The Legends of Khasak - Post 2: Plot, Analysis

The Legends of Khasak (Khasakkinte Ithihaasam)

Synopsis

(Ravi’s arrival to Khasak and the incidents that follow are given in present tense; past tense indicates incidents that happened before.)

In Search of the Sarai: Ravi arrives at Koomankavu by bus. His purpose is to start, under the direction of the District Board, a single-teacher school at Khasak. Sivaraman Nair had arranged his shed that stored seedlings (njaattupura) to form the school and dwelling of Ravi. Ravi reaches the school; children and some parents flock around with curiosity. The kids introduce Appu-kili, the cretan, to Ravi.

While on his way to Khasak, Ravi’s memories go to his childhood, his mother (who lost her life when Ravi was still a boy), his father and his step-mother.

The Second Coming: Allah-pitcha speaks to the children in his school (madrassa) about the legends of Khasak: stories of Sayed Mian Sheikh and his one thousand soldiers who settle in Khasak.  The Sheikh is now buried in the neighbouring rock crypt of Chetali. The people of Khasak trace their descent from those one thousand horsemen. Both the muslims and the hindus of Khasak look upon the Sheikh as their protecting deity.

The students had to bring breakfast to Allah-pitcha. That day it was the turn of Kunhamina. But on her way to school, she sees some peacocks and feeds them with the food. Contrary to what usually happens, Allah-pitcha forgives her. He was worried about the new single-teacher school coming up. He makes Kunhamina promise by both Muslim and Hindu deities that she will not join the kafir’s (pagan) school.

Allah-pitcha had already started attempts to raise opinion against the new school. But he is opposed by Nizam Ali. Nizam Ali, who now appears at Khasak after a certain period of absence, declares himself as the self-proclaimed Khazi of the venerated Sheikh. Nizam Ali declares his support for Ravi’s school. Allah-pitcha and Nizam come face to face, and the Mollakka reels before the Khazi’s spiritual power.

The Priest:   Khasak has 13 mosques. Twelve were in ruins. Legend had it that pagan deities sought to rebuild the oldest. But they were not able to complete it due to the trickery of demon spirits. The twelfth mosque – ‘the Mosque of the King’ – was the most recent of the ruins. It overlooked the Arabi tank, a pond of crystal water. It was believed that those who died in ancient wars came to bathe there. Allah-pitcha was mullah in the thirteenth mosque.

How Allah-pitcha found Nizam Ali: The mullahs of Khasak were a line of foundlings. Allah-pitcha came across a beautiful orphan boy on the slopes of Chetali, catching snakes. Allah-pitcha developed a fascination for the boy – which may even be seen as a homosexual attraction. He brought the boy home, and Nizam became part of the family. Mollacka saw in him the prospective husband for his daughter Maimoona, and also the next mullah of Khasak. But later Nizam showed clear signs of disobedience and disrespect. He soon left Khasak, and joined as a beedi-roller in the factory at Koomankavu, which was run by Attar, who himself was a drop-out from Mollacka’s madrassa.

The Houri of Khasak: Nizam Ali became a devoted worker at the factory. Thithi Bi tried to coax her husband to settle matters with Nizam, so that he could marry their daughter. But Allah-pitcha was reluctant. Maimoona had by now grown up to be a beautiful young lady, who turned her charms on her pursuers, reducing them to blushing juveniles.

Five years after his joining Attar’s beedi factory, Nizam established his own factory. It was rumoured that Attar’s wife gave him the money to get it started. Nizam developed his trade mark, Sayed Mian Sheikh bless Nizam Photo Beedi, in competition with God bless M. Attar Photo Beedi.

Nizam came to Khasak for the Eid festival, as a prosperous young man. Maimoona, after her bath in the Arabi pond, still in her wet clothes, met him inside the Mosque of the King.

It was dark inside the Mosque of the King, yet she made out the looming silhouette that stood waiting.

‘You will catch a cold in these wet clothes,’ Nizam Ali said, ‘put them away’.

A hasty marriage followed, between Maimoona and Chukkru the diver. That night, Nizam Ali leaves Khasak.

