COVER Mal Lit Survey NEW.pmd

Kerala Sahitya Akademi
Kerala Sahitya Akademi
Printed and published by R. Gopalakrishnan on behalf of Kerala Sahitya
Akademi,Thrissur 680 020 and printed at Simple Printers, West Fort,
Thrissur 680 004, Kerala and published at Thrissur, Thrissur Dist., Kerala
State. Editor: R. Gopalakrishnan.
2013 June
2013 June
MALAYALAM
LITERARY SURVEY
2013 JUNE
KERALA SAHITYA AKADEMI
Thrissur 680 020, Kerala
Malayalam Literary Survey
A Quarterly Publication of Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Thrissur
Vol. 31 No. 4 - 33 No. 2 - 2010 Oct. - 2013 June
Single Issue : Rs. 25/- This Issue - Rs. 50/Annual Subscription : Rs. 100/-
Editorial Board
Perumbadavam Sredharan - President
R. Gopalakrishnan - Secretary & Editor
Chandramati - Convenor
Members
John Samuel
R. Lopa
V.N. Asokan - Sub editor
Cover Design : Vinaylal
Type setting : Macworld, Thrissur
Printed and Published by R. Gopalakrishnan on behalf of
Kerala Sahitya Akademi, Thrissur 680 020 and Printed at
Simple Printers, Westfort, Thrissur - 680 004, Kerala and
published at Thrissur, Thrissur Dist., Kerala State.
Editor : R. Gopalakrishnan
Reg. No. 29431/77
Phone : 0487-2331069
[email protected]
www.keralasahityaakademi.org
Articles published in this journal do not necessarily reflect the views
or policies of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi. The Editorial Board cannot
be held responsible for the views expressed by the writers
Editor’s note
The year 2013 turns out to be an year of extreme
happiness and pride for all Keralites as the Union
Cabinet has elevated Malayalam to the status of
Shreshtabhaasha, the classical language.
Malayalam has thus become the fifth classical
language in India, the others being Sanskrit, Tamil,
Kannada and Telugu. Malayalam language has a
continuous history of more than 2000 years. It
belongs to the family of Dravidian languages with a
treasury of ancient and modern literary works of
high standard. Malayalam is the mother of the world
famous visual arts like Kutiyattam and Kathakali. It is
in Malayalam that Kautalya’s Arthasastra got its
elaborate interpretation and translation after its
composition in Sanskrit language.
Malayalam has a rich and varied literary tradition ,
and one of the proposed aims of Malayalam Literary
Survey is to introduce it to the non-Keralites by
means of translations and critical / cultural studies.
Kerala Sahitya Akademi is happy to bring out this
edition of Malayalam Literary Survey in 2013.
We admit that ,due to reasons beyond our control,
the publication of this journal had been delayed
quite a lot. Now that the difficulties have been
overcome, every effort will be taken to bring out the
journal at regular intervals. We hope Malayalam
Literary Survey will offer you a platform for
discussions , deliberations and fruitful research.
R. Gopalakrishnan
Secretary & Editor
Contents
The Politics of the Word
Dr. A.M. Sreedharan
7
Ayyankali Literature in Malayalam
K.K.S. Das
11
Conventional Life in Modernism
Viju Nayarangadi
17
Satan Brush (Story)
Thomas Joseph
20
The Ernakulam Years of Vaikom Muhammed Basheer 22
N.A. Karim
A Doll As Big As Freddy (Story
George Joseph K.
25
The Ones With Cloud Forms. (Poem)
Muse Mary
30
The Saga of Survival
Kalamol T K
31
Portrait of a Wounded Poet in Ayyappan’s Poetry
Vineetha George
34
Ideology as Articulating Identity:
The Politics of Resistance in Mother Forest
Dr. N. Prasantha Kumar
The Mist (Poem)
Karoor Shashi
36
40
The Poet Who Walked Before Time on the
‘Bridge’ of Kuttippuram
Dr. Sheeja R.S
42
N.S. Madhavan’s Vanmarangal Veezhumbol
and Nilavili: A Study in Political Milieu
Dr. J. Anjana
46
The “Elephant Logic” in Vyloppilli
Dr. Harippad Vamanan Nampoothiri
51
Book Culture in the Present Scenario
Dr. Shornur Karthikeyan
54
The Representation of an Ecotone in “When the Lost Soil
Beckoned: Life Sketch Narrated by C.K.Janu”
57
Raj Sree M. S.
REVIEWS
6
M A L AYA L A M
A Monumental Study on Indian Art.
Aswathy Rajan
61
Reclaiming A Prophetic Path
Sasikumar Manissery
66
Feminine Spirituality
Alwin Alaxander
69
L I T E R A R Y
S U R V E Y
The Politics
of The Word
Dr. A. M. Sreedharan
T
he word is without bounds. This ability of the word to
generate a host of meanings is what makes it immortal
and eternal. Words, which originate from the alphabet, are
characterized by constant movement. The identity of the word
is characterized by its ability to evolve. For this very reason
the executional power of the word should be considered on
the basis of how dependent it is on the twin aspects of
‘doing’ and ‘making’. It gains a multi temporal, multinational
dimension through its movement from the singular to the
plural and vice versa. It is this ability of the word that has
given it the status of suggestion (dhvani), deviant utterance
(vakrokti) and the like. All that involves execution or
implementation is dependent on the ‘cathartic’ mode.
Aristotle’s main attempt too was to discover how the word, as
a tool for implementation, takes on a therapeutic role. The
view that the word acquires different kinds of ‘life’ in different
people and that it has a vital social role becomes relevant.1
The word has three levels – sound, meaning and perception. It
is when it moves from the level of sound (representing the
worldly) and meaning (representing the emotive) to that of the
sensuous that its historical and social status become safe and
secure. Man attains a kind of happiness when, through the
power of his imagination, he is able to view a more
comfortable world, other than the one in which he lives. This is
based on a certain unique character that is inherent in man,
and is what accounts for his poetic imagination. Such new
types of creativity manifest themselves in poetry in two different
ways – by revealing an obvious affinity to the empirical world,
as well as by revealing a totally new world which is quite
distanced from the former. In a certain sense, it can even be
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maintained that it is the poet’s romantic
faculty that characterizes the first and his
imaginative faculty that marks the second.
Both are founded on the structural
compactness and discrete selection of
words.2 Further enquiries into the socio
historical aspect of words attain greater
relevance and prominence, especially in the
context of the outcry of the death of
humanism.
Literature constitutes the wakeful, equipped
working arena of the word. The writer is
obliged to defend words through the work of
art, especially when life- situations become
impotent and ineffective due to overexposure, while in fact, they should ideally
become self-critical and discourse-centric.
Interpretation loses its mobility when a
particular spatio temporal situation
constructs a particular category to signify the
knowledge-generating methods of a
particular society and also when other
meanings are imposed on it. Signifiers and
signifieds become institutionalized when
conventional norms assert themselves on the
intertextuality of words. They can be liberated
from this condition only when they are
reinstated from the level of discourse. The
enquiry into the subjective, social, universal
and pragmatic levels of words becomes
more relevant in such a context.
The word is reality :
Like many other objects in the universe, the
word too is a reality at the fundamental level.
Just like the human being, it is not a
dependent entity at this basic level— rather, it
only has the inherent role of communication
and meaning-generation. Although the
different activities of the word help in
generating subtextual meanings, scientific
features like dhvani, vakrokti and saili (style)
do not become relevant at this level. Despite
its external beauty, the figurative/ metaphorical
logic arising from such an appearance
cannot be accepted. Even if they are, they do
not affect the existence of words. The
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relevance of such a view which is limited only
to sound and sense has already been
discussed.3 At its most basic level, the word
does not create any disturbance in the reader
– to him, it is just a quirk of creation. The
aesthete, who dwells in a world of personal
experiences and taste, does not attempt to
make value-judgments at all. This movement
of words, which is devoid of partnership or
partiality, is theoretically opposed to the
concept of universalization.
The word is a construct :
It is when words are considered the bedrock
of the past, present or future, that they
become constructs. The reader here rejects all
lexical criteria and ‘builds up’ the word with
utmost precision. Language becomes better
equipped to resist all forms of distancing and
dehumanization. Words become capable of
transforming themselves into abodes of those
basic concepts which can analyze, with logic
and discretion, the racial and cultural
attitudes that dominate colonial activities. The
secondary life of the word becomes creative
and fruitful only in the entirety of its aesthetic
consciousness. It is when the mind of the
aesthete becomes capable of absorbing
semantic subtexts and the resultant state of
universalization that the word, as a construct,
becomes self dependent.
The word is an expression of anxieties
anxieties:
The word becomes socially relevant when it
shares the anxieties of justice. Justice is
shaped and adjudicated by life-situations that
are unique to social life. The antinomies of
right/ wrong, high/ low are characterized by the
criteria of justice. It is this sense of justice that
is denoted by culture. The subject of literature
is marked by a culture that transcends and
consolidates the spatio-temporal, and is
volatile and wholesome. It is when the word
reveals the individual who is a part of culture
and vice versa, as well as of culture which is
closely related to man and the environment,
that it becomes capable of interacting with
literature – ie, its emotional, intellectual and
The language of the media in
fact becomes a proclamation of
the crisis of present day
existence where one has to
make a pact with corporate
forces and the various regional
power structures.
aesthetic values are best revealed. It is in
literature that those values, hitherto regarded
as subjective, become instrumental in
facilitating a holistic world view. It is for this
reason that words – and literature which is its
offshoot – become signs of the different
regional, communal and religious differences.
Both language and literature become
manifestations of the collective knowledge/
aesthetic beliefs/ world views which are all
products of dual authorship.
The word is rhythm-based:
The word comprises two types of rhythm—
internal and external. The first is constituted
by our inner senses and the second, by our
outer senses. Rhythm constitutes the most
fundamental aspect of a person’s
individuality.4 Since rhythm is based on
sequential patterns it marks the movement of
the word from activity to construction. It is
the yardstick of time that is used for an
activity to be performed.5 For this very
reason, it denotes the pulse of everyday life
which is characterized by duality of action.
Any literary discussion that eschews the unit
of the word—which is the most integral
feature of language—therefore becomes
irrelevant. This is the same logic that lies
behind any thought or discussion on prose
or poetry. The individual, society, as well as
the thoughts associated with them, should
be taken into account in such a context.
Identity has two sides to it: 1) that which is
encountered by the individual and 2) that
which is encountered by the society. The
former serves to strengthen the aspect of selfimage and the latter, of self-confidence. They
also indicate the subjective, as well as social
roles that are part of the inherent process of
self-development. Such words should be
determined / characterized at the levels of
enquiry and representation. For this very
reason, the study of literature— which is in
actuality the abode of words—involves at
once a technical and cultural study. The view
that man’s cultural standards are determined
by words, their meanings and the resultant
emotions, also become relevant at this point.6
The various The various thoughts, crises and
denials of the self and other issues related to
human existence, the signifiers that appear in
the context of their representation, the
relationship between the signifiers and their
signified, are all capable of revealing the new
dimensions that characterize the close
relationship between semiotics and other
sign-based studies. This is relevant to
stylistics and psychological studies as well.
The consumerist nature of the word:
Any discussion on words should also be
related to their tendency to focus on
consumerist tendencies that are totally
opposed to the intellectual. It is the media
which helps highlight the development that
takes place from the disparities in human
actions. This is done with the help of words
and signs. Our everyday life which comes
under the purview of culture studies, the
segregation and dissociation of power, the
new models of colonialism are all projected
by the media with a kind of violent
excitement. The language of the media in
fact becomes a proclamation of the crisis of
present day existence where one has to
make a pact with corporate forces and the
various regional power structures.
The language of the media leads us to a
conflict with the cultural mind which yearns
for liberation and the social mind which pulls
us back into a state of bondage. Such a
distorted form of language, which is used at a
time when all forms of cultural investments
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9
become a part of the ever-dominant culture
and entertainment industries, is definitely
more dangerous than most forms of
terrorism. This will only help to create a narrow
minded society which can never converge at a
point or produce any practical result.
Although words have a way of changing
over from one semantic context to the other,
the language of the media is destined to die,
like a meteor, a sudden death and lose out
on a meaningful life. Words here lose their
ability to transform and paraphrase the
different conditions of life. Caught in the web
of a consumerist world, they are forced to
live in a stunted, transient world, and finally
give up their life as a consequence.
The life of the word is creative and
also a realization
realization:
All actions encounter a state of realization
while conditions base themselves on actions.
The word, by conforming to a state of
creation, being and destruction, becomes
action-centric when it is placed in a specific
context and also when it achieves a state of
realization/ signification. Anubhavas
(consequents) that are co- existent with
language – which is the outward verbal sign
system that gives expression to thought –
should also be taken into consideration. The
importance of denotation in
‘chaturvidhabhinaya’ (the four stages of
histrionic representation) is undeniable. It is
denotation which helps the correlatives/
determinants (vibhavas) and the transient
emotions (vyabhicaribhavas) – that have
different roles and are interdependent – to
reveal themselves in language. The
imagination of the aesthete becomes more
alert when new concepts and thoughts are
repeated through words. Such an experience
emanates from the written mode of language
which constitutes its executional aspect. It is
this cultural level that Marar described as the
level of catharsis. Viewed from a prime critical
position, we would be forced to agree that the
greatness of a poet is measured not
qualitatively but quantitatively. Such a state of
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greatness or all-pervasive glory is one which
only a saint would aspire for. It is therefore
meaningless to label a poet as ‘great’ by
measuring the extent of his creative works –
rather, it should come from the belief that ‘the
greatest poet is a saint (naanrshi kavi), a
dictum which the writer firmly believes in. His
greatness can be accepted on the basis of a
close reading and analysis of four lines of
poetry, as well as of four lakh lines. The poet
just needs to have a quarter measure of
poesy in him—for the rest of the three quarter,
he should become a sign of the eminence of
humanity.7 It is only when he cuts across the
boundaries of dry theoretical norms and
transmits the inherent emotion to the reader
that this can be achieved.
The word as liberation:
The social role of the word is based on its
capacity to liberate. Words acquire a social
dimension only when they encourage
thoughts that are integral to society. Although
their content and interpretive modes will
remain the same, their meanings change
according to the contexts. The liberative role is
fulfilled by those words which absorb, in
certain contexts, the ideas of humanism and
liberation. It is the cultural mind of such words
that enables the reader to attack the diverse
forms of establishment. This has always been
the role of words, and of language, which
comprises words. This is also what a writer
like K. P. Appan means when he says that it is
the writer’s anxiety of liberation that constitute
the subject of literature.8 The politics/desires/
interests of a unique society are the reason for
such anxieties. Writing, therefore, has very
clear implications. The politics of the word lies
in its practice of liberation.
Notes:
1. E.P.Rajagopal, Lokathinte Vaakku, Page 06
2. P.Sankaran Nambiar, Sahityaprabhavam, Page 110
3. Kuttikrishna Marar, Sahitya Sallapam, Page 90
4. K.V. Ramakrishnan, Kavithayum Thalavum, Page 14
5. Nambisan, A.S.N, Thalangal Thalavadyangal, Page 24
6. M.R.Raghava Warrier, Vayanayude Vazhikal, Page 62
7. Kuttikrishna Marar, Sahitya Sallapam, Page 90-91
8. K.P.Appan,Thiraskaram, Page 23
Ayyankali literature
in Malayalam
K. K. S. Das
Aesthetics of humanity
T
he battle of injustice waged upon the endemic cultures
and nation is the continuation of history. Post modern
thought and globalization have an effective mechanism to
idealize the liberal aesthetic ideologies amenable to
imperialist elements. This friction in history has to give rise to
a certain beauty and liberty which should become the
popular resistance of production and expression. It should
rejuvenate the conceits of history. The application of liberation
should develop as a popular will. It should consolidate as a
national force in the resistence values of the popular culture.
Ayyankali becomes the representation and the theory of
applied liberation- beauty of the nation. This re-creation in
history is the product of social creative and the re-reading of
history.
Ayyankali is the natural legacy of Kerala nationhood,
becoming a creative force expressing the aesthetics of
humanity as a culture of liberation. Also he is the national
symbol of a social force developing as an invincible political
will. Ayyankali is the popular leading force that transmuted
national will of liberation into a politcal will and propellant of
struggle. Ayyankali literature is the ideological stratum of the
same. Malayalam language has gone a long way ahead in
the values of expression. Dalit national literature is a struggle
that has begun to survive the national art of obfuscation by
Literature is ideological expression as well as
analytical research.
M A L AYA L A M
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the "main stream literature''-the struggle of
nations to find their essence. The ideological
war that leads the nation and the language
to power and rightful legacy by proper
political enlightenment. When Ayyankali
joined forces with the truth of liberation he
became an ideology in the national
ideological streams. It is the mission and
duty of history to read deep into the whole
sweep of cultural essence of popular revolt.
Language Literature Nationhood-a
different perspective on values
Language is the cultural currency and the
medium encompassing the nation the
individual and the totality of the spatial
temporal and environmental platforms. It is
being instrumental in bringing about the
union of nations and the consolidation of
nationhood. Language develops with the
society and turns out to be the cultural force
of social development . Malayalam
transgresses the geographical region of its
origin and spreads across the globe.
Literature transcending the divisions of
regional communal and religious identities
leads nation to its essential values.
Language, the medium of popular
expression and the tool of intra national and
international communication, is the stout
link in international relations. Malayalam is
the resultant cultural expression of Kerala
nationhood. Kerala nationhood is the
general culture of Kerala evolved through
the course confrontation and reconciliation
with different nations with different ethnic
values in the specific indian geographical
theatre. In the formation of Kerala
nationhood specific regional nations and
pan Indian nations have confronted and
reconciled from time to time. The pan Indian
dalit nationhood is the popular force of the
original nations language in Kerala history.
The quintessence of nation’s originality
consolidated itself into dalit nationality
before the aggressive cultural invasion of
Hindu-Christian and Islamic ideologies and
even before the communal segreation came
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into foce. Today the question of
development of language and nations is a
national question, also it is a question of
democracy. It has an ideological dimension
of national emancipation and aesthetics.
The invading religions, ethnic, racial and
caste systems acquired supremacy over
Kerala’s demography.The dehumanization
brought about by the invading cultural
supremacy degenerated the nation of Kerala
into abject slavery. The history of the caste
and racial struggle of this horrendous
period in the dark ages of history is yet to be
explored. Certainly history has never been
stationary. The confrontations of
contradictions will have its reper cussions in
the socio-economic realms. Pulapedi,
mannapedi and the tensions in the caste
based social pyramid contain the protracted
history of struggles even beyond the
historical folklore. if a caste woman
belonging to the ruling elite becomes a
social outcaste to be given away to the
slave community when touched upon with a
twig or stone is not a legend the political
significance involved therein is to be dug
deep into. Literature is ideological expression
as well as analytical research. Ayyankali
movement is the history of a slave nation
becoming aggressive and violently making
great progress in 20th century over caste
based fedual supremacy, at a time when the
slaves and the oxen had the same yoke
and social stauts. It changed the course of
history and re structured the society.
