The Trees of Sea (Short Stories)

The Trees of Sea engages with the social and political predicament of our time, and thus anger and foulness form the major ingredients of the stories in this volume. The writer's thoughts about China as a socialist myth, Srilanka as a valley of death, racial genocide in Myanmar and the weeping face of Buddha have all been captured beautifully by the absurd protagonists who are alienated from their immediacy. In the story, Abandoned, Velliyodan shows us how the Syrian regime behaves like cannibalistic family, feeding on its own younger children as it kills them with bombs and chemicals. In a different way, these stories develop into nations that seem akin to withered kafilas (caravan), tired and wretched. With fascinating collections of ten stories, cutting across regions and languages areas, Velliyodan comes across as an incredible social observer with a deep anthropological eye, unraveling the layers in each protagonist.