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The transformers

Photo: R. Ravindran

Making headlines Jyothi Menon’s debut novel ‘The Angel of God’ explores the Jekyll and Hyde complex that is inherent in all of us

Wife, mother, daughter, corporate executive, mentor, author, a woman…these are but a few of the many roles that Jyothi Menon, appears to transform into with élan. A true believer in the ability of humans to transform “if they care to do so,” Jyothi’s personal maxims find expression in ‘The Angel of God,’ her recently released novel and her first work of fiction.

The novel traverses in and out of a whole lot of places in India and across the world over a couple of decades from the 1970’s to the late 1990’s. From the fish market in Kallai in Kozhikode to swank offices in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, to the slums of Dharavi and so forth.... in the novel she has taken pains to give detailed vignettes of life and business in these places.

But it is Kerala, her native land, that finds the most mention. And there is a reason for that.

“Travelling is in my blood. My father, K.R. Ramachandran, was with Air India, so he kept on getting transferred all over the country but always made it a point to return to Kerala every year. I myself come back to Kerala whenever I can. I love the greenery; the food, especially tapioca and fish curry and the ambience,” says the Chennai-based engineer-turned-HR professional-turned-author who at one time studied in Holy Angels Convent in the city.

“Coming from a background in human resources - or rather human relations as it should be rightly called, metamorphosis is something that I see, encourage and deal with on a daily basis. It is very close to my heart and that is why the protagonists in my novel are transformers who not only transform themselves but others too,” says Jyothi who was in the city recently for work.

In the novel, Jyothi explores the Jekyll and Hyde complex that is inherent in all of us. “We all have alter egos. Most often our alter ego turns out to be the real us,” explains the author about her protagonist, Moosa, who rises from the slums of Dharavi in Mumbai and a life in crime to become the head honcho of a business empire.

On the one hand Moosa is a ruthless criminal who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. On the other he as humane as can be as he becomes the ‘angel,’ the harbinger of good fortune to Bhaskaran.

The story, which was about eight years in the making is on a similar thread to her conversational-style “transformation” management books – ‘Power of Human Relations,’ ‘Brand wise’(inspired by a letter written to her by then President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam) and ‘Me! A Winner’ (which she co-authored with her husband, Bobby Menon). ‘The Angel of God’ was released on Monday at Kozhikode. ‘The Angel of God’ is going for the London Book fair.”

What’s next?

So what is next on the list? “I have another management book titled ‘Leadership’ which has been translated into Tamil and Malayalam. I am also in the process of completing a children’s book titled ‘Goldfish.’ It is a fun story of an intelligent goldfish that Bobby and I made up for our eight-year-old daughter, Pooja. There are a lot of underlying values in it.”

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