VAIKOM MUHAMMAD BASHEER

Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (1908 – 1994)* was a humanist, freedom-fighter, novelist and short story writer. He is widely regarded as one of India’s most widely loved and admired writers on account of his superlative wit and originality. He revolutionized Malayalam literature by challenging the literary convention of writing in Sanskritized Malayalam, and was a trend-setter for many outstanding writers who followed.

Basheer started writing short stories in 1937. Childhood Friend (Balyakalasakhi, 1944), a simple story of love, friendship and tragedy, earned him iconic status, and was followed by Me Granddad ‘ad an Elephant (Ntuppuppakkoraanentarnnu, 1951), The English translation of which, by R.E. Asher of Edinburgh University, won worldwide acclaim.

Basheer’s writings are characterized by a variety of theme and tone and are peopled with characters drawn from his own Moplah Muslim milieu and diverse backgrounds, whom he depicts in a manner that creates a strange combination of laughter and tears within the reader.

Walls (Mathilukal, 1955) is another great novella by Basheer, which was made into an award winning motion picture by the renowned filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan.

The Indian government recognized his contributions to Malayalam literature by awarding him the prestigious Padmashri in 1982. he has also been the recipient of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi fellowship, Lalithambika Antharjanam and Prem Nazir awards, The Vallathol Puraskaram, Muttathu Varki award and the Jeddah Arangu award.

* taken from many sources

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