Amal S Sandra, K.Charles Godwin
The life of tribal people in Wayanad are intertwined with the richness of myths, stories, symbols, caricatures. And even the visual representation of the hope of survival have been converted as significant images in their myths. The novel Maveli Manram was written in the year 1991, portraying the Paniya and Adiya communities in Wayanad district of Kerala. The word Maveli Manram literally means, a place where no one is inferior to one another, a place where everyone is treated equally. The Portrayal of female characters is done magnificently by K J Baby. The oppression, the double marginalization, and the vulnerabilities are sketched in such a way that the readers become one with the characters. There are three main female characters in this particular novel through which we get a glimpse of the female lives. The novel forces us to think about the double marginalization of the women in the Adiya and Paniya community: how they are being ignored and forgotten while we talk about the gender issue and how they are discriminated within the community which faces severe caste discrimination. Gender and caste are not something that cannot be alienated and analyse separately when it comes to the tribal community because the women of these communities take the brunt of this to the full extent. There are two types of history around us: the history of the elites and the history of the subaltern. The history of elites being taught and highlighted everywhere including textbook. K J Baby uses the native tongue throughout the novel to tell their story to the world. By recreating their stories in their native tongue which is shunned upon by the elitist language users, he gives it the identity it deserves. He Understood the importance of preserving cultural and linguistic identities and gives more emphasis TO the themes in his novels.
Feminism, Myths, Gender Studies