Thrissur: In the eye of a storm over a plagiarised poem, college lecturer Deepa Nisanth said that the work was handed over to her by activist M J Sreechithran who claimed that it was his own. In an interview to Manorama News, Nisanth said that she wanted to apologise in person to S Kalesh, whose poem was published in her name.
An assistant professor in the Kerala Varma College in Thrissur, Deepa said that she should have been more vigilant while accepting the poem from Sreechithran. She remarked that she was surprised to know that people were capable of presenting lies the way he did. The teacher claimed that she was even led to believe that it was Kalesh who plagiarised the poem.
The controversy was sparked by Kalesh’s allegation that Deepa had plagiarised his poem and made a crude imitation. Kalesh alleged that the poem was a direct lift from his earlier work, ‘Anganeyirikke Marichu Poyi Njan/Nee’, published in his blog in 2011 and in a weekly later. The copied work was published in a magazine published by the All-Kerala Private College Teachers’ Association in Deepa’s name.
Both Nishanth and Sreechithran had apologised to Kalesh after it came to light that the work was copied. Deepa had said in a Facebook post that she herself was responsible for each word published in her name.
Sreechithran also sought forgiveness from Kalesh, who wrote the original poem, for the humiliation and pain suffered by him. However, Kalesh replied that instead of apologies, they should reveal who was the real culprit.
