Dutch recognition for Professor KS Manilal makes up for local neglect

KOZHIKODE: For Professor K S Manilal winning an award was the last thing in mind when he decided to translate Hortus Malabaricus, the monumental 17th century treatise on medico-botanical plant wealth of Kerala. But his effort has finally been recognized by the government of Netherland.
As a tribute to his scholarship, Queen Beatrice of the Netherland has nominated this emeritus professor of botany at Calicut University for one of the highest Dutch civilian awards in April.In many ways, the Dutch was making up for the lack of regard shown by his country and home state to honour or appreciate Manilal's lifework.
Conferring the 'Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau' on him, Dutch consul general Marijke van Drunen Littel said, "By honouring Manilal with the royal award, Her Majesty Queen Beatrix and people of my country wanted to show their appreciation to one person's life-long dedication to public service through the study of Hortus Malabaricus."
Manilal is the only person from Asia to receive the award instituted in 1815.
It took Manilal 35 years to translate during which he learned Latin and almost spent his entire life saving on numerous foreign visits. But despite his outstanding contributions in reinventing the landmark book for the world, Manilal's academic pursuit has been a thankless task at least on a personal level.
It was not mere coincidence that he was not invited to the launch of the English translation held at the Rashtrapathi Bhavan on June 12, 2003.
He also couldn't make it to the launch of the Malayalam translation in 2008 either as he got the invitation letter just a day before the function. Controversies also surround the publishing of the English and Malayalam versions of the book by the University of Kerala following charges that the varsity refused to give due credit to him.
On the bitter experiences related to the publication of the book, Manilal says, "All I would say is that we need to have a better support system in place to encourage academic research. The only financial support that I had received for completing the work was a contingency grant by department of science and technology."
He said he had spent more than Rs 25,000 way back in 1973 to take photographs of the 3,000-odd pages of the book.
The introductory note prepared by the Dutch government on the award could not be more appropriate when it says, "Hortus Malabaricus still has much contemporary value which is not properly known to the outside world. Its translator remains an unknown quantity outside a small group of academic community."