'Not the limpid pool of water-lilies But the ocean of life which is the ink-well of our poetry'. Thus sang a famous poet, in Malayalam. 'Nidhiyude Katha'(The Treasure) evolves from this idea. The protagonist is an artist of the ivory tower who goes to a remote beautiful place to portray nature. There he comes across two fugitives a youngman and a girl. The man is hunted by the law of the land. Could he be an extremist? He hurls the artist a question. 'Who is the real murderer-the one who kills a thousand people or the one who kills the killer of a thousand people?' The girl is a slum-dweller driven away by the society. The Artist gives shelter to her for the night. But he feels a bout of jealousy when he finds the man intruding into the shelter. We feel that the artist's sophisticated behavior is only a veener. His relationship with the two undergoes a transformation- from hatred and intolerance it changes to that of sympathy. Before the night wears out the youngman is shot dead. The ...