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2000s: Shortlisted for the Edward Stanford Travel Writing Awards 2018
The Bureau of Second Chances
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After more than thirty years in London, recently-widowed Thomas Imbalil returns to India. He spends his first months in uncluttered isolation in his house overlooking the Arabian Sea, in a small fishing village in Kerala. But when he agrees to look after his friend’s business, Chacko’s Optical Store, he meets and befriends Rani, the young assistant. Before long he discovers that Rani is using the store to run an intriguing side-business.
He agrees to turn a blind eye to her operations until his friend returns, but this discovery makes him restless, and reminds him of the loneliness he is feeling and which lies ahead of him. Rani also reveals herself as a much more complex individual than he had first imagined, and while he had envisaged a quiet re-acquaintance with his homeland, Thomas finds himself becoming more and more entangled with the lives of those around him
Locations
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Cherai, Kerala
The story is set in Cherai which faces the Arabian Sea. Cherai is a suburb of the city of Kochi, in the state of Kerala, India. It has the longest beach in Kochi – the Cherai beach and is over 10km long. Cherai has played an important role in the history of modern Kerala – Two major political figures were born here: Mathai Manjooran and Sahodaran Ayyappan.
There’s also a major Hindu temple called Cherai Gowreeshwara Temple and the festival held here at the end of January is the biggest festival in the district. Elephants marches are a star attraction.
It’s only a few months after the death of his wife that the lead character decides to return to India. It’s the reason he decides to return, to a home and country he has left behind
All the rooms had a thin, sticky film on every surface. Ants had taken over the ground floor: a family, a village, a city At first he looked a certain pleasure in watching their industry, their endless repetitive toil….”
Memories resurface everywhere:
As a child, he had swum in the rivers and paddy fields that surrounded them, climbed trees; his muscles had been lean and taut from an early age
Booktrail Boarding Pass: The Bureau of Second Chances
Destination: Cherai, Kerala Author/Guide: Sheena Kalayil Departure Time: 1900s onwards
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