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Ending the stellar 25-year-run of his fashionable file ‘Point of View’ successful The New Indian Express regular successful 2022, seasoned writer T.J.S. George wrote: “But determination is thing not close if a state and its rulers commencement feeling that they should not beryllium criticised astatine each -- and particularly by newspaperwallahs.”
To colleagues and paper readers spanning decades and nations, Thayil Jacob Sony George - amended known arsenic T.J.S. George oregon simply TJS, specified a remark was emblematic of the antheral who galore see the epitome of what journalists should aspire to be. It could beryllium said that during an eventful career, Mr. George, who passed distant connected Friday aged 97, straddled galore lives -- that of a journalist, writer, an incisive and witty societal commentator, and a planetary national who was rather astatine location with the large picture.
To readers successful Kerala, determination was besides the different TJS, the TJS who was arsenic astatine easiness with Malayalam, his parent tongue, arsenic helium was with his English. In that category, possibly the archetypal enactment of his that instantly comes to caput is Ghoshayatra (The Procession), the sparklingly insightful memoirs that gave the Malayali scholar a antithetic speechmaking experience.
Writer N.S. Madhavan notes that Mr. George besides filled a ‘gap’ successful Malayalam literature. “He wrote successful an archetypal idiom that has not been seen overmuch successful Malayalam. One of the weaknesses of Malayalam lit is the lack of effort writing. After the large effort writers specified arsenic M.P. Sankunni Nair and Bhaskara Panicker passed away, that contented had dwindled. TJS contributed a batch to this contented with radical looking guardant to speechmaking his articles,” Mr. Madhavan said.
“Though helium spent a ample portion of his beingness and vocation extracurricular Kerala, helium ne'er mislaid interaction with Malayalam and its literature,” recalls writer Paul Zachariah. “He had a genuine involvement successful the connection and its literature. And his ain usage of Malayalam tin beryllium described arsenic cleanable and substance of fact, arsenic was his English,” Mr. Zachariah said.
“He intimately followed the changes happening successful Malayalam literature, which was besides wherefore helium took the inaugural to commencement Samakalika Malayalam weekly,” helium said. Mr. Zachariah besides points retired different diagnostic of Mr. George that was, successful a way, rather ‘Unmalayali.’ “He ne'er bragged astir being a Malayali, for one. He knew Malayalis could besides beryllium highly large bunglers!”
Writing connected X astir the passing of Mr. George, writer and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor described him arsenic a “true elephantine of Indian journalism,” whose crisp wit and almighty ‘Point of View’ file volition beryllium profoundly missed. “His contributions to lit and fearless commentary permission an indelible mark. His books, including a memorable Treasury of Indian Quotations, volition unrecorded long,” Mr. Tharoor said.
Presenting the Kerala government’s Swadeshabhimani-Kesari Media Award to Mr. George successful June 2019, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan made this reflection astir Mr. George. “TJS was a writer who ne'er was confined to the “brackets” of the media houses that helium worked with.”
