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Profile

I'm basically an IT professional, having spent more than twenty-five years in front of computers, trying to learn new and newer languages that pop up everyday. But the language I loved most was English. British English, because writing has always been my passion. However, I soon learnt that literary pursuit was not a lucrative career to follow (at least in India), unless you're a well-established writer. My writing was therefore limited to a past-time hobby. I wrote a number of short stories from personal experience (as you would discover from my short stories) and got them published in various leading English magazines / newspapers in India. My short story "Bridging the Rainbow" can be read in "The WritersNet Anthology of Prose" edited by Gary D Kessler, and published in October 2002.

About Me

I was born near Ooty, the picturesque hill resort in Tamil Nadu, South India. My father was a Stores Officer at a Tea Estate in The Nilgiris (Blue Mountains). I'm the sixth son of my parents. I've three sisters and five brothers. Indeed we're a small family. (Please click on Picture Gallery to see how small we are!)

We belong to a famous nair taravad* of Calicut. Like all Malabar Nairs, we took our mother's taravad name Poolakkal.

Kerala, the Gods Own Country

According to legend, the land of Kerala was a gift of the Arabian Sea to Rishi (Sage) Parasurama, one of the ten avatars or incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Legend has it that Parusurama threw his "parasu" or axe across the sea and water receded up to the spot where it fell. The tract of territory so thrown up is said to have constituted the land of Kerala.

An old photo of me!

Genealogy

I belong to the famous Poolakkal taravad of Calicut, in Kerala, South India. Taravad means (in the local dialet), an ancestral home, or a joint family . In case you wonder what is so queer about a joint family click on Written Words where you will learn more about Taravad.

It is on this theme my novel is based. Read all about it as well as all the strange and sometime evil practices and customs followed in the nineteenth century Kerala, in South India in the Current Project.

A major portion of my life was spent in Calcutta. I'm now settled in Alwaye, Ernakulam District, Kerala. I'm married to Nirmala, and we've two sons, Sajiv and Ajit - both of them are now in the software professional. Their names appear in many of my short stories. Read these stories.

Theyyam

The Theyyam or Teyyattam of the erstwhile North Malabar area in Kerala is unique among the ritual dances of South India. Teyyattam literally means the dance of God, Teyyam being a corruption of the word Daivam or God. The performer in Teyyattam impersonates the popular deity and he dances to the tune of the resounding music and the rhythmic beating of a number of drums accompanied by clarion and a large number of cymbals. The dance is staged primarily in Kali Temples and the performers usually belong to particular tribes or castes. Read about such rituals in my novel "A Snake Called Ego".