The Legend of Legends Tributes to O.V.Vijayan Dr. K.M.Seethi* O.V.Vijayan, the legend of Malayalam literature and one of the most celebrated Indian writers, is now history. He breathed his last at Hyderabad on 30 March 2005 leaving behind a tradition of writings unmatched by their rich variety and refreshing originality. He is perhaps the only writer in Malayalam who deserves the encomium philosophe. The passionate scepticism, the faith in human freedom, the belief in the essential spiritual humanistic nature of man and the trenchant attacks on monolithic systems are all the characteristics of his work. The creative genius of the writer expressed itself in new forms of craft and composition which surprised many and, at times, outraged others. Vijayan earned celebrities in a wide variety of fields - from novels to short stories, from politics to philosophy and from cartoons to columns. Born in a village in the Palakkad district of Kerala in 1930, Vijayan had his early education at home due to ill health and the frequent change of residence at various police camps. His father was an official of the Malabar Special Police which belonged to the erstwhile Madras Province of British India. Vijayan's first school entry was at the age of 12. He took his graduate degree in English literature from the Government Victoria College, Palakkad and Masters from Presidency College, Chennai. Teaching was his first career - at Malabar Christian college, Calicut and later at Victoria College, Palakkad - but soon abandoned the profession to join Shankers Weekly in 1958 as a cartoonist. Though Vijayan became the staff cartoonist of The Patriot after five years, he preferred to be a freelancer, at least since 1967 and worked for The Hindu, Far Eastern Economic Review, The Statesman and several other Indian newspapers and magazines. The literary genius in Vijayan came out first in the short story "Tell Father Gonsalves" in 1953. However, the turning point in his literary career was the publication of Khasakinte Ithihasam (The Legends of Khasak) in 1969 which also became the defining moment in Malayalam literature. It portrays the tales of a village life unfolding through an array of characters. Khasak represents the silhouette of an assorted community with different cultural modes, with diverse traditions of Islam and Hinduism all living together. The secular space of this village is so enchanting that one hardly finds any rigid precincts between religious beliefs; nor are any between religious and secular practices. Ravi, the main character of the novel, comes to the village as a teacher in its first ever school. But he found himself to be at the receiving end as much as he is a teacher in terms of the diverse range of experiences. The novel depicts the life and characters of Khasak in an awe-inspiring manner. The very style and language of this masterpiece set in a new tradition in Malayalam literature. The English translation of Khasakinte Ithihasam came in 1994. harmapuranam, Madhuram Gayathi, Gurusagaram, Pravachakante Vazhi, and Thalamurakal were some of his best works. Vijayan also wrote very good short stories such as Kadal Theerathu and Kattu Paranja Katha. He won many prestigious literary awards during the last three decades. Vijayan moved towards a peculiar form of spiritualism in the last one and a half decade, which had nothing to do with any religion or religious dogma. When he dedicated his Gurusagaram to Karunagara Guru, many raised their eyebrows and attacked him for being a captive of the emerging spiritual industry. But Vijayan remained unmoved and faced all criticisms in the right earnest. Vijayan became a controversial figure in the socio-cultural realm because of his frequent attacks on communism. Paradoxically, he himself was a communist at the beginning. Once he wrote, "I was a card-carrying member of the Communist Party" attracted to the socialist utopia. What triggered a changeover in his political belief was the Soviet intervention in Hungary in 1956 and the fate of Imre Nagy, the statesman, independent Communist, and the premier of the 1956 revolutionary government whose attempt to establish Hungary's independence from the Soviet Union cost him his life. The events of 1956 had a profound impact upon Communists all over the world including Vijayan. There were many setbacks after the Hungarian revolution, and those who remained in the fold began to question both Moscow leadership and the nature of a system that had made the ascendancy of Stalin possible. Ever since Vijayan warned us that the over-organization and incredible centralization of power would lead to psychological captives and tend to create a mass-society with no individuality. If there was anything which Vijayan feared and detested very much, that was power; the power of the state, the power of party, the power of bureaucracy and the power of military. He said that even in socialist societies, the state and the new class, which never enjoyed such a distinctive identity and privilege in history, needed instruments for legitimizing and consolidating power. The lust for power in such societies is so overpowering and overwhelming that it tended to degenerate communism and vitiate all its promises. Vijayan observes: "the problem of Marxism is its monopoly and inheritance. It is not that there is one monopoly. There are contrasting monopolies, as diverse as there are systems that differ in style and composition." He was obviously referring to the different models/paths of socialism as charted out by Moscow and Beijing. Vijayan refused to believe that Marxism had the final answer to all problems that man faced. He pleaded in a prayerful mood that man should never give in his emblem of freedom and the instruments that sustain it. Unfortunately this was not allowed in socialist societies. Though they were available in democratic systems of the West, they slip out of the hands of the people. Just as people could not exercise their option against the established Communist party in Soviet Union, the voters in the western democracies could do hardly anything against the mad consumerism, he said. (scroll up)

Vijayan was a profound critique of the cold war politics. According to him, the conflict between communism and capitalism did not assume a dialectical character in the cold war environment because of the nature of weapons both systems accumulated and pitted against each other. In fact, the advances in weapons technology make revolution impossible and the very idea of class struggle obsolete. He wrote: "If the technology of weapons makes revolution out of place, the technology of production tends to create a situation where both capitalism and socialism fail miserably in delivering good to people. Unending production and unending development are beyond the capacity of earth's biosphere." Vijayan disbelieved in complete determinism, either of ideology or science. He was not an abject flatterer of science. Following the insights provided by Ivan Illich, he said that a good number of people across the world suffer due to the diseases created by modern medicines and hospitals. "When science invented new and powerful medicines, we bragged about our physiological identity. Soon we realized that science created only a false sense of security. In fact, insecurities began to descend upon us as we move ahead with science and technology." "Knowledge" for Vijayan was "an unending exploration, limitless and undeterred by any structures of domination." He poses the question whether the laws of history, which Marx presented, should remain unchallengeable, as unchallengeable as the conception of justice advanced by some religions. Vijayan believed that Marx remained strong in the realm of social justice. However, "Marxism does not give the freedom to change the course of transformation of history. It merely influences the pace of transformation." Who is not moved by the slogan "Workers of the world unite," asks Vijayan. For those who have experienced injustice and agony it remains "a rhythm of wisdom." Yet, "we do not see a worker in a global sense today." He said that a worker in the erstwhile Soviet Union was not allowed to share his bread and meat with the impoverished black brethren in America. Both the US and USSR deployed nuclear weapons "to ensue that the workers living across these systems do not share their bread and meat." He tells us, "let this surrealism makes us modest." His writings reveal the deep emotional complexities of man for whom no venture was too dangerous, no exploration too unlikely. This Vijayan in the round is superior to the sum of his constituent parts, a man of epic proportions with tremendous courage never to submit or yield. This is the quintessential man dedicated to intellect. Whatever Vijayan wrote carried a fluttering banner of challenge. His impact on literature will be a subject of continuing debate and his writings provide incredible source material for belles-lettres. *(The author is Reader in the School of International Relations and Politics, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottyam, Kerala) KM Special Report Endless Miseries of Endosulfan Business with 'Life and Organs' Adivasis under State Terror The Plight of the Indigenous Communities in Kerala