indulekha book review in malayalam

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The Genesis of a Genre: Indulekha

Nitin r viswan.

Novels have been a lifeline for generations of Malayalam literati. Before the modern technology paved way to novel forms of entertainment, works from the greats used to be the arena of thought, the dawn of realization, window to the world. When you could relate to a character in the book, when you empathize with her, when you think his thoughts and words are yours, when you feel emotionally shattered when the character has a rough patch in her journey that is when you realize how strong a virtue it is. And there is a reason why Malayalam is called our ‘Mother’ Tongue. The seeds for the evolution of a completely diverse and yet extremely veritable genre of Malayalam literature were sown by Oyyarathu Chandu Menon when ´Indulekha’, the first-ever complete novel in the language, was published in 1889.

Featuring avant-garde ideologies and perspectives, ‘Indulekha’ is a bold piece of literature, and is one of the first woman-centric works of all time. Following the stepping stones laid by ‘Ghathakavadham’ (1877), ‘Pullelikkunju’ (1882), and ‘Kundalatha’ (1887), this work is a landmark etched into the history of the language in golden letters.

Intelligence, artistic talent and most of all the ability to think – that is what ‘Indulekha’, the protagonist is. She is a stalwart figure and represents progressive thoughts and the rights of women. When she resists all the pressure and the oppression to stand for what she believed in, she becomes a figure to be admired; to be adhered. The novel blatantly discusses the unfair social norms in the case of inter-caste marriages – which are still not something unfamiliar.

Though it was written in the late 18th century, ‘Indulekha’ crosses the avenues of time. Polyandry – polygamy in which a woman has more than one husband, the stereotypes on women like how she is expected to adhere men, all are topics that are extensively brushed upon in the book. It was written at a time when there was an emerging class of men from the upper classes who received Western Education and were handing prominent British India positions. In a brutal tug-o-war between Western ideals and communal traditions, education made an Indian’s mind the battleground of eternal dilemma – which is exceptionally clear in the portrayal of the hero – educated, wears Western clothes, still the customary tuft of hair untouched.

When the Nambudiris are pictured as being hesitant to move with the times and lacking the intent to adapt, when the struggles of the life of a woman is honestly brought out, when Nair women are shown to be breaking out of the age-old principles of Sambandham, ‘Indulekha’ more than just a work of fiction becomes the canvas of the times in the land. Religion, atheism, science, politics – there’s little that the work doesn’t portray.

The societal hurdles, the mental trauma, the dilemmas and contradictions, everything is very much a reality even today. All hail Chandu Menon’s vision. Or maybe it is time for us to think – are we really progressing?

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‘Indulekha’, written 132 years ago, asserts women’s rights in interesting ways

Indulekha is in her eighteenth year, having returned home after completing her studies, to live with her grandfather Panju Menon and mother Lakshmi Kutty. She is beautiful, you are told many times. The picture on the cover looks hazy, like an angel behind a thin veil. It is a book from 132 years ago, when you imagine a very different sort of life for a young woman in a Nair family. But O Chandu Menon’s Indulekha surprises you in many ways, and you have to wonder about the lives led by women of the late 19 th century. Or perhaps Chandu Menon’s telling of it.

In the introduction of this book – known to be the first major novel in Malayalam – it is said that Chandu Menon wanted to write a ‘book like English novels’. He found it hard to convince friends who didn’t understand why he would write a story that didn’t exist. The concept of fiction was too new. Appu Nedungadi’s Kundalatha had come out just two years before Indulekha .

The author never leaves your side all the time Indulekha’s story is narrated. He talks about his concerns as a writer, addressing his readers every now and then. He is also quick to explain the meaning behind many of his sentences, lest it be interpreted differently.

Chandu Menon needn’t have bothered so much. Indulekha comes out as a very unique and intelligent character right from the beginning. She was given an education by her uncle Kochu Krishna Menon, when she studied among other things, the English language. This is very important in the story and comes up as a point to reckon in several arguments about her.

Kochu Krishna Menon dies but he had been very clear about Indulekha completing her education before even thinking of marriage. These were times when women married in their early teens and began families. But Kochu Krishna Menon believes that his responsibility is in qualifying her with an education and once that’s done she will be able to decide what she wants.

Even before Chandu Menon introduces Indulekha, he gives you Madhavan, the male lead, her love interest. There are paragraphs dedicated to describing Madhavan’s qualifications and how the two were just so suited for each other. Both are young, beautiful, educated and being relatives, knew each other well. It is interesting to note how their relationship develops from the games of childhood to long conversations, reciting various slokas to each other. The feelings remain untold for long. Madhavan is afraid someone else much richer and worthier than himself will snatch her away. Indulekha just wants him to concentrate on his studies.

