The Man who Never was

ചിദംബര സ്മരണ | Chidambara Smarana by Balachandran Chullikkad My rating: 4 of 5 stars Balachandran Chullikkad is someone who is intimately familiar to Keralites; at least those who were born in the 90s and 2000s. Well known for being a gifted poet, whose verses are capable of creating embers in your mind, he was also a mainstay on the film scene, often doing small supporting characters in motion pictures. This was something for which he was ridiculed and judged, both by the general public as well as some of his intelligentsia cohorts. Balan, of course, in his typical irreverent and piercing nature, didn’t bow down or apologize, for consorting with the capitalist machinery, a group viewed as the ideological rivals of the intellectuals. While growing up, I too had some amount of reservation, as to why a respected, erudite literary agent would stoop low and star in soaps and commercial ventures like this. As an adult, the reasons are clear enough; very...

കൂട്ടം തെറ്റി മേയുന്നവർ | Koottam Thetti Meyyunnavar by M. Mukundan My rating: 4 of 5 stars I've read several works from M. Mukundan's Biblography, and perhaps this is the first one, which I read that was not read in the author's beloved Mayyazhi (Mahe). Kootam thetti Meyyunnavar (Those who graze away from the flock), is written more in the vein of something that his contemporaries such as M T VASUDEVAN NAIR or Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai would've penned. Yet still, there is the spiritual signature of our writer evident. Whether it be in the cruel indifferent passage of time, or the hapless protagonist who is a victim of their own choices and ideals. One of the defining conflicts in the life of our protagonist, Prakashan, is poverty, something which she shares with protagonists written by most writers at the time. Whether this is a reflection of the dire, pitiable state of the Indian society at the time, or a common string which ins...

ഓട്ടോറിക്ഷക്കാരൻ്റെ ഭാര്യ | Autorikshawkkarante Bharya by M. Mukundan My rating: 3 of 5 stars In a series of short stories, M. Mukundan, the eminent writer of Mayyazhi, paints for us the day to day, slice of life fictionalized tales of the people in everyday lives. The tales he composed range from OK, to good, to head scratching, to thought inducing, a full cornucopia. But sad to say, there isn’t much meat to these stories, a collected anthology from the stories he’d penned in various news publications. Mukundan himself seems the most soulful and engaging, when delving into the semi fictional tales that he crafts about his beloved Mayyazhi; with its colorful history and ever more colorful coterie of characters. Out of all the collections of stories which are printed here, the one which connected with me the most, is the one titled ‘Malayali Daivangal’ (Malayali Gods). The tale is about a French tourist couple that come to visit Mayyazhi and Kerala ...

Anubhavangal Palichakal by Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai My rating: 4 of 5 stars Rating 4 out of 5 | Grade: A Premise: Like most of thakazhi’s works, this book is set during the post-independence era. It details the day-to-day grind of the farmers, manual laborers and other blue-collar workers in Kerala. At a time when the nation had barely gained independence, when there was a gross inequality in wealth, when few influential landlords had control of all the arable land, industries and lucrative businesses, most lived just one of two steps above poverty. Your average worker had to perform 12-hour days of back breaking work, just to earn enough for food and boarding. Thye owned no lands, had no knowledge of their rights, were cavalier with their limited assets, and hence were ripe for exploitation by the ruling bosses. Being from weaker sections of society, as well as illiterate, they were incapable of even understanding if they were being underpaid o...