P. Valsala, who died at a private hospital in Kozhikode, Kerala, late on November 21 (Tuesday) night at the age of 85, was a significant Malayalam novelist of her generation and one of the early female writers to make a mark. Her masterpiece, Nellu, introduced to the readers a world that they were not familiar with: the lives of tribal people, in Wayanad.
The novel had caught the attention of readers when it was serialised in the magazine Kunkumam five decades ago. She followed it up with Agneyam, which she wrote after her unexpected meeting with Naxal Varghese on the banks of Kalindi River one evening. Agneyam, and then years later, Koomankolli would form a trilogy of novels set in Wayanad.
Wayanad was indeed a second home to Valsala who belonged very much to Kozhikode. She was fascinated by the hilly district after listening to her father about it.