The natural culmination of class war is the
confrontation of the serfs and peasantry
against the ruling class in a caste based
feudal social structure. The conflict
between feudal forces and the serfdom,
between the kulaks and the throne, between
the land owners and their tenants, between
the planters and the working class was a
continuous force in the evolution of Kerala’s
polity. The heroes of fabled devotional
movement from Ezhuthacchan to
poonthanam could not bring about a
qualitiative shift in the social structure. Still
worse they contributed to the Hinduisation of
Kerala culture cowing down in the racial
supremacy of the imperious invaders. It
resulted in the Slavery of the ethnic society
and the glorification of Hindu Aryan
invaders. The poetic expression of the
Aryanization ws the Sanskritisation of
language in the name of modernization. At
the time of Kunchen Nambiar Otten,
Seethankan (Pulayan) and Parayan
ritualistic dances were incarcerated within
the confines of Hindu legends. Aggressive
Hindu literature appropriated temple arts
and folk songs - arts of the grass root
sections of the society. The sacred groves of
the theatre arts and the ethnic folk music
were abducted by the master race. The
alienated original nations were manacled to
manual labor.
The women’s liberation sturggle moved
ahead in 1829 in Bengal to end the the
practice of Sati under the leadership of
Bengali renaissance. The fedual
administration of Travancore suppressed
Channar rebellion, the struggle for the basic
human right to cover the bosom of women,
with brute terror of ethnic cleansing. In 1859
Channar women were given the right to cover
their breast under the influence of British
colonial administration Dehumanization was
for all practical purposes the ulterior motive
of the caste based production distribution
and power equations of Kerala. Ayyankali
movement represented the rebellious interest
in the feudal autocratic socio-economic
structure. This is the socio-revolutionary
content of national renaissance.
The struggle to move freely, to cover breast,
to own land, to get decent education, to
have labour rights-the struggle of the
oppressed nations snow balled into a
concerted landmark struggle within the
philosophical premises of liberation and
development. Kerala was rocked by
insurgency. Ayyankali was its political
capital. Official historians and mainstream
literary magnates viciously demoted the
same as Pulaya mutiny. Yet, transcending
regional and caste boundaries, and
integrating the oppressed nations on a
national level he spearheaded a social
movement in the Kingdom of Cohin, forged
out a united front with the fishermen of
Kerala and nurtured the movement into a
general strike in the region. Ayyankali struck
at the root of feudal economy making his
movement the freedom struggle of a nation
and also the class war of a marginalized
peasantry. It was the theory and practice of a
people’s war. It was also the theory of
practice.
Ayyankali shattered the boundaries of caste
system. Still it did not concentrate on
absolute anti-caste platform. The
philosophical content that was essentially
socio revolutionary made Ayyankali
movement a timeless pan Indian
revolutionary progression . The drawback of
the movement’s philosophical evolution was
the economic, class and social refrains
imposed by the stigma of serfdom in the
fedual production system.
Caste and class- the problems of a
pluralistic content
Caste system is the negation of equality. it is
maintained in the Indian social fabric as an
institution compartmentalizing its people. In
the feudal class structure the struggle
against caste based feudal supremacy is a
class war in the general class structure
context. The specific essence of Indian class
structure is caste system. The struggle
against the feudal system became a
struggle against caste system and vice
versa. As caste system is the specific
attribute of feudal structure against caste
system does not graduate into a universal
war against feudalism. The struggle against
caste system gives a standing blow to the
production equation evolved through
feudalism. Only when production equations
transformed, production forces are politically
enlightened, the supremacy of private
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13
ownership is shattered, the working class
becomes a potent war head, equality
becomes a physical truth and the beauty of
Indian society, and the vernal bloom of
Indian demography becomes a standing
reality the curse of caste system will be
convincingly wiped out of the country. But
the reformation bills, most often than not,
serve to prepetuate caste system. The
powers that make the sub sectoral friction in
the lower classes a potent weapon to defend
the qualitative revolutionary evolution of
Ayyankali movement.
Well before the Russian revolution of 1917
the oppressed classes in the feudal
Structure of Kerala - the serfs of Kerala that
had been denied the most seminal human
rights- under its own leadership struggled
against the powers that be resorting to the
weapon of social disobedience and placed
its representative in the legislative assembly.
This opened a new chapter in world history.
For the nation it was a lesson in history and
practical political lesson also.
It was impossible for Ayyankali to amplify
the movement into a political revolution
capable of transforming the fedual
production chain. The limitations of
Ayyankali movement were the class-based
weaknesses, political immaturity and the low
quality of the production forces . Yet there is
no parallel political movement in the world
comparable to Ayyankali movement
Struggles created a qualitative political value
and imparted a defensive blow upon the
production hierarchy. Ayyankali movement
brought forth the politics of social revolution
in Kerala. Still, unable to discern the
significance and pertinence of this singular
political event, Keala’s casteist and religious
cultural mainstream could place Ayyankali
on the pedestal of Gurudev (great master)
and slight him into one of the many heroes
of renaissance. But absolute renaissance
as such being indifferent to social
reformation impulses, yields to decadent
feudal production hierarchy and becomes a
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'Earth ! you are the red lethal
combination
Your day will dawn. You will
be the beacon’
poor appendage of feudal cultural
reformation. We have to recognize and
acknowledge the historical lesson that
Ayyankali is the social revolutionary of
mainstream Kerala renaissance.
Violent aggression against dehumanization-it was the working strategy of Ayyankali.He
achieved freedom of movement through civil
disobedience. He replaced feudal caste
based jurisprudence with popular liberal
justice through violent and entrenched
onslaughts. The revolutionary spirit of
Ayyankali movement makes it unique in
history. The political application of Ayyankali
movement was the aggressive and
defensive struggle for the liberation of the
oppressed classes. The social existence and
political right of a nation contain the vision of
liberation and development of nations. The
timeless historic and revolutionary
pertinence of Ayankali movement is that it
applied the solidarity of oppressed nation in
the vision of development and liberation . In
the contemporary history this political
application does not socially develop. In the
class war it exists as the politics of
oppressed class unity and the contradictions
of social divisions exist in mutual tension. it
resists social change and objective of
socaial revolution is to alter this condition.
The forward march of the oppressed classes
was based on the values raised by Ayyankali
movement in the process of resisting the
fedual system. The oppressed society was
elevated to an exalted cultural straturm which
denied and resisted the excesses of the
ruling class. The blitzkrieg upon the powers
that be and also upon history is the
application of people’s history and
proletarian dictatorship . This social
application that shattered the status quo
contains the culture and politics of the
value of liberation. it is the expression of
people’s will and the negation of the
authoritarian system. the jurisprudential
values that the popular nationalist
movements triggered in Kerala by the
oppressed classes produced the lessons of
the great beginning of a national movement.
The caste based feudal system used the
caste structure on reactionary plain to
protect itself. The internal contradictions of
the caste structure and the frictions thereof
perpetuated by the caste-based
representatives in the legislative assembly
shattered the unity of the oppressed classes.
This happened during Ayyankali’s lifetime
but he could do nothing about it. it is the
culture and strategy of the people at the
helm to protect caste based social structure
through caste-based contradictions. Here
religions becomes a handy weapon.
Ayyankali movement failed to spearhead the
popular political struggles that cropped up in
Kerala. His movement fell apart in the caste,
religious and sub- caste frictions. But the
socio-political enlightenment that his
movement gave rise to surged ahead as the
guiding force and people’s might in the later
day revolutionary advances (of the working
class-peasantry movements)
Thunder of spring in Malayalam
literature
People create history. Literature incorporates
an ideological dimension to the value based
culture of history. It underscores the lessons
of history by means of an ideology. The
main stream writers and historians failed to
feed on the liberation- aesthetics potentials
of Ayyankali movement.
Ayyankali literature is meager and light. It
had to fight and defend itself ifn the upper
class dominated printing publishing
marketing realms to find a slot to find
expression. Ayyankali literature appreared
on Malayalam literary as a style of literary
expression of popular resistance. 'Ayyankali
the first spark flashed against feudalism' and
'Ayyankali in Kerala History ' are the two
write-ups that made an attempt to analyze
Ayyankali politically. No other political
analyses based on Marxist philosophy have
hitherto appeared.
N.K. jose and Chentharassery have come
out with the biography of Ayyankali. They
however stick to the ethnicity in dalith
literature while projecting Ayyankali in a
romantic vein. Yet they stand apart for
having introduced Ayyankali in Malayalam
literature. They managed to penetrate the
literature clitism. Ayyankali became a
reading material in Malayalam. Mr.
Abhimanue and Mr. Rajagopal Vakathanam
also have made their contribution in
introducing Ayyankali to Malayalam
literature.
'Ayyankali' by Kallada Sasi and my Trumpet
of The Soil have perpetuated Ayyankali in
Malayalam poetry. Kallada Sasi’s poem
which envisages Ayyankali as pancahjanya
refuse to assimilate Ayyankali in the
political or historical perspective.
Ideologically it symbolizes him in gaudy
romantic imagination.Thus the poem fetters
the essencce of anti-feudal movement in
feudal culture, making it a reactionary
product.
I penned this poetic work in 1967 when I was
a pre-degree student at NSS College,
Changanassery. It appeared in print for the
first time in 1975 when SEEDIAN weekly was
launched from Kottayam. A second edition
became possible only in 2003.
Ayyankali headed the women’s liberation
movement by promoting stone jewellery
boycott. It was the first one of its kind
against the dehumanizing process after the
Channar rebellion, which demanded the right
to cover a woman’s mammary glands .This
poetic work, an epic in Malayalam seeks
M A L AYA L A M
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15
So predicted the mind of the poet in 1967
and today it is historic truth.
educational institutions he set an example
for social reconstruction. The conducting
force of social development.Such examples
are most appropriate over a great beginning.
Ayyankali movement teaches us that beauty
becomes the power of liberation and
liberation becomes the cessation of
obsolete production hierarchy. it is to be
borne in mind that when Ayyankali is read
and brave new ideas are sparked out
Ayyankali literature becomes the politics of
application and the vision of liberation.
The works that analyze and present
Ayyankali give rise to a lesson that reminds
us of ideological and cultural values. The
jurisprudence introduced and applied by
Ayyankali runs parallel to the judicial system.
It is the political application and cultural
premise of self-determination and sociocultural autonomy.Through the opening of
Cultural development signifies the
presentation of new values and the negation
of old values. Malayalam literature has to
develop as the creative ideological
interpretation of the same. Ayyankali
literature is the developmental flux of the
national culture. Also it is the valuable power
of egalitarianism.
poetic expression to the history of man’s
advancement. This aesthetic expression of
liberation does not follow the stereotyped
styles but spurs modern thought. Read out
culture from history.The stone that the
builders left has become the head of the
corner.
'Earth ! you are the red lethal combination
Your day will dawn. You will be the beacon’
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Conventional life
in Modernism
Viju Nayarangadi
The inner conflicts within an idividual, his
war with the society and the urban-rural
intrigues were raised to a particular status,
placed on a platform and given different
interpretations.
F
or Kakanadan among the moderns, writing was a
dilemma. It was time when the malaylee tried to find an
answer to the question, ‘Where lies chaos in writing?
Modernism is not a personal trait or a dogma that works on a
personal ideology or enthusiasm about the west. In
Malayalam, modernism was like an illumination rising above
the assumed sophistication that was the aftermath of
colonization. By the end of the 50s we had started straying
away from Gandhian thoughts. All natural resources, earth,
water, sky were remoulded according to human need. Life
became mechanical. Everything was valued according to its
utility and made use of to the maximum possible stage. It
modified the philosophy that if you cut a tree, you have to
plant one. The inner conflicts within an idividual, his war with
the society and the urban-rural intrigues were raised to a
particular status, placed on a platform and given different
interpretations. This is what Indian writers called modernism.
Even when modernsim in writing became the business of
Indian modernity, it was in Malayalam, more than in any other
Indian language, that modernim retained its artistic sanctity.
M A L AYA L A M
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17
In North India, villages in no time became
cities. Life in these cities too took different
versions and it was experienced mostly by
the slum dwellers in Delhi and UP, who
migrated to these cities in the 60s and also
by those from Kerala who went in search of
a living in these cities. They read Camus’
Outsider and campared their dull, life to the
yellow pages of these paper back editions.
Mukundan, Sethu, Kakanadan, O.V. Vijayan,
VKN, and Narayana Pilla were signposts of
modernism for the Malayalee readers.
Modernism has persuaded us
to view the real and the unreal
as inter related.
These writers represented modernism in
malayalam. The mechanical world which
turned man into a machine was strange to
the malayalee who had till then made coir
with his hands. It was a world alien to them.
He was not familiar with the enstrangement
and insecure feeling that was portrayed in
the modern writings. The writers had
recognized the meaninglessness of life in the
cities, and hence they created characters to
place them in similar situations, to explain
modernism to the readers of Malayalam
literature.
They were imposing an urban hyper text on
the consciousness of these readers, pushing
aside the world of Idassery and Vailopilli
from their minds. of course when we read
these moderns today, we recognize their
labour in creating such a world.Hence I go
back to the declarartion I made that
Kakanadan was in a dilemna.
'Why only a writer? ' I dont think anyone
would have asked Kakanadan this question.
But unlike any other writer, he first created a
resonating world in him before he put it
down on paper. He kept his characters alive
in him. Now we know that no modern writer
is away from his characters. But
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Kakkanadan kept a distance from his
character and his stories kept a distance
from each other. Modernism has persuaded
us to view the real and the unreal as inter
related. This can be called the main aspect
of modernism. When these two worlds merge
a collage is born. When words with different
meanings, to be read in different planes. with
their intonations and embellishments in a
realm of thought converge and merge into a
single point, there lies the success of the
book. In this way Kakanadan went beyond
the limitations of language. All his long and
short stories are examples. In 'Kachavadam'
(Business) every word from the beginning till
the end are realistic.But from the final word
begins an unreal world. Moving along this
path of complex words, standing amidst the
complexity of the city, he succeds in creating
a complex world. His story 'Abhayarthikal'
(Refugees) begins like this: ‘Fear in man
doesn’t vary with age, Sex or shape. The
feeling is in the same. The same emotion,
fear, pain, depression’. These words don’t
mean to explain all his stories. When
characters choose different paths to travel,
when they do and do not get addicted to
alchohol and drugs, become prisoners and
jailers, teacher and student, scholar and the
dunce, as said before, they move about in
different emotional realms. Kakanadan's
heart is made up of characters who are the
products of lust, hatred, depression and
loneliness in them. Their journery towards a
hopless town, created a long story like '
Aarudeyo Nagaram' (Somebody’s city)
A disorderly life is what modernism put
forward as its touchtone. But Kakanadan
placed an orderly life above this disorder.A
malayalaee believes that by changing his
conventional attire, the Mandir and the
sandal wood paste on his farehead, he can
create disorder. But Kakanadan's characters
do not follow this idea. Keeping away the
apparent disorder, he creates characters who
are imprisoned within. Thus in 'Somebody’s
city' We see a world that maintains a
disorderly persistence. There, food, dress,
livelihood, sex, love etc are far away; from
the conventional disorderly path. But the
protagonist, the painter, holds an order
above all the chaotic lives revolving around
him. He is accused. He loses his life. Such
stories raise their voice against the popular
belief that modernism imported drugs and
sex in Kerala. His story ‘Sreechakram’ too
should be read in a similar way. The words,
their complexities, the planes they create are
viewed very carefully and presented ‘Penance
was peace; its pain, coldness. solitude in
peace.The untolerance of penance- is
peace’. Words taken to such tantric subconsciousness and given a glow is the art
seen in shreechakram. The painters and the
models real life journey of into the mystic life
of the goddess with the celestial weapon,
shreechakram, crossing the thresholds of
enlightenment to the enchanting world of
orders and prophecies and death less life,
make the story unique. These stories stress
the fact that conventional order is life. When
trying to recreate the model sitting in front of
him on paper, the disgusting mannerisms of
the model blocks his creativity and free flow
of mind. He struggles to create, all the while
maintaining an order in his life. His mind
moves on depending on this order.When he
reaches his destination, immortality, he has
to discard all the warnings of real life. Tantric
science says that the one who invokes the
celestial shreechakram should be able to
comprehend in his insight the 14 worlds and
the 3 kalams.This state of mind is obvious
from the very first in the story. A man who
follows tantric ideas in called Magician by
the ordinary folk. But such a man whose
mind revolves around the universe, its
sanctity, its ecstasy cannot be explained.The
experience cannot be described. At one
glimpse we see the orphaned,
unconventional satirical characters and their
lives. But beyond that is the deepest caverns
of purity in their minds the so called orderly
life. Modernism has told us stories of the
orderly life that man leads.
Translated by GITANJALY
M A L AYA L A M
L I T E R A R Y
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19
Short Story
Satan Brush
Thomas Joseph
H
e left for the sky-city as he happened to hear that Satan
was looking for a man to brush his teeth. He was
frantically looking for a job for years. Though he had
approached even barbershops, star hotels, mines and
brothels he couldn’t find a position. “Give me a job”, he
appealed to the men, birds and animals he met on his way.
Hearing that, the sun and the moon - God’s secretaries.
One day, as he was wandering over strange alleys the
cyclone of hunger pushed him off. He became unconcious.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself lying in a hotel,
in an unknown land. While sipping the tea offered by
someone, he heard that Satan was badly in need of a man.
He was shivering in sorrow and shame. All on sudden, he
woke up from fatigue, and rushed to Satan’s residence.
Satan with his hairy body and long nails, was drawing the
picture of eternity, sitting under a tree in front of his home. He
raised his face as he heard the approaching foot steps, and
welcomed the man with happiness and astonishment.
Trembling with fear, the man prostrated before Satan, and
begged that he may kindly be appointed in the vacancy. A
chukling Satan raised him in his hands as a baby and
consoled him by wiping his tears. Satan appointed him on
the spot, and asked him to start the work immediately. The
man, dreaming happily of becoming rich, began to brush
Satan’s teeth. In fact, Satan was shameful to seek the help of
somebody as the foul smell had already spread to the entire
earth. Any way, he remained submissive to his employee all
the while.
When the brusing was completed, Satan took a mirror and
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looked at his teeth. He saw an array of silver
fish smiling at him, and felt jubilant. He
opened the fridge and took out wine and
glass. Satan filled a glass and offered it to
his employee. Reluctant, but greedy, he
accepted it. Satan emptied the remaining
portion in the bottle directly to his thorat.
Then he took a brush and reddened the lips
of the angel, who was flying in the eternity
he was drawing. The angel was flying with
white wings in the sky. And there was a
golden sword in its hand.
One night, while the pillow was getting
downed in tears, the angel stepped in and
sat beside him. The man was damn happy.
The angel pluked a golden sword from its
feather and presented it to him and
demanded that he should give the angel the
head of the Satan. The man shivered like a
corpse. But he was convinced that he
cannot have an existence without pleasing
the angel. He sat drowned in silence without
giving the angel a favourable reply. At that
moment, the angel left him with rage.
