When the Kurinji Blooms

Translated from the Tamil Kurinjithen, Rajam Krishnan’s lyrical, erudite novel is a family saga of three generations of Badagas in the Nilgiris. As the winds of social change and modernity invade their protected lives, the innocence and harmony is replaced by conflict and tragedy that precede a new beginning. Using the blossoming of the kurinji as a motif for the passage of time and the disappearance of a way of life, Rajam Krishnan paints panoramic views and captures the enormous vigour of a people in the grip of transition.