N. S. Madhavan, born on September 9, 1948, in the port city of Cochin did his school education at Sree Rama Varma High School and graduated in economics from Maharaja's College, Ernakulam.[1] His post-graduate studies were at the Department of Economics, University of Kerala. During this period he began writing, and in 1970 won the top prize for his first published short story 'Shishu', in a contest organised by the Malayalam literary magazine Mathrubhumi.[2] He joined the Indian Administrative Service in 1975 and started his administrative career as a member of the Bihar cadre. After serving in Bihar in various capacities, he returned to his home state in 1988.[3]
Madhavan is married to Sheela Reddy, a book editor of Outlook, an English magazine published in New Delhi. Their daughter, Meenakshi Reddy Madhavan is a well-known blogger and the author of works such as You Are Here, Confessions of a Listmaniac and Cold Feet.[4][5]
In the 1980s, Madhavan went through a decade-long period of writer's block, until the release of his story 'Higuita' in 1990. In this work, Madhavan models his protagonist, Father Geevarghese, on René Higuita, the 1990 FIFA World Cup goalkeeper for Colombia and his unconventional playing style whereby he would often abandon his goal and try to score goals, occupies the priest's imagination.[6] Likewise, he temporarily abandons his cassock and saves a tribal girl Lucie from the clutches of the trafficker Jabbar. The short story was rated among the best Malayalam stories in the last century.[7] It has since been adapted into a play, Higuita: A Goalie’s Anxiety at Penalty Kick, by Sasidharan Naduvil.[8]Thiruthu, based on the Babri Masjid demolition, Chulaimedile Shavangal (Corpses of Chulaimed), Vanmarangal Veezhumpol (When the Big Trees Fall), Paryaya Kathakal (Synonymous Stories), Nilavili (The Cry), Muyal Vetta (Hare Hunt) and Nalam Lokam (The Fourth World) are some of his other notable short stories.[9] His stories are known to represent the uncertainties, ambiguities and tragedies of the modern world.[10]
After thirty three years as a writer, Madhavan published his debut novel in 2003 as Lanthan Batheriyile Luthiniyakal.[3] The novel is about the life on an imaginary island in the Kochi backwaters,[11] named after a 17th-century battery (bathery in Malayalam) of five cannons installed on its promontory by the Dutch (Lanthans in Malayalam).[12] Jessica, the young narrator of the story, is the scion of a family of carpenters with a long tradition of boat building. Her reminiscences start from the days when she was inside her pregnant mother's womb. The novel presents an intimate picture of life of the Latin Christians of the Kerala coast, descendants of poor, low-caste Hindus who were converted to Christianity by Portuguese colonists in the 16th century.[13] The first edition of the novel was sold out in a month.[14]
The novel is set between 1951 and 1967, the first sixteen years of Jessica life, but draws upon history going back to the time of Vasco Da Gama.[13] She was born at a time when people used to run away from cow-pox vaccinators as well as the period when Kerala embraced communism, which the novelist calls the watermelon years – an allusion to the verdant green-canopied Kerala with its hidden red watermelons. There are captivating descriptions of Latin catholic residents of the Dutch Battery preparing themselves for months prior to the staging of Karalman CharithamaChavittu Nadakam or an operatic play about Charlemagne, originally written in Tamil and pidgin Latin by Chinnathambi Annavi in the 16th century.[15][16] Set against the background of the city of Madhavan's birth, Kochi, the Lanthan Batheriyile Luthiniyakal is a roller coaster ride through micro histories, the nascent days of a newly independent country, the growth and decline of ideas, and the randomness of events affecting human lives. Well-known Malayalam novelist M. Mukundan made the following assessment after reviewing the novel, "N.S. Madhavan has rejuvenated Malayalam fiction."[17] He summarises the novel thus: "[The book] is all about history and imagination—the protogonists of new fiction that is in vogue."[17] Mukundan added, "The novel is heavily populated with communists, priests, carpenters, cooks, boatmen, librarians, school teachers, even tailors. At times you will come across history makers from faraway Russia – Joseph Stalin, Imre Nagy, Nikita Khrushchev..."[17]
Madhavan, N.S. (2005). Sarmishta (in Tamil). Translated by Shailaja, K. V. Vamsi Books. ASINB00HR1UCRQ.
Madhavan, N. S. (2010). Litanies of Dutch battery. Translated by Rajamohan, Rajesh. New Delhi: Penguin Books. ISBN9780143065029. OCLC689015005.
Madhavan, N. S. (2018). Beerangi Paadalgal (in Tamil). Translated by Murukan, Era. Kizhakku Pathippagam. ISBN978-9386737489.
Madhava, N. S. (2012). Perumarangal Vizhumpozhuthu (in Tamil). Translated by Nirmalya. Nagarcoil: Kalachuvadu Publications. ISBN9789381969601. OCLC845242649.
