The Man Who Learnt to Fly but Could Not Land

by T.P. Rajeevan, P.J. Mathew (Translator)

K.T.N. Kottoor was activist, lover, communist, friend, saint, sinner – but, above all, he was a writer… Born into a family of rural wealth and near-feudal influence in a village nestled in British Malabar, Koyiloth Thazhe Narayanan Kottoor knows little of want. But as a patriotic fervour grips the country in the last decades of the Raj, a veritable avalanche of new ideas and ideals shapes the young KTN. As he grows from a boy who takes to writing not only as art but also as a tool of social change, to an activist enamoured of varying philosophies and enmeshed in India’s freedom struggle, he grapples with hardship, love, lust and a search for meaning in a reality that forever disappoints. His is a tale both deeply personal and political – tracing a web of caste, sexuality and ideology, while also navigating the struggles of a man coming to terms with himself as a writer and as an individual. Award-winning author Thachom Poyil Rajeevan weaves a magical almost-biography of a fictional writer, one inhabited by goddesses and ghosts, a fortune-telling parrot, dead humans in the avatar of crows, and a blind woman who hears – and sees – better than anyone else. Masterfully translated from the original Malayalam, The Man Who Learnt to Fly but Could Not Land is a poignant exploration of the power of writing, the chaos of a country’s rebirth and the life of an idealist caught up in the maelstrom.

Genres: Fiction, India

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Thachom Poyil Rajeevan (born 1959, Paleri in Kozhikode, Kerala, India) is a poet, novelist and literary reviewer in Kerala, a southern state in India. He writes both in Malayalam, his native language and English. His poems have been translated into many languages and published in the United States and Europe. A regular contributor for The Hindu, where he writes literary reviews mostly in English. Although he enjoys a well-established place among the contemporary poets of Malayalam and started publishing poems in the early 1980s, he is not a prolific writer. There are 3 collections of poetry in Malayalam to his credit to date.

Reviews

[Khyati Gautam · Rating 5 out of 5]

'We cannot call works that do not enhance the critical faculty of the people, raise their intellectual curiosity, nurture their convictions and hold them up to the stark realities of life as literature...'

The Man Who Learnt to Fly But Could Not Land, written originally in Malayalam by Thachom Poyil Rajeevan and translated into English by P.J. Mathew, is essentially a poignant account of a writer and activist, KTN Kottoor, hailing from the Malabar region in pre-Independence years. The book traces KTN's life and how his dream 'to fly' propels him to fight for freedom, a fairly unpopular word in Kottoor. His only weapon being language he uses adeptly to write about existing unfairness in society, political upheaval, and socialist movement leading to the formation of Independent India.

KTN or Narayanan is born in an affluent family of Kottoor which is well respected by the villagers. He loses his mother early on in life and is brought up by his widowed aunt. Interestingly, he is breastfed by an untouchable woman Kunjali whose son Nakulan remains a close friend of KTN till the end. Narayanan is inclined towards writing but it is only when he loses his father, who was an active participant in the rising socialist movement, that he is driven towards understanding how writing could bring freedom. After he moves to his Uncle's place, he comes across the printing press that used to print all the material of the Congress Socialist Party in Malabar.

13-year-old Narayanan takes the responsibility of proofreading a monthly political magazine. In no time, he begins writing pieces anonymously for the same. His early exposure to intellectuals and their writings inspire the writer in him who begins using language as a social tool to express his ideas and ideals. In a society teeming with patriotic fervour and brimming with an urge to achieve freedom, Narayanan's articles critical of Gandhi, essays on society and morals, village life, deep philosophical musings leave a deep mark.

While the story is fictional, it never seems that things happening inside the book are not real. At once deeply personal, The Man who learnt to fly but could not land mirrors the developing times of political uproar in the Malabar region. Throughout the book, we get a closer peek into KTN's life that brings out social evils such as untouchability, sexuality, love, lust, and a craving for freedom.

The writing is pure delight for it pulls you right in and you cannot stop but keep flipping the pages. The narration does move places but never brings in puzzlement. The excerpts from Narayanan's writing - poems, essays, musings - adorn the pages of this story. The narrator makes sure to put the names of the 'sources' of these excerpts. The fictional tale of a man navigating the struggles of coming to terms with himself as a writer and as an individual is spellbinding and amusing.

