Aadujeevitham
Preceded by | Abigeesan (Malayalam) |
---|---|
Followed by | Manjaveyil Maranangal (Malayalam) |
Aadujeevitham is a 2008
The novel is based on real-life events and was a best seller in Kerala.[6] According to media, Benyamin became an "overnight sensation" with the publication of this "hard-hitting story" and is currently one of the top sellers in Malayalam.[2] The original Malayalam version of Goat Days has gone through over 100 reprints.[7]
The novel depicts the life of Najeeb Muhammed, an
The English translation of the novel appeared in the long list of Man Asian Literary Prize 2012 and in the short list of the DSC Prize for South Asian Literature 2013. It also won the Kerala Literary Academy Award for Benyamin in 2009.[9]
Synopsis
The book is divided into four parts (Prison, Desert, Escape and Refuge).
Najeeb Muhammad, a young man from Arattupuzha in Haripad of the Kerala state, is newly married and dreams of a better work in any of the Persian Gulf states. After several endeavors, he finally gets an opportunity to work in Saudi Arabia. However, at the King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh he is clueless as what to do next and is taken away by an Arab man who he believes to be his Arbab. The Arbab takes him to a cattle farm in the middle of a desert, confirming Najeeb's worst nightmare. The Arbab hands Najeeb over to the farm supervisor.
Najeeb is then used as a slave laborer and shepherd and is assigned to tend goats, sheep and camels for almost 3+1⁄2 years in the remote deserts of Saudi Arabia. He is forced to do backbreaking work, kept half-hungry and is denied water to wash and suffers unimaginably. The farm's brutal supervisor keeps Najeeb in control with a gun and binoculars and frequently beats him with a belt. And now Najeeb had to manage this new fate without the bare human essentials.
In a country where he doesn't know the language, places or people, he is far away from any human interaction. Najeeb steadily starts to identify himself with the goats. He considers himself as one of them. His dreams, desires, avenges and hopes starts to fade away as his mindset has now become similar to that of the goats. He talks to them, eats with them, sleeps with them and virtually lives the life of a goat. Although he has tried absconding multiple times, the supervisor catches him every time and punishes him by denying him food and water. He stops absconding when he finds the skeleton of the previous shepherd buried in the sand, who he thought had escaped. Even then, he keeps a ray of hope which will bring freedom and end to his sufferings some day.
Finally one night with the help of Ibrahim Khadiri, a
Over there, he meets Kunjikka, a fellow malayali who helps refugees. Kunjikka nurses him back to health and finally calls back to his hometown. Once Najeeb started feeling better, he gets himself arrested by the civil police in order to get deported to India with Hameed, who he had met while being with Kunjikka. Najeeb gets detained in the Sumesi Prison, where arbabs get to visit and take any of the absconded prisoners that worked for them back to their company. Initially Najeeb and Hameed were afraid of their arbabs showing up, but they were detained for months without any issue, until Hameed's arbab appeared and took Hameed away with him. Soon enough, Najeeb's arbab walked in but amazingly he doesn't take Najeeb with him. Relieved, Najeeb thinks that the arbab didn't recognize him until a friendly warden tells him that the arbab didn't have Najeeb's visa, else he would have dragged Najeeb back to the cattle farm. Najeeb realizes that he was kidnapped at the airport and used as a slave, while the visa was for some other job at some other company.
In a few weeks, he gets to know that he is being
Main characters
- Najeeb Muhammedis a real life character.
- Hakeem is a young man, who got trapped under another Arab and lives a life similar to Najeeb. He joins Najeeb to elope from the desert, however, surrenders before death due to hunger and thirst in their perilous journey through the Arabian Desert.
- Ibrahim Khadiri
- Arab owner
- Hameed
- Kunjikka
- Sainu
Inspiration
Recounting his meeting with the real-life Najeeb, Benyamin reminisces:
But when I heard his tale, I knew this was the story I was waiting to tell the world and I knew this had to be told. Usually we only hear of stories of success from the Gulf. But I wanted to talk about the many who lead lives of suffering and pain.
The reluctant Najeeb who wanted to forget his past had to be coaxed to recount his story.[2]
Translations
The original book was published by Green Books Private Limited, Thrissur on 15 July 2008. The English translation of the novel for Penguin Books was carried out by Joseph Koyippally, a literature professor in the Central University of Kerala.[2][11][12]
- Other translations
Language | Title | Translator | Year | Publisher | ISBN |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Arabic
|
ايام الماعز Ayyāmu l-māʻiz |
Suhail Wafy | 2015 | Maktabat Afāq | 9789996659812 |
Nepali | खबुज Khabuja |
Dinesh Kaafle | 2015 | FinePrint Books | 9789937893169 |
Odiya
|
ଛ୍ହେଳି ଚରେଇବାର ଦିନ Chhēḷi carē'ibāra dina |
Gourahari Das | 2015 | Friend's Publication | 9789937893169 |
Thai | มนุษย์แพะ Manut phæ |
Nawara | 2012 | Bō̜risat Sansakrit Čhamkat | 9786167356501 |
Tamil | ஆடு ஜீவிதம் Aadu Jeevitham |
Vilasini | 2020 | Ethir Veliyeedu | 9788194734055 |
The translations into
Film adaptation
Director
Tamil Film Adaptation
It is said that 2013 released Dhanush movie Maryan is inspired from benyamin's Aadujeevitham.[13]
References
- ^ a b AllTimeBooks.com or Indianbooks.co.in. "Goat Days By Benyamin (translated by Joseph Koyipally) - Second Hand Books - from AllTimeBooks.com or Indianbooks.co.in and". Biblio.co.uk. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d e Saraswathy Nagarajan (12 September 2012). "Arts / Books : 'I write for my satisfaction'". The Hindu. Chennai, India. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
- ^ "Goat Days". Caravanmagazine.in. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
- ^ a b Anandan, S. (6 December 2012). "Three Malayalis on the Man Asian longlist". The Hindu. Chennai, India.
- ^ "aadujeevitham". Indulekha.com.
- ^ "Words in Migration". outlookindia.com. 17 October 2011. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
- ^ Ghoshal, Somak (27 January 2013). "Beastly tales: A conversation with Benyamin". livemint.com. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ "Goat Days". Penguin Books India. 15 July 2012. Archived from the original on 22 August 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
- ^ "Literary Awards". Government of Kerala. Archived from the original on 1 July 2014. Retrieved 18 August 2014.
- ^ "From Saudi slave to inspiration: Meet Najeeb, the real life hero of 'Aadujeevitham'". thenewsminute.com. 13 January 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ "Book review: Goat Days - Lifestyle - DNA". Daily News and Analysis. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
- ^ "Koyippally's Benyamin, an intelligent work of translation- IBN Live". ibnlive.in.com. 14 August 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
- ^ a b "After 25 years, AR Rahman to return to Malayalam film industry with Prithviraj's Aadujeevitham". indianexpress.com. 17 January 2018. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
- ^ "Confirmed! A R Rahman to compose for Aadujeevitham". newindianexpress.com. Retrieved 9 April 2018.
External links
- Goat Days at Penguin Books official website