Introduction
Every region in the world will have a treasure-trove of its own innate stories—its real McCoy—hidden somewhere in its soil. And a writer’s art lies in diligently unearthing and presenting these folkloric elements to the reading public.
Over the years, we have heard many such innate stories dug out from the Indian shores of Ponnani, in Kerala. Perhaps, some of the topmost Malayalam writers are those who enchanted us with stories ‘stolen’ from the treasure-trove of Ponnani: M.T. Vasudevan Nair, Madhavikkutty (Kamala Surayya), C. Radhakrishnan, U.A. Khader, K.P. Ramanunni… The list can run on. Still, somehow, an impression got created that the treasure-trove of Ponnani had already got exhausted.
Now, C. Ashraf’s maiden novel, CHILA VISUDDHAJANMANGALUTE VISESHANGAL (Of Some Holy Lives), asserts that innumerable untold stories are still holed up there which are waiting to be brought to light. This novel displays all the strengths of a member belonging to the Ponnani School of Writers in Malayalam literature.
Of Some Holy Lives does not suffer a bit from the teething troubles of a maiden novel. It has a powerful theme, a more powerful linguistic style and a mysterious touch in the arrangement of stories — plots. We will be puzzled as to whether they are stories or actual incidents... or bits from history or dreams... or some visions... These factors undoubtedly elevate this novel to a very high position in the history of Malayalam novels.
Today, there is an established convention for writing novels: First, think up a story. Then hammer it and spread it out to the proportion of a novel! Against this practice, Ashraf packs his novel with stories. Here stories are stacked, rows upon rows. There is absolutely no dearth for stories. Like an epic, stories and subsidiary stories abound in its pages. I am not exaggerating. Each paragraph has a story, baffling us as to from where does Ashraf find this heap of infinite folklore. What to say of a paragraph, each line has a story! Let me repeat: I am not exaggerating. This is one novel which weighs heavy with the density of stories. Hence we cannot find a single line in it which can be called austere. I would compare this novel to a surging river — heavily loaded with the enormous collectibles from forests, as the Eastern Ghats unleashed a debris flow into it.
Over the years, O.V. Vijayan’s The Legends of Khasak has come to symbolize the acme that a Malayalam novel can reach — an insurmountable Olympian height. In the last thirty-five years, not a single Malayalam novel has emerged which could outshine it or be on par with it. Had such a novel come into being, nobody knows about it! We will have to blame the literary critics of Kerala for their miserable failure in bringing such a work to the notice of the reading public!!
The magic spell of The Legends of Khasak has blindfolded many of our critics and readers. For them, The Legends of Khasak is like a scriptural text which cannot be surpassed. They will throw a tantrum if anybody disputes its primacy. They are adamant in their unalterable conclusion that no writer will ever be able to go beyond Vijayan.
Even so, after reading Of Some Holy Lives I can boldly say that it has reached out to the heights of Khasak. Yes, yes, yes; definitely, it has. Do you doubt my statement? Then, come and read this novel. You will emphatically say that it is the one novel which you have been pining for to read!
Now I am delighted to note that Gopi T. Karuvath, an award-winning storywriter, has come up with a lively English translation of this novel. It is my pleasure to introduce this reading delight to all of you.
