Sreedharan Champad is

circus A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...

artist, circus historian and

Malayalam language Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

writer from

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. He has worked in a number of fields, including working as circus manager,

flying trapeze The flying trapeze is a specific form of the trapeze in which a performer jumps from a platform with the trapeze so that gravity makes the trapeze swing. The performance was invented in 1859 by a Frenchman named Jules Léotard, who connected ...

artist, circus company PRO, auto driver, bill collector, journalist and writer. Champad has written over 20 books including novels, more than 100 short stories, biographies and articles. His book ''An Album of Indian Big Tops'' chronicles the history of circus industry in India from 1880 to 2010.

Biography

Sreedharan was born in 1938 at Champad near

Thalassery Thalassery (), formerly Tellicherry, is a municipality, Commercial City on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahé (Pondicherry), Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kasaragod and Kodagu (Karna ...

, Kannur district to Kunjikannan and Narayani. After passing tenth class, he joined Devagiri College, Kozhikode, but due to financial constraints he dropped his study and gone to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. In 1956, he joined the Great Rayman circus in

Howrah Howrah (, , alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River opposite its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively it lies within Howrah district, and is th ...

as office clerk and later became a trapeze artiste at the circus. Sreedharan was also an expert trapeze player in circuses such as Jumbo, Gemini, Amar and Great Raymond. In 1961, while at Chengalpet, he temporarily left circus field, when the Great Eastern Circus rejected him to go with its Malaysian tour. After studying automobile engineering in Madras for two years, he worked as a diesel mechanic in the Madras State Transport Corporation for six months. After that he worked as an auto driver in

Kozhikode Kozhikode (), also known in English as Calicut, is a city along the Malabar Coast in the state of Kerala in India. It has a corporation limit population of 609,224 and a metropolitan population of more than 2 million, making it the second la ...

for some time. Sridharan was also served as the Editor-in-Chief of Padayani Weekly publishe from Thalassery, Padayani News Editor and Jagannath Magazine Editor. He has also worked as a correspondent for Kaumudi News Service for 5 years. "Ring Boy" published in Mathrubhumi Weekly in 1964 was his first story. His first novel ''Anyonyamthedi nadannavar''was published in Mathrubhumu weekly in 1977. Champad is currently working on a new novel on the socio - cultural context of

Panoor Panoor is a Municipality in the district of Kannur in the state of Kerala, India. The town is the main market place for the farmer communities in the surrounding regions. Panoor is one of the main suburbs of the City of Thalassery. Panoor got mu ...

and its environs since 1947. He resides at his house ''Srivastsa'' at Pathayakunnu, Pattiam in Kannur district.

Family

He and his wife Valsala have four children.

Contributions

Literary contributions

*. This book chronicles the history of circus industry in India from 1880 to 2010. *''Thamp paranja jeevitham'' (autobiography) *''Sarkkasinte lokam'' (Meaning: world of circus) *''Keeleri'', Biography of Keeleri Kunjikannan *''C. V. Narayanan Nair'' *''Raktham Chinthiyavar'' *''Anyonyam Thedi Nadannavar'' *''Komali'' *''Ring'' *''Koodaram'' *''Antharam'' *''Arangettam Circus Kathakal'' *''Clint'' *''Thacholi Othenan'' *''Payyampally Chanthu'' *''Aromal Chekavar'' *''Unniyarcha'' *''Thamp'' *''Mela'', this was later made into a Malayalam movie *''Athippara'' *''Utharaparvvam'' *''Mahacharithamala123'' *''Gurudevakathamrutham''

Cinema

He has been instrumental in the background of films like ''

Thampu ''Thampu'' () is a 1978 Indian Malayalam-language film written and directed by G. Aravindan. Bharath Gopi, Nedumudi Venu, V. K. Sreeraman, Jalaja and the artistes of the ''Great Chitra Circus'' form the cast. The film deals with the roving stre ...

'', ''Mela'', ''

Aaravam ''Aaravam'' is a 1978 Indian Malayalam film, directed by Bharathan. The film stars Nedumudi Venu, Prameela, Pratap Pothan, KPAC Lalitha, Bahadoor and Janardhanan in the lead roles. Actor Pratap Pothan was introduced in this film along with com ...

'', ''

Kummatty Kummatty is a 1979 Malayalam film written and directed by G. Aravindan. Ramunni, Master Ashok and Vilasini Reema form the cast. Cast *Ambalappuzha Ravunni *Ashok Unnikrishnan *Kottara Gopalakrishnan Nair *Kuttyedathi Vilasini Soundtrack The mus ...

'', '' Apoorva Sahodarangal'', ''Joker'' and ''Bhumimalayalam''. He is also the author of the Malayalam documentaries named ''Circus'' and ''Cirus Lokam'' (Circus World) broadcast by

Doordarshan Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD; Hindi: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest bro ...

Awards and honors

Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Overall Contributions The Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Overall Contributions is an award given every year by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Literary Academy) to Malayalam writers for their overall contributions to Malayalam literature. It is one of the twelve ...

2014 for his outstanding contribution to Malayalam literature. *First Vagbhadananda Prathibha Puraskaram

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sreedharan, Champad Malayalam-language writers Indian male short story writers Indian circus performers People from Thalassery 1938 births Living people