Do Not Ask The River Her Name

Do Not Ask The River Her Name written by Sheela Tomy and translated from the Malayalam by Ministhy S is an urgent story of love and friendship; one that transcends religious and national boundaries. The narrative follows a nurse, Ruth, a middle-aged Indian woman, who witnesses the Palestinian struggle as she works as a caregiver in Israel. As Tomy repeatedly emphasized in our conversation with her, the book is concerned with the notion of displacement and the complex relationship people share with their homelands. We’re in conversation with Sheela Tomy about the creation of her book and the process behind navigating the personal and the political in writing.  

Themes of migration and displacement run strong through Do Not Ask The River Her Name; how did you approach verbalizing these experiences?
When I was scripting my novel about the journey of a Malayali nurse across the sea to support her family, a Palestinian colleague told me about her pathetic childhood in refugee camps. She had lost her loved ones when her hometown was destroyed by missiles. As a result of her unimaginable struggle, the focus of my story shifted to the endless sorrow of Palestinian people, which my protagonist Ruth witnesses during her stay with a Jewish family at Nazareth. Thus, the story voyaged to a different dimension, from the story of a migrant woman - to the story of those who are driven away from their homes and homeland. The “river” started flowing from Ruth, to those who are living in their own land as refugees and face interrogations by police at several checkpoints. I would say this is not just the story of Palestine; but the story of people facing genocide by authoritarian regimes across the world. Human rights violations are the same everywhere. We can assume that Sahal and Sara in the novel are symbols to convey those violations. 

I managed to narrate the story through the experiences of two close friends, Sahal, a Palestinian poet, and Asher, a Jewish anthropologist. But, while writing the novel in 2021, I never imagined that a dreadful war is on the horizon after October 7, 2023. We know that the Gaza strip smells of burnt human flesh today. I believe this novel is a proclamation of union with all the diverse people suffering from war and tribulations.

What led you to the story of Ruth?
Well, I wished to tell a story of love and friendship beyond the borders of religion or nationhood. Blind devotion to anything, religion, nationhood or political ideologies, makes us self-centered and haters of humanity. As we all know, the Holy Land is beloved to all three religions and it is quite difficult to handle its sensitive politics. I was a migrant in the Middle East, living in a multi–cultural environment, for more than two decades. I think when we cross the borders, we all become one.

During my stay abroad, I witnessed many women fight for a better life, for their family back home in India. There are housemaids, nurses and other office workers toiling hard, but the contributions of these selfless women in society are often forgotten. I wished to write about their unheard stories, about their resilience and perseverance. Thus I arrived at Ruth, a Malayali nurse who travels through Saudi, Dubai and finally reaches Israel to work as a caregiver. But there she realizes that her agonies are nothing compared to those who are living as refugees in their own land.

Could you give us some insight into the title of the book, and how it can be contextualized in terms of the story?
The title of the book is inspired by the poem ‘Passport’ by Mahmoud Darwish, the icon of Palestine. It goes like ‘Don’t ask the trees their names, Don’t ask the valleys who their mother is’. In this poem, which explores the subject of identity and displacement, Darwish talks about a person who feels quarantined in his own country. His passport fails to display his real identity. As the theme of displacement runs through the novel, I found this line best suited for the title. In the final chapters we can see Sahal trying to escape from the land by using a priest’s identity. It is also to invoke a curiosity among readers. It could be the river of love, the river of blood or the River Jordan itself.

The art of telling a story driven by everyday experiences, whilst also documenting the narrative of larger political contexts. How did you go about balancing the personal and the political?
It's a love story in the land of conflicts which is difficult to depict. Even though I learned the history and politics of Palestine, from a period of eleven centuries before Christ, till Nakba and Intifada episodes, I had to be careful not let history and politics take over the story. Moreover, I had to tell the story of a Malyali nurse, her life journey, along with the story of friendship of Sahal and Asher. I managed to incorporate such personal backgrounds and politics, applying different techniques of storytelling like, vlogs, diary entries, poems, social media posts and even a spirit called ‘Mariam of Bethany’, the third eye of the protagonist Ruth, who appears to connect the past to the present.

What were some of the challenges you encountered while writing this novel?
I was writing the story of an unknown land. I had to do thorough research; a lot of reading and exploration to understand the history, politics, geography, and culture of the land. I traveled through the works of many writers and thinkers, watched travel vlogs, contacted my caregiver friends in Israel and talked to my Arab colleagues. The complex political situation of West Asia was another challenge. I have to be alert while standing with people who lost everything and are fighting for their land. Thirdly, though much fiction on Palestine is not available in Malayalam, there is plenty in world literature, written by Palestinians, written from their soul. Narrating from the perspective of an onlooker, I was wondering how much justice I could do to their unending miseries. I accepted that limitation and tried to tell the story more honestly.  

Tell us a little about the translation process.
I am lucky to have Ministhy S as my translator, who has in-depth knowledge and a humanistic view of the Palestinian issue. Moreover, she loved the story. By coincidence the book reached her near the outbreak of the war in 2023, and she completed the work brilliantly in a few months’ time, while holding the busy job of a civil servant. I am really obliged to Ministhy for her commitment and making this work available to a vast audience, capturing the essence and transmitting even the slightest emotions.

What is the future looking like, what do you have in store?
I have started working on a new novel, the subject yet to be revealed and a few short stories.