Riyas Azeez, a 43-year-old expatriate from Wayanad, never had an inkling of what awaited him at his ancestral home when he reached there to attend his father’s funeral a few years ago.
His father was buried before his arrival. Worse still, his grieving mother and siblings severed familial ties with him for no apparent reason. Azeez could sense a building unease when he tried to strike up a conversation with his relatives; many of them ignored him or even acted as if they hadn’t seen him. He soon realised that an unspoken social boycott was in force against him.
