Ayyappa Paniker was remembered in a unique function organised by the Ayyappa Paniker Foundation at V.J.T Hall, Thiruvananthapuram on the evening of 5 October, 2008.
The first part of the celebration was a formal function where Sri Ashok Vajpayee delivered the Second Ayyappa Paniker memorial talk on the topic, “Why Literature: The Relevance of Literature in the Present Human Context”. Sri Ashok Vajpayee, the well-known Hindi poet, critic of literature and arts, the author of 23 books including 13 books of poetry, 7 books of criticism and 3 books on art, thinker and institution-builder, recalled his fond association with Ayyappa Paniker. He said Paniker was a genuine human being committed to cultural autonomy as was proved when Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal came under the attack of communal forces. Paniker had come to the defence of the institution in that crisis. He said Paniker was also a poet ever experimenting with new forms and he could never forget the poet’s sense of humour that had enlivened every conversation he had with him.
Ashok Vajpayee said our time is one of intense violence of every kind. The rampant communalism vitiating our secular ethos, the market forces turning everything into commodity, the consumer culture that instils only utilitarian values, the process of globalisation that homogenises and standardizes culture: all these are forms of violence in our cruel times.Our languages seem to be dying fast, one language dying every day. A language, even if spoken by no more than a dozen people, represents a way of looking at the world and when it disappears a whole world-view vanishes too.
This context makes literature all the more relevant. It is an expression of the freedom of the spirit that refuses to submit to the values of the market. It is also an anamnesiac, reminding you of your cultural moorings, your language and all that has gone into the making of your being. It is the revolt of memory against forgetting. It is also the creation of parallel worlds, utopias, of imagination.He called literature “the other republic of imagination.” It is also a realm of equality and justice and a manifestation of man’s inclination towards a higher ideal. Quoting profusely from writers across the world and citing instances, Sri Vajpayee upheld the growing relevance of creative wrting in a world being fast dehumanised.
Earlier K. Satchidanandan, the President of the Foundation, welcomed the gathering. He began with a short poem by late Mahmud Darwish, the poet from Palestine, whose memory too, by coincidence, was being celebrated world over on 5 October. Quoting Darwish’s line, “when my word turned honey, flies covered my lips”, he said Ayyappa Paniker never allowed his words to turn into honey; he created a new poetic idiom with his satire, irony and black humour that hurt the false seriousness of the romantic poets. He said Ayyappa Paniker was more than a writer: a literary personality who transformed our perspectives on literature and life whose impact will be felt by generations. Detailing Paniker’s interventions in education, poetry, criticism, translation, editing and other fields, Satchidanandan explained how he had changed everything he touched positively and for ever. He spoke of the polyphony, inversion of tradition, sense of drama, irony, originality of images and play with sounds, metres and rhythms that made Paniker’s poetry really innovative. He also said how Paniker , the critic, was a true democrat . He was no solipsist, but an astute critic of culture and always championed difference, diversity and plurality in culture and literature. He then introduced AshokVajpayee as a long-time friend and well-wisher, one who worked tirelessly towards cultural and aesthetic awareness and upheld the autonomy of art. Winner of many awards like the Sahitya Akademi award, Kabir Samman and the Dayawati Modi Kavisekhar Samman and honours like the Birla Fellowship and Officer of the Order of Arts and Letters from the Govt of France, he was the founder of Bharat Bhavan in Bhopal and Joint Secretary in the Department of Culture, Govt. of India and is currently the Chairman of Lalit Kala Akademi . He is the translator of great poets like Ceslaw Milosz and Wislawa Szymborska for which he has ben decorated by the Govt. of Poland.
The first part of the function came to a close with a vote of thanks by Sri T. P. Srinivasan, former Indian Ambassador to the United Nations, well-known diplomat and media commentator and the vice-President of the Foundation, who also moderated the session.He introduced the speaker and also thanked him for his incisive analysis of the current world situation and his insightful rediscovery of the eternal relevance of literature. He also remembered how , though a student of Ayyappa Paniker, he had come to know Paniker’s true greatness as a teacher and writer only later in life and had the fortune to receive him in the many countries where he had served as a diplomat. He also thanked the attentive audience who had filled the hall and sat through the session.
