Driven by favouritism and political influence, prestigious literature awards are no longer a reflection of literary excellence they once used to be

The reasons for the downfall in the standards of Malayalam literary works have come out thanks to an octogenarian literary professional who is passionate about the high quality novels, short stories, and poems authored by the likes of G Sankara Kurup,  Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, Kesava Dev, S K Pottekattu, etc.

Malayalam novels, poems and stories, a trendsetter of modern literature during the 1940-1970 period and which hogged the national limelight have paled into insignificance over the last four decades because of the poor standard of writing. The modern day writers are obsessed only with awards and the resultant cash prizes that come with ot, according to C K Anandan

Pillai, the 81- year old editor of Sahitya Vimarsam, a quarterly publication exclusively focusing on literary works. In his pursuit to find out the reasons for the fall in the standards of Malayalam literary works, what Pillai found out is shocking. “More than the quality of the works, the writers are vying with one another to get the awards instituted by Kerala Sahitya Academy, monopolised by the CPI(M) and Left intellectuals.“The modern day Malayalam writers are ignorant about the great works of Kalidasa.

They do not have any idea about Premchand, Saraswathichandra, K M Munshi or Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyaya or even Kalki of neighboring Tamil Nadu,”  said Dr Ravi Shankar S Nair, leading literary critic as well as a puritan of Malayalam language. Dr M Rajeev Kumar, himself a protagonist of modern literature in Malayalam said that what is being published nowadays as novels and stories are mere jugglery with words and sentences.

Kesava Dev, always considered a rebel as well as revolutionary in Malayalam literature had said in the 1970s that unless one gets hands-on experience in life and the world in which we live, no literature would be possible.

Dev was the first Malayalam writer to write about head load workers, rickshaw pullers and subalterns in the Kerala society. His interactions with people in this category resulted in eternal classics like Odayil Ninnu (From the Gutter) which was written in 1940.

Since the story had its origin from the bottom of his heart, the work remains an eternal classic more than eight decades after it was published. Anandan Pillai has shocking disclosures to make to the readers.

The works that bag the top honours from Kerala get recognised by the National Academy of Letters in New Delhi. Standards and qualities are dumped into gutters as third-rated writers walk away with awards and cash prizes. What happens is that the truly deserving writers never make it to the victory stand.

The Vilasini Award for 2024 declared by the Kerala Sahitya Academy to P K Pokker has opened a can of worms. The Award was meant for studies in the branch of Malayalam novels and was instituted by M K Menon (1928-1993), the author of India’s longest novel The Inheritors (Avakaasikal) published in 1980.

When Menon found that there were no serious studies about Malayalam novels, he set apart Rs five lakh as a corpus fund and instituted an award for the best study undertaken on Malayalam novels. The award carried a prize money of Rs 50,000 and a citation. The one stringent condition by Menon was that the award should be given to a serious and quality study on a novel.

He also wanted the award should be named after O Chandu Menon, author of Indulekha, the first ever Malayalam novel.The Marxists ruling the Kerala Sahitya Academy threw to the winds all the norms prescribed by M K Menon and selected Pokker’s collection of essays “The Blue Light of Creativity” for this year’s award.

Menon had instructed in his will that there is no need for the academy to honour the writers as a ritual every year. “He had mentioned that if no quality studies are available, the award need not be given at all,” said A B Reghunathan Nair, who helped Menon to draft the will.

 Pillai points out that this is not just one case of nepotism and favouritism which are the hallmarks of Sahitya Academy. K P Ramanunni, executive committee member of the National Academy of Letters chose Unni Ammayambalam, a hitherto unheard writer for a sub-standard work on children’s literature. “The reason? Unni who was the chairman of Pottekkat Memorial Award Committee had ensured that Ramanunni got the award for the best story.

Self-styled poets are all members of the award mafia ruling the roost in Malayalam literature.

The National Academy of Letters, as part of a cover-up mission, has stopped publicizing the names of jury members, books that were considered and what made the selection process have put an iron curtain on queries under the RTI Act. Well, it is better to leave certain things unsaid, unexplained and undisclosed.

(The writer is the south India Bureau chief of the Pioneer; views are personal)