Maddy's Ramblings

I have been a little bit tardy with writing over the last two months, but then again there were no dearth of reasons. We had to deal with a tragic loss, the tumult following it and undertake a short trip to India. As you can imagine, traversing these waters were not easy, to say the least.

What started as a relatively straightforward chemotherapy regime ended with severe complications and my mother in law who was a healthy soul otherwise, was gone in a jiffy, to join the many others of our parental generation as a photo on the mantel. She was gentle person, loving and full of life, always inquisitive of things new. I still recall how she used to race cars on the iphone or complete Sudoku puzzles with adeptness that is alien to us. She had hardly a qualm facing the unknown, like traveling alone at her age to the US with little mastery over English. But well, only memories remain now of that dear person. Soon my wife and her brother were busy tying up all the loose ends after their mother’s untimely departure like closing accounts, handling the paperwork, shuttling between offices, banks and so on. I joined them and trudged through Calicut and some of those offices with a heavy heart, helping them sort out matters and bring to a close, life in a vibrant house which had been my mother in law’s abode. There is so much I could write about her and perhaps I will, in bits and pieces as time goes by.

Calicut is as it always had been, but this time too, a whole lot of construction was going on and I won’t be surprised if it ends up as a city with no familiar landmarks for people of an older generation visiting it after a period. Paragon still lords as ‘the restaurant’ in town, but it was a new place on the highway bypass called Oven that blew us away with an astounding Fish biryani, this time. The Punjabi Dhaba was drab, and the M grill so so. The veg scene was pathetic, but the Ojin bakery was a revelation in the midst of Ramzan with so many different kinds of Muslim delicacies that vanished off the shelves as soon as the sun set. Kumari’s chips across Paragon took over from our favorite chips shop closer home as the latter had gone down in standard, and chomping down a pack of 50 grams of freshly made varuthakay, sitting in a leaky autorikshaw careening through the waterlogged streets of Calicut, while it rained cats and dogs, is something only natives can understand.

The beaches were crowded and I was surprised when my BIL suggested we drive a little further to South beach. Well, well, see how things change, we have a South beach now, not one to rival Miami, but one nevertheless that sported a ton of people looking across the waters, but nary a bikini clad beauty or a muscle toned beach bum. The youngsters looked across the waters perhaps dreaming of a job in the gelf, or how to square things up with a girlfriend, the older people enjoying the moment, groups of friends, a few couples in love, a large number of noisy black birds which Edward Lear succinctly described as ‘ Ye crows of Malabar, What a cussed bore you are’. The peanut sellers, the salted pickle sellers, the toy sellers, they were all there, rain or no rain.

In the midst of all this, I came across an anomaly. You agree how difficult it is to see order and efficiency in general when it comes to India, right? It is difficult to expect anything like that starting from the airport. But a visit to the village office close to the city jail was the first of the revelations, and the straightforward way in which the young officer dealt with and completed our case was nothing less than a pleasant shock. A visit to the Akshaya Kendra near Westhill topped it for it was here that we came across a super-efficient office, which of course looked nothing like one, just an open room with 4 people. The young lad sitting there, multitasking with a couple of computers, handled crowds with total panache, and dealt with our case with such efficiency, in a few minutes which I know from experience would have meant weeks of visits and prods and pushes to get done, in the older days. Three days later the cards which we had applied for were available. Seeing youngsters like Backer Shamil made me so much more hopeful of a vibrant India in the future.

Movies like ‘How old are you’ and ‘Bangalore days’ were the main topics of aimless conversation and I must admit that I enjoyed watching both of them enormously. Only recently did I find out that Shahabaz Aman the singer hailed from Calicut, and if I had known, I would have said hello to him, for we share a fondness for Mehaboob the late singer.

And we had yet another surprise when a tree fell over nearby power lines and shut down power to the area, but lo and behold it was sorted out in a matter of hours as a result of KSEB using contractors to do such repairs. In the old days it would have taken so much more time, I guess!

The book scene was tepid to say the least even though Mathrubhumi had opened a swanking new bookshop near the indoor stadium and DC books did not have many new history books to sell. Basheerka’s (Vaikom Mohammed Basheer) daughter works there and watching her face while I requested for the new compendium of Basheer’s stories titled Balyakalasakhiyum kure pennumgalum, could not help but smile. Nevertheless I collected good bunch of books (40 pounds) which were stacked into my usual book repository, a locally procured duffle bag which had been used often to bring them across these continents many times. The heavyweight was of course Bhaskaran Unni’s ‘Pathonpatham nootandile keralam’. As usual it was fun trudging those streets dhoti clad with my trusted kalan kuda (a relic from the 80’s) but all that was brought down with a thud when a shopkeeper gently explained that rarely did somebody wear a double dhoti or carry such an umbrella there days.

Ah! Who cares, and so I went and purchased one more dhoti, with a vengeance.

SM Street was crowded like hell, and on holidays, Street hawkers took over, loudly hawking their wares under the very nose of the great soul who brought fame to the street, none other than SK Pottekat. Mananchira maidan and the pond looked well cared, and I could not but help think of the days when the Zamorin’s family (15-17^th century) bathed there. Nevertheless there was a furor across the pond, where the heritage Comtrust building was put up for grabs, for CHF has taken up the issue against destroying that famed landmark from the city.

