'Chavara ONV'; that is how the young poet wanted to be known by the name of his village when his first poem was published in Swarajyam weekly. Chavara stayed with ONV Kurup even when his studies and work took him elsewhere. His ancestral house in the village, the rivulet, the lake and the sea were his muses.
Appu and Sreekandan were perhaps the most famous students of the Chavara High School. They met in the fifth standard and became pals for life. They hunted for books in the Sankaramangalam Sankaran Thambi library. The childhood friends went on to become cultural icons of Kerala. Appu became ONV Kurup and Sreekandan became C.N. Sreekandan Nair, the dramatist.
ONV’s relation with Chavara was symbiotic. ONV started Viswasahithi Library along with Chavara K.S. Pillai. The library still echoes the Kathakali performances, classical concerts and musical evenings that filled an era of cultural vibrancy.
Chavara witnessed the birth pangs of many songs that fill Kerala’s nostalgia. G. Devarajan composed the early songs of the KPAC theatre troupe at ONV’s ancestral house in Chavara.
Though ONV went to Thiruvananthapuram to do his intermediate course in the University College, he returned to Kollam as a degree student in S.N. College. That is when his poetic life bloomed to the legend as we know it.
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