Ajit Mani

Return of the Yakshi Ajit Mani

Return of the Yakshi is a story of friendship, idealism, love and a brief but violent revolution that was followed by the passing of land reform legislation in Kerala. It explores the psyche of "Urban Naxals" who get involved in dangerous activities labelled as "seditious" at the risk of their lives. Although the story is complete fiction, it has a historical setting where the author has taken creative liberties with incidents, characters, dates and sequence of events. With the prospect of the declaration of Emergency in 1975, the protagonist, Suresh, is forced to leave Kerala and travel to Pamban Island located between India and Sri Lanka, living in exile till 1977. The story suggests a scenario involving a highly probable nexus between the Naxals of Kerala, the LTTE in Sri Lanka and the ivory smuggler, Veerappan.

The story highlights the helplessness of the tribals of Kerala against the might of the State that appropriated their forests, while the LTTE used "asymmetrical" warfare and suicide bombers to fight for their homeland.