Author Benyamin’s book coincidentally connects with the current anti-CAA protests

on Jan 03, 2020

Novel ‘Goat Days’ famed Kerala writer Benyamin talks about the coincidence between his newly translated book and the ongoing CAA protests in India. The book ‘Al Arabian Novel Factory’ has recently translated into the English language for the readers. The book was originally written in the Malayalam language.

He has written a book thread of two books which shares the same issue narrated by two narrators of the same place. Al Arabian Novel Factory and Jasmine Days are the two twin novels of this thread.

The story revolves around the conflict in an Arab country. Both of the narrators share their perspectives on the revolution.

Speaking about his thread books, author Benyamin sais, “One talks about the revolutionary period and the other, post-revolution period. I thought these two books should have some interconnection. A reader who reads the first book must read the second one too. So I worked around the main matter to bring about the connection. All that happened at the time of completing the novel. Novel writing is not a single-line process; it has so many layers and steps.”

The coincidence happens with the ‘Al Arabian Novel Factory’ book because of today’s controversial scenario about the Citizenship Amendment Act. Benyamin says pointing out the protests happening in the country, “I don’t have any empathy for religious fanatics. But we have to check who the state labels as ‘terrorists’. They may be the common people protesting for a genuine reason. Just see the current situation in India. People are protesting for a genuine reason.”