THE SAGA OF COMMONS IN KUTTANAD: REPRESENTATIONS OF MARUTHA PORUL IN THAKAZHI SIVASANKARA PILLAI’S RANDIDANGAZHI

Abstract

Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai’s Rantidangazhi (Two Measures of Rice) is a novel about the agricultural workers of Kuttanad, in South Kerala. Kuttanad region's past, present, and future are implied in the course of the novel. Since Rantidangazhi tells the story of the agricultural workers of Kuttanad and the setting is strictly rural, and the problems related to the conflicts between landed workers and landless labourers in the context of the rural economy, the novel can be very well connected to Maruthatinai. Expansive paddy fields and fertile landform the marutham landscape which becomes the space of prosperous and happy life of upper- and middle-class landowners of Kuttanad. This paper argues that the driving force of epochal changes in Kuttanadu was the transformations of the commons; different regimes that ruled Kuttanadu have actively engaged in the appropriation, distribution, and production of commons along with and for the dominant sections in the region.