What if God's own country hadn't joined the Union?

S. Hareesh's new novel in translation reimagines the consequences of Travancore refusing to join the Union of India

- Somak Ghoshal

August 17, S. Hareesh's novel translated from the Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil, is rooted in the fantasy of the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor (Travancore) refusing to join the Union of India following independence from British rule.

August 17, S. Hareesh's novel translated from the Malayalam by Jayasree Kalathil, is rooted in the fantasy of the kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor (Travancore) refusing to join the Union of India following independence from British rule. In reality, the princely states of Hyderabad and Bhopal, too, had raised similar objections, but in Hareesh’s imagination, Travancore stays unshaken in its stand on sovereignty, leading to bitter uprisings.

The premise isn't a million miles away from the contemporary liberal adulation of Kerala being the final frontier against the spread of Hindutva-based nationalism. Popularly perceived as an anti-communal and a proudly syncretic state, it is hailed for opposing the right-wing dogma that has steadily infiltrated the rest of India. Except, there is a twist to the tale that Hareesh conjures up. His Thiruvithamkoor isn’t an idyll, where all creatures big and small coexist in harmony. Instead, it is poisoned by virulently casteist and classist politics. The upper castes, especially the Brahmins, call all the shots, adult suffrage is accorded only to tax-paying citizens, and cow slaughter is banned in the country. Even consuming a dead cow, or using its skin for leather, is considered a crime. Unsurprisingly, the independent country of Thiruvithamkoor is blessed by the leaders of the Hindu Mahasabha like V.D. Savarkar.