KOCHI:
An environment friendly novel ‘Manjakkoori’ authored by a former forest official of 30 years experience and dealing with the rural life in the background of magnificent Athirappilly waterfall was done at Mangalavanam in a meeting inaugurated by Justice Babu Mathew P.Joseph and presided over by Justice K. Sukumaran, President INSA the discussion was particularly relevant in the background of the announcement of Booker Prize Award to the Irish woman author for her book dealing with ecology and the trees.
Peter Palakkuzhy was an insider of the Forest Department and an actual dweller in Athirappilly area along which Chalakudy river meanders to the Arabian sea. In addition to the depiction of scenic beauty around the area, with exhaustive enumeration of the flora and fauna, the book unravels the corruption mysteries in the forest department along with honest forest officials.
The participants in the discussion included Unnikrishnan, DFO, Kothamangalam, who stressed that many officials in the forest department are now honest and efficient. The literary quality of the book was discussed by prominent writers like A.K. Puthussery, K.Radhakrishnan, Radha Meera and others. Responding to the discussion,author Peter Palakkuzhy observed that it was the directness of his experience in the woods and in the office that enable him to portray the forest areas and the waterfall in an attractive and easily readable style.
