The gentle west wind hums/ As it blows in from the lake/ Over the fields and swaying palms/ The soul songs of the waves.
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The incident narrated here happened late last month but I came to know about it only yesterday. I am blogging this so that those who stay outside Kerala would be aware of some of the problems involved in land transactions in God's Own Country.
Normally it should be a simple transaction. The price is agreed upon and paid, proper document drawn up, and the land purchase registered before the appropriate Registrar. If there is a broker involved, he would be paid a commission. The document writer would be paid his fees and miscellaneous expenses at the Registrar’s office.
Yesterday I had lunch with a Keralite who has been staying outside Kerala most of his life. He had sold some of his ancestral lands to a Keralite from the Gulf. Practically they were strangers to the place. They went to the concerned office along with the broker for registering the document. Initially the Registrar refused to act, citing all sort of reasons. The seller succeeded in persuading her and the document was registered.
Then the real trouble started. A group of brokers in the locality surrounded them demanding brokerage for them also. The demand was made to the buyer and the seller.
The buyer and seller escaped from there and proceeded to Kottayam separately. What they didn’t realize was that the brokers were following along with the local Sub-Inspector of Police. Registration of land has nothing to do with the police.
The seller stopped at a hotel for a quick cup of tea. Then cinema-like scenes started. The police Jeep screeched to a halt and the SI jumped out along with the brokers. The seller was threatened that he would be arrested unless he paid.
The seller now told the SI that he would pay if the Office of the Director General of Police confirmed that was to be done, and that they would wait in the hotel till the confirmation came. He took out his cell phone. He really has contacts at high level.
The brokers vamoosed and the SI stayed back apologizing. Unfortunately my friend did not make a complaint.
A club bar. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.Click to enlarge.
OnamRs.34 crores (1 crore=10 million)
ChristmasRs.44 crores
New YearRs.53 crores
These are the approximate figures of liquor sales in Kerala through the State Government stores during the last three festive occasions. They do not include the considerable quantities of alcohol sold through bars, illicit/smuggled liquor, sales by the Defence Services Canteens to serving and retired personnel and intoxicant toddy tapped from the palms.
Every year the turnover of the liquor outlets keeps increasing. This is not because of any escalation in prices. More quantity is sold. Even when the prices are hiked the quantity of spirit sales is on a high. And according to one report the demand for premium brands is growing in Kerala.
Why is the liquor consumption so high in Kerala? During normal days the average sales are reportedly Rs.15 crores. What would be the money outflow during festive seasons? We have only seen here the expenditure on spirits. There is so much more – new clothes, special food, presents, and so on. Where do the funds for all these come from?
Gulf money sent home by those who work there? Tainted or black money? Or do people of Kerala earn that much? If so, does such income reflect in the Income Tax returns/collections? Or is most of it debt financing? It is perhaps a combination of all these.
A former Director General of Police, Kerala said a few months ago that some men in the State are attracted to terrorism more for economic gain than by religious fundamentalism. This is a very pertinent point. Make money by whatever means so that there is enough to spend. A pattern has been set and people blindly try to follow that. Beg, borrow or steal to keep up with the crowd.
The State Beverages Corporation says that the record shows more quantity of liquor consumption because the number of ‘dry days’ has been reduced. The people who used to take illicit drinks on those days now buy from the official outlets.
Some blame the police for the heavy intake of alcohol in the State. To prevent driving under the influence of alcohol, police patrols are stationed near bars and clubs in the evenings. Because of the nuisance of being checked by the cops, many people keep away from such outlets. The bar owners complain that their business is drastically affected by the highly visible police presence. Some clubs have a pool of job drivers available to drive home members who drink more liquor than legally permitted.
In good clubs one rarely sees heavy consumption of spirits. Members drop in, meet friends, have a couple of drinks with some snacks over a period of time and go home. To a large extent, I suppose, it is the same pattern in bars. But now, for fear of police checking, many people buy bottles and take home where the drinking is neither measured nor controlled and probably gulping down quickly to avoid detection by family members.
Then there is the case of families where women object to alcohol being brought into the house. This restriction drives the men to bars where they quickly knock back a few pegs and rush home. That is not normal drinking. Such drinkers might consume much less if they could peacefully take limited quantities at home.
A few decades back when the constitution of The Lotus Club, Cochin was re-drafted, one of the changes suggested was that the members’ children who attained the age of 18 and were not themselves members should not be permitted to use the club facilities. This was objected to, and rightly so. The argument against the move was that the youngsters would go to who knows where if they were denied the club facilities. The age limit was raised to 25.
