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Blackened
The Adhikarathil family had a distinguished history. It prospered both in terms of wealth and eminence, acquiring the status of royalty in Malabar, Kerala, until the birth of a child named Eranimos shocked everyone. Unlike his fair-skinned, Christian forebears, Eranimos was born dark-skinned, leading to controversial conjectures about his lineage.
Blackened tells the story of its protagonist’s quest to discover the truth behind his dark skin and caste identity. But weaved into this personal tale are multiple layers of Kerala’s social and political histories—its caste conflicts, its massive waves of conversion and migration, its clashing belief systems, and its rural and urban divide.
Originally published as Karikkottakkary in Malayalam, Blackened is an impactful bildungsroman that covers the arc of a conflicted life, and shows us how family histories are tied into the larger historical currents that form communities and shape destinies.
Blackened tells the story of its protagonist’s quest to discover the truth behind his dark skin and caste identity. But weaved into this personal tale are multiple layers of Kerala’s social and political histories—its caste conflicts, its massive waves of conversion and migration, its clashing belief systems, and its rural and urban divide.
Originally published as Karikkottakkary in Malayalam, Blackened is an impactful bildungsroman that covers the arc of a conflicted life, and shows us how family histories are tied into the larger historical currents that form communities and shape destinies.
170 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 28, 2024
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 26, 2025
Review -
Blackened, by Vinoy Thomas, tr from Malayalam by Nandakumar K, the story of one man's fervent effort to discover his roots and solve his identity crisis is also a fine study of history and anthropology. It details how ‘migration’ not only changed the circumstances in which human beings thrived but changed them too, shaping our history. It highlights how the journey, a constant and a long one, added labels to us making us overlook the basic fact that we are all Homo sapiens, who evolved from apes, roamed lands as hunters, food gatherers before settling down to till the land.
The Adhikarathil family in Malabar, Kerala, a prosperous and venerated Christian family boasts of a rich history. Its origin traced to the union of a Persian man and an upper-caste Namboodri woman lent it an air of superiority & honour that had to be safeguarded, apart from leaving its members fair-skinned. And, born into this family, Eranimose, the dark-skinned one, sticks out like a sore thumb. The humiliation he suffers due to his skin colour makes him suspect his parentage, wonder about his caste and sends him to Karikkottakkary (inhabited by dark-skinned, lower caste people/Pulayas, newly converted to Christianity) for answers. On an arduous quest, he learns that ‘history is a collection of conjectures and beliefs’ before secrets his family hid from him to avoid shame are revealed.
A slim but dense read, Blackened packs a lot of Kerala’s social and political history, the caste hierarchy and its belief systems. The traditions followed during the holy week starting from Palm Sunday to Easter, recipe for INRI appam, the beauty of the land itself with its fauna & flora are detailed with an astonishing clarity that the text doesn't feel like a translation. There’s a sizeable character set, each one with a role to play. There is free flow of sex and lust, some of it steers the story forward, some clearly feels unnecessary. The foreword by author S Hareesh is enlightening.
A thought-provoking read that highlights how one's past helps understand his/her present, a book as much about history as contemporary.
Rating - 3.75 stars
Blackened, by Vinoy Thomas, tr from Malayalam by Nandakumar K, the story of one man's fervent effort to discover his roots and solve his identity crisis is also a fine study of history and anthropology. It details how ‘migration’ not only changed the circumstances in which human beings thrived but changed them too, shaping our history. It highlights how the journey, a constant and a long one, added labels to us making us overlook the basic fact that we are all Homo sapiens, who evolved from apes, roamed lands as hunters, food gatherers before settling down to till the land.
The Adhikarathil family in Malabar, Kerala, a prosperous and venerated Christian family boasts of a rich history. Its origin traced to the union of a Persian man and an upper-caste Namboodri woman lent it an air of superiority & honour that had to be safeguarded, apart from leaving its members fair-skinned. And, born into this family, Eranimose, the dark-skinned one, sticks out like a sore thumb. The humiliation he suffers due to his skin colour makes him suspect his parentage, wonder about his caste and sends him to Karikkottakkary (inhabited by dark-skinned, lower caste people/Pulayas, newly converted to Christianity) for answers. On an arduous quest, he learns that ‘history is a collection of conjectures and beliefs’ before secrets his family hid from him to avoid shame are revealed.
A slim but dense read, Blackened packs a lot of Kerala’s social and political history, the caste hierarchy and its belief systems. The traditions followed during the holy week starting from Palm Sunday to Easter, recipe for INRI appam, the beauty of the land itself with its fauna & flora are detailed with an astonishing clarity that the text doesn't feel like a translation. There’s a sizeable character set, each one with a role to play. There is free flow of sex and lust, some of it steers the story forward, some clearly feels unnecessary. The foreword by author S Hareesh is enlightening.
A thought-provoking read that highlights how one's past helps understand his/her present, a book as much about history as contemporary.
Rating - 3.75 stars
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