Njattyela Sreedharan, creator of four-language Dravidian dictionary, passes away
He was 87.
Sreedharan had spent around three decades compiling the dictionary which had meanings of Malayalam words in Kannada, Tamil and Telugu and had travelled extensively in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh studying Dravidian languages. His affinity for languages and pursuit of lexicography made many call him 'Kannur's Hermann Gundert'.
Sreedharan's journey to scholarship was unconventional. Forced to leave school early, he took up work in a beedi factory in Palakkad.
Between long shifts, he managed to pass his ESCL (eighth standard public examination) and learned Tamil.
Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed condolences over the demise of Sreedharan. The dictionary prepared by him linking four Dravidian languages is a valuable asset for the language study, said the chief minister in his condolence message.
"He was a beedi worker and he became the successor of Hermann Gundert only because of his self efforts," Vijayan said.
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