The Little Children of Anjengo

The novel ‘The Little Children of Anjengo’ depicts the story of three adolescent girls, their experiences in their school, in their environment and in their natural setting. The background is a hamlet in the north-west coast of the Capital of Kerala. The story line is based on the life situations during the period just prior to the Indian Independence. Anjengo was a British Colony not like its neighbouring villages which were parts of the princely State of Travancore. The little children, Shama, Miley and Cornelia were pupils of Sacred Heart English Middle School run by British Nuns. The three belong to three different backgrounds. Shama was an Orthodox Brahmin girl who loved Miley and Cornelia of Christian Community. The Caste system at that time was groaning under the weight of the upper class citizens. But Shama and her grandfather were egalitarians. Shama helped Cornelia, a poor fisherman’s daughter to lead a high class life. Out of the three children Shama depicts a sincere and innocent little girl who knows nothing about the wickedness of the World around her. Her God was something indescribable and she believed in only one God. Cornelia’s bitter experiences at home, in school , her hard work in achieving a successful life afterwards could be a fillip to the modern children of the world. Alex, Cornelia’s brother, a dropout tried to learn nature and its ecological balance from a priest of St.Peter’s Church in Anjengo. The young woman who was dripping with gold met with her sad end due to her recklessness and daring represents the morality of the Anjengo Women folk. Mr. John Brio, the Police Officer during the freedom movement was a cruel fellow who impregnate an innocent girl and left Anjengo. His daughter fell in love with Miley’s brother later. The little children of Anjengo left the place for three different places to continue their education after the Independence. Their departure was lamented by the Arabian Sea and the Anjengo backwaters apart from the people of the hamlet.