London: Ronald E. Basheer’s works like Balyakalasakhi, Ntupupappakoranandarni, Pathumma’s Aath etc. have been translated into English. Asher (RE Asher -96) passed away. He was a world renowned linguist and multilingual scholar.
He died on December 26. The author is Dr. Central University. P. Kerala came to know about Sreekumar’s death when Asher’s son informed him via e-mail today.
It was Asher who introduced literary works in Indian languages including Malayalam to the western world. Basheer’s works Balyakalasakhi, Ntupupappakoranandarni, Pathumma’s Goat, Thakazhi’s Son of the Scavenger, Muttatuvarki’s Evil Spirit and KP Ramanunni’s Sufi Tale told by Ronald E. Asher has translated into English. In the reference book Penguin Sahitya Sahai, articles have been written about Malayalam literary figures.
Asher received his PhD from the University of London in 1955 and spent four years in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka researching the Tamil language. From 1965 to 1993 he was a professor at the University of Edinburgh. He was a visiting professor of Malayalam at the University of Michigan in 1968 and Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam in 1995. He received many honors like Royal Asiatic Society Fellow, Sahitya Akademi Honorary Member.