[4] T. Padmanabhan was born on 5 February 1931[5] in a family of poor financial means at Pallikunnu near Kannur, in the south Indian state of Kerala to Puthiyidath Krishnan Nair and Devaki (Ammukutty) as the youngest of their four children.

[8] By this time, he had already established himself as a budding writer and M. K. K. Nair, a known arts enthusiast and the then chairman and managing director of FACT,[9] invited him to join the company.

What appeals most to his readers in all his early and recent stories is the lyrical quality of the language and the aesthetics of his perceptions, especially in the portrayal of loneliness and helplessness, writes K. Ayyappa Panicker, about T. Padmanabhan, in his book A Short History of Malayalam Literature.

[12] Padmanabhan started writing at the age of 19[13] and has written over 190 short stories[6] of which Prakasam Parathunna Oru Penkutty (The Girl Who Spreads Radiance, 1955), Oru Kathakrithu Kurishil (A Story Writer being Crucified, 1956), Makhan Singhinte Maranam (The Death of Makhan Singh, 1958), Kala Bhairavan, Gouri (1993) and Maraya (2017)[14][15][16] are some of his major works.

[21] His stories are known to have emerged, portraying an individualistic idiom, when Malayalam literature was rife with repeated depiction of romantic idealism and social commitment.