THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Twenty four years, a 100th edition and over 2 lakh copies, ‘Oru Sankeerthanam Pole’ continues to be a bestseller in Malayalam fiction. The ‘solitary wonder in Malayalam fiction’, as Malayattoor Ramakrishnan once described it, not only changed the destiny of its publisher but also lifted its author to the higher realm of master storytellers. On December 2, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will release the 100th edition at the Press Club.
Sankeerthanam Publications, probably the only publishing house to be named after a book, created a history of sorts by publishing the book in September 1993. Till ‘Oru Sankeerthanam Pole’ was released, Perumpadavam Sreedharan was just another writer in the star-studded firmament of Malayalam fiction. Though the full text had already been carried in Deepika’s annual issue, Perumpadavam was looking for a publisher to get it published as a book.
“I was reluctant to allow my young friend Ashramam Bhasi to publish it as I did not want him to incur a loss. But he was adamant it should be given to him. With the first edition selling like hot cakes, we knew it was going to be a bestseller. Still, I had no idea it would be destined to create history,” Perumpadavam recollects.
The book could cross the milestone of 2 lakh copies and 100 editions in less than two and a half decades, the fastest by a book in Malayalam literature, he points out. Why did he choose to write a novel on Fyodor Dostoyevsky? Perumpadavam says he travelled through the inner realm of Dostoyevsky’s works for over 35 years before planning to write a novel about him.
“The fact that Dostoyevsky himself was more distinct and stronger a character than any of his characters prompted me to write about him. But it was never easy to tread the unfamiliar landscape of Russia and the more complex mindscape of a phenomenal genius like Dostoyevsky. The green forests of my heart was set afire by the heavy downpour of his memories,” he says.
Perumpadavam also had no clue that he was going to change the history of the Malayalam novel when he started writing the life story of a harassed, ostracised and tormented writer. His description of Dostoyevsky as “the one who had the thumb imprint of God on his heart” became viral as a one-liner applicable to Perumpadavam too. The masterpiece earned him more than 11 major awards including the Vayalar award.
The novel was translated into Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, Gujarati, Arabic, English and Assamese.Sankeerthanam Publications also has the rare honour of publishing all 58 works by Perumpadavam. The tile factory owner-turned-publisher Ashramam Bhasi also established himself, bringing out 350 books in 24 years.