Dear Relations: Part II
Two sisters and one brother. Brother was the youngest. I remember Ammachy’s parents. They were very loving. Vallyappachen was a landed gentry. I remember him with reverence now because he gave both her daughters a share of his property, which is quite uncommon in Christian families in our place. Usually, daughters are given some dowries and all the property goes to sons. Our Vallyappachen’s father, that is, Ammachy’s grandfather had also done the same thing in his lifetime. He had given a big share of his property to his daughters as well. She told us about the immense love her grandfather had for her. Wherever he went he took her on his shoulders. She used to get a royal ride sitting there.
Ammachy’s sister was Chakkara Kochamma to us. She lived with her family at a place called ‘Chakkara’in Pampady. I did my Std.IV at her home. The school was nearby. We took shortcuts through the plots of the neighbours. The very first day I was gifted with a bundle of books and texts. I don’t remember whether I was keen on my studies during that period. I used to roam around the endless plots or coconut and jackfruit trees, pepper vines, and wild plants, etc. with my cousins.
We children used to roam around and collect cashewnuts and ripe pepper. We were supposed to collect the pepper which had naturally fallen being ripe on the ground. But we secretly plucked from the lowest vines also. Appappen had a shop there and we would give the things to him and he would give us money or we would barter it for candies.
I still relish the sweet syrup Kochamma made from palm toddy. The tender toddy was very sweet. For the first and the last time, I tasted it there. Then there would be a special preparation. Kochamma would prepare ‘pani’(a sweet syrup made from the toddy) which she used to bring to Ammachy along with tapioca chips, jackfruit chips, etc. Oh, it was delicious to take tapioca chips with pieces of coconut. Kochamma used to bring them for my brothers and sisters who were in the Gulf countries. ‘Pani’ could be used in place of honey, though unlike honey, in larger measures. It could be used with ‘Put’, Dosa, Appam,etc., and with a combination of rice, curd, and plantain that was served as a dessert towards the end of wedding feasts in those days. It was believed to have digestive effect.
A special memory I have to share about Appappen of Chakkara. I told you he was very fond of me. He used to bring some sweet eatables for me. I heard Ammachy quoting Appappen’s words later that the one year I stayed with them was the most fortunate or prosperous period in their life. That I brought luck to them. He had the habit of taking liquor at night. He would sing songs at night during the night prayer. I have forgotten many of the details.
Kunjunjappan put a sale of crackers during Christmas and we bought them from him paying money. Rajuchayan was the oldest. He was rather serious and not very talkative. He was managing their agriculture at that time. He is now with his family at Chakkara or Pangada. Lysammachechy, the elder daughter, later went to Germany and most of the time she is there with her family. Achanmon is in Pampady with his family.Appappen and Kochamma are no more.Kujunjappan also passed away quite early in his life.
Years back, when I was still in school, we visited them at Chakkara. Babu, my elder brother suggested a game. I should carry Sunny on my back, and Ponnamma, with Aby my cousin, on her back and would run through the house and the person who came back first would be the winner. Babu was the umpire. He said ‘On your mark, set, go…’ Our starting point was the sit-out. As it was great fun, I ran laughing with my full rows of teeth out. The room inside was higher than the sit-out. I was running with Sunny on my back and the moment I stepped on the higher plane, I fell with my face down. I broke the edge of the two teeth in the upper front row. As there was no pain, we did not care. When we returned to Puthenangady we remembered what Appachen said when we set out for the trip. He had told me, ‘Don’t lose your tooth as Omana had done.’ The reference was to a much earlier incident at Aruvummakkal Achachen’s (Ammachy’s first cousin) house in one of the estates in Munnar. During our vacation, we used to visit our cousins and uncles in other estates and they, in turn, visited our family. It happened on one such day. Omanachechy was wearing a long skirt for the first time and during her play on the cot, when she jumped from the cot, she fell and broke her two front teeth. Later the teeth were replaced at Dr.Babu’s Dental Clinic in Munnar. In those days it costed just fifty rupees. Even now the teeth remain intact. Appachen was referring to this incident when we set out for our Pampady/ Chakkara trip.
Many a time we felt that Appachen had some foresight or premontition like this. So when Appachen checked us from something we hesitated to do it. Ammachy used to say it was his ‘karinakku’(black tongue or evil tongue).