He seems the more emotional one, she the more playful. She expresses her feelings only when he appears too heartbroken. Indulekha has a very charming life, living upstairs in an independent quarters of her own, reading, playing her veena and such. As Madhavan goes away for a job, Indulekha gets the proposal of a Namboothiri man. Panju, Indulekha’s grandfather, and Madhavan spar over something and the patriarch wants to marry her off to someone else. In those days, men from the dominant Namboothiri caste, had ‘sambandam’s with women from Nair families by which they had relationships akin to marriage but were not officially married. The official marriage of Namboothiri men with Namboothiri women was called ‘veli’.

Indulekha is born out of one such sambandam that her mother Lakshmi Kutty had with a king. You are at first surprised that there is very little mention of the father, who dies when Indulekha is only two. Lakshmi Kutty now has sambandam with another Namboothiri man, who too, is hardly introduced and you have to figure out what his role is. Indulekha’s late uncle Kochu Krishna Menon gets more importance and is obviously the ‘father’ figure in her upbringing.

When she gets the proposal of a boastful Namboothiri, through Panju and her mother’s Namboothiri, Indulekha is not shown fretting over it. The man, who has more than 20 such sambandams, is easily smitten by the beauty of the girl who is one third his age. She, on her part, converses easily with him, very clear in her mind that he will have to be shunned away sooner or later. It shocks the man that she talks like his equal (using “njan” in place of “adiyan” when referring to herself). All her forwardness is blamed on learning the English language but her beauty lets him forget everything else.

Until of course the time comes when he makes a direct proposal and she, on her part, gives a direct rejection. It comes as no surprise to the reader but Indulekha appears bolder than women characters written decades after her. There is never the worry of what will happen now that the proposal has come or what will grandfather say. She seems confident in the knowledge that nothing against her will will happen. And all she has to do is talk with Panju to make him understand.

Panju, the orthodox and egoistic patriarch, is also quick to say that the proposal can proceed only if Indulekha likes the Namboothiri, not otherwise. Such respect of a woman’s choice in matters of marriage is not something you witness in stories that came much later. Even today, the ‘consent’ of the family is considered a very important part of a formal marriage. Indulekha’s case could perhaps be an exception to the rule. Later in the novel, another girl – only 13 years old – of a less influential family, is quickly married off to the Namboothiri, without so much as informing her before the event. Only a single line from Indulekha mentions the injustice of this – ‘her marriage and she doesn’t even know, how sad’.

While the novel is clear about asserting women's rights, it also very clearly shows the class and caste distinctions prevalent at the time. Madhavan’s first feud with Panju Menon is over educating a boy from a lesser class. However it still seems incredible that a woman could live the way Indulekha did more than a century and a quarter ago when even today that kind of privilege is not for everyone. 

Also read:  Have seen women fight for their beliefs: YG Uma on playing Manga from 'Cinema Bandi'

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Literature as a Vehicle for Ideas: Indulekha and the Victorianization of Kerala Society

2024, SMART MOVES (IJELLH)

O. Chandumenon's Indulekha, published in 1889, is generally considered to be the first Malayalam novel. The book was a complete success. The first edition sold out within three months and the English translation was published within a year. By 1989, the 100 th anniversary of the novel's publication, 72 reprints of Indulekha had been made. In 1889, the Malayalamspeaking region of India was divided into Malabar, ruled directly by the British under the Madras Presidency, and the princely states of Cochin and Travancore. Indulekha sold spectacularly in all Volume 12, Issue 3, March 2024 2 novel, is passionate about English education. The novel presents a contrast between the sambandam marriage, which was then almost universal among the Nayars of Kerala, and the monogamous marriage, which was the ideal of Victorian society, and valorizes the latter. Indulekha, the novel's titular heroine, escapes a sambandam relationship to marry Madhavan. As the narrative comes to an end, we learn that Madhavan has been appointed to the civil service. Instead of being an unemployed parasite in his tharavad, Madhavan decides to make a living. He marries Indulekha and goes to Madras, and one can read the trajectory of Madhavan's life as a movement from the joint family of tharavad in a village in Kerala to a nuclear family in Madras, the seat of the British presidential government.

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‘Indulekha’: A Pioneering Malayalam Novel

• AUTHOR Karthik Venkatesh
• PUBLISHED 06 July 2019

The late 19th century was a time of churn and reform all across India, and things were no different in Kerala. British rule and the Western education they had introduced began to act as agents of change, with educated Indians starting to question the status quo, including their own customary beliefs.

Literature was one of the most potent vehicles of change at the time but who would have thought that a romantic novel – the ‘first’ novel in Malayalam – would coax common folk to question the rigid caste structure that governed Kerala society.

Well, it did, and credit for triggering a social revolution driven by literary novels goes to O Chandu Menon and the other Malayalam writers that he inspired.

Menon, a product of Western education and an employee of the British government who had worked his way up the bureaucratic hierarchy, used the power of the pen to hold up a mirror to his own community – the Nairs. The story of why and how he used the novel to do so is a fascinating tale.

