Death Anniversary

Description

While boarding a train from Kuttippuram, Damu falls to a violent death under its wheels. In a parallel existence in Madras, he feels stifled, both in his demonic factory environment and marriage to Savithri. Unhappy, desolate, and belonging nowhere, he begins to think that he is dead. On the edge of hysteria, he meets a man he believes to be his boyhood playmate Ismail, and enters a fantasy world. Entrapped by memories of his sexual adventures with Ismail, Damu comforts himself and startles everybody else. In a quest to seek answers about his own identity and everything that is happening around him, he journeys back to his village.
Who is the true Savithri—his shy bride or the nonchalant woman haggling at the market? Is it really Ismail living in his house, sharing his meals and liquor? If Damu died twenty years ago, how is he living this life? Is he dead or alive?
Shuttling between the past and the present, and mixing the real with the delusional, Death Anniversary suggests that losing the will to live is akin to death.

About the Author
K.P. Ramanunni is an acclaimed writer in Malayalam. He has won several awards, including the Sahitya Akademi Award.
About the Translator
Yaseen Ashraf is a well-known translator. He writes a weekly column in Madhyamam Weekly.

Table of contents

Preface: The Human Condition by M.T. Vasudevan Nair (translated by T.C. Narayan)
Author’s Note: Lived Life and Liveable Lives
Translator’s Note: Mediating Cultural Exchange
Introduction: Mirror for Ghosts by V.C. Sreejan (translated by K.T. Dinesh)
Death Anniversary
About the Author and the Translator