Sisters and brothers, I thank you for the honour that you have done me by asking me to speak on a subject on which many distinguished persons have spoken before you. I do not know whether I shall be able to fulfil the desire with which I have been asked to speak.
Now ‘Books and Man’ is a big subject. I am a lover of books. I have read lots of books. I have also written some books. So it is difficult for me to speak on ‘man and books’ in general.
Very often when some people ask me, ‘Which is the book that has impressed you most? Which is the book that has shaped your personality?’ I answer, I can’t give an answer to that. I have read many books. Many of them have helped shape my personality. I can’t name one of them.
But now that I am with you, I want to refer to two books with which I had [an] association in my early childhood. That is by about nine, ten years. One was the Rig Veda. The second was the Mahabharata.
But there is a big difference. Rig Veda I cannot say that I have studied. I didn’t understand a word of what it means. But for six years, I was made to repeat the shlokas in the Rig Veda. Six wasted years. I was asked to learn by heart and repeat. I did it. And I did it honourably. But yet, after about five years, I have forgotten everything. Now I don’t remember anything. That was in my life a wasted time.
As a matter of fact, when the Malayalam commentary on Rig Veda was being released to the public in Delhi, with Narasimha Rao, who was then the education minister — he was releasing it — I was asked to receive the copy. I was reluctant. But the person who had done that book was my close friend. He told me, ‘You come and speak whatever you like.’ He knows very well that I was disgusted with this practice.
Making small boys of seven, eight, nine years repeat the whole of the Rig Veda for six years. But nothing remains. He knew that I am disgusted with it. But still he told me, ‘You come and speak whatever you like.’ I spoke. And I spoke there. My only wish is that the fate that had overtaken me for six years, let that not be repeated for the younger generation now. That is one experience.
Rig Veda is a classical work in India. At that time I didn’t know anything. Later on, I learned something. Not only learned something, I also learned how to interpret it in terms of human history.
I learned the application of Marxism. Even in the learning of such books, which I studied in my boyhood, was a torture for me. But I now have a better understanding of the Rig Veda. That it is one of the best classics in the world. But it is not a religious book. It is a book of poems.
As a matter of fact, the Rig Veda was translated in[to] poetry by [Malayalam] poet Vallathol [Narayana Menon]. The whole Rig Veda has been translated.
When I was a boy, and learning this by heart, the practice was that non-Brahmins should not even hear Veda. Here was a non-Brahmin, Vallathol, who learned it and translated it. And some author’s people used to say that he became deaf because he did that. So that is how society has changed.
Then the next book with which I was acquainted, and which I enjoyed a lot, was the Malayalam translation of the Mahabharata. The whole Mahabharata was translated by an eminent poet [Vallathol Narayana Menon]], vṛtta-anu-vṛttam, meter by meter. That was an experience for me. I was then about 9 or 10 years [old]. I read the whole thing. That impressed me a lot.
That also introduced me to Indian or Hindu learning. Along with that, of course, I had read other things. But this was a period in which I started reading a lot of Malayalam books.
I had not started learning English. When I was learning Rig Veda by heart, I also was learning some Sanskrit Kavyas. The teacher who taught me Rig Veda was also a Sanskrit teacher. He taught me. I learned something. But the real education started for me when I started reading Malayalam books. All that was available at that time — poems, novels, dramas. That was by 1921-22, like that. Most of the books that were available at that time, I read.
So, although the Rig Veda did not do anything to shape my personality, the Mahabharata did. When I read Mahabharata in Malayalam translation, meter by meter translation, that impressed me a lot.
Together with that, I also learned other classical words. Like Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan, Ramayana, Mahabharata, etc. Similarly, other Malayalam books, including modern poems, novels, dramas, etc. That introduced me to [the] Malayalam language. It was after this that I joined the school. I joined the school only when I was 16 years [old].
Till then, my whole life was spent learning the Rig Veda by heart. And also learning some Sanskrit Kavyas. So, by the time I was 16 years [old] when I joined the school, fortunately for me, because of private tuition, I was able to get admission into high class, 7th standard.
But till then, I had not been able to write Malayalam. I could read Malayalam alright, but I couldn’t write Malayalam. It was after I joined the school that I started reading a lot. But by that time, I had also started reading English books. English books, not only textbooks, whatever was available. The class teacher used to give us library books. I used to take one book every time. I also tried to get books from other quarters. I was a voracious reader of Malayalam.
And by the time I joined the school, I also started reading English books. And also reading English papers. [The] Hindu was the only English paper available at that time. I used to read it regularly. So, in high school, when I was in third form, fourth form, I started reading English newspapers as well. English books as well.
After that, my life is well known at least in Kerala. Probably elsewhere also it is known. That I became a political activist. It was the reading of the newspaper. As a matter of fact, I remember, when Mathrubhumi was started, as a tri-weekly, I was a regular reader. Long before it was converted into a daily.
So, with that, I came into acquaintance with the political movement. I was a northern Gandhiite, trying to shape my life in accordance with Gandhian principles. But later on, I changed myself from Gandhian to Nehru. Again from Nehru to communist. This is how I developed.
After that, I read a lot. Particularly on history, economics and political science. When I was in high school and in college, I used to read a lot. In college particularly, I used to take books every week. One or two books every week. I used to read a lot.
And it’s a very interesting thing, that the first book on socialism and communism that I read was from the college library of a catholic college. [Ramsay] MacDonald Socialism and [Harold J] Laski’s Communism.
So, I started reading college textbooks, library books, wherever books were available. So, that shaped me as a political personality. As a political personality, I first was a congressman, a Gandhiite, but gradually a left congressman. Actually, the first book that I wrote in Malayalam, is a short biography of Jawaharlal Nehru. That was published in 1931.
So, I got interested in reading books like this. And through that, I improved my knowledge. And then after that, I left the college, joined the civil disobedience movement, and went to jail. And in fact, my jail life was a university life. Reading lots.
As a matter of fact, first when I was taken to Kannur jail, there were Bengal terrorist prisoners there. One of them is also a great scholar. He advised me to read. He knew that I was interested in reading. I also used to write something. He knew all that. So, he wanted to guide me. Or what to concentrate on. And he gave me a list of books on history, political science and economics. And many of the books he suggested, I bought when I was in jail. And read a lot. This is how I became, as one friend put it, I transferred myself from the Rig Veda to Karl Marx’s capital.
This in short is my life story. Beyond this, I don’t know what to say on ‘Books and Man’. This is how the human character in me developed, in which books, including a book, which I didn’t understand anything. But I was made to learn by heart, including that, these books shaped my personality, I became a Marxist.
This is part of ThePrint’s Great Speeches series. It features speeches and debates that shaped modern India.