The Backdrop

Hindu society in Kerala was deeply casteist, with the Nambudiri Brahmins and Nairs comprising the two dominant castes, and the former at the top of the caste pyramid. A variety of feudal traditions with respect to marriage and inheritance governed the interactions between the Nairs and the Nambudiris but cracks were beginning to form in this hitherto unyielding caste-based society.

The system of Nambudiri inheritance was such that the oldest son inherited all property and only he was allowed to enter into marriage with a Nambudiri woman. The younger sons, on the other hand, entered into alliances with Nair women and the children born out of such alliances were raised in the Nair caste. The Nairs, on the other hand, were matrilineal and matrilocal. Property inheritance was from mother to daughter and the mother’s brother ( karanavar ) administered the property on behalf of the female members of the family.

Murmurs of dissent began to grow louder, especially among the more forward-thinking Nair community. During the course of the 19th century, with the introduction of English education, educated Nair men began to challenge the old order, their main focus areas being marumakkathayam , the matrilineal system of inheritance, and the practice of sambandham , a tradition that enabled Nambudiri men to enter into alliances with Nair women.

Society, it appeared, was ripe for a revolution, and it was against this backdrop of dissent that Oyyarathu Chandu Menon was born in 1847. Raised in a village in present-day Kozhikode district in North Kerala, he was educated traditionally before he went on to acquire an English education at the Basel Mission German School in Thalassery (now known as the Basel Evangelical Mission Parsi School). Beginning his professional life as a clerk, Menon rose to become a judge and also assisted William Logan, the Englishman who wrote the Malabar Manual , a detailed dossier on Malabar society, economy, geography and people.

The Protagonist

Menon was an avid reader of English novels. He would often summarise them for his wife, who usually bored by this exercise found the story of Benjamin Disraeli’s Henrietta Temple interesting enough to demand a more detailed summary. Menon had an idea. Why not translate an English novel for fellow Malayali speakers who might enjoy Henrietta Temple as much as his wife had? And so, to introduce the people of Kerala to the novel, Menon began this daunting exercise.

Undoubtedly, he was up to the task but halfway through the exercise, he wondered whether Malayalis would appreciate the customs, traditions and habits of the people of Victorian England, a faraway land with which they had little in common.

Then a thought struck him. Why not attempt a novel in his native tongue?

It is unclear when Menon began writing his first novel but it certainly wasn’t the first Malayalam novel. Kundalatha by Appu Nedungadi was the first Malayalam novel, published in 1887. Menon’s Indulekha followed in 1889 and is a rare instance of the ‘second’ completely eclipsing the ‘first’. In fact, many histories begin their narration of the journey of the novel in Malayalam with Indulekha, overlooking Kundalatha, which is considered an inferior work.

Indulekha shook traditional Kerala society as it addressed the issue of Nair women, their sambandhams with Nambudiri men and the clash of this age-old practice with the advent of modern ideas in Nair society. Indulekha, the Nair protagonist in Menon’s novel, wants to marry Madhavan, an educated Nair man, but her father, in line with prevailing customs, wishes to betroth her to Suri Nambudiri, a much older and poorly-educated but wealthy Nambudiri man.

– Indulekha resists the alliance and stands her ground even when pressured to toe the customary line.

But midway through the novel, Madhavan is led to believe that she had succumbed to her father’s wishes. On hearing this, he embarks on a journey to repair his broken heart. Later, it turns out that the news was false and Indulekha is still unmarried. Madhavan returns from Calcutta, where he had taken refuge, and marries Indulekha.

While on one level, Indulekha is an important literary work since it introduces a new genre into a language dominated by verse and drama, Menon was also able to inject modernity into Nair discourse, which was already an important part of his own life. He was a member of the Malabar Marriage Commission appointed by the government in 1891, to consider legislation to ‘regularise’ Nair marriages. Indulekha, no doubt, influenced the views of other people in the then ongoing debate surrounding this issue, even as Menon sought to find a middle path that addressed the views of both pure traditionalists and radical modernists.

Interestingly, besides being a new form of literature, Indulekha, from the point of view of even just language, was a break with the past. In his preface, Menon emphasizes that the language he uses in the novel is the kind spoken at home ‘with such Sanskrit words that I might use in conversation with an educated Malayalee’. In other words, he had steered clear of the highly Sanskritized Malayalam used in classical verse and drama and opted for a more informal register, albeit Sanskritized to a limited extent.

Menon was naturally apprehensive about how the reading public would react. But the book became popular beyond his wildest dreams. An editorial in The Hindu had glowing praise: "But if any of them have hitherto occupied the place which properly belongs to the creative genius, he must vacate it now for Mr Chandu Menon. The perfect originality in the plan of his book, the admirable perfection in the execution of his fiction, entitles Mr Chandu Menon to be regarded as a creative genius of no ordinary kind." (’The Latest In Fiction’, The Hindu , Saturday, January 25, 1890).

