m a n u s c r y p t s

This is an anthology of 26 works, edited by Shinie Antony, who also contributes a few as author, interviewer and chronicler. The title, IMHO, is a bit misleading since the works themselves, while touching upon various aspects of life in the state or offering perspectives on its history, culture or working as travelogues, do not attempt to bring out the contrary nature, in whatever form that’s meant. Different individuals’ point of view, does that make a collection ‘contrary’? I’m not so sure. To be fair, a couple of works do attempt to show the contrary nature of the state and its residents, but that’s in isolation, and anyway are not enough in number to justify the title.
Having said that, there are quite a few which I immensely liked. Will mention those (in the order in which they appear in the book)
Odd Morning by Susan Visvanathan. I’ve always been a fan of her work after I read ‘Something Barely Remembered’. There’s something that’s wistful and haunting about the way she writes, and this piece follows that style.
William Dalrymple’s “The Strange Sisters of Mannarkad” is quite enlightening, and has a fascinating theme of religion and legend.
Anita Nair’s “Orhan Pamuk, Nair and I” is a wonderful short story that explores the psyche of Kerala’s writers and critics.
“The Argumentative Malayali” by D.Vijayamohan perhaps best justifies the book’s title, as it captures Kerala’s unique stance on global and national issues. As a malayali, I’d say that his observation and insights are spot on. Anti-communist? Probably, but I can’t blame him. For me, its one of the best works in the book.
S S Lal’s “A medicine that cannot be prescribed” is the kind of short story I love. The perfect mix of food for thought and a mild twist in the tale, that makes a perfect ending.
“Sitrep Seventies” by Hormis Tharakan is perhaps the strongest contender for the best work in the book. While I was mildly puzzled by the way the piece started, the way it swept across centuries and the lifestream nature of the work grew on me, and its amazing insights on law and human nature just raised it to a whole new level.
Shreekumar Varma’s “Fort Lines” is a story anyone who has lived in the state, or visited on a ‘wrong day’ can absolutely identify with. I wish the kind of cosmic justice that appeared in the work happened in real life too!!
“No Sex Please, We have cable” by Suresh Menon ended up as my favourite work. The humour is amazing, and I could easily identify the way a place changes or remains the same depending on what you’re looking for.
Nimz Dean, all of 13 years old is the youngest contributor at “The Gift”, and the 2 page work definitely shows promise.
Shashi Tharoor uses all of his skills to make a passionate case for Kerala and investments in the state in “Building Brand Kerala”. A well written piece but having lived there most of my life, and having worked there for some and having seen enough hartals in the recent past , I am not convinced.
“Happy” by Omana (as told to Shinie Antony) is amazing food for thought material, and is a fine ending to the book.

So that’s about 11 out of 26, which are really good works, and a few others could work for you depending on your interests.

Anita Nair

This is Anita Nair’s first novel, and quite a good start. I could identify with it quite a bit, probably because of the Kerala setting, and therefore the familiarity with the kind of characters that appear in the background.
Having said that, the protagonist is quite a universal character. Mukundan, a retired government official, retires to his village and his childhood home, not by choice, but by the machinations of fate.
This is the story of how he faces the ghosts of his past, and understands that his fragile character is not equipped to deal with them. The same character which tends to fix the blame on external entities when it’s not able to fulfill the desires of the present, and the aspirations of the future.
This is also the story of ‘One-screw-loose’ Bhasi, ostensibly a house painter, but one with the ability to heal the human mind.
The story is about human nature, its selfishness, the games that the mind plays on itself and the redemption that happens when it faces its own inabilities and conquers them.

Anita Nair

..and finally after over two years of it sitting on my bookshelf, I finally forced myself to read it. I have to say that the short description provided doesn’t do justice to the book at all.
Although it started slowly, I warmed to the book in a while. The fact that its based in kerala and around an art form that best symbolises my homeland perhaps lessens the objectivity of this review a bit, but I loved the way Anita Nair has used the navarasas to convey the different moods/emotions/rhythm that make up the story.This, along with the multiple narratives make it a very interesting read.
The one thing that really impressed me is the way the nuances in the story can be captured differently by different people basis their perspectives and perceptions. Right from the title – Mistress, which could be taken literally as a human relationship, or Koman’s relationship with his art.
The character of Koman, his maturity, as reflected in ‘Shaantam’, ‘coming to terms with life’ moved me.
The kind of book you should savour multiple times.

A thought that I’ve received for the second time – the first time was during a yoga class, and this time, it was thanks to the book I just finished reading – ‘Mistress’, by Anita Nair, as one of the navarasas that come into play in dance art forms – in this case Kathakali.

Detachment. Freedom. An absence of desire. A coming to terms with life. When all is done, that is all we all aspire to. Shaantam.

Now, I’ll not be presumptuous and claim that it applies to all, but it definitely does to me. For a while now, even before learning to articulate it, that has been a task I’d set for myself. The rough aim for me was to be comfortable with myself, and be as emotionless as possible with the judgments of others on my self and actions. I’ve had more failures than successes, but I’m learning. Learning that this state has to be acquired over a period of time. Learning that it can be done only in stages because there are things that one has to do to merely sustain the self in this world. Learning that there are responsibilities. Learning that there’s a time for everything, even for coming to terms with life.

But for me, the revelation to me in that explanation was the word ‘absence’, while most of  my thoughts and actions had been done to suppress. There is a huge difference.

The cold and cough that has been plaguing me for the last week made me go for an antibiotic. While it did its work on the trouble makers, the side effect was that my taste buds were rendered inactive. So, though I had a great dinner on Saturday, the desire that used to precede the regular weekend dinners was conspicuous by its absence. I read it as another signal – that the absence of desire is not to be achieved by frontal assaults meant to suppress it. That does more harm than good. The absence is merely a side effect of something far larger in scale, changes in the greater canvass of life, a gradual cleansing process. I shall start again.

until next time, merry xmas, and I shall see you next on the first day of the new year