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sitelink blogspot. in Indulekha, O. Chandumenon translated by Anitha Devasia

For a course that I am mutually teaching with my supervisor, I have had to read O, Chandumenon's 'Indulekha' translated in English by Anitha Devasia, The novelistic creation of a text is inseparable from its content, and its content is as important as the context of the novel, Written at the end of theth century, Chandumenon's 'Indulekha' is a seminal text that heralded the rise of novels in the global south, The author's desire to emulate the English novel tradition inspired him to conjure up 'Indulekha' in Malayalam, However, he was aware that his readers might not be acquainted with the form of literature called a novel, Against this backdrop, 'Indulekha' can be read as an adaptation as well as a new novelistic creation,

I believe 'Indulekha' to be a new novelistic creation because it is nestled within the precarious space between tradition and modernity, Indulekha, the character, is a modern woman who has learned the coloniser's tongue and possesses the grit to challenge the patriarch of the family, Panchumenon.
I say patriarch knowing well that the Nair society, on which the novel is based, is matrilinear, The decisions, nonetheless, appear to be taken chiefly by men, Despite Indulekha's modern taste, reasoned arguments and astute behaviour, she is mainly confined to specific spaces in the house, Her sense of modernity is restricted, not only in terms of spatial movement but also in the domain of politics and culture, It is interesting to note that Indulekha does not feature in the most intriguing chapter of the novel 'A Conversation' where Madhavan, Govindakuttymenon and Govindapanikkar discuss the existence of God, the emergence of Congress in nationalistic politics and western modernity.
One is immediately reminded of Partha Chatterjee's distinction between the material and the spiritual world in conceptualizing the position of women in colonial India, Indulekha is cultured in a manner that makes her attractive, yet it does not open up the possibility of aspiring for things beyond the conventional aspects of family.
The novel ends with Indulekha marrying Madhavan, and the couple, along with Madhavan's parents, shifts to Madras to live happily ever after,

It must also be borne in mind that Indulekha questions the traditional norms of the Malayalam society, It is Indulekha who has 'chosen' her partner, devoid of any external pressure and provocation, She does not succumb to the idea of marrying the wealthy Nambuthiripad instead, she quite unequivocally discourages his advances, At the same time, she does embrace some traditional values without inhibition, Her courtship with Madhavan is a case in point,
The novel pursues a distinct narrational pattern, blending first and thirdperson narratives, O. Chandumenon's artistry lies in the elegance of narration that follows a running commentary of the society of Nairs and Nambuthiris, One understands why Indulekha blazed a new trail after its publication in,
Conquered the first Malayalam novel,
Apart from the love story of Indulekha and Madhavan around which the story revolves, what attracted me the most was theth chapter to be precise.

The discussion about atheism, about educating girl child which surprisingly is still a very hot topic, The fact that the first ever edition of this book got sold out in a few months speaks for the book,
I would say Indulekha as a novel deals with matters that are still relevant, Awesome! I can't just believe this epic written nearlyyears before, The author's perspective about equality is praiseworthy, At that period, he thought about the importance of education for women, This is a beautifully written marvelous love story, This novel represents the cultural discriminative mentality of people who lived in Kerala before some decades, Even today we can see people of this mentality, He beautifully describes the way Indians/Keralites can change by giving education to Women, Also, the humor sense of the author is amazing, he describes the idiotic mindset of people humorously so that no specific community will get hurt by the statement.

A mustread for every individual of this century,

Indulekha The translation is not a literary masterpiece, nor it can rival a work by any popular fiction writer, Also, as the translator says in preface, her major aim was to "recreate the thrust of Malayalam etymology, diction and syntax, rather than to subjugate it to smoothness of wellbred English", the resulting product might seem offputting to regular English readers.


But this book, definitely needs to be read for it's historical significance, To understand how Malayali elite society worked back then, To understand the religiously held beliefs, to understand the "settings" as a Malayali would say between the elites, to understand how patriarchy works in a matrilineal society, to understand intricacies of a matrilineal society, to understand the power wielded by members dominant caste even if he is a halfwit with absurd worldview.
The unjust power dynamics eventually leads to social upheavals shaping the society for the future,

The plot which begins as a Victorian drama quickly turns into a Wodehouseish comedy and ends with deep philosophical debate about existence of God and the pros and cons of English rule.
I don't know if this book is remarkable plotwise, but I came out of it with a more nuanced and detailed understanding of history of the society which I was born into.
Its always a delight to remind oneself of where we started and how far we have come, And in that sense, Indulekha is indeed remarkable, It is really amazing how I could relate so easily to the characters in the book who belonged to the generation of my great great grand parents at least.

And a story woven in such a simple and detailed manner! Overall a good window to a way of life and ibteresting to compare it to the current affairs of the country and society.
ഒയയരതത ചനതമനന തനറ ഭരയ ലകഷമയമമയകക വയചച രസകകനയ ഒര നവലഴതമപഴ അദദഹതതനറ ഉളളല സതരശകതകരണതതനറയ സമഹയപരഷകരണതതനറയ ആയധമയ എഴതതന മററമനന ബധമണടയരനന. ഇനദലഖയലട അദദഹ അത സധചചടതതനന പരണണമയ പറയനകലലങകല അതലകകളള ഉറചച കലവയപപയരനന ഇനദലഖ.

