REPUBLIC DAY started like all different mornings for Sankaranarayana Menon, the 93-year-old kalaripayattu exponent who has been conferred the Padma Shri for his contributions to martial arts. As has been the routine for so long as he might keep in mind, he awoke at 5 am, bathed within the household pond, supplied prayers on the courtyard temple and stepped onto the kalari (enviornment) in Kerala’s Chavakkad the place his college students waited for him, prepared for 3 hours of grueling coaching of physique and thoughts.
There was a short spherical of applause for his achievement, introduced by the Government on Tuesday evening, however no extra celebration. “I am obviously glad that the Government has recognized me. But it’s not the end. I will continue teaching students as long as I am alive. It’s my duty,” he says, in a delicate however clear voice.
These days, his physique cannot take the rigours of demonstrating the intricate steps (“adavu”) every day. So he restricts himself to reciting directions in a metrical, singsong slang, nearly like people poetry, handed onto him by his forefathers.
Yet, Menon says he can nonetheless carry out most steps “without breaking a bone or pulling a muscle”. The actions are not muscle reminiscence, however the reminiscence itself. “I’ve been working towards these strikes since I used to be seven, so it has change into part of me, like my thoughts. I really feel I must finetune a number of the steps,” he says.
In the perfect traditions of kalaripayattu, Menon has a taut and supple body. Says his son Krishnadas: “We don’t look to build big muscles like pehelwans, but rather compact muscles that give us flexibility and make reflexes stronger. My father had a perfect kalaripayattu physique and, in his prime, was known for his dexterous moves.”
Times have been completely different when Menon took child steps in kalaripayattu in Tirur, now in Malappuram district. His household had commanders within the military of Vettathu Raja, a neighborhood chieftain. He was educated to struggle, and never train the fight artwork type. Those days, kalaripayattu practitioners have been affluent and highly effective — even when preventing between the princely states lowered below British rule, they nonetheless flourished below royal patronage.
But the disintegration of princely states and the following abolition of royalty jeopardised their livelihood. Soon, trendy martial artwork types corresponding to karate and kung-fu began changing into common within the state, and kalaripayattu misplaced its attain and resonance. There was romance within the artwork, however it didn’t maintain the fireplace burning within the kitchen.
Menon and his household by no means gave up, although. “My father never thought of quitting. Neither did he dilute his teaching nor make it expensive. Whatever the student could afford, is his guiding principle,” says Krishnadas, who additionally heads the Kerala Kalaripayattu Association and is the go-to marketing consultant for martial arts, an evergreen style within the Malayalam movie business.
Upon the invitation of a patron, Menon shifted his base to Chavakkad in Thrissur district in 1957. Today, his faculty — Vallabhatta Kalari, which follows the Kadathanadan custom, with emphasis on footwork and physique actions fairly than armed fight — has 137 college students. The middle has additionally expanded with 17 branches exterior the nation, together with in Brussels and Amsterdam, and twice as many in Kerala. There is curiosity from Punjab and Haryana, as nicely.
Krishnadas says the upturn of fortunes started with the tourism increase within the state. “In the mid-Eighties, a person got here from Belgium I assume, and after years of coaching below father, went dwelling and opened a middle of his personal. And then, extra individuals started to come back. As a practice, we allow solely those that have educated below us to open branches anyplace on the planet,” he says.
Menon’s sons are seasoned execs themselves, which allowed him to take a break from educating. But Unni Gurukkal, as Menon is fondly known as, insists on educating himself those that knock on the doorways of his kalari. “It’s not in our tradition to send them back. Those who come for knowledge shall get knowledge,” he says.
The historic martial artwork type has gone international, misplaced a few of its feudal symbolism and affiliation with bloodshed, and is now acknowledged as a sport within the nation. And the Padma Shri is a recognition of this upward curve. But for Menon, award or not, all mornings will proceed to start in the identical means they’ve for many years.
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With inputs from TheIndianEXPRESS
