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Paul Zacharia, popularly known mononymously as Zacharia, is an Indian writer of Malayalam literature. Known for his body of literary works composed of short stories, novellas, travelogues, screenplays, essays, columns and children's books, Zacharia is a distinguished fellow of Kerala Sahitya Akademi. He is also a recipient of the Ezhuthachan Puraskaram, Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story.

Paul Zacharia
Paul Zacharia at Palakkad Thasrak
Born	Mundattuchundayil Paul Scaria (1945-06-05) June 5, 1945 (age 77) Urulikunnam, Travancore, present day, Kerala, India
Occupation	Short story Writer, Novelist and essayist
Language	Malayalam
Nationality	Indian
Notable awards	Sahitya Akademi Award, Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award, Vallathol Award 2019, Ezhuthachan Puraskaram 2020
Spouse	Lalitha
Relatives	M. S. Paul (father) Thresiakutty (mother) M.P. Joseph (brother) Mary Mundattuchundayil (sister)

Biography

Born Mundattuchundayil Paul Scaria (M.P. Scaria) on June 5, 1945, in Urulikunnam, near Kottayam , then in Travancore,[1] Zacharia was the youngest of the three children of M. S. Paul Mundattuchundayil, a farmer, and his wife, Thresiakutty Paul. His early education was at Sree Dayananda Primary School, a local school in Urulikunnam and later he continued his studies at St Joseph's High School, Vilakumadom from where he matriculated in 1960. Subsequently, he completed the pre-University course at St. Thomas College, Palai in 1961 and moved to St. Philomena's College, Mysore to earn his bachelor's degree in English Literature, History, and Economics in 1964. His post-graduate education was at the Central College of Bangalore and after earning a master's degree in English literature in 1966, he started his career as a lecturer of English at MES College, Malleswaram where he worked for a year.

Returning to his home state, Zacharia joined St. Dominic's College, Kanjirappally in 1967 as a lecturer and stayed there until his move to Coimbatore in 1971 to take up the position of the area manager of Ruby Tyre and Rubber Works, Bengaluru. His stay in Coimbatore lasted only a year and shifted his base to New Delhi to spend the next two decades there, working with various media and publishing houses such as Affiliated East-West Press, All India Management Association (AIMA),[2] Press Trust of India (PTI) and the Malayalam edition of the India Today. He returned to Kerala in 1993[3] and was a part of the group that founded Asianet. There, he also co-hosted a show, Patravisesham, the first television program review, along with a senior journalist, B. R. P. Bhaskar,[4] which ran for 7 years.

Zacharia lives in Thiruvananthapuram.[5]

Literary career

Zacharia has been compared to Jorge Luis Borges as he has limited his creative writing to short stories and novellas.[6] He writes regularly for Kerala's leading newspapers and magazines, has been a public speaker for over two decades airing his non-conformist stance in politics, and his writing is marked by humour and unconventional themes.[5] His columns and articles in English have also appeared in national periodicals such as ‘India Today’, ‘Outlook’, ‘The Week’, ‘The Hindu’ ‘The Deccan Herald,’ ‘The Pioneer’, ‘The Times of India’ ‘The Economic Times’, ‘The Hindustan Times,’ ‘Tehelka’, ‘The New Indian Express’ and ‘The Indian Express’.

A keen traveller, Zacharia has published travelogues on Africa, England, Saudi Arabia, and China, as well as the Kumbh Mela. In his writing career spanning six decades, he has been the recipient of several awards and honours such as the Kendra Sahitya Akademi (Indian Academy of Literature) Award and Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Academy of Literature) Award. In November 2013 he was elected a Distinguished Fellow of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi.

Paul Zacharia is a member of the Press Club of India, New Delhi and Trivandrum Club, Thiruvananthapuram. He lives in Thiruvananthapuram, and is married to Lalitha. They have a daughter and a son.

Works

Short story Collections

Novellas

Travelogues

Collections of Essays

Memoirs

• Zacharia (2011). Urulikunnathinte Lutheenia. Kottayam: DC Books.

Children’s Literature

Translations into Malayalam

Screenplays

• Zacharia (1997). Joseph Oru Purohithan. DC Books. ISBN 9788171307302.
• Janani – Sign Books, Trivandrum, 2005

TV Serials

• Kairalivilasam Lodge, Doordarshan, Thiruvananthapuram, 1988

Translations of Works into Other Languages

English

• Zacharia (1994). Bhaskara Patellar and other stories: translated from Malayalam. Manas, an imprint of Affiliated East-West Press. ISBN 9788185938110.
• Zacharia; A. J. Thomas (of Delhi.) (1999). The Reflections of a Hen in Her Last Hour and Other Stories. Penguin Books India. ISBN 978-0-14-027844-6.
• Zacharia (1 January 2001). Praise the lord ; What news, pilate?. two novellas. Katha. ISBN 978-81-87649-10-6.
• Zacharia, Paul (2001). Two Novellas. Translated by Krishnankutty, Gita. Katha. ASIN B003DRPFS4.
• This is My Name - The Little Magazine, New Delhi, 2002 (extract from full translation)

German

• Paul Zacharia (2004). Bhaskara Pattelar und andere Geschichten. Horlemann Verlag. ISBN 978-3895021794.

Kodava

• Babu Patela- Karnataka Kodava Sahitya Academy, Madikeri, 1996

Awards

• Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award (Indian Academy of Literature)[7]
• Ezhuthachan Puraskaram 2020[8]
• Vallathol Award 2019
• Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award for Story (Kerala Academy of Literature)[9]
• Distinguished Fellowship of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi[10]

References

Further reading

• Paul Zacharia (6 October 2015). "For your eyes only: What the Malayali cannot accomplish in reality he eviscerates in his fantasy". Times of India Blog. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
• "Real India: Novelist Paul Zacharia Shares His "Confusion"". Open Source with Christopher Lydon. 17 August 2010. Retrieved 2 February 2019.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul Zacharia.

• Paul Zacharia at IMDb
• Paul Zacharia (Library of Congress web-page)

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