The centenary of the Malayalam’s famous poem Chinthavistayaya Seetha by Kerala's greatest poet of all time, Kumaran Asan, will be celebrated under the auspices of the cultural division of the Sri Narayana Mandira Samithi on May 12.
As part of the celebrations, a literary meet and debate will be held on the topic 'Chinthavistayaya Seetha — A Feminist Reading' at the seminar hall in the Samithi's Chembur complex from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. Popular speaker and thinker Sunil P. Ilayidam will deliver the main address, Sri Narayana Mandira Samithi zonal secretary Sriratnam Nanu and general secretary Salim Kumar N.S. said. Writers and literary aficionados from Mumbai will also take part and speak on the subject.
The debate on the topic will be inaugurated by Mansi. The discussion will be attended by C.P. Krishnakumar, T.N. Hariharan, Priya Varghese, N. Sreejith, Suresh Varma, Dr. Vivekanandan, Surendra Babu, Santhosh Pallasana, Manoj John, Suresh Kanakkoor, Sibi Sathyan, Anil Prakash, Rajan Dhathanepa, Rajalaskhmi teacher and Adv. Premlal Krishnan.
The condition of women and their social status has always been a subject of Asan's poetic creations. The conditions that women face are no different whether they live in a palace or a hut. In Chinthavistayaya Seetha, Asan brings before the reader the distress of a woman living in a palace through her own thoughts. The Samithi aims to draw together in the debate people of different viewpoints and thoughts.
The Samithi, an independent, spiritual organization, is also the largest Sri Narayana organization outside of Kerala. It boasts of membership of more than 16,000 people from different social and religious backgrounds, and functions through 41 units and 24 Guru centres. About 7,000 students study at the Samithi's seven-acre education complex at Chembur. Among the Samithi's new projects are an international study centre in Nerul, an international school, and an education complex at Tarapur.
