English classics aren’t really pool-side reads. So, where do a literature student who has to sit through the decaying jokes of the Bard, mood swings of Sylvia and what-ifs of Saramango vent his anger? Facebook.
And when the students happen to be Malayalis, the result is funny, intelligent memes. A Facebook troll page in Malayalam, Troll MA English, captures literature students’ emotions after reading classics.
The page was created by three English literature students at S.B College in Changanassery- Jikku Varghese Jacob, Indu Ravikumar and Liju Kuriakose- who call themselves ‘samana-dukhitar’ or those who pained by the same cause, that is digesting the world classics in their college syllabus.
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So how does one feel after overdosing on Sylvia Plath, the 20th century American poet, who killed herself when she was just 30, is known for exploring depression and looming death in her literature?
They said with a meme of Malayalam’s Charlie Chaplin Jagathi Sreekumar with his inimitable tortured expression saying “this lady will make me kill myself.’
When the founder admins moved out of college to pursue jobs, they handed over the page to a junior student of BA English, Ayyappan Moolesseril, from another college in the same district, Kottayam.
One of the page’s founders Jikku Varghese Jacob told Outlook that the Troll MA English has become a strong network of literature students, teachers and anyone who loves or hates reading literature.
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The page often takes memorable moments from Malayalam cinemas and connects it with themes in world literature triggering instant laughter. Jikku says William Shakespeare is the staple of the page.
This is how the some feel after reading the world famous authors.
George Bernad Shaw:
What a man he is! Human beings must have some sense of fear.
Agatha Christie:
I am at fault too. I should have noticed that evidence earlier.
William S Burroughs:
Can’t you be less complex in your writings, which read as if you are venting your anger against someone
Kafka:
Am I mad, or the world?
O Henry:
Oh..twist..twist.
Jose Saramago:
Oh Jesus! A sentence in three pages?
