Kandathil Sebastian's Blog: Mountain Trilogy

HOW TO GET A COPY OF DOLMENS IN THE BLUE MOUNTAIN?

IF YOU ARE IN INDIA, PICK UP FROM THE NEAREST BOOK SHOP IN YOUR TOWN FROM THE LIST BELOW

AURANGABAD

• Aurangabad Book Depot (Aurangabad) Jethliya Tower,Gulmandi,Aurangabad (M.S)Tel.No.0240-2353116 (M) 9326232440Mr.Ketan Sharad Jain9326232440

BANGALORE

• Axis Books (Bangalore) 330/9, 2nd Main,Intermediate Ring Road, Ring Road,Domlur Layout, Bangalore - 560 071.Tel.No.+91 80 41526657/40383838Mr.Chaturbhuj G.Kalro080 41526657/40383838

BHAGALPUR

• Sanjay Book Store (Bhagalpur) Khalifa Bag Chowk, Dr. R. P. Road, Bhagalpur - 812001 (Bihar) Mr.Sanjay Tel : 0641-2424830

BHOPAL

• Avani Book House (Bhopal) LB-12,(Basement),Mansarovar Complex,Near Habibganj Rly Stn,Bhopal-462016.0755-4202205Mrs.Pragati Jain0755-4202205,4260819
• International Book House (Bhopal) U-19-20, Thadaram Complex,209-A,Zone-1,Maharana Pratap Nagar,Bhopal -462011. (M.P)PH-0755-2578331,2710562Mr.Prashant Sharma0755-2578331

BHUVANESHWAR

• Banita Publication C/o Wheeler Book Stall,Bhubaneswar Rly Stn,Odisha

CHANDIGARH

• The Book Shelf (Chandigarh) Bay Shop No.399,Sector 32-D,Chandigarh - 160031Tel.No.0172-5087686, 4655399Mr.Mohindra

CHENNAI

• NEW BOOK LAND (Chennai) 52-C BASEMENT,NORTH USMAN ROAD,NEAR PANAGAL PARK,T.NAGAR,CHENNAI - 600 017
• SAS CONNECTIONS (OMR) OMR - Tamil Nadu – 9840953581
• SRI VIDHYA BOOK CENTRE (CHENNAI) C/o.Pusthak Bharati,# 7, Sannathi Street,Mylapore, Chennai - 600 004.Tel.No.24611345/24511141 (M) 9940154105Mr.V.V.S.Manian24611345/245...

COIMBATORE

• Book Park (Coimbatore) P.K.D Nagar 1st StreetOpp, Varadharaja MillsPeelamedu CBE-049894033101Mr. Mustafa, 09894033101/098440331019894033101

DELHI

• Arora Book Stall (New Delhi) D.A.V.School Bldg,(Green Park Metro Stn.Yusuf Sarai,New Delhi - 110016.Tel : 09891656392/09818424645/418410899891656392
• Famous Book Store (New Delhi) 25, Janpath Bhawan,New Janpath Market,New Delhi - 110001.(India)Tel.No.23311510/23328275/23354900Mr.S... Arora98105467479810546747
• Oxford Bookstore Pvt Ltd(Caunaught Place Del) N/81 Caunaught Place, Delhi

GUWHATI

• MY BOOKS - Guwahati Monjera House, Ground Floor, .L.N. Road,Panbazar, Guwahati-781001 (ASSAM)
• Tapan Agency (Guwahati) Narangi Tanali Bazar,Guwahati - 781026

GURGAON

• R.K.Book Shop (Gurgaon) Shop No. 73 ,Sector - 14, Main Market, Gurgaon - 122 001.Tel.No.0124-2316806, (M) 9958401146Mr.Bhawani Bhatt9958401146

HYDERABAD

• Akshara Book Shop (Hydrabad) Plot No.5,UBI Colony,Police Station Road,Road No.3,Banjara Hills, Hyderabad - 34.Tel.No.040-27804626 HO.23554096Attn - M.Lakshmi / Kavita
• Sahithya Bharathi Book Shop (Hyd) Beside Rajkamal ElectricalsChikkadpally Main Road,Hyderabad - 500 020. (AP)Mr.Sambasiva Rao (M) : 9848170367Mr.Sambasiva Rao

