Life in the Forties
M.. wanted to read my life in the forties. It appeared to her that my childhood life in a remote Kerala village then was too strange and this is a small attempt to recollect those bygone days to make her understand how life was really wonderful.
My early childhood was spent in a small village A. in Malabar, then a part of British India, as father was employed in an estate(Kalam as was known ) there.The village was very remote from the well known towns of Malabar and the people were simple and straight forward The village was surrounded by hillocks and rivulets and the western ghat mountains were nearby, not more than 5 miles from our house
.Our house consisted of five buildings, one main building having a granary in the ground floor and in the first floor and living rooms in the second floor. The second building consisted of kitchen and a big store room.The third building was not occupied generally but was used for keeping agricultural produce and implements.The fifth building was used on occasions requiring lady members to live separately due to pollution ( monthly periods, delivery.) .Apart from these, there was a cow shed with two three cows always , milking and non milking,.and their calves,old and new.
A maid servant with her sister(?)(Lakshmi and Parukutty--little Parvathy-- living nearby) used come every day to clean the utensils, broom the houses and do all odd jobs.A man who is also related( brother? KunhiKrishnan---little Krishnan-- )to the maid servant was also there as a watchman, but he used to come only in the evenings only at about 8 o'clock in the night.
The primary school called Elementary School there, was situated at about 1.5 miles away and we had to travel through lush green paddy fields and small hilly tracks with scanty trees and shrubs and a big rock called poocha para(cat's rock) so called because it was shaped like a sitting cat.The school had 4 classes, class 1 to class 4.The head master was a strict disciplinarian and I remember he used to carry a cane always.We the students were terribly afraid of him.If we do not go to school any day he may even come home with his cane and would force us to go to the school.So we were afraid of not going to school also.What a devotion to duty the teachers had then..More over they were very honest also to the core.
.Once it so happened that my sis lost her gold chain somewhere...We searched all the way from school to our house but could not find.We were all very worried the whole night...Next day we went to the school and the teacher from Class 1 asked whether anybody lost a gold chain the previous day.I immediately told that my sis' chain was lost and we had searched all over the place but could not find it.Then she asked the description of the chain and I described it to her the way I could. She smilingly took the chain from the drawer of her table as if doing a magic trick. I ran immediately home and informed mother and she became so happy that I was asked to bring the teacher home after the classes.So I went back and requested the teacher(she was a young lady of an aristocratic family of nearby village)to come with me to our home after the class. I felt very proud of bringing her home and she came home all the way walking through the paddy fields ..Mother offered some money when she was returning after the visit as a gesture of gratitude but she flatly refused.So she was asked to come again another day for a feast on the occasion of my birthday which she gladly accepted.I was also happy that I could bring her to our home again..
Another incident I remember concerning the school is when I was accorded an official reception by the headmaster of the school .One day while returning to school after lunch, the owner of the estate who had come to the village for a short visit, asked me whether I would like to travel by car to the school as he would be going by the same route.In those days (1947-48)cars were extremely rare and only super rich people could afford it.I gladly accepted the offer and got into the car.It was my first travel by car and while traveling I was thinking that I was in heaven.The car stopped near the school gate. Sudden appearance of a car in front of the school made the headmaster and the teachers panicky.The children were made to keep silent immediately and all the teachers came out of the school.The headmaster with folded hands came near the car.It was quite embarrassing to me to see the head master waiting for the driver of the car to open the door and for a moment I did not know what to do and then I simply ran to my class closing my eyes...The class teacher later told that they thought the school inspector had come for a surprise visit..Anyway the headmaster was angry on me , I thought and I avoided him as far as possible..
During those days I was not good at studies, mathematics being a nightmare.I used to fail in repetition of mathematical tables(up to 12) and the system in the school was that those who failed would have to go to the back bench.So when I was in the 4th class I always used to be in the back bench.I had great admiration of a boy(a warier boy) who always stood first in the class,and he was allowed sitting near the teacher.The examinations used to be over by end of March and that was the time to rejoice for we children..We used to come to Thrissur during the vacation every year and if that was not possible in any year, my brothers would come to our village .
When the brothers were there on summer vacation, we used to go to the nearby hills every evening for walking and sight seeing.There is a rivulet in the hill west side of our house and we used to collect pieces of ulka(probably fallen from shooting stars) and transparent stones(silica) available on the banks of the rivulet ..These white stones(vellarankallu) when rubbed together produced sparks of fire, a delightful thing to see.for the children.
