Kerala man who described the taste of cyanide features in Chilean author’s book selected for Booker Prize 2022.

on Jan 06, 2022

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Kerala man named MP Prasad has been mentioned in one of the books shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize- When We Cease to Understand The World, by Chilean author Benjamin Labatut.

MP Prasad, a goldsmith from Palakkad, had died by suicide at the age of 32. His body was found in a lodge. He was found to have consumed cyanide. Being a goldsmith, he had a license to purchase cyanide. What made his death even more curious was the suicide note. At the end of the long suicide note which explains his financial struggles, he writes about the taste of cyanide. Police assumed that while writing, Prasad accidentally put the tip of the pen he used to mix cyanaide in his mouth, leading to his death. In the suicide note he mentions the taste of cyanide as acrid.

Benjamin's book begins with the use of cyanide in historical times and then proceeds to mention its taste, which brings forth the account of Prasad, an almost forgotten man from Kerala. Earlier, many scientists have attempted to record the taste of cyanide and lost their lives. Some even reached as far as 'S' but nothing more than that. Prasad's account is by far the only available account which records the taste of cyanide.