If there’s one book you’ve got to read right now, it’s Anjana Menon’s Onam in a Nightie. A refreshing take on Kerala’s life and culture, Anjana writes about the mundane yet eccentric stories that Kerala has to offer. Written from a first-person narrative, the book also explores the cultural and social complexities of living in Kerala and Delhi.
For the uninitiated, Anjana Menon has her roots in the cultural capital of Kerala, Thrissur. However, she grew up in the hustle-bustle of Delhi. Her observations of living the two contrasting ways of life are shown in the ordinary stories she talks about in her book.
Anjana Menon’s Onam in a Nightie is in collaboration with Kerala Tourism. Not only are you transported to the beauty of God’s Own Country, but you are also faced with real stories that are funny, questionable, and unabashedly joyous to read.
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As Anjana Menon rightfully says, Onam in a Nightie is a “book about Kerala, but it is also about the joy of being human, soulful and resilient.” She wrote this book after spending around seven months living a quarantine life in Kerala. The experiences she had gone through needed to be told and that’s how Onam in a Nightie found its way to our bookshelves. Right from Kerala’s unity during the floods, our obsessive, drooling food culture to women drivers and migrant labourer communities, she explores their stories just the way she experiences it herself.
This book is also an ode to her hometown, Thrissur. She recalls iconic locations that has her heart, soul, and tummy filled with joy. A thrissurite reading this book would surely be elated to read her continuous tryst with places such as Bharath Hotel, Round, Pooram etc.
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Get your copy of Anjana Menon’s Onam in a Nightie right here.
A little bit about Anjana Menon
After studying literature, she worked as a journalist in Bloomberg News in Southeast Asia and Europe. She then returned to India as one of the founder-editors of Mint. She also ran a television newsroom. Soon, she left to start her own content strategy consultancy. Onam in a Nightie is Anjana’s debut creative non-fiction book. She is also a co-author of What’s Your Story? The Essential Business Storytelling Handbook.
