, nearNeyyattinkara, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India |
| Occupation | Poet, critic and academic |
| Language | Malayalam |
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| Spouse | S. Malathi Devi |
| Children | Two daughters and a son |
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V. Madhusoodanan Nair is an Indian poet and critic ofMalayalam literature, who is credited with contributions in popularizing poetry through recitation.[1][2] He is best known forNaranathu Bhranthan, the poem with the most editions in Malayalam literature as well as his music albums featuring recitations of his own poems and poems of other major poets.Kerala Sahitya Akademi honoured him with theirannual award for poetry in 1993. He is also a recipient many other honours includingSahitya Akademi Award,Asan Smaraka Kavitha Puraskaram,Padmaprabha Literary Award, Kunju Pillai Award, R. G. Mangalom Award, Souparnikatheeram Prathibhapuraskaram and Janmashtami Puraskaram.
V. Madhusoodanan Nair was born on February 25, 1949, at Aruviyodu, a smallriverside village nearNeyyattinkara, inThiruvananthapuram, the capital of the south Indian state ofKerala to N. K. Velayudhan Pillai and Gourikutty Amma.[3] He imbibed quite early the tradition of many a ritualistic song from his father, who was a reciter ofThottam Pattu. His early schooling was at the local schools in Neyyattinkara and Kotturkonam after which he passed a pre-degree course fromVelu Thampi Memorial Nair Service Society College. Subsequently, he graduated fromMahatma Gandhi College and earned a master's degree from theUniversity College Thiruvananthapuram. He started his career as a journalist, working atKumkumam magazine and Veekshanam daily and also as a program announcer at the Thiruvananthapuram station of theAll India Radio before working as a sub-editor atKerala Bhasha Institute. Later, he shifted to academics by joiningSt. Xavier's College, Thiruvananthapuram as a faculty[4] from where he superannuated from service as the Professor and Head of the Department of Malayalam.[5]
Madhusoodanan Nair is married to S. Malathi Devi and the couple has two daughters, Rashmi and Ramya and a son, Vishnu.[3] The family lives in Devaswom Board Junction, Thiruvananthapuram.[6]
Madhusoodanan Nair started writing poems while at school and the first of his poems was published in the 1980s; his first poem anthology,Naranathu Bhranthan was published in 1992.[7] The book is reported to be the most popular poetry anthology ever in Malayalam literature[citation needed], with over 40 editions, surpassing the second most printed book,Ramanan ofChangampuzha Krishna Pillai, which had 18 editions as of 2016.[8] He is known to be conversant with several languages including Malayalam, English, Hindi, Sanskrit and Tamil. Besides poems, he has published five non-fiction books includingEliotum Richardsum, a critical study,Science Nikhantu, a lexicon andNadodi Vignanam, a book on the folklore of Kerala. He has written the lyrics for three Malayalam films viz.Santhanagopalam,Kulam andArdhanaari while his poems have been used in films such asDaivathinte Vikrithikal,Punyam,Punarjani andVeettilekkulla Vazhi.[9] He also wrote lyrics for Tharangini and Manorama Music.[7]
Madhusoodanan Nair received the Kunju Pillai Award for Poetry in 1986, followed by the K. Balakrishnan Award in 1990.[3]Kerala Sahitya Akademi selected his debut anthology,Naranathu Bhranthan, for theirannual award for poetry in 1993.[10] A decade later, he was awarded the 2003Asan Smaraka Kavitha Puraskaram,[11] the same year as he received two more awards viz. R. G. Mangalom Award and the Souparnikatheeram Prathibhapuraskaram.[5] In 2015 he received theKadammanitta Ramakrishnan Award[12] and Janmashtami Puraskaram and a year later, he was awarded thePadmaprabha Literary Award in 2016.[4][13]Sahitya Akademi selected his work,Achan Piranna Veedu for their annual award in 2019.[14]
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