Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri | ‘His poetry has a purifying effect’ : Madhusoodanan Nair

As a poet, Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri was a master craftsman who had the qualities of the seer and the luminary, aptly described by the term rishi, poet V. Madhusoodanan Nair said.

“One who is not a rishi is not a poet. He believed that spirituality should not be narrow-minded or weak,” Madhusoodanan Nair said. “To his poetry, he brought the Vedic thought that everything on earth is divine. His poetry had a purifying effect,” he said.

Poet and novelist T.P. Rajeevan said Namboothiri was very much a poet’s poet. “He belonged to a generation of poets who believed in and worked hard on the grammar of poetry, unlike modern poets,” he said.

Poet and lyricist Rafeeq Ahamed said he admired the classicism in Namboothiri’s poetry. “He wrote such classic poetry when modernity was more in vogue in Malayalam,” he said. “I have enjoyed reading his poems, which spoke not just to our heart but the intellect as well.”