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Renowned Malayalam poet Sugathakumari passes away
Sugathakumari was one of the pioneers of green activism in the state that reflected in her poetry
Renowned Malayalam poet and activist Sugathakumari, who devoted her life to the green cause, rights of women and the deprived, passed away at a Thiruvananthapuram hospital on Wednesday while undergoing treatment for Covid-19-related complications. She was 86.
Sugathakumari was one of the pioneers of green activism in the state that reflected in her poetry. She always warned people against the exploitation of Mother Nature and asked them to think about its impact on future generations.
“Do not bring flowers when I am dead. If you want to remember me, plant a banyan tree,” she said once when asked how she wanted to be remembered. Sugathakumari earmarked a place for people to plant trees on the lawns of a home she set up for destitute and mentally challenged women in 1992. After her cremation, many of her friends planted trees.
Sugathakumari was at the forefront of agitation in the 1980s against a hydropower project in Silent Valley as it is home to species like lion-tailed macaque and much endemic flora and fauna in the picturesque Nilgiris. The agitation prompted the government to constitute a panel under eminent scientist MGK Menon that advised against the project.
Sugathakumari passed away on the day a priest and a nun were awarded life imprisonment for murdering 19-year-old Sister Abhaya and dumping her body into a well in the 1990s. She had been at the forefront of a campaign for justice for Abhaya.
Sugathakumari’s friends said she would be been very happy to hear about the verdict. She joined a sit-in protest in her wheelchair outside the state secretariat in 2018 in solidarity with five nuns seeking action against rape-accused former bishop Franco Mullakal.
Poet Sreekumaran Thampi called Sugathakumari a born fighter, who interacted with people through her literary works and actions.
A disciple of Mahatma Gandhi and Swami Vivekananda, Sugathakumari was born into a family of freedom fighters and social reformers. Her father, Bodeswaran, was a Gandhian, and her mother, Karthuyani, a Sanskrit scholar. She started writing poems at a young age under a pseudonym. Later she established herself as a poet and writer. Her sisters, Hridayakumari and Sujatha, were also known writers.
Sugathakumari was awarded India’s fourth-highest civilian award, Padma Shri, in 2006.
Kerala governor Arif Mohammad Khan and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan were among those who condoled her death.