Caught in the grip of separation, he laid
himself embracing the golden sword, and
longed for sleep. The song of the angel
echoed from some distant land occasionally
he slipped to a trance. Satan appeared in
dream and raised him to this sky. He
touched the clouds. When he turned back,
Satan was missing. Instead the angel was
standing there fanning its wings. He tried to
disrobe the angel. But failed. There was no
end to its dress.
Every morning he went to Satan and brushed
his teeth. Satan, mean while continued his
arguments with god on good and evil. The
angel, on the other hand pestered him with
its request for Satan’s head. He cried in his
heart that he can never kill the Satan.
Hearing that, the angel extended its hands to
him with the smile of temptations. The man
found himself flying in the pathways of the
sky leaning on the bosom of the angel.
He was restless in his bed, longing for the
angel. Hearing his wails one night, Satan
approached him and consoled him by
presenting a ring studded with stars as
stones. The very moment he looked towards
the picture of the Satan pictured on the
stones, he forgot the angel. He indulged in
playas of spraying the blood of sunset, with
Satan. One day while they were indulged in
playing, somehow, the ring got lost. Then he
plunged into a heavy longing for the angel.
One morning, hiding the golden sword under
his shirt, he approached Satan, as usual
chuckled and got ready for getting his teeth
brushed. The man all on a sudden passed
the sword between his teeth and crashed his
head. With blood stains on his body, he
rushed to the other side of the sky. Suddenly
the angel appeared with the police, opening
the cloud door. As he was trying to get back
the angel kicked him on his head with its leg.
His head became a bloody ball. Despite
hearing the background music of his
laments, the angel went to a far away
festival venue, with the police.
Then, one day a tired bird was seen on a
branch of the flowered tree. Soon came a
team of police with the rifle of evil words
when the team passed the invisble tree, that
small bird sang a song of repentance and
sorrow. That bird was the angel. The flowered
tree moved quite happily. The man took
wings and raised himself to the branch of
the tree. The brush of Satan slept in the vast
deepness, the brush of Satan slept without
finding out its owner.
Translated by : V.K. Sharafudheen
M A L AYA L A M
L I T E R A R Y
S U R V E Y
21
The Ernakulam Years of
Vaikom Muhammed
Basheer
N. A. Karim
T
he early formative years of his literary career Vaikom
Muhammed Bashir spent in Ernakulam. Though the
capital of the erstwhile princely state of Cochin, Ernakulam
was a very small town. The main shopping centre then was
the Broadway and the pride of the town was the newly laid
Shanmukham Road along the backwaters. Middle class
people of the town and students like me used to come here
and sit on the parapet of this comparatively wide stretch of
asphalted road and enjoyed the refreshing breeze in the
evenings.
It was to this town that I came for my college education in
the only government college of the State, Maharajas, in the
only forties of the last century from a primitive village . In
Ernakulam I was put up in a hostel called Muslim Hostel
partially aided by the government. Then the hostels were
denominational based on castes and religion. We had Thiyya
hostel, of course, one Cosmopolitan hostel also mainly
meant for upper caste rich students where board and lodging
cost more.
When I joined the Muslim hostel Bashir was there in one
room as a resident, on what right, I did not know. As he was
a very likeable serious person with of course his characteristic
idiosyncrasies and a reputation as a vaguely revolutionary
writer we all looked upon him with awe and respect. But at
that time he had not published even his first major work
Balyakalasakhi that catapulted him to wide attention of
Malayalam readers and critics.The introduction prof. M.P. Paul
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S U R V E Y
wrote with his deep critical insight and
acumen was mainly responsible for the wide
public attention the work instantaneously
received.A few critical observation of Prof.
Paul have since become memorable ones.
But before the publication of Balyakalasakhi
I had read one small book of Bashir. The
Daughter of Policeman (Policekarante Makal
) a long simple short story of love between a
young political worker and the daughter of a
police constable. As Bashir was a subject of
the neighboring state of Travancore which
was then under the repressive rule of an
autocratic, powerful Dewan, Sir C.P.
Ramaswamy Iyer, Bashir was on the watch
list for his political leanings and writing
oriented to his opposition to the feudal rule
in his state. That was why he stayed in
Ernakulam to avoid possible arrest, torture
and imprisonment. Occasionally he used to
disappear from the hostel for a couple of
days stealthily going to his village,
Thalayolaparambu, near the town Vaikom to
see his mother to whom he was deeply
attached.This we did not know in those
days. And he never said anything about his
personal life to any inmate of the hostel. His
return was also at midnight or very early
hours of the mornings.The mystery about his
private life only added to our respect and
created a vague sympathy for him. It was for
him then a kind of underground life.
Evidently he was penniless in those days
and how he managed to live without any
income was another mystery for us. But he
was always neat and tidy in appearance
with well laundered and starched and
pressed khadi jubba and dhoti equally white
and well - washed. And never did he bother
the student inmates of the hostel for any his
personal needs. Occasionally Vakkom Abdul
Quadir,the writer son of the great
renaissance leader and reformer Vakkom
Maulavi used to come there and stay with
him spending most of the time sitting on a
folding steel chair reading mostly English
books with deep absorption.The relationship
When I joined the Muslim
hostel Bashir was there in one
room as a resident, on what
right, I did not know. As he was
a very likeable serious person
with of course his
characteristic idiosyncrasies
and a reputation as a vaguely
revolutionary writer we all
looked upon him with awe and
respect.
between the two was a little strange as
temperamentally both were quite
incompatible. Bashir was always generous
even to those whom he apparently disliked
and made fun of in his characteristic
innocent way.
Later Bashir started his Circle Book House
on the broad veranda of the spacious
waiting hall of Ernakulam Boat jetty with an
easily foldable big shelf that displayed books
and the few periodicals of those days.
Cheap paperback editions of world classics
were the main attraction for young students
like me. I still remember that it was Bashir
who recommended Emile Zola’s Nana to me,
a copy of which I bought for one and a half
rupees.Bashir was not a mere bookseller but
also a good guide to young readers who
discerningly introduced to us many
European writers and their works.
Later Bashir sold his Boat Jetty book stall to
P.K. Balakrishnan and started a bigger one
with larger stock of discerningly selected
books near Broadway and a room upstairs
became his place of residence. As this place
was quiet and more comfortable his friends
and admirers used to come here also in
larger numbers among who were young
student political leaders like T.V. Thomas,
renowned writers like Thakazhi, student
M A L AYA L A M
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23
leaders and intellectuals. Bashir had friends
and admirers among lower strata of society
with whom he was equally chummy and
quite at home. Listening to his humorous
conversation was as enjoyable as reading
his books. He used to make constant fun of
them and gave new names according to
their nature which stuck and easily became
popular. A few of them became life models
of characters of his later stories.
One day Thakazhi was in his book stall. T.V.
Thomas who came with the young Vayalar
Rama Varma took nearly forty rupees forcibly
from Thakazhi’s pocket and sent for liquor
which they consumed in Bashir’s room
upstair. Thakazhi also joined them heartily. T.
V. and Vayalar soon left the place and
Thakazhi stayed behind. But he refused to
go unless Bashir gave the money taken
from his pocket saying that it was not his
money but of Katha, his wife. Thakazhi was
so insistentent that Bashir at last had to give
the money. T.V. took the money and spent it
on drinks which of course they all shared.
It was almost at this time that Prakkulam
Bhasi started his Sea View Hotel on
Shankukham Road. By the then Ernakulam
standard it was a posh one, and Sea View
became Bashir’s haunt. With Bashir’s
presence others of his circle also used to
come there. Bashir had his usual free lunch
there. When one evening Bashir and I were
sitting there and drinking tea together Bashir
had hung his umbrella on a wooden screen
a little away. A person who was in the room,
on his way out after tea quietly took Bashir’s
umbrella . I didn’t notice it but Bashir did.
He quietly and unhurriedly went after him
and gently touched his shoulder and
asked, 'Are you the famous Malayalam writer
Vaikom Muhammed Bashir?' He nervously
said 'no, no' ! ‘That umbrella belongs to him
and I am he’. He, a genetleman thief, or
perhaps, a kleptomaniac handed over the
umbrella to him. I enjoyed the discomfiture of
that gentleman filcher. That was Bashir.
The Ernakulam life of Bashir with a wide
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circle of congenial loving friends of all kinds
and categories provided him with the
inspiration for his creative energies that is
expressed in his later books. He was also
relieved in these later years of his financial
difficulties. A great lover of music of
Saighal, and others he had a collection of
disc records of choice singers which he
enjoyed along with increasing quantity of
alcoholic drinks to which he later became
excessively addicted. The nervous
breakdown ultimately made him an inmate
of the Ayurvedic clinic of Vallapuzha near
Trichur.
His later shift to Calicut and stay there was
also a productive period. Cheruvannoor
Abdurrahiman who was later stabbled to
death at Calicut Wheat House was Bashir’s
main patron there. Bashir again became the
centre of attraction of a wide circle of writers,
academics, artists, actors and of course
football fans of Malabar area.
Bashir’s happy marriage to Fabi and the rest
of his peaceful but productive life at Beypore
is another long chapter of his fairly long life
full of honours including a doctorate (honoris
causa) of the University of Calicut. He
became an icon with his self styled
pompous title Sultan of Beypore. It was in
Ernakulam that Bashir wrote his one Act play
Kathabeejam which was successfully staged
in the Main Hall of Maharajas College. His
rhetorically powerful Sandhya Pranamam was
effecitvely presented as solo by P.K.
Balakrishnan on the stage of the very same
hall to a packed audience.
One evening while Bashir was sitting on the
parapet of Shanmugham Road P.K. Sivadas
a gifted singer and stage actor and a
member of Bashir’s Inner circle came and
asked whether he had seen
C.J.Thomas.Bashir’s cool reply was that CJ
went along that way just a little while ago
carrying his Cross, that is, his wife Rosy.
Bashir knew intimately all the members Prof.
M.P. Paul family, and Rosy was fondly
remembered as a naughty young girl.
Short Story
A Doll
As Big As Freddy
George Joseph K.
L
issamma’s mother prayed before Virgin Mary with fearful
eyes. “How many times had I came to your abode in
Velankanni, and returned empty-handed! Why do you turn a
deaf ear to my cries? Why can’t you return my daughter?”
Freddy too stood before the Holy Mother. His face was devoid
of its usual glitter, and the pang of separation was evident on
his serene and solemn countenace.
“Tell me. Where is my Lissamma?” Freddy asked the Lady
Immaculate silently.” How many years have I been coming to
your holy courtyard with this appeal?”
Lissamma’s father Antony Chettan also never failed to
present his prayers before the guardian Mother every year,
though sick. Seeking his daughter.
And what about the Holy Mother? Dumb as usual. She has to
attend to so many devotces. Their appeals, prayers,
complaints--busy schedule. Then is it possible to give special
attention to Lissamma file, and dispose of it immediately?
After all, she has been installed as mediator. Atleast she has
to mind the devotees for god’s sake! The mother stood amid
the madding crowd. Prayers winged with wail, flowed around.
The mother could very well understand the agony of Freddy.
Her mind became a ship bereft of mast whenever she
happened to see him, and she felt his sobs twirting around as
mad wind.
Lissamma was the weakness of Antony Chettan. He will
never leave her even for a second. And that darling slipped
from his finger! How can he believe it? That too during the
church festival here, in Velankanni. Thereafter Antony Chettan
M A L AYA L A M
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25
and his wife made it a point to attend the
annual ritual in Velankanni, in order to
search their missing child. “Give her back to
us,” they will pray, cry and beg. But the
mother did nothing. She would keep her
stony silence. Lissamma’s parents will return
empty handed as usual.
Freddy also spent his days and nights in the
cathedral and its surroundings, in search of
his sweet heart. Had he been with her on
that fateful moment she would not have
disappeared, he is sure.
For the three of them, the girl remained a
pain, a sorrow and a mystery. On the shores
of their mind, she still roams around, a cute
merry girl, enviably energetic. Though in early
twenties, Lissamma never contained herself
in the framework instituted by society and
home front. Her mischiefs found no limit.
She took life as it came. Lissamma
wandered even with boys much younger to
her. Only in her menstruating days did she
confine herself to home, cursing the whole
world. Still in her skirt, Lissamma threw off or
discarded the saree bought for her. A
chatterbox and pet of her dear and near
ones, Lissamma liked outings in the
company of friends. But Maryamma, her
mother will never let her daughter spend the
night outside the home.
Attending novena really thrilled her. She
would promptly and piously join churches on
Tuesdays. Tuesdays and saturdays for the
Novenas of Saint Antony, virgin Mary and
Judas Thadevus respectively.
Despite her unruly nature and aversion to
study, Lissamma came out with good marks
in the S.S.L.C. Examination, much to the
surprise of her family. She was happier than
anybody for, she thought this was the end of
the dull academic life. But parents insisted
on her joining the college. Lissamma
depended on the saints of her Novena
Series, and kept on praying that she may be
salvaged from the crucixion of higher
studies. But father and mother had
26
M A L AYA L A M
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advanced much in their attempt to secure a
seat in college. Then Lissamma resorted to a
new tactic--fast unto death! This trump card,
along with her ardent prayers were enough
to redeem her. Atlast her family surrendered.
A kind of total submission. What to do! It’s
her fate. Her own making! After all she is not
a fool or retard. On the other hand, very
clever and smart.
The other day, Lissamma climed on to the
lap of her mother, lifted her chatta-the
blouse- and sucked her breast! All she
wanted was breast milk. Marayamma
brushed her aside. But her daugher went off
laughing. It was amidst these mischiefs that
Lissamma fell in love. The beginning was
typical, like any love story. Highly romantic,
and with flowers--that too Jasmine! Freddy a
college student, came with a handful of
Jasmine.
He was waiting for her under a vaaka tree.
She was on her way to Novena. The vaaka
was full of red and shining flowers. “This is
for you,” he said.
“Why? why for me, Freddy?” She asked in
bewilderment. A full spring blossmed on his
face. But he concealed it in silence, and
smiled softly.,
“Why laugh? Tell me frankly,” Lissamma
insisted.
Actually he was in darkness. He doesnt
know why he extended the flowers to her. An
unknown emotion engulged him. He was in
search of words. Luckily she offered help.
“Is this to love me?”
He nodded in agreement. A sweet love song
from a film he saw began to beat on his lips
She too joined. A melodious duet. She took
his hands and ran over the flower singing the
love song. The first day. They reached the
chruch where Novena was in progress.
“Will you - Freddy, ever cheat me?”
“Never. I swear in the name of Saint.
Antony.”
“What should I do then convince you?”
“Dont worry, darling. I’ll bring it in the
evening. But of what denonination?”
She smiled and winked her eyes at him.
“Of Rs 5/-. No, make it Rs 10/-”
Lissamma was not completely satisfied
“Ok. do onething. Pluck your heart and
show me.” She said with a smile. “Any way
let’s move now.
See you tomorrow. Here, under this vaaka.”
Freddy cried. How can he pluck out his
heart? Even if he did, she will laugh it off as
hibiscus. He was afraid his first love would
be drowned in this stormy waves engulfing
him. Dejected, he went to college, as if the
whole world was lost.
Lissamma knelt before Saint Antony. She
disclosed the secret to the Saint. Saint
Antony, with a happy Infant Jesus on his
chest, listened keenly. Then he placed the
Infant on the floor and whispered something
in her ears. She was pleased, and invited
Infant Jesus to her house. “Come we have
fish fry and rice. Lemon pickle too.”
“No thanks,” said Infant Jesus. He jumped
to the arms of Saint Antony.
Lissamma deposited the amount she had
kept to buy five star in the oblation chest.
She dipped her finger in the lamp lit in front
of the deity, and placed on her hair.
As soon as she reached home, Lissamma
checked in whether Stephen her brother had
gone to the court, where he was working. No
he was there dressing. Lissamma gave him
the shirt and pants ironed, and looked for his
powder and comb. Then his shoes.
“Why this courtesy today?” Stephen
enquired.
“I need a stamp paper. Please bring it when
you return.”
“Why do you need a stamp paper? he was
surprised.
She did’nt like the enquiry. Displeasure
appeared on her face. She turned to leave
the room. Stephen caught hold of his
younger sister’s hand.
She was happy again. They sat together for
breakfast. That day she did not venture out,
not even to her friend Elizabeth Antony’s
house. There the iddly prepared for
Lissamma remained untouched. Linda the
girl gave the boiled banana piece to the
parrot as Lissamma failed to turn up. The
parrot murmured. “Lissamma didn’t
come...... Lissamma didn’t come.”
Stephan brought a stamp paper with Rs. 10/. Lissamma, sitting in her closed room, late
at night, prepared an agrement that she
won’t marry anyone other than Freddy in her
whole life. Witnesses: 1. Saint Antony 2.
Saint Virgin Mary and 3. Saint Judas
Tadevus. Put cross symbol and signed. She
added that the agreement was applicable to
Freddy also. If one party violates any clause
the other has the right to pray for his/her
death by shattering of the head. She will
keep the original deed, and a photocopy will
be served to him. This was what Saint
Antony whispered in her ears the other day.
Next day, when she approached the tree,
Freddy was waiting as usual, with a handful
of jasmine. She produced the document and
made him sign in her presence, along with
his thumb impression lest he may forge the
signature.
Love under the vaaka became the talk of the
town. As both of them were hailing from
decent familes, they didn’t face any
impediment from the part of parents. The
river of love flowed smoothly.
It was then that Antony Cehttan and
Maryamma thought of a pilgrimage to
Velankanni, as a thanks giving trip to the
Mother for her benevolence. Moreover the
prayer right in front of the Mother would
indeed fetch fortune and blessing to the
betrothed.
After all Lissamma is Lissamma. She too
wanted to go. Antony Chettan and
M A L AYA L A M
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27
Marayamma refused to take her. Lissamma
resorted to all kinds of strategies. She cried,
went on a fast, quarrelled and what not!
Adamant, She was never willing to retreat
even a step from her goal. At last the old
parents yielded to her demand.
“Nothing to worry my dear,” virgin Mary
encouraged her to accept the Infant. “Just
stand in my place for a few minutes, till I
return with the doll for your Freddy. you will
be in my garb, in my disguise. You may
leave as soon as I come in.”
Freddy saw her waiting under the vakka. “I
am going to Velankanni, with father and
mother.”
Anyway, the Mother is going out specially for
me, thought Lissamma. To meet my request.
She agreed. She transformed into the Virgin
Mary with Infant Jesus, the very moment. At
the same time the Mother underwent a
seachange and became an ordinary woman!
She went straight into the area where dolls
were being sold out.
“When will you return?”
“It’s upto the Holy Mother.”
Freddy felt sad. “What should I bring for
you?” She asked as if to console him.
“A doll as big as myself.”
She laughed. Red flowers were showering on
the lovers. She returned home happily.
Lissamma and her parents reached
Velankanni by train and bus. Marayamma
didn’t let her daughter move alone. She
always took hold of Lissamma’s hand. But
the daughter, naughty as ever managed to
tread her own way occassionally. She was
looking for the doll she promised to Freddy.
Dolls were there. Many. But not a single one
as big as Freddy. She didn’t give up hope.
