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Literary Review
Glimpses into rural Kerala
ANUPAMA R.
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An absorbing first attempt.
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Countryside Album; Vatsan, Sanbun Publishers, $8.50.
What is it about Kerala that inspires so many writers? Slipping into the tempting pages of many a travelogue, the State has fascinated many with its share of greenery, rituals and cuisine.
Countryside Album, Sree Vatsan’s debut novel, as the title suggests, offers myriad glimpses into the rural Kerala of the 1960s.
Crux of the novel
Set in Nilambur, a picturesque village in Malabar, the story revolves around a family faced with tumultuous fortunes — death, superstitions, and agricultural reforms. The story moves forward through the passionate Sharada, an 18-year-old girl eager to explore the confines of the body and mind. What goes on inside Paadavakkath House forms the crux of Countryside Album.
The plot is set against the festivities of Onam, the implications of the Land Reforms Act, the tedious routines associated with marriage and a young woman’s awakening.
The book is worth a single read for its meticulous descriptions of rural Kerala — the paddy fields, the majestic architecture of old tarawads, good-old Malayalee dishes like puttu, and so on.
Equally interesting are the accounts of the Krishna temple in Guruvayur. In fact, the book claims to be “the first novel in English to portray in detail the ‘divine’ happenings at the famous Krishna temple in Guruvayur.” Though not a significant part of the narrative, the novel’s Guruvayur episodes initiate the non-Keralite reader into the vast corridors of the temple thronged by thousands every day of the year. Manjadikuru, thulabharam, Shiveli — all terms associated with the temple’s rituals — are portrayed in detail by Sree Vatsan.
However, there were times when I got bogged down by the detailed descriptions — clinical and non-lyrical as they are.
Authentic charm
The abundance of Malayalam words lends authentic charm, though a glossary or footnotes would have done better justice than explanations in brackets. The detailed explanations in the brackets seem to take the reader away from the narrative.
As for characterisation, the sensuous and bold Sharada, her gluttonous sister, Ammu, the devout Janaki, the inconspicuously wise Chathan — all remain with the reader as the novel ends.
Though it did end rather abruptly — I eagerly flipped the last page only to find the novel had finished — Countryside Album is an absorbing first attempt by this author-journalist.
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