Originally from North India and being born and brought up in Central India, reading about political and social conditions in South India was an eye-opening event for me. The prevalent customs, cultures, ideologies, spiked my interest to read more about the region and what it was like during the pre-independence era. Narayanan's story of employing language and literature as a tool to bring about social change has been the highlight for me. The way I could not keep myself from annotating the book was proof.

No wonder the book won Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award and the brilliant translation allowed me to read it.

[Deepan Maitra · Rating 5 out of 5]

At first, I was sparked by the title. Then came the implications, the symbolism, and then importance. 'The Man who learnt how to fly but could not land' is a translation that the country needed a bit earlier in its course. Deeply political and much revealing, Thachom Poyil Raajeevan's story reeks of India's intellectual turmoil, its vibrant artistic extravaganzas.

Through the narrative, activist and writer K.T.N Kottoor comes alive as an individual who explores and continues to be fascinated by each and every edge India has to offer. His story becomes the story of individuals who are born into a realm of boiling social change, of shifting philosophies, and changing loyalties. In a way, it is the story of India's countrymen adjusting and looking inward--of embracing outside modernity while keeping intact the innermost virtues and affections. As K.T.N Kottoor ages and evolves, he emboldens himself to become an epitome of newfound expression. In those times where allegations were common and stabilities so frivolous, Kottoor devotes his life to activism, idealism, communism, and social change.

The narrative moves like meandering stream, somewhere gushing forward in glee, whereas at times slow in near stagnancy. Like the agile stream which bears witness of the avalanche of possibilities that was staged on its banks, this book carries along the essence of everyday life, and the spikes of events which are utmost important. The balance between triviality and gigantism--in terms of the inclusion that the book achieves, makes way for a story well stitched. Rajeevan captures India through the looking glass of Kottoor, and he pens down a cultural, political, educative exploration that thrives on our country's soil. Many milestones and gravestones swirl in an out to adeptly incorporate Kottoor's life in its entirety, and through him, the soul of Indian countrymen.

But then again, the book never becomes an event encrusted biography. It says a story, of someone who wrote to bring about change, who toiled to highlight what needed to be told. It is not a complete biography of Kottoor alone, although it can be called the biography of India’s tides of time, of the evolving conscience and blinking instincts.

Thanks to Hachette India for the copy.

[Shruti Sharma · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the title and that's why I picked this book. The title justifies the story completely. I enjoyed reading the book. It's about K. T. N. Kottoor who is a rising star in writing field. The story unfolds in the pre-independence era when the freedom struggle is brewing. At times the book felt like a memoir, then I remember turning to the back cover to check. It's fiction. The chapters are interlaced with writings of KTN Kottoor-- some that he sent to journals/publications, some to his dead mother. I enjoyed the parts that showed the mysterious personal life of KTN--his love affair with a girl whom he didn't marry, his relationship with Nakulan, his marriage to a blind girl. Freedom struggle and how it impacted his life and miseries -- not so much.

[Anupama C K(b0rn_2_read) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Biography of a fictious writer and political activist

[reader from a star · Rating 4 out of 5]

Man Who Learnt to fly but could not land
Winner of Kerala sahitya Akademi Award

It was 26th of January 1930, when people across the country observed Freedom Day after the Indian National Congress, Under Jawahar Lal Nehru.
For Kottorans, it did not matter who ruled them. None of the established instruments of governance, such as the court, the military or the police, had ever peeped into their lives.
They had not heard of the Zamorin or Tipu Sultan, the Portugese or the British.

Being Unaware of Government, they didn’t know what Freedom meant.
When asked, they would say “ Freedom, we already have it, don’t we? We can punish the pariahs and Pulayas. And evict the tenants at will, Isn’t that freedom? ”.

Into one of these alleys in the morning, a father, Kunjappa Nair with his son, Narayanan walked in front carrying a bamboo pole with a tri colour tied to it. The entire village trooped behind them without knowing where they were heading.

Kunjappa Nair spoke, My dear countrymen, we should get freedom. We should have the freedom to work and grow as we want. We cannot surrender it to anyone. We should destroy the government that denies us this freedom.

