A Religious Awakening

An inevitable consequence of the development of prose was a creative use of this medium for imaginative literary communication.

In the preface to the first ediction of Indulekha (1889) Chandu Menon describes the genesis of the novel thus:

I began to read English novels extensively after I left Calicut in the end of 1886, and I then devoted all the leisure which my official duties left me to novel reading. Thereupon I found that my circle of intimates with whom I had been accustomed to pass the time in social conversation and amusement considered itself somewhat neglected, and I accordingly endeavoured to find means by which I could conciliate its members without in any degree foregoing my novels. With this object in view, I attempted at first to convey to them in Malayalam the gist of the story contained in some of the novels I had read, but my hearers did not seem particularly interested in the version which I gave them of two or three of these books. At last it happened that one of these individuals was greatly taken with Lord Beacondfield's Henrietta Temple, and the taste then acquired for listening to novels translated orally, gradually developed into a passion. The importunity of this personage in the matter was so great that I had seldom time to read a book on my own account...........

Finally, I was urged to produce a written translation of the novel by Beaconsfield which I have mentioned, and I consented. But when I had made some little progress in the work, I thought the matter over, and decided that a translation thus made would be absolutely without value........Taking therefore, all these circumstances (the difficulties and inadequacies of translation), I determined to write a Malayalam novel more or less after the English fashion and gave my persecutor a promise to this effect..........

I do not know how my contrymen will be disposed to regard a work of this description. those who do not understand English have had no opportunity of reading stories cast in this mould; and I doubt if they will relish their first experience of this kind of literature.

This prefatory note, which itself reads like a passage in a novel highlights the twin sources of inspiration for the novel in Malayalam: the influence of the English model and the pressure of a readership. His last sentence also makes it clear that at the time of writing, he thought of his work as the first novel in Malayalam, which incidentally is a possible answer to the question we posed at the beginning of our discussion on the novel.

Chandu Menon started as a writer rather late in his life. He wrote Indulekha his first work and a novel of no mean length in just about two months. It is easily seen that plot is not his strong point. But Indulekha is a ;work which Malayalis cam always hold up aloft as an excellent specimen of what a novel should aim to be. The dramatic unfolding of the tale, the perfect balance between narration and dialogue, the magnificent characterization, the splendid direct and indirect criticism of manners and morals, the all-pervasive humour and irony, the vitality of every scene fully visualized-these are among the many virtues of this pioneering work of exceptional maturity. Chandu Menon started writing his second novel Sarada, but he could not finish it. The first part - about one third of the proposed work - was published in 1892. The author reveals here a firmer grip over the novel form: his speculations during the four - year interval between the two works, as P.K. Balakrishnan has pointed out, have taken him to a far more serious conception of the nature and function of the novel as a work of art.

The interview between Indulekha and Nambudiripad may be quoted to illustrate Chandu Menon's art at its ironic best:

"Are you made about play, Indulekha?" inquired the Nambudiripad. "Mad about what?" asked Indulekha. "About the play-the Kathakali". "I have never yet been mad about anything", answered Indulekha. "Oh I'am very mad about it, I'am as mad as I can be". "I can quite believe that; there is no doubt about it", responded Indulekha with a smile. "How do you know, Indulekha? Did any one tell you about it before?" "No, I knew if only now" "You know it from what I said, did'nt you?" "Exactly; I felt certain of it from your own words".

"I had a piece acted at your place yesterday", said the Nambudiripad. "That fellow Raman acts beautifully on the stage. Have you ever heard of Raman, Indulekha? Raman, Raman, I mean: the Sudras call him Rama Panikkar: he is immensely clever, such a splendid actor and so handsome. Hereafter, Indulekha, you shall see play every day. I am quite mad on it. I have a play on most nights of the week, and yesterday I saw a male impersonating a female character. You have never seen anything like it. It was Raghavan, a boy they call Raghavan. Do you know Raghavan, Indulekha? If his face were smooth, it would be just like yours, just like it; there wouldn't be the slightest difference".