In 1502, Andrew Pereira, his wife Catherina and son Diego embarked from Portugal in the company of Vasco da Gama and reached Kozhikode. Thereafter, Pereira decided to settle down in Kochi.
Initially, the King of Cochin appointed Pereira as a treasurer and later, as the chief trainer of the army. Following Pereira’s death on January 9, 1520, his son Diego was given the position. In 1545, the king made Diego a ‘Madambi’ (a local chieftain). And he was the only Christian among 71 Madambis.
The Andrappers (a corruption of Andrew Pereira) married Portuguese women, but in 1786 Kochandy Andrapper married a local woman called Anna. It was then that the integration of the family to Kerala became complete. Over the years, some members moved to Puducherry, Diego Garcia and Africa.
In 2005, Benyamin read the family’s history in a Malayalam magazine. This became the spark behind the novel Manjaveyil Maranangal or Yellow Lights of Death, which was recently published in English by Penguin Books.
In the novel, Benyamin does a fictional exploration of the history of the family. He also writes about the history of Kerala in the past 500 years, including the life of Thoma of Villarvattom, the head of India’s only Christian dynasty in Udayamperoor. At the same time, the book is a murder mystery. A killing at a restaurant in Diego Garcia sets in motion a series of events that has the reader gripped. “I had deliberately written a thriller, because I did not want to repeat myself,” says Benyamin, at his home in Pathanamthitta.
Benyamin’s earlier book Goat Days (Aadujeevitham) had been a bestseller. “Goat Days was liked by many ordinary people because it is a simple book,” says Benyamin. “Anybody could understand it. But Yellow Lights will not be accepted by all.” However, the book has done well. Publication Manager A V Sreekumar of DC Books says, “The Malayalam version has already crossed 50,000 in sales. We are very happy.”
Benyamin says that the Malayalam edition has got a new readership. “The young generation has embraced this novel,” he says. “One reason is that I have written about social networks and other contemporary subjects.”
One great attraction about Yellow Lights, translated by media person Sajeev Kumarapuram, is the clear and lucid writing. Benyamin says that it is a deliberate decision. “This is the only way to lure people, who are hooked onto the visual media, to start reading,” he says. “The era of literary gimmicks is over. We have to attract a reader within the first five pages, otherwise we will lose him or her forever.”
Two years ago, Benyamin gave up a job in Bahrain, after working there for 20 years, and returned to Kerala. Asked about his current life, Benyamin says, “It is much more pleasant being a full-time writer. For one, I can devote more time to literature. Secondly, it has become easy for me to travel. I am able to attend a lot of literary meets in Kerala, and abroad.” Last November, he attended the annual conference of the Literary Association of North America in New York.
Benyamin is currently doing research for a historical novel, which will be set in Central Travancore from the 1970s to the 90s. “For me, research is a basic tool of writing,” he says. “It is necessary to have historical supports for a novel.”
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> LifeStyle> Books / by Shevlin Sebastian / February 27th, 2016