S. K. Pottekkatt
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| S.K. Pottakkat | |
|---|---|
 A commemorative postage stamp featuring S.K.Pottekkatt |
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| Born | March 14, 1913 Kozhikode, Kerala, India |
| Died | August 6, 1982 (aged 69) Kerala, India |
| Occupation | Teacher, Novelist, Travelogue writer, Member of Indian Parliament |
| Genres | Novel, Travelogue |
| Notable work(s) | Oru Desattinte Katha, Oru Theruvinte Katha |
| Notable award(s) | Jnanpith Award, Sahitya Akademi Award#The Award |
Sankaran Kutty Pottekkat, who wrote under the name S. K. Pottekkatt, (March 14, 1913–August 6, 1982) was a Malayalam writer. He is the author of several novels and travelogues. Pottekat won the Jnanpith Award in 1980 for the novel Oru Desattinte Katha
S. K. Pottekkat was born at Kozhikode as the son of Kunchiraman Pottekkat, an English schoolteacher. After graduating from Zamorin’s College, Kozhikode he went on to work as a teacher in a Gujarati local school for a year. It was at this time he generated a keen interest for travelling and he began his great odyssey that would ultimately take him to many parts of the globe including destinations in Asia, Africa, and Europe.
As a first step he traveled to Bombay in 1939 where he worked for some years punctuated by extensive travels across the country. Providentially, this Bombay trip (described in his travelogue and memoir Ente Vazhiyambalangal) broadened his mental horizons and in effect was a turning point in his literary life. While in Bombay, and even before that, he involved himself in the India’s freedom struggle and worked alongside with freedom fighters like Mathai Manjooran.
In 1939 he wrote his first novel Naadanpremam while he was in Bombay which was followed by Yavanikakku Pinnil (a collection of short stories) in 1940, followed by the second novel Vishakanyaka which bagged the prize of Madras government in 1949.
As an aside to his extensive travels and literary works,Pottakkat dallied with politics. In 1957 he contested for the parliamentary election from Tellicherry but lost by 1000 votes. In 1962 he won the parliamentary election from the same constituency with a majority of 66,000 votes against his fellow littérateur Sukumar Azhikode.
His novel Oru Theruvinte Katha won the Kerala Sahithya Academy Award. Then finally came the novel Oru Desattinte Katha which won the Kerala Sahithya Academy in 1972, the Kendra Sahithya Academy Award in 1977, and the Jnanpith Award in 1980.
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