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Now, a novel on the bard of Edappally

Changampuzha Krishna Pillai never left the Malayali psyche. His words, and later stories about his life, had been part of the literary consciousness of the land. Now, a new novel based on his life is being readied for release.

At the concept level, Gandharva Sparsam, the novel by M.K. Chandrasekharan, looks promising. But the work, by an author with around eight titles to his credit, falters from the beginning and fails to take off fully.

The novel begins with a story of a gandharva, the celestial singer, inviting the wrath of Indra, the King of Gods, for falling in love with a dancer in latter's court. Too clichéd, it should be said, to begin a work on Changampuzha. Although the title claims that the work is based on the life of Changampuzha, the author himself says that he has drawn episodes from the lives of P. Kunhiraman Nair and Vyloppilli Sreedhara Menon, while creating his character.

True, the novel is said in first person by a poet who climbed heights of fame at young age. Told using the literary technique of stream of consciousness, the main character is never identified in the work by his name, but his friends are - like fellow-poet Edappally Raghavan Pillai, who commits suicide after an unsuccessful a love affair. Giving too obvious hints to the character.

The idea to work on a novel was formed after learning that all the books that appeared so far have not done justice to the poet's real life. However, fiction was chosen as a medium to present the poet's life to avoid controversies, says Mr. Chandrasekharan.

The biographic novel rushes through main incidents in the poet's life, with accent often on his relations with women. The new work presents the already known anecdotes about the legend that was Changampuzha, but from a new angle - that of the poet. The book will be released on October 3 at Changampuzha Park, Edappally. Vice-Chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit K.S. Radhakrishnan will release the book by handing over the first copy S. Rameshan Nair, poet. Literary critic M. Leelavati will deliver a commemorative lecture on the poet.

Anand Haridas

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