JAIPUR

• Rajat Book Corner(Jaipur) 8,Narain Singh Road,Near Trimurti Circle, Jaipur-4Tel No. 0141-25688330141-2573344Mohit0141-2568833 / 0141-2573344

JALANDHAR

• Readers Paradies (Jalandhar) Shop No 64 Modal Town Market, Jalandhar City9814613076Mr, S K Sharma

JODHPUR
• Sarvodaya Book Stall 70, Jaswant Building, Station Road, Jodhpur-342001,Rajasthan

KANPUR

• National Book House (Kanpur) 16/96,Sen Balika Building,The Mall, Kanpur - 208001.0512-2315698,09415538370Mr.Deepak Chabra0512-231698

KOLKOTA

• Book Seller (Kolkata) City Centra, Ground Floor, Block-A,Salt Lake, DC-Block, Sector - 1Kolkata - 700 064.Tel : 033-40063217
• Edition (Bharat Book Distributor)Kolkata BLOCK : GD-15, SECTOR-IIISALT LAKE CITYKOLKATA - 700 106 Mr.Sanjoy ChandraTEL : 033-64547183/098301971839830197183
• New Alipore Book House (Kolkata) 38, Tollygunge Circular Road,Near Hindustan Sweet,Kolkata - 700 053.P.Sen24006062/0307

LUCKNOW

• Universal Book Distributors Co.(Lucknow) A-1, Arif Chamber,Kapoorthla,Aliganj, Lucknow - 226020

MEERUT

• A.R.Enterprises (Meerut) "Stall No Kmc 134, Nr Hare School MainStall No Kmc 134, Nr Hare School Main, R.G.Intercollege Road, Cippi Tank"

MUMBAI

• Book NX(Bandra) 30 Linking Road,Opp Amarson,Near Nilgiri Garden,Bandra(W),Mumbai – 400050
• City Book Centre(Andheri) Shop No.5,Sukhmani Bldg,Junction of S.V.Rd&V.P.Rd,Near Archies Gallery,Andheri(W),Mumbai
• Happy Book Stall (Mumbai) 8, Rizvi House, 34, R.N.Marg,Bandra, Mumbai - 400 050.Tel.No.26400019(M) : 9224426325Prop.R.J.Jerajani264000199224426325
• Kitab Khana (Mumbai) Somayya bhawan, Ground Floor, 45/47, M.G.Road, Fort Mumbai-400001
• Magna Book Gallery & Nutrition Centre Sassoon Building,2ndFloor,143,M.G.Road,Kalaghoda, Mumbai – 400001
• The Show Case Book Cafe& Exhibition(Mum) The Show Case Book Cafe & Exhibition,Shop No.214,215,&216,Ground Floor,RaghuLeela,Arcade,Vashi Navi Mumbai -400703.Tel.No.27802120 / 27668228Mrs.D.Gupta27802120 / 27668228

MYSORE

• Ashok Book Centre (Mysore) 396, Devaraja Market Building,Dhanwanthri Road,Mysore - 1.(Karnataka) IndiaTel.No.91 821 2435553Mr.N.B.Thakurdas91 821 2435553

NAGPUR

• Denett & Co.(Nagpur) 23 Farmland, New Ramdaspeth,Central Bazar Road, Nagpur - 440010 (M.S) (M) 9823019625Tel.No.0712-6611102/6612660 Mr.AmitMr.Amit U.Mujumdar

SILIGURI

• New Books International (Siliguri) Modak complex, Mahandra Para, Siliguri - 734001

TRICHUR/THRISSUR

• Thrissur Book House M G Road,Brahmaswam Madom,Building,Thrissur - 680001

TRIVANDRUM/THIRUVANATHAPURAM

• Excel Lending Library Shop No;70,Kedaram Shoping Complex,Kesavadasapuram,Trivandrum-695004

VISHAKHAPATNAM

• Gupta Brothers Books (Visakhapatnam) 47-13-10, Dwarakanagar,Visakhapatnam - 530 016.Tel.No.2754454,2502263Mr.Srinivasa Rao
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD, BUY FROM ANY ONLINE STORES LISTED BELOW

INTERNATIONAL

• AMAZON: http://www.amazon.com/Dolmens-Blue-Mo...
• TOWER BOOKS: http://www.tower.com/dolmens-in-blue-...
• UREAD: http://www.uread.com/book/dolmens-in-...
• ABE BOOKS: http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/BookD......
• ALIBRIS: http://www.alibris.com/booksearch.detail...

