HARIPAD, KERALA — Blending grassroots advocacy, jurisprudence, and literary craft, Kerala-based educator, lawyer, and social activist Dr. Arun Kumar S Haripad—widely recognized by his pen name Ezhuthalan—has drawn critical attention with the release of his latest poetry anthology titled Ezhuthalan.
Published by Bodhi Books under its Pacha Books imprint, the collection is now available across major digital and eBook platforms, earning early recognition as a powerful poetic manifesto rooted in human values, empathy, and social consciousness.
Profile: Teacher, Poet, and Voice for Justice
Born on May 30, 1980, Dr. Arun Kumar maintains a multifaceted presence in Kerala’s cultural and public spheres. By profession, he serves as an English teacher within the Government of Kerala’s Vocational Higher Secondary Education (VHSE) Department, stationed at Haripad Government Vocational Higher Secondary School.
Parallel to his work in the classroom, Dr. Arun Kumar has built an extensive profile spanning law, public speaking, lyric writing, and social activism. Writing bilingually in both Malayalam and English, his work actively engages with pressing public causes. In 2026, he wrote and released the official campaign song for the Kerala state government’s “Toofan” anti-narcotics initiative, reinforcing his commitment to deploying creative art in service of civic welfare.
The Book: 40 Poems for the Silenced
At the core of the collection lies a relentless commitment to giving voice to the dispossessed. Ezhuthalan brings together 40 poems that “speak for the silenced, for the aborigines, for the poet’s own brother,” according to the book’s introduction.
The collection explicitly frames poetry as an act of resistance and compassion. Rather than treating writing as detached aesthetic reflection, the work positions the poet’s senses—eyes, ears, and tongue—as weapons against cruelty and injustice, confronting harrowing societal realities such as the abduction and killing of children.
Central to the work’s philosophical underpinning is an adherence to Gandhian ideals. The text highlights a poet who finds a true guru in Mahatma Gandhi, whose final words, “Hey Ram,” proclaimed immortal love even at the threshold of death. Described as reacting at times “burning like coal” and at others “like a fireball,” the poet responds to words and silence alike in defense of honesty, love, peace, brotherhood, and human life. Through these verses, the writer is said to have taken an oath to “correct the world that has made a decision that it would never become good,” establishing the collection as a morally charged literary project.
Literary Style: Compassion with a Ruthless Edge
Literary critics have noted that Dr. Arun Kumar’s poetry introduces a distinctive kind of sentimentality, employing verse not merely as an ornamental pursuit, but as an intentional instrument for social transformation. By uniting an uncompromising moral ferocity with deep humanitarian empathy, the anthology underscores the enduring role of literature as a defiant defense of the vulnerable.
Ezhuthalan the collection of poems by Dr Arun Kumar S is infact a manifesto of Humanism.