Who is afraid of Anand?

Here I mean the Malayalam writer Anand; not the chess player Viswanathan Anand or the techie-journalist Anand Parthasarathy of The Hindu or the Hindi music director Anand in Anand-Milind duo. Also I did not certainly mean Anand Xavier P. If you are wondering who he is, check out Wikipedia article for “Malayalam writer Anand” from Google search. Here is the Wikipedia text:

"Anand Xavier P (popularly known amongst Britto students by his pen-name GURU) is a well-known writer in Malayalam whose works explore the predicament of the common students. His friends emil, allwin and johnson give the courage. He went to T.I.M.E along with Naveen. Anand is one of the most eminent intellectuals in Kerala today challenging various forms of religious fundamentalisms. He is a recipient of many awards including the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and Vayalar Award. Born in 1936 at Irinjalakuda in Trissur district of Kerala, Anand 1958 [sic] graduated in civil Engineering in 1958 [from Trivandrum Engineering College]. He worked in various government departments including short service commission in Indian army, before retiring as Planning Director from the Central Water Commission, Government of India."


The sentences shown in italics refer to Anand Xavier P. But surprisingly, follwing sentences correctly provide the details of the Malayalam writer Anand. Something has gone awry for the Wikipedia editors. Simply deleting the italics text will make the article error-free. Anand’s original name is Sachithanandan. When he started writing, there had already been a Sachithanandan established in Malayalam literature: the well-known poet who was the president of Kendra Sahithya Academy. So he chose to write in the pseudonym Anand. He was one of the many ‘finds’ of the noted critic and poet M. Govindan. Anand’s philosophical text and emotionless narration had put away many a publisher and editor. But Govindan was convinced about the talent of Anand and persuaded the editors of Mathrubhoomi weekly to publish Alkkoottam, Anand’s first novel. It was a new experience for the Malayalee readers and the book received rave reviews and pungent criticisms alike. He followed Alkkoottam with three more equally abstract novels: Maranacertificate, Abhayarthikal and Utharayanam. These books made Anand a writer with considerable standing in Malayalam. But it was in the late eighties and early nineties that Anand came up with two more novels, Marubhoomikal Undakunnathu and Govardhanante Yaathrakal, which made him an icon in Malayalam literature. He also wrote many short stories and articles, most of which deal with plight of the ordinary people who are exploited by the people in power. (I do not mean to stick a label on Anand, as I feel he is the only writer who has a broad worldview that can be compared to O.V. Vijayan’s.)

Anyway, the Wikipedia article almost justifies one its confounders’ comment that it lacks maturity. Larry Sanger, who claims to have co-founded Wikipedia with its popularly known founder Jimmi Wales, recently commented in an interview that Wikipedia lacks, among other things, maturity too. Click here to read the interview.

Anyway, Anand continues to make news in outside world also. Recently Balachandran Chullikkadu, a well-known poet in Malayalam, remarked that Anand is the messiah of NGOs (means non-gazetted officers, who form a large part of middle class of Kerala). I don’t know how many NGOs actually read Anand; very few in my experience though. What makes Anand different from the contemporary writers in Kerala, apart from his extra-ordinary originality, is his staunch decision to not indulge in verbal crossfire with other writers. While writers like Balachandran Chullikkadu waste their words in slinging mud on other writers, Anand continues to enthrall the readers through his stories and articles. One of his recent stories, Bimbangal, published in Mathrubhoomi weekly, is easily the best short story in Malayalam in 2006.

There were errors in the list of books in Wikipedia article as well. The following is taken from Wikipedia entry:
Books by Anand
• vishavithu ((Novel)
• kolapaathakakkalari (Novel)(Winner of the Bala Sahitya Akademi Award)
• Chanjo (Stories)
• Rakesh Rajan (Studies of human beings as part of nature and society)
• smarana (Studies on religious fundamentalism in India)
• killer(stories)
• crime no :13 (Stories)


In my knowledge Anand has never written these books. Let me give a list of my own:

Books by Anand

Novels

Alkkoottam
Maranacertificate
Utharayanam
Abhayarthikal
Marubhoomikal Undakunnathu
Govardhanante Yaathrakal
Vyaasanum Vighneswaranum


Short story collection

Asantham
Veedum Thadavum
Ira
Odiyunna Kurisu
Samvadam
Naalamathe Aani

Dramas

Savaghoshyathra
Mukthipadham

Other Books

Sambhashanangal (Dialogue with Sachithanandan, the poet)
Idavelakalil
Jaivamanushyan