It will be interesting to compare the per capita number of books published in Malayalam with other languages.
Almost all of us, who are capable of writing, have published at least one book.
When you travel in the train, somebody will go on placing a bunch of books by the side of passengers and come back later on. Recently I bought one book on the birds of Keralam and my wife bought one about house building, because we are making a small house. All books are priced Rs. 10/ and contain about 100 pages.
At the Agricultural University, Mannoothy, I saw a notice” SALE OF BOOKS NOT ALLOWED”. It shows that I am not the only one going about selling books.
A retired school teacher, Sankaran Kutty Mashu, spent his retirement benefits in publishing his autobiography. Each copy costs Rs. 250. I read it with great interest, because it is an absolutely truthful account of his life at Brahmaswam Math at Trichur, during the revolutionary upsurge among us namboodiries, when communism attacked the institution.
Essentially, the Math is a Vedic School for imparting knowledge of Rigveda to Brahmana children; it allows hostel facilities for those who go to school, too. Following land reforms, the Math encountered financial difficulties, as its main source of income was landed property. The book is a valuable source of information about those days. It has literary value also. But none is interested in classical type of novels. The book failed. The author sold some copies personally. Now he is working as a poojary, somewhere in Andhra Pradesh.
Valuable books which are not likely to be bought by the general public, should be bought by the Government and distributed to public libraries.
Some of my friends confessed that not a single copy has been sold.
The number of newspapers and periodicals published in Malayalam far exceeds the number of similar publications in other languages, if population is considered.
When you travel in the train, somebody will go on placing a bunch of books by the side of passengers and come back later on. Recently I bought one book on the birds of Keralam and my wife bought one about house building, because we are making a small house. All books are priced Rs. 10/ and contain about 100 pages.
At the Agricultural University, Mannoothy, I saw a notice” SALE OF BOOKS NOT ALLOWED”. It shows that I am not the only one going about selling books.
A retired school teacher, Sankaran Kutty Mashu, spent his retirement benefits in publishing his autobiography. Each copy costs Rs. 250. I read it with great interest, because it is an absolutely truthful account of his life at Brahmaswam Math at Trichur, during the revolutionary upsurge among us namboodiries, when communism attacked the institution.
Essentially, the Math is a Vedic School for imparting knowledge of Rigveda to Brahmana children; it allows hostel facilities for those who go to school, too. Following land reforms, the Math encountered financial difficulties, as its main source of income was landed property. The book is a valuable source of information about those days. It has literary value also. But none is interested in classical type of novels. The book failed. The author sold some copies personally. Now he is working as a poojary, somewhere in Andhra Pradesh.
Valuable books which are not likely to be bought by the general public, should be bought by the Government and distributed to public libraries.
Some of my friends confessed that not a single copy has been sold.
The number of newspapers and periodicals published in Malayalam far exceeds the number of similar publications in other languages, if population is considered.
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