HOUSE VISITS

Sundays used to be our day to visit the old and ailing people of Kumbalam particularly the parishioners and our Kudikidappukars, tenants. We used to go to Thayamkeril (Thirunilath) to pay respects to the old and ailing Paily Master (former Headmaster of the local school) and his wife Elykutty ‘Valliamma’ of Kottoor family as they were very close to us. My friend Jose’s mother, Mary Valliamma would bring steaming cups of tea for us with a sweet smile. Little Pius would hang on to her tail portion of her ‘Njorinja Mundu’, dhoti.

On one such occasion we were fortunate to meet Uncle Fr. Gilbert, an ascetic, one of the favourite sons of Paily Master. He belonged to the Order of Capuchin Friars Minor, (in Latin: Ordo Fratrum Minorum Capuccinorum - abbreviated: O.F.M.Cap.), which is an Order of Friars in the Catholic Church, the chief offshoot of Franciscans. He was doing missionary work in Punjab and Kashmir. I noticed that he was bare-footed and was wearing an un-ironed coffee-brown cassock made of coarse cloth. His waist was belted with a traditional white woolen cord. He put into practice of having a long beard. He was very popular for his sublime homilies. The ideas he conveyed were profound and his diction was crisp and precise. The sublime thoughts he shared were powerful and inspiring to motivate anyone to achieve great feats. I noticed his body language, tone, tenor and gestures, which made me believe that he possessed abundant wisdom and knowledge, nurtured and sharpened over time. He was a simple and pious man. Fr. Dominic Tirunilath, son of Mary and Joseph and grandson of Paily Master Thayamkeril (Tirunilath,) joined the same Order after passing his matriculation with distinction. He too practiced austerity and adhered to his vows. At present he is the Provincial of Capuchin Province of Kristu Jyoti, North West India, Ghaziabad, U.P. 201 010. One of the nephews of Paily Master was the Bishop of Kashmir, His Excellency, Bishop Hippolitus Kunnumkal family at Alleppy, used to come and visit his maternal parental home and the parish church to participate in the important events and I had occasion to meet him, a nice soul. The bishop too belonged to the Order of Capuchin Friars Minor. Bishop’s brother, Ouseppachan also joined the Order of Capuchin Friar Minor and was known as Joseph Kunnunkal. Paily Master’s sister, Agasamma joined the Carmelite Order of missionaries.  Paily Master’s son-in-law, C.V. Jacob Cherupallikkat was a noted lawyer of the Bar at Cherthala. He was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) of Kerala in the year 1965.

While returning home, ‘Ammachi’ told us, “The coarse cloth with coffee-brown ochre is not an appealing one. It would help them to remain chaste as ice and as pure as snow. The life of these missionaries was one of extreme austerity, simplicity and poverty—in all things as near an approach to St Francis' ideals as was practicable. No large provision against temporal wants should be made, and the supplies in the house should never exceed what was necessary for a few days. Everything was to be obtained by begging, and the friars were not allowed even to touch money. ‘Ammachi’ said, “These friars are very humble and wouldn’t even hesitate to beg for a meal.” The traditional woolen waist cord attaches them to their mentor and savior, Jesus Christ. The knots on the waist cord symbolize the three vows; they strictly adhere to their vows of poverty, chastity and obedience in letter and spirit.” The dress code was something similar to ‘Kashayam’, the Indian reddle cloth worn by sages like Vivekananda. She told us, “They believed and practiced austerity and abstinence which would improve their mental strength. Uncle Fr. Gilbert was a remarkable personality. He was a voracious reader. Books were his companions. He travelled extensively throughout the length and breadth of this great country spending time, meeting and mingling with different classes of people. The great external work was preaching and spiritual ministrations among the poor. While travelling, he walked through the vast stretch of coastal beach of Arabian Sea on the west, Indian Ocean on the south and the Gulf of Bengal on the east enjoying the spectacular views of sunrise and the different hues of the sunset and the picturesque sights of fishermen casting their nets to entangle fish. He crossed the major holy Rivers of Periyar and Bharatha; hitchhiked the Sahyadri Mountains and hills marvelling the fauna and flora; trekked across the Deccan Plateau gazing at the vastness of the horizon and the sprawling countryside further north; crossed the Rivers of Kaveri and Godavari and gazing the landscape carpeted with rice paddies of Tamilnadu, Andhra Pradesh and Bengal, the rice granaries, where farmers tend their fields as their ancestors did, the plowmen sowing, reaping, winnowing the grain and then transporting the produce on ox-carts trudging through muddy paths to their homes for their families and countrymen. He passed through the Chambal Ravines frequented by Phoolan Devi and her bandit gangs and her opponents; took a dip in the holy River Ganges; travelled through the wheat bowls of Haryana and Punjab marvelling the landscape carpeted with wheat, millet or maize; traversed the desert regions of Thar and Jaisalmar in Rajasthan; and trekked the amazing hilly terrains of Himalaya and gazing at the snow clad mountains at a distance and marvelling the varied fauna and flora and interacting with the sheppards changing pastures. Despite diverse languages and dialects; and different cultures and civilizations, varied castes and communities; different food habits, clothes, from region to region; he found that there are a lot of other factors like religion, customs, traditions and the belief in the theory of “Dharma and Karma,” (the law and its observance; and daily service or duty) that helped the unity of this great country, India. Indians have a broader outlook and the capacity to absorb all the immigrant good ideas and cultures and they firmly believe in freedom of thought and expression because such freedom enriches the culture which then becomes dynamic. Naturally, Uncle Fr. Gilbert possessed profuse and profound knowledge of human sentiments.” One must read books, meet people, explore nature and constantly ask interrogative questions to oneself. Then you shall discover the secrets of getting wisdom. The harder you pursue your quest, the bigger and endless it seems and you discover how small a human is compared to the vastness of the universe. Then you would say, “There is so much to learn.”

