"Mazhathulliyude yathra"
- Athul Mohan T M,
Veena Venugopal
For Aneesh Soman, survival is nothing short of a super power. We found in him a young man with ceaseless tales of overpowering his disability through an embrace of his talents.
Born to Somarajan Nair and Kusuma Kumari at a place called Adoor in Pathanamthitta, Aneesh Soman elaborates on how his friendship with words brought in a metamorphosis to his very life.
Breaking the shackles of muscular dystrophy was never easy, but it was materialised through his affinity and curiosity towards the world of letters. ONV, Sugathakumari, OV Vijayan and M Mukundan are among the many writers who led him to this mesmerizing world of escape. Ever since he started finding solace in reading, Aneesh was encouraged to try his hand at writing as well. Gradually he began expressing himself through poems. These poems, thus written in the initial days of his career received acclaim and appreciation by the organizers of "MIND"(Mobility in Dystrophy)- An Association of people with Muscular Dystrophy. They helped him make corrections to his work and present him with a platform to exhibit the poems. Being a person who avidly looks forward to receiving feedbacks and constructive criticism from his readers, Aneesh still remains indebted towards the vice chairman of MIND Trust Krishnakumar P for guiding him during his first steps into the venture and for giving him advices.
Aneesh has now published an anthology of almost 70 of his poems. In fond remembrance of his first poem, he has named the book, ‘Oru Mazhathulliyude Yathra’ (The Journey of a Raindrop).
Aneesh is the proud winner of the 2020 Varam Literary Award and has received Special Jury Awards for brilliance in Poetry. In spite of that, the poet laments that even today, society appreciates artists with disabilities only in the light of their physical impairment. People refuse to look beyond the disability and instead respect the true value of their talent. Aneesh even gets explicit about the societal persecutions and marginalization he has had to endure on account of his disability. However, Aneesh never allowed the judgmental attitudes of society drag him down in the pursuit of his dream. He advises all fellow artists with disabilities to reject societal notions of disability being a shackle to progress. He urges them to look within themselves and to draw inspiration from their own talent
