Once upon a time, there was a small ramshackle house towards the Northern end of an island. A mother and seven children occupied it. One of them was endowed with an inborn flair for art. The family lived in poor conditions – a small paddy field and a little piece of earth supplied the food. Whatever was left of the harvest was sold, so that the children could go to school.
Venugopalan went to the boys’ high school in the small town. One day, he saw the body of a boy being carried away after an accident. Seeing the body drenched in blood, Venu fainted. He was a boy who could not stand the sight of blood, who would weep watching tragedies on screen or reading in print.
But, as destiny would have it, his life took a turn that made an entire generation follow him. And the name of the boy who, even after pushing sixties now, cannot stand blood or gore or tears, evokes awe, fear and respect among thousands of Keralites.
The name is K Venu. Former leader of the extreme left front called CPI (ML) that earned the sixties and seventies a fantastic expression, ‘the thunder of spring’.
K Venu opened up with wry joke:
“You know, while serving my term in the prison, they served three wheat dosas and a cereal made with corm. Most of my comrades abhorred it and would say that I was trying to de-classify myself from into a proletariat by eating the Oliver Twist stuff. They never knew I grew up eating this.”
Venu was always interested in two things – art and life. The flora and fauna around the lush environment around him taught the secret of the circle that is life. Thus, Venugopalan grew up through mud in the paddy fields, planting saplings and wielding the shovel, into a full-blown materialist who was at once an artist as well.
“ Onam and Vishu always fascinated me. Basically because there was so much art material around to tinker with. I would make the Onam pedals in hexagon, octagon and so forth. I even found a rather ingenious way to make four parrots from four corners, made out of tender coconut leaves, come together and make a peck over the Thrikkakkarayappan!” K Venu rewinds.
A zoology student, he was the best when it came to practical record drawings. But those dissections always stopped him. K Satchidanandan, poet and cousin of Venu had also opted for zoology but dropped out due to the same reason: cannot take a life, even if it is a lifeless form kept in formaldehyde.
The fascination for flower orbs made during Onam had followed Venu till his pre-university period. He was a student of the last PUC batch.
“Life had always amazed me; perhaps that is why I am seen more analytical than an artist – I love observing and my first book, The Man and The Universe was born out of this pure scientific, philosophical wonder. Later, when I was in the CPI (ML) movement, my primary skills learnt at the paddy fields and my own earth had come in handy – once, when I was in hiding in Wayanad, the man who provided the hide out wanted someone to climb the areca nut trees and pluck them. No one was available. I volunteered, since I had climbed and plucked them as a youth. The man was stunned.” Laughs the man who took Kerala by storm.
Venu is a gifted artist. As a child, he would always come away with prizes for painting at competitions. He would draw Krishna, Nehru and Gandhi.
“ This skill is perhaps what helps me in my present profession, building homes. I never draw a plan, I simply modify it by suggesting a few aesthetic pointers here and there.” Confesses the Socrates of our times and milieu.
“ I grew up on a staple diet of science-related books. I would bunk classes to read a series published in vernacular by a certain MS Menon. It was after Venugopalan became K Venu that Dr Leelavathi, famed literary scholar and teacher told me that this certain MS Menon was her husband!” Venu laughs again, heartily.
“ Most people see me as a dry intellectual; I never bothered to correct them or defend myself. The fact is that, I love life and I love this earth.” K Venu says, more of a soliloquy.