The second part of the programme was a very special presentation dedicated to the memory of Ayyappa Paniker, the poet. Titled “Days, Nights”- the title of one of Paniker’s famous poems- this poetic collage of celluloid images and live presentations brought to the audience the essence of Paniker’s creativity as a humanist poet and a powerful social critic. It presented many of Paniker’s important poems- excerpts in the case of longer poems- both humourous and serious, in the form of dances, songs, recitations and dramatic presentations. Some of the poems thus presented were ‘Nanam Kattan Enthulloo?’, ‘Kurukshetram’, ‘Hey, Gagarin!’, ‘Kannamma’, Kadukka’, ‘Kudumba puranam, ‘Eeecha’, ‘Gotrayanam,’ and ‘Pookkathirikkan Enikkavathille’. They were all joined together in a narrative structure by a sutradharan through comments , drums and songs as well as by film clippings showing Paniker himself presenting poems, or talking about his life or the subjects of his choice. The whole presentation that thrilled the large audience successfully if succinctly traced the evolution of Ayyappa Paniker’s poetry. It was written and directed by Dominic Kattoor. Priyadas Mangalath, the Secretary of the Foundation introduced the whole concept of the programme to the audience. Actors, theatre persons, dancers and music directors like Jagannathan, Jijikkuttan, Raja Warrier, Vinod V Ananad, Rajeev O N V, Arya A R, Sumasandhya and Amarchand formed the team while live presentations were also made by poets like D Vinayachandran and Vishnu Narayanana Namboothiri and critics like B Rajeevan. K. Satchidanandan rounded off the presentation with his poem on Paniker titled ‘Sesham’ and a brief talk on the democratic element in Paniker’s poetry. Then all the participants were joined by younger poets in a choral recitation of Paniker’s poem, ‘Pookkathirikkan Enikkavathille’, thus suggesting the spontaniety of poetry and also revealing the continuing impact of Paniker’s poetry on the younger poets.
Ayyappa Paniker Foundation organized a Translation Workshop at DC Kizhakkemuri Edom, Kottayam on 12th and 13th of June, 2008.The workshop was meant to translate the selected essays of Ayyappa Paniker from Malayalam into English. Though Ayyappa Paniker has also written critical pieces directly in English, the Foundation felt that his contribution to Malayalam criticism is unique and worthy of being brought to the attention of a larger readership in India
and abroad. The essays, twenty of them, were selected by Prof. K. Satchidanandan and
Prof. P. P. Ravindran, taking into account the range,variety and the larger relevance of Paniker’s critical contribution while also keeping in mind his important interventions in the study of Malayalam literature and the culture of Kerala. Thus the selection includes his essays on the writers of Kerala like those on Kumaran Asan’s concept of poetry, the basic rasa in Vaikom Mohammed Basheer’s works, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai and Malayalam literature, C.V. Raman Pillai and the political novel, the political philosophy of C. N. Sreekantan Nair, Joseph Mundassery and Kuttikrishna Marar as critics. Paniker’s interest in theatre is well known; so here we have articles on the element of drama in Kathakali, on the ritualistic arts and Malayalam theatre and
on the Natyadharmi and Lokadharmi traditions of theatre. There are articles of comparative nature as the essay on Martandavarma and Durgesanandini and on the Western epic tradition and Ezhuthachan’s epic works besides an article on the Indian approach to Comparative Literature. The article on Aurobindo’s Savitri looks at the anti-colonial subtext of the modern epic. There are also essays on poetics and literary theory like those on Akapporul and Purapporul, on tradition and modernity, on the politics of theatre, on the contemporary relevance of Indian poetics, on literature and violence and on metrics and the class system.
