All About ‘The Azure of Solicitude’

Kakkathuruthu, one of the villages in which half of the events take place in my novel, was once the dwelling place of all kinds of crows. Then humans came there. The crows behave with intelligence. They can understand the language of people, but cannot speak. People believe that a crow never dies due to old age. That it becomes young at the time of other creatures go back to earth. Once in a year the people perform the death anniversary of the passed out souls. On plantain leaves, they dedicate rice glomerations on the burial place of the dead forefathers and pray them to take the worshipped substance and give back benisons. Crows crowd there in order to take the given eatables. The crows are believed to be the departed souls. Unless crows refuse to take anyone's rice glomerations, she or he would be a sinner.

And some birds like Kalankozhis (Fowls of Yama) are believed to be the predictors of a coming death. Yama is the Deity of death and Kalankozhis are His messengers. That if a Kalankozhi sings the song of death, there would be a soul's departure in the surroundings. Every year in the hottest month, the people pray to Deity Sun for blessings. They want to get decreased the sultriness of the Deity's rays. They want to get increased the crop of paddy cultivation. Worshipping of the Deity Sun is known as Audityapooja or Sooryapooja. And there are the legends of Sabarimala Sri Ayyappan, Vaver and Veluthachan. The beliefs on them are as prominent as of breathtaking among the Keralites. Every year they go to Sabarimala for having the divine sight of Sri Ayyappan, where His Idol is installed. Near His temple Vaver's temple too can be sighted. But Veluthachan's Idol is erected and consecrated in a Church to which people go for worshipping.

As Caste Hindus some Christians who consider themselves as forward caste alienate black complexioned recently converted Christians. These Caste Christians consider themselves as the successors of the ancient Christians who had converted into Christianity from Brahminhood. The incredible beliefs govern the villagers and have moulded their lifestyle.

In Kakkathuruthu, one of the eyots in the Lake Vembanadu, Kora, a lime-making man leads a drunkard’s life neglecting his wife Tharathy and four children. He always boasts that he belongs to an old Syrian Christian family, which St. Thomas had converted a rich Brahmin family into Christianity. He never thinks about the pitiable condition that he dwells in a hut.

Tharathy with her daughter old-aged Sara and Ely makes coir yarns using hands for earning the daily bread and teaching the first son Eappan sending to a distant college. She hates her husband and whenever he comes into sight she fights him tooth and nail. Eappan, the college going young man loves Moly, the daughter of his immediate neighbour with the full sense that she belongs to a lower-caste family. Despite being a man of great ambitions, he thinks he can never forget Moly. He has decided in mind to marry her.

At the next village, Achankara, with the fame of St. Sebastian’s Church, a landlord named Kuriamma comes from a distant place and starts several businesses. When completes his college studies, Eappan goes to Kuriamma’s working place for doing casual works. This time his lover Moly is pregnant. When Kuriamma starts coir-making works using machinery, Sara and Ely get chance to work there. By iterating loveful words Kuriamma attracts Sara and subdues her. She dreams about becoming the wife of the rich widower. Gita, the only one daughter of Kuriamma enters the working shed from somewhere. She sees Eappan and at the very first sight falls in love with him. Then the color of all the scenes changes into another shade.

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