[1] While studying in school, he was attracted to Indian independence movement and the subject matter of his early writings was related to this theme.
[1] He was associated with the Communist Party for some time and was the secretary of Purogamana Kala Sahitya Sangham (progressive writers' forum) for five years.
[2] Varkey entered the literary field in 1939 with Thirumulkazhcha, a collection of poems that got rave reviews from the stalwarts of the time.
Varkey soon changed his track and chose prose, finding that drama and short story were the most effective vehicles to bring the written word close to the spoken one.
His short stories Manthrikkettu and Model were banned in 1946 by the government of the princely state of Travancore (now forming southern Kerala) on the charge of treason and Varkey was imprisoned for six months.
But the venture was a total failure; after a few years, it merged with the Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society (SPCS), world's first writer's publishing cooperative and Varkey functioned as its president.
[1] Varkey's writing expedited the evolution of a congenial atmosphere for social change in the first half of the 20th century in India.