Ente Thankam

Last updated

"Ente Thankam" (My Darling) is a short story written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. It is his first published work. Originally published in the now-defunct newspaper Jayakesari in 1937, it was later published in the collection Vishappu (Hunger, 1954, Current Books) under the name "Thankam". A path-breaker in Malayalam romantic fiction, it had its heroine a dark-complexioned hunchback. [1] [2]

Background

After doing menial jobs in cities such as Ajmer, Peshawar, Kashmir and Calcutta, Basheer returned to Ernakulam some time in the mid-1930s. While trying his hands at various jobs, like washing vessels in hotels, he met a manufacturer of sports goods from Sialkot who offered him an agency in Kerala. And Basheer finally returned home to find his father's business bankrupt and the family impoverished. He started working as an agent for the Sialkot sports company at Ernakulam. But he lost the agency when a bicycle accident incapacitated him temporarily. On recovering, he resumed his endless hunt for jobs. He walked into the office of a newspaper Jayakesari whose editor was also its sole employee. He did not have a position to offer, but offered to pay money if Basheer wrote a story for the paper. [3] Thus Basheer found himself writing stories for Jayakesari and it was in this paper that "Ente Thankam" (My Darling) was published in the year 1937. [4]

Related Research Articles

<i>Madhyamam</i> Malayalam-language newspaper published in Kerala, India

Madhyamam is a Malayalam-language newspaper published in Kerala, India, since 1987. It was founded by Ideal Publications Trust run by the Jamaat-e-Islami Hind wing in Kerala. It has nine editions in India and its Persian Gulf edition Gulf Madhyamam has nine in the Middle East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaikom Muhammad Basheer</span> Indian writer (1908–1994)

VaikomMuhammad Basheer, popularly referred to as Beypore Sulthan, was an Indian writer of Malayalam literature, a humanist and an Indian independence activist. He was a novelist and short story writer noted for his path-breaking, down-to-earth style of writing that made him equally popular among literary critics as well as the common man. His notable works include Balyakalasakhi, Shabdangal, Pathummayude Aadu, Ntuppuppakkoranendarnnu, Mathilukal, Janmadinam and Anargha Nimisham and the translations of his works into other languages have earned him worldwide acclaim. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest civilian honor of the Padma Shri in 1982. He was also a recipient of the Sahitya Academy Fellowship, Kerala Sahitya Academy Fellowship, and the Kerala State Film Award for Best Story. He was a recipient of the Vallathol Award in 1993.

Premalekhanam is Vaikom Muhammad Basheer's first work (1943) to be published as a book. The novel is a humorous story of love. Through the hilarious dialogs, Basheer attacks religious Conservatism and the dowry system.

<i>Balyakalasakhi</i> 1944 book by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer

Balyakalasakhi is a Malayalam romantic tragedy novel written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. Published in 1944, it is considered by many as Basheer's best work. The story revolves around Majeed and Suhra, who are in love with each other from childhood. By Basheer's own admission, the story is largely autobiographical.

Menacherry Poulose Paul (1904–1952) was an academic, educationist, scholar and literary critic of Malayalam. Considered by many as one of the major literary critics of Malayalam literature, Paul inaugurated comparative literature in Malayalam through his works, Novel Sahithyam and Cherukatha Prasthanam. He was the founder of parallel college education system in Kerala, one of the major forces behind the Purogamana Sahitya Prasthanam and was the founder president of Sahithya Pravrthaka Sahakarana Sangham, the writers' cooperative movement.

<i>Pathummayude Aadu</i> 1959 novel by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer

Pathumma's Goat is a 1959 Malayalam novel by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. The characters of the novel are members of his family and the action takes place at his home in Thalayolaparambu. The goat in the story belongs to his sister Pathumma. Basheer begins the novel with an alternative title for the book, Pennungalude Buddhi.

<i>Mathilukal</i> Novel by Vaikkom Muhammed Basheer

Mathilukal is a Malayalam novel written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer in 1965. It is one of the most cherished and well-known love stories in Malayalam. Its hero, Basheer himself, and heroine, Narayani, never meet, yet they love each other passionately. Despite being imprisoned and separated by a huge wall that divides their prisons, the two romance each other.

