PREMA LEKHANAM
Bhasheerinde prema lekhanam
Premalekhanam which means ‘love letter’, is a Malayalam novel written by Vaikom Muhammad Basheer, fondly known as Beypore Sultan. The book is a short read which is essentially an endearing love story, but it has its poignant moments too.
Premalekhanam may come across as a simple love story but through the humorous narration the author has left some poignant statements for the readers to ponder. At a point Saramma talks about her marriage prospects, superficially the comments seem sarcastic but indirectly it reflects the hardships caused by the dowry system.he book also favours the concept of inter-caste marriage, which was a big taboo during the time the book was published. Kesavan Nair is a Hindu and Saramma a Christian, so at one-point Saramma talks about the probable issues which could crop-up if they do end up together. She asks some important questions, like which religion their child would follow, to which Kesavan Nair says he will educate his kids about all religions and leave it to their discretion to choose. Further Saramma also raises her doubts regarding the issues in choosing a name for their child. They try out all options including Chinese as well as Japanese and finally decide to go by a very neutral name “Skytoffe”. The beauty is that so much is conveyed through such simple statements. Because of the very reason, Premalekhanam faced backlashe too. Basheer wrote this story for fellow prisoners when he was in Thiruvananthapuram Central Jail as a political prisoner in 1942. Next year when he was released, he published Premalekhanam as his first book. The book got banned in Travancore, then a princely state which was strictly against interreligious marriages.
https://malayalam.filmibeat.com/movies/basheerinte-premalekhanam/story.html
The story is simple with minimum canvas and characters still it just satisfies your reading pallet. Basheer has brought out the complexities and sweetness of love with such finesse. The story progresses through the conversations of the two characters but the innate humour in Basheer’s writing makes their banter adorable. The breezy writing and the timely humour in colloquial Malayalam make it unputdownable. I had an inadvertent smile throughout the read.
Basheer is a people’s writer. I feel he is not popular as much as he should be outside Kerala because of the difficulty in translating the colloquial humour which is a quintessential element of Basheer’s writing.
Premalekhanam was published in English by Orient Longman, as part of the Love Letter and Other Stories collection.
Other popular works of Basheer include Balyakalasakhi, Shabdangal, Pathummayude Aadu, Mathilukal, Ntuppuppakkoranendarnnu, Janmadinam and Anargha Nimisham .
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