Navati celebrations across state; MT keeps smiling

KOZHIKODE: When MT's 90th birthday was celebrated in the state, there was no celebration at 'Sitara' on Kottaram Road for the birthday boy. There was no early morning wake-up because of a mild fever. No short walk in the yard. MT's daughter Aswathi says that her father does not celebrate his birthday then and now. Going to a temple, cutting a cake, and wearing a new dress for a birthday was never a thing. However, small feasts will be there, Ashwati said.

Even though there was no celebration for MT, there was a flow of celebrities to 'Sithara' yesterday. CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury, Minister PA Muhammad Riaz, MK Raghavan MP, District Panchayat President Sheeja Shashi, Thottathil Ravindran, CPM Central Committee Member Elamaram Karim, State Committee Member A Pradeep Kumar, District Secretary P Mohanan, Secretariat Member M Girish and many others visited. A lot of people called on the phone. MT Vasudevan Nair, the mega novelist of Malayalam welcomed everyone with a smile.

MT talked to Yechury forgetting all the tiredness, perhaps because he was a guest who did not turn up at any of the previous birthday parties. Yechury started by talking about the great calamity the country is facing today. MT nodded. Yechury then said that he had come for the seminar on Uniform Civil Code and that it was a protest against the politics of division. MT recalled seeing each other when he came to Thiruvananthapuram for the International Literary Festival last February and then Yechury showed him a photo taken on his phone that day.

New novel in the works

Glancing at the books on the table, Yechury asked if he was reading Wole Soyinka's work. An in-depth discussion on 'Chronicles from the Land of the Happiest People on Earth' by Nobel Prize-winning author Wole Soyinka followed. MT also shared his gloom of trouble reading due to an eye problem. He also said that he has started writing a new novel. When MT said that weather and health were hindering his writing, Yechury told him to try narrating it to someone so that they can note it down. MT explained how doing that has given him some bad experiences. What is narrated may not be what is written. MT also said that writing down from narration will spoil the beauty of the composition. Yechury asked about Randamoozham and filmmaking. Randamoozham was translated into various languages. MT said that the film project has not gone ahead and it is hoped that it will become a reality.