A masterful writer and cartoonist

OV Vijayan, known for his philosophy and politics mixed cartoons, as well as spirituality and revolutionary critique based novels, passed away today in 2005.

Old image of the OV Vijayan; Source: Public Domain

Ottupulackal Velukkuty Vijayan, commonly known as OV Vijayan, was one of the most important figures in modern Malayalam Literature. He was born in 1930 in Kerala, and was largely homeschooled, before moving to Calcutta to study for college. His literary career began way late into his life, and would define most of it as it was shaping.

From the late 1950s, he would work as a cartoonist in Shankar’s Weekly and then Patriot, followed up by The Statesman and The Hindu. Philosophy and politics would be his most commented topic in cartoons, and accompanied by a severe critique of Indira Gandhi’s policies. His cartoons would also often appear in foreign, especially American, newspapers.

Khasakkinte Itihasam - the Legends of Khasak, was the name of his first novel, completed and published in 1969. This book was single handedly responsible for a paradigm change in Malayalam literature - modernism and postmodernism being the hallmarks of the new era, with a focus on experiment in style and content, than the old formal and romantic styles. This novel would be the starting point of that era. Existentialism is thoroughly explored, as is a new prose writing style - and it was widely adopted by playwrights to make stage plays on.

His other defining work would be Dharmapuranam - the Saga of Dharmapuri. This was published in 1985, and here Vijayan left no stones unturned to criticize political authority - he would be utterly sarcastic, superbly grotesque - and would also draw extreme praise from literary critics.

He had a long list of other works, all based around themes even more experimental and varied - ranging from the spiritual to the absurd. Leaving all this as his legacy behind, he passed away on the 30th of March 2005. OV Vijayan has been immortalized in the various literary honours he received, as well as those which are named after him in today’s world.