After the Lost Years: Two years later, Nizam returned to Koomankavu, and requested Attar to take him back. Attar accepted him, with plans to wreck vengeance upon him. But after aome months, Nizam launched the Koomankavu Beedi Workers’ Union. Attar dismissed Nizam. With that the strike began. A fight followed, and Attar and Nizam were arrested. After a long torture in jail, he asked himself: ‘what is the police doing in his war with the mullah?’ He soon confessed to the police that he was wrong, and gave his thumb impression on a statement that he will eschew violence, with just one request: the word ‘Khazi’ should be added to his name. He declared that the previous night, The Old One had ordained him as his Khazi.

Nizam Ali crosses Chetali and moves on to dwell in the Mosque of the King, and be known as the first Khazi of Khasak.

The Schools: The people of Khasak are confused over the struggle of spiritual authority between Mollacka and Nizam. Finally they conclude that both are the ‘truth’, and ‘many truths make the big truth’.

Sivaraman Nair tries to convince Ravi that the muslims (‘Bouddhas’) are against the school. But at this point Nizam Ali comes there to declare his support for the school.

Sivaraman Nair reaches home and asks his daughter Kalyanikutti to serve him food. He was not happy at the sight of his wife Narayani on the varanda, clad in just a towel, applying sandal wood paste over her body. She had been doing this right from the days of their marriage, thirty years back. She also used to go to the seedling house occasionally. Later, Sivaraman Nair learns that Kuppu, the palm-climber was with her.

Kelan, an untouchable, had started an upper-primary school, which brought him prosperity. Sivaraman Nair was jealous of this. He starts talking ill of the school, and his animosity made him ill. One reason he welcomed Ravi’s school was this jealousy towards Kelan.

Allah-pitcha feels deserted when many students joined Ravi’s school. But at the same time, he thinks that he should meet Ravi, the innocent wayfarer.

Once Upon A Time: The first day at Ravi’s school, with twenty students. Madhavan Nair brings two more students, sons of basket weavers. He also arranges Abida, (daughter of Chukkru, the diver, from an earlier marriage) to clean and cook. She was twenty. When Ravi asks her if she is interested in studying and getting a job in a place like Palghat, she doesn’t agree. Her father will be alone without her, though he is now married. She had some distant relatives in a village named Kalikavu – a grandmother who was blind, and an uncle who was leprous.

Uneasy Neighbours: It is monsoon. The single-teacher school is now three months old. A new student Karuvu, son of a monkey trainer, joins. The two children of basket-weavers brought in by Madhavan Nair leaves, as their parents felt it improper for them to learn a script. They had their own scriptless language, which could help them penetrate the forest depths.

People in Khasak discuss the qualifications of Ravi. Madhavan Nair had spread news that he was a Bachelor of Arts. One day, while in his tea shop, Aliyar gives a paper to Ravi and asked him to read it. But Ravi cannot, as it was in German. Later, Aliyar gave it to Appa Mutthu, the most educated young man (he had failed in the eighth standard in Kelan’s school). He could spell out some alphabets, which were similar to English. There was also the rumour that Ravi is the son of a doctor. That too is not convincing for the people.

The Mullah’s efforts to bring down Ravi’s school is known to Madhavan Nair. Kelan was bribing Allah-pitcha for this.

Allah-pitcha visits his daughter Maimoona, who behaves curtly towards him. Mollacka is going through utter poverty. Later, he visits Ravi and requests to be given the job of masalji, a low paid maintenance person, for which he will get five rupees a month. Ravi agrees to it.

The First Lessons: The festival of Onam is near. Ravi shares his fear with Madhavan Nair that the children may not come back after they are off for a fortnight. Madhavan Nair then makes a request, on behalf of a mother: Ravi should take Neeli’s son Appu-Kili, a cretan (retarded person) as student.

The school reopens, and Madhavan Nair brings Appu-Kili (whom he calls ‘Parrot’). The teacher and pupils spend a day cleaning up the school, as it had many spiders and cobwebs. Another day, Kunhamina brings a hedge lizard to school. The spiders and lizards inspire Ravi to discuss with the children about animals. The people of Khasak nurse many beliefs within them about animals, their powers and the loveless tale of Karma, where there is only parting and sorrow.

