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‘’Sir it seems you are obsessed with puns and wordplay,’’ remarked a student of poet Ayyappa Paniker once. The professor looked at her smilingly and quipped: ‘’I cant help dear - it’s in my name - pun-iker.’’
When Savithrikutty, the student in question, recollected the incident at the remembrance function held in the capital on Thursday to mark the sixth death anniversary of the Paniker, it sparked fond memories of the quick-witted poet amongst those who gathered at the event.
“He never waxed eloquent of his knowledge, instead maintained a quietness in all his deeds, except for the jokes he cracked,’’ recalled Savithrikutty, who had the privilege to be a part of the first batch of MA students of the poet.
‘’He was teaching ‘The Duchess of Malfi’ and my pen went dry. I rose a couple of times to borrow a pen which prompted mild laughter in the class. Paniker sir who sat behind his table without even raising his head from the book nor changing the tone of his voice said: ‘’A duchess is being brutally murdered and here they are giggling,’’ she recalled.
Former Vice-Chancellor G Balamohan Thampi, in the remembrance lecture, recalled that the poet had always took life as it came. ‘’One particular quality of his character was that he never grumbled, instead tried to find some satire,’’ he said.
Paniker will ever be remembered for inspiring many poets into modernism, Thampi said. Thampi also recited ‘Raman Vaanalum, Ravanan Vaanalum’ penned by Paniker in 1983.
Writer George Onakkoor said Paniker was the ‘’poets’ poet’’ in Malayalam literature. ‘’Perhaps there was no other poet in modern Malayalam poetry who could inspire other poets,’’ he said.
Dr Dominic Kattoor recited Paniker’s ‘Kudumbapuranam’ at the function. Gireesh Puliyoor, Anand Kavalam, and Priyadath G Mangalath attended the function.
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