Legends of Khasak is the english version of the master piece novel (Khasakkinte Ithihasam) by Malayalam writer O.V. Vijayan. I have read it many times years ago. That is the beauty of the novel. You can read it any number of times and it gets more and more interesting. I am thinking of reading of it again after seeing this in kishan’s hackorama,

… Long before the lizards, before the dinosaurs, two spores set out on an incredible journey. They came to a valley bathed in the placid glow of sunset.
“My elder sister”, said the little spore to the bigger spore, “let us see what lies beyond”.
“This valley is green”, replied the bigger spore, “I shall journey no farther”.
“I want to journey”, said the little spore, “I want to discover”. She gazed in wonder at the path before her.
“Will you forget your sister ?” asked the bigger spore.
“Never”, said the little spore.
“You will little one, for this is the loveless tale of karma; in it there is only parting and sorrow”.
The little spore journeyed on. The bigger spore stayed back in the valley. Her root pierced the damp earth and sought the nutrients of death and memory. She sprouted over the earth, green and contended.
… A girl with silver anklets and eyes prettied with surma came to Chetali’s valley to gather flowers. The Chempaka tree stood alone-efflorescent, serene. The flower gatherer reached out and held down a soft twig to pluck the flowers. As the twig broke the Chempaka said, “My little sister you have forgotten me !”

- O.V.Vijayan “Legends of Khasak”

In short the novel is about Ravi, an intelligent graduate who lands in Khasak (a place near Palakkad in Kerala) to work as a teacher. There are many characters (appukkili?) who are unforgettable.

It is said that Vijayan took about 10 years to complete the novel. The hard work definitely can be seen in the way sub stories are interlinked in the novel. Sometimes you miss very interesting things in the first read.

You can buy Legends of Khasak from Amazon