Alappuzha, Thursday, October 27, 2011: Vayalar Ramavarma (March 28, 1928 – October 27, 1975), a modern Malayalam poet and lyricist was on Thursday remembered on his 36th death anniversary.

A poet in his own right, political or otherwise, Vayalar was as much a romantic as a revolutionary. Vayalar, like Changampuzha, made poetry the layman’s domain. But Vayalar was more popular as a lyricist. From songs of the revolution to romantic numbers and devotional paeans, he has written lyrics for over 1,600 songs.

Blessed with an innate sense of music, Vayalar’s lyrics blended seamlessly with tunes. He took the dreams and despair of an entire generation, and, through his lyrics, touched them with the colours of the rainbow.

He was awarded Kerala Sahithya Academy Award (Kerala literary academy award) in 1961 for Sargasangeetham, the President’s gold medal for best lyricist in 1974, and the Kerala state film award for best lyricist three times. The Vayalar award for Malayalam literature, given on October 27 each year, was instituted in his memory.

Vayalar wrote about 2000 songs for 223 Malayalam movies and for several plays.

Decades past his death, the movie songs he wrote are still popular among Malayalis. Among his most popular songs is the one he wrote for theatre, the KPAC naatakagaanam, “Balikudeerangalae”.

Many of his poems contain romantic notions about “revolution” and about the triumph of science over religion. He was associated with the leftist political movement in Kerala.