A Legend Transitions

The noted malayalam write O.V. Vijayan, who passed away recently is certainly one of the best writers from India. He is my favorite. But, it was not always like that.

My first introduction to Vijayan was when I was in college in Palakkad. A few of my friends took perverse pleasure in loudly reciting the starting line of one of his works just as I begin to have my food. And, that would be enough for me to loose my appetite. It had something to do with the character in the story feeling an urge to shit. Now, that in malayalam i thought was very potent. But, that did make me curious - who is this guy who would start a book with such a sentence...

And, when his masterpiece was translated in English as "The Legends of Khasak" I got a copy from a bookstore in Palakkad. The book was amazing - it brought the dull, sleepy, hot and dusty palakkad countryside to life - there was beautiful surrealism. And, what more all this was done in a language alien to the story. Vijayan did the translation himself, showing his mastery over english. Translations are not easy. My mom prefer's M.T. Vasudevan Nair's "Second Turn" over "Legends..." but the english translation of "Second Turn" is lousy. She hated it.

Anyway, Vijayan made me fall in love with Palakkad. At least, the one he paints in his book. One of the best stories I have heard about "Legends..." goes like this - when Vijayan visited a really small village in Palakkad a few years back a villager came up to him and said Appu-Kili ( a character in the story) is no more. The villager had identified themselves with the characters in the story and thought that the story was about them.

A few years back I discovered someone who I think writes quite like Vijayan - Gabriel Garcia Marquez. And, that explained the love keralaites have for Gabriel Garcia Marquez.