Menon began writing another novel, Sarada, but passed away in 1899 before he completed it. In 1891, C V Raman Pillai from the princely state of Travancore in South Kerala, published Marthandavarma , the first historical novel in any South Indian language. Saraswathy Vijayam by Potheri Kunjambu, published in 1892, was the first Malayalam novel that focused on the challenges of the backward classes.

What Chandu Menon had attempted soon developed a life of its own. The Malayalam novel was on its way and it was already a great leveller. By taking the message to the masses, it turned an undercurrent of resistance into a tide of change.

– ABOUT AUTHOR

Karthik Venkatesh is a history enthusiast who writes on lesser-known aspects of India’s history.

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മലയാളിയുടെ സ്വപ്ന സുന്ദരി ഇന്ദുലേഖയ്ക്ക് പ്രായം 130!

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ഇന്ദുലേഖയ്ക്ക് പ്രായം 130 കടന്നു!

കേട്ട് അത്ഭുതപ്പെടേണ്ട. അത്രകാലം ജീവിച്ചിരിക്കുമോയെന്ന ആശങ്കയും വേണ്ട. മലയാളത്തിലെ ആദ്യ ലക്ഷണമൊത്ത നോവൽ ഇന്ദുലേഖയുടെ കാര്യത്തിൽ പ്രായം 260 ആയാലും ‘ജീവിക്കും’!.

മലയാളത്തിലെ ആദ്യ ലക്ഷണമൊത്ത നോവൽ "ഇന്ദുലേഖ"യുടെ നൂറ്റിമുപ്പതാം വാർഷികത്തോടനുബന്ധിച്ച് തൃശൂരിൽ സാംസ്കാരിക സായാഹ്നം സംഘടിപ്പിക്കുന്നു . മേയ് 28 വൈകുന്നേരം അഞ്ചിനു സാഹിത്യ അക്കാദമി ചങ്ങമ്പുഴ മന്ദിരത്തിൽ നടക്കുന്ന പരിപാടിയിൽ എഴുത്തുകാരനും വാഗ്മിയുമായ ഡോ . സുനിൽ പി . ഇളയിടം, മുൻ ചീഫ് സെക്രട്ടറിയും കവിയുമായ കെ . ജയകുമാർ,  ആഷാമേനോൻ , എഴുത്തുകാരിയും മാധ്യമ പ്രവർത്തകയുമായ രശ്മി ബിനോയ് എന്നിവർ പങ്കെടുക്കും.

'പത്തൊൻപതാം നൂറ്റാണ്ട് മുതൽ 2019 വരെ - കേരളവും ആധുനികതയും' എന്ന വിഷയത്തിലാണു ചർച്ച . ഇന്ദുലേഖയുടെ നൂറ്റിമുപ്പതാം വർഷം വിവിധ സാഹിത്യ, സാംസ്കാരിക പരിപാടികളോടെ ആഘോഷമാക്കുകയാണ് ഒ. ചന്തുമേനോൻ ഫൗണ്ടേഷൻ. 

ചന്തുമേനോന്റെ സ്മരണാർഥം ഷോർട്ട്ഫിലിം മൽസരം പ്രഖ്യാപിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട് . 'സ്ത്രീക്കു വേണ്ടി നിലകൊള്ളുന്ന പുരുഷൻ' എന്ന വിഷയത്തെ അധികരിച്ചുള്ള സൃഷ്ടികളാണു ക്ഷണിച്ചിട്ടുള്ളത് . 

നോവലിനെ കുറിച്ചുള്ള സമഗ്ര വിവരങ്ങൾ അടങ്ങിയ വെബ് സൈറ്റ് indulekha.online പ്രവർത്തനം തുടങ്ങി.

Indulekha (novel)

Indulekha is a Malayalam novel written by O. Chandu Menon . Published in 1889, it was the first major novel in the Malayalam language. It was a landmark in the history of Malayalam literature and initiated the novel as a new flourishing genre. [1] The novel is about a beautiful, well-educated lady of a Nair tharavad .

Plot summary

2014 research findings, publication history, translations, adaptations, external links.