The Well Within: (The story of Chukkru) Chukkru was fifty when he married Maimoona. He carried the nickname ‘Diving Fowl’, as his trade was to dive into wells and retrieve articles that had fallen in. He used to travel away from Khasak. Maimoona ran a shop, more for gossip and amusement than for gain. Her confidante was Thanka the jiggery-seller. Maimoona used to hurt Abida (Chukkru’s daughter in an earlier marriage) with words of insult.

Abida still works in Ravi’s school. She finds comfort in the innocent words and affection of Appu-Kili. One day, Abida tells Maimoona that she will inform Chukkru that Nizam Ali visited Maimoona. That night, perhaps instigated by Maimoona, Chukkru beats Abida, who takes refuge in Allah-pitcha’s house. Abida leaves Khasak for the house of her relatives in Kalikavu. Chukkru takes his life by drowning himself in a well.

The Tiger: (The story of Appu-Kili’s household) Five sisters – Nachi, Kochi, Pechi, Kali and Neeli. Neeli alone was unmarried. The other four had no children, but Neeli delivered a child when she was sixteen. The three older brothers-in-law wanted Neeli out, but Kuttappu, the husband of Kali, objected. The child bore a striking resemblance to Kuttappu, which Kali and Neeli said was perhaps due to the name they gave him – Appu. Kuttappu was called ‘Nari’ or Tiger, because his ancestors traded in tigers. The five sisters loved Appu much, and called him Appu-Kili. Appu showed signs of retarded growth, but they all believed that he would be all right when he grows up.

Nizam Ali visits Neeli and announces his help to drive out the demons in Appu-Kili. But Kuttappu was not happy about this visit, and he shouts at the Khazi in public. But later, fear of being punished by the powers of Khazi tormented him. He tries to get help of Kuttadan, a lower-caste oracle. But Kuttadan was not willing to move against the Khazi; his goddess forbade any quarrel between Hindu and Muslim gods. Kuttappu is disturbed; he tries to soothe himself by travelling to Koomankavu for a while and drinking liquor. But when alone, his fears return.

The Twilight: Kuttappu is in delirium. Neeli and Kali come to the Khazi, hoping for his pardon. He asks them to depart, but doesn’t make it clear whether he had pardoned Kuttappu. Kuttappu dies soon after. The Khazi becomes a usual visitor to the hut. On one such visit, Neeli tells him that she is unwell. He brings her some medicines. But Neeli’s situation worsens, and she dies. Appu-Kili wanders off, till Ravi and Madhavan Nair find him in in the graveyard, covered with mud. He is brought to the seedling house, with high fever. Ravi goes to Kozhanasseri to get some medicine, but at the same time Madhavan Nair brings in Kuttadan to drive out the evil from Appu-Kili.

The family at Appu-Kili’s house disintegrates. Kali elopes with Pachi’s husband. Pachi and Nachi move to the dam site, looking for work. Kochi dies out of illness. The other two husbands too leave for their native places. Appu-Kili wanders about in Khasak, and the villagers feed him. Only Maimoona expresses displeasure and shoos him away from her shop when he asks for beedis.

Appu-Kili is given refuge first by Madhavan Nair, and then he is brought to stay with Ravi.

The Inspection: Ravi’s school completes one year, and reopens after the summer break. The school is prepared for the annual inspection. The Inspector, a frail old man, spends more time in having a personal, loving conversation with Ravi. In course of this conversation, the author takes the reader to understand more of Ravi’s background. Ravi is from Pattambi. His father was a doctor in a plantation. Ravi lost his mother early. He has a stepmother. Two stepsisters Suma and Rama are studying abroad. Ravi did his honours course in Astrophysics at Tambaram Christian College, but didn’t take his exams.

Ravi’s father is now sick and is in Ooty, in a house built during his plantation days. It was in this house that he had sinned with his stepmother, ten years ago, while being there on a holiday from college.

Ravi was in deep friendship with Padma, daughter of his professor. A visiting professor from Princeton was delighted to understand Ravi’s intellect, and offered him a scholarship to study in Princeton. But Ravi’s mental anguish over his sin stood in the way. 

The Inspector has a sad story: he had a daughter, Dhatri, who was very talented. He sent her to the University. He used to sit with her while she spent the night in studies. But she contracted some illness and died.

Ravi felt that untrodden paths called him with mesmeric power. He began a journey the night before the examination. He travelled a lot on trains and by road. The journey took him to lost townships of lepers and to ashramas. Finally, he has reached Khasak.

