Published in India
on August-2006 and in UAE on September 2006.
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By its very name, Beneath the Clouds and Coconut Leaves, Moncy Pothen's book tells you it has to do with Kerala, aptly described as God's own country. I was very touched by his excellent presentation of life in the raw in Kerala. All the characters he has presented definitely exist in some part of the southern Indian state, and every incident he narrates happens every day there.
Beneath the Clouds and Coconut Leaves offers not simply glimpses into life in Kerala but deep insights into how the people there think and behave, their considerations, contemplations and motivations. It offers explanations of the very fascinations that a non-Malayalee might have about Kerala. Pothen has skillfully used Malayalam words without leaving any room for ambiguity.
Beneath the Clouds and Coconut Leaves is a very refreshing work, and it will not be an exaggeration that every Malayalee would wish to have authored such a presentation at some point in time. It is all the more true among Malayalees who live outside Kerala who grasp at little straws to remind them of their childhood, their small little villages, the typical characters who exist there.
A job excellently
done. I rank Beneath the Clouds and
Coconut Leaves a notch above every other
book written in English about life in
Kerala, including, 'The God of small
things,' which won Booker Prize in 1997.
-P.V.Vivekanand.Chief Editor, Gulf Today Daily, Sharjah, UAE and
the recipient of the Journalist of the year
award in 1997 by International Journalists
Congress. |
Author
Pothen should be applauded on his
ability to handle such
revolutionary ideals as social
enlightenment and welfare issues in such
a backwater setting; a rather laid-back
rural community where change is frowned
upon and things can only move at a snail’s
pace. Linguistically, the book should
delight all with its generous imagery
and plethora of picturesque
descriptions. The kaleidoscope of exotic
characters, Hindus, Muslims and
Christians, living side by side in peace
and amity, also adds to the overall
warmth of the novel."
- Safi Abdi (Safia Mohamed) , well known Somalian writer, has been living in
Dubai for the past five years. Her
books, A Mighty Collision of Two Worlds and
Offspring of Paradise are popular. |
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"A
simple story of people who retrace their
steps to pick up life's broken threads
to re-stitch them into a healthy picture
of reunion. Using a unique style and
structure, Moncy Pothen's vintage tale
set in Kerala, the land of monsoon
clouds and coconut palms, projects the
simple story of humanity."
Dr. Sukumar Azhikode
Sanskrit/Vedic
scholar. Calicut
University
professor and pro- vice chancellor,
till 1986. His philosophical book, 'Tatwamasi,"
has been awarded many prestigious awards in India. |
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"Extremism, now
more widely termed, terrorism, is on the
lips of every human being and on the
front pages of the world’s newspapers
every day. But we still long for love
and love still thrives. This poetic
novel by Moncy Pothen plunges us
directly into the forests and paddy
fields of Kerala, India from the 1960s
to the 1980s, describes the delicate and
heartfelt awakening of love in two
lives, and has roots in ancient Indian
tradition. Can you forgive a terrorist,
if he has participated in the murder of
your own father? Like the heroine,
Ahalya, we live in complicated times,
where black and white give way to shades
of gray, and in Beneath the Clouds and
Coconut Leaves, we hold our breath to
witness which will win the battle, love
or hate? Like the hero, Arjunan, we are
fighting to win that battle within
ourselves."
-Allana Joy Bourne. Newspapers in
Education Program Specialist, The
Seattle
Times. Adjunct faculty, Seattle
Pacific
University
. |
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P.V.Vivekanand.
Chief Editor, Gulf Today Daily, Sharjah, UAE and
the recipient of the Journalist of the year
award in 1997 by International Journalists
Congress. |
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Moncy Pothen’s
novel, ‘Beneath the Clouds and Coconut
Leaves’ gives a panoramic view of the
socio-economic life in Kerala in a
realistic manner, threading along the
warp and weft of the Kerala community.
Arjunan the hero and Ahalya the heroine
are mythological names. Arjunan is the
ideal fighter in the eternal battle
between right and wrong; Ahalya stands
for the curse-befallen society that
needs a stone-like persistence for its
final liberation.
The novel is full of meticulous
descriptions of the coconut land filling
the air with the flutter of the Coconut
fronds and the fragrance of the paddy
fields. The vernacular expressions in
the novel add to the Kerala flavor of
the story.
-Prof. Bridget
Joseph M.A.M.Phil.
Retired Professor,
Assumption
College, Changanacherry, Kerala. Former
Co-coordinator of undergraduate courses,
School of distant education,
M.G.University. Former Resource person
for Post Graduate Courses in English,
M.G
University. Former faculty at the
International
Embassy
School,
Dammam
,
Saudi Arabia. |
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Author Bio
Moncy
Pothen was raised in a village in Kerala. Born
as the youngest and only brother of four
sisters, Pothen started writing poems at 18.
Many of his poems in his mother tongue have been
published and broadcast over local radio
stations.
Raised by his
father, a schoolteacher who left to eternity on
February 29, 2004 and mother, who
survives. Pothen is a member of the
Orthodox Christian Community in Kerala. After
completing his education in Kerala, Pothen
started a career as an accountant in UAE in
1985. Now he lives in Sharjah, United Arab
Emirates and works as Chief Accountant at a
private firm. He is one among the many
millions of overseas Indians. |
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SUNDAY
2006, November 18, Saturday
Book
Beneath the Clouds and Coconut Leaves
Moncy Pothen
Beneath the Clouds and Coconut Leaves tells the simple story of human virtue and addresses social issues as well. It also talks about friendship and harmony among people of different religious beliefs. Publisher, Poorna Publications, Kozhikode. |
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NOVEL DESCRIPTION
Lies as a tiny state in India's extreme south, gifted abundantly by nature's bliss, surrounded by coconut groves, paddy fields, greenly hills, valleys, rivers, canals and backwaters; Kerala signifies the term, 'the God's own country'. Using an imaginary village called, Nellikkara, this novel portrays the lives of people in Kerala who belong to various castes and creeds. It is an extremely odd society co-exists peacefully for centuries irrespective of their uncompromising beliefs and customs.
The story starts at dusk when Arjunan, the hero, gets down from a passenger bus, at the village junction, after serving his jail term for Naxalite activities. His saga of existence with the variety of strange village characters starts there. He wishes to patch-up with his friends, relatives and neighbors. He accidentally finds a chance to support the Brahmin Mana, the once rich and pompous family where Ahalya, the Assassinated Ramabhadran Nambuthiri's daughter, her bed-bound mother and the younger brother, Kesu, live pathetically; as expiation for his past which devastated them.
Ahalya starts a garment factory to export garments abroad with the support of Smitha, a social worker, and financial help from Arjunan. The women managed factory, as it prospers withstanding many hindrances, support many village women who lead lives in difficulties. The high caste family, where entry was prohibited for the low castes or untouchables, once, opens its door for everybody irrespective of their caste, creed and social-financial status. The new developments anger the high castes and they plan to destroy the
factory. During the course of action, Arjunan and Ahalya get chance to know each other well. Arjunan's marriage, his fatherhood, the age difference of eleven years between them and the caste difference, where Ahalya is Brahmin and Arjunan is Sudra, the lowest of four Hindu castes- are not stopping them. Along with their lives the book portrays the lives of many village characters and explains how the people from different religious beliefs and social status mingle and help each other in difficulties as we really
experience in a typical Kerala village. Also it portrays how the anti-social elements who engage in political corruption, drug peddling, sexual abuse against women, find ways to disrupt the harmony of village people. This good intentional book projects the prominence of women in the society, men's inseparable relationship with nature and describes how the humanity and virtues persist in village life. |
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