Sacred Talons – Aa Madhavan, Tr. by Ramakrishnan V

Guruswamy – bearded, book-rich and quietly devout – has turned his ancestral land into a place of refuge; a thatched Devi temple, a coconut grove, and a string of neighbours who lean on him for shelter, livelihood and hope. In a changing world of political activism, workers’ unions and shifting loyalties, he takes under his wings a young couple chasing a new life. Against the backdrop of the everyday bustle of markets, election slogans and harvest season, intimate dramas unfold with equal parts humour and sorrow.

Told in a voice that is at once lyrical and plainspoken, Sacred Talons explores the depths of individual aspirations and deprivation even as the world beyond the grove turns.