“At one level, the novel deals with the socio-political aspects of human right to water. At another, it is an attempt to explore mans spiritual connection with water,” Ms. Joseph said. The novel alludes to environmental issues, including pollution of the Chakkamkandam lake in Guruvayur and the disadvantages of the proposed Athirappilly hydel project. In a rare attempt, details of documents related to a few environmental issues, including reports of Assembly committees and the Kerala State Pollution Control Board, have been weaved into the fiction. The novel plays a documentary role when it reproduces the documents as such. The writer links her environmental vision to the spiritual celebration of water in the Bible, Koran, Zen stories and Sufi music. As writer Rupert Wright said, “The Bible and the Koran, sometimes read like manuals on how to find water, keep it unpolluted and ensure that there is enough to go round. We are all familiar with the story of the Flood and Noahs success in saving the animals, but Genesis runs with water - or the lack of it. The Koran goes on to describe the water cycle and the separation of fresh and sea water. Sharia, the legal framework that governs most aspects of Muslim life, originates from the concept of sharing water.” A book that caught Ms. Josephs attention has been Masaru Emotos ‘The Hidden Messages in Water. The Japanese author claims that human consciousness has an effect on the molecular structure of water. For Ms. Joseph, Aathi is a fictitious place. She retells the legends of the people of Valanthakad island, the unique mangrove system which was threatened by a move to set up a high-tech city, to depict mans umbilical ties with Nature. “The people of Aathi felt as though tidal waves of darkness came surging towards them,” she writes. “Not the darkness of a forest of clouds. No, not the darkness of night, either. Darkness, unfathomably deep, rising and spreading from beneath the earth, turning the earth into its shadow… It drew the earth back into its cavernous womb.” Sara Josephs latest Malayalam novel, ‘Aathi, which has water as its theme, and its English translation will be brought out simultaneously on Jul 10.
Posted on: Sun, 16 Mar 2014 04:24:09 +0000
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