First-time author Annu C. Pillai’s novel, Waltair Station , took a long time coming. It was in the mid 1970s that a creative work, a poem, by her was published. She was then in her early 20s. Marriage, kids, social work and responsibilities took over and creative writing was kept aside.
It would be another four decades before she picked up her pen again. She did write poetry, which was for her, a way of keeping creativity flowing. She also contributed; freelance, to an English daily. Waltair Station took two years in the coming, mostly at the behest of her three children. “I just put down what was in my mind. Publishing was not a priority,” she says, over phone from Vennikulam, where she lives with her husband, T.N.C. Pillai.
Her children, two sons and a daughter, encouraged her to give publishing a shot. Her Bangalore-based younger son found the publisher, Notion Press, while his wife edited the book. The book, available on Amazon and Flipkart, was published last year. The first batch was released in the United States, where her older son is based.
All this at 65, an age at which most people consider retirement; when a brand new calling is rarely on the cards. Age doesn’t matter, she says, “I am a bold and free-thinking person, my family is important to me and I had their support.” She admits there was trepidation once the book came out in print, “I was nervous.”
The novel derives inspiration from the life she saw as a social worker. As any other author would, she drew inputs from people she knew and incidents she had heard of. Once the book was out, she got served a legal notice from an ‘offended’ party. It rattled her and she lost sleep but her children saw her through that crisis. “They told me not to worry. After all writers live in society and what we see inspires us. The resemblance was coincidental since I have not mentioned names.”
She also felt the high of the published-author-experience; her US-based son’s friend sent a copy of the book to get it autographed. “That made me so proud of my writing.” She made friends in Germany who also sent copies of the book to have her sign the copies for them.
Visakhapatnam railway station, once upon a time, used to be known as Waltair Station, a name given by the British. The book is set in the 1940s as the station was known then. “I chose the railway station because the story begins and ends there.” Annu, who hails from Thrissur, spent her childhood in Visakhapatnam. The protagonist, a Malayali girl, Agnes, is at the crossroads of her life as her father dies. Still a teenager, she is left with a pregnant mother and younger siblings to look after. The novel traces her journey as she negotiates her way through life and its many challenges.
A post-graduate in English literature, Annu has worked with the displaced and the destitute, which gave her material for the book. “During the course of my work I have seen so many lives of women affected by certain circumstances…subjected to many forms of abuse. They cannot dream – of jobs, studies, higher studies.” Though the story is set in Andhra Pradesh, it is relevant in any time and any place.” Her first novel took two years in the making but she didn’t wait too long before she started on her second work which is being edited. The second book is based in Kerala and deals with untouchability and the caste system. And she is already planning her third book, “this time it is from a man’s point of view.”
Annu and her family settled down at Vennikulam so that their children’s education wouldn’t suffer. Her husband retired from the Merchant Navy. At Vennikulam she got involved in social work, “I couldn’t help with money but I could give my time.” She was the vice president of Mahila Morcha, Pathanamthitta district.
