Pala Narayanan Nair

Pala Narayanan Nair (11 December 1911 – 11 June 2008) was an Indian poet and lyricist, best known for his work, Keralam Valarunnu, written in 1953, comprising eight volumes, which earned him the title of Mahakavi. He wrote more than 5,000 poems, which have been compiled in about 43 anthologies. Nair, who also wrote the lyrics for the 1956 Malayalam movie, Avar Unarunnu, was a recipient of the Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, the highest literary honour of the Government of Kerala as well as Vallathol Award and Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Poetry, besides other honours. Narayanan Nair was born on 11 December 1911 in Pala of Kottayam district in Kerala to Keezhpallil Sankaran Nair and Puliannoor Puthoor Parvathy Amma. His schooling was at St. Thomas School, Pala from where he passed the final examination but his father's death in 1932 forced him to start earning and he joined Palai Central Bank as an accountant, simultaneously giving private tutions. He moved to S. M. V. S. High School as teacher in 1937 but had to quit the job during World War II to join the Indian Army. He quit military service in 1947 to join the University of Kerala (then known as the University of Travancore) in their publications division. While working at the university, he resumed his studies to earn a bachelor's degree in 1954 and a master's degree in Malayalam in 1956, standing first in the examination. He retired from the university in 1967 as the head of the department of publications and served as a professor of Malayalam at Alphonsa College, Palai until 1972. He also served at MMNSS College Kottiyam for a while. Narayanan Nair was married to Subhadrakutty Amma and the couple had two daughters and two sons. He died, at the age of 96, on 11 June 2008, at a private hospital in Kottayam, where he had been admitted following age-related illnesses.