The title Indulekha , refers to the prodigy in this novel, a beautiful, well educated Nair lady of 20 or 22 years. [ citation needed ]

The novel was written at a time when there was an emerging class of upper caste men (mostly Nairs) who received a Western style education, and were achieving prominent positions in British India. The period was a clash of cultures, as the educated Indians were torn between Western ideals and traditional practices. The Nambudiri Brahmins of Kerala, traditionally had marital relations with Nair women, known as Sambandham , since only the oldest Nambudiri youth was allowed to marry a Brahmin girl. The younger sons were encouraged to have Sambandham with Nair women, in order to maintain male primogeniture , since the children born from such relations belonged to their mother's family. The matriarchy practiced by the Nairs was also coming under attack during this period. Many of the Nambudiri men, though learned in Vedas and Sanskrit, had little knowledge of English and Western sciences. The novel highlights the lack of willingness of the Nambudiris to adapt to the change of times, as well as the struggle by Nair women to break out of the age-old principle of Sambandham, which had little relevance during the late 19th century. [ citation needed ]

Chandu Menon has written that he initially meant Indulekha as a translation of Benjamin Disraeli 's Henrietta Temple (1836), but, having struggled with the subtleties of an alien culture, he abandoned the project in favour of writing one on his own, depicting a similar story. [ citation needed ]

Indulekha is a graceful Nair girl with good intelligence, artistic talent. She is a young and educated, knowledgeable woman with education in English and Sanskrit , who is in love with a young man, Madhavan, the hero of the novel, who is also presented in ideal colours, a member of newly educated Nayar class graduated from the University of Madras . He dressed in western clothes, but at the same time he kept a long tuft of hair, according to the Nair custom. The story details how the matrilineal society of those times, encourages Namboothiris to start a relationship with Indulekha. Indulekha promptly snubs the old Nambudiri man, but Madhavan in haste runs away from the household, to Bengal . There he makes a lot of good friends. In the end, he arrives back and is united with Indulekha. They then leave to Madras, present day Chennai . The story emphasizes inter-caste marriage.

The old Namboothiri represents the decadence of feudalism and its polygamous practices. Indulekha, the novel's educated heroine, dramatizes the resistance of a progressive Nair woman. She refuses to succumb to the oppression of the Namboothiri and marries Madhavan, who stands up to the social evils of the period.

• suri nambuthiri
• Lakshmikutti amma - the mother of Indulekha
• Panju menon

In 2014 April, literary critics Dr. P. K. Rajasekharan and Dr. P. Venugopalan, published a well accepted research finding in Mathrubhumi Weekly , according to which the available version of the novel is a revised and edited version of the original one. According to the findings, the original novel which made a strong advocacy for women's empowerment was mercilessly edited and those who published the book in later years chopped off many such portions. The last chapter (chapter 20) was the most edited one. Ravi Deecee, publisher, D C Books , after corresponding with the British Library in London for over two years and browsing through the rare collections for days have sourced the particular edition to the library, which was made available to the respective critics. [2] [3] [4]

The novel was published in 1889 by 'Spectator Achukoodam'. It went out-of-print in March 1890 and the second edition was published by 'Kozhikode Educational and General Book Depot' in June 1890. The 51st edition of the novel was published in 1951 by Vidyavardhini Publishers, Trivandrum. The book entered public domain in the 1950s. The first National Book Stall (NBS) edition of the novel came in 1955. Although the previous editions of the book had variations from the original the first NBS edition was a completely revised and edited one. They went to the extent of removing the whole 18th chapter which according to noted critic M. P. Paul , had badly affected the continuity of the novel. Other NBS editions however replaced the 18th chapter but many other changes they made still persist in all the available versions of the book. [3]

The first English translation was by John Willoughby Francis Dumergue, a friend of O. Chandu Menon who worked as a Malayalam translator to the Madras Government. Another translation of the novel under the title Crescent Moon by R. Leeladevi was published in 1979. A translation by Anitha Devasia was published by Oxford University Press in 2005 and included in their Oxford India Paperbacks series. [3]

The first adaptation of the novel was in 1896; a play under the title Indulekha was performed by National Club at V. J. T. Hall, Trivandrum . Further performances were held at Madras (1905) and Calicut (1911). [3] In 1967, Kalanilayam Krishnan Nair adapted the novel into a film of the same title. The screenplay was written by Vaikom Chandrasekharan Nair and the film starred Krishnan Nair's son Rajmohan as Madhavan and Sreekala as Indulekha. [3]

• Malayalam novel
• Sarada (novel)

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K. Kumar (1894–1973) was an Indian orator, reformer and writer of the Indian pre-independence era. He was one of the earliest socio-political leaders to have brought Gandhi's message and the spirit of the national movement to the erstwhile Travancore State. A gifted translator, he traveled with Gandhi during his Kerala tours, interpreting his English speeches in Malayalam. He was also an Advisor to the Nehru government. Kumarji was the President of the Travancore Congress Committee and was also in charge of Gandhiji's Travancore tour more than once. He served on the AICC and on the working committee of the AICC, TC-PCC/ KPCC heading its Constructive Work Committee during crucial years of the freedom movement.(Also known as: Travancore Kumar, Elanthur Kumarji; Kumarji, Elanthur Gandhi and Kuzhikala Kumar)

Indulekha is an Indian Malayalam television series directed by Githesh Karunakaran.The show premiered on Surya TV on 5 October 2020. It stars Malavika Krishnadas and Ameen Madathil in lead roles along Balu Menon, Uma Nair, Manoj Nair and Manju Satheesh. All episodes of this show streaming on Sun NXT. The show marked the television debut of Ranji Panicker. Show went off air abruptly on 7 May 2021 due to COVID-19 situation and due to low TRP ratings.

