It had seemed like the perfect coincidence. Sree Parvathy was writing a book about two women in love, when a friend opened up to her, about her lesbian inclinations. This had influenced her writing. She was till then relying on her imagination and the experiences she heard from her lesbian and bisexual friends. But all her focus had been on writing the book — which would be called Meenukal Chumbikkunnu. She didn’t think of the reactions it would bring.
At least not before it got published and read by people. But the book and its author both became a topic of discussion when the St. Teresa’s College in Kochi where it was going to be released, refused to proceed with the launch because of the lesbian content it had. Sree did not blame them. They had their rules. She simply found another venue, right opposite the college — Children’s Theatre.
But when she continued to be silent, friends said she should respond. She is someone who has been writing on women’s issues, on moral policing. “I thought of St. Teresa’s as a venue because it is a girls’ only college and it would suit the feminine character of the book. It was to be an all women programme — with the publisher, the one who releases — all being women. People asked me why I chose the venue when I knew it was a Christian management and they didn’t agree with the subject. But I never thought of religion. I thought only about literature,” says Sree Parvathy.
Writing had come into her life after marriage, she says. At least that’s when it became serious. She had a passion for journalism and worked for an online portal as an editor. Later she became a freelancer writing on politics, literature, and women’s issues. “But slowly the interest leaned more towards literature.” She wrote her first book as a collection of love notes — Pranayapaathi.
Meenukal is her second, getting released on May 14. The foreword for the book was written by writer-actor Joy Mathew. “I was a little panicky about it because I knew he always spoke his mind and would tell what he thought to your face, good or bad. Even as he was so busy, he took the time to refer lesbian related novels and compare my work before writing the foreword. I was relieved when he told me it was good.”
Perhaps that’s raised her confidence. Sree has now turned a prolific writer, with three books getting ready. One is a novel on women’s power, that’s in between myth and real life, another called Ente Rathrikal, and a third about a girl who looks at and loves the characters played by actor Mohanlal.
