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Second to none

V. K. Madhavan Kutty writes about the victimisation of the second-child in families in his new book

"I am a journalist, and not so much a writer," said V. K. Madhavan Kutty, former editor of Mathrubhumi and the co-founder of Asianet, at the launch of his latest novel `The Unspoken Curse' at Odyssey, Anna Nagar. "I have written my observations of five or six families who lived near mine," he said.

The book narrates the story of Kalyanikutty, second-child of a Nair couple, living in a joint family. It centres around the second child syndrome and weaves it with the complexities of a matrilineal system.

"I have seen families where every child is somebody's favourite," said one of the members of the audience. So won't the second child be somebody's favourite too, she asked. "I have observed that the second child is often neglected. Girls may suffer from this more because they stay at home, while the boys go away," replied the author. "The neglect is not restricted to Malayalee Hindu families. My friends from Tamil Nadu and North India and of Christian and Muslim faiths have noted this too," he said.

The story is said in simple and short sentences. "When I give lengthy speeches to important people, they ask me to keep it short. Also, in the broadcast media we need to keep our copy to the point."

The "Unspoken Curse" has been translated from the Malayalam version "Ashreekaram" by Prema Jayakumar. Asokamithran, Tamil novelist, said that translators had to be given their due. "A well-written story can fall to pieces if the translator has done a sloppy job," he said.

Sashi Kumar, Chairman, Asian College of Journalism, was present for the launch. Actor-director, Revathi read out Chapter 3, while Vikram Subhekar and Syna Danugara, students of the Asian College of Journalism, read out chapters 1 and 8, respectively.

The `Unspoken Curse' costs Rs. 295.

ASHA S. MENON

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