ABSTRACT
A young Nambootiri Brahmin widow is to be ex-communicated for an alleged breach of moral codes but is saved by the timely intervention of a Nayar girl at the last moment (in ‘Bhrasht,’ a Nambootiri Tale). The manner in which the ex-communication is carried out is explained in this story, a significant social document. Tevan, a Pulaya farmer, who has a homestead in a hill-slope of ten acres owned by a Nayar is evicted in a crude manner (in ‘Ten Acres’). Several such instances led to the landmark land legislation measures in Kerala in the 1950s. A retired Magistrate who missed his promotions to higher posts as he didn’t hanker after it, lives a ‘lean’ life with his pension but is satisfied with it. The narrative hints that there is a price to be paid for being honest, too! ‘Tough Ropes,’ a Kaaroor gem, brings alive the corrupt ways of the coir industry of the 1950s.