The point is that when there is some sort of supervision, though silent it might be, hopefully the drinker is likely to have an extent of self imposed control. It may also possibly banish the ‘kill the bottle’ or ‘finish the bottle’ instinct which seems to be the bane of many drinkers. For them, once a bottle is opened, it has to be emptied.
A better way of killing the bottle is not to buy one. But no amount of persuasion or counseling would help unless the person involved has a strong will to control or stop his drinking.
The Poochakkal Police Station in my native place is again in the news. In the post Police & Astrology: Cowries tell the story I had described how the policemen were resorting to astrology to ward off problems they were facing.
I had expressed the doubt whether the cops had taken permission from higher authorities for bringing an astrologer to the Station and consulting him. The answer for that is in today’s newspapers.
Under instructions from the Director General of Police, the entire police personnel of the Station including the Sub Inspector, Asst. Sub Inspectors, Head Constables and Constables have been transferred to various other Stations.
Now the question is whether this action is a punishment or a boon to those who have been shifted. After all, what they wanted was to escape the bad times the Station was going through.
Mallus have money in their pockets - Minister
According to the Civil Supplies Minister of Kerala, even if prices of food items increase by a couple of rupees, the Keralites don’t bother. They have plenty of money in their pockets. He does not know where the money comes from, though. The Malayalees go to hotels and eat well and don’t bargain about the prices.
Yesterday the by-elections to three Kerala State Assembly constituencies, Alleppey, Ernakulam and Kannur, were concluded peacefully.
So what is there to write about?
Well, the Kannur segment attracted national attention. There were accusations of tailored voter list and pro-government bias by officials including the District Collector who is the Election Officer as well. The Congress Party petitioned the Election Commission (EC).
After studying reports from the State the EC replaced the Collector. It also decided to send a contingent of Central paramilitary forces to ensure smooth and fair elections. This is a normal practice in the case of suspected problem constituencies.
Many people were surprised, or even shocked, by the way the Marxist Party reacted to the EC’s action. The Chief Minister himself started the diatribe. According to media reports he said that the Central forces would be confined to the barracks and they would not be able to do anything without the permission of the State police.
The Home Minister, the CPI (M) State General Secretary and other leaders of the party took up the refrain. The EC was also blamed for being partial. The Chief Electoral Officer of The State, an IAS officer of the Kerala cadre promptly issued a clarification that the men in uniform would be deployed at the discretion of the EC. Later the EC also came out with a statement that even the State police would be taking orders from the Election Officer. That is the correct legal position.
The Central forces were posted at the polling booths as decided by the Election Officer. There was record polling in Kannur and no untoward incidents. Many felt that the presence of the paramilitary forces contributed to this. The Left leaders have a contrary view. Their interpretation is that the 'attempt' of the Congress to frighten away voters with gun totting soldiers in the polling booths did not succeed! Politicians are not sensitive to loss of face.
It is difficult to believe that the Chief Minister and the others who attacked the EC were unaware of the established procedure. Then why did they make such apparently wrong statements? Did it amount to taking anticipatory bail for a possible defeat? Or, did they expect to draw more votes with a policy of confrontation with the EC?
If the voters really swallowed the confrontation propaganda one can only say that, contrary to the general belief, they are not really very politically savvy.
By and large, the history books have bypassed Kerala Simham (Lion) Veera (Brave) Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja, the ruler of Kottayam in North Kerala towards the end of the 18c CE and beginning of 19c. This valiant warrior prince took up arms against the taxation policy of the British East India Company. The war between the two, which began in 1790s, lasted till 1805.
A Malayalam movie based on him was released on October 16 and that has made history. It is crafted by MT Vasudevan Nair and Hariharan with Mammootty in the lead role and is produced by Gokulam Gopalan. With a budget of Rs.27 crores, it is the costliest film ever made in Malayalam.
I have not seen the cinema, but heard Hariharan claim on the TV that full justice has been done to historical details. One can be reasonably certain that with careful handling by this expert team, the movie would be good.
I hope this picture which is made in five languages would spread awareness about the legendary fight by Pazhassi Raja against the mighty Company (which, by then, had assumed the role of a government) among the people of India. The hero’s greatest strength was that he was able command absolute loyalty of his upper caste subjects and the hill tribes at the same time. The manner in which they stood by him in life and in death was something remarkable.
It was Thomas Harvey Babar, a young Company officer who was sub collector of Tellicherry who led the final assault against Pazhassi Raja in 1805. And he came to admire his adversary. He is reported to have said about the raja ‘great man and a great warrior’.