OTHERS

• LANDMARK: http://www.landmarkonthenet.com/dolme...
• AMAZON INDIA: http://www.amazon.in/Dolmens-Blue-Mou...
• SNAPDEAL: http://www.snapdeal.com/product/dolme...
• INFI-BEAM: http://www.infibeam.com/Books/dolmens...
• BOOK-ADDA: http://www.bookadda.com/books/dolmens...
• CROSS-WORD: http://www.crossword.in/home/search?q...
• REDIFF BOOKS: http://books.rediff.com/#!9789383562244
• INDIATIMES SHOPPING: http://shopping.indiatimes.com/books/...
• Easy buy: http://www.shop.hdfcbank.com/Products...
• FLIPKART: http://www.flipkart.com/dolmens-blue-...

Vinod Jospeh's Review of Dolmens in the Blue Mountain

Book Review: Dolmens in the Blue Mountain, by Kandathil Sebastian

Source: http://winnowed.blogspot.in/2014/03/b...

The chain of evergreen hills which forms the Western Ghats runs through the entire eastern length of Kerala and is home to a variety of flora and fauna. At one time, it was inhabited entirely by hill tribes, but over the past hundred years, Malayalam speaking immigrants from the coastal plains have taken over the hills completely. Just as in the rest of Kerala, the Ghats are dotted with concrete monstrosities, built with remittances from overseas. Stone quarries have laid waste to large sections of the ever green hills. Much of the wildlife has been systematically hunted down to extinction. The biggest losers however have been the hill tribes, who believe that the hills are imbued with the spirits of their gods and goddess and whose ancestors sleep in dolmens on cliff tops. The tribal population of Kerala’s Western Ghats has been decimated ever since the migrations began and large parts of the traditional homelands over which they roamed have been denied to them under the pretext of forest conservation.

The extreme damage caused to the ecology of the Western Ghats in Kerala has been repeated in five other states, prompting the Kasturirangan panel to recommend that around 60,000 sq km of Western Ghats, spread across six states, should be turned into a no-go area for commercial activities like mining, thermal power plants, polluting industries and large housing plans. These recommendations have evoked violent opposition, especially in Kerala.

Through Dolmens in the Blue Mountain, author Kandathil Sebastian tells us the story of a hardworking Syrian Catholic farmer, Devasy who starts life as a sharecropper for a Nair landlord at Ezhacherry, a village fifty kilometres away from the famous port Allepey and prospers to become a landlord in his own right, and Devasy’s descendants. Devasy’s son Ouseph (Malayalam for Joseph) fathers five children, two boys and three girls and builds a church at Ezhacherry. Ouseph could have educated his children, but doesn’t, even though his second son Thomman is keen to study. Ouseph’s elder son Varghese migrates to the hills and starts farming on cleared forest land with the help of tribals, to whom he supplies arrack. Varghese has two sons, Philipose and Dominic. Varghese’s brother Thomman stays on at Ezhacherry and ends up in jail after killing a goon who was trying to rob him of his money. Thomman’s son Saju is intelligent and hardworking, though Thomman cannot afford to send him to an English medium school and saju is forced to attend a Malayalam medium school.

Dolmens in the Blue Mountain is the story of Philipose and Dominic, their cousin Saju, Deven, the tribal boy whose father had helped Varghese conquer the hills, Deven’s wife Kannnagi who is raped and exploited by Philipose and who takes to the path of violence in the company of other Naxals and finally of the dolmens where Deven’s and Kannagi’s ancestors rest. Sebastian’s charatcers are authentic and one can find them all over Kerala’s Ghats and in the various places all over the world to which these hardy folks have migrated. Philipose is a ruthless exploiter who cultivates both politicians and cannabis. Dominic joins a seminary, but leaves disenchanted, unable to tolerate the total obedience and subservience demanded by the Church. He ends up in Canada, married to a nurse, the fate of so many Keralite Christian men who are unable to find a remunerative vocation by the time they reach a marriageable age. Saju, despite not having had the best schooling and undaunted by his inability to clear the civil services exam, obtains a Ph.D and works in the development sector, happy in his own skin. The author’s bio at the end of the book confirmed my suspicion that Saju’s story is that of the author.