ഇനദലഖയകക ഒനനകല നററണട പരയ കഴയമപള ചരചച ചയയപപടണടത അത തനനയണ. സതരശകതകരണതതനറയ സമഹയ പരഷകരണതതനറയ പഠങങള ഇനയ പരവരതതകമകതത ഒര സമഹതതല ഇനദലഖയട പനരവയന നലകനന പതയ പഠവ അത തനനയണ./Nice novel The character of INDHULEKHA clearly describes what meant by the word female, overall it was a very good read, It showed the caste hierarchy in India very clearly, in a way that was not polished or biased to one side, Within the story, the daytoday rituals, practices, habits and overall beliefs and opinions of each community were portrayed through the characters, through their points of view.
moreover, it is evident that the country of Kerala was marching towards a more developed approach when it comes to eliminating orthodox beliefs, education among other things.
towards the end, a conversation takes place between three of the characters in two major topics: religion and british rule, as they were posed in three, and predominantly two people's voice, i found it to very relevant and thoughtprovoking, even to this

day, it contains some very far sighted views and knowledge, but i also thought that there was a sense of incongruity among the story as the big picture and this conversation which i consider very, very important.
the story had a certain cinematic element to it as well, A simple love story written in,
The happenings in theth century is the interesting part,

The first part tells the love story of both madhavan and indulekha and the second part is a whole new story i guess.


It discuss about the political and religious things, That has nothing to do with the story, The life style before hundred plus years is the highlight, An thick layered slice into the life and times of lateth century Malabar,
Especially the Nair and Namboothiri communities,
What is more interesting is the memorandum by the writer to the committee set up by the British to change the laws that governed the people of the region.
This effectively changed their culture and way of life,
A must read for those interested in Indic history, മലയളതതല ആദയതത നവൽ, ഇനദലഖ. പബലഷ ചയതവർഷങങൾകക ശഷമണ വയകകനനത. അനനതത മലയളഭഷശലയ അനനതത കലഘടടവ വളര കതകകരമയ തനന. ഷകകടകകക എനന നമമള ഇപപള ഉപയഗകകനന മഗലഷന രണട സനറൻസ വണടവനന അനന എഴതതകകരന വയനകകര മനസസലകകകകൻ. അവസനഭഗതതമതത അധയയ Brainstorming എനനകക പറയണടവര. നരതതവവ ഈശവരതവവ തമമലളള മൽസരമണ അതന രണടനയ Neutralize ചയയനനത പറക, അത കഴഞഞ കൺഗരസ Vs ബലതത ഇഗലണട ചർചച. ഞന വയചച പതപപപപൽപജകളളള അദധയയമണ അത. . പതതമപത നററണടല കരളതതല ഫയഡൽ സമഹതതൽ നലനനനരനന ആചരങങൾകകടയൽ, മധവന ഇനദലഖയ തമമലളള പരണയവ അതനട ബനധപപടട, സഖകരവ അസഖകരവ ആയ സഭവങങൾ. Indulekha is widely held to be the first Malayalam novel, It is a depiction of Nair society in the late nineteenth century with a love story at its core, This is an exquisite masterpiece, A revolutionary work with conviction as it's crux, I wished I read this brilliant work in mys, because it certainly would have shaped my mind and thoughts in becoming a more refined being.
Thank you O. Chandu Menon and thank you so very much, Anitha Devasia for this remarkable standard of translation, You've singlehandedly uplifted Chandu Menon's actual intent of his story, Thank you. This book is close to my heart from here on, And I'll vouch for this anyday, The book while providing the readers with a very engaging story also provides compelling commentary on education, society, and history,

The book becomes a mustread for the women of India, wherein in major parts of the country women have taken a subservient role and are afraid to raise their voice against the orthodoxy of men.
It is even a bigger mustread for the men of India who seem to be driven by their orthodox beliefs and need to learn from the example of Surinambuthiripad on how a man should not be.


Read my complete review here sitelinkwww, itsfaq. infor the plot itself which isn't anything great, I gave it afor two reasons primarily, First, it was very interesting to know more about the Nair and Namboodri practices in theth century, While I was aware about the matrilineal system, I understood a good deal more through this book and the inevitable googling/wikipedia that followed, Secondly, the translation is quite wonderful really it brings alive the complicated relationships in a village and Tharavad, the rumour mongering, the native cunning and innocence, the peculiar nature of conversations, the friction caused by modern English education in a traditional setup and finally the emotional silliness of young love aspects, which can be easily lost in a translation done by someone who hasn't closely seen/lived in such an environment, or known people like that.
This book could as well have been called "Nirmalyam", the MTV classic, The book the first novel in Malayalam after all is about the decaying world of Kerala orthodoxy and Brahminism in the face of modernity and colonialism.
Instead, the author chooses the heroine, 'Indulekha' for the title, The character of Indulekha is at the centre of all the interests, politics, and forces that run in this novel, She is an educated and wellspoken Nair woman, whom a Namboothiri household attempts to thrust into the business of Sambandham an institution by which Namboothiri men fathered children from Nair women outside marriage so to speak.
Meanwhile she is in love with a wellmeaning and intelligent young Nair man, Indulekha has to be USP of this book, One can only imagine Malayali youth being swayed in the day by the way the woman is written, She is intelligent, talented and best of all says a firm "no", The book has to be read for its historical value, It builds a window to look at the fears of the orthodoxy, the impact English education had on the upper strata of Kerala towns the heroine is consistently wild and subversive by the characters in the novel because of her interest in the English language, and prominently questions of faith two entire chapters are structured around the West vs Rest debates.
Even the Indian National Congress which was barely halfadecade old finds mention too, in this book, The texture of the novel transported me to my experience of reading Tagore's Gora,

All said, I found the translation odd, .