Catherine Thankamma, who calls herself an accidental translator, fell into this when she translated some of NS Madhavan’s Malayalam short stories. small magazine Published by Antara Dev Sen. Madhavan was a friend of her husband’s friend, cartoonist EP Unni. She was in Delhi at that time. For the next seven years, from 1995 to 2002, he translated some more of Madhavan’s short stories. When she talks about her first collection of short stories the comment comes to the fore, Ruff and Other StoriesPublished by Aleph.
He even became known as a translator into English of Malayalam works like Narayana Kochrethi, Aliyah: Last Jew in the village By the Bridge, by Paul Chirakkarode pulayatharaand Ajay P Mangattu Susanna’s LibraryShe was writing short stories. Kochrethi Won the Crossword Book Award in the Indian Language Translation category (2011). MR Renukumar’s translation of his Ayyankali: A Biography To be published next year.
She says, “I have been writing for the last 30 years, I haven’t had time to write novels, but I have written more than 40 short stories over the years. But, of course, these have to be sent to someone to get published.”
And over the years some of these have been rewritten, with the ending changing with changing times. Additionally, she adds, she delayed publishing the anthology because the stories, when she wrote them, “were very different and very traditional. In the original ‘Blood Sacrifice’ the nun dies by suicide, it was written in 1997. In 2024, I thought why should she do that? Because she’s raped? That doesn’t make her a victim, but she’s a victim of a social system that allows such things to happen.”
Some of the stories part of this collection, like ‘Rakta Bairdana’ and ‘Madhu’, have already been published in other literary magazines. Catherine, who retired as Associate Professor of English, has taught in government colleges across Kerala and at Jesus and Mary College, Delhi. Therefore it is important to know Malayalam. Katherine says, “I learned Malayalam for the first 10 years of my life as a teacher in North Kerala. It was practical learning, I tried to learn the meanings of unfamiliar words I came across. Like all students of literature, I love all literature.”
short story as a medium
diving deep Ruff and Other StoriesKatherine begins by explaining why she chose the short story as her medium. “I love short stories for their focus-driven brevity which makes it ideal to structure the narrative around fleeting events, chance encounters where you can structure the narrative while focusing on the characters. The consequences of the characters’ actions create ripples that affect the lives of others.”
Women are at the center of the 20 stories that make up this collection. whether it’s eli Cheduthi Radha Rukmini of ‘A Family Affair’, Radha Rukmini of ‘Standpoint’, Alli of ‘Polling Day at Nenmara’, Uma of ‘Tara’ or Sister Anne of ‘Blood Sacrifice’… these are not ordinary women and like life, there are very few women who are always happy. It also depicts how women relate to each other.
“The stories are women-centric, celebrating womanhood. Happy endings are not guaranteed, but how they react to the ups and downs in life is what matters. Their resilience and how they face their struggles is celebrated in these stories! Like how Sister Anne informs Dr. Malhotra (in ‘Blood Sacrifice’) of her desire to file a complaint about her rape. She Asks ‘Why delay it?’… That’s the resilience I want to portray.”
She points out that the subject matter focuses on other things. “There are a number of others that are based on prejudice or born out of a sense of privilege, such as stories like ‘A Kind of Meat’, ‘Polling Day at Nenmara’, ‘Devayani’, ‘Madhu’ and ‘Elunda’.”
We see a variety of biases in these stories – based on diet, age-old racism, and class-based. Stories resonate because we may have had these thoughts at some point in our lives. As uncomfortable as the introspection it forces is, chances are we’ll see ourselves in some of the heroes.
toxic family structures
Toxic family structures are another recurring theme, patriarchy and its many manifestations tell a story in which, in Katherine’s words, “Toxic family structures where relationships are transactional, like the ‘breakfast analogy’ where there’s more to the child than just the child. These family structures fall apart.”
Patriarchy is sometimes associated with some of these topics. “This inspires women to become their most staunch and fiercest supporters. In ‘Standpoint’, Radha Rukmini is ‘judged’ by women who think she is not a ‘good’ person because she is sleeping in a parked train compartment. All those comments about her ‘virtues’ and dynamic changes when she pulls out papers with a university seal revealing that she actually teaches in a college. At that time they don’t Know how to respond.
Another important theme that reveals itself is how the country has changed over the last three decades. “Political changes have torn apart the social fabric of the country, which is visible in ‘Burqa’, where two close friends who used to share a strong bond are not even friends, one ignores the other. The strongest, closest relationship has been broken…”
The seeds of his stories come from what he has observed around him – society, individuals and social structures. “My subconscious mind notices things and people. Ideas for stories come from these silent plays that happen around. I write down these ideas as they come while I am working or doing other things.”
The phenomenon of coaching institutes putting children into these is ‘made destiny’ so that they get admission in colleges that can make them doctors or engineers. This finding is relevant because, every entrance exam season, we hear or read about many such cases. Another story in the collection, ‘Tara’, is about a child on the autism spectrum, told in a special way. No one becomes a ‘victim’ or martyr due to this, they take steps to move forward.
Inspired by the Pieta on the outskirts of Kottayam, ‘Pieta’ is a dig at the hypocrisy of those for whom going to church is an opportunity to show off. Pietà is an artistic depiction of the Virgin Mary carrying Jesus Christ in her cradle after his crucifixion, considered one of the most inspiring motifs of Christian imagery, meaning ‘pity’ or ‘mercy’ in Italian.
“I wanted to show the Virgin Mary as an ordinary woman who cannot understand her son. I wanted to tell the story of Jesus Christ through his mother’s eyes.” Then there is ‘Elunda’, which explains how the caste system works in Christianity.
From translation to writing
When a translator becomes a writer, he or she is expected to feel a certain sense of freedom, not being restricted by the original text. “As a creator it’s freeing without the ‘burden’ of being faithful to the text. As a translator you are giving birth to the book, something like surrogate motherhood.”
Even though the translator’s imagination does not do the ‘work’ of the author, Catherine talks about being sensitive to the original text. “This is the most important factor in being able to understand the nuances of any language, and also the knowledge of both languages.” Incidentally, he wrote ‘My Death’ from the anthology in Malayalam.
“The translator goes through every pain as a writer, who can use his imagination while we bear the burden of fidelity to the original. Translation is easy but writing is therapeutic and empowering!”
A Kind of Meat and Other Stories Published by Aleph, ₹699