Four Keralites have won this year’s Padma Shri awards. Poet and educationist P Narayana Kurup, animal husbandry expert Susamma Iype, Kalari Gurukkal (martial arts master) Sankaranarayana Menon Chundayil and social worker KV Rabiya received the awards.
Narayana Kurup is an awar-winning poet. He has served as the Consulting Editor, Encyclopedic Publication, Kerala government and Editor, Publications Division, New Delhi.
Sankaranarayana Menon is a 93-year-old Kalari Gurukkal of the Vallabhatta Kalari in Chavakkad, Thrissur. He still oversees the training of around 100 students in the Kalari, daily. Known as Unni Gurukkal, Menon (and his family) played a notable role in popularising Kalarippayattu.
with wife Vijayalakshmi
Rabiya is a differently-abled social worker from Malappuram. She has earlier won the National Youth Award in 1993. She was a prominent face of the state’s literacy mission in the district. She is a cancer survivor and a victim of the poliovirus.
Sosamma Iype is known for her leadership in the movement to protect the Vechur cows in the state. She led a group of young enthusiastic doctors during the end of the 1980s for the cause. They found a healthy cow from a farmer. The journey still continues.
The ministry of home affairs on Tuesday announced the awardees.
