My English novel ‘The Pepper Papers’ is progressing steady, along with the translation of Lanthan Bathery from Malayalam.
Excerpts
Chapter Three in which Gregorio stumbles into a catacomb as the ship sails away
(Draft 1)
Father Muri dreamt of riding a tricycle down the streets of the dusty town, as a wild animal barking like a hyena and running like a wild cat was close on his heels. The drummer at the local temple was floating in thin air quite close by to the beast, as Father Muri could see when he turned back.
The drummer was having the beast on leash and was weaning it away from Father Muri with short bursts of beats dropping down his mouth at a fast pace. But, the despicable creature would not listen. Its only aim appeared to maul Father Muri and perhaps ease himself on his face while on his wild run. The temple drummer intermittently shouted at Father Muri, urging him to take off from the ground and keep flying to avoid the animal that had apparently gone berserk. Someone walking down the road holding a huge Stag brand umbrella also started flying with the umbrella held high, up at perfect right angles to the terra firma.
Father Muri is always at the receiving end, he contemplated while on the run for life. When his services to the papal empire were required at Vatican a full 25 years ago, the letter they wrote to his diocese bishop simply requested him to relieve Father Muri forthwith from his current responsibilities, with an one way air ticket to Rome, by the economy class, making good use of the papal discount of 14%. The bishop promptly wrote back that there is no Father Muri anywhere in the archdiocese or the very next one, 10 kilometres, east. Then a fax message was received from Vatican on the bishop’s first generation fax communication system. It was a real wonder of the modern times that the fax machine which was not in a working condition for two years till that date started functioning, generating the papal message without any issue and thereafter resumed its catatonic stupor.