The villagers believed that people walking in the night in darkness would be misled by Kuttichatthan( a goblin) by showing misleading lights from homes and they won't be able to reach their homes till next morning..Once it so happened that my brothers who had gone for a walk in the evening, did not come back even after sunset and when it was too dark outside , father, mother, sis and myself were all worried.The watchman who came in the night told that it would be difficult to trace them out because of darkness. Those days there were no electric lights and all villagers used oil lamps or kerosene hurricane lamps.The only powerful lamp available in the village was in the grocery store, a petromax .We started praying fervently to all gods and goddesses as a last resort.
When finally they returned, they narrated how they lost the direction and had actually reached a nearby village settlement six miles away by walking and walking keeping the small oil lamps seen from distance as their only indicator lights .. The village people go to sleep in these villages usually as early as 8 p.m and it was very difficult to find somebody on the roads(foot paths) to enquire about the way to our village.However they entered a house, introduced themselves mentioning the name of the kalam, and told that they lost the way.The inmates came out with due respect and gave detailed description of the way to reach our village and also a choot(a bundle of dry coconut palm leaves to burn and see the way in its light) and the brothers could ultimately reach destination by around 12 o'clock in the night fully tired, hungry and thirsty.
The mango season starts during the vacation period..There were many mango trees and also a big mango tree on the west side of our house, on the slopes of a small hillock, and. it was so big that it required two persons to measure its circumference ,with fully stretched hands.When it rained with full fury the mangoes fell abundantly and it was our assigned duty to collect it. There were occasions when the store room was filled with mangoes and it used to be difficult even to open the door.Mother used to make mango jelly taking the juice from mangoes manually and sun drying it on mats.The servant maids also helped her in this job.The mango jelly when dried in the sun for two- three days would be cut and rolled and kept in big jars(bharanis).These would be taken to Pattambi(father's home) and toThrissur.at our next visit..
There was a temple of Devi(?) and we used go there on special occasions like annual vela, birthdays,. first Tuesdays or Fridays of Malayalam months..I remember the day when Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead, all the celebrations of the temple were cancelled as a mark of respect to our father of the nation, a very rare thing to happen in a temple situated in the remote corner of the country.In fact the news came through radio which was available only in the grocery shop run by a Muslim family.The owner came running to our house immediately on hearing the news and with tears in his eyes told father that a calamity had fallen on our country but was not telling what had happened.After repeated requests, he told the news.We were all very sorry to hear the news though we did not see Gandhiji. in person and whatever we knew was from father..Father had seen Gandhiji and he was very much influenced and used to wear khadi as advised by Gandhiji..He was also an ardent follower of Congress party.
All services required were provided at the home by the respective caste people, so every month the barber will come for hair cutting, the washer woman for taking the soiled clothes, the goldsmith for making the ornaments at home and the vaidya(physician) for providing medical treatment.A mulla(muslim clergy) used to come whenever somebody suffered from serious diseases like whooping cough.His remedy was so simple that if the oil that he gave was applied on the joints of hands etc , the whooping cough would go away within two three days .No internal medicine was required.
When the monkeys became a problem( being near the forest), a shooter was called in. Though we did not want to kill any animal, it became necessary when they start destroying the banana plantains etc . and started running over the houses and take away the utensils, clothes etc. We saw the monkeys lying dead and the shooter taking away them.For days we were weeping and requested the father that we should never call the shooter again to our house.Fortunately there were no monkey attacks later..We prayed to Hanuman swamy to forgive us for the grave sin we have committed. Later I used to see a monkey sitting in our bed room in dreams for a few days and I used to chant before going to bed the mantra of Alathiyur Hanuman to ward of all bad dreams. as advised by my mother.
The other visitors to our house , apart from large number of tenants with their problems, were those going to Palani(for darshan of Muruga Swamy) for donations, women fortune tellers with their caged parrots to take the card indicating the future , magicians, blacksmiths,sellers of cotton bedsheets, of utensils and unknown people seeking food and monetary help from father..It was the habit of my father and mother to offer food to anybody coming during the lunch time as they believed that offering food to the hungry was the greatest virtue
Summer used to be very hot and at the start of the hot season, pandals with palm leaves used to be made in front of the main houses to reduce the temperature...However the evenings used to be tolerable with winds blowing almost everyday
.When the sun sets, the cows came back from the hills after grazing and it was not necessary to bring them to the cattle shed as they would come on their own.If a particular cow did not come in time, Lakshmi used to call the cow by name and that cow would respond wherever it was and would come running to the cattle shed.It may be difficult for the people to believe these things now..
We also used to watch from the second floor of our house the forest fires , fires in the shape of garlands in the distant mountains . During the rainy seasons watching the black clouds coming and hitting the mountain used to be an experience in itself..We could see these things because our main house had two stories, other children of our village could not enjoy these sights. Western side of the estate was covered with tall bamboos and when the wind blew we could hear the whispering of the bamboo trees, memories of these experiences are still fresh in my mind.
