Sambasivan...!!

Dear Friends,
As you all will observe, there had been sweeping changes in the entertainment tastes of Malayalis in the past few years. For thatmatter, I am not making any customary segregation like mass art or elitist art. Apart from cinema, there were certain cultural forms which flourished in Kerala and had a vast popular appeal.
For these art forms to flourish, the precincts of temples in Kerala made a big contribution by providing them with platforms during theirfestival seasons. Thus dance ballets, kathaprasangam became the main cultural items in those festivals providing enjoyment to elated worshippers who would sit through the night for these dances(basically on mythological themes like Devi Kanya Kumari or talesf rom Mahabharatam or Ramayanam) and kathaprasangam programmes.
While the once popular Kathakali and Thullal started declining aspopular art forms, one art form, having its roots in Harikatha emerged. Thus kathaprasangam combined the visual pleasure of emotingand narration of story backed by orchestra and songs.
But this was not every one's cup of tea. Many upstarts appeared and vanished. The significant names were a few. We had Kedamangalam Sadanandan, Kollam Babu, Thevarthottam Sukumaran, Usha Rajan enjoyinga mass appeal.
But no one made a lasting impression as late V. Sambasivan, who rode the kathaprasangam field like a colossus and literally converted it into an one-man industry. This High School teacher from Chavara inKollam district powered by his leftist leanings roared, laughed, sangand cried before thousands of avid kathaprasangam lovers in andoutside kerala for about 25 years.
Sambasivan's ingenuity was his sharp judgement in selecting a goodstory. Credit goes to him for introducing Shakespeare, Tolstoy,Balzac, Pearl S Buck and innumerable Bengali writers to the masses ofKerala making their masterpieces household names among keralites.
Amazingly talented Sambasivan would pen the lyrics and set them to lilting tunes all by himself. Samban, as he was fondly called, usedcontemporary political and social situations to interpret hischaracters with finesse. His stentorian voice and strong sense ofhumouur and singing abilities created a larger than life image forhim, which made him stand out from rest of his mediocrecontempraries.
The unforgettable stories which Samban told us include (which I enjoyed most and admired also)-Othello, Aysha of Vayalar, Rain Bow,Vilakku Vangam, Erupatham Nootandu etc.
In my school days, I have seen in front of my eyes, how excitedpeople used to come for the programme with stereo tape recorders in hand to record as they say "samban". Those were the times, the Gulf employed people from kerala used to bring in the latest brands ofcostly tape recorders. Samban even used to make fun of that, in hisown inimitable way!
Then we had the branded cassettes of Samban pouring in from Thompson and others. Nonetheless these casettes never gave the plaesure ofwatching Samban alive in the stage.
I look back those days with a tinge of sadness and do belive that it was indeed a lost paradise. Today, the festivals are being muddied by mimicry of low tastes and so called ganamelas.
My sorrow gets further compounded as we do not see any sign ofanother talent coming up in kathaparsangam to fill the vacuum left bySamban. And the hard fact remains-only a person of rare calibre can resurrect that dying art. In Samban, perhaps more than the art the man mattered.