Zachariah is considered as one of the powerful short  story writers of modern era. He stands apart in style  and content. Many of his stories have Biblical overtones, though he is secular and cosmopolitan in outlook.

He hails from a Roman Catholic family, near Palai,  regarded as the pivot of the most conservative and  aristocratic of Catholic families.

After his formative years and vibrant youth, amidst  the  widely grown rubber plantations of Kottayam, he  was  catapulted to the vortex of the Capital of  India. New  Delhi offered him an opportunity to hob-nob with National  and International streams, personalities and cultures.

Zachariah short stories command wide and vast readership. Apart from being a commentator of society and its mores through his narratives, he often raps the society through his columns in dailies, weeklies and monthlies.

His articles in the leading journals have seized the attention of numerous readers by virtue of the spicy selection of vocabulary, which rumble greater meanings in the distant corner of the mind of readers.

Paul Zachariah won the Sahitya Akademi Award for his short story collection “Zachariyayute Kathakal” in 2004.