SOCIAL STUDIES PROJECT

TOPIC NOVELIST VAIKOM MUHAMMAD BASHEER

BY

M.RAMKI X

Vaikom Muhammad Basheer

BIODATABorn January 21, 1908, Thalayolaparambu, VaikomDied July 5, 1994 (aged 86), Beypore, KozhikodeOccupation Novelist, short story writer,Language MalayalamNationality IndianNotable award(s) Padma Shri Award, Sahitya Academy Award

Vaikkom Muhammad Basheer was a Malayalam fiction writer. He was a humanist, freedom fighter, novelist and short story writer. He is noted for the path breaking, disarmingly down-to-earth style of writing that won him literary critics. He is regarded as India's one of the most successful and outstanding writers. Translations of many of his works into other languages has won him worldwide acclaim. He was awarded the Padma Sri in 1982. He is fondly remembered as the Beypore Sultan.

BIOGRAPHY

Early life Basheer, was born in the village of

Thalayolapparampu in northern Travancore. After beginning his education at the local Malayalam medium school, he was sent to the English medium school in Vaikom, five miles away. While at school he fell under the spell of Mahatma Gandhi. When Gandhi came to Vaikom to participate in the Vaikom Satyagraham (1924) Basheer went to see him. After his meet with Gandhi he used to visit Gandhi's Satyagraha Ashram at Vaikom daily.

Freedom struggle involvement before journey He joined the fight for an Independent India,

leaving his schooling. His purpose in joining the Indian National Congress was to help ensure that there was some Muslim representation in the pan-Indian movement.

Since there was no active independence movement in Travancore or Kochi, he went to Kozhikode to take part in the Salt Satyagraha in 1930. He got arrested there and was sentenced to three months imprisonment and sent to Kannur prison. He became inspired by stories of heroism by revolutionaries like Bhagat Singh, Sukhdev and Rajguru, who were executed while he was in Kannur jail. After getting freed from prison, he organized an anti-British movement. Soon he left Kerala.

Journey After leaving Kerala, he embarked upon a

long journey that took him across the length and breadth of India and to many places in Asia and Africa, a journey which spanned seven years, doing whatever work that freed him from starvation. His occupations ranged from that of a loom fitter, fortune teller, cook, newspaper seller, fruit seller, sports goods agent, accountant, watchman, shepherd , hotel manager to a living as an ascetic with Hindu saints and Sufi mystics in the Himalayas. There were times when, he was with no water to drink, without any food to eat, he came face to face with death.

Imprisonment and after At Kottayam (1941–42), he was arrested. He wrote a few

stories while at the lock-up in the police station. He was sent to Thiruvananthapuram central jail for two years after trial. He wrote Baalyakaalasakhi (1944), Premalekhanam (1943) while serving his term and published it on his release.

He then made a career as a writer, initially publishing the works himself and carrying them to homes in order to sell them. He ran two bookstalls in Ernakulam, Circle Book house and later, Basheer's bookstall.

Once India achieved control of its destiny after obtaining Independence from British rule, he showed no further interest in active politics.

Well into his forties, he surprised many of his acquaintances by marrying a woman much younger than him (Fabi Basheer) and got settled to a life of quiet happiness with his wife and two children, Anees and Shahina, in Beypore, on the southern edge of Kozhikode.

During this period he also had to suffer from mental illness and was twice admitted to mental sanatoriums. He wrote one of his most famous works, Paaththummaayude aadu (Pathumma's Goat), while undergoing treatment in a mental hospital in Thrissur. The second spell of paranoia occurred after his marriage when he had settled down at Beypore. He recovered both times, and continued his writings.

He died in Beypore, on 5 July 1994. Basheer is fondly called as Beypore Sultan.

Though his works have been translated to English and eighteen Indian Languages, and the peculiarity of the language he uses makes the translations lose a lot of sheen.

