O V Vijayan’s Legends of Khasak | Worlds Within Words Review

O V Vijayan's

Legends of Khasak

Entwining rationale with faith and beliefs!

Rustic & Real Illustration of Rural India

Genre: Magical Realism | Publication Year: 1969 | Original Language: Malayalam

Part of my private collection

The renowned masterpiece and OV Vijayan’s debut Malayalam novel, ‘Khasakkinte Itihasam’ is widely celebrated throughout for its magical realism. A touted example of sheer brilliance that enlightens the reader about the rural mystical Kerela, I chanced upon this gem during my search for discovering Classic Indian Literary Masterpieces.

Originally written as a serialised weekly issue for a Malayalam magazine, it was later novelised in 1969 and post its silver jubilee success, it was translated into English by the author himself in 1994.

The Village of Khasak

The story guides the reader into the world of Khasak, a rustic yet lively village, through the eyes of Ravi, the village’s new district board schoolteacher. He is the precursor of modern thoughts, the English alphabet, and liberalism of the western civilisation in the remote community. Yet, his restless anxiety and sorrow-filled reality find solace within the tight embrace of Khasak’s potent dreams, ancient beliefs, and cultural occult.

The premise becomes a thread that ties around the stories of different villagers, their aspirations, and their harsh realities intermingling with their faiths. Interwoven into these are the subtle hints of caste-isms, discrimination, religious orthodoxy, poverty, myths, love, lust and hate that pulsated through the entire village, rendering a singular character to the town itself.

The Legends of Khasak

“Maimoona pulled her thattan [traditional muslim scarf] over her head with a casual deference to the presence of her mother.”

O.V. Vijayan’s beautiful illustration of the waning faith amidst the youngsters through Maimoona and Nizam Ali is magnificent. So is his depiction of the lust-filled angst of Kuttadan that transforms his reality into a frantic display of devotion for the Goddess of Smallpox. Stories of Appu-Kili, his mother Neeli, and Chand Umma all strike the right chord of empathy with the readers. It makes us wonder how deep-rooted the societal disharmonies are.

Multiple instances made me question if the so-called illiterate retrograde rustic villagers of Khasak were more forward than the liberated masses of the new millennia!

Resonating throughout, the central theme turns out to be ‘Karma’. There is no relentless escape from the dictions of this fateful life. Each character has a destiny traced by their karmic consequences, leaving the reader wondering about the metaphysical reality. Kuppu-Aachan, the village gossip, is notoriously famous for spreading rumours and lies to quench his sadistic thirst for pleasure and drama in other’s life. It mirrors his escape from the hollow existence of his reality. Yet the penalties of evil inevitably catch up to him and render him blind after a dalliance with smallpox disease.

The author captures the enigmatic charm of ‘Karma’ and re-iterates its inevitability through the epiphanic story of two spores – the one who remains and the other who ventures to explore the world, albeit with a promise not to forget their sisterhood. Ultimately, life becomes all about our actions and their consequent reactions.

I can surmise by saying the novel isn’t a duel between two ideologies – the past and the present, but a reverberating sneak peek into the world of a rural Indian village against the backdrop of a changing independent India adopting a capitalistic form of governance.

Memorable Quotes #1