KOCHI: Reading ‘Amavasi’, a novel by KL Mohana Varma in collaboration with Kamala Das (Madhavikkutty), I remember thinking about the many dimensions of human emotions. On one end, there is unapologetic love and passion, on the other, we carry the weight of our own thoughts, hiding them from a society that is quick to chop every high-flying bird’s wings. For Mohana Varma, the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award winning author, being a wizard of words and emotions comes naturally.
Be it fiction or life stories that reek of familiarity, he has a way of moulding his reader into a ‘sahrudayan’—one who can fathom his stories the way they were meant to be. He may have been a contemporary to multiple generations of writers, one who has seen Malayalam literature play and grow. But he is also someone who is in love with the wheel of time. The multi-faceted writer who has 66 written works to his credit in addition to documentaries and children’s films, is all about exploring the possibilities of artificial intelligence, even as he is set to turn 84 on July 8.
Talking about the un-precedent times that we are living through, the writer humorously related Corona to an unidentified enemy that the world is fighting. But then again, he lived through World War II and Bengal famine. And he believes that the influx of information may have changed people’s mentality towards facing challenges. “All the information and news we see through various media every day is making us panic. We are facing an unidentified enemy in the form of a virus and fear plays a role in how we handle the situation. It is also compounded by the structural changes in the society—with places of worship closing down and classes going online,” he says.
He is also doing his part to keep those near and dear to him engaged. As an active social figure who is part of many cultural societies, the writer has been mentoring aspiring authors during the lockdown. ‘‘Through my social media, I put out a message offering mentorship to anyone who wants to rekindle the love for writing inside them. I devoted time each day to speak with them. Around 42 people called. They like to point out the progress they have made in their work. Such discussions trigger fresh thinking,” he addsThe author is, however, quite complacent when talking about the almost obsolete reading habit among millenials.
“While reading might have been the only source of knowledge and entertainment in the past, people now have everything from phones to laptops. When I retired as the chief editor of Veekshanam daily, I could have easily written about many things, but chose to make a documentary named Cycle Maayen,” he adds.
The writer is practising reverse quarantine with family members in Kochi.
