Kerala has always been a hub for migrations, both internal and external, and migration has been a key factor in helping alleviate unemployment and relative poverty in Kerala. Historically, the coastal state of Kerala has had more than 2,300 years of exposure to different cultures and peoples who had come to Kerala for maritime trade, and was primed to make forays out into distant lands in search of better prospects. If Singapore, Malaya, Rangoon, Persia and Ceylon had been the the preferred destination for migration in the Pre-Independence era, the 70’s and 80’s saw the Gulf Boom, a mass migration of Kerala’s Malayalis to the newly oil rich Gulf countries. The first generation of low-skilled workers had alleviated Kerala’s poverty thanks to
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Gradually, he lapses into a sub-human existence. Kept away from all human interaction, his dignity as a human being is steadily obliterated and he starts to identify more with the goats that he takes care of. He too is trapped as goat, treated no better, and his dreams, desires, and hopes become one with them. He talks to them, eats with them, sleeps with them and virtually lives the life of a goat. The one thing that he still retains, is a sliver of hope, that finally empowers him to escape with the help of Ibrahim Khadiri, a Somalian farm hand in the neighbourhood. Young Hakeem, who is the third member of the trio of escapees, dies of hunger and thirst on the way during the days long trek through the unforgiving desert. Najeeb and Ibrahim manage to survive the ordeal and get themselves be arrested by the regular police, so that they can manage to get deported to India, which they do after months in prison. Benyamin’s wry and tender telling transforms this strange and bitter comedy of Najeeb’s life in the desert into a universal tale of loneliness and alienation. It was left to Benyamin, who himself is an immigrant, to write about the humanitarian crises that mainstream media seldom report or literature agonize over, till Goat Days became an acclaimed
Gradually, he lapses into a sub-human existence. Kept away from all human interaction, his dignity as a human being is steadily obliterated and he starts to identify more with the goats that he takes care of. He too is trapped as goat, treated no better, and his dreams, desires, and hopes become one with them. He talks to them, eats with them, sleeps with them and virtually lives the life of a goat. The one thing that he still retains, is a sliver of hope, that finally empowers him to escape with the help of Ibrahim Khadiri, a Somalian farm hand in the neighbourhood. Young Hakeem, who is the third member of the trio of escapees, dies of hunger and thirst on the way during the days long trek through the unforgiving desert. Najeeb and Ibrahim manage to survive the ordeal and get themselves be arrested by the regular police, so that they can manage to get deported to India, which they do after months in prison. Benyamin’s wry and tender telling transforms this strange and bitter comedy of Najeeb’s life in the desert into a universal tale of loneliness and alienation. It was left to Benyamin, who himself is an immigrant, to write about the humanitarian crises that mainstream media seldom report or literature agonize over, till Goat Days became an acclaimed