India, Feb. 21 -- Cinematic in scope and poetic in sensibility, Bride in the Hills, Vanamala Vishwanatha's translation of iconic Kannada writer Kuvempu's epic novel, Malegalalli Madhumagalu, is a giant love letter to Malenadu (Kannada for 'land of the mountains') - that part of Karnataka through which the Sahyadris run. Though the novel is a paean to the torrential rains that characterise the region, the mighty rivers that course through, to birds - many hued and exotic that fill its skies and nest in its sprawling trees as also to diverse animals and insects that throng its forests - the three love stories that it spotlights (four if you count the one between Gutthi, the serf and Huliya, the dog) are not painted in rose-tinted shades. Kuvempu's exposition of feudal life with its normalised cruelty, daily inequity and unspeakable indignities meted out to Dalits, tribals, women and other marginalised groups is brutally raw. Yet, throughout the novel, the writer, who declares in the epigram that "All waters are sacred," appeals to the humanism in readers without resorting to preaching. Packed with rich descriptions (of events, people and landscapes), Bride in the Hills activates multiple senses, continuously combining smell, touch, sound and taste with a textured visual narrative. As the translator Vishwanatha states in the introduction, "Every sentient and insentient being... has a place and a purpose in this narrative." The subaltern perspective or the "view from below" offered by Kuvempu lights up a complex web of innumerable characters meeting each other in the crisscrossing paths inside dense forests enveloped in thick fog or on impossibly tall, rocky hillocks that deter even the sun. This is why readers might find themselves constantly referring back to the supremely useful character list (correlated with location) that the translator gives at the beginning of the book. Early 20th century writer Kuvempu or Kuppalli Venkatappa Puttappa was a product of the nascent English education provided by missionaries in the small town of Thirathahalli in south-western Karnataka, about 18km from his native village. His first collection of poems was in English. He only started writing in Kannada after a chance meeting with James H Cousins, an Irish poet, who visited Maharaja's College, University of Mysore, where the former was a student. After graduating in 1929, he taught there and went on to serve as Vice Chancellor between 1956-60). "Have you written anything in your own language?" the visiting poet asked, drawing Kuvempu's attention to other Indian writers who had expanded their native languages by choosing to write in them. It was a turning point in his writing career and he went on to write plays, novels, stories, poems, works of criticism, essays, children's stories, biographies and more - all in Kannada. Malegalalli Madhumagalu is one of the author's two novels. Begun in 1937 when he was 33, paused for many decades and restarted in the 1960s after he retired from academic service, it is considered his magnum opus. Published in 1967, the year he was conferred the Jnanpith award at the age of 63, the novel's long gestation period is reflected in its depth and sweep, the authorial voice coming through with empathy and compassion for all the citizens of its world. Those who do not read Kannada or are only partially lettered in it like I am might struggle with the nuances of the original novel, written painstakingly over a whole lifetime of observing society, inequality and the denigrating effects of the entrenched caste system, not to mention gender disparity that independently and in collusion with caste rips the social fabric. I traversed the pages of Bride in the Hills, set in the late 19th century, appalled at the socially sanctioned oppression of the times, smiling over the endearing conversations between three pairs of lovers in a variety of wild settings, terrified at both - the roar of the tiger and the thundering approach of a herd of gaurs that Gutthi and Thimmi would have faced, and enraged at how the well in the new Mission School is used before the school is inaugurated. Though discrimination by caste and religion is now outlawed on paper, though women and girls have more educational access, though improved livelihood options exist for all citizens, who are granted inalienable rights by the Indian Constitution, it is impossible to overlook how much remains the same. Caste violence and gender discrimination simply wear newer masks even as the mountains are being mined, the rivers depleted and the rains have gone out of rhythm. The injustices depicted in the novel, unfortunately, continue to be perpetrated. Towards the end, we see "colonial modernity" creeping up on traditional life in the sharply feudal world. The foiling of a conversion with an unloaded rifle leads to a sit-down conversation between Reverend Lakehill and Mukundayya, who dares to overturn the missionary's plans. This scene showcases what dialogue could look like in a polarised, inevitably changing society. Bride in the Hills is an important work for its depiction of the voices of its female characters and the choices they make despite being surrounded by sexual predators and constrained by tradition. Here, the bride is not just Chinnamma, Thimmi or Pinchalu but could also be Nagakka or Kaveri, who do not become brides but attempt to take charge of their lives within a twisted patriarchal world....