Padmarajan's Prose

I had not read anything for a long while, definitely not since Covid hit; but a chance encounter with two of Padmarajan's novellas - Udakappola and Itha Ivide Vare - has made me read with an avidity I thought had been lost for ever. Here are some short samples of his amazingly sensual Malayalam prose in my imperfect translation...
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"A little space around the statue had been fenced off from stray bovines and canines - and humans - and in the searing heat, the tarred surface there belched out bubbles; even the statue seemed to be sweating profusely."

"The place was like a badly faded and worn canvas and filled me with disgust. The old building seemed to be intent on burying itself among wild trees; as man, as worn out as the building, could be seen standing on the crumbling balcony. Dipping in haste among the tree branches, the sun scratched haphazard shadows across the courtyard"

"Deep into that midsummer night, an unseasonal rain broke and tore the heat to shreds; each torrent fell upon us like a sodden curtain of vapour thick with the scent of warm earth; one still recalls our soaking in it together and bawling out a ribald song..."

"Raindrops fell in a wild profusion, like a torrent of rice grains issuing from a torn gunny bag"

"Untrustworthy scum!" he swore, eyes fixed on the fading daylight murkily scattering onto the filty waters of the municipal tank.

"He turned off the headlights as the car entered a stretch of country with vast rice fields. In the flooding moonshine, white-painted milestones appeared like squatting women."

"Everyday, we watched the sun take his customary dip in the kayal waters and the frolick of waves; and we saw the moon caress the languid nude forms of the ripples and leave on them a trail of its life fluid. "

"The house, a relic like the spiral trace left by a pool of fresh urine on sand... air thick with the smell of rotting coconut husk..."

"Like a sated serpent resting with its hood retracted, Dusk sank into the courtyard.."

"Pale moonlight settled wearily onto the palm fronds... moonshine dripped from the treefilled compounds and spread over the paddies like a vast lake; it lay lapping at the edges of darkly distant shores..."

"It had rained overnight; from somewhere in the west, like a sad, low-pitched drone, could be heard the the call of the backwaters. In the background steadily rose the distant roar of seawaves."

"Sunshine, dull and tired, hovered over the courtyard like a big and unattractive mushroom."

"A few fat dosas lay limp and helpless on the plate. The chutney had collected among them like a pool of blood and pus."

"The night meandered ...the courtyard lay still and empty; some men could be heard walking past, muttering something.. the owls kept hooting. And for a brief while fell a drizzle that soon fizzled out..."