KOCHI: The late nineties was a time when Malayalis started migrating to foreign countries other than West Asia in large numbers. The literarily inclined among them had no access to Malayalam literature, let alone write or publish anything. It was at this point of time that Thomas Kurien Thekkanath, a software engineer at California, hit upon the idea of an Internet magazine in Malayalam.
Kurien developed the Chovvara font, with which Malayalam could be typed with an ordinary keyboard. The result of this combination of technology and literary interest was puzha.com, the first online Malayalam magazine. A whole world of stories, poems, old classics and more suddenly opened out to the intellectually starved non-resident Malayali. The chief editor was reputed novelist K L Mohanavarma.
Visitors to the site could access and read the latest in Malayalam for free, whether they were in India, the US, Australia, Europe, West Asia, Singapore or Africa. The site also allowed them to submit a story, poem or travelogue - any literary work - for publication. The work will be uploaded if the editors find it suitable for publication.
The highlight of the magazine is that budding poets and writers can see their works published online without fear of critics. In one sense, an online magazine could actually have more readers than that of a published book, whose readership is confined to those who actually buy the book.
Now, in its ninth year, puzha.com is one of the most hit Malayalam websites in cyberworld and has a loyal club of readers from around the globe. New sections like ‘kuttikalude puzha,’ ‘nattarivukal,’ ‘vaarthakaliloode,’ etc. have been added to the original. The magazine thus can be said to have broken all existing norms about publishing a literary work.
In 2008, puzha.com conducted an online short story writing competition, for which it received thousands of entries from all over the world. The best twenty among them, which had been selected by readers themselves, were uploaded. The judging committee formed by the website chose the best three stories from among them, the first prize going to ‘Puzha Paranja Katha’ by E Sandhya from Thrissur. ‘Makal’ by Sheela Tomi from Doha was awarded the second prize while Radhika R S from Palakkad received the special jury prize.
The current editor of puzha.com is M K Chandrasekharan. The site has announced the 2009 short story contest, for which entries have been invited. Details are given below.
kochi@epmltd.com