Why Malayalam writer Padmanabhan saying women writers purvey porn is simply wrong

Her accounts revealed a system in the Syro Malabar Church, the division of Catholics more popular and influential in Kerala, where newly-recruited nuns were sent to priests bound to lifetime celibacy, allegedly for sexual trysts.

Kathavinte Namathil, the autobiography of Sister Lucy. (Supplied)

Lucy, who later earned the wrath of the Church by extending solidarity to a fellow nun who accused a bishop of rape, dwells on the alleged sexual perversions of priests and senior nuns, who not only willingly surrender them but also force junior nuns to do so.

The book was a sensation when published almost three years ago, with all the printed 3,000 copies being sold out the day it went on sale.

A short-story writer’s take

This week, it is once again in the news, with renowned short story writer in Malayalam T Padmanabhan calling it “porn”.

Now in his late 80s, Padmanabhan said women writers who detail obscenities are generating more sales.

“In Kerala today, it will be very difficult to find readers for quality literary works,” he said in Kozhikode at an event to release the complete literary works of former judge and writer AV Govindan.

“However, women who pen obscenities in Malayalam and other languages sell their books like hot cakes. For everyone involved, the whole deal would be lucrative.”

Noted Malayalam writer T Padmanabhan, who is now under fire for his controversial remarks. (Supplied)

In a remark that Lucy, now aged 56, construes is a direct jibe at her, he also quipped: “Sales will go through the roof if the author is a nun writing about her tumultuous times at the convent.”

In his view, present-day writers purposely chose sexually explicit content to ensure faster sales. “If the book is not vulgar or obscene, it must at least be sensational in its content these days.”

Padmanabhan then took the high moral ground, saying this was a brand of writing he has eschewed throughout his life. “I never attempted to pen a single line that could be obscene or vulgar,” he said.

Lucy, others react

Padmanabhan’s remark has not gone down well with Kerala’s women writers. Needless to say, Lucy is among those who have reacted.

In fact, she believes that the noted writer’s comment was a clear reference to her and her book, now in its ninth edition.

“I know Padmanabhan as a highly talented writer known even outside Kerala,” she said. “So I never expected such a humiliating comment from him. I have now written to him seeking a public apology over the remark.”

In a chat with South First, she also defended her book.

“It is an accurate account of the brutal and predatory gender discrimination that exists in the Church,” she said. “It is not porn.”

Lending her support are writer, translator and academic J Devika, and writer S Saradakutty.

“What upset Padmanabhan is not the quality of the literature but the irrelevance he now faces in the Malayalam literary world,” Devika told South First.

Sister Jesme, who authored the first autobiography of a nun in India. (Supplied)

“His concern is more about losing the throne which he occupied for so long. He is denigrating women writers and nuns only to divert public attention from that.”

Saradakutty was equally critical of the veteran litterateur. “What Padamanabhan said was mediocrity devoid of facts. No woman is writing porn literature in Malayalam.”

Referring to the autobiographies by Lucy and nun-turned writer Jesmi, who was defrocked for her 2009 work ‘Amen: The Autobiography of a Nun’, Saradakutty described them as “honest accounts of what was going wrong within the Catholic Church”.

“Male writers need to be more accountable while talking on such sensitive matters,” she told South First.

Revelations in the book

When Lucy’s book came out, she was appreciated for her boldness and integrity; many found her accounts an eye-opener.

Only the Church termed the incidents narrated in the book as one-sided and exaggerated.

Now, almost three years after its launch, her autobiography is facing a different kind of attack, this time from a reputed writer accusing her of trying to win readers through smut.

Lucy was expelled from the FCC in 2019 for demanding the arrest of a Jalandhar-based bishop, who faced rape charges but was later acquitted by an additional sessions court in Kottayam.

A school teacher by profession, the 56-year-old rebel continues to stay in an FCC convent in Wayanad, ignoring continuing threats of forced removal.

The book narrates several such incidents. For instance, years later, a priest who trained Lucy in musical keyboard attempted to rape her; this was when she was at another convent.

At another time, Lucy had to use force to escape from the clutches of the vicar of a church located outside Kerala when he made sexual advances; the incident happened one night when she was staying at the guest attached to the church.

‘The Church must cleanse its sins’

The autobiography also talks of a priest younger than her who touched her inappropriately, and only stopped when she raised her voice.

Today, asked why she was so vocal about the sex life of priests in her book, Lucy said she had attempted a fair criticism based on facts.

“The Church must cleanse its sins,” she told South First.