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Joseph wields a pen that 'stabs'

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Medha Dutta Yadav
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Joseph wields a pen that 'stabs'

Malayalam author Sarah Joseph recently won the inaugural Women Writer’s Prize 2021 from SheThePeople for her novel, Budhini. Translated from the original Malayalam into English by her daughter and writer, Sangeetha Sreenivasan, the book, according to the jury, “Encapsulates India—an India that is still largely unknown and silent, whose stories are still not a part of our so-called mainstream. A strong, wonderfully written story told with empathy, it enriches our perception and understanding of an India that we often ignore.”

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Published by Penguin Random House India, Budhini reimagines a real incident when Jawaharlal Nehru visited Jharkhand to inaugurate a dam across the Damodar river in 1959. Fifteen-year-old Budhini Mehjan was chosen by the Damodar Valley Corporation to welcome the Prime Minister. Budhini garlanded Nehru, for which she was ostracised from her village as this was seen as an act of marriage.

Known for her feminist works, Joseph has won various prizes, including the Sahitya Akademi Award—her novel Aalahayude Penmakkal won her the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award, the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and the Vayalar Award. Joseph wears the tag of a feminist proudly and believes a story can be told in many ways. “With each perspective, the story becomes a different narration altogether,” she says, adding that every little bit—from the language, idioms, images, style to proverbs and even words become distinctly different in their meaning when told in a certain way, highlighting a new world each time.

Joseph’s own realisation about women’s rights and the environment—she aligned herself strongly with women’s rights when as a college lecturer she set up the thinking women’s organisation ‘Manushi’ at Sanskrit College in Pattambi, where she also taught Malayalam and literature—compelled her to create fiction from women’s as well as the environment’s perspective. 

Talking about her first steps towards activism, the writer elaborates, “Manushi was formed as a protest against the increasing crime rate against women in Kerala and the dowry-related persecutions.”

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The Sahitya Akademi-winner believes that in the male-dominated, mainstream literary world, women’s writing is always considered secondary or at best, ‘complementary’ writing. In such a scenario she acknowledges SheThePeople founder Shaili Chopra for coming forward with a literary prize solely aimed at women’s writings. “In a male-leaning bastion, unfortunately, the best of our women writers get only a marginalised space. So we need more such awards that recognise women writers and encourage them to write more,” she says. A collection of her short stories translated into English, The Masculine of ‘Virgin’ was released in 2012 and defined her feminist approach to writing. Joseph believes that the way women writers approach and interpret language, values, ethics and aesthetical laws would change the current literary trends for the better.

Born and brought up at a time when the visual media was still in its nascent stage, reading was Joseph’s go-to source of amusement. From a source of amusement, it slowly evolved to appreciate the beauty of the language and aesthetics, which later prodded her to pick up the pen. This Thrissur-based social activist and feminist movement leader entered the literary world early on in life. When still in high school she started writing and publishing poems. From there she moved on to writing short stories, which she found “was a more convenient medium to express my feelings and experiences.”

Epics have always played a vital role in shaping her writings. She believes that each time the epics are revisited by writers; the stories evolve with new dimensions. Based on the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, she penned some short stories and a novel titled Ooru Kaval (Vigil in English). She is also known for Ramayana Kathakal, a retelling of the Ramayana. Talking of holy books, Joseph also draws inspiration from the Bible. Her novelette, The Deserts of Sarai, is based on the story of the great patriarch Abraham and his wife Sarai. Then there is Esther, a small novel based on the Book of Esther, the Old Testament. At present, the author is exploring a novel on Sodom and Gomorrah, the sin cities of the Old Testament.

Joseph’s writings are also often autobiographical in nature. The novel Alahayude Penmakkal proves it. The book revolves around her childhood, neighbourhood and the socio-economic conditions that were prevalent at the time. “A lot of characters from the book are real. The protagonist ‘Annie’ in a way is me. She carries a lot of my own sense of being,” says Joseph.

The highly feted Malayalam novelist and activist with her writings remind us of life and its forgotten facets that ought to be talked about. She implores her with her pen to open our eyes and seek answers to difficult questions. Her pen brings up stories and tales full of pathos and staggering unfairness. With her fictional world, she delves deep to reveal the raw wounds that stab at the core of our emotions. The written material she brings forth is powerful, pulsating with strong emotions that are difficult to rein in. Often the reader is left exhausted by the overpowering sentiments. Therein lies Joseph’s literary greatness. One hopes that there will be more bursting forth from her unstoppable pen. 

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