Pilgrims were thronging inside the church to
pray before mother Mary. Some were
praying. Some were expressing their
gratitude for favours granted. Lissamma
waited, for she wanted to be alone. The
mother adorned with the golden crown, and
holding the Infant Jesus in hand, murmured:
“Yes what do you want my dear?”
“I want a doll....as big as Freddy
“Who is Freddy?”
Blushing, Lissamma smiled with no guts to
face the Mother. She drew pictures on the
floor with feet.
Mother got the clue. She smiled. “Don’t
worry. I will fetch one. Just hold the baby for
a while,” Mother stepped forward to hand
over the Baby. My Jesus! Me! Holding the
Lord!”, she was quite surprised.
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Atfirst it was incredible. People of all sorts
came and asked for everything under the
sun. Gradually Lissamma, the Mother Mary,
enjoyed the role thrust upon her though she
is merely a duplicate of the presiding deity.
However, she blessed them, showered it
abundantly. Still the devotees asked for
more. Really greedy and like beggars, she
thought.
Outside, the Mother was searching every
nook and coner for the doll. Suddenly she
saw the vast sea shore and sea. No fetters,
she was happy. No more a prisoner. She
took to her heels. How beautiful! Far from
the grievances and complaints of human
beings. All want material comforts not
spiritual bliss.
As a liberated prisoner, the Mother enjoyed
the outing to the maximum. She did not
remember the promise or the purpose of the
trip. Befriending the sea, she narrated
mundane concern of humanbeings to it.
How many years had I been standing in the
church holding the baby! The navigator who
founded the shrine years back put me in that
cell. As years went by I was fed up and
exhausted totally. Then, on a very fine
inorning, the girl came seeking a doll.
Anyway lucky I am! she said, and ran
towards the waves.
Lissamma was eagerly waiting for the return
of the Mother, but in vain. It was sunset.
Then came the night. The first rays of sun
appeared. Days passed by. The mother did
not appear. Where is She? Lissamma could
see her mother and father frantically running
from pillar to post in search of her, and
praying to her without knowing that thy were
in front of their own daughter!
“I am here, just in front of you,”, she wanted
to shout. Actually she did. But they did not
hear. They were crying, calling her by name.
At last they returned home. Hope still
persisted in their hearts, and they reached
the shrine every season. They will closely
look into the face of every girl they came
across with.
So did Freddy. “Is this my Lissamma?” he
wandered looking for his beloved, who had
gone to gift him the doll. Life became a
tragedy for the three.
But Lissamma has not given up hope. The
Mother will definitely come with the doll as
big as Freddy, she is sure, though the
waiting of late, has become monotonous.
Translated from Malayalam by V. K. Sharafudheen
M A L AYA L A M
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S U R V E Y
29
The Ones with
Cloud Forms
Muse Mary
A
t the end of cloud journeys
This is winter.
Look at the sky.
Fragments of blue cloud
torn into shreds and
thrown off by
the plight which preceeds parting
that has given up
parting and sweat and whimper.
While getting out of bed
the garment that has slipped off
crawls beneath the feet.
Tied hair gets untied
while untying.
Curls of hair
get knotted and twined
clusters of charcoal cloud
sit and gaze at the sky.
The ones with cloud forms
observing the love-period
that falls between
a kiss and the lip.
Proximity is one measure
distance is twice a measure
we cloud forms are
organs melted in embrace by the sky.
You have no strength
to follow me
under a curtain.
Breaking the magic wand
I split the cloud.
Forgetfulness is the cover.
Translated from Malayalam by INDU RAJASEKHARAN
30
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S U R V E Y
The Saga of
Survival
Kalamol T. K.
P
astoral, placid and meek like the sheep, shepherdry in
literature is more of religious and spiritual in nature.
Idealised and romanticised, it is almost always a life of music
and love. The very term carries us on a flight of fancy to the
serene solitary pastures where the lovers meet and exchange
the sweetest moments and where a lone rustic lover sings (in
a flute, of course.) his soul out in love and separation.
Krishna, the universal lover in Hindu mythology, was seen as
a humble shepherd all through his amorous revelries. The
Biblical story of the soulful search for the lost lame lamb by
Jesus the Good Shepherd, also reinforces the image of the
docile herdsman. The inconsolable tragic hero of
Changambuzha, who shed the moonlight of poetry in to the
souls of Malayalee readers, was again a shepherd; a pastoral
lover in every sense of the term, full of love, pain and sorrow,
who will succumb to the burden of lost love. All the
romanticised peasant imageries of shepherd life will have to
be set aside; for we are now reading Aadujeevitham, by
Benyamin.
There is no respite from the ferocious sun of the ominous
summer in the steaming wild desert. At every step, the fiery
Pushing the reader on to the brink of the
cape of distress and pain, the novelist
flashes the blades of classic humour,
deepening the tragedy of the situation and
sending lethal waves of pain in to the heart.
M A L AYA L A M
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31
sand pulls you deep down in to the cauldron
of the treacherous wilderness. The novel
leaves the blisters of the sun’s rays far inside
your soul; the sharp spiny rays go deeper
and burn the marrow. There’s no escape
from the heat, there’s no way out. No respite.
There is no room either, for the worn out
nostalgia of the Malayalee migrants. But
their fight for survival remains. The narrative
unfolds, again as a grim reminder to the fact
that everything other, all the life other than
ours, appear to be a figment of imagination
for us.
The sea of sand is a perplexing mystery. The
riddle of the mirage is well explained by
physics. But, still the Oases in the far off
sands keep the wanderer going; the eternal
lure of a green turf in the vast expanse of
wasteland. The deserts of the Persian Gulf
region had always been a treasure trove for
the Malayalee. Leaving the comforts of the
tropical paradise, they ventured in to the
pathless jungles of sand dunes in search for
daily bread. More ambitious ones also tread
the same route, in an effort to further their
fortunes. And the nostalgic memoirs of pain,
sorrow, longing and separation by these
desert migrants did bring refreshing showers
to Malayalam literature.
The novel stands witness to the
shuddering reality as to how
filthy and forlorn, how odorous
and desolate life can become.
as any other common migrant. It was a
journey of angst and uncertainty than of joy.
When the airbus touched the tarmac of the
Riadh airport, Najeeb thought, “I’m here, oh!
my city of dreams!” The eternal irony of this
thought would haunt us forever, as we
witness their horrid struggles to survive and
escape the fiery planes of the migrant life.
Free of affectations, the language of the
novel is simple, clear and straight to the
heart, ensuring a refreshingly joyous reading
experience. The transparency of the
language intensifies the narrative, deceptively
pulling down the reader in to a whirlwind of
the experiences of the protagonists and to
empathise with them. Pushing the reader on
to the brink of the cape of distress and pain,
the novelist flashes the blades of classic
humour, deepening the tragedy of the
situation and sending lethal waves of pain in
to the heart.
The novel leaves a shocking shudder
through the spine, as the hapless human,
doomed to lead the life of a goat, struggle
hard to regain his lost self. And one wonders
at the magic of craft with which the narrative
is transformed in to a highly sensitive and
readable piece of work. The first edition of
the novel came out in August, 2008 was
quickly followed by a second edition in
February 2009, not a common trait for a
literary endeavour in this part of the world.
The dualism of man and sheep and the
strains therein constitute the strong under
current of the whole narrative. Doomed to the
‘life’ of a shepherd in the arid dessert, under
the ruthless supervision of Arbaab, Najeeb
becomes just another goat of the herd,
having lost the minimum legitimate claim of
human dignity. The novel stands witness to
the shuddering reality as to how filthy and
forlorn, how odorous and desolate life can
become.
Structured as a first person narrative, the
novel has two youngsters, Najeeb and
Hakkim, who opt to try their luck in the
Persian deserts. Selling off the very last bit of
their belongings back home, they manage to
pay for the expenses for the migration, just
The sheep, here, is not the lovable little
creature that would slip free from the lady of
love or the ubiquitous domestic beast that
would graze the backyard and step inside at
times. The sheep in a desert is a different
experience altogether. The countless herds
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would graze in an endless search for any
remaining little blade of grass on the great
expanse of the dessert. Years on the dessert
without water, the sheep would emanate a
perpetual stink, an odour that would lurk in
the pen forever. A rainstorm, months after
Najeeb reached ‘Masara’, washed down all
the mud and dust from his body, and he
was surprised to see streaks of dirt going
down his body.
No one to talk to, and almost loosing his
own language in the eerie loneliness, Mujeeb
starts talking to his sheep. He began naming
them. And one newborn lamb was named
‘Nabeel.’ It was the name he treasured for his
baby boy back home. He had no one else
but the sheep, to share his lonely misery and
his grief-stricken dreams, and once he even
shared his body too with the sheep!
However mean and horrid the life in the pen
may be, Mujeeb holds on, with out opting to
end all his suffering in one go. At every bout
of self consuming depression, in the depths
of despair, he manages to keep afloat,
leaving everything to Allah. Until and at last,
the mercy of the almighty reaches him in the
form of his friend Ibrahim Khadiri. The
escape from the solitary confinement in the
dessert was not without its share of tragedy.
The cruel dessert haunts them with a pack of
lethal snakes and in the form of strong
sandstorms. Unable to stand up to the
cruelties of the dessert, Hakim, his friend,
succumbs. Mujeeb survives, to tell the story.
Finally, he meets the pious and caring
Kunjikka, who will help him out.
The shock wave the novel sends out will
keep resounding within, at every rereading. A
captive of the dessert, with only the sheep to
talk to for months, and denied the minimal
pleasure of keeping in touch with his
beloveds’. Mujeeb finds himself in the fateful
tunnel of life that keeps meandering deeper
in to darkness, with out even hinting a
glimmer of light at the end. But the intense
and primal yearning for living keeps him
sane. The strong belief in good faith and
hope, even in the abyss of helplessness,
permeates a sublime light of optimism. A
staunch faith in human survival, against all
odds, as in the “Story of the Shipwrecked
Sailor” (Gabriel Garcia Marquez), keeps the
mast of human will up in the skies. The very
same instinct is what makes
‘Aadujeevitham,’ a saga of human survival.
The novel believes in the trickles that lost
their way in the dessert, it believes in Oases,
in mirage.
Translated by RANJITH
M A L AYA L A M
L I T E R A R Y
S U R V E Y
33
Portrait of a
Wounded Poet in
Ayyappan’s Poetry
Vineetha George
A
. Ayyappan is a poet who has proved the theory “Art is
life” through his poems. In the introduction of the
collection “Murivetta Sheershakangal” (Wounded Titles) he
openly states “If you place all my poems together you can
read my autobiography (Page 5). Here is an attempt to study
some of his poems from this perspective. In “Shirolikithathinte
carbon pathippukal” he says “My life is the spring season of
the wounds.” All the wounds a man can ever experience in a
lifetime can be seen in the poems of Ayyappan which is
written in a short span of fiftyone years. His poems shows his
birth as a black Dravidian which was the first wound in his
life. In the poem “Swantham Muriyillatha Kavi” (A poet without
a room of his own) he picturises himself as a Dravidian
marginalised by the society.
“I, a Dravidian, walk alone
Through the corridoors of society”
All the wounds a
man can ever
experience in a
lifetime can be
seen in the poems
of Ayyappan which
is written in a short
span of fiftyone
years.
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M A L AYA L A M
The poem “Chuvanna Mashi (The Red Ink) is a description of
his identily card.
“Didn’t mention the caste.
Upper caste or
Outcast
What is my caste?
When called a lower caste
Why do I get angry?”
He repeats the word ‘black’ in the poem to designate himself.
He caricatures his wounded feelings in his poem.
“Uncouth hair
Staring eyes
L I T E R A R Y
S U R V E Y
looks like a thief.”
The second wound, an orphaned feeling
because of the loss of his parents is
reflected in the poem “Marakkuthira” (The
wooden Horse)
“Loved Hitler
Played cards with Mussolini
Departed from God
Hated marriage
Lost home and stomach
......................................................
In the poem “Pesaha” (The passover) he
expresses his repentance for becoming a
drunkard by yielding to the persuasion of his
friends.
When the fire ashes from
Father’s funeral pyre.....
tasted my mother too
I felt death.”
“The resurrection of the red on the calendar
Around the table his friends
God, will my life end
By today’s supper”
His description of his mother’s death in the
introduction reveals the depth of his wound.
He met the ambulance carrying the dead
body of his mother while he was celebrating
his victory in the school elections by
orgainsing a rally with his class mates.
Poverty narrated in his poems serves as a
medium to express the wounds that inflicted
pain in his life. The poem “Athazham (The
supper) talks about a five rupee note which
he got from the pocket of a person who died
in an accident hence to thus the source for
supper of a poor family.
“Before becoming a toddler
my mother’s potu was taken away
Failure is love during childhood in also
shown in his poems as a wound that made
him what he is. The poems “Aalila &
Sumangali” also reveal the essence of the
pain inflicted on him. In the poem
“Chuvanna Mashi” (Read Ink) he narrtaes.
“He loved the one
whom I loved
more than I
He tied the tali to
my sweet heart”
Another poem “Churathile Chuvadukal” (The
foot on the ghat) depicts his longing to
substitute poetry in the place of the broken
relationship with his sweet heart.
Give me a gold bangle of poetry
Which is not broken
By the broken bangle piece”
Similarly another poem “Kazhchayaude
Idavela” (The interval of sight) speaks of the
breaking of the black bangle.
His teenage company which led him to a
wayward life, indulging in exessive drinking
is highlighted in poem “Chaya Nrutham”
(Shadow Dance)
In the poem Jathakakatha (The Horoscope
story) he laughs at the sad plight inspite of a
glorious destiny promised by the horoscope.
“I have two scribbles on my pates
Either I will rule the world
Or I have to beg for food
In my horoscope I am to rule
In my life I am to beg.”
All these wounded experiences have made
him a poet full of sorrows. He views life with
indifference.
“Asurageetham” (The song of the devil) he
says,
“Life moves from sunlight to five
Human life is a burning icon”
This study concludes with the realisation that
Ayyappan’s poems are the expression of his
wounded heart as he writes in the poem
“Sanyasiyumothuoru Theevandi yathra” (A
train journey with the monk)
“I’m a spring of wounds
My life has received wounds only
My poetry is the reflection of my life.”
M A L AYA L A M
L I T E R A R Y
S U R V E Y
35
Ideology as Articulating
Identity: The Politics of
Resistance in Mother
Forest
Dr. N. Prasantha Kumar
T
he narrative, Mother Forest 1, is the translation of the
transliteration of an oral text. It was orally narrated by
C.K. Janu to Bhaskaran who transcribed and edited the text.
Ravi Shankar translated this text into English. Thus, Janu’s
narrative underwent two kinds of mediation in the course of
its evolution to the English text: it survives editing and
overcomes untranslatability
Mother Forest is a specimen of native writing. It is, therefore,
a native text which resists both external colonization and
internal colonization. It resists both intercultural and
intracultural invasion. As a resistance text, it eludes academic
theories. It always survives the onslaught of academic
interpretation and attempts at showcasing the text as a
specimen of tribal writing.
The most remarkable feature of the text is the explicitly first
person plural narrative voice: the autobiographical “we.” This
makes the text a self-referential narrative. It reflects the
assertion of an articulating tribal identity. Janu is at the
vanguard of the Kerala tribals’ struggle to retrieve their lost
land. In this context, the text is an assertion of identity which
is an inevitable consequence of struggle. This articulating
identity is a paradigm of their ideological struggle which is
part of their racial unconscious. But this plural narrative voice
erases the margins between the public/private domains of
action and articulation. The narrative merges the domains
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The most remarkable feature of
the text is the explicitly first
person plural narrative voice: the
autobiographical “we.” This
makes the text a self-referential
narrative. It reflects the assertion
of an articulating tribal identity.
into a single space of resistance. It is,
therefore, difficult to differentiate between the
narrator’s personal identity and the collective
identity of the community.
As a representative of the tribal community,
the narrator belongs to a subculture. She
turns out to be a primitive rebel, as Stuart
Hall observes, to deconstruct the popular
through the articulation of their cultural
identity2. This cultural identity, which
withstands the onslaught of political
nationality, is symbolic of their cultural
distinctiveness. But, this cultural identity
creates a kind of embryonic nationalism in
the community. Their identity evoloves out of
the cultural difference not only from the
mainstream society but also from analogous
tribes. One of the themes of the text is the
distinctiveness of the Adiyar tribe to which
Janu belongs and their lives. The articulation
of the identity is essential for the survival of
the community of narrator(s). Articulation is,
therefore, an art of necessity. Literary
articulation consequently creates a literary
text. In the case of subalterns, especially
female subalterns, the constructed literary
text is always loaded with protest and
resentment towards perpetual state of
oppression. This kind of literature that
reflects their predicament of subordination
and struggle is the literature of necessity, as
J. Saunders Redding phrases about Black
literature3. It is an imaginative realm of
freedom and dignity.
Though the first person plural narrative voice
is ambiguous of gender, it is obvious from
the text that the narrators belong to a
community of tribal women. In this context,
the text is a communally articulated cultural
construct. The community of narrators, as a
collectivity of tribal women, is the object of
multiple oppressions of race, gender and
class. In this regard, the tribal female identity
is analogous to the Black female identity,
which is constructed from an interlocking
system of triple marginalization. Race,
gender and class are, in fact, cultural
constructs appropriated by the political
power structures to deny equity and justice
to certain groups of people classified
differently as, for instance, tribals, women
and workers.
The first two themes of the text are Adiyars’
strong link to land and Adiyar women’s
dependence on land for survival. Land is
emblematic of their culture; it is the visual
symbol of their culture, history and identity.
As the male folk of their community are
evasive, exploitative and oppressive, the
females depend on land for the survival of
their community as well as themselves. In
this context, the collective cultural identity of
tribal women is a site of struggle and
survival. Their identity is articulated as a selfreferencing landscape. For the tribals, land is
not merely a metaphor of survival; it is the
symbol of their culture well-engraved in their
racial unconscious. So the loss of the land,
mainly forest land, is a symbolic loss of their
culture: its retrieval is the retrieval of the lost
culture. The tribals’ struggle for lost land has
a cultural significance which is
incomprehensible to politicians. From the
perspective of the tribals, the land is a
structural paradigm of culture. The quest for
the lost land is a quest for a culture invaded
and vandalized; it is a quest to retrieve the
cultural identity. This quest finds a manifest
form in the landscaping of resistance the
narrative voice attempts.
Ideology, according to Louis Althusser, is a
set of ideas in the unconscious that makes
M A L AYA L A M
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37
As the male folk of their
community are evasive,
exploitative and oppressive, the
females depend on land for the
survival of their community as
well as themselves. In this
context, the collective cultural
identity of tribal women is a site
of struggle and survival.
one represent a reality in a particular way4.
Ideology is assimilated unconsciously by the
society. But Michel Foucault thinks that
ideology is reflected in the ways in which the
society is organized and is evident in the
power relations of that organization5. It is
related to a set of values and the strategies
involved in strengthening them. In Mother
Forest, the identity of the narrative voice is an
amalgam of racial, gendered and cultural
identity. The ideology of the narrative voice is
unambiguously expressed in the explicit
statement of the dominant themes of the
text. The narrative voice makes an attempt to
articulate the identity which is in polysemic
phase with the ideology.
