It wasn’t just passion that led Sukesh R Pillai to write his first Malayalam book, Pillayude Thallukal; it was an urge to preserve the nostalgic days of his generation. Those memorable scenes from the ’80s-’90s childhood – taking a dip in the ancestral pond, making merry at temple festivals with neighbourhood friends, silly fights with siblings, roaming around the green paddy fields, the feeling of first love, the boring classes after lunch breaks… – all are delightfully captured in the pages.
Sukesh had always wanted to write; however, he came into the profession much later in life. For 18 years, he worked in the telecom industry. The electronics engineering graduate has also worked with many multinational companies. And it was in his forties that he decided to take a plunge into the world of letters. “I used to post on Facebook about my childhood memories. And they got a lot of positive feedback, which made me think about compiling these into a book,” says Sukesh.
“The posts comprised 110 stories composed in English. I selected some to publish as a book, which is more like my autobiography. Just then some of my close friends suggested publishing the stories in Malayalam as it would reach many. Finally, Pillayude Thallukal came to be with a total of 27 short stories on real-life incidents.”
He credits his extensive reading habit for generating an interest in writing. The book, largely a satire, is published by Olive Publications. The chapters, Inheritance of Loss and Oru Ormakurippu, traverse the loss of his two intimate friends – Shambu and Prem. He shares a sneak peek of an unrequited love in Soulful Memories.
Sukesh, who owns a sports academy Love All Sports and runs a public library Books and Beyond in the capital city, also reflects on family values and relationship bonds too in many stories. He confirms it as the reason too to pen the lighthearted book.
“These were very sweet and funny memories that I wanted t o share with others. Also, the incidents had a message imbued in them. These stories are also a way to inform Gen Z about the carefree innocent days of the past and the commitments we had with our families and relationships,” he says.“Our young days were very similar to the film, In Harihar Nagar.” Published in February this year with 27 chapters, Pillayude Thallukal will be available in English later this year as Soulful Memories. In November, the book will be released at the International Book Festival in Sharjah, says Sukesh.
“Though the English translation is getting ready to publish, I am also planning a second book, which will also have 27 chapters,” he adds. Sukesh says since he clearly remembers his childhood and younger days, writing a chapter takes only around 45 minutes.
Ask him about his favourite chapters and the writer smiles, “Calcutta Connection was an interesting episode for me as it was a hearty travel I had during my telecom career. The city fascinated me with its beautiful locales and the love story of my friend, Pashupathi, who lived there.”
Sukesh says that R K Narayan’s Malgudi Days and cartoon comics Bobanum Moliyum were huge inspirations for him to frame Pillayude Thallukal. “These two soft reads are my favourite and books that influenced me to write satire too. My favourite writer is M T Vasudevan Nair. I love his novel, Randamoozham. Another book of my interest is P K Balakrishnan’s Ini Njan Urangatte. I mostly prefer light reads,” he says.
Sukesh adds that he has plans to pen a film script. “When I posted the stories on social media, I received requests to turn the stories into a film. These stories are apt for a web series, too. I am in talks to script films too apart from authoring books,” he concludes.