Kerala - Comfortably Numb

Book review: The Town That Laughed by Manu Bhattathiri

THE TOWN THAT LAUGHED, ALEPH BOOK COMPANY. Manu Bhattathiri`s debut novel is so steeped in a kind of malayalitvam, that if you are from God`s Own…., you start to substitute Malayalam words for English ones, as you read! People remembered the times when unemployment was quite a pleasure. The times when young men woke up…

Book review: A House for Mr Misra by Jaishree Misra

Trivandrum Diary A House for Mr Misra (Westland) This slim volume is the ideal read when you are between books that tackle matters of a more serious, even grim nature. Or in my case, a break from editing a turgid manuscript. Written rather like a Trivandrum diary fleshed out in engaging detail, it keeps the…

Photo Feature: An Eden with a serpent in Konni, Kerala

From lush greenery to pristine rivers, the stunning beauty of Kerala’s Konni Even given Kerala’s propensity for verdant vegetation, one could well believe that this is some part of the Amazon rainforest! All photos by Sheila Kumar and subject to copyright. Sheila Kumar / September 27, 2017 Konni is a hill town in Pathanamthitta district,…

Travel: Konni, Kerala

ROAD LESS TRAVELLED Eden, with its own river Everything is so green that it could hurt the eye of a non-Malayali. But then I`m a Malayali and in the interests of full disclosure, this is a coming- back- home trip for me. This homecoming is happening after more than two decades and Konni…

Book review: The House of Oracles by Chandini Santosh

In Chandini Santosh’s novel The House Of Oracles, the Manikoth House of the title assumes the mantle of an important character. The ancestral house is a big brooding presence, casting a dark shadow on the people living there. The deaths that stalk them in various ways, is considered a legacy of the house, yet darkness…

Book review: The Small-town Sea by Anees Salim

This boy’s life An account of a young life lived on a cliff overlooking an ever-changeable sea. Anees Salim remarked in an interview that the success of each book was making it harder for him to write the next book. Well, it is also getting harder for the reviewer assigned to critique his…

Travel: Nelliyampathy, Kerala

Beyond the cloudy mountains Where I chance upon Nelliampathy, an idyllic hill station tucked high up in a fold of the Western Ghats above Palakkad. The whole area is jaw-droppingly beautiful, even for a typical Kerala landscape. Navy ribbons of road, red-tiled houses, topography in all possible shades of green, the emerald of the trees…

Travel: Kadavu Resort, Kozhikode

Beyond the backwaters….. How much can you have of a good thing? A true blue Malayali sets out to bust the beauty myth, and fails. Whatever was Outlook Traveller doing, sending a Malayali into the Malabar hinterlands? Most ‘Mallus’ suffer from a surfeit of natural beauty and now view the backwaters, the ‘kettuvalam’ boats, and…

Travel: Bekal, Kerala

Romance in Stone Considering the 300-year old fort with its ramparts looking out at the by turns becalmed and furiously lashing sea, was occupied in succession by the Vijaynagar kings, Tipu Sultan and the rulers of the Raj, its origins are anything but romantic. The Mani Ratnam connect However, Tipu and Co are long…

Travel: Wayanad, Kerala

This excerpt ran in Outlook Getaways LAKKIDI Tarzan Territory Whatever was Outlook Traveller thinking of, sending a Mallu into the rainforests during the rains? Well, it was inspired thinking. It proved that Kerala still holds some surprises up her green sleeves that can get under the skin of even beauty-hardened denizens of…