KOCHI: An erstwhile environmental engineer, BFHR Bijli’s career as a writer took off only after his retirement as chief engineer at Kerala Water Authority. However, that hasn’t deterred this 78-year-old. A voracious author, Bijli recently released his ninth and 10th book simultaneously at an event held at Vakkom Moulavi Foundation Trust hall.
Bijli’s tryst with writing began when he was a young man penning articles related to engineering. Narrating the story of the publication of his first book, he said, “Soon after my retirement, I was asked to present a paper at a programme being attended by M G S Narayanan, then chairman of Indian Council of Historical Research. The organisers asked me to talk on the subject of merging Islam and Christianity with Sanatana Dharma. But I decided to present his opinion rather than give a general overview of the topic.” He stated that Christianity and Islam were religious streams which run parallel to merge in a larger infinity.
“The incident prompted me to write about the social fabric of India, that is how my first book came about,” he added. Most of his books are about the issues faced by India in a increasingly globalised world, the need to bridge the gap between rich and poor, educated and uneducated.
“Once these gaps between the sectors are merged, India will become a heaven. My books may look sectarian but I want to bring both negative and positive aspects of Indian fabric to the readers,” said Bijli.
The books released recently are titled ‘India Indiakkar Indian Manassu’, and ‘A Mulimankulam: Bijli’s random thoughts and notes’. ‘India Indiakkar Indian Manassu’ is the translation of articles he wrote for his first presentation soon after his retirement. “The book talks about the social fabric of the country, the situation of Dalits and their enslavement,” said the author.
Talking about ‘A Pulimankulam Bijli’s random thoughts and notes’ he said, “Pulimankulam is a village in Tamil Nadu where I was born and the book is a collection of the random thoughts I uploaded on various social media platforms. The book has covered topics such as politics, pollution, environmental issues, the revival of lakes and more.”
Though Bijli has authored 10 books, only his latest release is his first in Malayalam. The author has previously penned books in Tamil and English and is planning to write in Urdu next. “I learnt Tamil in my school but my mother tongue is Urdu. I have already written a few poems in Urdu. I plan to publish them as soon as I write enough poems to be compiled into a book,” said Bijli.