തീരജീവിതത്തിന് ഒരു ഒപ്പീസ് | Theerajeevithathinu Oru Oppees

by P.F. Mathews

84 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

Poovankery Francis Mathew is an Indian author and screenplay writer in Malayalam film and Television industries. A Winner of a National Film Award for Best Screenplay and multiple State television and other literary awards, he is known for his original style of writing.Literary works such as Chaavunilam, Njayarazhcha Mazha Peyyukayayirunnu, Jalakanyakayum Gandarvanum and 2004il Alice and screen plays which include Sararaanthal, Mikhayelinte Santhathikal, Megham and Kutty Srank are some of his notable works.

Reviews

[Arundhathi]

നൂറ്റാണ്ടുകളുടെ cultural exchange പാരമ്പര്യമുള്ള കൊച്ചിയുടെ തീരപ്രദേശങ്ങളിലൂടെ നടന്ന് ഒരാൾ ആ ദേശത്തിൻ്റെ ഇന്നിനേയും ഇന്നലെകളെയെല്ലാം ഒരു കഥപോലെ പറഞ്ഞു തരുന്ന പ്രതീതി. തീർത്തും സാധാരണ മനുഷ്യരെ പറ്റി എഴുതുമ്പോഴും ഒരു surreal സ്പർശവും.
പി ഫ് മാത്യൂസിൻ്റെ തന്നെ വാക്കുകളിൽ "ലത്തീൻ അമേരിക്കൻ നോവലിസ്റ്റിന് ഭാവനയുടെ നുള്ളു പോലും ചേർക്കാതെ എഴുതാവുന്ന മട്ടിൽ അതീതങ്ങൾ നിറഞ്ഞതാണ് കൊച്ചി തീരത്തിൻ്റെ ചരിത്രം ".

[Hari]

Kochi, the real Kochi is a 30 minute boat ride away from the commercial mainland hub of Ernakulam. But if you care to look beyond the Kashis and instant Kathakali centres and expensive cafes it has multiple layers of cultures. As per PF Mathews, a localite, that Kochi and the way of life is dead. Here he tries to explain that lost culture in his signature surrealist dark style; so dark that the title of the book points to the song which is sung during Christian funerals.

If you are as fascinated about Kochi as I am, you will most certainly love this book. If you aren't yet, maybe reading this will make you wanna know more about this quaint little piece of land, with arguably more stories to tell than most other places in Kerala.

[S.R. Praveen]

When you living in the world of big mac, which tastes almost the same whichever country you are having it from, it is fascinating to read about the 'PSN peg', the special peg that the local arrack shop used to keep aside for the employees of the PSN bus in Kochi, after their last trip everyday. In 'Theerajeevithathinu Oru Oppees', P.F.Mathews reminisces about his younger days when his grandfather, a former employee of this bus, used to have his share of the PSN peg.

Local histories can throw up such nuggets in any corner of the world, but the Kochi coast has quite a large storehouse of such stories, especially due to the large cultural exchanges that have happened in these regions, right from the days of the Portuguese and the Dutch. Mathews begins right from the myth of the 'Kappiri Muthappan', which dates back to the time when the Portuguese left these shores.

The 'oppees' (requiem) here is not for a whole way of life, which the author says is slowly being wiped away. He walks the Jew town, where he sees mostly Kashmiri businessmen selling an endless supply of 'antique' articles and the last remaining jews are not so happy at being treated as objects of curiosity. He travels to Gothuruth, the home of Chavittunadakam, the art form which now survives mostly in school youth festival and such venues. The practitioners, members of the fishing community who have all put in a lot of hard work to perfect their steps have been struggling to survive that they did not think twice about selling the silver medals they got from Nehru.

Mathews also pays tribute to the local writers like Ponjikkara Rafi, among whose popular works are a historical novel set during the Dutch rule. I found this rather slim volume to be almost as engaging as those two dark novels of his.

[Orion]

കൊച്ചിക്കാരന്റെ ചങ്കിൽ ചെന്ന് ചരിത്രം കൊണ്ട് ഒരു പിടി പിടിച്ച് ഒടുവിൽ നഷ്ടപ്പെട്ടു പോയ/നഷ്ടപ്പെട്ടു കൊണ്ടിരിക്കുന്ന കൊച്ചിയെന്ന വികാരത്തെ ഉള്ളിലൊരു നോവാക്കി മാറ്റുന്ന പുസ്തകം.

[Balasankar C]

വായിച്ചു കഴിഞ്ഞിട്ട് കൊച്ചിയൊന്നൂടെ കാണണം.. കൊച്ചിക്കെന്തൊക്കെയോ പറയാനുണ്ടിനിയും. :)

[Hiran Venugopalan]

A book of memories, that haunts you. The myths comes nearer as writer narrates it. And as the book ends, you will feel that the City of Kochi has some secrets to tell.