Malayalam writer S Hareesh has won the 46th Vayalar Award for his novel Meesha (Moustache). He will receive a cash award of Rs one lakh and a sculpture designed by Kanayi Kunhiraman. The award was declared by Vayalar Ramavarma Memorial Trust president Perumbadam Sreedharan.
Meesha, rich in fantasy and folklore and addressing caste politics, was dragged into a controversy in 2018, when it was being serialised in the Mathrubhumi weekly, a literary magazine. Right-wing groups took offence alleging that parts of it were obscene and ridiculed Hindu religion. Following this, Hareesh began receiving a lot of threats, which forced him to withdraw the serialisation of the novel. Harish was already a noted writer and a winner of the 2018 Kerala Sahitya Akademi award. However, when a petitioner took it to court, alleging that the novel was an insult to women and Hinduism, the plea was dismissed, with Justice Dipak Misra saying that a writer's imagination must have freedom.
The political controversies surrounding the novel does not seem to have died down as the BJP and Right Wing groups have come up with criticism after the Vayalar award was announced.
Back in 2018, Hareesh went on to receive a lot of public support, from fellow authors, politicians and others, and began winning awards for the same novel, once it was published. It was in August that year that DC Books released the book.
Moustache, the English translation of the novel by Jayasree Kalathil, went on to win the JCB Prize for Literature in 2020, a prestigious award. Hareesh had told TNM in an interview that the title character was based on a man he knew in his village, in Kuttanad. The controversy did affect the book, and the readings of it, Hareesh had said.
The newest recognition he received now – the Vayalar award -- was instituted by the Vayalar Memorial Trust in 1977 to recognise the best literary works in Malayalam every year. Vayalar Ramavarma, a prolific poet and writer of many memorable Malayalam songs, passed away in 1975. The award in his name has been given every year since 1977 when Lalithambika Antharjanam won it for her novel Agnisakshi. PK Balakrishnan, Malayattoor Ramakrishnan, Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai, MT Vasudevan Nair, ONV Kurup, Madhavikutty, OV Vijayan, Sara Joseph and M Mukundan are among the other award winners.
K Surendran, President of the Kerala unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) put out a Facebook post saying that it is nothing new that "Kerala gives awards to its favourite people" and that "Kerala's new system of giving awards is to insult some people." Naming the previous winners of the Vayalar Award, Surendran said that while they had all won it for the greatness of their literary works, Hareesh bagged it for making his (political) stand clear.