Haiku In Malayalam: Reading Ashitha

Abstract

Haiku, the Japanese mini poems set in three lines, following a 5,7,5 syllable structure, had enchanted the Malayalee from the 90’s onwards but none had successfully mastered the craft of achieving the poignant precision of Haiku, until Ashitha tried to use the form for her poetical expression. This paper tries to look at the intricacies of crafting Haiku in Malayalam and analyses select Haiku poems of Ashitha.