O. N. V. Kurup

Ottaplakkal Neelakandan Velu Kurup also known as O.N.V Kurup, was a famous Malayalam lyricist and amazing poet of Kerala in India. His father was O.N. Krishna Kurup and mother was K. Lakshmikutty Amma. He was born on 27 May 1931 in Chavara, Kollam, Kerala. His father died when Kurup was eight years old. He somehow tackled the situation and completed his graduation with a Bachelor's Degree from the SN College in Kollam. He had an interest in literature, so he shifted to Trivandrum and pursued Masters in Malayalam literature from The Travancore University, also called The Kerala University. After completing his Masters of Arts, he worked as a Professor at Maharajas College in Ernakulam, Arts and Science College in Kozhikode, University College in Trivandrum, and Brennen College in Thalassery. He also served as a Visiting Officer at The Calicut University. In the year 1946, in a local weekly, his first poem ‘Munnottu’ was published. In the year 1949, came out his first poetry collection named “Porutunna Soundaryam”. His book Dahikunna Panapatram came out during 1946 to 1956 and was a collection of his classic poems. Marubhumi (The Desert), Mayipeeli (Peacock feather), Aksharam were his various classics published in the subsequent years.

He retired from the services of a professor in the year 1986. In the year 2007, he received the Prestigious Literary Honor Jnanpith Award. Kurup started his career as an Amateur Writer but through his hard work and persistence, he matured and grew into a humanist. He mostly selected social issues as a base of his poems. He did not forget his commitment towards his society and the nation. He had also completed Ph.D. so he was given the title of Doctor as well.

He married Sarojini and settled in Thiruvananthapuram. He had a son Rajeev who works in the Authority of The Indian Railways and a daughter who is a renowned gynecologist in the city of Durham in The United Kingdom (U.K) named Dr. Mayadevi. The number of awards he had bagged for his works is remarkable. He grabbed the Kerala Film Festival Award as “The Best Lyricist” for almost thirteen times. He fetched the Filmfare Awards twice and also The Asianet Film Awards. He had been at positions like The Executive member of The Sahitya Academy, New Delhi. Not only in India, but he also visited various other Nations as “The Indian Representative”.

He breathed his last on 13 February 2016.