Kerala - Kollam   

Kakkanadan not elated at winning award

Staff Reporter

KOLLAM: Novelist Kakkanadan who won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award says that he is not elated about the award.

At a meet-the-press programme here on Saturday, he said: "This year, the award committee felt that I should get the award and who would refuse Rs. 50,000?. There is nothing great even in winning the Nobel Prize.''

Many a time, the awards are not given to the deserving.

The novelist said that when he had penned some of his best works he did not receive any award.

He added that he was happy with the Akademi award "but only in a limited way."

Mr. Kakkanadan said that earlier he had great respect for the Communists.

"But not any more," he added. At present it is a shame to remain a Communist, he said. In the past, the Communists were a dedicated lot who stood for a cause.

Mr. Kakkanadan's recalled that during his childhood his home used to be a refuge for Communist leaders who were forced to go into hiding.

Later, his respect for the Communists began to wane and he wrote the novel `Ushnamekhala.'

His new work `Kambolam' is half way through. He expects to wrap it up in the next three to four months.

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