This is the fifth in a series titled Against Aachaaram: A Dossier from Malayalam on Kafila. The note below is by J Devika. The excerpt from the essay by Moorkothu Kumaran has been translated by K R GOPIKRISHNA. Moorkothu Kumaran (1874- 1941) was one of Malayalam’s earliest short story writers, literary critics, and public intellectuals. Born … Continue reading Against Aachaaram: Moorkothu Kumaran’s Dream of the Future →
This is the fourth in a series titled Against Aachaaram: A Dossier from Malayalam on Kafila. The note below is by J Devika. The excerpt from the essay by Kuttippuzha Krishna Pillai is translated by UTHARA GEETHA. The formation of the linguistic state of Kerala was the culmination of a long process of negotiation around Malayalam as a … Continue reading Against Aachaaram : Kuttippuzha Krishna Pillai on the veneration of Parasurama →
This is the second in a series titled Against Aachaaram: A Dossier from Malayalam on Kafila. The note on Lalithambika Antharjanam is by J Devika. The excerpt from her story Vidhibalam (The Power of Fate) is translated by GEORVIN JOSEPH. Lalitambika Antharjanam (1909-1987) was the first Malayali woman to achieve prominence in the field of … Continue reading Against Aachaaram: Lalitambika Antharjanam →
Hours after the two women entered Sabarimala, the Hindu terrorists began their handiwork. Mad mobs, including women, began to roam the streets and attack by-passers, in their desperation to foment violence and provoke riots. In Karunagappally, Muslim establishments and shops were singled out for vandalism. The Sangh-backed Sabarimala Action Council called for a hartal today … Continue reading Hindutva Terror and Left Hegemony: After Women’s Entry into Sabarimala →
Out of the dark, seemingly never-ending night, a streak of light! Two women of menstruating ages, Bindu and Kanakdurga, finally entered Sabarimala, breaking the concerted walls built against them by brahmanical-Hindutva male authorities on the right and left. The past months have been times of terrible despair for all , with women who attempted the … Continue reading The Triumph of Streevaashi! Women break the wall of caste at Sabarimala →
From Hindu Code Bill to Sabarimala via Roop Kanwar’s Sati — keeping women subjugated under the cloak of tradition It was the mid-1980s when a 18-year-old Roop Kanwar’s burning on the pyre of her husband — under controversial circumstances — had made national headlines. There was national outrage over the incident because more than 150 … Continue reading Love Patriarchy, Hail Hindu Rashtra! →
Yesterday’s high drama at Sabarimala told us quite a lot about the games that politicians play in Kerala. Rehana Fatima, a young woman activist who decided to take the challenge (it is now a challenge, since the trekking path to the shrine is in effect controlled by Hindutva goons heaping verbal abuse, threatening open violence, … Continue reading Rehana Fatima and the Goons: A comment on the good-cop-bad-cop game that’s on in Kerala →
In Malayalam, the usual way of referring to virulence that feeds on negative experience is paashaanathil krmi — or the maggot that is fattened by poison, instead of getting killed by it. Over the past few days, many of us have lived completely on the edge, bereft of sleep or ease, tossing about in a … Continue reading Beware of Poisoning-Eating Maggots in Flood-Hit Kerala
