Ernakulam: Renowned Malayalam lyricist Sreekumaran Thampi has criticized the Kerala Sahitya Academi, alleging that a song he wrote for the Sahitya Academi on their request was insulted. Sreekumaran Thampi expressed his discontent on Facebook after poet Balachandran Chullikkad criticized the Kerala Sahitya Academi. This has sparked another controversy regarding the Kerala Sahitya Academi.
In his Facebook post, Sreekumaran Thampi revealed that a few months ago, Kerala Sahitya Academi President K Satchidanandan and Secretary CP Aboobacker requested him to compose a song for the Kerala government about ‘Kerala’. It also specifically suggested that ‘the song should be comprehensible even to a child in lower classes’. Based on that, he composed a song for the Sahitya Akademi within a week and sent it to them.
However, Aboobacker suggested modifications to the first stanza, which Sreekumaran Thampi promptly made and sent back. Then he had not received any official communication about its acceptance or rejection.
After a week later, Sreekumaran Thampi noticed an advertisement on TV channels from the Sahitya Academi inviting submissions of songs on ‘Kerala.’ He inferred that his song had been rejected but received no formal notification, feeling insulted. Sreekumaran Thampi, who has contributed over 3000 songs to the Malayalam industry, also mentioned in his facebook post that he had never recommended anyone to the Kerala Sahitya Academi, and none of his books had been honoured by the Academi to date.
Responding to the accusations, Kerala Sahitya Academi President K Satchidanandan said that as a lyricist, he had not rejected Sreekumaran Thampi’s lyrics. Instead, the selection committee, including members M Leelavathy and MR Raghava Varier, rejected the lyrics due to clichéd words, repetition, outdated content, and a lack of novelty.
But M Leelavathy stated that she had not seen Sreekumaran Thampi’s song, emphasizing her absence at the committee meeting due to health issues, which Satchidanandan was aware of.
Despite the explanations, Sreekumaran Thampi stands firm in his Facebook post, claiming that he was insulted by the Kerala Sahitya Academi. According to him, they had requested a song, but failed to provide a proper response.
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