• Annie Siby

Bharathapuzha, affectionately called Nila, is the ebbing lifeline of Kerala’s cultural spaces. The river, which has groomed the heritage of southern malabar region, figures a major part in the life and writings of the jnanpith laureate M.T Vasudevan Nair. Longest among the forty two rivers in the state, Nila flows through the hamlet of Kudallur in Malappuram district, where M.T grew up, and thus it became a major source of creative inspiration for the writer.M.T’s writings sketches out the river as a character in itself, rather than just a facade or a backdrop. Having been brought up on the banks of the personified river, he has left a trace of wistfulness throughout his writings. Over the last two decades, anthropocentric exploitation has resulted in deterioration of the river’s health. Sand mining mafias have devastated the riverbed and rendered the once formidable currents into a bare trickle. The personal perspective of the narrative lends itself to a unique ecocritical reading. Research on this topic is relevant in scholarly, ecological as well as socio-cultural context, since there still exists the possibility of revitalizing the river. The paper intends to understand the ecological consciousness that is embodied in M.T Vasudevan Nair’s oeuvre, particularly his autobiographical works, and how it puts forth questions regarding development and sustainability in the twenty first century.

Bharathapuzha, M.T Vasudevan Nair, Ecocriticism, Sustainability

"REQUIEM FOR A RIVER: ECOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE WRITINGS OF M.T VASUDEVAN NAIR", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 6, page no.571-576, June-2018, Available :http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIRC006101.pdf

"REQUIEM FOR A RIVER: ECOLOGICAL CONSCIOUSNESS IN THE WRITINGS OF M.T VASUDEVAN NAIR", International Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (www.jetir.org | UGC and issn Approved), ISSN:2349-5162, Vol.5, Issue 6, page no. pp571-576, June-2018, Available at : http://www.jetir.org/papers/JETIRC006101.pdf