A short review of Sony Karackal's poem,'Madhuravenal'

                                Madhuravenal

When I read SK's  Madhuravenal,the words of the  exiled Duke in
Shakespeare's 'As  You  Like It' surfaced in my mind.

    Sweet  are  the uses of  adversity,
    Which,like  the toad,ugly and venomous
    Wears yet  a precious  jewel in his head
    And this our life,exempt  fro public haunt
    Finds  tongue in trees,books in running  brooks
    Sermons  in stones,and good in everything.
    I  would not change it.

     The  words are self-expanatory,but note the words,'good in every thing'
  
     Why  did SK  chose this time to write  about  summer,when Kerala is
 on its knees under a merciless sun,and titled it 'Madhura venal'.I think it's
because,like the exiled Duke,he has a kind and soft heart that sees 'good
in every thing'.The poet  doesn't  lament about the ordeal  caused by the
burning sun. Instead,he sees the positive aspects of this season.Many poets
have written about other seasons ,eg Keats who wrote about autumn in his ode

 Season of  mists and yellow  fruitfulness
Close-bosom friend of the maturing sun

Valare churungiya vakkukalil ashayavishkaram cheythu,paranjathinekkal
eere chinthikkan  vayanakkaranu vittu kodukkunna oru kusrudhi SK yil
njan kanunnu.Madhura venal ithinu udaharanamanu.

The poem springs from SK's sincerity  and optimism.

Mannilum ,manassilum  marathilum
Venal kathukayanu
Ormakalude,poorangalude
Puthen kashumavukal pookkunna ee velayil

Here we see a progression from depression to optimism.The mention of
pooram arises from the subconscious mind of the poet,which depicts
his yearning for celebrations such as pooram.It also shows his cultural
roots in the Trichur area.Puthen kasumavukal pookkunnathu leaves us
with some silver lining in the sky,of better days ahead.

"njalipazhangal....pozhinju veenu sindhuramaniyikkunna' also enhance
the sense of optimism,because such  preparations are good omens.

" kattu thee katha parayunna  venal' is very meaningful.There is an irony
in "katha parayunna'.Wildfires don't tell us nice stories.They cause tragedies
as in USA and Australia.We can rewrite this line as ''kattuthee katha
kazhikkunna''

In my opinion,the most beautiful  line in this poem is:
 kanikkonnakal  kanaka manikal charthunna

This is because this is the time of the blooming of the kanikkonna,which
is closely associated with Kerala culture and tradition,and high excitement
and expectations are in the air due Vishu  around the corner.I think this is
fulfillment of the poet's aspirations for celebrations.In these lines we can
pinpoint the reason why the poet chose the title 'madhuravenal'.Despite all
the sufferings caused by venal,there is a redemption from it through the
festival of Vishu.I think Vishu is a homophone for ''Wish You''-Wish you
all the best"

Lastly,SK's poems are always accompanied  by eye-catching visuals.The
yellow colour indicates the ripening of fruits and blooming of the Kanikkonna.
A girl reading under the tree awokes a sense of the summer.A malayalee
girl would have been more suitable for the poem.

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