THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: In 2004, George Nedumpara, Assistant Sub-inspector at the Delhi police, entered the Limca book of national records after he compiled his 583-page book ‘Jeevitha Veekshanam’ entirely by hand. Bettering his own record, the author has now finished work on the 700-page long volume ‘Velichame Nayichalum,’ which is now being considered for the Limca World Records. His handwriting is also known to duplicate the clarity of print to near-perfection.
The Muvattupuzha-native’s love for writing was spurred in Class IX by a Malayalam teacher, whom George remembers as the only one to offer him words of encouragement, at a time when he was largely looked down upon by schools as not being of much worth. “His words gave me great hope and instilled in me a love for writing and reading,” he recalls. In fact, he was fascinated by the actual process of putting pen to paper, which is not something many people take seriously. That fascination is exactly what has led him to author nine books, all of which were written by hand, without resorting to a typewriter or computer.
Explaining his love for writing by hand rather than typing, George, who joined the Delhi Police in 1982, says, “I often feel the experience of writing by putting pen to paper as akin to meditation. Besides, there is very little apparatus required besides pen and paper. In fact, I wrote my first book while waiting in railway stations, in between work, even at the steering wheel of my car,” George says.
In fact, the author’s love for writing even propelled him to set up a small unit producing pens. He had employed number of previously unemployed hands to run the unit, until union troubles brought down curtains on the unit. With some of the pens that remained after the venture closed shop, George fashioned a new hobby, one that would earn him the admiration of several figures including M Mukundan, O N V Kurup and Satchidanandan.
While ‘Jeevitha Veekshanam’, a compilation of anecdotes from the author’s life and that of people he’s met through his life, was written over a period of 10 years, he has been more prolific since then, producing eight more books, including ‘Velichame Nayichalum’, a selection of about 189 articles by the author on a variety of topics including health, education, spirituality, philosophy, etc. Bar a novel ‘Ellam Nallathinu’, the rest of George’s writings are non-fictional and largely with a philosophical bent.
George, who has now been posted at the Indira Gandhi International Airport in New Delhi, has just finished translating one of his books ‘Jeevitham Enne Enth Padippichu?’ into Hindi, and is getting it proofread. Meanwhile, he is waiting for Limca’s verdict on his world record bid.