Sajita Nair’s ‘The Grande Matriarch of Malabar’ maps the social changes at the turn of the 20th century in Kerala through the life of her protagonist

Sajita Nairs The Grande Matriarch of Malabar maps social changes in Kerala through the life of her protagonist

Matriarchs and ancestral homes are never far away from creative spaces when writers from Kerala spin stories. This time it is army officer-turned-author Sajita Nair who has centred her latest novel, The Grande Matriarch of Malabar, on a matriarch and her complex relationship with her tharavadu (ancestral house).

One of the first women to be inducted into the Indian Army, Sajita has moved away from cantonments and barracks to an old ancestral home in Kozhikode and its owner, a canny woman who will go to any length to protect her tharavadu.

While her first book, She’s a Jolly Good Fellow, was semi-autobiographical, detailing her life in the Army, the second, The Army Officer’s Wife and Other Stories, was a collection of short stories. Her third book was about an adopted daughter and her unconventional choices in life.

Speaking on phone from Indiranagar in Bengaluru, Sajita says she had always wanted to write a story about a tharavadu. She researched on the subject by reading about matrilineal families, matriarchy and joint families in Kerala.

“My parents, especially my father, used to tell me a lot of stories about their ancestral homes. I have derived inspiration from his stories to write this book. I wish my father had been alive to read this.”

Although Sajita grew up at several places in the country as her father was an Indian Air Force Officer, her roots are in Kozhikode. She did her graduation from Providence College in Kozhikode. “I am familiar with the landscape, food, culture and traditions of Kozhikode.”

The Grande Matriarch of Malabar is set during a period of cataclysmic changes in Kerala’s social set-up; a time when joint families began to disintegrate and people started shifting from an agrarian lifestyle to pursue higher education and professional careers.