Manjaveyil Maranam by Benyamin ( Malayalam ) - Book Review

 Manjaveyil Maranangal is the first Malayalam novel that I have read fully; this also happens to be my first taste of Benyamin, the celebrated Malayalam author of Aadujeevitham. While I always knew that Malayalam language (my mothertongue) has had a fascinating list of literary greats, I frankly never knew the depth or breadth of this immensely talented bunch of writers. And after having thoroughly enjoyed this fascinating immersive and yet divisive novel, consider my mind blown. I am yearning for more now! It's like I have just got the keys to a whole new chocolate shop, all to myself, without any one to stop me from going insane as I go wild, stuffing my face with the choicest of flavours, shapes, colours, ready to gorge. It's a veritable treasure trove and I have just opened that lock on that hidden trunk. Malayalam Literature, here I come! 

Manjaveyil Maranangal ( Loosely translated to the Yellow Sunlight Murders!) is a crime thriller, but in reality it's a mosaic novel stitching together multiple genres - drama, history, religion, psychological thriller, crime and lots more. Benyamin opts for an interesting literary device in the narration - using the Matroyskha (Russian dolls) style of storytelling of a story within a story within another. And we readers are willingly dragged along, into this rabbit hole - disappearing into different warrens, starting with exploration of the turbulent history of the Portugese discovery of the indian mainlands, and the subsequent migrations from Kochi to Pondicherry to islands off the shores of Africa, that finally led to the establishment of an Andrapper family as the rulers of this island-nation called Diego Garcia in the wilderness of the Indian Ocean; then veering off into multiple mind-spinning set of topics, like the intriguing forgotten old religious practices known as Mariyam Seva (similar to ‘chathan-seva or devil worship!), the nebulous lineage of forgotten pallava empires still alive today in an obscure hamlet in Southern Kerala called Udayamperoor; Digging up religious tenets and passionate discussions that explain the differences between different sects within Christianity; the life of an immigrant from a far-off island nation and his experiences on the mainland Kerala (his favourite recurring topic from all his books!) and even touching briefly upon secret Tamil organisations that strive for a re-unified Chera empire in South India.

 

I know, it is as bonkers as it sounds. 

 

But all of this starts out with a bunch of literary enthusiasts trying to piece together a literary jigsaw puzzle - the missing pieces of a biography, the first part of which is sent over to Benyamin ( the author himself) that hooks and intrigues him to bring together his friends ( a group that calls themselves the thursday market!) It is the story of a young man named Christie Andrapper from the island of Diego Garcia, as he reminisces fondly about his childhood friends from school. One fine day, even as he finally catches up by accident with one of them (a srilankan tamil girl named Jacinda) near the port of St. Louis, they are both witness to a horrendous murder right on the dockyard. A young man is shot and killed right in front of them. To his growing horror, Christie finds out that this young man is none other than Senthil, yet another of his school friends. There is no such thing as a coincidence. And things gets murkier and darker as Christie slowly realises that someone higher up in the government wants this murder to be quashed up. He slowly realises the untold depths that he has unwillingly waded into; because the local police denies that such a shoot-out ever happened. In the absence of any witness, it becomes easy to deny Christie’s allegations. His own uncle, in the local authority, warns him not to pursue this investigation. The hospital records show that this young man died of a heart-attack on the boat, even before he had touched down on the docks. Christie however, is a tenacious young man with the willpower and determination of the righteous young, who are convinced that nothing in the world can stop them. How Christie unspools the conspiracy behind this murder forms the next parts of this biography. While this chaotic investigation takes Christie back to the mainlands ( India, more specifically Kerala) multiple times, gets him to meet new people, make new friends and even strike up a highly unlikely love-story, the outer layer of this story is no less interesting! Benyamin and his gang of friends uncover clues to piece together the various parts of this missing biography. This is almost as pacey and thrilling as Christie’s own hapless life, mired in mysteries and conspiracies. We are privy to the brilliance of these minds, as Benyamin and friends crack different clues, do some crazy impersonations, even travel overseas to piece together this complete biography, the different parts of which Christie has apparently mailed over. 

 

While the ending of the book is highly open ended, possibly dividing the set of readers to those would hate this kind of approach and others who would welcome this opportunity to construct their own interpretations, I am still undecided about which camp I belong to. One thing is certain – I am a fan of Benyamin’s literary prowess. While reading, I was utterly immersed into Christie Andrapper’s despair and desperation. Benyamin’s characters are too many. Apart from the main characters, the way he constructs something unique or quirky about each of the side characters who drop in and out of the narrative is commendable. Be it Anbu, the tamil girl who’s Senthil’s sister or senthil’s Appa, or Meljo, the shifty young man who is the brother of Christie’s love interest, or the multiple class-mates whom Christie tracks down or accidently runs into, or the coffee shop owner Majid with his unfulfilled dreams of visiting the Mainland, there quite a few colourful characters who are an absolute hoot to meet. I was delighted by the frequent historical deviations that Christie ( ultimately, Benyamin through this inimitable character voice of Christie’s) takes during his own investigations. First with the history of how Diego Garcia was formed and tracing back  the Andrapper family tree to the first Andrapper, Andrew Perriera who had come to India along with Vasco Da Gama to fall in love with Malayalam as a language so much so to settle down in Kochi. There are multiple instances where the tense narrative of a murder investigation takes a backseat to the mundane details of religious practices, or forgotten rituals, which I frankly thoroughly enjoyed. 

 

This was a first for me and hopefully, the first of many more gems I will uncover. Manjaveyil Maranam has been overall a wonderful experience, all the more heightened by the fantastic narration by Rajesh K Puthumana. 2024 is going to be a new year full of pleasant surprises in store, I hope, in the form of these new literary adventures. This one’s highly recommended and I am off to read more of Benyamin.