Mayyanad Sangamam held its
12th Annual Family Get together on Sunday October 21, 2018, at Hotel Regency
Hall at Manjalikulam in Thampanoor of Thiruvananthapuram.
In all aspects this was
designed to be an “event packed” meeting.
The meeting started with the usual prayer song and then proceeded on to
the Welcome Speech by the Secretary, the address by the President, Song recitals
by our singers, poem recital by Dr. Seema, the presentation of the Annual
Budget Report, the update by Dr. Mohan of Janasakthi on the activities of
Mayyanad United of which Mayyanad Sangamam of TVM is also a member. The news about the formation of an Organization named Parivarthan
by a group of young motivated youths, to conduct direct home health campaign so
as to take care of the needs and security of old people living alone, at
regular intervals, was appreciated by
all present, and wished them success in their endeavor. Mayyanad Sangamam wants the youths to know that
we are with them in their efforts to make a difference, a Parivarthan.
By this time, confirmed news
arrived that celebrity guest National Award Winner, Indrans, was stuck up with
delayed shooting of a film. Anxiety was written large on everyone’s face as
there was no news of Dr. Sashi Tharoor, our another celebrity guest of the day.
The President contacted him on phone and fortunately he was just on the way to
our place from another meeting. As the endearing felicitation speech by Dr.
Shaji Prabhakaran was being concluded, Sashi Tharoor arrived and everyone in great awe stood
up to greet him. The President briefly and aptly introduced
the Chief Guest and invited him to inaugurate the function by lighting the lamp followed by his address.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP
Sashi Tharoor was in his exuberant elements and seemed to be at home with the
crowd. For the next full forty minutes he held the crowd in his mesmerizing
speech. He spoke of how he ventured into Kerala Politics from his long stint at
the UN where he learned everything about International Political diplomacy. But
it took him a lot of heart-burn to realize the boundary between International
and local diplomacy. Soon he faced the ‘Fresher’s Ragging’ by a vicious
‘cattle-class campaign’ unleashed on him for the seemingly gross in-sensitiveness on his part towards the ordinary Janatha. A naive to politics,
he stood as a man more sinned against than sinning. Slowly he learned to take
such vibes in his stride and has now learned to repartee appropriately in
vocabulary that make people run for dictionaries!
As for the Diaspora members
he advocated that one should be left free to select one’s choice of vocation, but
without losing sight of the larger responsibilities before them. The present
young gen has the facilities of the highly developed communication technology
in their favor. So that the original connotation of a Diaspora itself has lost
significance, as the world is now globally connected to everyone’s convenience.
(The entire speech has been circulated in Whats App).
What came as a very pleasant
and encouraging surprise to the members of Mayyanad Sangamam was the message he
posted in his Facebook Account with a query, soon after.
Addressed the Mayyanad Sanghamam; a group of
Thiruvananthapuram residents from that eponymous village near Kollam, a hotbed
of social reform. They wanted to hear about my experiences of giving up life
abroad to enter Indian politics - I’m unsure… if it was inspiring or
cautionary!”
It is for the youngsters to reply to his Query; may be they can send it to his Facebook. As for the use of the phrase, ‘that
eponymous village near Kollam’ in his message, a short write up should be in place, to compliment his observation about Mayyanad.
Kollam in ancient times was
part of the princely state of Travancore and Mayyanad lying on its border
served as the connecting link to Thiruvananthapuram for the Rajahs of Kayamkulam
Palace. Those days the main mode of transportation was by boats. The Rajah would
come to Kollam by boat from Ambalappuzha and alight at Kollam. From there they
are carried on palanquins by land to the Sastha boat Jetty at Mayyanad. Here
again they get into boats and proceed on their journey to Attingal and to
Venad. In fact, trained Kalari fighters from the village who served the royals
at times of battles during the British Raj met them on their journey via the village.
Sights and sounds witnessed on
route by royal travelers via the village of Mayyanad are part of the great Epic
poems of the time such as Unnuneeli Sandesham (14th C, AD), Mayoora Sandesham
and Kuchelavritham Vanchippattu. In the last mentioned we can find specific
reference to the scenic Mayyanad as a lovely sand laden land having thick growths
of bamboo groves that resembled Kavus. The land lying on the lap of the
Paravoor Lake had giant spread of trees such as the banyan, the Elanji, the
blackberry, the coconut, the mango, the jackfruit and the cashew, interspersed
by paddy fields and rivulets and ponds with Thamara in bloom and an abundant
variety of flowering trees especially the fragrant frangipani (Prabudhathayude
Ithihasam, A Historical Study of Mayyanad, 2005). Geologists point out that
10,000 years ago the sea was 120 meters away from land than it is now. Isotopic
studies reveal that 6000 years ago the sea had entered the areas of Ashramam,
Polachira, Paravoor and Mayyanad. At that time Thangasseri at Kollam was an
island surrounded by sea. When the sea withdrew it left behind the white sand
dunes to carpet the land. (An article by MB Santhosh in Kerala Kaumudi Special) The writings of C.Kesavan give relishing descriptions
of this sand laden land. The ancient inhabitants of the land were of a highly
cultured nature. They lived in constant harmony with the spirit of nature and
followed its laws to guide them in matters of the right standard of living.