Sebastian writes in the sort of everyday English spoken by the majority of Keralites and other Indians. Though every sentence in the novel might not receive a stamp of approval from Wren and Martin and Sebastian constantly flip-flops from the present tense to the past, something I found disconcerting, Dolmens in the Blue Mountain is on the whole, well-conceived and executed. A very interesting read, I would recommend Dolmens in the Blue Mountain to everyone interested in knowing more about Kerala, especially its Syrian Catholic community which is very influential and punches above its weight in Kerala’s politics.

Review of DBM

Dolmens in the Blue Mountain by Kandathil Sebastian

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


“Dolmens in the Blue Mountain though set in an indigenous context, transgresses the ‘local-global’, ‘fiction-reality’, and ‘space-time’ boundaries to narrate an international story with a universal message. It deconstructs some of the fundamental ‘life –death’, ‘freedom-servitude’, and ‘love-indifference’ dichotomies of human existence and presents a workable proposition for survival of humanity in a conflict ridden and ecologically delicate planet. The story originates in a remote village in Kerala/India and progresses to different geographies to which its leading characters migrated. Thus it narrates three unique sets of migration experiences based on an international migration to Canada, a national migration to Delhi and an internal migration to the Western Ghats Mountain ranges within the Kerala state. Each of the characters faced distinctive socio-political challenges and engaged in conflicts with forces which tried to obliterate their dreams as they struggled to survive in places where they became economic refugees. Some of those conflicts happened in the labyrinths of the character’s minds while some other conflicts happened when the characters attempted to engage with the bureaucracy, the police and the politicians. A few other conflicts took place when these migrants tried to understand and assimilate the values of the host cultures into which they have been transplanted. The leading characters face such conflicts in wide ranging milieus such as the materialistic world of down town Toronto, the dissolute and sprawling sanctuaries of sex work in Bangkok and the tiny tribal hamlets of the Western Ghats. While dealing with serious and profound issues, the author employs a plain and simple language and style to connect with and to make sense of what he wanted to communicate to diverse reader groups. Therefore, all category of readers will tremendously enjoy the myths, poetry and nostalgia – all of which have been magnificently celebrated with powerful, convincing and carefully chosen text. It explores the magic and ambience of many exotic places in the East, introduces readers to many interesting historical personalities, and articulates some rare anthropological and psychological conceptions with intellectual rigor and poetic splendor. For example, the portrayal of the peculiar mind of one of the characters who was suffering from ‘Stockholm Syndrome’ due to which the character continued to love his tormenter is a class apart”. – Drew Roem




View all my reviews

Upcoming novels in the Mountain Trilogy Series

‘Dolmens in the Blue Mountain’ is the first in the series of the planned ‘Mountain Trilogy’ novels which explore the meaning of life, love, servitude, freedom and death in the contemporary social and ecological context of our planet. ‘Dolmens in the Blue Mountain’ will be launched on 7 March 2014, by Frog Books – an imprint of Leadstart Publishing Pvt. Ltd. The other two to be followed are ‘Wisdom of the White Mountain’ and ‘Sacrifice in the Black Mountain.’

CLICK ANY ONE OF THE LINKS BELOW TO ORDER YOUR COPY
1. LEADSTART: http://www.leadstartshop.com/Products...#!
2. AMAZON INDIA: http://www.amazon.in/Dolmens-Blue-Mou...
3. AMAZON INTERNATIONAL: http://www.amazon.com/Dolmens-Blue-Mo...
4. SNAPDEAL: http://www.snapdeal.com/product/dolme...
5. INFI-BEAM: http://www.infibeam.com/Books/dolmens...
6. BOOK-ADDA: http://www.bookadda.com/books/dolmens...
7. CROSS-WORD: http://www.crossword.in/home/search?q...
8. REDIFF BOOKS: http://books.rediff.com/#!9789383562244
9. INDIATIMES SHOPPING: http://shopping.indiatimes.com/books/...
10. URead: http://www.uread.com/book/dolmens-in-...
11. FLIPCART: http://www.flipkart.com/dolmens-blue-...
12. Junglee: http://www.junglee.com/Dolmens-Blue-M...

13.Landmark: http://www.landmarkonthenet.com/dolme...

14. Easybuy: http://www.shop.hdfcbank.com/Products...