Dragonflies: Sivaraman Nair is not happy that Ravi has appointed a muslim widow Chand Umma as his servant. It was Madhavan Nair who had arranged her to help Ravi. Her elder son Kunhu Nooru was eight, and she had a four year daughter too, named Chandu Mutthu. Ravi decides to take both the children as his students. But Chandu Mutthu was always looking forward for Kunhu Nooru to grow up, so that their sorrows will end.

Sivaraman Nair is told that Chand Umma is living with Ravi, and he is furious. Ravi understands from Chand Umma that it was Kuppu-Achen who spread this rumour. Later, Chand Umma tells Ravi her story, which has a legend in its background, surrounding a great tamarind tree. Beneath this tree lived an old, widowed astrologer and his daughter. A company of soldiers who came there killed him and raped her. She was left to die in the marsh. But the soldiers perished in the wild, they and their camels bitten by scorpions and black cobras. The dead girl rose from the marsh and made the tamarind tree her abode. Worshipped as a Devi, she was guardian of the chaste. It was believed that the climbers on the tree will be protected by her if their wives are chaste. Four years ago, Chand Umma’s husband climbed the tree, but his dead body was found lying beneath it the next day. After this incident, Chand Umma was avoided by the people around.

The Ruins: This chapter tells us of Kuppu’s past. Kuppu, in his earlier days, was a toddy-tapper, and also ran a toddy shop. But a temperence law banning sale of toddy left him jobless. When someone suggested that he should make illicit liquor, he was angry. Kuppu respected Madhavan Nair who was younger to him, and so he honoured the suggestion and closed the toddy shop. Kuppu’s wife Kallu was from the village of Yakkara. She had always tried to make the family prosperous, but the odds were against them. So, after closing the toddy business, she left Kuppu. With the probibition on, people began to take up illicit brewing. Kuppu felt miserable, and it is hinted that he moved off from Khasak for fifteen years.

Coming to the present, we see Kuppu’s reappearance in Khasak. Life has made him a miserable character, who loves to slander. He is mostly seen on the load-rest near Aliyar’s tea shop, and is often entertained with food by others.

One evening, he decides to go fishing in the night, with Aliyar and Madhavan Nair. He goes to Ravi and invites him to dine at his place. In spite of Ravi’s protests, he takes him home, telling him that he has fish curry for him. Only upon reaching there, Ravi realizes that Kuppu is yet to catch fish. He is left in the company of Kesi, Kuppu’s daughter-in-law. Getting some money from Ravi, Kuppu goes to buy some alcohol. Kuppu goes out again for the fish at the Arabi tank, with fantasies about Ravi and Kesi being together. Being cold, he comes back to get a blanket, all the time knowing that Ravi and Kesi are having a physical relation. When he reaches the pond, he understands that he was alone. He accidently falls into the water, but manages to get back.

The Eastward Trail: This chapter appears to be a digression. It starts with the story of the mendicant Pandarams of Khasak who are away for around half the year. They go out on an ascetic nomadism, and gain generous alms. Gopalu Panikker, the village astrologer, finds that his means and methods do not attract many. He was a teacher who adopted old methods like writing on the sand. Once when he is away, his wife enrolled their son Ramankutty in Ravi’s school.

Gopalu leaves Khasak for a while. He takes up the role of an astrologer in Pollachi. Ramachaar, a cattle broker in Khasak, lost his fortunes in Pollachi, and is happy to meet Gopalu there. Gopalu takes him in as his assistant.

Misfitting Phonemes: Kuttadan, the oracle, comes to understand that a rich man from Tamil Nadu is visiting Gopalu, for exorcism. Kuttadan is reminded of his boyhood experiences. He was not good in learning, and was often rebuked by his teacher Rama Panikker. Rama Panikker’s daughter Lakshmi made an attempt to help him. Though he didn’t improve in his studies, those moments with the young girl remained in him. Lakshmi had made him promise not to speak of their moments together to anyone; but later, Lakshmi avoided him. Now, she is the wife of Gopalu Panikker.

