Malayalis in city to honour favourite writer

Kolkata: The 10,000-plus Malayali community in the city plans a grand celebration to honour their favourite contemporary writer, the late O V Vijayan, on Saturday. With Vijayan having spent a part of his professional life in Kolkata, Kairali Samajam, the social networking platform of the community, seems to have a greater reason to hold the event here.

The programme, being organized in association with O V Vijayan Foundation in Kerala, will see a number of contemporary young writers visiting the city to speak on the relevance of Vijayan's experimental style of writing, ranging from political satire to allegory and magic realism, often considered a landmark in the Malayali literary movement. The Padma Bhushan, honoured for his literary contributions to Malayali literature, is best known for his novel, 'Khasakkinte Itihasam', which took Kerala by storm in its original Malayali version; its subsequent translations in other languages also seemed to have a similar reaction from the rest of the country. Published in 1969, the book is still one of the best known and read books in Kerala, so much so Malayali literature is divided into a pre-Khasak and post-Khasak phase.

"Vijayan wrote six novels, nine short story collections, nine collections of essays, memoirs and reflections and several translations into English. Being an English literature scholar, he dabbled in Malayalam to English with ease," said T K Gopalan, secretary of Kairali Samajam and CEO of Garden High School. The multi-talented Vijayan was also a trained cartoonist, published in leading newspapers and magazines, starting from his time in Kolkata till he moved to Delhi and then south.

On Saturday, Malayali writers, such as Chandra Prakash and Susmesh Chandroth, who won Sahitya Akademi for young writers, will talk about the relevance of the style and content of the "angry young man" of Malayali literature in today's world. Filmmaker and deputy director of films division Joshy Joseph, known to be a Vijayan proponent, will also speak at the event. "Much like the literature-loving Bengalis, Keralites are also extremely attached to their literary roots. Vijayan's name kindles a flame in every Malayali's heart. It's been a little over a decade since he passed away, leaving a permanent chasm. Finally, a programme in his honour will be our tribute to the great writer," said K Shashidharan, a management consultant and governing body member of the Samajam.