On a hot July night on Cape Cod, at the age of 14, Brodeur became a confidante to her mother's affair with her husband's closest friend. Malabar came to rely on her daughter to help, but when the affair had calamitous consequences for everyone involved, Brodeau was driven into a precarious marriage of her own, and then into a deep depression. In her memoir she examines how the people close to us can break our hearts simply because they have access to them, and the lies we tell in order to justify the choices we make. -- adapted from jacket
Commentary William Logan's Malabar is popularly known as ‘Malabar Manual’. It is a huge book of more than 500,000 words. It might not be possible for a casual reader to imbibe all the minute bits of information from this book. However, in this commentary of mine, I have tried to insert a lot of such bits and pieces of information, by directly quoting the lines from ‘Malabar’. On these quoted lines, I have built up a lot of arguments, and also added a lot of explanations and interpretations. I do think that it is much easy to go through my Commentary than to read the whole of William Logan's book 'Malabar'. However, the book, Malabar, contains much more items, than what this Commentary can aspire to contain. This book, Malabar, will give very detailed information on how a small group of native-Englishmen built up a great nation, by joining up extremely minute bits of barbarian and semi-barbarian geopolitical areas in the South Asian Subcontinent.
To understand how colonialism redraws the equations of the colonized societies, a thorough analysis of the latter in the immediate preceeded period is required. There are few attempts on that line elsewhere in india, but Malabar remained excluded. The present study is an attempt to analyse theoretically and empirically the agrarian relations in Malabar during the late medieval period.
For many, costumes represent only one day a year—Halloween. But not for anyone born into the Malabar family! Being a Malabar meant you were an active participant in forming the history of Canada’s premier theatrical supplier, one costume at a time. From its humble beginnings in Winnipeg Manitoba, to the recent closing of its flagship store in Toronto, the Malabar name holds its rightful place in the echelon of Canadian costuming. The Malabar Story began in 1904 when movies were barely present and the main source of entertainment was live theatre. Whether a small troupe or a large ensemble, there was a growing demand for costume rentals. This urgency took root across Canada contributing to stores opening in Toronto, Montreal and Winnipeg. Fuelling this need was the patriotic duty to use live forms of amusement to offset the brutalities often presented during the First and Second World Wars. Many groups, including military authorities, would routinely perform songs skits and cross-dressing acts dependent on costumed performers. After the wars in the late 1940’s and early 50’s, high schools across Canada often staged various Gilbert and Sullivan shows and by late 1950, formal wear came into vogue. The late 50’s also spawned popular shows such as Bonanza, and its spin-offs, that required Western-themed costumes for their actors. This era also included indoor and outdoor Canadian festivals such as Theatre Under the Stars in Vancouver, Stratford and Shaw Festivals in Southern Ontario. All used Malabars when they were initially formed. Further into the 50’s and 60’s, large productions such as the Canadian Football League’s halftime shows at the Canadian National Exhibition continued to be fan favourites which included the largest chorus line ever assembled in North America. None of these premier productions had the impact as late twentieth-century opera which went on to represent the largest client base the Malabar Costumes Company ever had. As a member of the North American Costume Association, my father never lost sight of his roots. Through meaningful work with local theatre groups, valuable industry insights and ideas were shared. In closing, there have been, and will continue to be, many costume companies in Canada. However, because of the drive and ambition of my grandmother, her two sons, and her daughter, Malabar Costume Company became an icon in the Canadian theatrical world. And to think, it all started with a trunk of costumes and an idea for a niche business! A passion that grew into several successful costume companies throughout this great country. And yes, one of the main reasons I wrote this book was to instil the memory of a dedicated Canadian entrepreneur, but more importantly, it’s for all those to relive the magic and wonderment of putting on a costume. This story is for you. –Tanyss Malabar
The late 1910s were characterized by Gandhiji’s advent to the Indian political scenario. His contributions towards vindicating the rights of fellow Indians in South Africa had given a larger-than-life aura to him even before he set foot in the subcontinent. His experiences in South Africa had instilled certain notions in him about what was required to achieve swaraj. However, the efficacy of at least a few of his decisions would be strongly challenged by the underlying religiopolitical climate of the Indian subcontinent. Malabar in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was a land rife with conflicts and frequent revolts. The reversal of fortunes brought about by the retreat of Tipu Sultan and the hostile policies of the British against the Moplahs had driven a wedge between the Hindu population and the Moplahs, with the latter getting more hostile by the day. It is in this setting that the Khilafat movement was introduced in Malabar at the initiative of the Indian National Congress. The Moplahs who had been politically distant till then now had a religious aspiration to organize themselves. What ensued was the bloodbath that we know as the Malabar Rebellion.
