narinder singh
Sep 4, 2018 · 2 min read

LEGEND OF KHASAK

…..A classic is a book that has never finished saying what it has to say.

Italo Calvino…..

We all yearn for beauty ,order and rationality. We all fear dark world of lust, mystery and chaos. In Greek mythology, Apollo and Dionysus, both the sons of God, stand for these two opposing forces. However,the Greeks never considered them as antithesis of each other, they regarded them as intertwined with each other. These two concepts remain centre of many classics of western literature. Similar echoes of this duel abounds many of stories we love to read,listen and recommend to others. But the Indian classics always handle much richer and granular debates compared to Western approach of neat categories.

The legend of Khasak transcends this theme and the story appeals to our multilayered (Indian) sensibilities. The central protagonist is struggling to come terms with his personal shame. The novel narrates the struggle of characters both at psychic and physical level. It can be a story of any one of us with slightly different levels of struggle and shame. The novel mirrors the quest of humankind for meaning of life alongwith accompanying human frailities in the face of vast dark and visceral world of unknown that posses us. It also captures the nuances of ideologies- welfarism,communism and conservatism- which were prevalent in the India of early 70s .Though lot is lost in the translation, still one can take solace that Author himself has done the English translation and remaining part can be filled by one’s own intuition.

MUST READ *****