Ideological construction of gendered
subjectivity, as Gayatri Chakravorthy Spivak
observes, leads to male dominance and
consequently fortifies patriarchy6. Colonial
representation of women is an aesthetic
problematic. As racism or sexism is an
internal form of colonization, the gendered
subjectivity is often represented through
absence and silence: woman, as a
susbaltern, is represented in terms of
paradigmatic elements and associative
relationships. Subalterns have no history or
language of their own; female subaltern or
gendered subaltern, as Spivak remarks, is
just a shadow. Caught between the power
structures of patriarchy and imperialism, the
third world subaltern woman confronts a
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violent exit.7 The voice of the tribal woman,
though borrowed from patriarchal and
colonialist powers, is stifled by the dominant
power structures of race, gender and class.
So the text is full of voids and silences: what
is left unspoken is more significant than
what is spoken.
The meditations which Mother Forest
undergoes as a text are fatal to the identity
of the narrative voice: a community of tribal
women. The oral narrative of Janu is a
phonocentric text. Bhaskaran has
graphocentricized the oral narrative of Janu.
A female-constructed oral narrative is thus
transformed into a male-constructed written
narrative. The symbolic order of the malecentred language, according to Jaques
Lacan, is represented by the presence of
phallus. So Bhaskaran has also
phallocentricized the written text.8 Thus,
Janu’s oral text is at once graphocentricized
and phallocentricized by Bhaskaran while he
rendered the oral narrative into the written
form. The graphocentric text brings in the
complexities of semiotics. It problematizes
the process of signification. Linguistic
problems like ambiguity and polysemy exist
only in graphocentric text. Semantic
problems like ambivalence can be detected
in graphocentric text. As phonocentric text
has no visual structure, the oral narrative
evades deconstruction. It is in this context
that Derrida comments that speech is
logocentric and hence orality of text is also
logocentric in nature.9 For, orality is
logocentricity and orality is authenticity.
What Bhaskaran has done is to provide a
graphic mould to a phonic text. It is a
process of providing a new set of linguistic
signs to the unconscious of the readers. This
is an attempt to devoice or negate the
articulating identity of the text. Thus, the first
mediation counters the resistance to the
literary text in the form of active articulation.
So the first mediation is an attempt to distort
the identity of the narrative voice.
The English rendering, Mother Forest, is a
bad or mediocre translation. It is true that the
linguistic obstacle of cultural untranslatability
is negotiated and reconciled. But translation
is a homogenization of medium and
unification of content. Translation is, as
Stephen Duncombe observes, a form of
“politics that does not look like politics.”10
Any attempt at homogenization or
unification is an attempt to depoliticize the
ideological content of the text. so the
translation of the written text into English is
an attempt to depoliticize and overlook the
political issues articulated in the text. It is an
attempt to neutralize the ideology of the text
and consequently to distort the identity of
the narrative voice.
As language is the medium of representation
and as the target audience of each language
varies, the selection of language is a political
choice. Mother Forest as a representation of
ethnic and racial culture betrays an
obsession with the native. It is an instance of
the native on the shelf which signifies the
process of comprehending the native. As a
colonialist discourse English has an inherent
quality to fortify imperialism or cononialism
vicariously through distorted imagery of the
colonized and similar politics extended by
other means. As consciousness is mediated
through language, the choice of language
forced on the articulating voice can impede
the spontaneous representation of the
unconscious. A translated text becomes a
marketable commodity, as market is a space
to appropriate any subordinate culture by the
dominant culture. Contemporary native
writing is a construct of oppression. In this
sense any narrative in native/tribal language
is a specimen of polemic literature. The
conflict between the native and non-native
languages offers a kind of resistance to the
natives/tribals to preserve their culture and
identity through the medium of the text.
no language or historical space. Rendering
the articulated narrative voice into English
not only depoliticizes the ideological content
but also distorts the identity which is a
cultural construct. Englishing the native
woman is fatal to the emancipating strategy
of the community of women. Thus, the
articulation of the native woman is an art; it
is an art expressed in a borrowed language.
At its best, it must be an unedited audiovisual text which can be transmitted orally
from generation to generaiton, as was
followed in the case of folk ballads. An
unedited audio-visual text can resist
subversive forces like mainstream media and
social hierarchies. Thus, logocentrism can
offer a linguistic guard to native female
articulation.
REFERENCES
1. Bhaskaran. Mother Forest. Tr. N. Ravi Shanker. New
Delhi: Kali for Women, 2004.
2. Stuart Hall. “Notes on Deconstructing the Popular.”
Cultural Resistance Reader. Ed. Stephen Duncombe,
London: Verso, 2002: 185-92.
3. J. Saunders Redding. To make a Poet Black. Chapel
Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1939: 3.
4. Louis Althusser. “Ideology and Ideological State
Apparatuses.” Literary Theory : An Anthology. Ed. Julie
Rivkin and Michael Ryan. London: Blackwell, 1998:
297.
5. Michael Foucault. The Archaeology of Knowledge. Tr.
A.M. Sheridan Smith. New York: Pantheon Books,
1971: 18.
6. Gayatri Chakravarty Spivak. “Can the Subattern
Speak?” Postcolonialism. 4 Vols. Ed. Diana Brydon.
Vol. 4. London and New York: Routledge, 2000: 1444.
7. Spivak: 1468.
8. Jaques Lacan. “The Symbolic Order.” Literary Theory :
An Anthology. Ed. Julie Rivking and Michael Ryan.
London: Blackwell, 1998: 187-88.
9. Jaques Derrida. “Linguistics and Grammatology.”
Deconstruction. 4 Vols. Ed. Jonanathan Culler. Vol. I.
London and New York: Routledge, 2003: 85.
10. Stephen Duncombe. ed. Cultural Resistance Reader.
London: Verso, 2002: 89.
Being the community of tribal women, the
narrative voice is the subaltern women with
M A L AYA L A M
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39
The Mist
Karoor Shashi
M
emories of previous births blur the vision
Real or illusory? How long will the futile thoughts live?
The lament of the homosapiens.
Where has gone the diverse forms
That danced before the eyes?
Everything melts in the mist.
May be God gives light only for a step or two.
“Lead kindly light amidst the encircling gloom...
One step enough for me..”
Sang an English poet.*
Poems are born always on heights.
The fable of Vyasa’s birth explains away
The mystery of the fog, its protype.
What Parashara created at will
Remains Nature’s secret still.
I look for what lies concealed behind the mist today.
Is it the red-stained shadow of relationships broken,
The intense ecstasies that made me sob?
Or my deep sighs? Or the tears gifted by the selfish love?
Though I don’t know anything, I am certain that
Time is hiding something behind the veil of mist.
May be my life behind.
My feet, yearning to take more steps, tremble.
Only scarce light around me.
Some steps go in front; others follow from behind.
Who they are, I know not.
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The mist hides the great secrets of the journey of time,
Nature seems to convey.
What dispassion, what tender and soft touch...
My soul feels it all.
Where does the mist drift?
It dips in unknown ponds
The human heart that transcends time and place
And I bear witness to all that.
As I step into this lonely lane when no one is awake,
This visual wonder spread before me,
Whispering softly –“You need not know me.”
The white, silky, soothing touch.
Let me stay on for a while.
That which I want to know is not here,
It’s there in the midst of the unknown.
Why conceal the fulfillment of
The brief human life?
No answer given.
*Cardinal Newman's famous poem "Lead Kindly Light"
Translated by R. Rose Chandran
M A L AYA L A M
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41
The Poet Who Walked
Before Time on the
‘Bridge’ of Kuttippuram
Dr. Sheeja R. S.
P
oets are blessed with the ability to breathe life into and
mould anything through their imagination. Theirs is the
unique capability to see through imagination the times to
come when they are not yet here and distinguish the blacks
and whites of the future. Edasseri Govindan Nair was such a
poet. It is evident from his works that even in the 1950s, he
had realised how modernity wold move the earth beyond
recognition. The changes that would be wrought by
globalisation and urbanisation were prophetically realised in
his poetry. His poems were aimed at the common Malayalee;
they were simple purposeful illustrations of the contemporary
life. “Kuttippuram Palam” (“The Bridge of Kuttippuram”),
“Pengal” (“Sister”), “Nellukuthukari Paruvinte Katha” (“The
Tale of Paru, the Thresher- Girl”), “Ange Veettileykku” (“To That
House”), “Panimudakkam” (The Strike”) are all poems that
have revolutionary instigations behind them. While standing
with the Renaissance-poets of his time like Vyloppilli, G.
Sankarakkuruppu, P. Kunjiraman Nair and Balamaniyamma,
Edasseri still managed to internalise and recreate his own
rustic life.
Though in poems like “Kuttippuram Palam” he celebrated
with pride taming of nature by man with the aid of
technology, he also shared with his readers his anxieties as a
conservationist regarding how such achievements and the
process of urbanisation itself will lead to the complete loss of
traditional areas of employment and inflict misfortunes on the
quiet of the common man’s everyday life. We see him
suspecting the far reaching consequences of man’s
relationship with nature going barren. Man has achieved the
ability to capture anything that he desires. The gains in the
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He stood on the threshold of
imagination to look upon the
progresses of times yet to
come; to laugh with pride about
them and to feel pain at the
consequences they bring with
them.
material correspond directly to losses in the
emotional. Along with the disappearance of
verdure, we are also faced with the erosion of
a sense of community. In the state of
apprehension created in him by such
developments, the poet tries to make his
readers aware of what is to come. In his own
words he was not “someone who welcomes
the progress of the age of machines with
undue enthusiasm”. In both “Kuttippuram
Palam” and “Nellukuthukari Paruvinte
Katha” he depicts the vanishing prosperity
and beauty of the village along with
humanity in its inhabitants and rising
unemployment with the onslaught of
urbanisation. These poems written sometime
in the 1950s emphasise a prophetic
disposition in the poet.
One of the current issues of debate in the
literary world is the adverse consequences of
urbanisation. Ecological transformation is a
part of this particular concern. In the world of
Malayalam poetry, Kuttippuram Palam was
one ‘Edasseri poem’ that welcomed the
endless advance of the human being’s
bravery, reformation and progress while
expressing concerns regarding the same.
The conflict of culture that he presented
through his poems back then is not alien to
us now. While accepting the changes
brought about by progress on one side, we
are also forced to suffer with pain the bitter
consequences that such changes brings.
The poet was able to predict the
transformation that the events of his present
are likely to inflict upon the future.
“Ariyathor thammiladipidikal,
Ariyathor thammil pidichupoottal,
Ariyathor thammilayalapakkakkar,
Ariyunnorellarumanyanattar”
(“Strangers in fights
Strangers in strife
Strangers are neighbours
And friends are all outlanders)
It is doubtful whether the reality that we
experience today could be expressed with
more prophetic beauty and clarity.
Edasseri established himself firmly in the
time that he lived in and the purity of the
rustic life that surrounded him while writing
poems on events that deeply moved his
mind. A wide variety of subjects are
unravelled in his poetic world. Through his
writtings we see evolving quite naturally
contemporary social issues, images of origin
and narrative moments in the puranas. He
stood on the threshold of imagination to
look upon the progresses of times yet to
come; to laugh with pride about them and to
feel pain at the consequences they bring
with them. Edasseri always preferred the
rustic life. Even when the poetic world was
moving on with new subjects of the
modernist renaissance, he surveyed the
prosperity of the village to mould his poetry.
Once again the chaste village, its virtues and
pleasures, its planes of heartiness and the
agony, anxiety, disquiet, passion, and
exhortation that arise from the wounds
inflicted on them are themes closest to his
heart. When he depicts the deeply insightful
sceneries absorbed from a full-fledged
confrontation with his times and reacts with
rigour against them, it is an underlining of
the belief that “Janani janmabhoomischa
swargadapi gareeyasi”. Edasseri thus
becomes a poet who chained untameable
subjects, language, and the strong-willed
river to be at his beck and call so that he can
breath the warmth and strength of life into
them; in this way, he is a poet of ‘power’.
Keralites have always accepted any kind of
progress with open hands. It was as a result
M A L AYA L A M
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43
of globalisation that the urban came to the
little state of Kerala. In “Kuttippuram Palam”,
the poet describes with anxiety the
deterioration of values, the life force of the
rural and human relationships that is
concurrent with the naive acceptance of
such changes. The river crossing at
Kuttippuram was something familiar from
early childhood. Standing atop the
embankment, thinking of the wonderful
memories the crossing has given him, the
poet feels a tinge of pride at man’s industry
that has finally forced the strong-willed,
untameable Perar that always overflowed
both its banks to submit itself and make way
for the sturdy pillars of the Kuttippuram
bridge; with man’s. permissions, the river can
only ease its way through the mighty pillars.
At the same time, he openly expresses the
nagging that he feels in simple yet harsh
diction.
“Kuttippuram Palam”, written in 1954, was a
poem that took birth much before
environmental issues started affecting the
ecological equilibrium of our surroundings
and concerns regarding such issues began
to affect the human thought process.
Edasseri describes the way in which this
mechanised culture would completely alter
the life in Kerala. Human beings are always
eager to internalise anything new. This is an
undeniable fact.
In “Kuttippuram Palam” the poet describes
how it was everyone’s wish that a bridge
would come across the river to make
transportation easy. A bridge was built
spending Rs.23 lacs. The poet is proud of
this fact. At the same time he recalls with
nostalgia how he played “poothankolu” on
the sand banks of the river, how he dunked
and played in the river as a child, how the
kingfisher, the sparrows and cranes all flew
high over it and how the flowers of
aattuvanchi swayed in its breeze.
When he says “Abhimanapoorvam njan eeri
nilpa/ nadiyile soshicha Perar nokki” ( I am
standing atop here with pride/looking down
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We see the poet observing with
apprehension the destruction of
the value of the essentially
Malayalee lifestyle that has
been passed on from generation
to generation and the dangerous
growth of new lifestyles in their
place:
on the diminished Perar), we see the poet in
agony at the loss of an era’s cultural
heritage. The entry of the urban into the rural
becomes a cultural invasion here. Even when
he says “Unmayilpputhulokathinu
theerthorummarappadiyamippalam” (“The
bridge built in virtue as the threshold for a
new world”) equating the bridge with the
virtue of the future, he comments on how the
vast green and yellow paddy fields swaying
with ripe stalks, the fruit laden orchards, the
hillsides blooming with many coloured
flowers, the festivals of the sacred groves
with the devotional lamps lighted at the
Altharas built around sacred fig trees, and
the folk songs of the farmers all becoming
distant memories when he says
“akalukayaniva mellemelle/ anayukayallo
chilathuvere” (“All these, moving away
slowly/ And some others approching fast”).
In these “some others” we find the poet’s
anxiety regarding the changes that adversely
affect nature. These anxieties have now
become true when the “trayar” (tyre) and the
petrol race through the streets raising dust
and mayhem night and day, the stone and
coal and the cast of concrete all become the
pride of modernity: these “some others” are
now the reality of modern life. The backlash
of mechanised progress on the human
relationships and values that the poet
prophesied in “ariyathor thammiladipidikal”
is something that is commonly witnessed
today. Looking upon Perar today, reduced to
a mere sand bankl we see how the poet
calling the river a gutter of filth was not a
matter of hyperbole at all.
“Madhurima thookidum gramalakshmi
Akaleykakaleykakalukayam
Avasana yathra parayukayam”
(“The fortune-goddess of the village
Is moving far, far and away
Is bidding the final farewell”)
The verity of this statement may have been
suspect at the time of its composition. But it
is all too true today when not just in cities
but even in villages we hardly ever know our
neighbours. The walls that come up between
houses embody the selfishness of the
human mind.
Six decades later, the invasions that
modernity has made on human beings,
human life and the environment is beyond
the scope of our comprehension. Forests
and ponds that have disappeared over time,
the polluted river, the polluting vehicles racing
without rest and the atmosphere that they
pollute every moment, the conflict among
people that these result in directly or
indirectly, are all things that we as human
beings are faced with today. It is imperative
that we observe the environmental disasters
caused by the indiscriminate advance of
modernity with our eyes and ears open. If we
do not consider them with adequate
seriousness, the aftermath of horror that they
will leave for the future generations is not
something we can speculate on. Thus the
themes of “Kuttippuram Palam” remind us
that poets are in fact prophets and only they
can travel beyond time to expose the follies
of the present.
We see the poet observing with
apprehension the destruction of the value of
the essentially Malayalee lifestyle that has
been passed on from generation to
generation and the dangerous growth of new
lifestyles in their place:
“Kaliyum chiriyum karachilumay
Kazhiyum naranoru yanthroamayal
Amba perare, nee marippomo
Aakulayamorazhukkuchalay?”
(“When man who lived in his joys and
tears
Becomes a thing of mindless machine,
Will you, Mother Perar, transform into
A gutter of garbage, plying sorrow?”)
When Edasseri finishes the poem with this
question, “Kuttippuram Palam”, the product
of the labours of a poet who thought beyond
time, becomes a work of art that itself
transcends time.
Works Cited
Aadhunika Sahithyacharithram Prasthanangalilude. C.
Benjamin (Ed.).
Edasseriyude Kavithakal. Nair, Edasseri Govindan. Edasseri
Publications. 1988.
Edasseriyude Kavyalokam. K.P. Sarathchandran. Vima
Publication. Kottayam, 1993.
Itha Oru Kavi. Edasseri Smaraka Samithi. Edasseri
Publication. 1977.
Harithaniroopanam Malayalathil. G. Madhusoodanan (Ed.).
D.C. Books. Kottayam.
M A L AYA L A M
L I T E R A R Y
S U R V E Y
45
N.S. Madhavan’s
Vanmarangal
Veezhumbol and Nilavili :
a Study in
Political Milieu
Dr. J. Anjana
P
olitics remains a topic of eternal interest for writers down
ages. The line of demarcation between art and politics
has become unusually thin in the twentieth century.
Contemporary writers evince a sustained enthusiasm in
expression their political imagination by portraying various
dimensions of the impact of power and politics on the hopes,
fears and angst of modern man. Politics in such stories
integrates with the patterns of lives of the characters and
functions as the germinal nucleus that ferments the human
story. The exploration of the convergence of politics and
human experiences furnishes a paradigmatic representation
of the existing socio-political milieu.
Irving Howe in Politics and the Novel (1957) classifies political
fiction as one in which “political ideas play a dominant role or
in which the political milieu is the dominant setting” (17). It
gives lyrical expression to the way in which politics affects
human behaviour and feeling. The personal fates of the
characters in such works are inextricably linked with the social
and political incidents. This intermingling of the political and
personal provokes the readers into an involved thinking of the
issues the writer wanted to highlight. Robert Alter in his
brilliant study, The American Political Novel (1984) considers
characters as a medium that leads one to reflect on the
ultimate purpose and meaning of individual life. He attempts
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Sister Agatha who had been
listening to both, television as
well as the commentary, felt the
whole thing really nauseating.
