Summary:
He would stop by each shop lining the street to have a brief chat with the shopkeepers. “I just can’t wait to return to Calicut and walk through Mitthayi Theru.” So deep was the attachment the celebrated novelist and travel writer had to the street, whose life he immortalised in the novel, Oru Theruvinte Katha (The tale of a street), around six decades ago. Even while unveiling the quirky characters and unique plot, the street could be seen either playing the role of an active participant or a passive observer. But their smells, struggles, sorrows, tastes, and joys resonate in the air of the street and gradually subsume in its life. The writer’s bust overlooking the street and the sculptures depicting his characters — Kanaran, Moideen, and Anthru dropping pieces of paper into a wayside fire in front of ‘Modern Medical Shop’— stand testimony to it..