Every time a tree is felled in the capital city in future, Sugathakumari teacher, who died on Wednesday due to COVID-19, will be remembered. A tree lover here says such acts of felling trees would have the poet and activist stand up in fierce opposition.
Thiruvananthapuram will always treasure the memories of Sugathakumari who, apart from being a celebrated and oft-quoted poet and sought-after environmental activist, was the driving force behind social initiatives such as ‘Abhaya’ and ‘Athani’.
On Wednesday, several people recalled how she, along with others, fought to save the Mahogany trees at the University College from the axe. “Hers was a phone number we could always dial with confidence even for the cause of a single tree. She had that rare capability to unfailingly comprehend the heart of things,” says Anitha Sharma, convener of the city-based Tree Walk.
On an eventful night in 2010, a small group including Sugathakumari, senior CPI leader Binoy Viswam, and noted architect G. Shankar faced the wrath of a crowd to rescue the huge trees at Sasthamangalam junction. “They wanted the trees cut down for road development. It was past midnight. She advised us to remain calm in the face of their anger. She has written about that episode,” recalls Mr. Viswam, who was Forest Minister at the time.
Ten years later, the busy junction continues to savour the cool shade of the canopies of the trees there. “It was through her poems that people like me became aware of the tenderness of nature and the frailties of life. The Silent Valley agitation became a model of resistance for the entire nation,” says Mr. Shankar.
‘Abhaya’ was formed in 1985 as a refuge for the destitute, mentally ill, and women and children in distress. It was ‘born out of a deep concern for the helpless mental patients of the Government Mental Hospitals of Kerala. The relentless efforts of Abhaya focused the attention of the public, the government, and in particular the judiciary, on the pitiable conditions of the mental hospitals’, notes the institution’s website.
‘Athani’ was designed as a short stay home for women in distress. “It was her sheer willpower that took institutions like Abhaya and Athani forward,” says poet O.N.V. Kurup’s son Rajeev. “To my father, she was like a sister. She visited often. I remember how, on his 80th birthday, she came to our home to kick off the campaign against the Aranmula airport. We have lost a member of our family,” says Mr. Rajeev.
“Hers was a heart that beat for the injured, whether it be women, nature or the Malayalam language. And she was always prepared to speak up for them. That beating heart has gone still all of a sudden. It leaves us with the apprehension that we are now alone,” says Soorya Krishnamoorthy, to whom Sugathakumari was more like a mother. Years ago, their families were neighbours on Forest Lane at Vazhuthacaud. “It was she who brought me, who was born in a Tamil family, close to Malayalam, its literature and culture,” recalls Mr. Krishnamoorthy.