• ↑ "Voice of rebellion"
• 1 2 3 4 5 Dr. P. K. Rajasekharan , Dr. P. Venugopalan (13–19 April 2014). "നഷ്ടഭാഗങ്ങൾ ചേർത്ത് ഇന്ദുലേഖ വായിക്കൂ". Mathrubhumi Illustrated Weekly (in Malayalam): 8–35.
• ↑ "Revised Indulekha" . Sayahna.org. 14 April 2014.

• Novel and Short Story to the Present Day - by M T Vasudevan Nair
• Voice of Rebellion - a review by K. Kunhikrishnan
• A Book Review of Indulekha

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Indulekha (Malayalam Edition) Paperback – August 27, 2017

• Print length 300 pages
• Language Malayalam
• Publisher Createspace Independent Publishing Platform
• Publication date August 27, 2017
• Dimensions 5.98 x 0.67 x 9.02 inches
• ISBN-10 1975816927
• ISBN-13 978-1975816926
• See all details

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Product details

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Createspace Independent Publishing Platform (August 27, 2017)
• Language ‏ : ‎ Malayalam
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 300 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1975816927
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• Print length 280 pages
• Language Malayalam
• Publisher Tamara
• Publication date 1 January 2016
• ISBN-10 8171800297
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• ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01HTJ53CO
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Tamara (1 January 2016)
• Language ‏ : ‎ Malayalam
• Paperback ‏ : ‎ 280 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 8171800297
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-8171800292
• Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 310 g
• Country of Origin ‏ : ‎ India
• #1,116 in Historical Romance (Books)

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രണ്ടാമൂഴം | Randamoozham by M.T. Vasudevan Nair – Book Review

• by Aksharathalukal
• January 1, 2019 August 9, 2019

എം.ടി എന്ന രണ്ടക്ഷരം ഒരു സാംസ്‌കാരികചിഹ്നം തന്നെയായി മാറിയിട്ട് അരനൂറ്റാണ്ട് കഴിഞ്ഞു. എക്കാലവും നോവല്‍രചനയിലൂടെ എം.ടി മലയാളഭാഷയ്ക്ക് നല്‍കിയ ആത്മവിശ്വാസം വളരെ വലുതാണ്. 1984-ല്‍ ഒന്നാം പതിപ്പായി പ്രസിദ്ധീകരിച്ച ഈ നോവല്‍ പ്രസിദ്ധീകരണത്തിന്റെ മുപ്പത്തിനാലാം  വർഷം പിന്നിട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു. അതെ ജ്ഞാനപീഠം ജേതാവായ എം.ടി.വാസുദേവന്‍ നായരുടെ വയലാര്‍ അവാര്‍ഡു നേടിയ നോവല്‍ ആണ് ഇന്നും വായനാഹൃദയങ്ങളിൽ ബഹുമാനത്തോടെ കൊത്തിവെച്ചിരിക്കുന്നത്.

മഹാഭാരതം യുധിഷ്ഠിരന്റെയും അനുജന്മാരുടെയും വിജയഗാഥയാണ്. എല്ലാ നേട്ടങ്ങളുടെയും ഖ്യാതി ജ്യേഷ്ഠൻ യുധിഷ്ഠിരനും അനുജൻ അർജുനനും സ്വന്തമാക്കുമ്പോൾ ഒന്നും മിണ്ടാതെയിരിക്കുന്ന ഭീമൻ. വൃകോദരൻ എന്ന ഇരട്ടപ്പേരിട്ട് എല്ലാവരും മാറ്റി നിർത്തുന്ന ഭീമനാണ് യഥാർഥത്തിൽ കുരുക്ഷേത്രയുദ്ധത്തിൽ പാണ്ഡവരെ ജയിപ്പിക്കുന്നതെന്ന സത്യം ഇതിഹാസത്തിലെ വരികൾക്കിടയിലൂടെ വായിച്ചെടുത്തത് എം.ടിയായിരുന്നു.