An unforgettable couple were Manuchacha, Appappen’s younger brother, and his wife Kunjumariamma Kochamma. They had no offspring. Manuchacha was an alcoholic and Kunjumariamma Kochamma had to suffer a lot because of this. We loved Kochamma as she was very loving. I still remember how the thin-bodied Manuchacha with a large moustache used to shake his legs vigourously, though involuntarily, whenever he stands. I do not remember having seen him stand straight. I have never come across a person with such involuntary shaking of the legs either. He could never stand steady.
Achachen, Ammachy’s brother was the youngest. The best part of his life was spent on agriculture. He had firm ideas and convictions for his children and they rose to his expectations. Ammai was there with stalwart support to her children. I did not have much close contact with him as I got very few occasions to stay in his ‘thravadu’ (heritage home). But all my elders, except I think Babu, spent many of their vacations there. Joychayan had really happy memories of the Karikamattom days. The place is called ‘Karikkamattam’ in Pampady.
Laila, Suresh, Kunjumol, Aby, Elsykutty, Shaji, Suja, and Joji are their children. We were much closer to Laila and Suresh. As we grew older and older the number of occasions we met gradually decreased. Laila was two years senior to me when we were in college. I knew her best friends also. On her return from the Gulf countries, we had several occasions to meet each other. I am sad that Laila is no more.
Then another person whom I dearly loved and admired was Babychayan of Palathara, Appachen’s first cousin. He was gentle, amiable, and loving. Babychayan and Ammini Kochamma had no children and Babychayan was extremely fond of me. He was in Ambala Defence Department or so and whenever he came on a vacation, he visited Puthenangady and would talk interestingly about many different topics. I was in my small classes when he first came. He would hold my hand in his and would talk pleasingly. Every Christmas he would send me a Christmas Card. I still remember one particular card picturing a small girl, he sent me. I had kept it under a glass sheet placed on a table that belonged to the European Manager who gave it to Appachen when he left for good. I don’t know what happened to the table along with the pictures.
In my college days also, then I think, he had retired, Babychayan occasionally came and gave me tips for essays, speeches, etc. He was a great reader and had vast general knowledge. I remember, he talked about the Watergate episode once. Soon after my M.A., he made me join a Certificate Course for German. As for him, he was a self-tutored and a self-made man. He knew English, French, German, etc. and he taught them in his Institute as well as in some schools. He was an effective and efficient teacher who taught with clarity and efficiency. Years later, he taught my son and his future would -be Ushus also French. Till his end, we had communication with him and he was present on all our important occasions. After his death, Amminikochamma called me and asked me to take all his books. At that time I was teaching at Girideepam College (GIAL) after my retirement. I took some of my students in the School Van and brought many books from his collection for college.
I was close to Kunjoottichayan of Palathara also. He was also my Appachen’s first cousin. Both Babychayan and Kunjootichayan were first cousins. Kunjoottichayan worked at Malayala Manorama. He also frequently visited our Puthenangady home. He was a man of good heart who regularly visited his relatives and enquired about their whereabouts. Although Ammachy loved him best, on questions of religious factions, she was a ‘fanatic’; same was my brother Babu. Kunjoottichayan belonged to the Orthodox Church whereas we belonged to the Jacobite Church. Both were entertaining the same kind of beliefs, the only difference being that the Jacobites considered the Patriarch of Antioch as their head, whereas, the Orthodox group considered a native Bishop as their head, not wanting a foreign authority over them. Ammachy and Kunjoottichayan used to have a vehement debate on the topic.If Babu was there, he would also join them. Kunjoottichayan was the Head Master of the Sunday School for many years and a champion of the cause of the Church.
When I applied to the Catholicate College, Pathanamthitta for the teaching job, one requirement was a letter from the parish priest countersigned by the Kottayam Bishop at Pothampuram, Pampady. We got the letter from Rev.Fr.Jacob Punnachirayil, the Parish Priest and the Vicar of Panampady Church at Veloor. Kunjoottichayan took me to Pothampuram and got the signature from the Bishop. As I was least bothered about this factional fight, I did not know of the significance of the instance. Only later it dawned on me that the bishop put the counter signature to our Vicar’s letter because Kunjoottichayan had come with me. Otherwise, he would not have signed the testimonial of the parish priest who belonged to the opposite faction.
Now the factional fight between the two sects has aggravated as the Supreme Court has passed a judgment against the Jacobites in favour of the Orthodox. The Orthodox group has started taking possession of the Jacobite churches. Whatever is the judgment, it is not fair. How sad that people who have the same Faith have to fight for earthly authority. Things have not changed very much from what they had been in Jesus’ time.
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