Volume 8, No. 1 – 2008

Volume 8, No. 1 - 2008

Articles

Women Short Story Writing in Malayalam by HEMA NAIR R Posted in: Literature & Literary Studies, Articles Abstract: The following article widely introduces the aspects of women short story writing in Malayalam. Creative writing provided women with an opportunity to articulate themselves. All the laws that governed silent zones had worked to keep her mute. Women’s writing… Continue Reading

Fiction

Sponsors Please by B. CHANDRIKA Posted in: Fiction, Fiction Leaving a trail of dust, a huge van speeded into Devigramam, disturbing its quiet siesta. Sundaran came out of his hair-cutting saloon to stare after the van. Appu Nair and Kunhiraman also came out from the provision store and the… Continue Reading
Blatant lies by ASHITHA Posted in: Fiction, Fiction, Translation Uma was doing her homework with her face resting on her palm. I was sitting motionless on the chair patiently waiting for her to finish. This is not what usually happened. She would write half her homework and then ask… Continue Reading
Repentance for the Murder of a Dream by RAJANI M. Posted in: Fiction, Fiction I have no doubt in my mind as regards the beginning. About whom should I begin describing? All except those who had begotten me are dear to me. Yet the one who will live forever in the light of my… Continue Reading

Translation

Brainless Women by M. SARASWATHI BAI Posted in: Fiction, Translation Govindan Nair did not like it at all. Being highborn, a scholar, a one-time journalist and presently a scribe for various newspapers, Govindan Nair considered it below his dignity to permit his wife to work as a teacher in the… Continue Reading
A Murder case by CHAMBATHIL CHINNAMMU AMMAL Posted in: Fiction, Translation Mullatharackal Karunakara Menon’s face looked impassive as he sat on a chair in a spacious room of Chempakamittathu House, listening keenly to the mustachioed man opposite him. Pichangottu Shekhara Kaimal, seated at the other end of the table with his… Continue Reading
The Curse of Eve by LALITHAMBIKA ANTHARJANAM Posted in: Fiction, Translation The child was perched on the parapet, swinging her legs and watching the road below crowded with cars, trucks, buses and pedestrians. An aeroplane flew low across the sky. The child laughed and swung her legs faster. The grandmother who… Continue Reading
Sweetmeat by K. SARASWATHY AMMA Posted in: Fiction, Translation To a woman, love is a peculiar sweetmeat. Drugged in the sweetness of love, you can, like a magician, take her anywhere and get away with anything. You have only to take care that she does not awaken from the… Continue Reading
Hostel Mate by RAJALAKSHMI Posted in: Fiction, Translation It feels like yesterday. I joined the hostel a few days after the end of the midsummer vacation. Most inmates of the hostel had come by then. It was a Sunday. It was noon when I arrived. All the hostellers… Continue Reading
The Goat by KAMALA DAS Posted in: Fiction, Translation When she was forty-three, her fun-loving elder son told her, ‘Mom, when I see you, I am reminded of a goat.’ She joined in his laughter. But when they all went out, grief stricken, she examined her face in the… Continue Reading
Ants in Winter by P. VATSALA Posted in: Fiction, Translation Her colleagues expected Navaneetha to speak a few words at Sugathan’s sendoff. They also expected her voice to break when she spoke. She had been silent since morning. She was doodling on the pad before her when her superior officer… Continue Reading
Jupiter in the Eleventh House by K.B. SREEDEVI Posted in: Fiction, Translation The women of the remote village, weaned on tales of Sheelavathi and Savithri, could not in any way justify Vanaja’s egotistic behavior. ‘Shouldn’t women be more circumspect and modest?’ ‘Have you ever seen such arrogance?’ Vanaja repelled the many arrows… Continue Reading
Scooter by SARAH JOSEPH Posted in: Fiction, Translation The journey, naturally, began with great fun and excitement. It was full of the promise of a beautiful part of the world, blessed by nature. Yet scooters were not dependable for long journeys. Before going far, the scooter stopped after… Continue Reading
