Take the novel “Litanies of Dutch Battery,” by N. S. Madhavan, with you to the storied Taj Malabar hotel on Willingdon Island; the food is the best, as is the view of the broad sea channel that runs between Vypin Island and Fort Kochi, then to the Arabian Sea. The novel, translated from Malayalam and narrated by Edwina Theresa Irene Maria Anne Margarita Jessica, a girl from a Kerala Catholic community, is a comic romp through history, family, humor, faith and politics.
In the giant spice warehouses, you’ll see sellers and buyers bartering next to mountains of pepper and cloves, much as they did centuries ago in the absence of a common language: by clasping hands under a towel while their concealed fingers convey bids and counter bids, hidden from the other buyers. For further enlightenment, read “Spice: The History of a Temptation,” by Jack Turner. It’s a mystery to me why Europeans in the first sweeping spice craze never thought to pound, dry-roast, then sauté these treasures with onions and garlic to make a masala. Instead, they used them as preservatives, to conceal body odors and even, as one zealot championed, to rub on the flaccid male organ, which he swore changed its state and provided endless satisfaction for his partner. (Please don’t try this at home.)
I’ve booked a houseboat trip in the backwaters. Any suggestions for that excursion?
There is no better place to read than on the deck of your own houseboat traveling down shady waterways, while the fish you caught is being prepared in the open-air kitchen at the back of the boat. You’ll likely embark near Kottayam, at the heart of the St. Thomas Christian community; they trace their faith to 52 A.D. when St. Thomas, one of Christ’s twelve disciples, landed on the Spice Coast after journeying from Damascus, Syria — or so legend has it. Arundhati Roy’s “The God of Small Things,” which won the Booker Prize, gives insights into the setting, Malayali character, casteism and St. Thomas Christians. My most recent novel, “The Covenant of Water,” is set in this same Christian community.
What books might give me a sense of Keralite village life?
Kerala is more rural than urban. “The Village Before Time,” by V.K. Madhavan Kutty, translated from Malayalam, and Anita Nair’s “The Better Man” shed light on rural life and societal mores.
Writing used to be an upper caste privilege, but the translated novels “Pulayathara,” by Paul Chirakkarode, and “Kocharethi: The Araya Woman,” by Nayaran, give voice to writers from overlooked communities.
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