The translators were asked to come to the workshop with the draft translations which were mostly discussed and finalized in the workshop itself. The translators were Dr. P. Udayakumar, Dr.Sudha Gopalakrishnan, Dr. B. Chandrika, Sri. Amritlal, Dr. Sreedevi. K. Nair, Dr. Nisha Venugopal, Dr.. Dhanya Menon, Dr. G. Dileepan, Dr. Kavalam Anand, Dr. K.M. Sheriff,
Dr. Saji Mathew, Dr. V. C. Harris, Dr. K. M. Krishnan, Dr. Siby James, Dr. K. Jeevan Kumar
and Mr. Josy Joseph, most of whom attended the workshop directed by Prof. P. P. Ravindran under the supervision of Prof. K. Satchidanandan, the President of the Ayyappa Paniker Foundation.
Sri. Priyadas G. Mangalath, the Secretary of the Foundation was the chief organizer while
Sri. Radhakrishna Varier was the local organizer.Sri. A. V. Sreekumar of D.C. Books also attended the workshop held in the Conference Hall of D.C. Books.
The workshop was inaugurated at a symposium organized by the Foundation, in the D.C. Books Auditorium on the 12th evening. It was chaired by Prof. K. Satchidanandan who spoke comprehensively on the contribution of Ayyappa Paniker to Kerala’s cultural and literary life,
with special reference to the innovative quality of his poetry. P.P.Ravindran spoke on Paniker’s contribution to literary theory, P. Udayakumar looked at Paniker as a literary critic, V.C. Harris discussed Ayyappa Paniker’s relationship with Western Literature, Sudha Gopalakrishnan dwelt on Paniker and the performing arts and K.B.Prasannakumar looked critically at Paniker’s influence and the impact of Moderism on the new generation of poets in Malayalam while Jose Panachippuram spoke of Paniker as a great man and an excellent teacher.
The symposium was attended by a careful audience consisting of students, teachers and lovers
of literature at Kottayam.
There was also a short valedictory session on the 13th in which T.P. Sreenivasan, formerly
India’s Ambassador to the United Nations and the vice-President of the Foundation addressed
the participants.
Ayyappa Paniker Foundation commemorated the late poet and academician Dr.Ayyappa paniker on the eve of his 78th birthday on 12th september at VJT hall. The one day programme included symposium, Kayiyarangu and cultural meeting. Internationally renowned Marathi poet Dilip Chithre delivered Ayyappa Paniker memorial speech on "Poetry and the Politics of Language '.
T.P Sreenivasan presided over the discussion session followed. In the afternoon session a symposium on the topic 'Ayyappa paniker today' was conducted. Prof. M .Thomas Mathew, Neela padmanabhan, Dr. C R Prasad and Dr M M Basheer participated in the symposium. M Gangadharan was the moderator.
Then followed a poetry concert session featuring veteran and contemporary poets including O N V Kurup, Sugatha kumari, Kadammanitta, Kilimanoor Ramakanthan, Vishnu narayana namboodiri, Sachidanandan, Balachandran chullikkadu, D Vinayachandran, Kurippuzha Sreekumar, Savithri Rajeevan, Manoj kuroor, C S Jayachandran, Anita Thampi, Sebastin, Shanthan, M Kumari, Ashalatha, Shivakumar Ambalappuzha and Jayakrishnan. Prior to the poetry concert programme film actor Murali released "Ayyappapanikerude Therenjedutha Kavithakal', the first book on the series ' Kavyotsava' edited by Shri. Sachidananthan and published by D C books.
Honourable minister of cultural Affairs Shri. M A Baby inaugurated the public meeting; Prof. Sachidanandan presided over and Sakariya delivered the keynote address. The minister also released th CD of 'Eriyatha Suryanum Vilaratha Chandranum-a documentary on Dr.Ayyappa paniker made by state Information and Public Relations department. Dilip Chitre released 'A short history of Malayalam Literature' penned by the late poet giving a copy to Dr. Geroge Onakkoor. After the formal function the documentary film made on the poet was screened.