By the River Pampa I Stood: A Novel

There is an ethnic Christian community with a two millennium old heritage in the southernmost part of India, where nature has endowed the land and the people with an abundance of grace and beauty.  The people belonging to this community are known as Syrian Christians or Nasranis.  This novel features a typical Syrian Christian family-its great history, its traditions, its joys and sorrows, its secrets… The story spans over a century and gives an insight into the life of the Syrian Christians of Kerala, which is steeped in traditions dating back to the time of the apostles of Jesus.  They are a breed of people who abide by age-old conventions and ancient laws and abhor changes.  The caste feelings and feudal hierarchy prevalent in the first half of the twentieth century and to some extent to this day are analyzed carefully as we progress through the story.  The plot of the story is a fictional one but the historical backdrop and descriptions of people, their customs and traditions, the feudal set up and the social discrimination are all original and have always remained a part and parcel of the social fabric of the community.  The author has put in a fine thread of satire as she weaves her way through the story spanning almost a century taking the family from glory to imminent degradation and decay.  The publisher will contribute some partition of the sales proceeds of this book to Nav Srishti Foundation which is an N.G.O. run by Srishti Publishers and Distributors towards the uplifment of under privileged women of India.