Unmasking A Literary Legend

How Vilasalathika BA (Honours) reveals the untold story of Omchery NN Pillai

I had gone to bed when a copy of Vilasalathika BA (Honours), sent by author Ajith G. Maniyan through a special courier, reached me. Our security guard, who received it, thought it was urgent and woke me up to hand over the beautifully packaged book with a nicely handwritten address.

The little book, published by Current Books and set to be released at a prestigious seminar on Omchery NN Pillai at the Kendriya Sahitya Akademi on March 9, attracted me for its production quality.

I went back to bed but could not sleep for long, as I woke up with a strong desire to read the play I had seen enacted when it was staged for the third time in Delhi. The occasion was made memorable with the presence of Omchery and his wife, Leela Omchery, who remained wedded for 74 years and in love for a much longer period.

Over 70 years ago, Omchery was in the information service of the Government of India. The leader of the largest Opposition party in the first and second Lok Sabha was Communist Party of India leader AK Gopalan.

The coir workers of Ambalappuzha in Kerala were on strike for better wages and living conditions. The coir factory owner was confident that they would return to work once they started starving. AKG felt that some money should be raised to support the striking coir workers.

Today, politicians have a hundred and one ways of raising money. In fact, it is this ability that draws many of them to politics. AKG was different. All he could think of was staging a play to raise the necessary resources.

Omchery, who had written a parody on the practices in the Thiru-Kochi Assembly titled Notice Venam (Wanted Notice), was entrusted with the responsibility of writing a play. The play got its title from the routine answer a minister gave to any question asked in the House.

One of the members, Pandalam PR Madhavan Pillai, asked the minister a few questions, to which the standard answer was “Wanted Notice”. To the list of questions, he added one more: “What is the name of the Honourable Minister’s father.” Pat came the reply “Wanted Notice” turning the House into a chamber of laughter.

AKG advised Omchery to be more serious this time. Until then, Omchery was known as a poet, who commanded greater respect than ONV and Sugathakumari. But when he wrote the play Velichathilekku (Towards the Light), he realised that his true calling was as a playwright, not a poet.

The play was successfully staged at the YMCA Hall in New Delhi, with top Communist leaders of the time, such as EK Eembichi Bhava and PT Punnoose, among the actors.

The lead role of the Christian priest was played by Rosecot Krishna Pillai, who was with AIR at that time. Many years later, I visited Pillai at his house, Rosecot, built by his uncle CV Raman Pillai, and did a piece on him for The Hindustan Times. “I show your article to my visitors”,  he told me when we took part in the four-day Festival of Omchery Plays held at VJT Hall, now called Ayyankali Hall. It was in the same hall that his first play was staged.

In those days, anyone associated with the Communist Party was rejected for government jobs. The Indian government was following McCarthyism. It was risky for Omchery to lend his name to the drama. So, he chose a pseudonym “Vilasalathika BA (Honours)”. The drama was a hit, particularly when it was published in book form. The original title was changed to Ee Velicham Ningalkullathukunnu (This Light is for You).

Many young and not-so-young men fell in love with Vilasalathika BA (Honours), assuming she was also beautiful. Omchery even received love letters from some well-known writers. The play won a prestigious award, yet he preferred to keep his real name a secret. He used the pseudonym to write several articles and essays critical of the establishment.

Ajith G. Maniyan, an accomplished theatre personality, wrote this play to be staged in Delhi. Omchery used to tell me that all his plays were staged. He wrote them in a way that allowed the director to set the stage with minimal effort and expense.

The play is woven around this episode in Omchery’s life. What is striking about it is how one great man, AKG, helped shape another — Omchery — who became the grand patriarch of Indian theatre by the time he passed away at the age of 101. Omchery was a man ahead of his time.

As Ajith — that is how I call him — mentions in the book, Omchery’s play reflects the same ideology that inspired Liberation Theology a decade or so later in Latin America. Once, EMS Namboothiripad wrote about a Red Priest, who closely resembled the Vicar in Omchery’s play.

Ajith is gracious enough to mention my little contribution to his writing of the play ‘Hearts that Wrote History’, a biopic in three languages on VP Menon, the man who integrated over 500 native Indian states into the Indian Union and also set up the Kerala Club, at New Delhi, in 1939. Enacted by over 100 people, the play remains his masterpiece. As I always say, Ajith has the innate ability to convert a 14×10-foot stage into an international airport, with planes landing and taking off every minute of the day.

His Vilasalathika BA (Honours) captures a particular period in both Kerala and Delhi. It is a play that needs to be staged not just in Delhi or Kerala but all over the world, i.e., wherever the Malayali community resides.

Cartoonist Sudheer Nath, in his note, encapsulates the life and work of Omchery NN Pillai, leading to the publication of this book. His pen portrait of the great playwright can only be described as outstanding. I recommend the book to all those who would like to know a little more about Omchery, who was like a friend and philosopher to countless Malayalis in Delhi.

Omchery NN Pillai’s legacy as a playwright, journalist, and thinker reminds us of the power of theatre as a tool for social change. Vilasalathika BA (Honours) is not just a play; it is a testament to the enduring spirit of resistance, creativity, and commitment to justice. Congratulations, Ajith G Maniyan.

This article is sourced from AJ Philip’s social media posts.

Follow on Facebook: Cartoonist Sudheer, Ajith G Maniyan, AJ Philip

Omcheri NN Pillai was interviewed by The AIDEM in April 2023. Watch the interview here.