Unwanted controversies about 'Ram C/o Anandhi'

Akhil P Dharmajan's novel 'Ram C/o Anandhi', which attracts a new generation of readers to the world of reading, has been a big controversy among a section of writers for winning the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar for Young Writers. This is extremely unfortunate. This novel has sold more than four lakh copies in more than fifty editions in a short period of time. Most of its readers are young people from the new generation. This means that the novel is able to impact their imagination. There are many books in Malayalam literature that have sold lakhs of copies but selling more than four lakh copies in a few years is quite remarkable. Although it can be argued that selling copies is not the criterion for evaluating writing, let us not forget the truth that it is the readers who make literary works timeless.

This is a work written by a young writer named Akhil P Dharmajan, combining his own experiences with fiction. The novel tells the story of a young Malayali named Ram who comes to Chennai to study film and the experiences he encounters there. The novel, which spans the cultural backgrounds of Tamil Nadu and Kerala, contains love, travel, humour, and conflicts. The novel also presents a tender picture of the dilemmas of transgender and the Sri Lankan community. Akhil himself has said in the introduction that he wants to call this novel a cinematic novel and that this novel should be viewed with the same attitude as when buying a ticket to see a movie. By sarcastically referring to this novel as a painkili genre novel, some literary scholars are criticizing Kendra Sahitya Akademi for committing an unpardonable crime.

It is not known who assigned these people to set the standards of literary enjoyment. Are these critics unaware that literary enjoyment habits and sentimentality change with time and life? Muttathu Varkey was someone who many criticized as a painkili genre writer at one point. However, it would be interesting to remember that many of those who won the Muttathu Varkey Award after his death are pioneers of Malayalam literature. Those who read well know that some of the writings that critics praise as cutting-edge are filled with artificiality. What is leaking from those writings is real life.

At least we should not throw stones at Akhil P Dharmajan, who introduces new readers to the magical world of reading. Let him write. So many people enjoyed reading that book because his writing could communicate with the readers. Born in an ordinary working-class family in Pathirapalli, Alappuzha, this 32-year-old came to the world of writing after struggling with life. This writer also has a history of walking around and selling the books he wrote himself. Therefore, we wish that Akhil P Dharmajan's inkwell be full of greater vigour to take our new generation to the blooming spring of reading. At the same time, we congratulate him on winning the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award.