Anticlock

Hendri a coffin maker has one goal in life: to see the dead body of his nemesis Satan Loppo being lowered into the coffin he has painstakingly carved. For it was Loppo who defiled his beloved Beatrice and let loose his hellhound Hitler upon Hendri giving him apermanent limp.From inside his coffin shop Hendri watches the world go by even as he prepares to deliver justice upon Loppo. He is confronted by the son of his best friend becoming enamoured with Loppo's wealth Loppo's evil designs towards the hills of Aadi Nadu and his own Christian guilt that regularly comes to haunt him. Then he meets Pundit a 112-year-old watchmaker who was part of Subhas Chandra Bose's IndianNational Army and is building an 'Anti-Clock' which can turn back time. When Loppo toohears of the Anti-Clock and desires to possess it the inevitable battle becomes a reality. About the Author V.J. James writes in Malayalam. Born and brought up in Changanacherry Kerala he currently resides in Thiruvananthapuram. An engineer by profession he worked at Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre. His debut novelPurappadinte Pusthakam was awarded the DC Silver Jubilee Award (1999) Malayattoor Prize and Rotary Literary Award. Other awards include the O.V Vijayan Award and Thikkurissi Award forAnti-Clock and the Thoppil Ravi Award Kerala Bhasha Institute Award Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award Basheer Puraskaram and Vayalar Award forNireeshwaran. The English translation ofChorashasthram was shortlisted for the Atta Galatta Bangalore Literature Festival Book Prize. The Malayalam filmMunthirivallikal Thalirkkumbol starring Mohanlal and Meena is an adaptation of his short storyPranayopanishath. Along with six short story collections his major works includePurappadinte Pusthakam (1999)Chorashasthram (2002)Dathapaharam (2005)Leyka (2006)Ottakkaalan Kakka (2013)Nireeshwaran (2014) andAnti-Clock (2018).Ministhy S. is an IAS officer working in the Uttar Pradesh cadre. She translates between three languages: English Malayalam and Hindi. Her translation ofThe Poison of Love by Malayalam novelist K.R. Meera was longlisted for the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2017 andThe Unseeing Idol of Light by the same author shortlisted for the Crossword Book Jury Awards in 2018. She has further translatedSundar Kanda andKishkindha Kanda from Awadhi to English and the poetry collectionsMy Home After Me by Agneya from the Hindi andThe Heaviness of the Rain by Veerankutty from the Malayalam.