WRITING STYLELanguage

Basheer is known for his unconventional style of language. He did not differentiate between literary language and the language spoken by the commons and did not care about the grammatical correctness of his sentences. Basheer was shocked that his original writings were transcribed to "standardized" Malayalam, avoiding freshness and natural flow, and he forced his publishers to publish the original one instead of the edited one. Basheer's brother Abdul Khadar was a Malayalam teacher. Once while reading one of the stories, he asked Basheer, "where are Aakhyas and aakhyathas (related with Malayalam grammar) in this...?". Basheer shouted at him saying that "I am writing in normal Malayalam and don’t correct yourself not me. This points out to the writing style of Basheer, without taking care of any grammar, he wrote in his own village language. Though he made funny remarks on himself regarding his lack of knowledge in Malayalam.

Themes An astute observer of human character, he skillfully combined

humor and pathos in his works. Love, hunger and poverty are recurring themes in his works. There is enormous variety in them – of narrative style, of philosophical content, of social comment. His association with India's independence struggle, the experiences during his long travels and the conditions that existed in Kerala, and the problems among the Muslim community – all had a major impact on them. Politics and prison, were grist to his mill. All of Basheer's love stories have found their way into the hearts of readers. The major theme of all Basheer stories is love and humanity. In the story "Muchittu Kalikkarente Makal" (The Card Sharp's Daughter), when Sainaba comes out of the water after stealing his bananas, Mandan Muthappa says only one thing- "Sainaba go home and dry your hair else you may fall sick." This fine thread of humanism can be experienced in almost all his stories.

Works Almost all of Basheer's writing can be seen as falling under the

heading of prose fiction – short stories and novels, though there is also a one-act play and volumes of essays. Basheer's fiction is very different and full of contrasts. There are purely narrative pieces of stories and others which have the quality of poems in prose. In all, a superficially simple style conceals a great subtlety of expression.

His literary career started off with the novel Premalekhanam, a humorous love story between an upper caste Hindu Nair, and a Christian woman. Hidden underneath the hilarious dialogues we can see a sharp criticism of religious conservatism, dowry and similar conventions existing in society. This was followed by the novel Baalyakaalasakhi – a tragic love story between Majeed and Suhra – which is among the most important novels in Malayalam literature in spite of its relatively small size (75 pages). In his foreword to Baalyakaalasakhi, Jeevithathil Ninnum Oru Aedu (A Page From Life), was brought out by him from run-of-the-mill love stories.

The autobiographical Janmadinam ("Birthday", 1945) is about a writer struggling to feed himself on his birthday and the novel Shabdangal ("Voices", 1947), which faced heavy criticism for violence and vulgarity.

Ntuppuppaakkoraanaendaarnnu ("Me Gran'dad an Elephant", 1951) is a fierce attack on the superstitious practices that existed among Muslims. Its protagonist is Kunjupathumma, a native, innocent and illiterate village belle. She falls in love with an educated, progressive, city-bred man, Nisaar Ahamed, Illiteracy is the problem in this novel. Velichathinentoru velicham ('brightness is very bright!')is one of the most quoted Basheer’s phrases which occurs in Ntuppuppaakkoraanaendaarnnu. People talk about elephants in this.

Mathilukal ("Walls") deals with prison life in the pre-independence days. It is a novel of sad irony set against a turbulent political backdrop. The novelist falls in love with a woman sentenced for life who is separated from him by insurmountable walls. They exchange love-promises standing on two sides of a wall, only to be separated without even being able to say good-bye.

The novel Mathilukal was later made into a film (MATHILUKAL, 1989) by Adoor Gopalakrishnan with Mammootty playing as Basheer.

Sthalaththe Pradhaana Divyan, Aanavaariyum Ponkurishum, Muccheettukalikkarante makal and Ettukaali Mammoonju featured the life of real life characters in Basheer’s native village of Thalayolaparambu.

A scene from the film Mathilukal directed by Adoor Gopalakrishnan based on the novel by

Basheer

Here is a video of song from the movie Mathilukal by Adoor Gopalakrishnan.

These are the photos taken from his house.

These are some of his photos drawn by others artists.

