Poetry had never been easy. Not in the days men dipped their feather quills in ink and sat with their thoughts and elbows on the writing table. Neither today when you stare at a blank screen on your computer with a vague idea dancing in your head, refusing to come out as the right words. But, and it is this but that makes all the difference, time will always do its bit. Before the computers came and the social media got created, writing had to take a long and difficult path. Back then, writers wrote and only talent and a bit of luck brought them fame, or recognition. Today, they have social media. So writers like Sam with a poem like Padarppu would become popular overnight. Add to it a television show and even if it is a controversy that takes his name around, it does take his name around.
Padarppu had been much discussed owing to its insensitive content about a rape victim falling in love with her attacker. “It is only when there is a controversy and a hullaballoo that we even have such discussions about poetry or writing. That shows how good poetry doesn’t get the space it deserves,” says Sanal Kumar Sasidharan, award winning director of the film Ozhivu Divasathe Kali’. He had to work with a lot of campus groups at the time of the film’s release and that’s when he came across many young talents. “I know at least 25 youngsters who are talented, who are creative, but they don’t get the limelight.”
“It was not always like that. A couple of decades ago, poets like Balachandran Chullikkad and Vijayalakshmi were making a name for themselves in campuses. “Huge subject,” reacts renowned poet K. Satchidanandan.
“There is no comparison between Chullikkad and the poet who wrote Sakhavu and Padarppu which are not only anti-woman but extremely ordinary as poetry. There are far better poets among the young. Even many of the poems in Mathrubhumi children’s column- Balapankthi are good. We should not substitute temporary popularity on social media and other media for real quality.”
But then that is exactly what is happening. Social media makes it easy — short lived, yes, but easy. “There are so many channels for a writer today — blogs, Facebook etc. and they do not want to depend upon an editor to establish. However, there are people who intentionally create controversy to be on limelight. More than literary value, that’s what gets you attention,” says Arya Gopi, poet and assistant professor at Guruvayoorappan College. “There was a time when we were advised to read great books and classics. But today, a lot of people prefer reading ‘what is in limelight’. They enjoy that kind of pulp fiction.
And on Facebook, once you get a few likes, comments and shares, your work becomes ‘viral’. Do not misunderstand viral literature with great writings. I am not judging here, it’s just how it’s happening. Now, many think they can call just about anything a poem. For me, what survives time and tide is great literature.”
Television personality and lawyer Annapoorna says how this would apply to all fields. “If you want to act, you can make a short film and put it on YouTube. If you want to write, you can publish it on a blog. But this particular poem — by Sam, that idea is not entirely new. We have had many movies in the past with similar anti-women dialogues. Maybe no one questioned it so much because there was no FB at the time.”
And FB can be used by anyone who knows to market himself/ herself. “There are many good writers out there who don’t get known because they don’t know to market themselves,” says young writer Joseph Jose who wrote his autobiography Buried Thoughts at the age of 27. “I put myself out there as a young person writing his autobiography and I was noticed. There were shares on Facebook, one of which was noticed by a mediaperson who then wrote about me in a newspaper. But there are people more talented than me who don’t get that kind of recognition.”
Even young college going writers are aware of this trend. Joe Joseph, magazine editor at SH College, Thevara, says, “Students are more interested in publishing their creative work on social media platforms like Whatsapp or Facebook. They wouldn’t bother to put them on paper or get it printed so much.”
Jenith Kachappilly, who has written the book Kadhayillatha Kadhakal, says how the changing times become a huge factor here. “It may have been literature with a lot of depth at one point. But today everyone is busy and can’t wait for anything – to publish, to read or write a lot. Everyone wants things quick, it would be short lived but it is quick.”
