Cast Me Out If You Will: Stories and Memoir

by ലളിതാംബിക അന്തർജനം | Lalithambika Antharjanam, Gita Krishnakutty (Translation), Meena Alexander (Foreword)

"There have been no women in our part of the country whose names posterity found it worthwhile to cherish," writes Lalithambika Antherjanam (1909-1985) in "Come Back", her fictional account of an Indian woman activist's life. In Cast Me Out If You Will , however, Antherjanam's stories bring to life the experiences of women living at all levels of Indian society. From the faithful and devoted nanny of "Wooden Cradles" to the lonely young bride of "In the Moonlight", Antherjanam's characters are keenly observed and faithfully rendered. This unique collection of short stories and personal memoirs—a compilation representing half a century of writing and activism—is the ideal introduction to one of India's best-loved and foremost feminist authors.

Antherjanam was an early feminist of Kerala, at the tip of India's subcontinent, at the beginning of the 20th century. Her family was supportive, encouraging her education and writing, but as a Brahmin woman she was confined to seclusion until her marriage, fortunately arranged to a man sympathetic to her pursuit of women's rights. Antherjanam's stories offer clear-eyed and chilling testimony to the brutal oppression suffered by Indian women "cast out" if they dared to stray from enforced subjugation. At the same time, they celebrate their resilience, resistance, and vitality of these individuals. This volume includes a selection of her fiction and memoir, which captures early moments in India's nationalist and feminist movements.

Genres: Short Stories, Asia, Nonfiction, Womens

204 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

കൊല്ലം ജില്ലയിൽ കൊട്ടാരക്കരയ്ക്കടുത്ത് കോട്ടവട്ടത്ത് 1909 മാർച്ച് 30–ന് ജനിച്ചു. അച്ഛൻ: ശ്രീമൂലം പ്രജാസഭാ മെമ്പറായിരുന്ന കോട്ട​വട്ടത്ത് ഇല്ലത്ത് കെ. ദാമോദരൻപോറ്റി. അമ്മ: നങ്ങയ്യ അന്തർജനം. വീട്ടിലിരുന്ന് ഗുരുക്കന്മാരുടെ അടുത്തുനിന്ന് സംസ്‌കൃതവും മലയാളവും പഠിച്ചു. ഇംഗ്ലിഷിലും ഹിന്ദിയിലും പരിജ്ഞാനം നേടി. ആദ്യത്തെ ചെറുകഥ "മലയാളരാജ്യ'ത്തിൽ പ്രസിദ്ധപ്പെടുത്തിയ യാത്രാവസാനം. 1927–ൽ മീനച്ചിൽ താലൂക്കിൽ രാമപുരത്ത് അമനകര ഇല്ലത്ത് നാരായണൻ നമ്പൂതിരി വിവാഹം കഴിച്ചു. പ്രശസ്ത കഥാകൃത്ത് പരേതനായ എൻ. മോഹനൻ ഉൾപ്പെടെ ഏഴു മക്കൾ. തിരുവിതാംകൂർ ഭാഗത്ത് നമ്പൂതിരി​സമുദായത്തിൽ നടന്ന പരിഷ്‌കരണപരിപാടികളിൽ ആദ്യകാലത്ത് അന്തർജനം പങ്കെടുത്തിരുന്നു. 1973–ൽ കേരളസാഹിത്യ അക്കാദമി അവാർഡ് (സീത മുതൽ സത്യവതി വരെ) ലഭിച്ചു. അഗ്നിസാക്ഷി എന്ന ഏക നോവലിന് 1977–ലെ കേരളസാഹിത്യ അക്കാദമി അവാർഡ്, കേന്ദ്ര സാഹിത്യ അക്കാദമി അവാർഡ്, ഓടക്കുഴൽ സമ്മാനം, ആദ്യത്തെ വയലാർ അവാർഡ്. 1987 ഫെബ്രുവരി 6–ന് അന്തരിച്ചു.

Lalithambika Antharjanam (ലളിതാംബിക അന്തര്‍ജനം) (1909–1987) was an Indian author and social reformer best known for her literary works in Malayalam language. Her published oeuvre consists of nine volumes of short stories, six collections of poems, two books for children, and a novel, Agnisakshi (1976) which won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1977. Her autobiography Aathmakadhakkoru Aamukham (An Introduction to Autobiography) is a very significant work.

She was greatly influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and social reform movements among the Nambudiri caste led by V. T. Bhattathiripad. Later she contributed to the social reform in her own way. Her writing reflects a sensitivity to the women's role in society, and the tension between the woman as a centre for bonding and the woman as an individual. She was concerned particularly the nature of the sexual contract.

Reviews

[Rakesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the memoir section of the book, the author has written:

Very long ago, one of the best loved poets of the Malayalam language asked me on a public platform “Why has there not been a single woman poet in this land…why has not even one of them composed a single line of love poetry?” This poet had certainly written innumerable love poems, but if a young woman composed love poetry, did he understand what her life in society would become? Would he allow his sister to go in search of love, experience love, as he himself did?

That pretty much sums it up. Stories about men doing what they want and preventing women from doing the same. Nevertheless, she persisted and her stories had an impact on issues such as remarriage of widows.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Relentlessly bleak stories about women in a small community in Southern India a century ago who had no rights, were basically shut inside, while men acted terribly. Definitely of its time, read this with an anthropological lens. You will not get subtlety and nuance, you will get a window to a different time and it will break your heart, especially knowing there are women in other parts of the world in similar situations in the modern day.

[Nikhil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The collection was hit or miss. Her early stories, while of historical interest, were fairly poor. Her later stories in this collection were excellent. Stand outs include "Within the Folds of Seclusion," "Wooden Cradles," "A Leaf in the Whirlwind," "Come Back," "Fulfillment," and "Dhirendru Majumdar's Mother." The memoir portion of the collection was overwrought. Most of her mediations on the relationship between the writer and her craft were tiresome and excessively flowery. Besides highlighting the difficulty of simultaneously being a full-time writer and mother, it is unclear what this portion of the memoir adds to our understanding of the artistic process. The best part of her memoir, by far, was her elegy for her mother.

The political and social points she is making in this book were revolutionary for her time (and indeed, are most likely still revolutionary in most of India) but seem dated today. The ideals she states with such ethical clarity and moral force are ones we, by and large, accept as granted. It becomes difficult to relate to her fervor as it seems uncontroversial.

[Bindu Thirumalai · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chilling and such a real and truthful account.