Edasseri married Edakkandi Janaki Amma in mid-January, 1938. The grooms were already known to each other as Mr. Raghavan Nair, a lover of literature and maternal uncle of Janaki Amma used to lovingly invite Edasseri to his residence where the two had met. In Edasseri’s words: "This bride must have been created by Brahma - the creator - specially for me, a girl simple and madly in love with verses, so much so that she did not find it odd to copy in the same note book the Keertans of Sankaracharya (the metaphysical) and also the translation of verses that I had scribbled from "Pushpabana Vilasam" (a work of sensual romance); only because both were in verse!" This simple girl remained the eternal inspiration to Edasseri in poetry and a source of immense confidence.

Edasseri started writing poems at the early age of twelve although it is inconceivable that there existed a congenial environment in the Tharavad to nurture this talent. Nevertheless, his mother used to recite Ramayana daily and his sister used to tell mythological stories to him and these two indeed stroked the poetic talent in him. Yet another influence was Sankunni Menon the Malayalam teacher in the Primary school who used to recite poetry in great style and in melodious tune.

Edasseri had his formal education till eighth class and it was with his own efforts he learned both English and Sanscrit. In this endeavour both Nalappat Narayana Menon (a well known poet of the time, reverently referred to as Nalappadan) and Kuttikrishna Marar (a scholar and literary critic) helped Edasseri.

Personal Beliefs.

Although believer of God, Edasseri did not evince interest in visiting temples. He was not a Sakteya (follower of Sakti cult) as many believed him to be. Several of his poems like "Ambadiyilekku Veendum (Revisiting Ambadi)", "Varadanam (A Boon Bestowed)", "Kasavu Poothu (Kasavu has Blossemed)", "Gopika Govindam (Union of Krishna with Gopikas)", "Puthumula (New Sprout)", "Trivikramannu Munnil (In front of Lord Trivikrama (Vishnu)", "Palkadal Kadayumbol (As the milky ocean churned)" etc. shows imprint of Vaishnava thoughts. In fact Edasseri had intense desire to complete a long poem reposing his self to Sri Krishna, but he could not make it. Ironically, the poet who echoed celebrations of temple festivities and folklore in his famous poems "Poothapattu (A song on Pootham)" and "Kavilepattu (Song in the Divine Grove)" did not relish festivals and particularly in the later part of his life the poet did not evince interest in temple festivals. The poet articulates his position by showing his preference to limit personal faith to individual rituals. Possibly the poet had a vision of a secular India where development of scientific temper and social justice were the issues that should be engaging the attention of youth with the role of temples and organised religion retracting to the backdrop and certainly not a priority in the agenda of nation building.

Edasseri was in the forefront of India’s freedom struggle along with other nationalists, being an ardent follower of Mahatma Gandhi. He was involved in distribution of "Swatantra Bharatam (Free India)" an underground news paper of the freedom fighters. Edasseri was a source of inspiration in Ponani during Guruvayoor Satyagraha and Quit India Movement. He considered another ardent follower of Gandhiji, Kelappan, as his leader. But for Kelappan, Edasseri was dear friend. It was at the initiative of Edasseri, "Krishnapanikkar Smaraka Vayanasala (A reading room to commemorate Krishna Panikkar) was estabilshed at Ponani in the memory of Krishna Panikkar, a freedom fighter, who lost his life suffering torture in the British jail. The Reading Room soon turned into the intellectual and political nerve centre of Ponani. It was a regular meeting place of intellectuals like V.T. Bhattathiripad, Kuttikrishna Marar, Edasseri, P.C. Kuttikrishnan (Uroob), E. Narayanan, Kadavanad Kuttikrishnan and Akkitham.

Edasseri was disappointed by the post-independence political climate. His conscience did not allow him to be actively supporting any political party. The poet’s philosophy is aptly reflected in the following verse:

" Adorable is an idea -
As long as it spreads light, but-
If it darkens and pours misery
Throw it out to make space for the new!"

Let us listen to what Edasseri has said about himself, with his characteristic humour, about his attitude towards theism and politics.

"I believe in God. But, on moments when I have to touch upon hunger and lovelessness - the facts of life which had eternally nagged me - I find that godly humility and respect towards philosophical doctrines leave me in a jiffy. In the poems of the author who swears by Gandhiji, there lie scattered ideas which challenge Gandhism and belief in God. Although I have been a follower of Gandhiji and not studied Marxian doctrine, the poems which were only reflecting the objective social reality were adopted by the Communists as a part of their propaganda. One more reason for failure in life: I am red in the eyes of the Congress and a Gandhian in the Communists’ reckoning! But I should be grateful that this position of benign neglect by the political parties really helped the life to be free from various botheration hindering creativity."

Recognition in search of poet.

Edasseri believes that it was his drama "Koottukrishi (Co-operative Farming)" which actually introduced him and his poetry to the sensitive readers. "Koottukrishi", the drama, and "Puthankalavum Arivalum (The New Earthen Cooking Pot and Sickle)", an anthology of poems were chosen for the award from Madras Government. Further, Edasseri was sanctioned an annual grant of Rs.600 by the Government of India which was a boon to the poverty stricken poet.

"Oru Pidi Nellikka (A handful of Gooseberries)" was selected for Kerala Sahitya Academy Award in 1969 And "Kavile Pattu (Song in the Divine Grove)" the Sahitya Academy Award in 1970.

Edasseri earned considerable popularity, respect and love of people around him. In fact so informal were his ways that his fellow villagers had not realised that their lovable Govindan Nair, the vakil’s clerk, was a great poet before the entire literary world formally recognised the fact with various awards!

Edasseri never pardoned himself and never dotted on his own children excessively. But this apparent strictness verging on harshness did not stand in the way of forgiving others for their faults. In fact he was at times ready to own up other’s mistake to save situations. Thus there was the incident of his friend misappropriating public money because of severe family problems and about to be arrested and sent to jail. Edasseri owned up the moral responsibility, arranged money by mortgaging the house to save his friend from being sent to jail. There is also a story of Edasseri on his way to his office being followed without his knowledge by a lady teacher on her way to school being afraid of wayside Romeos passing lewd comments, as she felt confident that the youth never could misbehave when Edasseri was around. Edasseri was bold and never minced words when confronted with the wealthy people showing disinclination to public activities. There were also occasions when the poet on his way to buy medicine for his own ailing son, donating the money to a poor man who did not have money to buy rice for his family to cook for the day.

Edasseri remained active till end of his life. He was indisposed for a couple of days before his death but did not allow it to come in the way of his duties. The spell of indisposition put an abrupt end to his life when on October 16, 1974 he suffered a massive heart attack at his breakfast table. His wife and young daughter were with him when the end came.

A free translation by Edasseri's son E. Madhavan.
Prof. K. Gopalakrishnan is the editor of the book "Complete Poetic Works of Edasseri Govindan Nair".