Remembering Vaikkom Muhammad Basheer

Kochi: Vaikkom Muhammad Basheer once said, every grain of rice on earth has on it engraved who it was destined for. And when an individual ran out of that stock of rice he /she was destined for, they will  move on. Today, July 5, is  20 years since the legendary writer used up his share of rice and moved on… but not before leaving behind stories that continue to inspire, evoke emotion and provide much food for thought.

Twenty years after his death Basheer continues to live through his works. Pramod Payyanur, director of Balyakalsakhi says, “The reason behind the success of his stories is the truth behind it. All his characters are real. I have borrowed from the works of Basheer more than anyone else’s.”

Muhammad Basheer wrote himself into the heart of every Malayali by portraying the everyday fabric of life with raw emotion, humour and incredible subtlety and most importantly, in the simplest of language. It is something all his readers take pride in — that he wrote in the language of the common man with little intention of impressing literary figures. Writers are keen observers, who weave stories around what they have ‘seen’ or visualised, but Vaikom Muhammad Basheer was cut from a different cloth. He wrote from his experiences and sketched characters he had encountered on his journey of life.

The journey that shaped his life started with an arrest warrant. Having already spent time in jail for taking part in India’s freedom struggle, he was issued a warrant for writing rebellious pieces in Ujjeevanam — a journal he edited-against the establishment. Basheer left Kerala and travelled the length and breadth of the country and to some parts of Asia and Africa.

“I was healthy, so I travelled,” Basheer once said simply. The journey was anything but easy. Basheer encountered death on countless occasions from starvation. It taught him the value of food. Aneesh Basheer, his son says, “He always stressed on the importance of not wasting food. I never enjoyed my evening porridge so my mother would add grated coconut  to it and my father once commented. “I remember similar small white pieces floating in my plate when I was in jail; only they were worms.” It makes you understand how much he had gone through in life.”

Basheer struggled to eke out a living and did odd jobs to make ends meet — as a palmist, hotel manager, fruit seller, newspaper seller, magician’s assistant,  cook, watchman, shepherd — an endless list of menial jobs. He also spent many years as a Hindu ascetic and Sufi mystic in the Himalayas before finally returning to Ernakulam.
“The only wealth I had was my experiences so I wrote them down,” Basheer said. Legend has it that Basheer felt handicapped by his lack of vocabulary until a friend advised him to read Changampuzha’s Ramanan. He realised that the book did not carry a single word he didn’t already know.

Basheer is fondly remembered even after all these years by readers. Indira Ramachandran, 82, cannot read anymore but her love for Basheer hasn’t diminished. “All India Radio airs dramas based on Basheer’s stories quite regularly so I wait for them eagerly every afternoon. Basheer created stories from  simple  events about simple people.”
Basheer’s better half Fabi Basheer says in a lighter vein, “The problem with Basheer was he that he loved unconditionally. So much that visitors wouldn’t leave. We had to send them out of the house.” “Tata (as he was called) was never just ours. Everybody wanted a piece of him,” adds son, Aneesh, with a sense of longing in his words.  

Mammukkoya, who entered films with a recommendation from Basheer says, “Basheer was a brilliant writer and an even greater human being. He practised what he preached. ”
Simplicity was Basheer’s forte. Both in his writing and lifestyle. A priest once asked him why he didn’t come to the mosque and pray. Basheer replied, “Watering dry plants and  removing a thorn from the road are my prayers!”