Chemmeen is a Malayalam novel

Novel

A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....

 written by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai

Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai

Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai was a novelist and short story writer of Malayalam language, spoken in Kerala state, South India. He is popularly known as Thakazhi, after his place of birth. He focused on the oppressed classes as the subject of his works, which are known for their attention to...

 in 1956. Chemmeen tells the story of the relationship between Karuthamma, the daughter of a Hindu

Hindu

Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...

 fisherman, and Pareekutti, the son of a Muslim

Muslim

A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...

 fish wholesaler.The theme of the novel is a myth among the fishermen communities along the coastal Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

 State in the Southern India. The myth is about chastity. If the married fisher woman was infidel when her husband was in the sea, the Sea Goddess (Kadalamma literally means Mother Sea) the Goddess would consume him. It is to perpetuate this myth that Thakazhi wrote this beautiful novel.It was adapted into film of same name Chemmeen, which won critical acclaim and commercial success. The film is also known for its hit songs - Kadalinakkare ponoarae, Putthan Valakkaarae, Maanasamai.

Thakazhi made a departure from his a vowed commitment to realism as it appeared in his works till then he brought in a fresh breeze of lyricism and romanticism. The novel acquires the quality of a fable in which life in the fishermen’s community is depicted with great emotional detail. The customs, taboos, beliefs, rituals and the day-to-day business of living through the pain of stark existence come alive magically through Thakazhi’s pen.

Plot

Chembankunju's only aim in life is to own a boat and a net. He finally succeeds in buying both with the help of Pareekutty , a young Muslim trader, on condition that the fish hauled by the boat will be sold to him. Chembankunju s pretty daughter Karuthamma and Pareekutty love each other. Karuthamma s mother, Chakki, knows about it and reminds her daughter about the life they lead within the boundaries of strict social tradition. Karuthamma sacrifices her love for Pareekutty and marries Palani , an orphan discovered by Chembankunju in the course of one of his fishing expeditions. Following the marriage, Karuthamma accompanies her husband to his village, despite her mother s sudden illness and her father s requests to stay. In his fury, Chembankunju disowns her. On acquiring a boat and a net and subsequently adding one more, Chembankunju becomes more greedy and heartless. With his dishonesty, he drives Pareekutty to bankruptcy. After the death of his wife, Chembankunju marries Pappikunju, the widow of the man from whom he had bought his first boat. Panchami, Chembankunju s younger daughter, leaves home to join Karuthama, on arrival of her step mother. Meanwhile, Karuthamma has endeavoured to be a good wife and mother. But scandal about her old love for Pareekutty spreads in the village. Palani s friends ostracize him and refuse to take him fishing with them. By a stroke of fate, Karuthamma and Pareekutty meet one night and their old love is awakened... Palani, at sea alone and baiting a shark, is caught in a huge whirlpool and is swallowed by the sea. Next morning, Karuthamma and Parekutty, are also found dead hand in hand, washed ashore. At a distance, there lies a baited dead shark.

Characters

• Chembankunju - A Dishonest Fisherman
• Chakki - Spouse of Chembankunju
• Pareekutty - Muslim Trader who falls love with Chembankunju's Daughter
• Karuthamma - Daughter of Chembankunju
• Palani - Fisherman who marry's Karuthamma
• Panchami - Chembankunju s younger daughter

Inspiration and influences

Chemmeen is Pillai’s best novel which expresses the aspirations, struggle and grief in the lives of the fisherman of Kerala. Chemmeen has so much to offer to the readers. This critical study will help students of advanced degree courses of various universities as well as general readers to understand various aspects related to this novel. The tragedy of the poor fisherman has been depicted on the epical scale. Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai’s (Malayalam) novel Chemmeen, accepted as part of the UNESCO Collection of Representative Works - Indian Series, was translated by V.K.Narayana Menon, and published by Victor Gollancz, London in 1962. It was the first significant Malayalam novel to be translated into English after Independence or, rather, during the early post-colonial era.

Translations

Widely successful,Chemmeen was translated into 5 major European languages like English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

, Russian

Russian language

Russian is a Slavic language used primarily in Russia, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. It is an unofficial but widely spoken language in Ukraine, Moldova, Latvia, Turkmenistan and Estonia and, to a lesser extent, the other countries that were once constituent republics...

, German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

, Italian

Italian language

Italian is a Romance language spoken mainly in Europe: Italy, Switzerland, San Marino, Vatican City, by minorities in Malta, Monaco, Croatia, Slovenia, France, Libya, Eritrea, and Somalia, and by immigrant communities in the Americas and Australia...

 and French

French language

French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...

 along with several Indian languages.Narayana Menons translation remains very popular even to this day. It has gone into several editions and is readily available at bookshops all over India.Its English title is Anger of the Sea-Goddess.

