O.N.V. Kurup, noted Malayalam poet, has said that Lalithambika Antharjanam was one of those writers who could envision the issue of women’s emancipation as part of the larger redemption of humanity.
Inaugurating the memorial convention organised by the Kerala Sahitya Akademi on the occasion of the birth centenary of the writer, Mr. Kurup said Lalithambika Antharjanam lived at a time when the conditions of women among the Brahmin community was not much different from that of the Dalit women, though in a different sense. This was true both in Bengal and Kerala, he said.
Much has been written depicting the life of the Brahmin women and their plight. However, while most of these writings could be labelled as slogan raising works, Lalithambika Antharjanam could bring out the predicament of the Nampoothiri women in her works without losing its literary value.
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She wrote about the life of women but her writings depicted the mutuality of man and woman, Mr. Kurup said.
Though she was not well versed in the English language, through her intellectual pursuit, with the whole hearted support of her brothers and husband, Lalithambika Antharjnam learnt about the existing Indian situation. This had given her writings the universality, whether she had written about her immediate surroundings or about the plight of a Punjabi girl, he said.
Mr. Kurup asked the Akademi authorities to take the initiative in holding a national seminar on the life and works of Lalithambika Antharjanam as she was among the greats in Indian literature.
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M. Mukundan, chairman of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi presided over the function. Ezhacherry Ramachandran, K S Ravikumar, M K Madhavan Nair, Ravi DeeCee and Purushan Kadalundi spoke on the occasion. Earlier. seminars on “Female Presence in Literature” and “Lalithambika Antharjanam: Witness to History” were held.