M.N. Sathyardhi (1913-1998) was a writer and freedom fighter from

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Early life

He was born on 13 April 1913 in

Lahore Lahore ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, Pakistani province of Punjab, Pakistan, Punjab. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, second-largest city in Pakistan, after Karachi, and ...

Punjab Punjab (; ; also romanised as Panjāb or Panj-Āb) is a geopolitical, cultural, and historical region in South Asia. It is located in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent, comprising areas of modern-day eastern Pakistan and no ...

. His father was a

Malayali The Malayali people (; also spelt Malayalee and sometimes known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala and Union Territory of Lakshadweep in India, occupying its south ...

working in the Punjab government service. After intermediate studies he joined National College, Lahore, but could not complete his studies due to his involvement in the freedom struggle. In 1928, he was arrested in connection with the Anders assassination case and was exiled to India. He reached

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

where he met

Bhagat Singh Bhagat Singh (27 September 1907 – 23 March 1931) was an Indian anti-colonial revolutionary who participated in the mistaken murder of a junior British police officer in December 1928 in what was intended to be retaliation for the deat ...

and became a member of Hindustan Socialist Republic Association. He had to go underground to escape arrest and he reached

where he was associated with Anusheelan Samithi an extremist organisation. He spent two years there and got armed training from the organisation. Following the assassination of the Governor of Punjab he was again arrested and sentenced for rigorous imprisonment. While in jail, he took his Honors in

Urdu Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...

language. While being taken to the prison in the

Andamans The Andaman Islands () are an archipelago, made up of 200 islands, in the northeastern Indian Ocean about southwest off the coasts of Myanmar's Ayeyarwady Region. Together with the Nicobar Islands to their south, the Andamans serve as a mari ...

, he escaped police custody and went underground. He became involved in the activities of the

Communist Party of India The Communist Party of India (CPI) is a political party in India. The CPI considers the Foundation of the Communist Party of India, December 26, 1925 Cawnpore (Kanpur) conference as its foundation date. Between 1946 and 1951, the CPI led m ...

. In 1946 he joined a journal named Progressive Papers Ltd. and in 1947, following the partition of India, he came to India as a refugee. In addition to Malayalam and English he was proficient in

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

Punjabi Punjabi, or Panjabi, most often refers to: * Something of, from, or related to Punjab, a region in India and Pakistan * Punjabi language * Punjabis, Punjabi people * Punjabi dialects and languages Punjabi may also refer to: * Punjabi (horse), a ...

, Urdu,

Bengali Bengali or Bengalee, or Bengalese may refer to: *something of, from, or related to Bengal, a large region in South Asia * Bengalis, an ethnic and linguistic group of the region * Bengali language, the language they speak ** Bengali alphabet, the w ...

, and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

. In 1958, he came to

and settled in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. Known as the City of Spices, Kozhikode is listed among the City of Literature, UNESCO's Cities of Literature. It is the nineteenth large ...

. He got the Kerala Sahitya Academy award for his work on India's freedom struggle, 'Swathanthrya Samaram' in 1989, and for lifetime contribution in 1996. He died on 4 July 1998.Sahithyakara Directory; Kerala Sahithya Academy, Thrissur

Works

*Vilaykku vaangam (വിലക്ക് വാങ്ങാം) Translation from Bengali .. of Bimal Mithra *Prabhukkalum Bhrutyarum *Jahannara *Begum Mary Biswas *Jawaharlal Nehru *Netajiyude Balyam *Chourangi *Agneeswaran *Nellinte Geetham *Mushinja Pudava *Muyalinte Lokam *Padma Meghna *Rakthasakshikal *Navika kalapathile Idimuzhakkam *Golanthara Yathra *Goopiyum Baghayum

References

Malayali people Writers from Kozhikode Indian independence activists from Kerala Malayalam-language writers 1913 births 1998 deaths Writers from Lahore 20th-century Indian translators 20th-century Indian non-fiction writers Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award {{India-writer-stub