While talking about the newly released Pazhassi Raja movie, let us not forget the earlier one. In the 1960s, there was a cinema by the same name with Kottarakkara Sreedharan Nair in the lead role.
What made that version famous were the songs, written by Vayalar and rendered by Yesudass. Guess who was the Music Director? A R Rahman.’s father, R. K. Shekhar.
Do you remember “Chotta muthal chudala vare…” It is one of the best patriotic songs in Malayalam cinema.
There is also a novel about Pazhassi Raja – Kerala Simham by Sardar KM Panikker.
Last week on TV I watched the Malayalam movie Raappakal directed by Kamal, and starring Sharada and Mammootty. A good one. The theme is something that is happening quite frequently in Kerala these days – ancestral homes (tharavads) being sold. The buyers convert them into resorts or residential complexes.
Most of the heirs are happy about it. But some are sad, sentimental. In the movie, they include Sharada, the lady of the house, and Mammootty, who has no rights over the property but had spent his entire life there as a servant.
A few months back I had received a souvenir brought out by an ancient and prominent Syrian Christian family on the eve of their tharavad being sold. That was something unusual. This family got together, had a celebration, and bid adieu to their ancestral home in style. I thought the idea of a memento was excellent.
The articles in the souvenir are all by women who were born into the family. That is just as well because they are the ones who carry childhood memories of the place, who automatically understand the culture of the family, for whom the building is always ‘home’, even decades after they are married off.
The Foreword to the Souvenir says, ‘They are written by Appachen and Velliammachi’s (grandfather and grandmother) grand-daughters, a group of sensitive and vulnerable women who have been lovingly protected and cherished in their childhood, and are deeply attached to their roots.’
Again, ‘Beautiful old tharavads are coming down all over Kerala. Old, sprawling rural homes need the manpower of large joint families and family retainers to maintain the house and parambu (land), tend to the poultry and livestock and the produce of the parambu – such as coconut, jackfruit, tamarind, banana, kappa (tapioca), and so much more – fix the roof tiles and clean the wells each season, and keep the kitchen going around the clock, not just with daily meals for the family and help, but also other interesting food processing. This included extraction of coconut oil in large urulis, hand pounding of rice flour and coffee, seasonal palaharams (savouries) and pickles, the list could go on for ever.’
I am picking out random pieces from the different articles in the souvenir. It is likely to present a haphazard picture, but hopefully one that is still vivid.
Quoting from other contributions to the souvenir: ‘I remember Ammachi (mother) calling the doves from the dovecote in the garden to feed them. I also remember going with Velliammachi, along with my sisters and cousins, to bathe in the stream near the house. We would all get into the shallow end of the water, and Velliammachi’s woman attendant would pour water over her and hand her the soap, while we splashed and swam around and enjoyed ourselves.’
On the walk down to the stream, ‘The air was pungent with the cloying aroma of ripe jackfruit. The constant buzz of cicadas grew louder and in the distance we heard the trumpeting of an estate elephant. The trees thinned out and then, jumping over a stone stile, we were at the road by the creek. The water ran cold and swift, but was shallow enough for wading and collecting fish in our little glass jars.’
From another article, ‘On the way back one day, she [Velliammachi] told me to hold her glasses. I put them on and they were so strong that I started feeling giddy, so I quickly took them off.’
‘There was a big band of servants… Velliammachi had a lot of fruit trees, which we would climb. She had a garden with a variety of roses. The Edward Rose was her favourite – a beautiful pink flower with a lovely fragrance. There was a tree called Powrah mulla. It had small, sweet smelling flowers with orange tubular stems. ‘
Other indelible pieces include a four-year-old pulling Velliammachi out of her bed to go mulberry plucking, playing with the elephants, Lakshmikutty and Dharmaraj, on the muttam (courtyard) and stealing bits and pieces of mango thera (mat) from where the delicacy was put out to dry.
The evening prayers involved long spiritual rigor. The preparations would start early at the chapel in the house. Collecting and arranging flowers, lighting the lamps and candles, spreading out mats were chores to be handled by the girls. At the appointed time, everyone would gather at the prayer room – ‘all the aunts and uncles and cousins who were either staying there or visiting, gathered for prayers.’
These articles have turned out to be about the matriarch of the house. Hardly anything is mentioned about her husband who was an important leader in his community. The reason is that he died before most of the writers were born.
To conclude, let me return to the Foreword: ‘As time goes by, patterns of living change. … The old patriarchs are gone, the arrahs (granaries) are empty, and young nuclear families need less space and more modern conveniences.
