From School of Letters, Manoj obtained M.Phil for his research on rhythm structures in Kunchan Nambiar's Harineeswayamvaram Thullal.

[7] Manoj composed two Kathakali librettos Panchali Dhananjayam and Bhagavad Geetha during his college days.

[2] He won the Kunchu Pillai Memorial Award for Young Poets in 1997 for his poem Thrithala Kesavan which was based on the Thayambaka expert Thrithaka Kesava Poduval.

Critic E. P. Rajagopalan and post-modern poet A. C. Sreehari in their study point out that Manoj follows a rare technique of storytelling in poetry.

He composed music for two of P. Balachandran's dramas Maya Seethangam: Oru Punyapuranaprasna Nadakam[2] and Theatre Therapy.