A riveting portrayal of how a poet and activist evolved

Kochi: ‘Warriors of The Losing Battle’, a biographical film on the late Sugathakumari was screened at Edappally on Monday evening. A project of Kendra Sahithya Academy, the two-hour-long film in Malayalam was written by poet Anitha Thampi and directed by M R Rajan.“I wrote my first poem when I was in Class III. It was written out of my agony after my friend Gracy refused to speak to me following a squabble. I vividly remember it was written on a slate, pleading for her not to get angry with me,” Sugathakumari says in the film. “Just like that, lines of poems came out naturally when my mind was tormented. A pain would be there just before the lines are born in my mind,” says the poet and environmental activist, who passed away three years ago. The film is a riveting portrayal of how the poet evolved over the years and her journey to become an environment crusader and the formation of the organisation Abhaya in Thiruvananthapuram. The poet recalls her memories of childhood, her attachment to her mother and her encouragement to write more poems and decision to venture into the realm of environment conservation and tribal protection. The poet admits that Silent valley movement was a turning point in her life. “After realizing the power of poems to bring people together for a common good, I wrote to all major poets in the state during the Silent Valley movement requesting their support. I addressed them as warriors of a losing battle. The first letter of support was from Vaikom Muhammad Basheer with Rs 100 attached to it. At that time political parties and the government were against the movement. However, they were forced to change their stance later,” she recalls in the film.The screening was organized to mark the 90th birth anniversary of Sugathakumari also featured the rendition of poems including Rathrimazha, written by the poet.
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