Penguin Books India launches Shabdatharapadham

Shabdatharapadham is an autobiographical account by Academy Award winner Resul Pookutty, along with Baiju Natarajan. The book traces Resul's journey, from his early childhood days spent in the pristine surroundings of Kerala, to studying law, majoring in Sound Recording & Engineering from the Film and Television Institute of India, Pune, and b ecoming the first Asian to be awarded an Oscar in a technical category.

The author describes with childlike enthusiasm, his universe with its animate and inanimate occupants, engaging in baffling and mystifying ordinary pursuits of life. Written in the language of the common man, the book conveys and captures the essence of dreaming big in life. It takes you through Pookutty's early days, where he used to study in the light of kerosene lamps, and how his destiny took him to the studios in Mumbai, resplendent with arc lights.

The book besides engaging the reader on his personal life, also delves into the world of cinema and sound, making insightful observations. It talks about his encounters with the legends in cinema, the glittering Oscar night at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles, the euphoria around it and how that one night changed his life, to the changes the author observes in the Kerala of today from that of his childhood years.