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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
That day too, Ashok had gone away after a quarrel. As he left, he kicked a stool out of his way. The stool that was thrown against the wall seemed to lend an emphasis to his protest. She was also…
I felt that the mornings were monotonous. That was why I began to long for the evenings. Now that I am a patient, I stand amazed as the strong line of defence ebbs away. I make tasty food and drape…
Abstract: The 62-poem anthology Poetry at Midnight is a translation of ‘Pathuntanipookal’ that Ayyappa Paniker published in the middle of 2004, four and a half decades after Kurukshetram and fifteen years after Gothrayanam, the saga of humanity.’ In between he…
Keywords: Malayalam poetry, Malayalam translation, aspects of life, concept of love, death, romantic imagery Ayyappa Parliker’s Gotrayanam’ translated into English as Southbound) belongs to the period 1985 – 1989. Extolled as an. epic for its theme relating to. the…
Keywords: romantic poetry, Malayalam poetry, Kurushetram, modernism, Malayalam translations Ayyappa Paniker came to be counted as one of the most notable poets in. Kerala after the publication of Kurukshetram’, the first modernist poem in Malayalam. Kurukshetram’ is central in Paniker’s…
Ye, ancient tales that once cast shadow tents along the blue grassland* trails Satis who dived into every drop of pyre to seize a thousand suns Stiff blocks, tough to the chisel Young shoots ignorant of the tang of soil…