Why did Kerala forget its Gandhi translator?

Time of India

14-06-2025

By: Rajesh M Rajagopalan
Ente Sathyanweshana Pareekshakal', the first Malayalam translation of Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography 'The Story of My Experiments with Truth', has sold in the hundreds of thousands and is still in print.
The translator, however, largely remains in obscurity. A quick internet search for Koothirezhi Madhavan Nair, better known as Madhavanar, yields scant results. His name hardly resonates even in Vallikunnu of Kerala's Malappuram district — his native village. Now, 45 years after his passing, the 50-year-old Jwala Library is set to change that by inaugurating a memorial building in his name.
Madhavanar played a pivotal role in the freedom struggle by being at the forefront of the Beypore and Kozhikode Salt Satyagrahas.
A staunch social reformer, he also participated in the Guruvayur Satyagraha led by K Kelappan — a historic movement demanding temple entry rights for backward classes and Dalits.
Gandhiji maintained regular correspondence with Madhavanar, who served as secretary of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee at the time. In a letter dated June 5, 1931, written from Sabarmati, Gandhiji advised him on strategy: 'My Dear Madhavanar, I have your letter about picketing.
At the present moment, I cannot give you better advice than to ask you to discuss the whole thing with Syt. Rajagopalachari and act in consultation with him.
I am sure that if orders under 144 are passed, for the time being at any rate, you should obey them.' Madhavanar, along with fellow Gandhians, played a key role in facilitating Gandhiji's later visit to Kozhikode.
A close associate of C Rajagopalachari, Madhavanar remained in touch with him even after Independence.
He contributed articles to 'Swarajya' magazine, which was under Rajagopalachari's patronage.
Born in 1903 in the Koothirezhi family of Vallikunnu, Madhavan Nair was a diligent student. He earned a graduate degree in chemistry from Madras University and began his career at TISCO, Jamshedpur, with a princely salary of Rs 100. But the nationalist movement soon drew him away from scientific pursuits.
He journeyed from Jamshedpur to the Himalayas, exploring Badrinath and Kedarnath — a trip that inspired the first-ever Himalayan travelogue in Malayalam.
'Oru Himalaya Yathra', published in 1927, became widely read and is still in print.
'Madhavanar was a true-blue Gandhian who practised what he preached. A staunch opponent of casteism, he once invited a Dalit boy to the Koothirezhi tharavadu, an audacious act for that time. He was also instrumental in introducing EMS Namboothiripad to the AICC and AK Gopalan mentioned him in his autobiography,' said Koothirezhi Harish Kumar, a retired teacher and nephew of Madhavanar.
He was also one of the most prominent Malayalam journalists of the pre-Independence era. He served on the editorial board of Mathrubhumi Daily for several years. 'He would leave the Mathrubhumi press only after the first copy came out. A Mathrubhumi vehicle en route to Malappuram would drop him at Feroke, and he would walk nearly 10km in pitch darkness to reach home,' Harish Kumar recalled.
Madhavanar was a respected figure in the Kozhikode literary circle.
Renowned writer SK Pottekkatt was a regular visitor to Eledathil House, Madhavanar's residence in Vallikunnu. He also maintained close ties with writer Thikkodian. Madhavanar remained a bachelor all through his life.In 1964, he had a bitter brush with local politics. He contested the panchayat election and lost. The idealist Gandhian was not cut out for the shifting political landscape.
'He was very close to my father.
When I once asked about his sabbatical from writing, he said he had limited time left but countless books to read. Reading was his greatest passion,' recalls Prof. Shantakumar Mookkamparambath, who used to visit him during his twilight years. He found childlike delight in filling his shelf with new books and took immense pride in his vast home library.
Madhavanar passed away in April 1980. Power politics was not his forte, and knowingly or unknowingly, he faded from public memory. Jwala Library's Madhavanar Memorial Building will be a fitting tribute to the man who cherished books. The memorial will remind future generations that a man of remarkable greatness – a valorous freedom fighter and a gifted writer – once walked this land.
(The writer is a creative director who runs an ad agency in Thrissur)
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