Spare my poems, drop em from syllabus: Poet Balachandran Chullikadu

Kochi: Poet Balachandran Chullikadu has made a strange appeal to the school and college authorities in Kerala  to remove his works from the syllabuses and stop the research on them.   This comes in the wake of his realisation that  there are Malayalam teachers and researchers  who do not know how to write the language correctly. The less said about the students, the better, according to him.
“The Kerala  education system is so lenient that  students can't even write letters without mistakes,” he told reporters here on Monday. “I wrote poems only for like-minded people and I regret  giving permission to use them in the  school and college syllabuses,” he added.

He has taken this stand following his experience recently when he received  a questionnaire  sent by a teacher  researching on his works. It was full of spelling errors.  “How can a teacher who doesn’t even know  letters and basic grammar  teach the language,” he asked. “In another incident, during a function in a university, an MA Sanskrit student gave me a poem written by him and asked me  to read it. Its highlight  was  its  spelling errors. I wonder how he could get admission to the PG course,” added Chullikadu.

“Students who have no idea about letters and grammar  are liberally evaluated and given degrees,” he said.   “Those who lack expertise in teaching language are appointed  through political influence, bribery and religious consideration,” he alleged. Several works of the noted poet are part of the school and college curriculum.