• ISBN13: 9789355530769
• Binding: Hardcover
• Subject: N/A
• Publisher: Ratna Sagar
• Publisher Imprint: PrimusBook
• Publication Date: May 13, 2022
• Pages: 224
• Original Price: INR 499.0
• Language: English
• Edition: N/A
• Item Weight: 300 grams

Meeran balances sadness and hope, magic and reality, values cherished and values hammered on. He watches greed drying up not just the wetness around us, but even the moisture in our hearts. The words ‘Edukkado...ee…shaitaney ’ (cast away this devil) is for all the negativity, exclusion and discrimination around us. He writes about the sensuality of a young girl dreaming of an Arab captain even after her body becomes old, and of the young boy who passes off copied poems as his, rewarded by the teacher for at least dreaming of poetry. A corpse talks to his ungrateful siblings and a Lebbai speaks to mermaids. When there is no water anywhere around, how does it spring copiously in the US soft drink company? The villagers wonder if the water comes from America! Meeran climbs up the Elephant rock in his hamlet and sees the whole world. Without blaring, Meeran gently whispers into our ears about the lives of his people, their faith and superstitions, the lush fields and the rocks, the women and their children, the prayers and the festivals and even the pickles and snacks.

Thoppil Mohamed Meeran (1944–2019) was born in the coastal hamlet of Thengaipattinam in Kanyakumari District, Tamil Nadu. He wrote six novels and several short story collections from which these stories are taken. He won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 1997 for Saivu Narkkali. He also received many awards including the Tamilnadu Ilakkiya Perumantram Award, the Ilakkiya Chintanai Award and was honoured by the Tamil Nadu Government. He translated the biography of Vaikom Mohammed Basheer. His novels Saivu Narkkali (The Reclining Chair) and Oru Kadalora Graamatthin Kathai (The Story of a Seaside Village) have been translated. In his writings, Meeran bemoaned what man has made of man and what man has made of nature. It pained him that men who are the noblest of creations should inflict cruelty in the name of religion, caste and gender. He wrote about real people and also about those located in another reality. His writings have an enveloping compassion, an inclusive humanity and hope.