The literary history of Kerala has rarely seen a novelist attempting a sequel to the celebrated work of another. But Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award winning novelist T.P. Rajeevan has given it a try through his latest novel Kriyasesham (Memorial Services), which was released in Kozhikode on Monday.

Thematically, Kriyasesham is a sequel to renowned writer late M. Sukumaran’s politically-charged novel Seshakriya (Funeral Services), which caused a furore then for its criticism of the Communist party when it was published in 1979.

“In Sukumaran’s novel, the protagonist Kunhayyappan, a staunch Communist party worker, commits suicide out of poverty when he is ousted from the party and loses his job at a party publication for questioning the party’s ideological shifts towards capitalism. Now, I have chronicled the trials and tribulations in the life of Kochunanu, Kunhayyappan’s son, who was just four when his father ended his life,” says Rajeevan.

Kriyasesham, according to Rajeevan, is a tribute to M. Sukumaran. “Ever since I read Seshakriya in the 1980s, I have had a feeling that the characters are real, not fictional. They are living in my mind as human beings, stimulating thoughts as to what might have happened to them afterwards. I believe that Kochunanu is living among us today bearing the memory of his father’s unfortunate destiny and the political legacy he has left behind,” says the novelist.

Kriyasesham is Rajeevan’s third novel, which he says is part of a trilogy based on the social and political life of 20th century Kerala. His previous novels, Paleri Manickyam: Oru Pathirakolapathakathinte Katha and KTN Kottoor: Ezhuthum Jeevithavum, were made into movies by director Ranjith.

Writer Kalpetta Narayanan released the book by handing over a copy to V. Muzafer Ahamed . Prof. K. Vinod Chandran spoke.