കാക്കകളുടെ രാത്രി | Kakkakalude Rathri in Vayanashala

Nov 17, 2016 Arun Divakar rated it it was ok

Spanning mythologies of the world, the Crow (and it’s cousin, the raven) are synonyms for death, the afterlife and souls. While it is true that they are at times chased away as pests from homes, Hinduism in India also equates this bird to the souls of ancestors long departed. There are also rituals in place specifically to ensure everlasting peace for departed souls by offering balls of rice for crows ( the ritual is referred to as ‘bali’ in Kerala which is a symbolic sacrificial ritual). Refere Spanning mythologies of the world, the Crow (and it’s cousin, the raven) are synonyms for death, the afterlife and souls. While it is true that they are at times chased away as pests from homes, Hinduism in India also equates this bird to the souls of ancestors long departed. There are also rituals in place specifically to ensure everlasting peace for departed souls by offering balls of rice for crows ( the ritual is referred to as ‘bali’ in Kerala which is a symbolic sacrificial ritual). Reference to this bird is mostly as a vessel for departed souls, but Mohanachandran in his novel goes one step further and makes the crow a reincarnation of souls who suffered violent deaths.

Devi, a widowed mother of twin little girls arrives at a village in rural Tamil Nadu for completing her thesis on classical music. She is a person who has been used to life in the fast lane in a metropolitan city and the lull of village life soothes her initially. But soon, Karthyayani Amma the owner of the house where she stays starts giving her the chills. While we as the readers and the protagonists initially dismiss Karthyayani’s whims as the eccentricities of a spinster, there are chords of unease we feel about the old woman. Her intentions slowly become clear in the most horrific of fashions and the rest is a quintessential battle of good v/s evil. While the story opens with enough and more reference to the three crows that stay in the house’s yard, they are soon discarded as mere props in the background. Reading the book after it was first written 28 years ago wasn’t all that great an experience as the plot bears a lot of similarities to rehashed Hollywood movies.

A lot of time is spent on developing a love affair between Devi and a German researcher by the name of Herman and while this does advance the story, the descriptions are too lengthy to be of interest. The characters are also one dimensional without any actual depth being imparted to them. While the acts and intention of Karthyayani border on the murderous peppered with a tinge of insanity, it does not really make it into the territory of good horror fiction. I could also have been a but judgemental since Mohanachandran’s Kalika has been a brilliant horror novel and I expected a bit of that brilliance to rub off on this one.

Not all that great.

Note : The title translates into ‘The night of the crows’. ...more

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