On the campus of CMS College in Kottayam, sculptor KS Radhakrishnan’s Maiya is a writer. Her sinuous, minimalistic frame is bent over a book. A hand on a book and a pen keep her riveted to the 10-feet granite pillar she rests on; the act of writing keeps the inverted Maiya grounded while her imagination, evident in her posture, leaves her unfettered. The bronze sculpture is a tribute to his hometown, Kottayam, famous for its romance with letters and learning, printing and publishing.
“’Maiya, the writer’, symbolises empowerment, the thinking woman, the woman with a will and mind of her own. I wanted the writer to be placed at a height to give the woman and writer an elevated position,” says Radhakrishnan. He is surprised that even now many men in Kerala find it difficult to interact with a woman with an independent mind. “It is unfortunate. Perhaps, if we position a woman in a place of learning, like in the case of Maiya, it might change the way a man perceives a woman,” he hopes.
The sculptor was passing through Thiruvananthapuram after the inauguration of his work in CMS College.
