My association with a critic and scholar in Malayalam, B. Rajeevan began in 2007 while I was doing my Masters. Unlike a more common professor-student relationship that usually begins in a classroom, my meeting with Rajeevan happened because I was dating his son at the time. I admit I was lured into that relationship by the prospectus of getting married into a family that has radical views and has actively worked as cultural activists and literary scions for over five decades. I was in, I think, as soon as I heard about the beautiful library in their house.

Beyond the romance, which was dewy and smelled like jasmines, I spent long hours discussing political ideas with Rajeevan, with Savithri by the side. Cups of tea were devoured with peanuts. Rajeevan, at the time, was working on a series of interviews that elaborated a set of questions around the philosophical ideas propounded by Deleuze and Guattari. He was disgruntled by the state of Marxian critical frameworks which were being used without reflection and its inefficiency to account for the current transformations seen in the society thanks to the success of global capitalism. A part of this interview was already published by Mathrubhoomi. Many of the questions I raised during tea were picked up by Rajeevan to comment and discuss, which was eventually published by Madhyamam, and later as chapters in his book Vaakukalum Vasthukalum ( DC Books, Kottayam) and Janasanchayathinte Jaivarashtreeyam ( Raspberry Books, Calicut). He was kind enough to mention my name in these expositions.

B.Rajeevan’s awards and bibliography can be found here.

I have translated and transcreated Rajeevan’s works from Malayalam as well as co-authored chapters with him. I appreciate the veracity of his ideas when it comes to political analysis of observable phenomena in contemporary Kerala and I continue to learn from him about its social and political history. A recent transcreation can be found below.

Bridging the Left-Liberal Divide, Economic and Political Weekly, Aug 2016