Pazhaya bandham

Thikkodiyan’s contributions towards desaposhini are immense. It was in 1953 that desaposhini staged a play written solely for it – it was Thikkodiyan’s celebrated ‘Pazhayabandham’. Thikkodiyan who was working with the All India Radio at Kozhikode then was famous for his radio drama ‘Nidhi’. Seeing the success and popularity of ‘Nidhi’, Desaposhini members approached Thikkodiyan to write a drama for the library based on ‘Nidhi’. In his much acclaimed autobiography ‘arangu kanatha nadan’, Thikkodiyan shares how the library members compelled him to write dramas putting an end to his laziness. This was a milestone in the theatre movement of desaposhini. The plays which desaposhini conducted till then were all adopted from published work of masters. Through Thikkodiyan’s ‘Pazhayabandham’, desaposhini was creating a new wave. A new stream of actors and other artists also entered desaposhini’s theatre movement with ‘Pazhayabandham’. It was a trend setter.

“Desaposhiniyude vaarshikathinu nadakamezhuthanda chumathala enikkayi. Njan santhoshathode ettedutha chumathalayanennu thettidharikkanda. Atharam abadhangalonnum njan cheyyarilla. Deshaposhiniyile pravarthakarude aatmarthatha, thalaratha parishrama sheelam, granthashalaykku vendi enthum cheyyanulla sannathatha. Ithinellam njan adimayayirunnu. Aa adimatham enikku guname cheythittullu”
-Thikkodiyan (arangu kanatha nadan)