Aswathy’s Reviews > റാം C/O ആനന്ദി [RAM C/O ANANDHI] > Status Update

So we've never upgraded from men writing titillating sexual abuse scenes of women to fridge them later, for the hero's plot. The detailed anguish and wailing is absolutely necessary to consider women as people. Overt for cis women in the past, overt for trans women always. Avante oru eranamketta pity.

Ram, defends his friend Malli's new name & identity against Anandhi, his professor & the world, or so his inner monologue assumes to. Portrayed as an empathetic, non judgemental person who sees Malli as a real person. He eats with them, goes to their place, buys them clothes. And while saying goodbye for good, calls her Kalidhas(dead name), wishes he could've raised her so that she would've been untouched. I hate Ram

"Athode muthirnnavarude kamam shamippikkan pokunna paripadiyum avan nirthi". Enth paripadi? The author is describing a child sexual abuse victim having agency/choice over their consistent assaults following the realisation that other children don't have to do this. Stuffing tragedies and sufferings of the marginalised as plot points to advance the "nanma maram" narrative of the hero is a pervasive problem in Kerala.

This page jarred me a little. The transgender woman, Malli, suddenly gets a pov sentence out of the blue. "Mallik orupad nalukalkushesham thaan oru lakshyamvechu trainil sancharikunnathupole thonni". Meaning: Malli felt like she had a destination for travelling by train for the first time after years. This was a poor insertion to secure brownie points for the main character. The entire book is in Ram's pov mind you.

For someone who resembles a wounded soldier crawling to safety while attempting to read a Malayalam book, this one has been an easy read till now. I don't know if the characters are meant to be lighthearted and good by the author, but they appear very grey to me.