Nellu

A novel, caste on the life and times of a primeval tribal community, among the Western Ghat forests.” Disengaging the mainstream life story and discovering a plot fro the sub-culture Vatsala has done an important work. “Samanwayam” Monthly magazine .Attempting a theme unknown to the readers, Vatsala wrote Nellu. four decades back. Nellu won the first Kumkumam Award. It caught the attention of readers even at the time it was being serialized. And several new editions of the book was published by, the S.P.C.S., Kottayam and then by the D C. Books, Kottayam.When it was read as the story of a tribe in Wynad, it was objectionable to the other greater readings of the same. It was misunderstood as the story of Mallan. Mara and Kurumatty. Beyond that it is the story of a continuing conflict between the new and the old civilizations, the degeneration of human habitat, the total destruction of the Nature. And the disruption of the settlers’ community is a subject for thought. Life for the tribes is a battle for existence. The decaying feudal system has its last grip on the agricultural field. It is the fate that defines life for the tribes and the landlords alike. The conflict between the exploiters and the exploited is the centrally posed tension for the character, Raghavan Nair. An extremist revolution is not the aim of Raghavan Nair in contrast with the one executed in the wilderness in the sixties of the last century. He was leading a silent revolution not to disturb the weak existence of
the tribes. That ends in assimilation the Brahmagiri of two different civilizations,

at least was an attempt for doing so. The forests, the green deep valleys, the endless, paddy fields at the foot of the mountain, the Brahmagiri, two different civilizations, at least were an attempt for doing so. She was discovering a fresh land for the search and attains a new, beautiful land, where the black and white sheep of clouds grazed across the horizons; the freshly washed blue sky spurted out to eternity. The wildly beautiful language in which, it is inscribed is an asset to the work.