The Dance and the Trance of Kerala
Book Review Title: The Dance and the Trance Author: Deepti Menon Publisher: H&C Thrissur, 2023 Pages: 163 Deepti Menon’s The Dance and the Trance is much more than a story about a Velichappadu, the traditional oracle, who dances in ecstatic devotion before a village deity. It is a novel that enters the cultural memory of Kerala and gently reveals the world that surrounds the oracle – the village, its children, festivals, hidden hierarchies, and, above all, the enduring goodness that survives within ordinary human beings. The figure of the Velichappadu is often viewed from a distance, as an exotic relic of a fading tradition. Mani, the protagonist, takes up the mantle of the oracle because he has no other choice. Deepti Menon does something subtle after that, which is what elevates this novel above mere feel-good fiction. Menon places the oracle within the living fabric of the village and allows us to see him not merely as a ritual performer but as a hum...