Film adaptation

It was adapted into a film in 1965, which won critical acclaim and commercial success.The Malayalam film

Malayalam cinema

The Cinema of Kerala or Malayalam cinema refers to the film industry in the Indian state of Kerala, which makes films in the Malayalam language. Malayalam movies typically portray social or family issues and are considered more realistic than films from other parts of India. Malayalam cinema has...

 version Chemmeen was directed by Ramu Kariat

Ramu Kariat

Ramu Kariat was a Malayali Indian film director for almost three decades from the 1950s to the 1970s. He directed many acclaimed films in Malayalam...

 and released in 1965. It won the Indian President

President of India

The President of India is the head of state and first citizen of India, as well as the Supreme Commander of the Indian Armed Forces. President of India is also the formal head of all the three branches of Indian Democracy - Legislature, Executive and Judiciary...

's Gold Medal for the Best Film

National Film Award for Best Film

The National Award for Best Feature film is one of the National Film Awards presented annually by the Directorate of Film Festivals, India, and was constituted in the year 1954. This is one of the Golden Lotus Awards given among National Film Awards...

 of 1965. Sheela

Sheela

Sheela ), is a Malayalam film actress from India. She, along with Prem Nazir, holds the world record for acting in the largest number of films together as heroine and hero. In 2005 she won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the Malayalam film Akale. She has also...

, Madhu

Madhu (actor)

Madhavan Nair , commonly known by his stage name Madhu is an actor in Malayalam cinema. He was a prominent lead actor during the 60s and 70s. He has also directed and produced films, and at one time he owned Uma film studio.-Early life:...

, Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair

Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair

Sreedharan Nair , popularly known as Kottarakkara and Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair, was an Indian film actor in Malayalam movies. He hailed from Kottarakkara in Kollam district of Kerala.Sreedharan Nair won two Kerala state film awards...

 and Sathyan

Sathyaneshan Nadar

Manuel Sathyaneshan Nadar commonly known by his stage name Sathyan, was an Indian film actor known for his work in Malayalam cinema. He has won the Kerala State Film Award twice and is renowned for his acting skills...

 played the lead characters in the film.

The screenplay was written by S. L. Puram Sadanandan, with cinematography by Marcus Bartley

Marcus Bartley

Marcus Bartley was an Anglo-Indian Cinematographer who played a key role in the success of many South Indian films. Most of the superhits of those times were made with his photographic hand at the camera. His specialty was the shots under the moonlight.-Film industry:His maiden film was Swarga...

, and editing by Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Hrishikesh Mukherjee

Hrishikesh Mukherjee ) was a famous Indian film director known for a number of films, including Satyakam, Chupke Chupke, Anupama, Anand, Abhimaan, Guddi, Gol Maal, Aashirwad, Bawarchi, and Namak Haraam.Popularly known as Hrishi-da, he directed 42 films during his career spanning over four decades,...

 and K.D. George. Songs were set to music by Salil Chowdhury

Salil Chowdhury

Salil Chowdhury was an Indian music composer. He mainly composed for Bengali, Hindi, and Malayalam films. He was also a poet and a playwright. He is affectionately called Salilda by all his admirers....

, with lyrics by Vayalar

Vayalar Ramavarma

Vayalar Ramavarma , often known as Vayalar, was a modern Malayalam poet and lyricist. His famous works include Sargasangeetham, Mulankaadu, Padamudrakal, Aayisha, Oru Judas janikkunnu.-Biography:...

, and featuring voices of Manna Dey

Manna Dey

Prabodh Chandra Dey , better known by his nickname Manna Dey , is a playback singer in Bengali Assamese and Hindi films. Along with Mohammed Rafi, Kishore Kumar, Mukesh, he was a part of Indian film playback music from the 1950s to the 1970s. He has recorded more than 3500 songs over the course of...

, K. J. Yesudas

K. J. Yesudas

Kattassery Joseph Yesudas is an Indian classical musician and playback singer.Yesudas sings Indian classical, devotional, and popular music. He has recorded more than 50,000 songs in many languages including Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Bengali, Gujarati, Oriya, Marathi, Punjabi,...

 and P. Leela

P. Leela

Porayathu Leela better known as P. Leela was a popular Indian playback singer. She was awarded Padma Bhushan posthumously in 2006.-Early life:...

.

External links

• http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059028/plotsummary
• http://prakashbookdepot.blogspot.com/2009/01/chemmeen-by-ts-pillai.html
• http://www.flipkart.com/chemmeen-thakazhi-sivasankara-pillai-malayalam-book-8171305504
• http://www.anukriti.net/ttoct/article4/page2.asp