On our way back home we usually stopped over at Edangarupally ‘Tharawad’. Fr. Jacob Edangarupally, the first vicar from among the parishners, was their uncle. We used to go to the Kareethra ‘Tharawad’ family house as well, for a short while to chat with them. We used to pluck the fresh leaves of the ‘Edana’ tree, with the help of my close friends Unni and Antony, which gave out a good aroma when rubbed or bitten.

At times, Saramma ‘Valliamma’ Polaparambil ‘Tharawad’ used to take us to her fairly new and large ‘Tharawad’ house.  Jacob and I used to pluck their ‘Pasa Naranga’, a reddish-brown coloured, ripe, tiny oranges belonging to the Citrus family. Its fragrance lingers in my mind. Josekutty, her son, would fetch a ladder to take out the eggs of the pigeons from their nest. He told me that he makes omelet with its eggs. He had only one sister, Mary, an attractive lady fair complexion mostly clad in a sari and a blouse with short sleeves. Her long flowing shining black hair was neatly braided.  She was older than us. His mother introduced her and told us that she was studying in St. Teresa’s College at Ernakulam. Josekutty’s grandfather, P.J. Mathan, was a lawyer. He was the nominated President of Kumbalam Panchayat (1947-52). He shifted his attention into business. He was one of the founders and the former chairman of the erstwhile Bank of Cochin Limited at Ernakulam. I knew his children, Kuncheria Pattom and Chacko Pattom who were settled at Pulinkunnu in Kuttanad. When they arrived in Kumbalam, they used to visit our house to see ‘Appachan’; they used to reminiscence their good old days together. I even heard them mention their youth dramatic club which was attached to the church.

Geochan Kallarackal was very close to Jacob and me. Sometimes he invited us to his house where we would chat and play for a while. We also used to visit Mathepally (Pidiyancherry) to see their garden. Abraham Mathepally was a contractor at Kushal Nagar in Kutag Hills in the State of Karnataka. He was a self-made man. He carefully invested his earnings in real estate.  He had aesthetic tastes and loved to collect nice furniture, paintings and had a beautiful garden in front of his house. He had varieties of croton and bougainvilleas. They used to have a well maintained lawn too.

Thressiakutty ‘Valliamma’ of Chembalamsseril would insist that all of us should spend a little more time with her. Jacob and I found the guavas in their courtyard irresistible. With Uncle Xavier’s permission we used to pluck a lot of ripe ones and share a few with Xavier Master. ‘Valliamma’ would get very upset if we did not have our breakfast with her on Sundays. On our way back we would go to Papputty Master of Kallarackal-Parayil and get a few ‘Kumbaloose Naranga’, belonging to Citrus family. Pappachan, Abraham and Cicily were the close friends of Appachan. Achamma Issac ‘Valliamma’, used to stay with them. Her children Jose and Antony were our close friends. We used to enjoy their warmth and friendliness.

We used to call on Naithy ‘Ummamma’ (Mariam Varkey Kozhivally (Pandoth.) She was very attached to our family. Her eldest son Xavier (Pappachan) was a brilliant and well-informed person, a self made man. He got married to Kunjamma, who is the sister of one of my classmates and friend, P.K. Joseph, Palakkapilly at Thevara. We used to chat for some time with him and his brothers, George, Mathew and Dr. Antony. He used to visit us too.

Once in a while we used to call on Thressiamma ‘Valliamma’ (Manavalan family) of Pandoth-Palathingal. Her grandson, Johny, became a police officer following the footsteps of his grandfather, Joseph. His brother Kuttappan was a member of panchayat. We used to go to their cousins also in Thaithara-Palathingal to visit Kunjipailo ‘Valliappan’ and his wife, Annamma ’Valliamma’.  Their son, P.P. John Master, was my teacher. While all the Palathingals (Xavier, Georde and Jose) shifted their domicile to Champakkara and Trippunithura, the region of their paternal ancestral home; Saju Palathingal, son of John Master, alone preferred to stay close to the churches at Kumbalam.

Occasionally, we visited Kochuvaruth ‘Valliappan’ of Thayamkeril (residing on the backwater front on the eastern side of Kumbalam) and his son John. His eldest daughter, Sr. Cyril, joined the Carmelite Order. Their uncle, Fr. Yacob Thayamkeril, was popular for his sermons. He was a vicar of St. Mary’s Church. Sometimes we visit his brother, Devassy and their cousins, Varkey, Lonan (father of T.C. Cherian now at Thevara,) Joseph (OusepachanThayamkeril’s father), Joseph (Pappu), Chacko, and Varkey whose residences were nearby. One of their cousins moved to Vennala and another to Kizhakkambalam.

We used to make many stops at other houses to visit the aged and ailing persons and gave help to deserving families.

Excerpts from

MEMOIRS

An autobiography

by

Joseph J. Thayamkeril

Lawyer, Kochi, Kerala, India.

josephjthayamkeril.blogspot.com