Verukal

Verukal
(Roots)

The cover of Verukal
Author	Malayattoor Ramakrishnan
Original title	വേരുകൾ
Translator	V. Abdulla
Cover artist	N. Ajayan
Country	India
Language	Malayalam
Genre	Semi-autobiographical novel
Publisher	D. C. Books
Publication date	1966
Published in English	2002
Pages	132
ISBN

Verukal (English: Roots) is a Malayalam semi-autobiographical novel written by Malayattoor Ramakrishnan in 1966. It is widely credited as one of his best works. It won the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award in 1967.

Verukal tells the story of a family of Tamil speaking Iyers who settled in Kerala. Raghu is the protagonist of the story. The pivotal event on which the novel turns is the return of Raghu to his native village after a lapse of several years, to raise money to build a city mansion for himself by selling his ancestral home. He sets about this reluctantly, under pressure from his shrewish and domineering wife. In the village, as he meets his sisters and others among whom he grew up, a flood of memories overwhelms him, and he abruptly changes his mind about selling the property.