Tomichan Matheikal's blog

Fiction Weird spectres haunted Sreelakshmi’s dreams night after night.   They had the shapes of the rapists whose images she had seen in newspapers day after day. Sabka Saath, Sabka Balaatkar has become the motto of the country, it seems, Sreelakshmi muttered to herself as she walked into grandma’s room. “Grandma,” Sreelakshmi said more affectionately than ever. Grandma smiled.   She was familiar with the various shades of her granddaughter’s affection.   She put aside her rudraksha mala and said, “What brings my beloved here now?   Isn’t it time to get ready for school?” “Holiday today,” Sreelakshmi said without the cheer that is usually associated with holidays.   “ Hartal . Some political party is observing hartal today because some of their members were prevented by the police from beating up members of some other party.” Grandma smiled her toothless smile.   Her gums grinned and Sreelakshmi was not frightened because she was familiar with the gri

The following is a translation of the short story by bilingual writer Madhavikutty (Kamala Das).   This story was written half a century ago, much before the cow became a bone of contention in the country.   Was the author prophetic? One day a little boy picked up a banana peel from a garbage bin on the road. While he was eating it, a cow snatched it from his hands. The boy felt sad; he pushed the beast away. The cow ran along the street, mooing aloud. Some mendicants suddenly turned up from nowhere. “Did you hurt the holy cow?” they asked the boy. “I didn’t. I only chased it away because it snatched the banana peel I was eating.” “What is your religion?” asked the mendicants. “Religion? What’s that?” asked the boy. “Are you Hindu or Muslim? Or Christian? Do you go to the temple or to the mosque?” “I don’t go to any of them,” the boy replied. “So you don’t believe in prayer?” “I don’t go anywhere. I have no shirt. My trousers are torn at th

Amit Shah is a chatur baniya . His political career is mired in filth and blood.   He has used devious methods to bring his party to power in his own as well as other states and also to eliminate enemies.   He is the master of trickery and even encounter killings are part of his arsenal.   He knows how to get what he wants.   Recently he was in Kerala where he hurled an ultimatum to the party workers: win at any cost.   Clashes broke out in Kerala from the very next day.   Sooner than later, Amit Shah can take pride in destroying the communal harmony that existed in Kerala for decades. Courtesy C P Sharma Amit Shah knows how to use power effectively.   His party is changing the history textbooks wherever it is in power.   In the new textbooks, the tin heroes of RSS like Savarkar have displaced the real heroes like Mahatma Gandhi.   The entire freedom struggle is being shown in a different light.   The history of the country is being rewritten entirely.   Fair becomes fo