Kalika - Mohanachandran

All men are born with courage and fear. To have courage is to risk and to have fear is to protect. We readers love to read books of courage. As Mr Mohanachandran have rightly observed we too loved to get feared, to read horror novels and see it onscreen. Yes, it is when we feel the fear and overcoming it, the success becomes ours. Kalika, the first mystical (mantric) novel in Malayalam provides many situations where we would love to get feared but opening our eyes a little bit to enjoy it. Even when an elephant rampant, many will stay around to see the happening... Isn't it?

The novel Kalika begin with a drunkard's misadventure to travel through a ghost place called Ammangavu which ends with his body been food for foxes. After a brief introduction of what you can expect in the later part of the novel, the author invites us to another area when almost all readers are familiar. Friendship. Four friends, Sadan, Jamal, Joseph & Zakharia. Their bondings like the ones in 'Three (Four)Musketeers'. Mr Mohanachandran continues the celebration of friendship. Each one of these friends has a story to chase. For Sadan, it is the lost love of his mother who becomes victim and commits suicide in a cursed house. For Joseph, his house was an orphanage. Jamal is under treatment for impotency. Zakharia is a student of tantric rituals from his appachan. When Sadan gets a mail from Vasu, the caretaker of the bungalow belongs to Sadan, explaining the happenings in the surroundings of Ammangavu, curious to experiment and fight Zakharia, daring Joseph and Never say die Jamal give sufficient courage to Sadan to go along with them to his native place. When a problem comes to a friend they join hands and form the union of strength. The Musketeers are arrived! One of these four will not see the end of Kalika and obviously the Kalika who do black magic and witchcraft will be conquered. Read the novel to know who and how. Oh, do you ask who is 'Kalika' and how she become so?

Kalika is a masterpiece. With crystal clear characters, patiently developed suspense, memorable situations and fluent narration the book has lived 35 years so far and growing young each passing day. The novel was serialised in Kumkumam weekly and was later made as a movie in similar name. This made sure that it has reached to its audience within no time. Even after many decades, when I meet people who share their first 'reading or watching' experience of 'Kalika', I am sure that is a stamp one can trust and the book justifies the trust.

Clearly defined characters are the major strength of Kalika. Each character, has set of defined behaviour pattern and thought process which the author strictly follows throughout the novel and the climax is built on this. Who can forget the leading characters Sadan, Zakhariya, Joseph and Jamal? Innocent Vasu, his wife and daughter the assistant of Kalika, the novel have only limited characters that helps to have more clarity and focus to each one of them, when they are in the limelight. Characterisation of Kalika too is amazing by giving her a reason and only I wish the author should have made her little more cruel. Oh yes, sometimes even I can call for cruelty!!

There are certain books which can only write with abundance of knowledge, lot of experience and painstaking research. Kalika is one such! The author who was a state topper in studies and conquered all major examinations in civil services and served India in her foreign service, has used the knowledge and experience to give different areas of experience to a common reader. The author's knowledge of Sanskrit is best used when it comes to 'mantra's. The author doesn't just list the words of mantra in the novel but it explains in the 'Uttaragrandam' with all essential details. His experiences while in foreign services were a helping factor to give the characters an international look and we can feel the characters like one of our neighbour or friend who just comes back after his foreign trip. This experience goes one step ahead, when we swim deep into the novel.

There is lot of violence in the novel. The suppression and violence done by Jamal is just too much. In any other novel, I would have objected such violence and scenes. Here too I start raising my eyebrows and start moral policing and the author gave a timely reply to the reader by comparing it to the atrocity done to humanity across the world. We can always ask question and complain about a book, but do we raise the question and complain when more violence and blood spilled in the most objectionable way in many parts of the world? I have no answers. I can only say that in Kalika, the evil been taken with a hard hand to the extent even the evil gets sympathy from us. The cruelty doesn't arise without a reason. The author's philosophy of 'you don't force your believes on others; instead try to understand them, including cruelty' tells it all. The book may be not a recommendation for children for they can wait till they see the doors of maturity to get the feel of violence and the strong sex feel maintained in the novel.

The 2007 edition of Kalika has 45 pages afterwards which throw light to the making of the book and the philosophy of the author, which is a treat for a reader who enjoys the book. The essence of Mantras and the sources through which he got those rare mantras were equally interesting. The book also has pictures from the movie Kalika at the end which is a good as it creates nostalgia. The author's mention of various inspirations taken from the novel is correct as I could even remember some dialogues which is super hit with all the sense, sensibility and sensitivity.

The novel clears the evil which killed our friend, but the author leaves the question of good and evil to readers. Then, did Kalika deserve such an end? Is she not the victim even in the final events? The question will leave us with many disturbed questions, a true stamp of a 'classic' work. Kalika has many dimensions. When we celebrate friendship (singular) do we kill many a humanity (plural) in that name too? Or was she wrong in targeting those who take away her dearest things of life?

Bram stocker, Sherlock Holmes, Agatha Christie we have some good suspense story tellers in English. Then, in Malayalam, there are very few genuine writers and Mohanachandran is one of them. So far I have read four of his novels and I can say two of it calls the 'classic' tag, 'Kalika' and 'Kakkakalude Rathri'. In the writer's world of Malayalam, famous writers survives with single classic novels and to have 2 classics (out of four books read so far where more than half a dozen yet to be read) is an achievement worth celebrating. Lately, the book has got translated to Tamil and to English (Kalika the Calyx). I am sure the novel is going to live many more decades to come extending its reach.

Kalika is a novel which we would loves to read and fear but helps us to be courageous when it comes to challenges. The characters in the novel are not powerful individually, but together they form a company which works big time to cut evil toto pieces and more. It is a call for the unity in friendship to fight the evils which block our way. No hurdle is a hurdle when we fight it for others, especially when they are our dear ones

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