Vadakara: There is a room in the house of EK Kunhikrishna Kurup at Koroth Thazha, near Puthuppanam Aravind Ghosh Road. It is a room dedicated entirely to copies of Mathrubhumi Weekly dating back to 1965. Kunhikrishna Kurup has carefully preserved hundreds of issues of the weekly, including its special Onam editions, without a single page being torn or damaged. The collection features early works by some of Malayalam literature's most celebrated writers. It also includes novels, short stories and poems that have become part of Malayalam literary history.

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Asked why he has preserved them for so many years, he has a simple answer. "I have been reading Mathrubhumi Weekly since childhood. I have had a special bond with the weekly ever since. I don't even like seeing a page torn from it."

Once, when his son removed the cover of a weekly to wrap a book, Kunhikrishna Kurup took it back and stitched it onto the original magazine.

Kunhikrishna Kurup had to discontinue his studies at the age of 13 after his father died when he was young. He then began working as a lawyer's clerk in Vadakara to support his family. Even when he went home with his first meagre salary, he would carry a copy of Mathrubhumi newspaper and its weekly edition. That was how his lifelong association with the publication began. He also used to preserve newspapers carrying important news reports.

However, as space became a constraint, the collection was moved to a storage area. The newspapers and other publications were damaged by termites and rain. The weekly editions, however, survived as they were kept inside the house.

Even when the family moved to a new house, he refused to part with his collection. The weekly magazines were among the first things to be moved to the new home. A small room was built on the upper floor exclusively to preserve them.

Every year, he takes out the entire collection, dusts the magazines, checks for moisture and termite damage, and leaves them in the sunlight before carefully storing them again. Some writers who know about his collection visit the house to refer to old editions for research and other purposes.

Both of Kunhikrishna Kurup's sons are writers – Biju Puthuppanam and Bineesh Puthuppanam. He says Mathrubhumi Weekly also played a role in encouraging them to choose their own paths. They grew up reading the weekly, and both had their first works published in its children's section. That remains another source of happiness for him.

Having made reading an integral part of his life from childhood, Kunhikrishna Kurup continues to read Mathrubhumi Weekly even at the age of 80. He also continues his work as a lawyer's clerk. His wife, Padmavathi, shares his passion for preserving the magazines. E.K. Bindu is their daughter.