Thus they shared a healthy relationship with nature, which in turn gave them
the experience of a sense of peace and connection with others around, bound to
one another’s destiny. Empathy with the other forms of nature was well
developed among them.
It is true that this village
like many other villages in Travancore area had to bear the consequences of the
gross injustices practiced on the people by the rulers of the Travancore
Princely State. A lot of atrocities were practiced purposefully on a section of
the society, socially and economically weak, to the extent they
were denied even a dignified life by way of forcing the women to bear their
upper part uncovered. Severe incidents like cutting of the breasts of women who
disobeyed too happened. Tax burden was the heaviest on these low born. Swami
Vivekananda who had seen all these with his own eyes was stunned and disgusted
and cried, “Kerala is a Mad Asylum”.
A generation of enlightened
leaders, including Sree Narayana Guru, Mithavaadi Krishnan, Dr P. Palpu, C.V.
Kunjuraman, Kumaran Asan and Sahodharan Ayyappan led the community on and
wrested concessions from reluctant royal rulers.
At the time when the whole of
India was urgently striving to unite the country into one Republic, under the
leadership of Vallabhai Patel, it came as a shock that Sir C.P. Ramaswami
Aiyar, the Dewan of Travancore, and the ruler, Chithira Thirunal Rama Varma
decided to non-cooperate. C.P. announced on June 11, 1947 Travancore's decision to
declare itself as an independent state. On July 18, 1947 the ruler read out to
the people, on Trivandrum Radio Station at 8-45 p.m., his Declaration of
Independence: "On and from 15th August, 1947... Travancore will re-assume its independence and sovereignty in full measure"... (Sir C.P.
Ramaswami Aiyar: A Biography by Saroja Sundararajan, Allied, pages 778) But on July 30, he wrote to
the last British Governor-General and Viceroy Louis Mountbatten, a letter
intimating his decision to sign the Instrument of Accession to the Indian
Union, "though not without hesitation". A dastardly attempt had been
made on C.P.'s life on July 25. It was a narrow escape. Only
the angavastram round his neck and his trained breath control saved
his life. The ruler signed the instrument; and C.P. signed the Standstill
Agreement with the Government of India. On July 30 1947, Travancore joined
India. Two days later Sir CP resigned as Dewan, and left the State on August 19.
The ‘Kozhencherry Address' by C. Kesavan on May 13, 1935 was noteworthy for the courageous manner in which C. Kesavan publicly challenged Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyar's repressive rule in Travancore. Strewn in the speech were sparks of thoughts for a Kerala that was free from upper caste supremacy and caste inequalities. It spoke of replacing princely power with people's power, an idea that C. Kesavan assimilated from the events on the national stage of a new political awakening happening at the time. That was why State Congress leader T.M. Varghese described C. Kesavan ‘the uncrowned king of Travancore’ (The Hindu, May 11, 2010).
Subsequently,
C. Kesavan (23 May 1891 – 7 July 1969), proud son of the village of Mayyanad became the Chief Minister of Travancore-Cochin during
1950–1952.
C.Kesavan
on a 2018 stamp of India
The ‘Kozhencherry Address' by C. Kesavan on May 13, 1935 was noteworthy for the courageous manner in which C. Kesavan publicly challenged Sir C.P. Ramaswamy Iyar's repressive rule in Travancore. Strewn in the speech were sparks of thoughts for a Kerala that was free from upper caste supremacy and caste inequalities. It spoke of replacing princely power with people's power, an idea that C. Kesavan assimilated from the events on the national stage of a new political awakening happening at the time. That was why State Congress leader T.M. Varghese described C. Kesavan ‘the uncrowned king of Travancore’ (The Hindu, May 11, 2010).
Let us not forget history, lest
history forgets us.
A couple of images of the day
Do you observe any generation gap on seeing the pictures?
A couple of images of the day
Do you observe any generation gap on seeing the pictures?
It was observed that there was an unusually larger presence of the younger generation on this day. They were all fans of Dr. Shashi Tharoor. The youngster who got the opportunity to serve the welcome drink to Sashi Tharoor was bubbling with joy at being able to be so near him! His regret was that he could not capture a selfie with Sashi Tharoor. So tight was the schedule of the MP that he had to rush to the venue of his next meeting from here. Alas, he was apologetic of not being able to join the crowd in the buffet lunch that followed.