Madhavikkutty-Kamala Suraiya (1934-2009)
Kandal Pokkudan: Man of the Mangroves
Some journeys unexpectedly curve, turning you inward; taking you back to the womb, to the very conception of life. In the midst of a hectic study tour in Kannur district in North Kerala, writer K.M Venugopalan, our companion during this journey, took us to Chengal wherein resides Shri. Kallen Pokkudan, lovingly called as Kandal (mangrove) Pokkudan – the man who grew mangrove forests along the Pazhayangadi River. Exhausted as we were in the afternoon, we reached the house of Shri. Pokkudan, the tireless crusader for the restoration of the lost heritage of mangrove forests in the coastal region. What he began with a strong individual conviction in his home district, in Kannur in the 1980s, soon became a mass effort and countless mangroves have been planted in almost all parts of Kerala over the years. Kallen Pokkudan He was struggling with his lunch kept on the table, unable to eat, as sobs choked his throat in remembrance of his life partner, Meenakshi, who had
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Beneath the roaring sky
sitting there
looking at the forest illusory
your eyes reflect upon
the circumscribed wilderness --
perpetual presence and absence
of cuckoos
clamorous monkeys and birds
decamping signs of peace
and violence --
familiar to its archetypes
yet a greenery of its own
flowers
thorns and bushes
also a defoliating air around
exposing its own density and depth
surviving the jaws of municipal planning
entrenched in the mist
and mystery of imagination
like the unpunctuated revelations of our souls
it stands there
in the metropolis of desires