Malayatoor Ramakrishnan

The Sixth Finger Malayatoor Ramakrishnan

Set in the 1970s and 1980s, this novel traces the story of the young uruli thief, Vedaraman. When the head constable takes his fingerprints, he realizes that the boy has six fingers on his left hand. Shamed by his involvement in the theft case and the whispered scandal about him and the maid Kozhukatta Paru who had both breastfed him and slept with him, Vedaraman leaves home and village. Adrift in the wide world, he meets a series of well-wishers who not only help him in deepening his knowledge, but also expose him to the realities of life. He finds that his sixth finger glows by itself and he possesses supernatural powers of predicting future events. Ministers and businessmen are quick to recognize his yogic qualities. Vedaraman becomes Vedanji and then Vedan Baba with a godlike aura, and is installed in an ashram. Amidst this fame and glory, Vedan Baba finds himself a prisoner of a web of machinations. Will he be able to break the shackles and become a free man again?