A towering personality

“Malathi Chandur was a far sighted and multi-faceted personality, which was evident from her writings throughout her life. She has touched upon various facets of feminism in her novels, stories and other contributions. All her works represent the pride of Telugu language,” said Principal of Sarojini Naidu Women’s College, Hyderabad, Dr Mukthevi Bharathi. She gave a lecture on “Malathi Chandur’s Novels” at an endowment meeting in memory of the great writer organised by Sri Padmavathi Mahila Visvavidyalayam (SPMVV) in Tirupati on Tuesday.

Though she made pioneering contributions, ‘Vantalu-Pindi Vantalu’, ‘Pramadavanam’ and the question and answer column she ran made her an eminent personality, which stood as a testimony of her thinking ahead by several decades. Even though she was not a graduate, her English language skills were exemplary. “She was woman biased. When she describes the psychology of women, the readers wonder if she has transformed into a psychologist. In some other writings readers see a kind-hearted humanitarian who is having social consciousness in abundance, described Dr Bharathi.

Each of her novels depict a different quality. When she wrote a novel on cancer patient “Sisira Vasantam” there was a feeling among readers that even a doctor cannot describe the condition of the sick person like her. She wrote ‘Gowthamiputhri’ with Dalit consciousness. During the lecture Dr Bharathi mentioned several other writings such as “Sathabdi Sureeddu”, “Kanchana Mrugam” etc., and explained the essence of Malathi’s writings.

The Vice Chancellor of SPMVV Prof V Durga Bhavani has reminded that the main objective of Malathi Chandur Trust was to take her thought process forward for which they have chosen Mahila Visvavidyalayam, which strives for women empowerment. She mooted the idea of introducing a paper in Telugu Department on the writings of Malathi under choice-based credit system, which can enable students of all disciplines to opt and enrich their knowledge of the society.

The Dean, Academic affairs Prof Mule Vijaya Lakshmi dwelled at length on “Malathi Chandur’s stories” and said that each story was a lesson to the present generation of students. Prof Kolakaluri Madhujyothi of Telugu Department recollected that many people have possessed the bound volumes of Malathi’s ‘Question-Answer’ columns. Her valuable answers for different questions from readers used to give them courage and confidence to face any situation, she said.