Nireeswaran

Is it possible for society to exist without religion? Nireeswaran the most celebrated of Malayalam novelist V.J. James' works uses incisive humour and satire to question blind faith and give an insight into what true spirituality is. Three atheists Antony Sahir and Bhaskaran embark on an elaborate prank to establish that God is nothing but a superstition. They instal a mutilated idol of Nireeswaran literally anti-god to show people how hollow their religion is. Their plan starts turning awry when miracles start being attributed to Nireeswaran-a man waking up from coma after twenty-four years a jobless man ineligible for government employment getting a contract a prostitute turning into a saint-leading hordes to turn up to worship the fake deity. The trio is put in a quandary. Will they fight their own creation? Is their intractable minds an indication that atheism is a religion in itself? Belief and disbelief it is possible are two sides of the same coin. 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.