Enmakaje is a Malayalam language novel written by Ambikasuthan Mangad based on the life of the people in Enmakaje, a village in Kasargod affected by the Endosulfan disaster in Kerala. Ambikasuthan Mangad, a professor of Malayalam at Nehru Arts and Science College, wrote the novel after directly visiting the areas affected by Endosulfan.^[1] This is his debut novel. The novel is used as a textbook in seven universities.^[2] The book brought attention to the plight of the pesticide victims.^[3][4] The novel has been published in 17 editions in Malayalam and has been translated into English, Tamil and Kannada.^[2] An upcoming Hindi translation is being published by the Hindi Prachar Sabha on the organization's 100th anniversary.^[5]

Background

The novel depicts the challenges faced by the people of Enmakaje, a village at Karnataka border in Kasargod district of Kerala, due to the lethal chemical Endosulfan used by a plantation corporation in 5,000-hectare cashew plantation in the village.^[4]

Plot

A couple named Neelakantan and Devayani live on a hill inside a forest. After living in self-induced isolation for six years, They are coming to the place named Swarga which literally means heaven.^[6] There they see an unusual environment with children and calves with deformed bodies, ponds with no fish and a sky with no birds, and realize that Swarga is no heaven at all.^[6] Devayani decides to bring home a child named Pareekshit, who has never walked in his 7 years of life, who has grey hair and sores all over his body due to pesticide poisoning.^[7] Through this child, which the couple later adopts, the horror of endosulfan poisoning unfolds before readers.^[7] The couple later joins the struggle against the pesticide.^[8]

Translations

J. Devika translated novel Enmakaje into English with the name Swarga.^[3] The novel is named after Swarga, the name of a place in Enmakaje village affected by the pesticide.^[4] The Tamil translation was done by Sirpi Palasupramaniyam.^[9]