IDUKKI: Ushakumari runs a small textile shop at Vellathooval, and also takes care of her farm, besides managing the affairs of her family. Nothing unusual there for a resident of a remote hilly village in Idukki. But her claim to fame is writing novels, including an award-winning one that stole a march over more seasoned authors with hardly any publicity. And there’s something else that sets her apart. Incredibly, she types out her novels on her mobile phone! Ushakumari, a resilient character, has triumphed over adversities to carve a niche for herself in the Malayalam literary circle. But why does she write entire novels on a mobile phone?
“My responsibilities leave me with little time to sit in one place and write like other writers would normally do. So I find it convenient to do it on the mobile phone, whenever I get time. Also, it then becomes easier to send PDF files of the manuscript to publishers or well-wishers,” Ushakumari reasons.
Stories come naturally to her. And she does use paper, but only to put down random thoughts. “Once I get a story idea, I jot down my thoughts in a notebook as and when I get time. Slowly, these thoughts develop into characters, and later, into a story. It takes time and the characters take me through different paths before transforming into a novel,” she says.
Her first novel, Tharayum Kanchanayum Randu Poralikal, was published in 2010 by Current Books. She broke into the Malayalam literary scene when she won the O V Vijayan award in 2015, for her second book, Chithirapurathe Janaki. The novel attracted rave reviews from acclaimed writers like Paul Zacharia and N S Madhavan, among others. The award committee termed it an outstanding creation telling the story of a woman’s life in a remote village in the hills in 21st century Kerala.
Ushakumari wants women to break the shackles placed on them by the repressive society and live their lives. She says entering the literary scene is tough for women who struggle to find time, trapped as they are in myriad responsibilities. “It also doesn’t help to be a woman, that too from a remote village in a district which hitherto had no literary figures. But if writing is a passion, and women have a strong will to succeed, then nothing can stop them from giving life to the images and thoughts stored in their minds.” Ushakumari did just that. And that was the birth of a writer.
“Getting my first book published was tough. But I was lucky to have the support of Paul Zacharia to whom I sent my work. It was he who met and talked to multiple publishers. Not many were ready to touch the work of an unknown author, that too a woman. I also have felt an inhibition when talking to publishers, a feeling that they are not taking me seriously.” Working on her fifth novel, she doesn’t find the process as difficult now.
Tharayum Kanchanayum Randu Poralikal, cannot be counted as her first novel. “It is the first to be published. I had written many stories. Some I have torn up, others I haven’t concluded, I don’t know why, and some have been finished. All these creations lie scattered around my house,” she says.Ushakumari, who never knew about the genre called a novel until she joined BA Malayalam, also writes poetry, which have been published in various magazines. Ushakumari credits her father for having generated in her an interest in poetry.