Gopalu and Ramachaar (now named Ramananda) entertain the Tamil man, and take him to Chetali at night for rituals of exorcism. Thought Kuttadan saw it all, and thought of confronting them, he is pulled back by the thoughts of his promise to Lakshmi years back.

The Festival: Kuttadan undergoes a period of fast, and his popularity widens around Khasak and beyond. Soon, with the help of his assistant Theinagan, he announces a festival. Ravi too gets interested to listen to Kuttadan’s oracle. On the day of the festival, Kuttadan and the masked dancers drink some liquor, which causes loose bowel movements. Thus, the festival is ruined.

The Scent of the Flower: It becomes known that Kuppu-Acchen was behind the problems at the festival. He had motivated Chatthelan, who prepared the liquor, to put in more sulphate than is proper. Ravi and Madhavan Nair visit Kuttadan, who was in the mode of a religious frenzy. Later, the two walk off to a place Ravi had not seen so far. Madhavan Nair takes Ravi to the house of Kodacchi, who brewed liquor and also traded her body. Ravi is entertained by her.

Ravi falls ill, and enters into a state of unconsciousness. He wakes up to find himself in the Mosque of the King, and is taken care of by Nizam Ali and Maimoona.

The Dalliance: Khasak is under an epidemic, and Ravi too is affected by it. In his delirium, he thinks of his childhood, his father, his mother, and the incestuous relation with his step-mother.

Ravi gets well. We understand that it was Sivaraman Nair who found him ill. As it was not safe to keep him in the seedling house, they acted on Nizam’s suggestion and brought him to the Mosque.

Ravi recovers from his illness, but stays in the mosque for some more time. Nizam Ali moved to another ruined mosque. Ravi understands that many have lost their lives or have severe damages on their body because of the plague.

Maimoona takes care of Ravi. Ravi learns that Mollacka is afflicted by the sore on his toe. While at the Mosque, Ravi and Maimoona have an intimate physical relation.

The Song of the Sheikh: Chand Umma visits Ravi at the Mosque. He learns that her son Kunhu Nooru is ill. Ravi visits him. The boy died that night, and Chand Umma told her daughter Chandu Mutthu that her brother is with Ravi. The girl also gets worse with the illness, and dies later. Her father, who had left the village long back, now appears as a Fakir. He takes hold of Chandu Muthu’s body, and refuses to be stopped. The body is laid beside the crypt of the Sheikh. It goes on for five days. On the sixth day, it is Appu-kili who comes down from the mountains to which Chandu Muthu’s body was taken.

Ravi returns to the seedling house.

The Conversion:  Classes resumed at Ravi’s school. A number of students had lost their lives in the epidemic. During the epidemic, Appu-kili was in the mountains. His hair had grown much, and had lice, which spread to other students. As Cholayumma, the mother of Kunhamina complained about it, Ravi seeks the help of Madhavan Nair to shave his head. The Hindu barber kept a tuft on Appu-Kili’s head, out of fun.

The students were jubilant to see Appu-kili’s tuft. Soon discussions are around lice having souls, and they soon move to yet other legends of Khasak – especially the story of a girl who died at five, and how another girl born later could trace the way to the dead girl’s house, declaring that she belonged to that house.

A Muslim festival is near. Appu-kili never missed a festival. The Muslims ask him to shave off the tuft, and it is done. Soon, there was a debate: is Appu a muslim or hindu? The Khazi suggests that majority decision should be taken. Soon it is decided that the Parrot can follow any religion.

Relations between Sivaraman Nair and Ravi get strained further. Sivaraman Nair is not happy about the muslims shaving off Appu’s tuft. He also feels that his nephew Madhavan Nair was a communist and a negative influence upon Ravi. So he writes a letter of complaint to the School Inspector, saying that Ravi is creating religious strife in Khasak.

The Cry of the Muezzin: The sore on Mollacka’s toe worsens. Nizam Ali decides to take him to the hospital at Palghat. Sivaraman Nair arranged his bullock cart for this. Ravi too goes with Nizam. Mollacka is hospitalized for quite some time. It is suspected that he has malignancy. Thitti Bi too shifts to the hospital to take care of him.

Back home, Nizam Ali takes up the duty of calling the people to prayer.