.
My early childhood was spent in a small village A. in Malabar, then a part of British India, as father was employed in an estate(Kalam as was known ) there.The village was very remote from the well known towns of Malabar and the people were simple and straight forward The village was surrounded by hillocks and rivulets and the western ghat mountains were nearby, not more than 5 miles from our house
.Our house consisted of five buildings, one main building having a granary in the ground floor and in the first floor and living rooms in the second floor. The second building consisted of kitchen and a big store room.The third building was not occupied generally but was used for keeping agricultural produce and implements.The fifth building was used on occasions requiring lady members to live separately due to pollution ( monthly periods, delivery.) .Apart from these, there was a cow shed with two three cows always , milking and non milking,.and their calves,old and new.
A maid servant with her sister(?)(Lakshmi and Parukutty--little Parvathy-- living nearby) used come every day to clean the utensils, broom the houses and do all odd jobs.A man who is also related( brother? KunhiKrishnan---little Krishnan-- )to the maid servant was also there as a watchman, but he used to come only in the evenings only at about 8 o'clock in the night.
The primary school called Elementary School there, was situated at about 1.5 miles away and we had to travel through lush green paddy fields and small hilly tracks with scanty trees and shrubs and a big rock called poocha para(cat's rock) so called because it was shaped like a sitting cat.The school had 4 classes, class 1 to class 4.The head master was a strict disciplinarian and I remember he used to carry a cane always.We the students were terribly afraid of him.If we do not go to school any day he may even come home with his cane and would force us to go to the school.So we were afraid of not going to school also.What a devotion to duty the teachers had then..More over they were very honest also to the core.
.Once it so happened that my sis lost her gold chain somewhere...We searched all the way from school to our house but could not find.We were all very worried the whole night...Next day we went to the school and the teacher from Class 1 asked whether anybody lost a gold chain the previous day.I immediately told that my sis' chain was lost and we had searched all over the place but could not find it.Then she asked the description of the chain and I described it to her the way I could. She smilingly took the chain from the drawer of her table as if doing a magic trick. I ran immediately home and informed mother and she became so happy that I was asked to bring the teacher home after the classes.So I went back and requested the teacher(she was a young lady of an aristocratic family of nearby village)to come with me to our home after the class. I felt very proud of bringing her home and she came home all the way walking through the paddy fields ..Mother offered some money when she was returning after the visit as a gesture of gratitude but she flatly refused.So she was asked to come again another day for a feast on the occasion of my birthday which she gladly accepted.I was also happy that I could bring her to our home again..
Another incident I remember concerning the school is when I was accorded an official reception by the headmaster of the school .One day while returning to school after lunch, the owner of the estate who had come to the village for a short visit, asked me whether I would like to travel by car to the school as he would be going by the same route.In those days (1947-48)cars were extremely rare and only super rich people could afford it.I gladly accepted the offer and got into the car.It was my first travel by car and while traveling I was thinking that I was in heaven.The car stopped near the school gate. Sudden appearance of a car in front of the school made the headmaster and the teachers panicky.The children were made to keep silent immediately and all the teachers came out of the school.The headmaster with folded hands came near the car.It was quite embarrassing to me to see the head master waiting for the driver of the car to open the door and for a moment I did not know what to do and then I simply ran to my class closing my eyes...The class teacher later told that they thought the school inspector had come for a surprise visit..Anyway the headmaster was angry on me , I thought and I avoided him as far as possible..
During those days I was not good at studies, mathematics being a nightmare.I used to fail in repetition of mathematical tables(up to 12) and the system in the school was that those who failed would have to go to the back bench.So when I was in the 4th class I always used to be in the back bench.I had great admiration of a boy(a warier boy) who always stood first in the class,and he was allowed sitting near the teacher.The examinations used to be over by end of March and that was the time to rejoice for we children..We used to come to Thrissur during the vacation every year and if that was not possible in any year, my brothers would come to our village .
When the brothers were there on summer vacation, we used to go to the nearby hills every evening for walking and sight seeing.There is a rivulet in the hill west side of our house and we used to collect pieces of ulka(probably fallen from shooting stars) and transparent stones(silica) available on the banks of the rivulet ..These white stones(vellarankallu) when rubbed together produced sparks of fire, a delightful thing to see.for the children.
The villagers believed that people walking in the night in darkness would be misled by Kuttichatthan( a goblin) by showing misleading lights from homes and they won't be able to reach their homes till next morning..Once it so happened that my brothers who had gone for a walk in the evening, did not come back even after sunset and when it was too dark outside , father, mother, sis and myself were all worried.The watchman who came in the night told that it would be difficult to trace them out because of darkness. Those days there were no electric lights and all villagers used oil lamps or kerosene hurricane lamps.The only powerful lamp available in the village was in the grocery store, a petromax .We started praying fervently to all gods and goddesses as a last resort.
