YAKSHI

YAKSHI- MALAYATTOOR RAMAKRISHNAN

Yakshi is a novel which keeps the reader in a trance between reality and superficiality. The novel narrates the story of scientist- lecturer, Sreenivasan, working in a college in Kerala. Sreenivasan, popularly known as Sreeni, is doing research on the Yakshis (the ghosts, female version). He is keen to know whether they exist in reality or are just the illusion of mind. In the meantime, he is being a chemistry lecturer is also experimenting on the scientific realities associated with the ghosts. Also he is making a research into the chemical properties attached with the blood transmitted out of the ghosts.

Another notable fact in the novel is that Sreeni is adored by all for his looks as also his capabilities. Moreover, he is in love with one of his colleagues Vijayalakshmi and they have plans for marriage. Sreeni decides to shift into a haunted house identified for him by a black magician, and things take a turn thereon.

In the laboratory he is met with an unexpected accident, while experimenting with the chemical properties of the ghost blood. The accident has a serious impact, as almost half of his face is burnt and one of his eyes damaged. Everyone who used to adore him begins to hate him and keep away from him for his looks. Even Vijayalakshmi deserts him. He is thus infected by intense inferiority complex and dragged into a mental trauma.

It is at this juncture that a female character makes appearance in the novel, Ragini. She befriends Sreeni and despite his damaged face, she starts loving him. Here the reader is begins to develop a confusion as to who is Ragini, a human being or a ghost. This suspense keeps the novel going. Sreeni marries Ragini and they lead a happy life. But there are ample instances in the novel when readers get to suspect the identity of Ragini. Until the climax nothing of Ragini’s profile is revealed. The references of ghostly life by Ragini, behavior of a dog and its death, all arouses curiosity in the minds of the reader.

As the novel makes progress, Ragini disappears one day, leaving Sreeni in a state of mental disorder. It is in the anti- climax of the novel that many mysteries associated with Ragini and Sreeni unravels.

The novel has thus made a psychological treatment of the mind, transporting the readers from reality to superficiality. At times reader is unable to distinguish between the two, which makes the readers mind to be whirl pooling. The novel is worth a read, but finishing it may seem difficult for some.