Kaalam The Sahaitya Akademi Award- Winning Novel

Hand in Hand rd-winning author M.T. Vasudevan Nair's Novel Kaalam is set against the backdrop of the crumbling matrilineal tarawad system of the Nairs in Kerala with its petty rivalries and jealousies, its sambandham system of contractual marriage, its Conflicts and problems and the changes in land Legislation which sharply erode the feudal order.

Kaalam begins with the dream-filled and ambitious Adolescence of Sethumadhavan Nair, confident it can REACH out and possess the whole world, and leads on to his adulthood where Material and social Success go Hand in hand with an overwhelming sense of disillusionment. The River of Sethu's village, a mute witness to every crisis in his life, mirrors this journey, its sensuous beauty transformed to dry sand.

M.T.'s lyrical prose captures the changing moods and seasons of the Landscape of his own Childhood in a novel that, though not strictly autobiographical, shares some of the emotional experiences of the protagonist.

Madath Thekkepat Vasudevan Nair was born in 1933 in the small village of Kudallur, Kerala. MT, as he is popularly known, won acclaim with his story "Valarthumrigangal" ("Circus Animal" 1953). It launched him on his career as a writer and a journalist and editor with Mathrubhumi.

MT is renowned as a chronicler of life in the matriarchal joint family of Kerala, a milieu he describes with intimacy in novels (such as Nalukettu (1959) and Kaalam (1969). He won the Kendriya and Kerala State Sahitya Akademi awards respectively for these two novels. His novel Randamoozham (1984), a retelling of the Mahabharata, went into two reprints during the first three months
of its publication.

MT has also written screenplays and dialogues. He has won four National Awards for his screenplays. The very first film he wrote, produced, and directed, Nirmalyam (The Floral Offering) won the President's Gold Medal for the best feature film in 1973. The film version of "Irutinde Atmavu" won the President's Silver Medal and Kadavu (The Ferry) won the Japanese Grand Prix.

Several of MT's works have been translated into English : Nalukettu as The Legacy, Asura Vithu under the same name, Randamoozham as Second Turn, and a selection of his short stories as Catching An Elephant and Other Stories.

MT was awarded the Jnanpith award for 1995 recently. He is the chairman of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi and continues to be the editor of Mathrubhumi.

A scholar and a translator with a doctorate in English from the University of Mysore, Gita Krishnankutty has a long-standing interest in translation. She has translated P. Sachidanandan's The Death Certificate (Orient Longman, 1992) and N.P. Mohammed's The Eye of God (Macmillan, 1997). Her forthcoming translations include some short stories of M.T. Vasudevan Nair in a reader on |that author and a collection of Lalithambika Anterjanam's short stories and extracts from her autobiography.

The Title "Kaalam The Sahaitya Akademi Award- Winning Novel" is written by Achuthan Kudallur. This book was published in the year 2010. The ISBN number 8125013776|9788125013778 is assigned to the Paperback version of this title. This book has total of pp. [xii] + 235 (Pages). The publisher of this title is Orient Longman Limited. We have about 3799 other great books from this publisher. Kaalam The Sahaitya Akademi Award- Winning Novel is currently Available with us.