The south-western coastal state of Kerala is beautiful and unique in many ways. Its exceptionally high literacy level of 92% sustains a culture that engenders a rich literary tradition worthy of translation.

According to Modern Language Notes, “Translators…give English readers the world.”

In keeping with that statement, Daughters of Kerala attempts to share with the reader the life of a people in a small state in India, with only about 32 million people. It is home to less than 3% of India’s population. Sentiments and thoughts once isolated by the indigenous Dravidian language of Kerala-Malayalam- are shared with the English speaking world in this collection. The stories reflect the lives of the three major religious groups, Hindus, Muslims, and Christians. In addition, there is a recollection about the once prominent Jewish community in Cochin. As suggested by the title, the selection was meant to highlight the struggles and triumphs of Kerala women.

The stories span a period of 7 decades. The earlier stories –In the Shroud and Underling – seem unreal today, especially the ways in which women were subjugated. After reaching puberty a woman was not to see or be seen by any man other than her husband. At the same time, men could have as many wives as they could support. A man of sixty taking a young woman of twenty as his third or fourth wife was not uncommon. The tragic part is what the women believed. They considered their husbands almost as their god and did everything they demanded. “He may be old and ugly. But he is her husband, her god for this life. Then why doesn’t she love him and worship him? ”Lalithambika Antharjanam asks in In the Shroud, (p.158)

As with India’s political climate, the beginning of change in women’s thinking can be seen as early as 1948 in Female Intellect. The smart, young Vilasini could not understand why she couldn’t have an intellectual relationship with a man, a relationship above their sexual difference. Her friend Vijayalakshmi had figured out the problem and she said: “Tradition, circumstances, social customs, and nature’s secrets have gotten together and the woman’s brain has to surrender before all these….a sharp intellect that helps men to grow and rise up in their profession is not only unnecessary but also a nuisance to women.” (p.123)

The Devil’s Jacket is about a boy of ten trying to earn a living to take care of his widowed, sick mother, and the mother’s eagerness to teach him the right things, may be for the wrong reason. She didn’t want her son to keep the pair of shorts that someone forgot on his row boat because “If anyone says that he lost something on your boat, that will be the end of your earning.”

Wooden Dolls and One Still Picture are stories of women determined to be independent and working hard for their livelihood.

The Daughter of Man is about the impact of the land reform by the democratically elected Communist Government in Kerala and how it impoverished the wealthy land owners. The generous woman who fed the hungry people around her house on a daily basis became so poor that she wanted to send her grandson to school just for him to get the free lunch given there.

Stories written in the 80’s and 90’s have very different themes. In A Rest House, Rosemary,The Lullaby of Dreams, Ghare Baire, Riddles in Life and Arya Reborn we read about married women dreaming about other men and having affairs and divorce; and college students experimenting with drugs. The sense of right and wrong has changed. Neglected wives whose husbands were too busy to take time for them, looked elsewhere for affection and understanding.

Interestingly, and perhaps ironically, being rich did not get the woman out of the kitchen. In Amma the man of the house had an ‘aristocratic stipulation’, only Amma was allowed to do things in the kitchen and dining room, servants were not (p.47). Having servants to help her out did not release the woman from kitchen duties. She was found dead in the kitchen and the doctor who performed the autopsy found her dead body to be “very old…as if death took place months or even years ago….yet the body had not deteriorated” (p.49). Is the author accusing Amma’s husband of transgression that transcend time and matter? A similar theme runs through A Rest House where the wife felt like her husband’s “housekeeper, except for social occasions at the college, when she was an adornment.” (p.29)

Conflict arising in the lives of working couples in Riddles in Life and Fraction resulted in divorce in one case and suicide in the other. A woman’s economic dependence on the man which forced the wife to stay in a marriage however much she had to suffer was removed when women started working as professionals. Working women not getting enough help with house work from their husbands may be something many women can identify with.

When Big Trees Fall was selected to represent the thousands of women from Kerala who answer the call to become nuns serving people around the world, including those in Mother Theresa’s congregation. Even if we may not approve of the method used to save the Sikh woman and her son from angry Hindus, the Superior of the convent saved two innocent lives without hurting anyone else. Love Story by the same author is unique in that a woman being possessed by the spirit of a man who died suddenly, interacts with him as if he is alive.

A Dream from Israel is a story narrated by the nephew of a young Jewish woman who fell in love with her Hindu tutor. No one knew about it when the Jewish family moved from Cochin to Israel, separating the unsuspecting lovers, but the young woman was devastated. War-time impact on normal life and the marital difficulties of a couple who grew up in different cultures marrying only because of their religion are also shown in this story.

“Thirty-five months of separation and one month of married life” made Sulaiyakutty go mad in Nerchakkottan, a story about a man who represents the many who go away for two to three years at a stretch to work in the Middle East and elsewhere, leaving his wife to toil in the kitchen and attend to other household duties. A poor woman can get caught in the down swirl of problems from which she is unable to get out. In the end Sulaiyakutty was found dead after she escaped from the mental asylum. On the other hand, that kind of separation resulted in Ameena wanting to make sure her daughter received at least a basic education in The Dawn of Enlightenment. Ameena didn’t know how to read and write. She had to depend on the mailman to read her husband’s letters to her and write her response to him. She wanted her daughter to be better equipped for life.

Without going into every story, I hope now you have a feel for the themes and emotional undertones of the book. A sincere and concerted effort was made to translate culture-specific elements to make sense in English and to effectively convey the literary style of these distinguished authors. But, as with most prose, one reading may not be enough to understand the depth of some of the stories in Daughters of Kerala.

- Achamma Chandersekaran