She says, “It is for the first time
in my life that history has
affected me physically”
to give a comprehensive definition to the
term political fiction when he states, “The
novel’s great strength as a mode of
apprehension is in its grasp of character,
and the political novel at its best can show
concretely and subtly what politics does to
character, what character makes of politics”
(42).
N.S. Madhavan is a versatile writer who has
ingeniously carved a niche for himself in
Malayalam literary scenario by presenting
illuminating portrayals of individuals caught
in the whirlpool of power game. Vanmarangal
Veezhumbol (When Big Trees Fall) is a
celebrated short story written against the
back drop of the assassination of Mrs. Indira
Gandhi and the subsequent carnage against
the Sikhs. He unravels the impact of such an
unfortunate and politically significant
incident on the quiet and placid lives of
inmates of a convent old age home in
Meerut without resorting to any hyperbolic
expressions. Though there is no active
confrontation of political indicents,
contemporary political events affect the
course of action of the story in an indirect
way. The story is presented in first person
narration by sister Agatha, the incharge of
the home. The temporal and spatial
configuration of the story is fixed through her
narration. The narrative conveys subtle
sketches of the uneventful and droning life of
inmates who had spent their entire life in the
service of humanity. They had come there
from different parts of India to spend their
last days peacefully. Each inmate remained
a captive of her own lonely self. The wide
world outside the convent had absolutely no
influence on the confiined space.
On the cold October 31st of 1984, the news
which rocked the entire nation, the
assassination of Mrs. Indira Gandhi, reached
this quaint home as reported by Father
Thomas to Sister Agatha over telephone.
Initially this incident of enormous gravity had
a very passive impact over the members of
the convent. Each inmate in the convent
responded differently to the tragic news.
Sister Angelica reminisced Mrs. Gandhi’s visit
to Orissa while Sister Martha poignantly
recollected Mrs. Gandhi’s visit to Indore
where she had worked as a teacher. She
recalled how Adivasi children wrestled with
each other to capture the flowers thrown by
Mrs. Gandhi from her garland. Though the
daily routine of the convent was not
hampered by this terrible event, it did provoke
a sense of curiosity among the members.
News of the spurt of violence in the city too
reached the convent through a phone call by
Father Thomas the next day. They could hear
distant gunshots and could see rising
smokes in the city; still they were secure and
unaffected in the guarded convent home.
They watched the funeral ceremony of Mrs.
Gandhi on television and Sister Sicily gave a
running commentary of the whole
procession with minute details to those
sisters who were visually impaired. Sister
Agatha who had been listening to both,
television as well as the commentary, felt the
whole thing really nauseating. She says, “It
is for the first time in my life that history has
affected me physically” (21).
Till the night of November 4th this calm and
serene convent did not have a direct impact
of the turbulence outside. As the night
approached, a mortally frightened Sikh lady
along with her child took refuge in the
convent. She narrated the gruesome murder
of her husband and her elder son by the
rioters and how she had managed to escape
from their clutches to reach there. She says,
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‘My name is Amaljeet. They killed many
people in our colony. This year our colony
did not celebrate Diwali as a protest against
the army operation in Harmindaer Sahib.
That is why they were angry with us” (22).
Besides, her husband’s business rivals
wanted to finish them off in the camouflage
of communal riots. The writer projects a
typical example of how culprits take
advantage of turbulent and highly volatile
political situations to wreak their personal
vengeance.
The presence of a little child with his
innocence and enthusiasm had a
tremendous influence on the otherwise
monotonous life of the inmates. It
rejuvenated the dreary environment of the
convent and sisters vied each other in
pampering the child, Juggy. His presence
temporarily obliterated their deteriorating
physical condition and his charisma instilled
a new hope and inspiration to the inmates.
Sister Agatha recalls: “That day Sister
Margaretta demanded medicine. Sister
Katrina on her wheel chair moved in and
around Amalijeet and Juggy. Sister Karuna
was busy making cake for Juggy” (24).
Mother and son were bound to Delhi and
when curfew got relaxed the next day, they
decided to proceed to the railway station
along with Sister Sisily. On their way they
were again chased by the rioters and were
brought back to the convent. Sister Agatha
ingeniously devised a plan to take them to
the railway station. She suggests:
Amalijeet will disjuise as a nun. Juggy
shall lie inside a coffin in an
ambulance. Some of us should be
inside there and praying. The
ambulance shall enter the cemetery
through the east gate and could be
driven out through its west gate
without any one’s notice and from
there to the church near the Railways
station. It will be very easy to go to the
station from there (26).
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The plan was executed successfully though
they had to encounter the rioters on the way.
After the departure of the mother and son
everything went back to normal at least in
that convent home. It resumed its usual
tedious swing of life with the inmates
returning to their cocooned existence. The
writer winds up the story leaving the readers
with a heavy heart: The narrator says:
Sister Mary did not get up from her
bed. Sister Katrina rolled her wheel
chair to far distance. Sister
Margaraetta hesitated to take
medicines. Sister Angelica tried to
dwell on her past. Sister Davis was in
her murmuring self. Sister Karuna sat
in front of the piano without playing it.
Sister Martha prayed the whole day.
Sister Wilfred returned to her bed in the
hospital room (28).
The usual tedium of existence returned with
renewed vigour in the convent. The direct
victims of the political events, mother and
son are presented as a microcosm of
multitudes of innocent victims in the country.
The simmering heat of politics goes in a long
way affecting hapless persons and turning
their life into veritable hell.
Nilavili, written in 2002, is a fictionalized
encapsulation of a real life incident in
Ahmadabad. It was translated into English
as The Cry by Catherine Thankamma. (All
quotes are taken from its electronic versions).
The story portrays how politics penetrates
into the lives of ordinary individuals and
make them innocent victims thereby
breaking their life into smithereens. Godhra
incident of 2002 which triggered a spate of
violence, killing thousands of innocent
people, both Hindu and Muslim forms the
backdrop of the story. The protagonist,
Qutubuddin Ansari is a real life character, a
tailor from Ahmadabad who later became
the face of Godhra tragedy. The story reads
as an autobiographical sketch of the
protagonist, “I.... Qutubuddin Ansari, 29,
tailor. I live with my mother, wife and
daughter in Ahmedabad’s Bapu Nagar
colony”.
He narrates his unassuming and
unpretentious yet happy and satiated life
with his family. The story transcends the
fictional terrain and reaches almost a real
plane when the protagonist recollects the din
and bustle of Ahmadabad city with minute
details. He even makes fun of his mother
and wife for being hard core fans of the
much hyped television serial Kyonki Saas Bhi
Kabhi Bahu Thi. He actively participated in
the kite running competition in his locality
and even tried some hideous means to
defeat his contenders. His circle of friends
included people from almost all
communities. Religious sensibilities never
barred their relationships. He is a true
representative of an ordinary, hard working,
contented Indian citizen. Soon everything
changed and changed forever. He says:
But nt so long ago I, Qutubuddin
Ansari, was transformed into a
symbol. Delhi has India Gate; Jaipur,
Hawa Mahal; Calcutta, Howrah
Bridge; and Bombay, the Gateway of
India. But Ahmadabad had no such
instantly recognizable symbol. A city
without a symbol is faceless; it lacks
identity.... Ahmadabad never had a
symbol unique to itself - until I filled the
gap.
Hassan Sheikh, his neighbour, has alerted
him of an impending danger, a premonition
that something hideous is going to happen:
As early as February, the pigeons
alerted us to the unknown menace
that lurked somewhere in the days to
come. Hassan Sheikh said: “The birds
just won’t fly up. Something bad is
going to happen.” That very day I went
to the market and stocked up the
house with atta, dal, potatoes and
besan. Gas cylinders had already
become scarce, so I couldn’t get one.
Political imagination of a writer
is a reflection of his interest for
the society, its problems and a
deeply felt concern for the entire
humanity.
Mother exclaimed, irritated: “What’s got
into you? I know the times are not
good, but why these crazy
preparations? Amdavadis and
Gujaratis are kind people, vegetarians,
Bapu’s people, Jains who walk with
bowed heads; they wouldn’t hurt an
ant.
One February night the entire world of
Qutubuddin Ansari turned topsy turvy,
everything that has been on the right track
just seconds ago were rendered into rubbles.
His friend, Bhai Chand reported to him the
news that a compartment of a train carrying
pilgrim’s from Ayodhya was torched at
Godhra station and in retaliation Muslims
were being targeted by the Hindus. For the
first time in their life in that city Ansari family
could not sleep out of fear. On the very next
day their worst fears came true. His house
got besieged by a mob of rioters. He
recollects, “Then they came for us. They
poured kerosene all around the house and
set fire to it. The gas cylinders that had
disappeared from the market now made their
appearance”. He was cornered by people
whom he knew for years, people who wore
dresses stitched by him, people who had
discussed television serials with his mother
and wife. He pleaded for his life and this
pathetic moment of helplessness was
photographed by Reuter’s photographer:
The next day’s newspapers carried that
picture of mine taken by the Reuters
photographer - the green of my
unfocused eyes heightened, the
brimming tears and cry stifled and
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sealed off forever in the cold pages of
the newspaper; my joined palms
begging to be rescued gave you a
glimpse of imminent death. I became
Ahmedabad’s symbol.
Fictional aspect of the story coalesced with
the factual one at this point since all the
news papers projected the picture of Ansari
who became an emblem of Gujarat violence.
This fusion of fact and fiction renders it an
incredible realistic touch. Ansari was sent to
the relief camp along with his family where
he tried to pick up the shreds of his shattered
life.
He says:
I had not seen my face for quite a few
days. My reflection now showed that a
beard had sprouted and darkened the
lower half of my face. Fear still lurked
in the eyes. I decided to try something I
had not done for many days,
something I had almost forgotten - to
smile.
In both the stories, there is no direct
encounter with the harrowing political
incidents but the personal fates of the
characters are intrinsically linked with the flux
of contemporary politics. there is a
harmonious amalgamation of the political
and the personal in these stories. N.S.
Madhavan himself has once clarified that
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more than imagination, sometimes pollen
flying about from contemporary events
fertilizes minds. Political imagination of a
writer is a reflection of his interest for the
society, its problems and a deeply felt
concern for the entire humanity. The
brooding presence of politics and the extra
ordinary interplay of fact and fiction enthrall
the political sensibility of the readers. The
politically agile mind of Madhavan could not
but respond to the violence and atrocities in
the contemporary world. The simple and
lucid narrative style could find a direct route
into the reader’s sensibility. The writer does
not take any political stance in his work
neither does he criticize or justify the
perpetrators. He is only concerned with the
devastated life of ordinary citizens who never
had any kind of political affiliations.
Works Cited
Alter, Robert. (Ed.) The American Political Novel: Motives
for Fiction. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1984. 38-45.
Howe, Irving. Politics and the Novel. 1957. New York:
Columbia UP, 1992.
Madhavan, N.S. Higvitta, Vanmarangal Veezhumbol.
Kottayam: DC Books, 16-28. 1993.
(Quotes are translated into English by the author of the
article)
..... Nilavili. Kottayam: D.C books, 2007.
http://www/littlemag.com/bloosport/nsmadhavanhtml
(All quotes are taken from the English translation as The
Cry by Catherine Thankamma.)
The Elephant Logic
in Vyloppilli
Dr. Harippad Vamanan Nampoothiri
Some considerable part of that time had been taken up
with Solomon’s long bathing sessions in the river
Tagus, which alternated with voluptuous wallowing in
the mud, which, in turn, according to elephant logic,
called for further prolonged baths.
Jose Saramago
The Elephant’s Journey [2008)
From worker of holy miracles to umbrella stand, the
unassuming elephant suffers the many attempts of
humans to impose meaning on what they don’t
understand.
[From the Blurb]
V
yloppillil Sreedhara Menon [1911-1985] became wellknown with the publication of “Maambazham” [Ripe
Mango] in 1936, which was even before the publication of his
first collection of poems Kannikkouthu [maiden harvest, 1947].
From thence he has been recognized as a major Kerala poet.
Traditional criticism describes him as the last among
Malayalam romantic poets. In fact, the Kerala poet and critic
Satchidanandan in his elegy on Vyloppillil Sreedhara Menon
Ecocriticism is unique amongst contemporary
literary and cultural theories because of its
close relationship with the science of ecology.
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51
“Ivanekkoody Sweekarikkuka” [earth, receive
this honoured guest too] writes “Dear uncle,
forgive us, ‘the epoch of sweet mango fruits
is over!”].
Since the Silent Valley Movement [1978-1983]
in Kerala and the advent and advance of
environmental awareness all over the globe
following the publication of Rachel Carson’s
Silent Spring [1964], major writers and
writings have been interpreted ecologically.
How and how far any literary or cultural text
contains or communicates environmental
values and visions are the premier concerns
of ecocriticism. Ecocriticism or green studies
investigate and evaluate to what extent a
particular work or envoronmental movement
contribute into the representation of Nature,
and how far humanity is seen as a strand in
the wide web of biosphere, accommodate
values and visions of biocentrism and
ecological equilibrium. Richard Kerridge’s
Definition [1998] states that the ecocritic
wants to track environmental ideas and
representations wherever they appear, to see
more clearly a debate which seems to be
taking place, often part concealed, in a great
many cultural spaces. Most of all,
ecocriticism seeks to evaluate texts and
ideas in terms of their coherence and
usefulness as responses to environmental
crisis. Ecocriticism is unique amongst
contemporary literary and cultural theories
because of its close relationship with the
science of ecology. Ecocritics may not be
qualified to contribute to debates about
problems in ecology, but they nevertheless
transgress disciplinary boundaries and
develop their own ‘ecological literacy’ as far
as possible [5]. Ecocritics extend the
applicability of a range of ecocentric
concepts, using them for things other than
the natural world-concepts such as growth
and energy, balance and imbalance,
symbiosis and mutuality, sustainable or
unsustainable uses of energy and resources
(Peter Barry, Beginning Theory: 264).
Ecocritics also desilence non-human strands
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that constitute biosphere or biotic
environment. If there is only one speaking
subject in a text and if that is humankind,
that text is anthropocentric. If a text
accommodates multiple points of view, the
views of non-human beings also, it is
biocentric. It is dia-logical presenting, more
than one kind of logic. The Malayalam poet
Vyloppillil Sreedhara Menon in his “Sahyante
Makan” [Sahya’s Offspring, 1944]
foregrounds a biocentric view or elephant
logic.
Superficially, the poem narrates the story of
an elephant that turns mad during a temple
festival in Kerala and in fury it attacks
everything on its running path, including
temple towers, decorations and participants.
The police come and kill the tusker. A typical
Kerala temple festival and the tusker, which
mounts the idol of deity and accessories,
suffering long and tiresome sessions of
standing and idol-bearing, are described.
The very sight of long oil lamps and their
spread of scorching heat are unbearable to
the huge dark animal, which is ethologically
designed to thrive or walk through miles and
miles of rainy, tropical evergreen thick
forests. The tusker, in the poem, under
hallucination takes the pillars and palm and
other kinds of festooning to be his biopartner and bowers for courting. No one
among the humens ‘environing’ or encircling
the tusker seems to have felt/expressed
sympathy to the son of Mother Nature,
Sahyadri [Mount Sahya]. Kuttikrishna Marar
in his introduction to Kannikkoythu indicates
that the poet has attempted and succeeded
in redirecting readers’ sympathy at least
partially towards the tragic tusker.
When the tusker falls down trembling,
god in the golden sanctorum may be
enjoying a nap, unmindful of the
elephant’s heart-rending cry. Readers
are unlikely to appreciate such a god.
On the contrary, readers empathize
with the Mother Sahya, who weeps
over the tragic demise of her son, and
also to the father, if it has that.
And thus the poet attempts and
succeeds in redirecting at least a part
of the readers’ sympathy to the
sufferer-elephant, who generally are
anxious only about the human in and
around the animal.
Even at the time, when environmentalism
and biocentric dialogic were unheard of, the
insightful and farsighted critic Kuttikrishna
Marar has pointed out this ingrafted
ecological text. In the concluding four lines
the poet expresses his doubt whether the
god in man’s temple has listened to the
elephant’s last cry. The poet is sure that the
cry might have shaken him had god the
virtue of compassion in him. Anyway, it
echoes in its Mother Sahya’s heart.
Reference
Vyloppillil Sreedhara Menon. Kannikkoythu [maiden
harvest, 1947]. Thrissur: Current Books, 1991. Quotes from
Kuttikrishna Marar are also taken from this.
Barry, Peter. Beginning Theory: An Introduction to Literary
and Critical Theory. Second edition. Manchester:
Manchester U P, 2002.
Garrard, Greg. Ecocriticism. London: Routledge, 2007:
Richard Kerridge’s definition is from page 4.
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Book culture in the
Present Scenario
Dr. Shornur Karthikeyan
K
erala, known as God’s own country has a strain of
worshipfulness in its culture. There are temples for god
everywhere. The places of learning are called Saraswathy
kshethras - temples of Saraswathy the goddess of learning. A
special week, the Navarathry week is kept apart for the
worship of books. You can see children with bundles of
books going to the temples where they are worshipped along
with the deity for three days. On Vijayadasami Day the books
are brought back after the pooja. The Malayalam version of
Ramayana written by Thunjath Ezhuthachan is read with
great respect on this day. All the letters of the alphabetstarting with ‘Hari sree’ must be written on sand by every
member of the family. Ramayana is opened at random and
read from the seventh line onwards. According to an ancient
belief, the future of the person who opens Ramayana this will
be revealed by mood of the lines
Even in this 21st century, this belief in books and book culture
continues. The non resident Malayalee from New York or
Dubai will bring his children all the way to Mangalooru to
initate them into learning before the goddess Mookambika. If
you happen to step on a book accidentally, immediately you
take it up and press it on your heart in prayer, seeking
forgiveness Books always have a place of honour in every
house.
The book culture of Kerala dates back to ancient times. Every
village had its own Gurukula where all children were taught by
the Guru. The students stayed with the Guru, often helping
him in the household duties. Like Sandeepani, the Guru
showered love on them and received respect in turn. Every
temple had Vidyapeedhas. The teachers were known as
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Bhattas and the students were known as
Chattas. All the temples kept away a sizable
sum for the welfare of teachers and
students. The students were graduated and
honoured every year before the king. This
ceremony was known as the Revathi
Pattathanam.
Ancient books were prepared in palm leaves
with great care. The leaves were carefully
selected and soaked in water to soften them.
Then they were dried under the sun and cut
and shaped into equal size. The pen, made
of iron with a sharp edge was known as
naraya. Our ancestors were experts in writing
on palm leaves. The written leaves were
secured between two pieces of wood and
tied with a string. These ancient granthas
had a place of honour in every house and
temple in Kerala. Now they have been
collected in museums and Universities and
preserved with care. All the ancient
knowledge of Kerala like Ayurveda,
Jyothisha, Vasthu, Manthravada and literary
texts are stored in these palm leaves of
ancident times. A mixture of Charcole and
Thulasi juice is used to read the letters in
them.