Shabdangal ("Voices") is a 1947 novel by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer which talks about war, orphanhood, hunger, disease and prostitution. The whole length of the novel is a dialogue between a soldier and a writer. The soldier approaches the writer and tells him the story of his life. The writer takes down notes and asks questions to the soldier, and gives answers of his own to the soldier's questions. The novel faced heavy criticism at the time of its publication for its violence and vulgarity.

Muttathu Varkey was an Indian novelist, short story writer, and poet of Malayalam. He was best known for a genre of sentiment-filled romantic fiction known as painkili (janapriya) novel in Malayalam literature.

Mucheettukalikkarante Makal is a novel by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer published in 1951. Written in the colloquial tongue and filled with exceptional humour, the novel remains a best seller in Malayalam literature.

Anuragathinte Dinangal is a book by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer published in 1983. The author himself has traced Anuragathinte Dinangal to the diary he had kept of a Hindu girl's love for him frustrated by the objection from her parents and Basheer's refusal to hurt them. The book was originally titled Kaamukante Diary but was changed later on the suggestion of author M. T. Vasudevan Nair.

Visappu (Hunger) is a collection of short stories by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer published in 1954. The collection includes Basheer's first story "Ente Thankam" which is titled "Thankam" in the book. This story originally appeared in the Ernakulam-based newspaper Jayakesari in the year 1937. The other stories include "Visappu" (Hunger), "Marunnu" (Medicine) and "Pishachu" (Devil). Visappu is considered as a modern classic in south Asian literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">P. F. Mathews</span> Indian writer (born 1960)

Poovankery Francis Mathews is an Indian author of Malayalam literature and a screenplay writer in Malayalam film and Television industries. A Winner of a National Film Award for Best Screenplay and multiple State television and other literary awards including the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel and Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story, he is known for his original style of writing. Literary works such as Muzhakkam, Kadalinte Manam, Adiyalapretham, Iruttil Oru Punyalan, and Chaavunilam and screenplays such as Sararaanthal, Mikhayelinte Santhathikal, Megham, Kutty Srank and Ee.Ma.Yau are his major works.

The Malayalam novel is an important part of Malayalam literature. This article focuses on novels, written in Malayalam language, a Dravidian language spoken predominantly in the Indian state of Kerala and the Lakshadweep islands.

Ronald Eaton Asher was a British linguist and educator specialised in Dravidian languages. He was a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland (1964), a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (1991), and an honorary fellow of the Sahitya Akademi.

"Vishwavikhyathamaya Mookku" is a short story written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer and published in 1954 in an anthology of the same name. The story is regarded as a classic in Malayalam literature.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamal Kochangadi</span>

Jamal Kochangadi is an Indian writer, script writer, lyricist and music journalist.

"Neelavelicham" is a short story written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer. Beginning with the introduction of one of the miracles of the narrator's life, the story is about the tender relationship that develops between a young writer who must live in a house notorious for being haunted and the ghost of a girl who is believed to haunt the house. The story is included in the collection Pavapettavarude Veshya.

Thankam may refer to:

References

  1. M. N. Vijayan (1996). M. N. Vijayan (ed.). Basheer fictions. Katha. p. 21.
  2. K. Satchidanandan (February 2008). "Sultan of story: A birth centenary tribute to Vaikom Mohammed Basheer who picked up his tales from life's poetry". Frontline . 25 (2). Retrieved 3 June 2013.
  3. Madhubālā Sinhā (2009). Encyclopaedia of South Indian literature, Volume 3. Anmol Publications. p. 240.
  4. Vaikom Muhammad Basheer (1954). "Foreword". Vushappu (Hunger). Current Books. It is years since I have started writing stories. When did I start? I think it was from 1937. I have been living in Ernakulam since then. I was a writer by profession. I wrote a great deal. I would get my writing published in newspapers and journals. No one paid me for it. The stories were published between 1937 and 1941 in Navajeevan, a weekly published in Trivandrum in those days.