Writer Ban Mushtaq Felicites Sarah Joseph in the program Sarah Josephinte Lokangal (worlds of Sarah Joseph), organized on Saturday by its writers, artists and socio-political activists. The main guest and writer Volga, President of Sahitya Academi K. Satchidanandan and writer NS Madhavan are also present. | Photo Credit: Kk Najeeb
When I write, it is like a struggle with the echoes of the past, tangled in an endless inner battle. Under this struggle lies the raw, unfiltered helplessness, hard protest, defiant resistance to deep, unharmed wounds that remained the denial of society. There is a great writing from the riots of injustice, where the writer and activist Sarah Joseph, who denied or fearless voices, once said.
This spirit of unwavering resistance was the heart of Sarah Josephinte Lokangal (the worlds of Sarah Joseph)-life, writings and resistance, a two-day celebration that started on Saturday in Kerala Sahitya with academies. The event, organized by writers, artists and sociopolitical activists, imagines the 60th anniversary of the writer’s literary path.
“She was permanently opposed to the power structure,” they thought and celebrated a writer whose words were not only stories, but disassembly, forming consciousness and questioning the current state.
“Sarah Joseph is a milestone in Malayalam literature,” she said that the acclaimed writer Kannada Ban Mushtaq, who started this event.
“It is not only a name, but a personality, a fiery spirit and soul that slips effortlessly by the autumn of the literary world. It is like a bird rising through a huge area of emotions, roots and unlimited horizons. She does not need any support from the tree, her wings are her wings.”
“Life has placed countless obstacles in his past. Even marriage at a tender age could not suppress her literary voice. The labyrinth of marriage broke through. Balance of domestic burden, raising children and persecution of her education. She created her extraordinary fate.
“Sarah, Banu and I are contemporaries, not in terms of age, but in our personal struggles and social restrictions we faced, and in our approaches in writing, philosophy and determination. We are travelers of the same way, carrying social criticism or intimidation.
President Keral Sahitya Academi K. Satchidanandan, who appreciated the literary brilliance of Sarah Joseph, described her works as epic stories that resurrection of the voices of ancient myths – especially the voices of silence and forgotten.
He stressed that a great writer embodies three basic qualities: abundance, diversity and skill. He said that Sarah Joseph writings go beyond the boundaries of a single era and stands timeless for generations.
Writers NS Madhavan, PN Gopikrishnan, Khadija Mumtaz, Soya Joseph, prof. Kummam Joseph, publisher Peppin Joseph and P. Balachandran, MLA, speaks of an intuular function. There were these seminars and discussions on various topics.
Published – April 5, 2025 9:04
