Why I kept the Malayalam words
I have written Ten Out of Ten in simple English, with Malayalam words left the way we actually say them.
In Kerala, nobody says “dear” to a young girl. They say molay. Nobody calls an older man “sir” at a tea stall. He is chettan. And no mother in this story would ever say “horoscope compatibility” when she can say porutham, with tears in her eyes.
Translating those words away would have made the book easier, and less true. So they stay.
But I also want readers in Delhi, Dubai and Dallas to feel at home. So whenever someone speaks in Malayalam or Tamil, the meaning follows right after it in [square brackets], and there is a small glossary at the back of the book.
If you are not from here, I hope you will forgive the chettans and mols and poruthams, and maybe even start using a few of them.
Ten Out of Ten is out on Kindle on 11 November 2026. About the book.