Meesha author S Hareesh: Right-wing elements used book to trigger feelings of ‘Hinduism’, failed

The extract was submitted to Mathrubhumi as a routine exercise, just as he had been doing for 15 years or so. It was published just as routinely. But, a week later, a brouhaha erupted on social media, targeting the storyline. Suddenly there was outrage, feigned or otherwise, one can’t be sure in this age, and Malayalam author S Hareesh was thrown into national limelight. This was definitely not how he had seen either his reputation or his popularity fanning out.

The right-wing elements took umbrage at a conversation between two characters on the intent of upper-caste women visiting temples. A vilification ensued, threatening calls were made and all reason was thrown out. In the face of such slur and fearing for the safety of his family, S Hareesh withdrew his novel, Meesha (moustache), just as the fourth installment of it was set to be published in the weekly.

The civil society came forward to support him and the government refused to ban the book. Sensing an opportunity, the publishing house DC Books approached Hareesh, who works with the Kerala government in the revenue department, for the publishing rights and the book was published last month. The book has been published in
its entirety.

And, in the midst of this, a “public interest” petition was filed before the Supreme Court, asking for the book to be banned. Thankfully, despite accepting the petition and sugar-coating its judgement, the Supreme Court refused to ban the book last week.

This is Hareesh’s first novel and in it he tells the tale of a Dalit man. He believes his extract was taken out of context to fuel a larger political battle in Kerala where the BJP-RSS have not been able to make much headway in electoral politics. This might be his first novel, but he has published three short story collections and one of it won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award too. Satire and history are running themes in his short stories, says Hareesh. He is now waiting for the movie Jalikkattu, for which he has written the story and script, to begin shooting. The earlier movie Eden, for which he had written the story and script, was adjudged to be the best movie at the International Film Festival.

National Herald caught up with him for a conversation. Here are excerpted extracts:

Q. Could you please give a bit of a background of your novel Meesha?

A. The story is situated in the Kuttanad of 1930s. It is a place where people cultivate below sea level. Here farming is a way of life and it includes singing folklores, local songs. So, myths and stories told by locals in Kuttanad form the backdrop of the story. The protagonist is Vavachan, a Dalit, who happens to act in a local play and to play the part he is required to grow a moustache (meesha). After the play, he doesn’t shave it off. And as a result a number of stories start to spread about his notoriety, when he actually was just a simpleton. The people spreading the story all had a problem with his caste, a caste which is supposed to be shorn of all macho identity. The novel is woven around Vavachan’s family and the characters in the village around him. The narrator of the tale is a person who calls himself ‘I’ and he is telling it to his son.

I have weaved several folklores into this novel and some of the narration is in the form of naadan paatu (folk songs). The stories that one hears of Vavachan are are almost unreal; one cannot decipher if they are true or false. The novel ultimately ends in his death and while he is lying dead, he no longer has a moustache.

Q. Why do you think the right-wing elements took offence? Is it because women cannot have such thoughts?

A. In the portion which the right-wing elements claimed they were outraged by, two characters are talking about women who visit temples. Earlier, in Kerala there was this concept of ‘Nampooothiri Sambandam’, where an upper caste man would enter into a relationship with a woman of any caste, sometimes lower, if he saw and liked her at the temple. This must have reminded them of that. They were angry that women cannot have such a thought. It denigrates women, they claimed.

Q. Is women’s sexuality a repressed topic in Kerala?

A. Yes, it is an extremely repressed society. Women and men cannot mingle freely in Kerala. Even on the bus, they have separate seats. This separation begins in school, where girls and boys are made to sit separately. According to these right-wingers, talking about women’s sexuality is also a crime.

Q. In the backdrop of this incident, what do you think is the problem with Kerala society? We have high literacy rates yet no equal status for women.

A. Women have never had equal rights with men in Kerala. Conservative social mores have existed in the state for too long and that has led to a lot of people being starved of male-female companionship and sex. Before the arrival of the missionaries, the Kerala society was much more open in their outlook. Women did not have to cover themselves and could have multiple partners. After the arrival of the British education, it was instilled in us that such habits and practices are wrong. There were several advantages due to the improved education, but it also came with its own problems.

But, I see this changing. I see men and women interacting much more. I believe the new generation will change all of this.

Q. Did you expect any backlash at all?

A. I did not expect this kind of response or any backlash at all. Before this story was published, at least 10 friends of mine had read this novel and none of them even felt this conversation was a problem. Such a thought did not even occur to any of them. In many of the earlier books such as Karmapuranaam by OV Vijayan and VKN’s books, there are concepts that could anger the right wingers. But, no one ever took offence, But, now in Kerala, BJP and the Sangh Parivar are attempting to gain power and show that they are an alternative. That is the only reason why this conversation in a serialised fiction became a problem. They are simply using anything and everything to be heard and seen. This is nothing but, ‘kai nanayathe meen pidikkuvan nikkuva’ (An attempt to fish without wetting one’s hands).

Q. Is Kerala losing its literary edge, as there are elements in the society which are forgetting the difference between the literal or literary? A. Pro-Left people were always known to be good readers and Congress sympathisers are known to support literary engagements, but the Sangh Parivar is against such pursuits. They do not want to associate or attach themselves to writers or intellectuals. They are of the opinion that any and everything good had been written 2000 years ago and nothing new needs to be written. The Hindu right wing is completely against literary accomplishments. Such attitudes are giving rise to such issues. Also, reading habits are on decline in Kerala and that will mean people will get swayed by such ideas.

Q. Do you think the right-wing elements are readying the people of Kerala to get used to such inanities and violence in the run up to the elections?

A. The right-wing elements have been attempting to unite Hindus and they simply used this book to trigger the feelings of ‘Hinduism’. They have a troll army who were attacking me online. They were not very successful in their attempts. Even if they thought they had gained some goodwill for raising such issues of ‘Hinduism’, they have lost any goodwill in the aftermath of the floods. They were not involved in any flood rescue operations and the people in the state saw them for what they are.

Q. When did DC Books approach you to publish this book?

A. They had approached me much earlier to publish the book. But then I had agreed to serialize the novel in Mathrubhumi. Once the controversy erupted, they approached me again and I agreed to let them publish it. They didn’t ask me for any changes and were willing to publish it as it is.