Nov 27, 2009
School of Arts and Sciences, Amritapuri
Athira Krishnan, 2nd year BBM student at Amritapuri, is also a poet and an author.
“Really speaking, it is the institution and my teachers, my classmates, who inspired me to publish my first book,” she says. Ente Ezhuthammaykku is a collection of 27 poems and a short story in Malayalam. It was released at a special function organized at the Amritapuri campus on November 3, 2009.
Athira first wrote the story. Her classmates loved it so much; they started asking her for its photo-copies. Her teacher suggested that Athira should consider publishing the story. A reputed publisher encouraged her to bring out a book with a collection of poems that had been written by her over the years, and the story. And thus the book became a reality.
The book, its poems and the short story, all express tender feelings. “I don’t really get much time to read,” Athira says. “But anything can inspire me to write. When it rains, that may inspire a poem about the beauty of nature. I find great joy in my friendships and relationships with people; these have given birth to many poems.”
Orma or Memory is one of the first poems in the book. “…a feeling, a contact of the eyes, a whisper … anything can evoke beautiful memories of momentous occasions in one’s life …the essence of the love we have felt … O God, let that never go away from my life.”
Another poem is about tears of love and tears of sorrow. “Only a few can enjoy the tears resulting from eternal love … but tears of sorrow are shed by all,” observes Athira. In yet another poem, this one about true love, she compares it to the sweet honey of a rose.
Marana Bhoomi or Valley of the Dead is a fervent appeal for a harmonious human existence. The poem forces one to ponder over the aftermath of a communal clash. In Ente Bapu or My Bapu, Athira pays a fitting tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, imagining what it would be like if he was alive today and she could offer her life for realizing his dreams.
Athira has written about Chancellor Amma also. She had heard a lot about Amma but had not met her. Even after becoming a student at Amrita, she was not able to meet Amma right away. “They took all first-year students for Amma’s darshan, but I was absent on that day.” The poem poignantly expresses her longing to meet Amma.
Before the book was published, Athira gave a draft copy to Amma and sought her blessings. “Amma was very happy; she gave me an apple,” Athira joyfully recalls.
“Athira has published her first book at such a young age,” said the famous Malayalam poet Vishnu Narayanan Namboothiri, who was the invited guest at the book release. “She has the talent to scale much greater heights in the years to come.”
Athira has won several awards in district and state level competitions. She was thrice honored by the Kavyodhaya award that has been instituted to encourage new poets. “But the encouragement I received at Amrita surpassed my wildest dreams,” she says. “I never imagined that I would publish a book and there would be so much support for it from all. I thank everyone for all the blessings they have showered on me.”