The Mask of the Stranger: One night Ravi could not sleep. He goes and wakes up Madhavan Nair, and they go off to buy some arrack from Chathelan. Ravi suggests that they should give Kuppu-Acchen too a drink, and so they wake up Kuppu and Kesi. On the way back, Ravi was brooding over the blind eyes of Kuppu, which he felt, could see beyond. Ravi is reminded of his visit to his grandfather’s village, where he had seen a mysterious look, which he could now see in Kuppu. It was a mystery Ravi did not want to violate – the mysterious mask of a stranger.

On the way back, Madhavan Nair tells Ravi of his own past: how he went to study Vedanta when he was twenty-one. His mother was thirty-five then, and a widow. She had asked him not to go. When he returned after five years with a blind guru, he realized that his mother had turned to be a harlot.

The Feast of the Ancestors: Once every three or four years, Khasak feasted its ancestors. Muslims and Hindus prayed and ate together.  Now, the Khazi announces that there should be a festival soon. Cholayumma’s black goat was got for half the market price, to be slaughtered. Nizam sets off to Palghat, to enquire about Allah-pitcha’s health. He realizes that Khasak’s mullah was dying. Ravi and Maimoona meet at the seedling house, and later at night at the Mosque of the King. At this time, the Mullah’s dead body reaches Khasak.

The Flowering: The people of Khasak help to bring down Allah-pitcha’s body from the bullock cart. Maimoona asks Ravi to go ahead, and she goes down for a bath at the Arabi tank. The Mullah’s body is placed in the mosque, and is buried on the day of the feast.

Ravi had to conduct an examination for his students. He realizes that he had much to learn from the students who were concerned with the rebirth of lice, with journeys of time, with dinosaurs. The children had taught him lessons of wondering and belief.

The day after the examination, Ravi arranges a picnic to Chetali. Kunhamina walks beside Ravi. While the others were playing at Chetali after lunch, she again comes to him, worried. Ravi realizes that she is having her first monthly cycle.

The Peace of the Lake: Kelu Menon, the postman, brings Ravi a letter, which was different from the usual letters he used to get from the District Board. It was from Padma, his friend during his days at Tambaram Christian College. Padma spoke of her plans and arrangements to visit Ravi ten days later.

Ravi picks up Padma at the railway station, and they take up lodging at the guest house near the dam. He learns that Padma was at Princeton, doing research. She had a tough time finding out Ravi’s whereabouts. She tells Ravi about her visit to Ravi’s house, and that his father was ill. She urges Ravi to leave Khasak, which Ravi agrees. However, he does not give a positive response to her request to come to Princeton.

The Journey Begins: Complaints about the school had reached the School Inspector. A peon arrives at Khasak with news of possible action, but he is not able to meet Ravi. Madhavan Nair and others are able to draw out the news from him. Ravi reaches Khasak after a gap of ten days. The people of Khasak wants Ravi to act. Even if the school is stopped, they had plans to start a school on their own. Communist leaders from Palghat too visit Ravi.

Ravi is not ready to offer any explanation or go ahead with any action. He decides to resign.

One early morning, when it was raining, he leaves the seedling house and Khasak. Ravi walks up to Koomankavu. Waiting there in the rain, he kicks the sodden clods, prsing them apart with his feet. A snake slithers out with hood raised. Ravi looked at it with fond curiosity. He lets his foot be bitten by the infant fangs, which he thinks, are teething.

With a smile, Ravi lay down, waiting for the bus.

Images and Themes

Animals, Snakes, Serpents: Ravi’s ‘orphanhood’ after his mother’s death and his father’s remarriage. Ravi gazes towards the horizon to see ‘the winged and diademed serpents, calling him to play….’

The boy Nizam Ali was catching snakes when the Mollacka saw him first. He caught a less harmless snake. When asked why he didn’t catch the reptile prince, he replied: “Because even this one can grow to be as venomous … when its hour draws near.” This appears to be prophetic: Nizam’s relations with Mollacka turns bitter and venomous later.

The children’s beliefs help Ravi to bring out stories of animals, and there are talks about dinosaurs and pterodactyls.

Karma: The author and Ravi seem to be silent yet sympathetic spectators to the views on Karma, fondly nursed by the simple folk of Khasak. Ravi too feels that there is some underlying force or power which has governed his life, ultimately bringing him to Khasak. Ravi speaks of the story of two spores – the younger sister leaves the elder one, who stays rooted in a place. The elder sister is sure that she will be forgotten – for this is the loveless tale of karma; in it there is only parting and sorrow.

