Kerala - Kollam   

Active politics can make a writer parochial, says Sethu

Staff Reporter

HONOUR: Vayalar Award winner Sethu being honoured by the Kollam Public Library and Research Centre at a function on Saturday.

KOLLAM: Sethu, who won this year's Vayalar Award has said a writer will be like being in handcuff if he gets involved in active politics.

At a meet the press programme here on Saturday, Sethu said being a member of the society, he had a definite political disposition in the form of an affinity towards a particular political party. "But I would not like to get too much involved with that party," he said.

Active politics can make a writer parochial. Compared to many other countries, writers in India enjoy appreciable freedom, he said. He said he preferred not to categorise literary works. To him there were only two types of literary works — good and bad. Categorising literary works served no purpose.

He opined that the electronic medium will never be able to give the kind of satisfaction generated through reading printed matter. The reading culture adopted and promoted in Kerala was a boon for the State in many ways. "Libraries in the State are among the most active in the country. In fact it is the reading habit of the State which promotes writers," he said.

He, at the same time, expressed concern on whether the reading habit has percolated to the new generation. "While it is understandable that a student preparing for an entrance examination will not have the inclination to read literary works, it is at the same time shocking to note that even some post-graduate students of literature do not read beyond their text books," Sethu said.

He termed the Late Vayalar Rama Varma as a versatile poet who could pen poems on a wide range of subjects with ease. In fact the poems Vayalar penned with a thematic base of Christianity, revolution, Communism and Hindu mythology are all equally wonderful. Sethu wondered whether Vayalar had got the due recognition for that.

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