When finally they returned, they narrated how they lost the direction and had actually reached a nearby village settlement six miles away by walking and walking keeping the small oil lamps seen from distance as their only indicator lights .. The village people go to sleep in these villages usually as early as 8 p.m and it was very difficult to find somebody on the roads(foot paths) to enquire about the way to our village.However they entered a house, introduced themselves mentioning the name of the kalam, and told that they lost the way.The inmates came out with due respect and gave detailed description of the way to reach our village and also a choot(a bundle of dry coconut palm leaves to burn and see the way in its light) and the brothers could ultimately reach destination by around 12 o'clock in the night fully tired, hungry and thirsty.
The mango season starts during the vacation period..There were many mango trees and also a big mango tree on the west side of our house, on the slopes of a small hillock, and. it was so big that it required two persons to measure its circumference ,with fully stretched hands.When it rained with full fury the mangoes fell abundantly and it was our assigned duty to collect it. There were occasions when the store room was filled with mangoes and it used to be difficult even to open the door.Mother used to make mango jelly taking the juice from mangoes manually and sun drying it on mats.The servant maids also helped her in this job.The mango jelly when dried in the sun for two- three days would be cut and rolled and kept in big jars(bharanis).These would be taken to Pattambi(father's home) and toThrissur.at our next visit..
There was a temple of Devi(?) and we used go there on special occasions like annual vela, birthdays,. first Tuesdays or Fridays of Malayalam months..I remember the day when Mahatma Gandhi was shot dead, all the celebrations of the temple were cancelled as a mark of respect to our father of the nation, a very rare thing to happen in a temple situated in the remote corner of the country.In fact the news came through radio which was available only in the grocery shop run by a Muslim family.The owner came running to our house immediately on hearing the news and with tears in his eyes told father that a calamity had fallen on our country but was not telling what had happened.After repeated requests, he told the news.We were all very sorry to hear the news though we did not see Gandhiji. in person and whatever we knew was from father..Father had seen Gandhiji and he was very much influenced and used to wear khadi as advised by Gandhiji..He was also an ardent follower of Congress party.
All services required were provided at the home by the respective caste people, so every month the barber will come for hair cutting, the washer woman for taking the soiled clothes, the goldsmith for making the ornaments at home and the vaidya(physician) for providing medical treatment.A mulla(muslim clergy) used to come whenever somebody suffered from serious diseases like whooping cough.His remedy was so simple that if the oil that he gave was applied on the joints of hands etc , the whooping cough would go away within two three days .No internal medicine was required.
When the monkeys became a problem( being near the forest), a shooter was called in. Though we did not want to kill any animal, it became necessary when they start destroying the banana plantains etc . and started running over the houses and take away the utensils, clothes etc. We saw the monkeys lying dead and the shooter taking away them.For days we were weeping and requested the father that we should never call the shooter again to our house.Fortunately there were no monkey attacks later..We prayed to Hanuman swamy to forgive us for the grave sin we have committed. Later I used to see a monkey sitting in our bed room in dreams for a few days and I used to chant before going to bed the mantra of Alathiyur Hanuman to ward of all bad dreams. as advised by my mother.
The other visitors to our house , apart from large number of tenants with their problems, were those going to Palani(for darshan of Muruga Swamy) for donations, women fortune tellers with their caged parrots to take the card indicating the future , magicians, blacksmiths,sellers of cotton bedsheets, of utensils and unknown people seeking food and monetary help from father..It was the habit of my father and mother to offer food to anybody coming during the lunch time as they believed that offering food to the hungry was the greatest virtue
Summer used to be very hot and at the start of the hot season, pandals with palm leaves used to be made in front of the main houses to reduce the temperature...However the evenings used to be tolerable with winds blowing almost everyday
.When the sun sets, the cows came back from the hills after grazing and it was not necessary to bring them to the cattle shed as they would come on their own.If a particular cow did not come in time, Lakshmi used to call the cow by name and that cow would respond wherever it was and would come running to the cattle shed.It may be difficult for the people to believe these things now..
We also used to watch from the second floor of our house the forest fires , fires in the shape of garlands in the distant mountains . During the rainy seasons watching the black clouds coming and hitting the mountain used to be an experience in itself..We could see these things because our main house had two stories, other children of our village could not enjoy these sights. Western side of the estate was covered with tall bamboos and when the wind blew we could hear the whispering of the bamboo trees, memories of these experiences are still fresh in my mind.
.
posted by Bharat at 2:30 AM
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