Palakkad: Thasrak, a village near Kerala's Palakkad town, is the fabled land of Khasak, the setting of Malayalam novelist O V Vijayan's masterpiece 'Khasakkinte Ithihasam' (The Legends Of Khasak).
A visit here offers a surrealistic experience to anyone who had read the 1969 work, whose publication became a watershed in Malayalam literature.
Even as the Golden Jubilee celebrations of the great literary work is being celebrated, the statue of its author is neglected in the heart of the town where the novel was born.
The statue of Vijayan installed at SBI Junction in Palakkad town has becoming a centre of anti-social activities, with garbage and abandoned plastic bottles getting heaped around it. No action was taken even after the garbage and plastic bottles were found to be lined up in front of the great author's statue.
The fence around the park where the statue is installed has been broken down for a long time.
Though questions are being thrown around whether it is proper to neglect a tribute to the author who contributed to the fame of the town, no one is ready to come up with any solution. There are also differences of opinion regarding the responsibility of protecting the statue.
'Khasakkinte Ithihasam' was first published in 1969.
