The Legends of Khasak is an experiment in magical realism. In this respect Vijayan is a precursor to Latin American great Gabriel Garcia Marquez
OV Vijayan
Twenty-nine years ago O.V. Vijayan brought out his first Malayalam novel Khasakkinte Ithihasam. Critics hailed it as the beginning of a new era. Till then Malayalam fiction was trapped in the age of realism. Vijayan's novel professed a new sensibility and blazed a new trail which was to be followed by a host of young writersOver the years Vijayan wrote five more novels, three of them translated into English, several short stories and three novellas but Khasakkinte Ithihasam remains his most popular work. Thus it is only appropriate that his Selected Fiction begins with the novel, though it appeared in English only in the mid-1990s. Selected Fiction contains all four of Vijayan's work in English, including the short-story collection published in 1989, After the Hanging and Other Stories
The other novels included are the controversial allegory inspired by the Emergency, The Saga of Dharmapuri, and Kendra Sahitya Academy award-winning novel, The Infinity of Grace. He has himself translated all the novels into English, except Infinity of Grace which was jointly translated by Vijayan and writer Ramesh Menon.
The Legends of Khasak stands out in the collection for its originality and depth. In this book Vijayan succeeded in universalising his personal experience which is the hallmark of great works of art. The protagonist of the novel, Ravi, is an anarchist disillusioned with the system and ideologies including Marxism. He represents the unsatisfied youth driven by their guilt and enthusiasm to find a new meaning to life.
The novel begins with Ravi coming to Koomankavu, the base village on way to remote Khasak (where he is employed as an instructor in a single-teacher primary school), and ends with him waiting at the village bus stop to begin his journey afresh. The ending is ambiguous with Vijayan leaving some food for the readers' imagination. As he waits for the bus, Ravi playfully extends his leg into a clod and is bitten by a snake. That is also a learning experience for the youth. Ravi waits for the bus, wrote Vijayan. But isn't he actually waiting for his death, which would relieve him of his problems?
Between the arrival of Ravi and his departure Vijayan has scripted a wonderful story, that of a quest which can only end in an individual's death. By Ravi's possible death is the author implying that there is no escape from Khasak for the people trapped there? For, Nizam Ali, who was also a stranger to Khasak like Ravi, fails to escape from the stranglehold of the village. So also Vijayan, who as a youth stayed in Thasarak village in Palakkad, on which Khasak was modelled.
Ravi runs away from the promise of a career in astrophysics in the US and the fierce love of his fiancee Padma, to escape the guilt of having had sex with his stepmother. The sanctuary of an ashram fails to provide his burning soul any solace, and he escapes from there one morning like the Buddha, in search of peace.
The Legends of Khasak is an experiment in magical realism. In this respect Vijayan is a precursor to Latin American great Gabriel Garcia Marquez. The atmosphere in Khasak with all its myths and legends and the Chetali mountain is magical no doubt. The characters too seem out of the ordinary. The stagnant time, the people of Thasarak were in no hurry, says Vijayan, and the mixing of the past and the present are striking.
The Saga of Dharmapuri, a political allegory, was Vijayan's first work in translation (published by Penguin in 1988). The novel, published in Malayalam in 1985, was roundly criticised for its 'imperialist slant' and vulgar language. While for the uninitiated the language used by Vijayan in the book was revulsive, others felt that it was the best way to protest despotism. The English translation of the novel was lapped up by the readers. The novel got rave reviews and Vijayan had made his mark in Indian writing in English.
The novel uses vulgarity as a medium to portray the misuse of power. The subject is universal and many writers had approached it earlier. It was Vijayan's treatment of the subject matter that made the novel different from the rest.
The novel begins with the tyrannical president of Dharmapuri defecating and is peppered with dark humour, mysticism and myths. Vijayan excels when describing the plight of the people in Dharmapuri who suffer under the dictatorship. Hope for the sufferers comes in the form of Siddhaartha, who, says Vijayan, is not the Buddha of history but a parallel creation, a sort of messiah. He comes like a cool wind to Dharmapuri and wipes away the woes of the people.
The Saga is in fact a continuation of the quest that Vijayan had kicked off in The Legends. It continues in The Infinity of Grace. The novelist here tries to drown the absurdities and sorrows of humanity in boundless mercy and deep understanding. The novel is about Kunjunni, a veteran journalist who overcomes the pain of a broken family and the death of his daughter and seeks a guru. Finally, his own daughter becomes his guru. The novel is steeped in spiritualism, which is not surprising since by now Vijayan had found his spiritual guru, to whom the book is dedicated.
The last part of the collection consists of the short stories. It contains some of his best-known works like After the Hanging, Oil, The Foetes and The Wart. Also thrown in are some real sweet stories like The Progressive Classic and The Legend. A definitive collection, Selected Fiction is like a good piece of halwa. You'll never want it to end. And by the time you're through with it, you will be a member of the 'Vijayan fan club'.
Selected Reading:
The Legends of Khasakh
Last Updated: December 11, 1998