Legend: Khasak carried deep within itself the legend of Sayyed Miyan Sheikh. The muslims believe that the people of Khasak are the descendents of the Sheikh’s army of 1000. In the chapter Dragonflies we read: ‘The history of Khasak was the great oral legend; that, and a shared indigence (poverty) held Khasak together’.

The students bring to Ravi many of the village legends and myths.  

Illness and disease:

Allah-pitcha’s toe has a sore; caused by the pinch of the sandal. This has been there for long, and it results even in his death. The sore toe reflects the helpless, constant and numbing pain in him when he faces odds: his broken relation with Nizam Ali, the challenge posed by the new school and the like. And this sore toe acts to mend the sore relation between Allah-pitcha and Nizam Ali.

The epidemic that plagued Khasak holds a pivotal role in the swing of the plot. Many people die, and that includes some students of Ravi. Even Ravi falls ill, and is taken care of by people like Nizam and Maimoona.

Religion, Secularism and Communism: There are both Muslims and Hindus in Khasak. Beneath the obvious differences in faith, they share common beliefs and practices. Kunhamina’s promise to Allah-pitcha is by deities of both religions – as advised by the Mollacka himself. One legend of Khasak was that the pagan deities sought to rebuild the mosque. (The Priest) When Allah-pitcha opposed the new school, Sivaraman Nair tries to present it as an opposition by the muslims. But the Khazi’s support leaves him with no answer. When Sivaraman Nair wanted to pick up quarrels with the Muslims, ‘…he found no listeners – neither Hindu nor Muslim was prone to quarrel as both their religions teemed with the same tender absurdities’. (Dragonflies) During the strike in the beedi factory, the protesters carry the Quran and the portrait of Stalin. At various points in the novel, there are references of chants coming from the places or rituals of worship, both from the Muslim and the Hindu sides.

Ravi kept himself away from religion. But at a later point of his life in Khasak, he is found to listen to the Muslim call of prayer. ‘God, Ravi said, in a voiceless chant. No longer was that word harsh or distant’.

Illicit Relations: Most of the illicit relations appear as hints in the novel. When the novel starts, we read that Ravi had mistakenly taken a swamini’s saffron dhoti instead of his white dhoti. In a later chapter (The Inspection) we read of his travels, which took him to ‘ashramas where, in saffron beds, voluptuous swaminis lay in wait for nirvana’. There is a hint of a homo sexual attraction of Allah-pitcha for the boy Nizam Ali. When Nizam started the beedi factory, it was rumoured that he got money for that from the wife of his former employer Attar. Nizam Ali and Maimoona’s meeting in the loneliness of the Mosque of the King, and the marriage of Maimoona to Chukkru soon after hints that Mollacka came to know of a relation between Maimoona and Nizam. Sivaraman Nair’s wife Narayani meets Kuppu, the palm climber in the seedling house, and the Nair suspects that she is dishonest. It was one reason that he permitted the seedling house to be used as the school. Appu-Kili, Neeli’s son, bore resemblance with her brother-in-law Kuttappu; it was Kuttappu who argued that Neeli should not be driven off on account of her illegitimate child. Later, after Kuttappu’s death, the Khazi is a usual visitor to Neeli’s hut, and on one visit, Neeli tells him anxiously that she is unwell. After Neeli’s death, her sister Kali eloped with the husband of Pachi, another sister.

Ravi had an illicit sexual relation with his stepmother while at their house in Ooty. It happened ten years back, when Ravi had come home from college for holidays.

Kuppu Acchen had spread slanders about Ravi living with a lady Chand Umma, who came to cook and clean. Later, Kuppu invited Ravi for supper one evening. Leaving Ravi in the company of his daughter-in-law Kesi, Kuppu goes off to fish. Kesi uses the chance to have a close relation with Ravi.

Many of the legends of Khasak are around the idea of chastity and infidelity. The tamarind tree was supposed to punish any climber if his wife was not chaste. Toddy tappers did not have to climb palms in earlier days. It was when a tapper’s woman lost her innocence that the palm ceased to bend.

