Writer Balan Putheri, one of the recipients of the Padma Shri for 2021, could not smile when he accepted the honour from President Ramnath Kovind in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The pyre of his wife, Shantha Kadavath, still was smouldering when Mr. Balan received the award with trembling hands. Visually impaired for over a decade, Mr. Balan had wanted to have his wife beside him while accepting the biggest honour of his life.
Tragic loss
But his hopes were dashed on Tuesday morning when Shantha breathed her last after a long fight with breast cancer.
The news of her death shattered him. It took some time for him to come to terms with reality that he could not even attend her funeral that took place at their family land at Karipur, near Kondotty.
“It was with a heavy heart that he permitted us to go ahead with the obsequies,” said his younger brother Santhosh Putheri.
Santha’s funeral began at 3.30 p.m. and the pyre continued to smoulder even as Mr. Balan received the award. He was accompanied by his elder brother Damodaran.
His son Ramlal, 20, could not join him in New Delhi as he is visually and mentally impaired. As per his itinerary, Mr. Balan is to return home on Wednesday night.
Cancer
The death of his wife, who provided vision and support to his life in spite of her eight-year-long fight with cancer, turned his biggest day into one of the gloomiest ones.
Yet, he did not cry, with a firm conviction that it was God’s design.
The world of Malayalam writers was in surprise when the Union Government announced the Padma award winners for 2021 in January. Mr. Balan, one of the six awardees from Kerala, was not so well known in Kerala’s literary circles. But his contributions to temple-related literature were commendable.
He has published 213 books, most of them about Hindu mythology and temple rites. He made a living by selling these books in temples and places of religious gatherings.
The selection of Mr. Balan for Padma Shri had evoked criticism from a section of writers who alleged that he was awarded because of his affiliation to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Not hardcore
However, Mr. Balan denied the allegations saying that he was not a hardcore RSS man, though he supported the ideology.
