At least two memorials for writer Vaikom Mohammed Basheer are coming up in Kozhikode, as his 30th death anniversary falls on this July 5.
The Basheer museum at Dayapuram.
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The one titled ‘Aakasha Mittayi’ is being built at Beypore, where the writer had settled after marriage. His family still lives in the town. The second one, a museum titled ‘Mathilukal’, one of his best-known short stories, has been constructed near Chathamangalam by the Dayapuram Educational and Cultural Centre.
Work on the Basheer memorial is progressing. It is expected to be completed in another three months, Beypore councillor Thottungal Rajani said on Thursday. ‘Akasha Mittayi’ is the name Saramma and Keshavan Nair proposed for their child in Basheer’s classic novel Premalekhanam. A cultural hall, library, research hall, amphi-theatre, park, auditorium and cultural centre along with a ‘Garden of Letters’ are part of the plan. There will be a walkway to the memorial from the entrance. A reclining chair and a gramophone may be placed in the front yard.
The Basheer museum at Dayapuram will have the manuscripts of some of his works and a few letters written by him, which were in the custody of literary critic M.M. Basheer. They include the first few pages of Basheer’s Balyakalasakhi, which the writer had initially written in English language, the screenplay of Bhargavi Nilayam, the manuscripts of Bhoomiyude Avakashikal, and Anuragathinte Dinangal, and the unfinished script of a play based on Mucheettukalikkarante Makal. Those behind the museum claim that their attempt is to present the various facets of his life, including his role in the freedom struggle, Kerala’s social reform movement, and the spiritual interests. Eminent filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan is expected to open the museum on July 20.