Madhavan Nair tells Ravi his own story – how he went to study Vedanta for five years, and when he came back, he found that his mother had turned a harlot.

Travel: The novel is a story of travels. It starts and ends at one point: the bus stop of Koomankavu.

One evening in Khasak, Ravi feels that the seedling house has become a train compartment, and he the lone and imprisoned traveler. From far off, her felt another track racing towards his own, the sorrow of another, futilely seeking comfort. The rails met for one moment, tumultuously, to part again. Ravi’s life was that of a traveler. After his decision to leave college before his exams, he travelled much, on rail or road. He moved with people of varied sorts.

A chapter Eastward Trail is in itself about travel. (See synopsis on this chapter)

Darkness (Iruttu): A footnote in the original indicates ‘darkness’ as a keyword in the novel. But this is not included in the English translation.

English Translation

Translated by the author himself, and published in 1994.

The author’s note on the translation: “It has been difficult translating this book. It is full of dense images of nature, old folk customs, evocations of caste differences, the rich play of dialects, all of which are difficult to render into English. So much has been lost, there was no way it could have been salvaged. I have tried to make the narrative depend on its own energy as much as possible, and preserved the pace and rhythm of the original.

A change in the title itself: The Legends of Khasak. (and not ‘Legend’)

To be seen as almost an independent work, than a translation.

The cultural nuances and linguistic features are not well brought out in the translation.

Chapter titles are not translated exactly into English

A study of differences between Malayalam and English, as given in Wikipedia:

Vijayan published his English translation of Khasakkinte Itihasam in 1994, long after he experienced an epistemological break after meeting the monk Swami Karunakara Guru. The early Vijayan was marked by deep philosophical doubt and skepticism, but the later Vijayan upheld certitudes. The Legends of Khasak was written by the Vijayan of certitudes, which makes it a very different novel in its sensibility, in spite of being a translation. One critic makes the following comparison between Khasakkinte Itihasam and The Legends of Khasak to prove this point. A literal translation of an important passage in Khasakkinte Itihasam reads:

"What is the truth about him?" They asked one another.
They recalled the spell that the Mollakka had sought to cast on Nizam Ali. It had no effect on him.
"The Khazi's truth," they said, "is the Sheikh's truth."
"What then of the Mollakka's? Is he untrue?" They were puzzled.
"He too is the truth."
"How can that be so?"
"Because truths are many."

In The Legends of Khasak, Vijayan rendered this passage thus:

"What is the Khazi's truth?" The troubled elders asked one another.
They recalled the spell the mulla had tried to cast on Nizam Ali.
They had seen the spell fail.
"The Khazi's truth," they told themselves, "is the Sheikh's truth."
"If that be so," the troubled minds were in search of certitude, "is Mollakka the untruth?"
"He is the truth too."
"How is it so?"
"Many truths make the big truth."

A Study on Character:

Kuppu-Acchen: He is presented as a gossip and slanderer. He stands on both sides and creates problems. But we feel sympathy for him when we read of his past. He was an honest man, hard working and sincere. He ran a toddy shop and did toddy tapping. But he was forced by a government order to close the shop. He was not willing to take up illicit brewing.

Allah-pitcha: A representative of the rustic old men of religion. They run their own world of authority, and are afraid when threatened with changes. Allah-pitcha appears to be a failure: his gay relation with Nizam Ali, his decision to marry off his daughter to Chukkru, his sly attacks at the school even when he gets some money out of it – all these put him in the dark side. His helpless situation and illness is not his own. It is the plight of many in the novel – even Ravi.

Key Phrases:

Innocent wayfarer, what bond of karma brings you here? (The Schools)

Many truths make the big truth. (The Schools)

You lost your childhood somewhere on the way…. I hope the children find it for you. (The First Lessons)

The ones who stay near are at times the farthest to reach. (The Inspection)

For Analysis

A modernist novel

Magic realism

Translation

Mythology

Angry Young Men novel

Existential crisis

Religion, secularism, communism

Illicit relations

Education – various systems of education: Allapicha Mollakka’s school for muslims, Ezhuthupalli for Hindus (by Panickers), Primary School at Koomankaavu (Kelan Master’s school) and Ravi’s single-teacher school. Priests/ leaders of religion have their own role in impacting the villagers