Don't take yourself seriously, my friend

There was time in my life when I would feel very shy and uncomfortable looking at myself in the mirror or stand in front of the camera. These were my teenage years and I was growing increasingly insecure about myself. I was an very average looking, dark skinned kid, with no real skills to talk of. I wanted to look good, impress people around me, but that made me highly conscious about myself. There were days, when I would not get out of the house, not meet anyone and be confined to myself and my thoughts. And then. one fine day I got a chance to watch Sreenivasan's Vadakkunokiyanthram. I still remember the scene where Thalathil Dineshan (played by Sreenivasan) and Shobha (played by Parvathy Jayaram) are getting ready for a photoshoot.

Dineshan, in order to look good in front of the camera, applies a load of while powder on his face and Shobha bursts out laughing. Once they reach the studio, they try to pose in front of the camera. Dineshan tries to put up a strong personality, both to impress Shobha and to mask his own insecurity of not being as good looking as her. This leads to a series of attempts by the photographer (played by Mamukkoya) to get Dinesh to smile...smile...smile :D. He also comments that Dineshan is shorter compared to Shobha, which may be the problem. This doesn't sit well with Dineshan and he comments back and there is a comical war of words between them. Finally, he gives up and take a photo where Dineshan is seen trying to rise up to match Shobha's height. We all laughed at the expense of Dineshan, but for me, I was laughing at myself. I was seeing myself in Dineshan, insecure and trying to hide it through his actions. Sreenivasan through his writing was tell me to stop taking myself so seriously. He was holding a mirror and asking me to laugh at my own attempts to look good to the society.

And the journey with Sreenivasan movies has continued all these years- be it muster confidence to ask a girl out on a date, or admitting to myself about being broke and being okay about it, all the attempts to start a business and discussing them with my friend Arjun and so on. Remember his proposal scene in Mithunam- where he attempts to woo Mohanlal's sister, where she asks how do you find the confidence to talk of love to me and he says-

എന്നെ ഇങ്ങോട്ട് ഇഷ്ടപ്പെടണം എന്ന് ഞാൻ പറയുന്നില്ലല്ലോ. സൂര്യനോട് ചോദിച്ചിട്ടല്ല താമര വിടരുന്നത് ഏകലവ്യൻ ദ്രോണാചാര്യർക്ക് ഗുരുസ്ഥാനം കൽപ്പിച്ചത് അങ്ങേരോട് ചോദിച്ചിട്ടല്ല വെറുപ്പാണ് അതമമായ വികാരം ഇത് സ്നേഹമാണ് ഒരാൾക്ക് ഒരാളെ സ്നേഹിക്കാൻ ഈ ലോകത്ത് ആരുടേയും സമ്മതം ആവിശ്യമില്ല.

Sreenivasan always wrote stories from the lives of the common man. For kids from my generation, his stories spoke of every day challenges, growing up in a middle class aspiring society. Be it trying to learn driving car for the first time, not knowing where to find the clutch or the gear (I have myself hit my bike onto our compound wall once), or the barber who struggles to meet ends, or the aspiring actor and many other such characters. Vijayan and Dasan and their struggles to make a living are tales of every man growing up in the 70s, 80s, 90s and even today.

All along, Sreenivasan, through his humor and satire reminded us to not take ourselves seriously, to live life every day, enjoy the little moments, love everyone around you and live a life of harmony and peace. I thank Sreenivasan for his words, his undeterred confidence and his vibrant smile. You will live forever in my heart.