Much ado about a statue

Kannur: It became a case of much ado about a statue. Former chief minister of Kerala and highly respected CPM leader, late EK Nayanar was as much a towering figure in Kerala's political history as an unquestioned party leader during his time. No surprise then that the party wanted to have an equally towering statue in front of a cultural centre in his memory, EK Nayanar Academy.

Up came in Kannur, the late leader's native district an impressive structure to house a variety of cultural and academic activities, as a standing monument for the life and work of the deceased leader. The party leadership wanted this to be a unique institution too. Later came the thought that there should be a statue of Nayanar too. A famous sculptor in Jaipur was commissioned for the job, apparently ignoring seasoned sculptors in the home state.

However, when finally the statue arrived, was installed and unveiled, onlookers couldn't hide raising their eyebrows. There was something wrong somewhere that failed to make the statue look like the real Nayanar. Media started juxtaposing the image of typical Nayanar wearing spectacles and his signature attire with the tall statue, showing the gap between the two. Result: it became a talk of the town that it didn't look the real Nayanar nearly every one knew.

Finally, when partymen, visitors and the general public could not accept the statue as a representation of the real leader, and the sculpture became a matter of criticism, officials of the EK Nayanar Memorial Trust decided to get remedial touches on it to make it look as it should. The more embarrassing part was that it was unveiled by no less a man than CPM General Secretary Sitaram Yechury in the presence of thousands who had attended the inaugural ceremony.

Finally the trust decided to cover it with curtains until such time as the rectification is over. The sculptor has advised the academy that it will be taken up only after a week from its being covered. This is intended to prevent visitors who see the imposing compound and the statue, from taking pictures of the statue and spreading it over social media with unpleasant publicity. And visitors are increasing by the day to see the academy the like of which the party does not have anywhere else in the country.

The repair is no easy task. The pedestal is considerably tall and therefore, that has to be reduced too. For this the statue itself has to be dismantled and brought down. Therefore, the academy officials are also mulling the idea of controlling admission to visitors until the work is over.

Right on the day it was installed, many had pointed out that the statue fell short of a look-alike. Soon, wider criticisms got circulated even among CPM's WhatsApp groups which the leadership did not take seriously at first. The district leadership washed its hands off saying that the academy's trust was under the state leadership and so they had no role in it.

However the ones who had gone to Jaipur to review the progress of the work included district secretary P Jayarajan, KK Ragesh MP and Nayanar's son Krishna Kumar. They had not seen any flaws in the clay statue but when it finally got moulded in bronze, some differences were noticed. The fault was in not opening the parcel as soon as it reached Kannur. But thereafter the leadership had to intervene. Statues generally are subjected to close and careful examination before being installed.

Reports were also doing the rounds that Nayanar's wife Sharada Teacher herself had opined early on that it would be better to replace the entire statute with a new one. But since the sculptor assured the academy of an optimal touch up to get it maximum possible correction. The CPM is pinning hopes on this now.