Kerala, 1974. Rajesh, the fourth-standard topper in a Malayalam-medium school in Tiruvalla, founded by his upper-caste Kshatriya ancestors, is excited to move to the big English-medium school there. But things go awry. Grappling with the challenges of English-medium studies, he is stuck in the middle of the rank-list. Desperation grows when the socially inferior Veeramani - the son of Rajesh's father's boss - gets the red badge for coming first. Rajesh goes into a tailspin, and even seeks divine intervention.
Meanwhile, a regime deifying the idea of an Undivided Bharata gains power in the country, and a horrifying reign of persecution follows - one that might make way for Rajesh to finally own the coveted red badge.
Rajesh R. Varma's acclaimed first novel, Chuvanna Badge, now brilliantly translated as The Red Badge by the award-winning J. Devika, is a searing account of the paranoia of caste privilege and the demons it births. Steeped in humour, nostalgia and violence, it is a chilling record of a memory that might actually belong to the future.
About the Author
Rajesh R. Varma is an award-winning novelist and short-story writer in Malayalam with works such as
Aaldaivangalude Pusthakam,
Kaamakoodopanishath,
Niyamavirddhamaaya Vathil and the acclaimed
Chuvanna Badge to his credit.
Chuvanna Badge was awarded the prestigious FOKANA Muttathu Varkey Novel Prize and the Professor P. Meerakkutty Memorial Bhoomikkaaran Prize. A computer science graduate from the University of Kerala, Rajesh also holds an MFA in creative writing from Queens University of Charlotte.
He currently lives with his family in Portland, Oregon, United States.
J. Devika is a bilingual feminist teacher, researcher, social commentator, translator and writer of children's fiction based at Centre for Development Studies, Kerala. She has translated the works of Malayalam writers such as K. Saraswati Amma, Lalitambika Antarjanam, Anitha Thampi, K.R. Meera, Unni R., Manoj Kuroor, Ambikasuthan Mangad, among others, into English. Her translation of Manoj Kuroor's Nilam Poothu Malarnna Naal The Day the Earth Bloomed won the 2025 Crossword Book Award (Translations); she was also the recipient of the V. Abdulla Prize for Translation for Hangwoman, the translation of K.R. Meera's novel Aarachaar. She has also translated works on social science and social theory from English to Malayalam, including those by Nivedita Menon, Satish Deshpande and Banu Subramaniam.
She lives in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
+91 9818282497
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