“This light, the greenery, flowers, wind and the chirping of birds, I’ve got a little more time for these. God has allowed some more time to look at the faces of these children. That’s enough. I can only bow down before your love.” The people who sat in front of the ‘Neermathalam’ (caper tree) at the Manaveeyam veedhi in Thiruvananthapuram on last January, listening to the words of state’s eminent poet Sugathakumari, must have never thought that a few months from then these words will resonate in their ears as the final adieu of their ‘teacher’. But it has come to be so, as Malayalam’s most noted poet Sugathakumari succumbed to COVID-19 on Wednesday
“This was the last function that the teacher attended. It was her 86th birthday celebration, and we held it under the Neermathalam tree that she planted there before years, in memory of the late writer Madhavikutty (Kamala Surayya),” says Geetha Nazeer, part of the women’s group which held the event. She recited poems for us and drank the ‘payasam’ that we made, Geetha recalls.
In May 2013, on the fourth death anniversary of Madhavikutty, Sugathakumari and freedom fighter Koothattukulam Mary, jointly planted the caper tree or ‘neermathalam’, that was much close to heart for the late writer. And for women there, the spot went on to become their own space, where they hung around, recited poems, held discussions or simply loitred.
On January 22, 2020, when various women’s groups in Thiruvananthapuram wanted to celebrate the birthday of their dear poet Sugathakumari, who had been mostly indoors due to age related illnesses, there was no more apt space other than under the caper tree. And Sugathakumari readily came.
In the videos of the event, Sugathakumari clad in a Kerala saree, could be seen listening intently as a few recited her poems.
Watch video of Sugathakumari's birthday celebration
From literary laureates, artists to politicians, many came out with grieving messages, condoling the death of the poet, who was also equally well known for her environmental activism. Her funeral was held with state honours, at Santhikavadam in Thiruvananthapuram.
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