The Greatest Malayalam Stories Ever Told, edited by AJ Thomas, is an exploration into the psyche of a culture and rare access to literary masterpieces by the best minds of Kerala. The quintessential Malayalam author is steeped in techniques that add layers to their linguistic merit. More recently, interaction with foreign cultures, philosophy and politics have left their impact on short fiction, enriching the art form further.
The introduction to the anthology serves as a chronological summary. The editor outlines each wave of progressive movements among the state’s foremost writers. Another theme he touches upon is that of plurality. Despite the interconnections between the stories in terms of landscape, fascination for nature, common food and cultural habits, and interactions between people, each author represents a mind and moment distinct from others. Besides, the range of characters differ in age, background, abilities as well as identity—Hindus, Muslims, Christians, Jews or tribals flit across the pages as easily as they do in Kerala society, making the stories truly representative of a multicultural and multidirectional people.
‘Wooden Dolls’ by Karoor Neelakanta Pillai introduces an enumerator to doll-maker Ummini in the course of his census-taking work. The brief interview between strangers sparks an intimate connection, though they may not meet again. In P Kesavadev’s ‘The Oath’, Kalyani vows to buy a bronze uruli at the next temple festival, just like her neighbour Nani had bought with taunts the former could never afford. It is a searing tale of poverty and the conundrum of choices.
Through the ‘The Speaking Plough’ by Ponkunnam Varkey, we trace the depths of a farmer’s love for his ox and his craft: “Avuseppu Chettan continued the practice of the times of the Rig Vedic hymns—supplicating Varuna Bhagavan, the Lord of Waters, the rain cloud, the mountain, and the wind for assistance in the greatest yagna of the world —agriculture!” Mooken’s disproportionate nose and its travails turn into a scathing depiction of politics in ‘The World-renowned Nose’, an absurd take only Vaikom Muhammad Basheer could portray.
At the intersection of crime and punishment, O Vijayan traces the fateful journey of a father to see his son on death row at Kannur Jail just one day before ‘The Hanging’. A misstep in finding the right venue for an interview turns grotesque in Madhavikkutty’s ‘Scent of a Bird’: “Everything will be devoid of your ownership. But it will become everything: you will be there in the roar of the sea; you will be there in the ancient trees on which new buds shoot up after winter. When seeds in labour sob underneath you, your weeping will also rise along with those sobs. You will turn into wind; you will turn into raindrops.”
The power packed within these stories easily makes it the jewel of any collector’s bookshelf. Most importantly, children of the Indiaspora, whether Malayali or not, could know, from it, what shared class of thought makes us Indians.