The book culture had a rejuvenation under
Thunchath Ezhuthachan at the onset of the
16th century. Adhyathma Ramayana gained
popularity among the literate and illiterate all
over Kerala. Every home yearned to have a
copy of Ramayana to be read with respect in
the evenings. The musical nature of the text
encouraged reading and singing in unison.
Under the leadership of the eldest literate
person, the members of the family and even
the neighbours would join in repeating the
lines of Ramayana. This practice is now
followed in the temples. Karkidakam, the
last month of malayalee year dedicated to
the reading of Ramayana, is known as
Ramayana Maasam.
We owe the spreading of book culture to the
missionaries also who came from far away
lands to spread Christianity. The Basal
Mission published the first book from
The purpose of literature is to
sublimate the human mind and it
is for this purpose that the
ancients considered book as
Goddess Saraswathy.
Thalasseri in 1851. Dr. Gundert published his
book on Malayalam grammar in 1851. In
1867 the Government of Travancore
appointed a Text Book Committee to publish
standard text books for the students. The
first newspaper in Malayalam dates back to
1847. ‘Gynana Nikshepam’ and
‘Rajyasamacharam’ were published under
the leadership of Dr. Gundert from
Thalasseri. The first book on medicinal
plants, ‘Hortus-Malabaricus’ was published
in 1678 under the leadership of the dutch
Governor Van-Reed. A special printing unit
located in Rome published a book on
Christianity called ‘Samksepa Vedartham’.
Later a printing unit was established in
Bombay where the whole of Bible was
printed in Malayalam. Another name to
remember is that of Benjamin Bailey who
took the initative to create a printing unit for
the publication of new books in Malayalam.
The ‘Grantha Sala Prasthanam’ has spread
book culture in every nook and corner of
Kerala. The Government issues grant and
support to urban and rural libraries. Every
year new books are added to the stocks.
Every school is expected to have a library
and books are issued to the students. The
colleges and Universities have exclusive
library facilities. There are awards for the best
reader and for the best library.
New publishing houses are coming up along
with the old ones. Book publishing has
become a booming business. Several prepublication benefits, prizes and rebates are
offered to the buyers. The literate of Kerala
always boast of their home library filled with
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books both in English and Malayalam. When
Book fares are conducted you can see
enthusiastic buyers in every stall. There are
young people eager to collect rare books.
The second hand book shops are also doing
good business. In Kerala book-worms are
not regarded as ‘Worms’ any more.
With computer literacy came the e-book
culture. Computer skills are taught in
schools from first standard onwards.
Besides there are internet cafes and hubs in
every nook and corner. Most of the libraries
are computerized. The availability of
Malayalam books is limited on the net but
the new books in English are available and
downloaded. Appreciations and criticisms of
books always appear on the blogs. This type
of advertisement encourages the sale of
books. Kerala has always opened its
windows to receive the air of new trends
everywhere. New books on technology,
health care, education and arts are always
popular with the Keralites.
The future of books culture lies with the
younger generation. The high cost of new
books has presented a problem before them.
They have turned to the internet and the
libraries to quench their thirst for knowledge.
In the rural library, you can see the future
citizen immersed in reading the newest book
available. A wonderland of ideas and images
is opening up before him. Through him a
promise is given to us. The book culture will
survive the challenges of the day and flourish
in future.
Kerala is perhaps unique in is co-operative
culture. The Indian Coffee House started at
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the initiative of A.K. Gopalan (AKG) is owned
and run by the employees themselves.
Similarly there is a publication house in
Kerala owned and run by the writers. Its
name is SPCS or Sahithya Pravarthaka
Sahakarana Sangham at Kottayam started
by the famous short story writer Karur
Nilakanta Pillai. Million of books have been
published by this institution that pays
‘handsome’ royalties to the writters.
The Grantasala Movement initiated by P.N.
Panikker has also flourished in Kerala. Now
there are more than five thousand libraries in
Kerala covering almost all the villages of
Kerala.
The leftist movement in Kerala has also
encouraged the habit of reading under the
influence of E.M.S. Nambudiripad and V.T.
Bhattathiripad. Kerala, the most literate state
in India can be proud that every home has a
library along with a pooja room. The reading
habit is wide spread there.
I shall close the article with reference to the
chinese practice of sending poisoned
pornographic books to the enemy king to kill
him. The poison was supposed to act
through the fingers of the king who turned
the pages by wetting it on the tongue. the
story, I hope, is a false story but at present
the reality is that the poison in many works
is acting through the mind because the
contents of the pages are the worst poison.
The purpose of literature is to sublimate the
human mind and it is for this purpose that
the ancients considered book as Goddess
Saraswathy.
The Representation of
an Ecotone in
“When the Lost Soil
Beckoned: Life
Sketch Narrated by
C.K.Janu”
RAJ SREE M. S.
P
lacing the narrative of C. K. Janu in the larger frame work
of the literature of the natives all over the world, this paper
discerns the ecological issues dealt by her from the
perspective of ecocriticism. An ecotone is a biological term
used to describe the area between adjoining ecosystems,
which often creates an ‘edge effect’, that is, the actual
boundary between different habitats. The word ecotone is
derived from the Greek from the word tonos meaning tension.
So literally an ecotone is a place where ecologies are in
tension. In “When the Lost Soil Beckoned: Life Sketch
Narrated by C.K.Janu” we find a fine example of ecotone in
the forest where the tribal people live. They are torn from their
habitat and are left landless in a system whose culture and
tradition are alien to them. She describes the ecotone in which
she and her community lived.
Chekot Karian Janu came to limelight when she stood for
forest preservation which meant preservation of life itself for
her and her community. She narrated her life story to artist
Bhaskaran who wrote it down and it was published in
Bhashaposhini Vol. 25, No. 7, December 2001, later translated
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from Malayalam to English by Usha Menon.
The rambling narrative unravels the thoughts
of Janu as well as her people. She talks for
the whole community who are deprived of
the forest, their homeland.
There is much theorizing about the displaced
and the dislocated Indians who are happily
or willingly settled in foreign land. But what
about the natives of this land who are
forcefully uprooted from their natural habitat?
The glamour coated neo diaspora who
crossed borders for better pastures occupies
the critical arena. Even the discourses on
victim diaspora marginalize the plight of the
tribal people. Doubly marginalized, their
voice is stifled by the dominant ideology
which supports the institutionalization of
exploitation of these people. C. K. Janu,
however, gives voice to the many who are
unable to speak for themselves. It is more
than a life sketch of Janu, but that of an
entire community which suffers as a result of
human encroachment to their habitat.
She starts her narrative by referring to their
farming and about the low wages they got
for their hard work. She describes her
childhood days spend in communion with
nature.
We used to eat wild berries from the
forest. Searched for honeycomb in the
big trees. Gathered twigs. Amidst
bamboo groves we tried to see if we
could make out the elephant’s
footsteps. Sat idly by the waterfall.
Digging under rocks we searched to
see if there was water underneath…
Once in the forest, we don’t feel
hunger. We pull out tubers and eat
them. (Janu 128)
No one knows the forest like our
people. The forest is like a mother
to us
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She gives a brief account of how government
officials tried to teach them for the sake of
money. She then continues to narrate how
they lost their land and eco friendly lifestyle.
She ends her narrative with an account of
her relation to party and how she and her
people felt betrayed.
Ecological perspective played an important
role in carving the worldview of natives. It is
evident in their routine of worshipping the
nature, trees and stones. European
conventions read nature as a God given
space which is separate from man. Man
perceived land or nature as an object to
impose his will upon it and man is divinely
sanctioned as evident in Genesis 1: 28:
Then God blessed them, and God said
to them, “Be fruitful,
fill the Earth and subdue it: have
dominion over the fish of
the sea, over the birds of the air, and
over every living thing
that moves on the Earth”.
On the contrary the life and lifestyle of the
tribal people is a critique of
Anthropocentrism which places humanity at
the centre of everything and other forms of
life as resources to be consumed by human
beings. Their existence is ecocentric to the
core. “When the Lost Soil Beckoned: Life
Sketch Narrated by C.K.Janu” very well
testify their being an ecocentric community.
Though simple and lucid in content and
style, her life sketch is a living testimony of
an ecotone on the verge of destruction.
“When the Lost Soil Beckoned: Life Sketch
Narrated by C.K.Janu” foregrounds the
ramifications of human intervention towards
nature, especially the forest which is primary
to the existence of the tribal people in Kerala.
The powerful identification of the aboriginals
in Australia, First Nations in Canada, Red
Indians in America, the tribals in India, etc
with the native land is a predominant
element in their writing and world view. To
these natives across the globe, land is a
political and a survival issue. This is very
much evident in the sketch. An ecocritical
perspective on “When the Lost Soil
Beckoned: Life Sketch Narrated by
C.K.Janu” reveals the biocentic nature of the
natives as ecocriticism is “not just a means
of analyzing nature in literature; it implies a
move toward a more biocentric world view,
an extension of ethics, a broadening of
human conception of global community to
include nonhuman life forms and the
physical environment” (Branch).
The plea which runs throughout “When the
Lost Soil Beckoned: Life Sketch Narrated by
C.K.Janu” echoes the concept of ‘deep
ecology’ as a solution for protecting nature
from destruction. Advocating a biocentric
view, deep ecologists reject technological
and managerial solutions which constitute
human dominance. Similarly, she exhorts us
to recognize the non human world as having
value irrespective of its usefulness to
mankind who has no right to destroy it
except to meet vital needs. She points out
this fact as the reason for the plea for land.
Only in relation to land, they have existence.
In our area the maine sand stones are
kept for worship…In remembrance of
our grandparents and great grand
parents a few stones have been placed
there. Once a year we worship them.
Then according to tradition certain
rituals are performed. (Janu 133)
To the tribals or the adhivasis, land is their
godmother, companion and guide. ‘Nature
was there wide open before us for children to
observe and learn’. From the forest they draw
strength and courage for the present and
promise and hope for the future. “No one
knows the forest like our people. The forest is
like a mother to us. Because the forest does
not go anywhere; it is more than a mother to
us” (Janu 129).
When they are cut off from their roots- forest,
they are left adrift and rudderless. They feel
C. K. Janu proposes a going
back to the old traditions which
involves a spiritual and moral
awakening in relation with forest
and a complete transformation
regarding the habits of
consumption.
exiled and their land defiled. To quote Said
“exile is the unhealable rift forced between a
human being and a native place, between
the self and its true home” (439) and this
turns out to be traumatic. They are not just
deprived of the forest but of their tradition
and the vital flow of life. “The lifestyle of our
people, rituals and existence itself are closely
connected to the land. If that is severed, they
have a lot of problems” (Janu 139).Even their
tradition and customs could not thrive in the
new environment.
All this came from our land, forest and
nature and our relationship to them. It
can only exist in that
environment…Our songs and rituals
originated and can be preserved only
in our life pattern. In other lifestyles our
traditions cannot survive. It is all
connected to our farming, to nature, to
the earth. (Janu 139)
She justifies her plea in ecological terms. “All
this was not merely to encroach on land. It
was an encroachment of life itself — to live
and to die on the land where one was born
and bred” (Janu 142). To keep hunger away
they need land. It is in such circumstances
that the cry for landarises.
Moreover, it became an issue of survival. Cut
off from the forest, they had to find new
means of living which were alien to them.
Hunger necessitated new lifestyles. “That is
how we started to eat what we got from the
shops. Had to go to the ration shops, had to
own a ration card. Even ginger and chilly
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had to be bought. Cash was very much
needed” (Janu 135). Earlier forest catered to
all their needs but now it is not possible.
“Deep ecology proposes drastic changes in
our habits of consumption, not only to avert
catastrophe but as spiritual and moral
awakening” (Kerridge 536). C. K. Janu
proposes a going back to the old traditions
which involves a spiritual and moral
awakening in relation with forest and a
complete transformation regarding the habits
of consumption. Thus not only forest is
preserved but also their life is protected from
impending calamities. “When the Lost Soil
Beckoned: Life Sketch Narrated by
C.K.Janu” conveys the message of inter
dependence and inter relatedness of human
being and forest.
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Works Cited
Branch, Michael P., Scott Slovic, and Daniel
Patterson. Ed. Reading the Earth:
New Directions in the Study of Literature and
Environment. 1998.
Kerridge, Richard. “Environmentalism and
Ecocriticism”. Literary Theory and
Criticism. Ed. Patricia Waugh. Oxford, OUP, 2006.
530-43.
Menon, Usha. Trans. “When the Lost Soil Beckoned:
Life Sketch Narrated by
C.K.Janu”. Samyukta: A Journal of Women’s Studies.
Vol. 2, No 2,
July2002. 127-143
Said, Edward W. “The Mind of Winter”. The PostColonial Studies Reader.
Ed. Bill Ashcroft et al. London: Routledge, 1995.
439-42.
Book Review
Bharathiya Kala Charitram
(History of Indian Art)
by Vijayakumar Menon
A Monumental Study
on Indian Art
Aswathy Rajan
I don’t know what art is, but I know what it isn’t.
Brian Sewell
T
he word art comes from the Latin ‘ars’, meaning skill. This
word, later, has acquired a wider significance. In the
broadest sense, the term art embraces all the creative
subjects such as drama, literature, poetry, music, dance and
the visual art. However, today, the most commonly used
meaning is visual arts.
The visual art is put into three main categories: painting,
sculpture and architecture. The basic elements of visual arts
are form, line, space, colour, light and shade. Some of these
elements are more prominent than others in each art form.
For instance, space is a more essential concern of the
architect than of the painter.
History is hind story. Wordmaster Learner’s Dictionary of
Modern English defines history like this: the record of past
events which have had an important effect on a society or
country, the study of such events. It is the past experience of
mankind - the memory of that past experience, as it has been
preserved, largely in written records. In the poem Little Gidding
(1942), T.S Elliot says: “A people without history are not
redeemed from time/for history is a pattern of timeless
moments”.
The study of history has been regarded as a branch of
humanities. The practice of writing of history involves
intellectual skills. The writer of history should have a thorough
knowledge to assess the historical facts in the source
materials and also to interpret these materials in a meaningful
narrative. The writer himself should posses a mind of a
scientist and an artist at his heart. As a scientist he/she
should have a critical frame of mind. He/she should be
M A L AYA L A M
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familiar with the location and use of sources.
As an artist he/she should have literary
talents and the ability to perceive broad and
complex relationships. The subject of
historical research, whether it is an event,
personality or institution, must have some
relevance to the life of society as a whole.
Art history is a changing and contested
discipline, subject to longstanding debates
over arguments and methods, values and
basic principles for many decades now.
These debates inform all of the components
of the contemporary language of art history.
Beyond that situation internal to the
discipline, however, a new, related field of
inquiry visual culture has developed over the
past decade or two.
“Art for art’s sake is an empty phrase. Art for
the sake of truth, Art for the sake of the good
and the beautiful that is the faith, I am
searching for”, thus spoke George Sand
(1804-76) in his letter to Alaxandre Saint
Jean. Vijayakumar Menon, the author of this
book, seems to support him.
It is Samuel Butler who opined that; ‘history
of art is the history of revivals’. Vijayakumar
Menon in his History of art tries to analyze
that history and thereby to revitalize the
discipline of art and culture.
Of course, recording the history of art,
sculpture and architecture is a big challenge
that evolves a severe task. For that one has
to keenly observe and study the deviation in
style, the encounters with regard the ideals
and consensus in view happened through
centuries. Only those who know the
aesthetic laws or aestheticism and those
who have authentic knowledge and wisdom
with regard the facts can only realize this
endeavour. This book is the realization of
such a great effort. Such a full document of
the history of Indian art, from the primitive
age to the contemporary period, is first of its
kind in Malayalam. No other Indian
languages possess such a typical study.
Indian art is a big canvas that demands a lot
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of time to look at. Growth, stunting,
sprouting, blossoming etc. all had happened
here also. Palaces and wanderer’s camp had
equally become the cradle of art. Changes
occurred due to foreign influence. Along with
the great artists, the unknown persons or the
anonyms also happened to be the source of
immortal creations. In the course of time the
cultural signs gained deviation in meaning.
The traditional Indian art could be drawn like
a very big tree with branches spreading on
all sides of the society.
Awakening of patriotism, impulsive
perplexity, new tendency of technology etc.
are the various stages of the evolution of our
traditional art. In this book where the
evolution, relevance, vision and the change
of aesthetics of each novel movement are
historically analyzed. The revival of rural arts,
regional construction of identity, bewildering
possibilities of the global age etc. are
critically evaluated. The study mainly
depends on principles of art criticism and is
exhaustive, concise and abbreviated, without
omitting the details. In the history of regional
languages in India, it is the first time in
Malayalam that a history of Indian art is
getting published. This of course increases
the degree of fineness of the learned
knowledge society of Kerala. This also
affirms that the position of Kerala in such
matters is a bit forward in comparison to the
other states in India.
As the author admits, this is not an
independent work. The content of this work
is prepared after studying a number of
authentic works. Now a days, a lot of
researches go on in many unknown areas of
Indian art. There is indeed in our language,
lack of studies using stylistics on an
important subject like this. This is a fact that
deserves serious attention of the society.
The stress given in this work is to the nature
of time or foregone years and not for the
personal contribution of the artists or not
even for their name.
The book is divided into two sections - a
section that includes cave age and
sculpture/architecture and another section
which handles the tradition of the art of
painting. According to the stylistics of the
study of visual arts, pictures of each and
every reference should be presented along
with the argument the author has tried his
best to insert all the available pictures in this
book. Casually he also goes through
literature, philosophy etc. Here art history
associated with subjects like aestheticism,
culture, politics, economics, history etc
becomes a human subject. The evolution or
change of style becoming history of art is a
part of human culture.
Altogether there are twenty five chapters.
Under the section vasthu/ roopa silpa
paramparyam (Tradition of architecture and
sculpture), there are nine chapters, that deal
with themes such as the Art beyond history,
the Sindhu art, Buddha art, Sculpture and
Architecture, tradition of south Deccan,
Sculptural and Architectural tradition of
south India, Background of central and
western India., Creations of ancient India
and Spreading of Buddha art.
Through these chapters the author closely
examines the innumerable ways in which art
has evolved over the centuries in different
cultural contexts and historical conditions.
He tries to trace various ways in which
different art forms had engaged with ideas of
the spiritual as well as the mundane over a
large period of art history.
In the second part of the book, there are
sixteen chapters- Ajanta and other places,
Tradition of mural painting, Manuscript
pictures, Mughal art, Miniature painting
tradition of Rajasthan, Pahari pictures,
Colonial atmosphere, Ravi Varma, Indian
thought and feeling of nativity, Outlook of
revival, Modernity and Evolution of sculptural
art, Art and Progressive thought, Madras
school, The spread of modernity, Tradition of
folk art and Modernism/Post-Modernism in
India.
