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`Original thinking creates a good critic'

By Our Staff Reporter

THRISSUR, JULY 27. To be a good literary critic, one need not be a pundit, Sukumar Azhikode, writer, has said.

Addressing a meeting organised by the Thrissur Public Library here this evening to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of the publication of his debut work, `Asante Seetha Kavyam', Mr. Azhikode said that original thinking, fine-tuned aesthetic sensibility, a good heart and the ability to see one's inner light create a good critic.

Debut work

"My debut work, considered to be among my readable works, is an example. When I wrote the book, I didn't have even a quarter of the knowledge I have today. Had I written it today, it may have shaped up as a fat title and won fulsome praise, but would have been less readable than the one I wrote as an inspired 29-year-old,'' Mr. Azhikode said.

Art of writing

Writing, he observed, was all about the invisible art of rejection. "There is a sculpture hidden inside every stone. To create the beautiful, the unwanted has to be rejected. Similarly, the writer should reject the undesirable to create the ethereal.''

Mr. Azhikode said he admired Ezhuthachan's version of the Ramayana, a gem of Malayalam literature, but felt drawn more towards Valmiki's original, which portrayed Lord Rama, warts and all. "Valmiki is our most original Dalit poet. He speaks of human aspirations and follies with rare feeling." These aspects have mostly been disregarded by Ezhuthachan. Asan is among our few poets who have imbibed the spirit of Valmiki.''

Mr. Azhikode said that his chief source of inspiration was Vivekananda's observation about the uniqueness of Sita. "There has been no other character of its kind in our 4,000-year-old history of culture. Sita is a model to Indian women, not in the sense the neo-Hindu brigade have understood it, but in the way she signifies the true spirit of woman.''

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