These are the products about him.

a book about him a book about him

a post office stamp

NOVELS# Title Translation in English Year of Publishing

1 Premalekhanam The Love Letter 1943

2 Baalyakaalasakhi Childhood Companion 1944

3 Shabdangal The Voices 1947

4 Ntuppuppaakkoraanaendaarnnu My Grandpa Had an Elephant 1951

5 Maranaththinte Nizhalil In the Shadow of Death 1951

6 Muccheettukalikkarante Makal The Daughter of the Card shark 1951

7 Sthalaththe Pradhaana Divyan The Principal Divine of the Place 1953

8 Aanavaariyum Ponkurishum Elephant Scooper and Golden Cross 1953

9 Jeevithanizhalppaadukal The Shadows of Life 1954

10 Paaththummaayude Aadu Paaththumma's Goat 1959

11 Mathilukal Walls 1965

12 Thaaraa Specials 1968

13 Maanthrikapoochcha The Magic Cat 1968

14 Prempatta The Loving Cockroach (Published posthumously) 2006

SHORT STORIES# Title Translation in English Year of Publishing

1 Janmadinam The Birthday 1945

2 Ormakkurippu Jottings from Memory 1946

3 Anargha nimisham Invaluable Moment 1946

4 Viddikalude Swargam Fools' Paradise 1948

5 Paavappettavarudaey Vaeshya The Prostitute of the Poor 1952

6 Vishwavikhkhyaathamaaya Mookku The World-renowned Nose 1954

7 Vishappu The Hunger 1954

8 Oru Bhagavadgeethayum Kuraey Mulakalum A Bhagavadgeetha and Some Breasts 1967

9 Aanappooda Elephant-hair 1975

10 Chirikkunna Marappaava The Laughing Wooden Doll 1975

11 Bhoomiyudaey Avakaashikal The Inheritors of the Earth 1977

12 Shinkidimunkan The Fools' God Man 1991

13 Yaa Ilaahi! Oh God! (published posthumously) 1997

14 Jeevitham Oru Anugraham Life is a Gift (published posthumously) 2000

These are the photos of the front cover of the books written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer.

Here is a interview with Vaikom Muhammad Basheer.

AWARDS Padma Sri(1982) Kendra Sahitya Academy Fellowship Kerala Sahitya Academy Fellowship Lalithambika Antharjanam

Award(1992) Muttathu Varkki Award (1993) Vallathol Award (1993)

Face book fan page description of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer Description From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Vaikom Muhammad Basheer or Vaikkom Muhammad Basheer (born 21 January 1908 ; died 5

July 1994) was a Malayalam fiction writer. He was a humanist, freedom fighter, novelist and short story writer. He is noted for the path breaking, disarmingly down-to-earth style of writing that won both literary critics as well as the common man. He is regarded as India's one of the most successful and outstanding writers. Translations of many of his works into other languages has won him worldwide acclaim. His notable works include Baalyakaalasakhi, Shabdangal, Paaththummaayude Aadu, Mathilukal, Ntuppuppaakkoraanaendaarnnu, Anarga Nimisham etc. He was awarded the Padma Sri in 1982. He is fondly remembered as the Beypore Sultan.

Biography Basheer, born in the village of Thalayolapparampu in northern Travancore, was the eldest

child of devout Muslim parents. His father was in the timber business as a contractor, but the business did not do well enough for his large family to live in anything approaching luxury. After beginning his education at the local Malayalam medium school, he was sent to the English medium school in Vaikom, five miles away. While at school he fell under the spell of Mahatma Gandhi. He started wearing Khadar, inspired by the swadesi ideals. When Gandhi came to Vaikom to participate in the Vaikom Satyagraham (1924) Basheer went to see him. He managed to climb on to the car in which Gandhi travelled and touch his hand, a fond memory Basheer later mentioned in many of his writings. He used to visit Gandhi's Satyagraha Ashram at Vaikom daily. He got punished for going late to school due to this.

Basic Information Awards Padma Shri, Sahitya Akademi Award Source Description above from the Wikipedia article Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, licensed under CC-

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ConclusionI hereby conclude that Vaikom

Muhammad was a great personality. He convinced everyone by his path breaking, disarmingly down-to-earth style of writing that won him literary critics. He did not take care about his grammar etc but had won everyone’s attention by his convincing novels and short stories. He would be remembered by most of the Malayali’s as he was a great Malayalam novelist for the readers and a freedom fighter for the old aged people.

GOOD BYEMuhammad Vaikkom Basheer was/ is a

great personality to be remembered by the Malayalis and the others. I hope you all enjoyed this slideshow in which I showed you all about his lifetime. Good bye….. Have a nice day