What does it mean to be human? Twelve people accompany an anthropologist to a deserted island, cutting off all relations with the outside world. There, an experiment begins. They are not to use any known languages and must begin anew – to explore and find out if they can achieve in twenty-five years what humanity has achieved over generations. Twenty-five years later, only three of the original thirteen have survived. As these remaining survivors recount their tale, what emerges is a story of humanity returned to its primitive roots, bereft of attachment, and not nearly as utopian as they had expected. Translated from the Malayalam, this powerful novella by award-winning writer T. D. Ramakrishnan delves into the meaning of relationships, attachments, love, hate and anger. Above all, it seeks to answer the question: what makes us human?
Translated from the Malayalam By Priya K Nair.