Author analyzes the history of Indian art
tradition, which starts from the primitive
period and extends to the Post-Modern
period of the 21st century, of course a very
lengthy and broad canvas. He has tried to
study the tradition of painting, sculpture and
architecture of India along with its diversity
with regard region, period and style. For this
he has included a methodology that
incorporates history, culture, literature,
music, anthropology, geography,
environment, philosophy etc. He is very
much particular that the topic of historical
study must have a relevance to the life of the
society as a whole. In the first chapter. ’The
art beyond history’, he begins with the
primitive man, the cave man and studies the
stone age, rock caves, cave arts, rock arts
etc. in India and Kerala. He examines deeply
the stages of evolution of the human race
and identifies the periods of Neanderthal
man, Cro-magnon and Home-sapiens etc.
He goes through the methodology developed
by Prof. H.D San Kalia for the study of rock/
cave arts of ancient period. The methodology
used here is;
1) Analysis of the specimen of class of
styles.
2) The study of the periodical changes in
colours on the surface of the painting.
3) Super-imposition- The tendency to draw a
picture on another picture.
4) Comparative study of the style seen in
cave/rock arts with the style seen in the
vessels made during the same period.
He keenly examines the history of primitive
art in Kerala in the same period. Among the
rock arts, Edakkal cave of Wayanad,
Marayur of Idukki etc. have much
importance. Edakkal cave is the only place
where petro glyphs are seen. Collins
Mackenzie is the first person who visited the
place - in 1890. With the publication of the
‘Indian Antiquity’ by Fawcett, in 1901,
Edakkal caves gained the attention of
researchers and historians. Some signs of
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63
Sindhu art also have been seen in the
pictures discovered from there recently. In the
studies by F. Fawcett on Edakkal cave, he
has attempted to compare the dance figures
seen there with that of the ritual arts of North
Malabar.
In the chapter’ Colonial atmosphere’, the
author thoroughly examines the change that
occurred in Indian art. The functions of the
theosophical society, Brahma Samajam,
Arya Samajam etc., together with the ideas
and writings of Balagangadhara Thilak, Lala
Lajpath Roy, Annie Besant, Ma Blavatsky,
Swami Vivekanandan, Sr. Nivedita, Arabindo,
Ananda Coomaraswamy, R.G Bhandarkar,
Gokhale, Karve etc. had greatly influenced
the Indian art and culture. The art of India
has no existence without a mention of Raja
Ravi Varma. He is the person who created
and spread a modern art culture in India. In
the chapter written on him, the author
examines the strength and weakness of that
veteran artist. Phalke had admitted that for
the creation of the film Satya Harischandra,
he had studied the paintings of Ravi Varma.
The author points out that Romanticism,
expression, emotions, gestures and such
things seen in Ravi Varma’s paintings have
remained for a long time like a formula in the
later films. Those who have abused him
conferring on him the labels of feudalist,
bourgeois etc. on the basis of his paintings
on epics and mythology have not gone
through his famous paintings like the
Vegetable Selling Woman, Rural Liquor
Shop, Gypsies, Harvest reaper etc.- accuses
the author. In chapters like Indian thought
and feeling of nativity, the author properly
records the controversies and disputes
centered on Bengal and their importance in
the history of Indian art. Vijayakumar Menon
objectively records the history of Indian art
taking progressive sides during freedom
struggle and highlights the progressive ideas
of Rabindranath Tagore and B.K Sirkar, who
opposed the reveling attempts of decay. In
the chapter Art and progressive thought, it is
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notable that the author does not attempt to
examine singly, the changes occurred in the
field of art. He could bring together the world
of thought and functions of Calcutta group
of Bengal, Progressive artist’s group of
Bombay, IPTA, the association of drama and
artists. He could also effectively use the
factors of universality visible even in film
songs.
The splendor of the ethnic, tribal, folk art
forms of each and every region and country
display mutuality with the tradition of Music,
Dance, Painting, Sculpture etc. of that
particular region and country. Folk arts are
those that express myths, traditional
practices, beliefs, identical signs etc. Today
the thought that this discipline of art is
essentially part of Indian culture has received
much relevance. The author discusses about
that relevance in detail in the chapter, ‘The
tradition of folk art’.
Realizing the role of academic studies in
promoting the field of art towards modernity,
the M.S University, Baroda has been
established in 1950. This university brought a
new chapter in the field of Indian art. The
author discusses modernism and its
extensions and post modernism that
originated in India as a result of the
functioning of M.S University. He discusses
separately the Indian modernity and post
modernity.
To analyze such a serious subject like art, the
author has used a simple language. The
transparency of the idea presented in each
and every chapter demands special
attention. To make the communication
easier, he has given the English version for
each and every technical term in Malayalam.
This book is designed specifically for the use
of students and scholars of art history and
visual culture. It is intended source of
reference for those involved in teaching and
learning and as an aid for those carrying out
research activities.
It is no mean task to unearth facts about art
and art history. This well-argued,
methodically organized and eminently
readable book is a pioneering work in the
field of Indian art in Malayalam and it fulfills
a long felt need. Moderately priced and
sleekly produced, the book has hardly any
printing errors. It strongly recommends itself
to every student of Indian art. Indeed this is a
monumental task.
References;
1) Word Master, Orient Black Swan, 2012.
2) Cuddon, J.A, Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary
Theory, Penguin books, 1999.
3) Ratchiffe, Susan, Oxford Quotations and Proverbs,
Oxford University Press, 2008.
M A L AYA L A M
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65
Book Review
O.V. Vijayan:
Daiva Sandramaya Kattu
by K.P.Ramesh
Reclaiming
A Prophetic Path
Sasikumar Manissery
A
great writer can mark the era in which he is living by his
creative genius and originality. O.V.Vijayan was such a
writer in Malayalam. His greatness lies in the fact that he
ventured to solve the unanswered questions about the
human existence in the quintessence of Indian philosophical
thoughts and assimilated varied stands of literary movements
of modernism with innovative narrative techniques. It was a
path in Indian literature which was not explored by many
writers of his time.
O.V. Vijayan : Daiva Sandramaya Kattu, which is a part of the
biographical series about master writers of Malayalam,
published by Kerala Sahitya Academy has 15 chapters and
an introduction by Asokan Cheruvil. The book deviates from
the familiar methodologies of biographical narratives and
enters to the realms of a spiritual biography. This short
biography follows phenomenological mode for recreating the
life of the genius through his works and it can also be seen
as a metaphorical travel through his life and times.
K.P. Ramesh thinks that the writer in O.V. Vijayan was the
product of his childhood experiences. The topography and
the culture of his native village had made deep imprint in his
mind. The palmyra tree, the ethnosymbol of Palakkad, is a
recurrent motif in his works. The local dialect of Malayalam
with a tinge of Tamil, multi-religious and multi-caste village
system, religious tolerance of simple rustic folks became the
background of many of his works. The Khasakinte Ithihasam,
which is considered as his master piece by many of his
ardent readers, is unique for its use of the local dialect and its
linguistic versatility to a fictional world which is not much
different from that of his native place. The stories of O.V.
Vijayan always present a replica of his native locality or its
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cultural ambience. The author has also
revealed many of his peculiar personal traits
which he had acquired in his childhood and
influenced his writings. He was an introvert
by nature.He was very much afraid of
spiders which he used as a symbol of
unreasonable fear always lurking around the
man.
O.V. Vijayan believed in roots. His novels
and stories are search for the roots which
were entangled in the chronicles of many
generations. A person who valued familial
relationships could not escape from their
memories. His grandfather appears as
Chamiyarappan and his parents as
Velappan and Pankajakshy in the
Thalamurakl. His grandmother is depicted in
the Ithihasathinte Ithihasam. K.P.Ramesh
points out that many of the protagonists like
Narayanan in the Pravachakante vazhi, Ravi
in the Khasakinte Ithihasam, Chandran in the
Thalamurakal, and Kunjunni in the the
Gurusagaram shares his convictions and
personal expriences.
K.P. Ramesh expounds O.V. Vijayan’s
philosophy that man is not a solitary being
in a lonely island, but he is a part of whole in
the universe. His stand was fully against the
western existentialist philosophical narratives
which ruled the Malayalam literary scene, for;
he believed that there was not much to learn
from the west. O.V. Vijayan did not see any
difference between animate and inanimate
worlds. The burden of knowledge and
innocence of the idiot are two frequent motifs
in his works which mirrors his belief in
bygone golden age of cultural primitivism. In
the later period of his literary career, he
turned to the concept of Guru, to whom he
dedicated Gurusagaram. The author admits
that even though it is too difficult to find out
whether he was a materialist or spiritualist, it
is certain that Vijayan sought a middle path
in his fictional world and in his life. The
inability of a section of critics to understand
it made him a victim of unfair criticisms than
that of any other writer in Malayalam.
The historical sense that O.V. Vijayan
introduced was unfamiliar to Malayalam
literature till then. He brings back great
historical personalities for intellectual and
farcical discussions in his works.He
reinvented historical characters to use as
allegorical symbols. The Dharmapuranam,
one such novel, created a great uproar in the
literary and political circles as it clearly
depicted the darkest period of Indian
history.It was a scathing attack against
dictatorships and power hungry authorities,
which has universal relevance especially in
third world countries. The novel not only
attacked the morality of reading, but also
gave a rude shock to the Malayalam literary
sensibilities.
Religions have greater role in the world of
O.V. Vijayan who did not have any type of
animosity towards any religion and tried only
to inculcate the truths of all manifestations
of the theistic world.But many of his critics
attempted to crucify him labelling him as a
Hindu fundamentalist without understanding
his philosophy of life. It may be due to their
inability to comprehend the truth behind his
greater narratives. The author doubts
whether the lack of support for his positivist
and secular thoughts from the writers
fraternity had led him to the pitfall to a
certain extent at the fag end of his life. The
family background of O.V. Vijayan was a
synthesis of Indian pluralistic ethos which he
followed in his life also. Many fingers have
been pointed at him ignoring the trials and
tribulations he went through in his life on
account of the alleged benefactors. The
author reminds us that during the period of
their rule, he had to move out of Delhi as he
raised his voice against Hindu right wing
through his media, while the Babri Masjid
issue was burning in Indian body politic.
K.P. Ramesh thinks that the origin of ecospirituality in Malayalam literature can be
traced to the works of O.V. Vijayan. The
oneness of human, plant and animal life, the
need of co-existence of all elements of
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animate and inanimate worlds, and
communication of the material and spiritual
planes are some of the major themes in his
works. Water has given a prominent role in
his works as an elemental force behind the
creation and destruction.In short,
O.V.Vijayan’s spirituality was embedded to
his vision of co-existence of man and nature.
O.V. Vijayan was versatile creative genius.His
creative talents were not confined to the field
of fiction. He was a cartoonist and a
journalist par excellence. He contributed
regularly to The Hindustan Time, The Hindu,
The Asia Week, and The Far Eastern
Economic Review.His ideological and
philosophical doctrines were beyond
national boundaries. His cartoons taught
new lessons for the people who thought that
the aim of cartoons was only to present a
comical caricature of the reality. K.P. Ramesh
thinks that the majority of O.V. Vijayan’s
readers in Kerala are not much familiar with
his world of cartoons and journalism, which
were his profession for major part of his
life.His cartoons were of a class by
themselves in arousing intellectual laughter
with its refined sarcasm and black
humour.The fearless social critic and political
analyzer in him were revealed through his
non-fction works.
O.V. Vijayan has been criticised for the role of
women characters in his novels and short
stories. The main vilification was that he did
not give noteworthy roles to women in his
works.K.P. Ramesh admits in the earlier
phase or writings it was true to a certain
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extent, but the fact remains unnoticed by
such critics is that the change that his
women characters underwent in the later
phase of his career in tandem with his
changed concept of woman. The readings of
the women characters of the Khasakinte
Ithihasam by some critics and members of
religious orthodoxy have also led to much
unwarranted criticism against
O.V.Vijayan.They have failed to discern the
fact that in his fictional world, the difference
between the sexes is of trivial in value, and
he presents the characters and situations in
their totality of complex and enigmatic
human relationships.Many critics fell to the
trap of fallacy of quotations by being
selective in reading and criticism.
The last chapter presents a bird’s eye view of
O.V. Vijayan’s works in varied genres. A list of
translations, criticisms, documentaries and
films about the author and his works are
also given which will be useful for serious
readers and the students of literature. The
details about criticisms in English and other
languages should also have been added to
get a more comprehensive view of the
criticsim about his works.
O.V. Vijayan: Daiva Sandramaya Kattu is, no
doubt, a significant endeavour to draw a true
picture of O.V. Vijayan, the man and the
writer, from his writings. Even though it is a
short biography, K.P.Ramesh could deal his
subject with justice. It can be expected that
this work may inspire to have a more
detailed biography of the master story teller
of all times.
Book Review
Feminine Spirituality
by Rosy Thampy
Feminine Spirituality:
Essays on Soliloquies
of the Feminine Soul
Alwin Alexander
T
his book constitutes the personal ruminations of a
fearless crusader for the feminist cause. It remaps the
feminist thought, often limited to general ideological criticism,
to analyze the feminine spaces of spirituality across different
roles and classes. Though the book is an eclectic collection
of essays, published on various occasions, they are bound
together by their thematic unity. The work offers often
refreshing and useful analyses of not only Biblical texts but
also a wider set of texts that reflect and construct the ancient
discourse of gender and gender space in spirituality.
The essay ‘Feminine Spirituality’ is seminal in that, the whole
argument of the book rests on the cornerstone of conjectures
raised here. Rosy Thampy straightforwardly presents the
reader with her thesis that in a woman there is no distinction
between her body and herself and that it is only through her
body that she knows her inner being, which is the spirit.
Feminine spirituality repudiates the prevailing attitudes to
spirituality, such as male domination, parochialism and any
kind of aggressive mentality. The author maintains that as the
feminine body is a strong energy-flow of reproduction,
protection and sexuality, it is difficult to set the body aside in
woman’s spirituality. The strength of her spirituality consists in
her recognizing her body and spirit with true understanding.
She seeks her spirituality in a way that is quite different from
that of man. Her meditation does not lie in observing silence
but in conversations. The essay ‘Feminine Spirituality and
Sexuality’ contextualizes the study within discussions of
several issues: the body spirit dichotomy, the problem of
celibacy and sexuality, the relation between love and sacrifice
and the duality of man and woman. A clarion call for a
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spirituality that takes cognizance of woman,
body and sexuality is made here.
The next few essays chart gleanings from
very intimate experiences of the author as a
woman and a mother. Pregnancy becomes
an epiphanic experience for her as it takes
her higher and beyond herself. Christmas,
for her, becomes a mother’s festival, soaked
in mother’s milk! The essay ‘Jesus and
Women’ overviews Jesus’ approach towards
women by elucidating three instances of his
typical interaction with women. He comes
face to face with three sinful women: the
woman caught in the act of adultery, the
woman at Jacob’s well and the sinful
woman who washed his feet. On all of these
occasions he is very compassionate and
considerate towards the women. The author
considers this as a vindication of her call for
a greater role for and representation of
women in the matters of the Catholic
Church. She sees a hidden conspiracy
among the men to propagate male
domination in the church. The next essay
considers the diametrically opposite and
hierarchically ordered aspects of duality in
man’s discourse (Man/Woman, Active/
Passive, Culture/Nature, Intellect/Heart,
Firmness/Vacillation). It also makes a
passionate appeal for the correction of the
‘historical mistake’ of keeping the women out
of ordained ministry in the Catholic Church.
The essay ‘Woman, Nature and Spirituality’
diligently inspects the facets like feminism,
eco-feminism and eco-theology in the
context of feminine spirituality. Allusions to
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the books of the Bible (Deuteronomy, Amos,
Isaiah etc) are copious in this sections. The
final essay of the book traces the presence
of women with Jesus in his final journey to
the cross and later at the site of his
resurrection. Rosy Thampy sets a template
for a feminist reading of thescriptures here
with a feminist interpretation of the relevant
passages.
That there is no difference between man and
woman in the presence of the Divine cannot
be contested. And Rosy Thampy’s basic
thesis is sound, that women must discover
their rightful place in spirituality, in spite of
the inhibitions placed by patriarchal
authorities of organized religion. There are
some conceptual difficulties in her
proposition that spirituality and sexuality are
mutually inclusive. Yet, her desire to have a
space for women in spirituality cannot be
refuted. The work could prove to be
foundational for a renewed engagement with
religious texts and gender discourse. The
book, of course, will have to be susbjected to
further scrutiny for some of the ‘controversial’
issues of feminine spirituality that it deals
with. However, it must be added that, the
book is proof enough for the fact that novel
and divergent perspectives are alive and
thriving in the feminist discourses of the
academic and theological communities.
Rosy Thampy’s book provides impulses for
further discussions and portends a fertile
future for feminist studies, specifically the
task of altering biased social structures.
Translated by Sebastian Thottipat
Our
Contributors
Alwin Alexander
Dept. of English, U.C. College, Aluva.
Dr. J. Anjana
Asst. Professor, Dept. of English, N.S.S. College, Pandalam.
Aswathy Rajan
Research Scholar, Dept. of Dance, Sarojini Naidu School of
Performing Arts & Communication, Hyderabad Central Unvty.,
Hyderabad - 500 046
K.K.S. Das
‘Samskara’,
Chathanthara P.O., Kottayam - 686 510.
Geethanjali
Dept. of English,
St. Alosious College, Elthuruth, Thrissur
George Joseph K.
Kollamparambil House, Kaloor P.O., Kathrukadavu,
Councillor Road, Kochi - 682 017.
Indu Rajasekharan
Dept of English, St. Xavier’s College, Aluva.
Dr. Kalamol T.K.
Dept. of Malayalam, Sreekrishna College,
Guruvayoor, Thrissur.
N.A. Karim
Former Pro Vice Chancellor, University of Kerala,
Thiruvananthapuram
Dr. Shornur Karthikeyan
‘Sruthi’, Ayyanthole, Tcr - 3.
Dr. Muse Mary George
Dept. of Malayalam, U.C. College, Aluva.
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Dr. N. Prasanthkumar
Dept. of English, Sree Sankaracharya Unvty. of
Sanskrit, Kalady, Ernakulam.
Raj Sree M.S.
Dept. of English, All Saints College
Thiruvananthapuram
R. Rose Chandran
‘Karthika’, P.O. Koithoorkonam,
Pothencode (Via), Thiruvananthapuram.
Karoor Sasi
‘Thinkal’, Sindhooram Apts,
East Fort, Tcr - 680 005.
V.K. Sharafudheen
Padoor, Thrissur
Dr. Sheeja R.S.
Asst. Professor, Dept. of Malayalam,
S.S.U.S. Regional Centre, Thiruvananthapuram.
Dr. A.M. Sreedharan
Head of the Department, Department of Malayalam, Kannur
University, Dr. P.K. Rajan Memorial Campus, Neeleswaram.
Thomas Joseph
Smart Family Magazine, Perumanoor, Thevara,
Kochi - 15.
Dr. Harippad Vamanan Namboothiri
Nalanda, Vyrasseri Mana, Vettuveni, Harippad - 690 514.
Viju Nayarangadi
Dept. of Malayalam, Thunjan Memorial Govt. Arts & Science
College, Tirur, Malappuram.
Sr. Vineetha George
Dept. of Malayalam, Little Flower College,
Guruvayoor, Thrissur.
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