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Maintain status quo at Sabarimala: Anita Nair

Staff Reporter

`Why put women through unnecessary hustle and bustle?'

MAKING A POINT CLEAR: WRITER Anita Nair says "good honest writing" is conspicuous by its absence among Indian English writers. She was interacting with mediapersons at the Press Club in Thiruvananthapuram on Sunday. - Photo: S. Mahinsha

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: W riter Anita Nair has favoured maintenance of status quo on the issue of women's entry into the Sabarimala temple.

"My personal view is that women devotees should keep off Sabarimala. Why put women through unnecessary hustle and bustle? There is no need to change the prevailing tradition," she said inaugurating of the `Literary Forum' of the Press Club here on Sunday.

The Bangalore-based writer, who shot to fame with her debut novel, `The Better Man,' said "good honest writing" was conspicuous by its absence among Indian English writers.

"Some of the works published by the Indian English writers, which I read during my teenage years were like reading `outer Mongolia.' It was only after reading `Swami and Friends,' by R.K. Narayan that I experienced a work that is purely Indian in context, milieu and sensibilities," she said.

Romanticised writing

"A lot of writing on India is romanticised. There is a sense of celebrating a particular State and its culture," said Ms. Nair, whose literary works have been translated into more than 25 languages.

Describing Indian English writers as the `orphaned children of nowhere,' Ms. Nair said they were a confused lot unable to find out who the "real readers are." "The regional language writers are at an advantage here."

The term literature stood only for Western literature among the children of the State today.

"They speak of literature as if it is a Western branch. A student learning `Daffodils' imbibes the poem without understanding the colour or shape of the flower," Ms. Nair said.

"Learning about Western literature is like undertaking a package tour."

Ms. Nair's latest work `Mistress,' a searing novel on art and adultery released last year, is set against the backdrop of the Nila river and Kalamandalam, cradle of dance and music.

"I love Kerala for what it is. My sense of identification with the State heightens every time I overhear a conversation in Malayalam or when I inhale the appetising smell of coconut oil at some hotel," said Ms. Nair, who visits the State every six weeks.

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