PT Nair, The 'Barefoot Chronicler' Of Kolkata, Dies In Kerala Home
P Thankappan Nair, who came to Kolkata in the 1950s looking for a typist's job, went on to become a chronicler of the city. He wrote over 60 books, many of them about Kolkata and the National Library.
Kolkata: Nearly six years after he left Kolkata, ending his more-than-six-decade long association with the city as its "barefoot chronicler", P Thankappan Nair died in his Kerala home Tuesday. PT Nair, as he was popularly known, was 91 years old. The researcher had written over 60 books, and a significant number of them were dedicated to Kolkata and the National Library in the city.
"Today, we mourn the loss of Parameswaran Thankappan Nair, fondly known as P. T. Nair. Passing away at the age of 91, he leaves behind a rich legacy intertwined with the city of Calcutta, a city he arrived in as a young man of 22 back in 1955," the National Library wrote in a Facebook post.
Nair lived in Kolkata for over six decades, before saying goodbye to it in 2018 to return to his home state with wife Sita and settle in Ernakulam's Chendamangalam.
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PT Nair, The Kerala Man Who Became The Kolkata Historian
PT Nair had been a regular visitor to the National Library, located a short distance away from his South Kolkata home in Bhowanipore's Kansaripara.
"Nair's presence was a familiar and comforting sight at the National Library reading room. He often arrived as the first user of the day, immersing himself in his studies until the afternoon," the FB post by National Library read, adding that he would often go to College Street from there "in search of second-hand books on Calcutta".
"Nair's meticulous research and writings have provided an invaluable resource for historians, scholars, and enthusiasts of Calcutta's rich history. His work not only documented the city's past but also brought it alive for future generations," the post added.
Nair was known to have led a frugal life. According to a 2018 report published in The Statesman, he would take down his notes on scraps of paper, and later print them out using his old Remington typewriter at home. Fame came after his book on Job Charnock, who is known as the founder of Calcutta, hit the stands, and his life changed.
The report said how he would be flooded by visitors, who would come without an appointment because he did not want to have a telephone.
"He had come to Kolkata from a way-out little village in Ernakulam, Kerala, in 1955, looking for a typist’s job — which he found. He then moved to a government post but he left it as he had fallen in love with this city. PT went on foot to every nook and corner to check up on the history of each road and locality and then verified the facts from records kept in libraries and archives," Jawahar Sircar, Rajya Sabha MP and former Prasad Bharati CEO, wrote in an obituary for his "personal friend" who helped him with his "spare-time research on Kolkata in the late 1970s and 1980s".
The 'barefoot historian' is survived by his wife, son and daughter.
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