I too had a mother When a King bought me, a slave, She was given a price, a few coins She tied them to my apron-strings And left bare-handed I bought a blanket, later To protect her from cold Alas! When I came with the gift at last She had gone for eternal rest Under the cover of a thick earthen blanket.
Excerpts from King Bimbisaran's Shepherd, translated by M. Leelavathi
Edasseri Govindan Nair was born on 23 December 1906 at Kuttippuram, in Malapuram district in the south Indian state of Kerala to P. Krishna Kurup and Edasseri Kunjukutti Amma in a family with poor financial means.[2][note 1] He did not have much formal education due to the death of his father in 1921 when he was only 15 years old and started his career early as an assistant to a relative, who worked in Alappuzha. However, he compensated for the lack of formal education with hard work with voracious reading, learning Sanskrit and English on his own taking help from his friends, constantly engaging in debates on literature, criticism, science, astronomy and even astrology. He spent 7 years in Alleppey before moving to Kozhikode. In early 1930, he moved to Ponani. It was during this time that he married Janaki Amma, the wedding taking place in 1938. He continued with his learning, debates and discussions in Ponani also.[3]
Edasseri was associated with various literary and cultural forums.[3] He sat in the general council of Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi and Samastha Kerala Sahitya Parishad and was a member of the board of directors of the Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society. He presided Kerala Sahithya Samithi and Kendra Kala Samithi during various periods and was instrumental in founding a local library, Krishna Panikkar Vayana Sala.[3]
Edasseri's works include 19 books and over 300 poems in 10 anthologies, 6 books of plays and a collection of essays.[4] He was among the poets who changed the romantic traits of Malayalam poetry to realism.[5] His narrative style, as shown in his poems such as Poothapattu, Panimudakkam, Kalyana Pudava, Karutha Chettichikal and Kavile Pattu, was reported to reflect strong humanism.[6]
Govindan Nair - Janaki Amma couple had eleven children, though only eight survived infancy. He died on 16 October 1974, at the age of 67.[3]
^Manojkumar Paleri (7 November 2022). ശക്തിയുടെ കവി [Shakthiyude Kavi] (in Malayalam). Mathrubhumi. Archived from the original on 8 August 2023. Retrieved 9 August 2023.
