There is no dearth of stories about Kerala — academic and journalistic writings, quantitative data that indicates a community bucking the statistics seen elsewhere, all juxtaposed against contemporary discourses. Every story has multiple narratives within, nudging readers to uncover them and figure out the truth for themselves.
When J. Devika, feminist historian, social researcher and translator, wanted to write a book about her home state of Kerala, she turned to contemporary stories in Malayalam that looked intimately at the life of people in the region. The 13 stories in this collection, aptly titled Feeling Kerala, offer a mix of voices of well-translated writers as well as those whose works have not yet been as widely read. In these stories, the authors have attempted to capture the realities hidden beneath carefully constructed narratives as also the imaginative ways through which the characters attempt to regain their rightful spaces.