Sheelavati by MANASI Posted in: Fiction, Translation She examined, in revulsion, the swollen face of the man sprawling across her breasts. The muscles of the face glistened. The huge ears sticking out on either side glistened too. Suppressing the nausea surging in her as usual, she took… Continue Reading
The Cat by GRACY Posted in: Fiction, Translation I know that you have not been able to believe what I just told you. To present conclusions first would not be the right mode of narration. But often, men cannot think or act logically, a fact that you must,… Continue Reading
The Musical ‘Wail-Box’…!! by B. M. ZUHRA Posted in: Fiction, Translation Hassankutty had every reason to be cross—it had all to do with his wife. What a miserable piece of God’s work she was, he couldn’t help thinking! He cursed himself for having agreed to marry her. All she would do… Continue Reading
Sponsors Please by B. CHANDRIKA Posted in: Fiction, Fiction Leaving a trail of dust, a huge van speeded into Devigramam, disturbing its quiet siesta. Sundaran came out of his hair-cutting saloon to stare after the van. Appu Nair and Kunhiraman also came out from the provision store and the… Continue Reading
Blatant lies by ASHITHA Posted in: Fiction, Fiction, Translation Uma was doing her homework with her face resting on her palm. I was sitting motionless on the chair patiently waiting for her to finish. This is not what usually happened. She would write half her homework and then ask… Continue Reading
The Pilgrimage by SHOBA VARYAR Posted in: Fiction, Translation There was a window in that room, a window that was only the size of a small mirror. The room was also a house in which four people lived. The room was home to Maniamma and her children. The rays… Continue Reading
The Guest by SUDHAKUTTY Posted in: Fiction, Translation The guest was totally unexpected. Uma had never expected to meet this guest ever in person. She remained in stupefied silence for some more time. She had been told that someone had called to see her twice earlier but had… Continue Reading
Priyamvada is with Mary by SUMATHY Posted in: Fiction, Translation Priyamvada is a beautiful college lecturer with dreamy eyes. She taught the beautiful subject of literature. It is easy to imagine a beauty like her . . . She got married to a basketball star. He worked for the railways.… Continue Reading
Celestial Plain by THANOOJA S. BHATTATHIRI Posted in: Fiction, Translation They were on an imaginary lake of love. She said softly: ‘I am surrendering myself to you.’ She looked at him lying on his side on the bed, his head propped up with one hand. A look that could never… Continue Reading
Days without Light by ZAKINA AZAD Posted in: Fiction, Translation She woke at four o’clock on hearing the alarm. At once she jumped out of bed and headed for the kitchen. She washed her face and lighted the stove. She put the tava on the fire to fry papads. Umma… Continue Reading
Sheherban by C.S. CHANDRIKA Posted in: Fiction, Translation Sheherban saw off her son. He was to get her some horse-urine. The Kawadiar palace had horses; it was quite nearby. But the urine of those horses was not within the reach of the poor! So she sent him off… Continue Reading
Twists and Turns by PRIYA A.S Posted in: Fiction, Translation It was with the quip ‘Hari Shankar seems to be away,’ that Ram Prasad came that sultry, hot noon. I tried hard to conceal the buds of pleased surprise that sprung to life in me and assumed the politeness reserved… Continue Reading
What the Souls do at Midnight by K. R. MEERA Posted in: Fiction, Translation Drives you crazy, this pest of a Soul! Sarala Head Mistress falls asleep—and hey—this Other-female, this sly Soul, wakes up. Out of Mistress’s ageing body—all of forty years—it emerges, stretching vigorously like a hunter waking in his river-side tent, throwing… Continue Reading
The Story of Charu by SITARA S. Posted in: Fiction, Translation ‘Two people in one person,’ Charu was telling her husband Jayan. From his meagre acquaintance with her for a few days, Jayan knew it to be the beginning of yet another yarn. However, he did not express his inner perplexity.… Continue Reading
Repentance for the Murder of a Dream by RAJANI M. Posted in: Fiction, Fiction I have no doubt in my mind as regards the beginning. About whom should I begin describing? All except those who had begotten me are dear to me. Yet the one who will live forever in the light of my… Continue Reading