21st June 2020 was
Father’s Day. And a few of us cousins were reminiscing through WhatsApp
messages, about our fathers. A band of five Palakkad Iyer brothers (Irinjalakkuda,
Thrissur origin) who decided to shift base out of Kerala to Bombay in the early
1950s, in search of a new life.
In their own way our fathers, our
heroes, lived life king size in Irinjalakuda, a town in the Thrissur district
famous for the Koodalmanikam temple. Our Thaatha was a kind hearted and loving
soul who practised law. They lived in a big house near the temple. Their
origins were however from Thaikatusherry near Ollur, which is also in Thrissur
district. Our great grandfather had lot of land where he did krishi.
After their basic education in
Kerala, armed with shorthand-typing skills, many such Palakkad Iyer men set off
towards Bombay to find jobs in the corporate world (and many to Delhi as well
to seek employment as Government clerks and officers). That generation of males
demonstrated the courage of moving out from Kerala. And their spouses took on
the challenge of adapting to an alien state.... new language, lack of joint
family support system, culture etc. Hats off to these bravehearts.
The small Palakkad Iyer community
in Bombay of that time (1930-1950 I guess?) probably did offer a semblance of a
supporting ecosystem for such "migrants". E.g the mess facilities at
Matunga etc. They migrated out of Kerala
in a steady trickle. The earlier set of migrants settling in and then calling
for the next batch to move out. Completing their education under the
streetlights of Bombay (not Mumbai), adapting to life in a different State,
maintaining cultural roots and network (music, dance, religious rituals,
sourcing and making South Indian specialities like vadu maangai, karuvadaams,
maahaani, veppilakatti, nenthram chips.....), providing the best that they
could afford in terms of education for their kids, supporting each other and the
newer set of migrants from their Kerala brethren.....such was their life. Single
pointed focus: get a job, steady income, save and secure a good education for
their children, support the next batch of migrants.
They must have deprived
themselves of many of their own needs, saved money for basics and a few
luxuries and provided us with a cocoon of comfort. I remember the movies at
Aurora theatre (Tarzan was my favourite), trips to Shanmukhananda hall for
music-dance and more so for their samosa, bonda delights, Phantom and Chandamama, surprises in the form
of salted peanuts in pudiyas, potato wafers, Bhel Puri etc bought for us on the
way back home from office in the Bombay local trains. And the specials in terms
of novels...Sudden, Perry Mason, ViewMaster slides etc.
We are a generation of Palakkad
Iyers, born in the decades immediately around India's Independence. Fortified
with aracchuvitta sambhaar and mologootal, mezhukkuvaratti and podimas,
karuvadaams and parikka vetthal and the special Paal payasams and nei payasams.
Education and moral values were our guiding principles.
It is that pioneering spirit of
our fathers, supported ably by our mothers, their moving away from Kerala, that
provided for all of us a platform and foundation to set up our lives. We were
enabled a pursuit of good quality education extending to post graduation and
beyond in many parts of India and overseas too.
Our childhood i.e 1960-1980 gave
us unique experiences. I remember the foodgrain shortage times when dad and I
used to go early morning by train to Ambernath to buy good rice directly from
farmers to supplement ration store
supplies. Playing goti (marbles), rubber ball
cricket, lagori, borrowing novels from libraries, like Famous Five, Secret
Seven, James Hadley Chase etc. Playing indoor games like cards and carrom in
the stairwell of the buildings. Going to Madhu Book Store in Matunga for
notebooks and textbooks, fixing brown cover and labels to books, exchanging
labels with others. Sharing textbooks as a pass-me-down from older cousins to
younger ones.
And the blanking out of window
panes with paper for the night "lights-out" when the siren blew and
the skies lit up with anti-aircraft trace flares.
The summer holiday train rides to
Kerala and back was indeed a major highlight....and filled with such
joy....today's kids do not even know what a “hold-all” is!!! Packing food for
the long train journey in three tiered tiffin dabbas, playing games in the
train, climbing up to the middle and top berth in the third class
compartment!!! Enjoying the ride through the dark tunnels, enduring the black
soot and dust of the coal fired steam engine. Or taking a quick shower at
Arakkonam station.
Many of these memories will fade
away with our generation. Our kids would not even be able to fathom these
experiences.
Our kids face a brave new world
confidently today. Now the migration is not from Kerala to Maharashtra, but to
lands in different continents. Global citizens they are.
All thanks to our Palakkad Iyer fathers
and mothers who dared to make a new life in Bombay.
