Kerala student with cerebral palsy wins Satyajit Ray Golden Pen Award: How he fought his battles

Ayyappan, a young poet who has transformed his early struggles with disability into a lifelong journey of expression and learning, now stands at the intersection of resilience and creativity, strengthened by his parents' support. A postgraduate student who has published three anthologies of poems in Malayalam and received numerous accolades, Ayyappan has now been honoured with the Satyajit Ray Golden Pen Award by the Satyajit Ray Film Society.

The initial struggles
Born with cerebral palsy, Ayyappan began walking only at the age of five. Yet, even before he could walk, Ayyappan discovered the joy of writing. The flowers and rivers he observed while resting on his mother’s shoulder on the way to school, along with fluttering butterflies, became the first characters in his poems. It was his early education at Ilamannur Government UP School that nurtured the budding poet within him.

Building confidence
As he grew confident with letters, Ayyappan began shaping the unformed sounds and scribbles in his mind into words. His mother patiently recorded his lines on paper, gradually creating a collection of poems. By the fourth standard, this anthology, titled `Poombatta' (Butterfly), was published at his school. As his challenges eased, he began typing his poems on a computer. Today, he is a second-semester student in the Malayalam department at University College, Thiruvananthapuram.

Ayyappan's family
Ayyappan is the son of G Pradeep Kumar and G S Reshmi of Padmaragam House in Ezhamkulam. Reshmi, who had briefly worked as a Malayalam teacher, chose to dedicate her full time to supporting her son. To assist him effectively, she underwent special education training, equipping her to guide him through his learning journey.

Efforts to support the poet
To ensure Ayyappan had better educational opportunities while balancing his care, the family relocated to Thiruvananthapuram. Under the Samagra Shiksha Kerala programme, his mother secured a temporary position as a special educator at RKD NSS Higher Secondary School, where Ayyappan was enrolled as a student to receive her full support and guidance.

Pradeep, an expatriate, has been a constant source of encouragement for his son’s poetry. With the support of an expatriate organisation that also includes parents of children with disabilities, one of Ayyappan’s poetry collections was translated into Arabic and published, giving his work international reach. For Ayyappan, the ultimate goal is to continue learning and advancing his studies while pursuing his love for the Malayalam language.