A Man of Many Parts-Dr V S Sarma

Submitted by bhawani on Sun, 2007-03-11 09:20. Personalities

How else does one describe a person who has touched on practically every specialisation in the field of literature arts, philosophy, religion and languages. Dr V S Sarma's life is an ideal example how dedication, sincerity and love for the subject can move mountains. Right from translating the Gitanjali to Aesthetics, Swami Vivekananda, Sister Nivedita and Thullal Sahityam, this scholar extraordinaire packs into his unassuming persona, close to 70 published works and the manifold experience of having served as head of prestigious institutions like the Kerala Kalamanadalam.

He tells you, "The day I finished my MA exam, I boearded a bus to take up the job of Editor of Malayala Rajyam in Quilon. I was to take over from Kainikara Padmanabha Pillai. It was a learning experience, of the nitty gritty of publishing." But this blessed soul always had the encouragement of dedicated teachers who saw the spark in the boy.

First it was P Seshadiri Iyer a polyglot, who was his father's teacher. But when his father passed away the learned soul took the young Sarma under his wings. It wasn't only the hunger for knowledge that was created, he equipped him with the skill of languages like French, German, Bengali.

If that was the first blessing, what followed were equally fortuitous. Interest in the Arts and Literature were further stoked by P K Narayana Pillai who said, "You must keep to academics," the teacher had identified the streak in the young man. He then had a stint in SKV College Thrissur where he put on track the post-graduate course in Malayalam.

Not one to be limited to Literature, his journey in the Arts began with the UGC project to study the Art Institutions like Kalakshetra and Kalamandalam all over the country. The seeds of interest in the Fine Arts were sown when he spent a fixed time every day of the two years he spent in Thrissur with KP Pisharody studying the Matyasastra. "Dr Seshadiri, P K Narayana Pillai, and K P Pisharody are teachers who oriented my thinking towards the Arts, Philosophy and Literature" says Dr Sarma.

Born to Sahityabhushanam Vasudeva Sarma of Haripad and Parvathi Antharjanam of Suchindram, the responsibilities of the family fell on his young shoulders at the age of 17 when he lost his father. The range of his intellect is revealed in the large canvas on which he has worked, 'Yugacharyan' on Swami Vivekanda, 'Rasakairali' on the Rasa Theory,'Rupakadarshanam' a study on Indian drama translated from Dhanajaya's 'Dasarupa', 'Sangeetika', a collection of essays on music, 'Vaikathu Pacha Muthathu',a study of the first autobiography in Malayalam, 'Tiruvitamkur Rajavamsam', on the royal family of Travancore,and 'Innathe Kalakaranmar' on the performing artistes of Kerala, are just a handful of titles from the seventy books he has to his credit. It is not the numbers that is important here but the quality, range and in depth study that has gone into each effort.

As Chairman of Kerala Kalamandalam, the Kunchan Nambiar Memorial at Killukurissimangalam and the Margi figure among the institutions he has headed. At seventy Dr Sarma, is still a student, working on the subjects he holds dear and giftimg us with gems on the Arts, Literature and Language.
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