Pearl D'Souza
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Nov 16: Dr Geralyn Pinto, associate professor St Agnes College and a writer with a great range of academic interest comprising also basic math and science, has won the first prize at this year's International Creative Writing Contest, organised by Save As Writers, Canterbury, England, a platform that gives support and voice to writers.

Dr Pinto's prize-winning short story, 'Here They Are, Saar - My Breasts' was based on the forgotten legend, Nangeli of Kerala, who fought against the oppressive breast tax in the early 19th century, a true feminist figure whose bravery can be evoked even in the present day. The short story was not just a revival of the past but also a creative combination of feminist issues and intellectual rebellion, and a creative journey, stepping into her mindset.

Nangelidevi and her husband Chirukandan defied the norms of early 19th century Travancore with their acts of valour, where she cut off her breasts and he jumped into her funeral pyre. The tale of Nangeli brings to the fore, the right to cover oneself as an expression of freedom that was denied to the Dalit women of the time. One may draw various parallels of restriction of freedom for women even today. In the wake of the feminist struggles, Nangeli's fight against Brahminical-patriarchy too needs a summoning up. Regional level heroes are all too quickly forgotten. Dr Pinto feels a need to reclaim the history of these forgotten heroes and she does just that with her fictionalised version of the historically documented tale of Nangeli.

Dr Geralyn Pinto: A brief profile

Born into an academically oriented family, Dr Pinto was blessed with an atmosphere conducive for a creative writer. With a parent in the Indian Railway, she travelled to various parts of the country, which gave her a rich gallery of cultures and helped make her be the cosmopolitan writer that she now is. Her parents instilled in her a love for learning and introduced her to letters and literature. Her sister, Marie, has been her role model and has played a prominent role in introducing her to the world of creative writing. Dr Pinto recounts the time when her siblings and she made their own board of Monopoly, with various cities of the world, displaying their creative gift, and wide knowledge of the world beyond their immediate surroundings.

1993 was a watershed year for Dr Pinto, when she was taken ill. Her confinement to bed unconfined her creative power as a writer. 'If you can fill the unforgiving minute with 60 seconds worth of distance run…' ('If', a poem by Rudyard Kipling) resonated within her, thereby making her aware of every passing second. This helped her in her literary voyage, where she went on to write for the Indian Express and college magazine during her graduation.

Thereafter, Dr Pinto completed her MPhil with a distinction and during her spare time in PhD, she continued writing. Early 2000s, her colleague Shruthi put her on her mettle by challenging her to some very spontaneous writing tasks. Soon, Dr Pinto had her first big breakthrough in writing in 2007, when she teamed up with UNISON, which had competitions and workshops for writers. In 2010, she wrote 'Two is Company', a work on the psychosocial view into the lives of older people whose children live abroad. During her time with UNISON, she won many prizes and had quite a few publications to her name.

In July 2012, Dr Pinto was introduced to 'Save the Writers', a group that called for writers on the theme, 'Inspired by Dickens'. They welcomed features, had workshops and international contests on the same. There, she was acquainted with the founder of the organisation, Luigi Marchini. Impressed by her literary work, Luigi introduced her to Laurie Porter from the Alibi, an offshoot of Save the Writers. Dr Pinto was introduced to Alibi. "The members of Alibi share their work for comments by other writer members, a wonderful portal exclusively for its members. The group helped me take quantum leaps forward in the field," says Dr Pinto.

Past with Save as Writers:

• In Dickens Bicentenary Poetry and Prose Competition, 2012, ‘His Last Hour', a poem by Dr Pinto was shortlisted.
• In International Poetry and Prose Competition 2012, ‘No Talking After Lights Out', a prose by Dr Pinto was highly commended.
• In 2013, on the 450th birth anniversary of William Shakespeare, the prose ‘I'll do, I'll do and I'll do', won Dr Pinto the third prize. The prose comprised of elements of the alien hand syndrome, a psychological concept she had familiarised herself with, Lady Macbeth, and Calcutta of 1960s. She was presented the award in Canterbury.
• In 2015, Dr Pinto bagged the second prize for the prose ‘Wadekar's World', a combination of humour and unusual metaphor. The piece was from the perspective of Dilip Wadekar, a commuter in the local train - the most typical feature of Mumbai. The journey, life and problems of the commuter and the country at large are traced, and are set in early 90s, the onset of computers.

Dr Geralyn Pinto's words of advice to aspiring creative writers: 'Dare to dream big - you don't know where it will take you and how far' and 'Never be satisfied with mediocrity'.

Dr Pinto feels writers in the city lack recognition and visibility, as compared to doctors and engineers. "We often blame our circumstances and fail to take a step outside of it, which is most needed for writers in Mangaluru. In the city, there is visibility for engineers and doctors because of the institutions that have promoted them. But writers in the city have very little visibility.

"Additionally, our narcissistic culture, selfie culture for instance, makes people focus on the surfacial perception of self, instead of contents of heart and mind. There is a need to reinfuse in youngsters the love for literature and find ways to spark off creativity. Contemporary writers must also try to be 'Glocal', a combination of global and local, to get a flavour of globe and ones immediate surroundings," she says.

Recognising the importance of the Japanese philosophy of Kaizen, Dr Pinto infers, every move is a step forward. And that one can compete on an international level, but the competition is not against another, it's against one's own performance. 

"Be a Chinese Cinderella; find your fairy godmother within yourself." she encourages.