Bringing The Real India To The World

Padma Bhushan Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai started writing from a very young age on realist issues. No wonders he wrote 600 short stories and 30 novels in his life, centred around the life of the oppressed. Today in 1999, he went for his final sleep.

Thakhazi Sivasankara Pillai; Source: Wikipedia

In 1912, Thakhazi Sivasankara Pillai was born in a village named Kuttanad, presently known as district Alappuzha in Kerala. He was born to Aripurathuveettil Parvathy Amma, and Poypallikalathil Sankara Kurup, brother of a famous Kathakali artist, Guru Kunchu Kurup.

The young writer was acquainted with language and studies in the form of tutoring by his father and a local teacher named Chakkampurathu Kittu Asan. Later, he finished his primary studies at a local school and passed from Ambalappuzha, an English school.

He finished high school under the headmaster, Kainikkara Kumara Pillai, an influential writer and playwright of Malayalam. This mentorship began as Kumara took an interest in Sivasankara's short stories and his creativity.

Later, Pillai also gave the pleader examination from Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram. Thus, he began his official career in writing. Kerala Kesari Daily employed him as a reporter, but he seemed to want a legal career and sought an apprenticeship under P. Parameshwaran Pillai, a lawyer at the munsif court.

But, life had other plans for him. At the time, the communist movement was gaining momentum, and Pillai found himself attracted to it and took an active role in the functions of the Sahitya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangham or Writers' Cooperative Society.

Pillai's debut came in 1929 with his book, Daridran or The Poor. The first of his 39 novels, Pillai's work often illustrated stories of mid-20th century Kerala.

Pillai is believed to have been the first author to publish a realistic novel in Malayalam literature in 1947, with his book Thottiyude Makan or Scavenger's Son, which followed a father's story who strived to keep his son from becoming a scavenger too.

One of his novels, Randidangazhi published in 1948, exposed the exploitation of the feudal system. The story went on the cinema screens when it was adapted by P. Subramaniam.

Pillai did the screenplay himself and won himself a merit certificate at the National Film Awards. This was in 1958.

Walking away from his earlier themes of realism and depicting his diversity, Thakazhi published Chemmeen. This love epic was the first novel translated into English which was Indian, after the colonial period.

He wrote many more novels along with social themes. The only play Pillai wrote was Thottilla, a social drama in 1946 and revered by many.

Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai was called by Thakazhi for his birthplace.

Known as the 'Kerala Maupassant', he was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, and the highest literary honour in India the Jnanpith Award, and the Padma Bhushan.

The historiographer passed away on 10th April, 1999.