‘And so we say goodbye to our old family home and move on, handing the banner over to the next generation to remember our traditions and keep the family spirit alive.’
Jackfruits, which grow along the Western Ghats of India and in some parts of South India, are really huge. They have many culinary applications. See Jackfruit, the jumbo
The other day my wife, Annie (see photo), made jackfruit chips curry at our Chennai residence after a long time, and everyone liked it. This is something that goes well with rice, chapathis, pooris, appams, puttu and so on. It is quite simple to make. You can serve ‘chakka’ curry anywhere in the world if you have the jackfruit chips with you.
An indicative recipe is given below:
1. Keep one and a half cups of fried jackfruit chips in water till they are well soaked. This may take about an hour.
2. Fry two onions long cut, add to it two tomatoes quartered, one green chilli round cut, two or three flakes of garlic and salt to taste.
3. When the above is cooked, add the powders – coriander, chilli and turmeric – and garam masala to taste. Add curry leaves. Fry well.
4. Add the chips along with the water in which they were soaked, add more water for gravy if required, and bring to boil.
Jackfruit chips
Curried jackfruit chips.
Photos by me.
Click to enlarge.
Jackfruit chips add taste to meat curry as well. Use it instead of potatoes.
Well, if it doesn’t work out, don’t blame me. I can always say that the quality of the jackfruit chips may not have been good. Incidentally, thicker chips are better for use in the curry.
Can you think of an Indian being punished in India for donating blood to Indian soldiers? Sometimes the Communists do such things. They have their own logic, though people outside the organization may not comprehend it.
The Communists have been active in India for 80 years. Their professed motive of uplifting the downtrodden was, and continues to be, commendable. The people’s struggle, they call it. And India is a country with a colossal population of oppressed people – apparently an ideal ground for effectively proving the Communist doctrine.
Yet, in eight decades what has happened to the movement? It has managed to consolidate in a few isolated locations and even that position appears to be rather shaky now. Their vote share in the National elections is about 5 or 6%.
What brought about this situation? The Comrades failed to identify who ‘the people’ are and what problems they face. A fraction of organized workers do not represent the people of India; they are among the fortunate few. There is a suffering India from which the high flying leaders seem to be far removed.
One hoped that with the battering they took in the recent Parliament elections the Comrades, particularly the CPI (M), would objectively analyze the causes and take corrective steps. All their recent policies, starting with scuttling the proposal to make Jyothi Basu the Prime Minister, to the much touted Third Front and election strategies turned out to be fiascoes.
Further, in the recent months the major asset the Communists had – the conviction that they would always fight corruption and communalism – was unnecessarily compromised. A different approach and choice words, particularly in the Lavelin case which was committed to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) by the Kerala High Court, would have given the Party much more credibility.
I have personally known, and in several cases genuinely respected some of the Communist leaders of yesteryears, including EMS Namboodiripad. For me it is sad to see the chaos created by the Party’s present bosses.
Instead of tackling the real problems facing the Party, the CPI (M) has reduced them to the struggle between VS Achudanandan (VS), Chief Minister of Kerala, and the State’s Party Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan. Disciplinary action has been taken against VS by demoting him from the Polit Bureau (PB). But he is allowed to continue as Chief Minister. The Party Secretary goes unscathed.
Does any one really believe that this solution would effectively solve the problems of the Party? In this process, have the Marxists lost or forgotten or buried the national perspective?
The action presents a strange juxtaposition. VS would be chairing the meetings of the Council of Ministers but he would be outranked by the Home Minister who is a Member of the PB. Who will have the final word in explaining the policies of the government to the people? The Chief Minister or the Home Minister?
A brief note on VS: I have personally suffered as a result of his ‘vettinirathal’ (scorched earth) policy in the 1990s, which saw party activists destroying agricultural crops on reclaimed lands though I have not done any reclamation. But one has to admit that, even at the age of 86, he is a fighter. He may lack finesse, but he is an icon for the party cadre. His fights against corruption have projected him as a hero.
VS was carrying the Red Flag and fighting for the Communist cause before some of the kings and kingmakers of the Party today were born. He was a victim of severe police brutality. It is said that once the authorities were about to bury him, thinking he was dead from the torture inflicted on him. He is one of the few surviving leaders from among those who formed the CPI (M) in 1964.
In 1962, during the Chinese War, VS was jailed along with other Left leaders. While in prison he donated blood for the war effort. That was against the then Party policy and, as punishment, he was demoted from the Central Committee.