രണ്ടാമന്റെ കഥയാണ് യഥാർഥ ഭാരതം. അതായത് ഭാരതമെന്നാൽ രണ്ടാമൂഴം. വാക്കുകളിലും അവതരണത്തിലും നവ്യാനുഭവമായിരുന്നു രണ്ടാമൂഴം മലയാളിക്ക്. വ്യാസഭാരതത്തിൽ നിന്ന് ഏറെ വ്യത്യസ്തമായ കാഴ്ചപ്പാടിലേക്ക് മലയാളിയെ കൊണ്ടുപോകാൻ എംടിക്കു സാധിച്ചു. രണ്ടാമൂഴം വായിച്ചവരൊക്കെ കാലമേറെ ചെന്നാലും അതിലെ ഓരോ മുഹൂർത്തവും ഓർത്തവയ്ക്കും

മഹാഭാരതത്തിലെ അത്ര തിളക്കമുള്ള കഥാപാത്രങ്ങളില്‍ ഒന്നല്ല ഭീമന്‍. പാണ്ഡവരില്‍ രണ്ടാമന്‍. ധര്‍മ ചിന്തയുമായി യുധിഷ്ഠിരന്‍, തിളങ്ങുന്ന വില്ലുമായി അര്‍ജുനന്‍, വില്ലനില്‍ വില്ലനായ സുയോധനന്‍, ചാതുരിയും മിഴിവുമായി കൃഷ്ണന്‍, പിന്നെ സൗന്ദര്യവും ശോഭയുമായി ദ്രൗപദിയും. അവര്‍ എല്ലാം അരങ്ങു അടക്കി വാഴുമ്പോള്‍ പിറകില്‍ ആക്കപ്പെട്ട ഭീമന്റെ കണ്ണീരാണ് ഈ കഥ.

മഹാഭാരത കഥയിൽ നിന്ന് വേറിട്ട് ഭീമന് നായകവേഷം കൽപ്പിച്ചു കൊടുത്ത രണ്ടാമൂഴം. ഒരു ജന്മം മുഴുവൻ രണ്ടാമൂഴത്തിനായി കാത്തു നിന്ന ഭീമൻ. ചൂതുകളിച്ച് മണ്ണും പെണ്ണും നഷ്ടപ്പെടുത്തിയ ധർമ്മപുത്രനായ യുധിഷ്ഠിരൻറേയും വില്ലാളിവീരനായ അർജ്ജുനൻറെയും നിഴലിൽ നായകത്വം നഷ്ടപ്പെട്ട ഭീമൻ. ഇതു ചുരുളഴിയാത്ത ഒരു പ്രണയ കാവ്യം കൂടിയാണ്. കുറെ ചോദ്യങ്ങൾ മാത്രം അവശേഷിപ്പിക്കുന്ന പ്രണയം.

ഹായാനത്തില്‍ പിറകില്‍ മരിച്ചു കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുന്ന സ്വന്തം ജനതയെയും രാജ്യത്തെയും വിട്ടു മുന്നോട്ടു നീങ്ങുന്ന പാണ്ഢവർ. അവര്‍ മുന്നോട്ട് നീങ്ങുമ്പോള്‍ ആദ്യം പാഞ്ചാലിയാണ് തളര്‍ന്നു വീഴുന്നത്. അറിയാതെ ഭീമന്‍ അവളുടെ അടുത്തേക്ക് ചെല്ലുകയാണ്. ചുരുളഴിയുന്നത് മനോഹരമായ ഒരു നിശബ്ദ പ്രണയ കഥ കൂടിയാണ്.

പാണ്ഡവരില്‍ ഭീമന് മാത്രമാണ് പഞ്ചാലിയോടു ഇത്രയേറെ പ്രണയം ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നുള്ളൂ താനും. എന്നിട്ടും മൂപ്പ് മുറ അനുസരിച്ച് അവന്റെ ഊഴം രണ്ടാമത് മാത്രം. അവളുടെ കിടപ്പറയില്‍ ചെല്ലാന്‍.. തനിയെ നൊന്തു പിടക്കുന്ന ഭീമന്റെ അദമ്യ പ്രണയത്തിന്റെ തീക്ഷ്ണ കഥ കൂടിയാണ് ഈ പുസ്തകം. മഹാ ബലവാനായ ഭീമന്റെ നമ്മള്‍ കേട്ട കഥകള്‍ പലതും തികച്ചും അതിശയോക്തി തന്നെ എന്ന് ഭീമനെ കൊണ്ട് നോവലിസ്റ്റ് നമ്മോടു പറയിക്കുന്നു.

“ശത്രുവിനോട് ദയ കാട്ടരുത്. ദയയിൽ നിന്നും കൂടുതൽ കരുത്തു നേടിയ ശത്രു വീണ്ടും നേരിടുമ്പോൾ അജയ്യനാവും. അതാണ് ഞങ്ങളുടെ നിയമം. മൃഗത്തെ വിട്ടു കളയാം. മനുഷ്യന് രണ്ടാമൊതൊരവസരം കൊടുക്കരുത്’’.

