Maria, Just Maria

Following the death of her grandfather, Maria has stopped speaking - not because she can''t, but because she doesn''t want to. Now in a psychiatric hospital, as she begins the process of ''reconnecting with reality'', Maria recalls her journey of being ''just Maria'' - a girl born into a Syrian Christian family in Kerala, whose companions were a grandfather who took her along to wander around the village and its toddy shops, a great-aunt with dementia who challenged Maria''s position as the youngest in the family, a dog with a penchant for philosophy, various long-dead family members including a great-grandmother with a knack for prophecies, a patron saint who insisted on interfering in people''s affairs, and Karthav Eesho Mishiha with whom Maria has regular conversations.