Anand (writer)

P. Sachidanandan (born 1936), who uses the pseudonym Anand, is an Indian writer, writing primarily in Malayalam. He is one of the known living intellectuals in India. His works are noted for their philosophical flavor, historical context and their humanism. He is a recipient of the Sahitya Akademi Award and three Kerala Sahitya Akademi Awards (story, novel, and scholarly literature). He is also a recipient of Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, Vayalar Award, Odakkuzhal Award, Muttathu Varkey Award, Vallathol Award and Yashpal Award. He did not accept the Yashpal Award and the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel.

Life
Sachidanandan was born in 1936 to a primary school teacher at Irinjalakuda in the Thrissur district (Trichur) of Kerala. He graduated in Civil Engineering from College of Engineering, Trivandrum in 1958. He retired as Planning Director of the Central Water Commission after a career which included extended stints working in Gujarat, Mumbai and Bengal. He also worked in the military (North-East Frontier Agency) for four years during 1960–64 in the Short Service Commission.

Anand resides in Delhi.

Writing
It was the famous critic M. Govindan who helped Anand publish his maiden novel Alkkoottam. At age 34, it was his first ever published work. It was a new experience for the Malayalee readers and the book received rave reviews and pungent criticisms alike. He followed Alkkoottam (Crowd) with three more equally abstract novels: Maranacertificate (Death Certificate), Abhayarthikal (Refugees) and Utharayanam. These books made Anand a writer with considerable standing in Malayalam. But it was in the late eighties and early nineties that Anand came up with two more novels, Marubhoomikal Undakunnathu and Govardhanante Yaathrakal, which made him an icon in Malayalam literature.

Contemporary Malayalam writer M. Mukundan made the following comment about Anand's style. Anand's is the most articulate voice in Kerala today, which questions the moral premises of politics and most importantly, resists Hindu fundamentalism. His essays and novels unmistakably establish a metaphor of resistance. The prose in Anand's novels is taut - no moon will ever rise in it, nor flowers blossom or river breezes waft through. His language, stripped to the bone, sometimes challenges the reader to go through it.

Anand has also written many short stories and articles, most of which deal with plight of the ordinary people who are exploited by the people in power. His characters are not necessarily a Malayali, and often weaves in historical elements into his stories. More often they are also located outside Kerala. He is also a prolific essayist. He occasionally writes poems also.

Awards

 * Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story, 1981
 * Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Novel, 1985
 * Vayalar Award, 1993
 * Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Scholarly Literature, 1994
 * Odakkuzhal Award, 1996
 * Sahitya Akademi Award, 1997
 * Muttathu Varkey Award, 2000
 * Sahitya Akademi Translation Prize, 2012
 * Vallathol Award, 2015
 * Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, 2019

Criticisms
The 'abstractness' of Anand's writing has been a cause for criticism, from people alleging he does not actually name concrete people and organizations, instead relying on a historical and abstract narrative, even in his political essays. Balachandran Chullikkadu, a well-known poet in Malayalam, once said that Anand is the messiah of NGOs.

Novels and novellas

 * Marana Certificate (Death Certificate ) Current Books. 1974. ISBN 9788122612189.
 * Received 1997 Sahitya Akademi Award
 * Aalkkoottam (The Crowd) (1st DCB ed.). Kōṭṭayaṃ: DC Books. 1998. ISBN 8171304397.
 * Utharayanam (in Malayalam). DC Books.
 * Aalkkoottam (The Crowd) (1st DCB ed.). Kōṭṭayaṃ: DC Books. 1998. ISBN 8171304397.
 * Utharayanam (in Malayalam). DC Books.

Dramas

 * Savaghoshyathra
 * Mukthipadham