The man who learnt to fly but could not land is more than a story that reflects or defines freedom. Narayanan as he grows uses writing not merely as an art but a tool for social change, to become an activist of varying philosophies and enmeshed in India’s Freedom Struggle.Born into a family of rural wealth and near - Feudal influence in a village, his tale is both personal and political.

Web of Caste, Sexuality and Ideology and some of the highlights of this almost biography of a fictional writer.

There were moments where I observed intense presentation of how caste impacted the society, and appropriate use of language according to situations. It is some of those books that at the core are biography but beyond as we dive in deeper. The language is a simple and well crafted story that might never let you feel that it is a fiction. The storytelling is very simple yet so gripping and impactful that it makes the reader feel and visualize the story with great clarity.

The narration is sincere when it needs to be, simple and also neutral when presenting things that should be interpreted the same as the author thought of them.

There were moments when the story made me feel that it is amalgamation of magical realism.

The man who learnt to fly presents characters that are original and a story that is beyond the purpose that is to only trace the evolution of Freedom.

It goes deep into the concepts of caste, inequalities, difficulties faced by women, and also the impact of myths like Curse, Fortune telling.

There were few parts that were not much interesting to read and were neither presented with that impactful writing. This made the reading experience not so good in those moments. The frequent presentation of characters and some introductions that were too fast and should have been much more significant for easy understanding made the reading not so smooth.

Designed by Meena Rajasekaran, The cover design of the book is gorgeous and very distinctive. The man who learnt to fly but could not land originally written in Malayalam by Thachom Poyil Rajeevan and is translated by P. J Mathew.

[David - marigold_bookshelf · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m slowly catching up with those books that were longlisted for the 2021 JCB Prize, but failed to make the short list. The latest was The Man Who Learnt to Fly But Could Not Land, by Thachom Poyil Rajeevan, first published in Malayalam and later translated into English by P.J.Mathew. It narrates the life of the fictional character Koyiloth Thaze Narayanan Kottoor, or KTN, a poet and political activist.

KTN was born in “either 1919 or 1920, it could even have been 1921” and grows up within a relatively wealthy landowning family in the rural village of Kottoor, Malabar. Rather than farming, his ambition is to be a writer and after the death of his father he moves to a local town to live with relatives who run a printing press that publish political pamphlets. There he becomes active in the Freedom Movement and, through a local political newsletter, he puts his writing to the service of calling for social change. His anonymously penned articles discuss political, social and moral issues, including criticism of Gandhi.

The novel is nicely written, the translation is seamless, the writing itself is engaging. But I found the story itself very slow. It is a fictional biography with no clear plot, and not a great deal that is interesting happens throughout much of the book. The political aspects of the story with KTM’s involvement in the Communist Party and its attitude towards Independence and against involvement in World War II are interesting up to a point, but were not enough to keep the novel afloat for me.

Finally, whilst Hachette do a fine job of promoting translated literature, I really feel that they should have included a glossary of local (Malayalam) terms.

[; Anah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A novel that speaks to millions about the instability of our country’s current fragile condition. The death of democracy. The sweeping of power from the smaller public to transfer of it to the ones who control economy and government in their pockets.

The Man Who Learnt to Fly but Could not Land is the story of a poet and political activist, Kottoor who was active in political and literary circles in Malabar but never moved centre stage to etch his name in history. He symbolises many such activists who are the lifeline of any movement and those who remain anonymous or, at best, as footnotes in the pages of history. We don’t know their names or their achievements or about their families. But each person must have had his/her own story. KTN Kottoor, a fictional character, was one such person.

[Jocelyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was an enjoyable read, particularly as someone with a Malayalee background. The story is intriguing, if a little sad. Although the author's focus seems to have been on the sad lot of the protagonist, I think a little more attention could have been paid to the characters that were harmed by him. The translation is done well, and I could hear the Malayalam in my head. However, as with all translations some cultural aspects are lost, and as such, there seemed to me to be some deeper meanings that were lost. However, I am grateful that this translation exists so I could read this book.

[Bhoomika Wadhwani · Rating 3 out of 5]

A crucial book. Must read for young boys. Helps in sensitising them with the caste system.

[Prarthana Sham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good perspective on the Indian freedom struggle in South India but got a bit too long towards the end.

[Divya · Rating 3 out of 5]

Uhhhhhh