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Driven by the PASSION of Christ
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`Nasrayan', a recently published novel on the Life of Christ, is an inspirational work.
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WHILE MEL Gibson's `Passion of Christ' resurrects the terrifying last 12 hours of his life, a recently published novel in Malayalam, `Nasrayan,' too, narrates the Life of Christ in an impelling, original way. Explains writer Nelson Fernandez, who is more renowned for his dramas and songs that he has penned in a literary career, spanning, four decades, " In 1962 I read Nikos Kazantzakis's `Last Temptation of Christ'. That was my inspiration. But routine work and other writings like songs and dramas, took up most of my time. It was in 1993 that I took VRS from my profession and concentrated on writing this novel. The next eight years, was devoted in research on the subject. Jose Saramago's, `Gospel According to Christ', Thomas. A. Kempis's, `Imitation of Christ' and William Barclay's, `Jesus of Nazareth' formed the basis of my work."
Mr. Fernandez reveals that a certain restlessness, which dogged him for years to write this work, is satiated, now. "It is as though the thirst is quenched." And it is this attained peace that makes him gracefully accept the award bestowed on him, but one that is not central any more. "It is a good thing to get an award. But this work has given me so much pleasure, so much mental satisfaction, which I had never experienced before, that the award becomes secondary."
Coming from a family of playwrights, (his grandfather and father wrote plays, traditional plays like chavittunatkam, and other social plays) it was his aunt, "a voracious reader" who had the most powerful influence on him. Ben Hur in 1973, a historical play, `Alexander the Great', a psychological drama, `Nakshatra Bungalow' and `The Robe' a Biblical play, in 1981 that qualified Mr. Fernandez as a dramatist. But it was his touching lyrics, the songs written for the dramas and direction of several plays that made him a total literary figure.
Recently, felicitated by ISCRA, a socio-cultural society, he rues about the disappearance of `Fine Arts' bodies in the State. "There is a marked dip in the standard of theatre in the State. Nowadays, theatre has become `filmi'. People crave for cheap comedy. Even films have degenerated. All the seriousness has gone and that is one of the reasons I took to writing a novel." Published earlier this year, `Nasrayan,' once again presents the life of Christ, but, explains Mr. Fernandez, "the difference is that this not only tells the story of Christ, but the story of the period. It is a geographical, political, legal, historical account of the times in Palestine, where Jesus was born, grew and died. The parables related to his life, the miracles, are all well known but little is known about the day-to-day life of the times. A complete vacuity prevails from the age of 12 till he entered public life as a 30 year old. This invites debate. And I am of the opinion that Jesus lived an ordinary life as a son of a carpenter, till then. This is evident from the metaphors and similes that Christ uses, culled from the lives of fisherman and peasants."
With a foreword written by N. S. Madhavan the novel is available in city bookstores.
`Nasrayan' being his literary `tour de force', at least in terms of satisfaction, Mr. Fernandez is toying with the thought of a novel about the Old Testament.
" I am studying the history of the period," says he, and believes that the present times have advanced technologically, but have declined spiritually. " I strongly believe that everybody should have equality. Christ has said that. Swami Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln have all influenced my thinking. And now I want to study the Vedas."
Born, bred and having lived his entire life at Amaravathi, Fort Kochi, Mr. Fernandez draws little or no inspiration from his surroundings and everyday expressions, unlike his contemporary dramatist, Tip- Top Aziz. " He is a great observer of things and I have always seen the serious side of things," comments the writer on his friend and dramatist.
And though, present day society does not form a raw material for Fernandez' works, it is the drive to spread the undiluted word of Christ around, in society that makes him write and write so powerfully and with such clarity.
PRIYADARSSHINI SHARMA
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