‘കടം വീട്ടാന്‍ പലതും ബാക്കിയിരിക്കേ ആചാര്യനായാലും പിതാമഹനായാലും ഭീമന് ജയിച്ചേ പറ്റൂ…’

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ഇന്ദുലേഖ – Indulekha Novel

‘ആലോചിച്ചാലോചിച്ച് നിറുത്തിനിറുത്തിപ്പറയുന്ന വാക്കുകള്‍ . പലപ്പോഴും സ്വയം സംസാരിക്കുന്നു എന്ന് തോന്നുംവിധം പിറുപിറുത്തുകൊണ്ട് നടക്കും. ചിലപ്പോള്‍ മുഖം ചുവന്ന് ആകാശത്തിലേക്ക് മിഴികളുയര്‍ത്തി നോക്കി നില്‍ക്കുമ്പോള്‍ അധൃഷ്യനാണെന്നും തോന്നും.’

‘മനസ്സ് ശാന്തം. ഈ വധം ശരിക്കും ഞാന്‍ ആസ്വദിക്കാന്‍ പോകുന്നു. ഇരുട്ടില്‍ നിയമങ്ങളില്ല. മല്ലയുദ്ധതിന്റെ ആചാര്യന്മാര്‍ അതിനെ പൈശാചികമുറയെന്ന് പറയും…..’

‘കുരുക്ഷേത്രത്തില്‍ നിന്നും ധര്‍മ്മയോദ്ധാവ് പുറത്തിറങ്ങിയപ്പോള്‍ ഹിരണ്വതീരത്ത് മുള്‍ചെടിക്കാട്ടില്‍ ആദ്യദിവസം ആത്മാവുകള്‍ ഉപേക്ഷിച്ചിട്ട ജീര്‍ണവസ്ത്രങ്ങള്‍ തീ കൊളുത്തിക്കഴിഞ്ഞിരുന്നു…’

‘വജ്രാകൃതിയില്‍ സൈന്യങ്ങള്‍ നിരന്നു… വൈഢൂര്യകണ്ണുകളുള്ള സിംഹം കൊടിയടയാളമായുള്ള തേരുകള്‍ക്ക് മുകളില്‍ വെണ്‍കൊറ്റകുടയുയര്‍ന്നു, ശംഖുകളും പിന്നെ ഭേരികളും മുഴങ്ങി… പിന്നെ ധര്‍മ്മയുദ്ധനിയമങ്ങള്‍ !!’

‘യുധിഷ്ഠിരന്‍ മുഖമുയര്‍ത്തി നോക്കി… എന്നിട്ട് വളരെ ശാന്തതയോടെ ഒരു വാക്ക് മാത്രം പറഞ്ഞു ”യുദ്ധം”’

എം.ടിയുടെ ‘രണ്ടാമൂഴം’ എന്ന നോവലിലെ ചില ശ്രദ്ധേയമായ  വാക്കുകളാണിവ.

ഇതിലിന്റെ മുഴുവൻ കഥയും പ്രധാന സ്പർശിക്കുന്ന വാചകങ്ങളും  പറയാൻ ഉദ്ദേശിക്കുന്നില്ല. വായനയിലൂടെ തന്നെ അനുഭവിച്ചറിയേണ്ട അത്ഭുത കൃതി ആയത് കൊണ്ട് തന്നെയാണ് ഇത്രെയും ചുരുക്കത്തിൽ ഇവിടെ പരാമർശിക്കുന്നത്.

രണ്ടാമൂഴം നോവല്‍ ഓണ്‍ലൈന്‍ ബുക്ക് സ്റ്റോറില്‍ നിന്ന് ലഭ്യമാകാന്‍ സന്ദര്‍ശിക്കുക

എന്തായാലും ജീവിതത്തിൽ ഒരിക്കൽ വായിച്ചാൽ ഒരിക്കലും മനസ്സിൽ നിന്ന് മായ്ച്ച് കളയാൻ സാധിക്കാത്ത മലയാളികളുടെ തന്നെ ഒരു അഭിമാന നോവൽ ആണ് എം ടി യുടെ ‘രണ്ടാമൂഴം’. ചില പുസ്തകങ്ങൾ അങ്ങനെയാണ് വായിച്ചില്ലെങ്കിൽ നിങ്ങൾ ഒരു വായനക്കാരനാണെന്ന് പറയാൻ സാധിക്കുകയില്ല. അതുപോലെ നിങ്ങൾ ഒരു മലയാളിയാണ് എന്നും ഈ നോവൽ വായനയിലൂടെ  തെളിയിക്കുന്നു. വായിക്കുന്ന ഓരോരുത്തർക്കും അഭിമാനപൂർവം പറയാവുന്ന നമ്മുടെ സ്വന്തം നോവൽ കൂടിയാണിത്.

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പുതിയ നോവലുകളും കഥകളും ദിവസവും ഇന്‍ബോക്‌സില്‍ ലഭിക്കാന്‍ ന്യൂസ് ലെറ്റർ സബ്‌സ്‌ക്രൈബ് ചെയ്യാം

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