So much was happening, so much was there to see and experience, but I had little time amidst so many formalities to be sorted out. I could not meet any friends and a week later I was off to Palghat to spend some time with my brother.

I had never expected Palghat to change, but here too bridges and buildings were being built and this was where we got to experience a new vehicle, gaining popularity, the Tata magic. It was fun going around in Muraliettan’s (he is younger than me though) bright yellow vehicle, well protected from rain. Yet again the vegetarian restaurants like saravana and kapilavastu were mediocre. The farmers were reasonably contended as the monsoon though late had arrived. The Temple was being run smoothly though some silly issues were gaining political momentum. The young and proficient Chenda drummer Sreedharan had obtained a puraskaram, a recognition and wedding bells were in the air as my niece had just got engaged, awaiting a wedding next year. A mandatory trip to Coimbatore showed how life across the border could be, well, somewhat dry though robust from a business sense. Pallavur, a place which was so distant from technology, was now in tune with smart phones sported by most and ipads and the such even though not commonplace, used by some. I was pensive as I sat and looked across the fields, and at the pond which we used to frequent in our younger days and a memory of a particular day surfaced (a story is in the offing as you can imagine).

Our trip is never complete without a trip to Guruvayoor and that went smoothly, and interestingly we drove through the locale where Arnos padre (I had written about him earlier) lived and preached. The mandatory ICH visit was also done and the cutlets pioneered by AKG were stuffed in with gusto and I did spare a thought for Pepita Seth who compiled such a lovely book entitled – Heaven on Earth – Guruvayur.

The pattar at Pallavur had in the meantime delivered the special order for chuttu murukkus and packets of chips, halwa had been picked up from Kumari’s. It was time to leave, but not before going to Lakshmi stores at Tali, across the temple. Nothing beats the mixture he sells (made in Palghat though) and this time we also tried his palada pradhaman, and a medu vadai – phew! both were astounding.

Time to return, and as the day neared, my wife and I were saddened by the fact that we could never again

come back to a home with a caring parent. But I suppose that is life….The departure across the seas took us to Dubai where we met with some close friends. The lush green of Kerala, the drip drip and pitter patter of the monsoon rains were quickly wiped off our thoughts, to be replaced by the intense blinding light, dust and heat of the desert and the loud hum of the road and the ever present air conditioners. The city or what one should say is a metropolis continues to surprise me, and the one which we used to visit during most Ramadan and Haj holidays in the late 80’s bears no resemblance to the ultra-modern city we see today teeming with Bentley’s, Ferraris and Lamborghini’s (We did visit Jas island and the Ferrari world!). And a friend treated us to a great dinner at Asha’s a restaurant owned by Asha Bhonsle. I did not forget to tell them the story of how usha utup convinced RD Burman to compose Chura Liya with Asha based on If it’s Tuesday it must be Belgium!

And of course you come across many a lowly laborer from Kerala who casts an envious look at the well-heeled tourist or well to do businessman. That is the person who eventually goes back and builds that garish looking ‘gelf’ house across the street and then travel back to Dubai in a state of penury, to become part of yet another slavish contract. The arrogance of the British expat whom you come across now and then, brings up a snigger in me, for I know them better, having lived amongst them in the UK. Dubai (and perhaps the Far East) is the only place where they can overlord these poor laborers. Armed with lowly qualifications, but possessing a better command over spoken English and coupled with a staunch color preference by the Arab, they rule the roost there. Again, a vagary of life!

Back home…Raleigh made sure we would not forget the monsoon rains so soon, and the rains here have been equally persistent and heavy. Time to get back to the routines and catch up on other matters….

The Colonel Thirumeni of Travancore

I had spent my high school days in Trivandrum and it was not difficult to bring up the tidbit from the deep recesses of my mind that the University stadium in those days, had a GV Raja Pavilion. I was never too familiar with the name and I had not much of an idea about the great person who had the name of Lt. Col. Goda Varma Raja (GV Raja). Recently an avid reader requested me to introduce this luminary someday to readers and when I chanced on a chapter covering him in a nicely bound book detailing the life and times of Utharadom Tirunal Marthanda Varma, I decided to give it a go. These days the Uthradom Tirunal is being mentioned often in not so very glowing terms, in connection with the wealth in the Padmanabha temple vaults and well, I guess sooner or later the matter will be dissected and hotly debated by the people of Travancore. They enjoy such debates, if you ask me, and I can say so from my life amongst and understanding of the populace there.

The book itself is nicely written by Uma Maheswari and you can also see some fine sketches by another fellow blogger Sharat Sundar. One thing you will notice is the font used for the titles where v looks like a b and this presented some difficulty in my locating the book in our library system. As I quickly glanced through the pages, one face was arresting in its native beauty, that of Radha Devi, Uthradom Tirunal’s wife. It is documented that as she was a non-vegetarian, and a special kitchen was constructed in the palace for the lovely lady!! The same fact was noticed and highlighted by Pres Dr Abdul Kalam who had written a preface to the volume! But well, let me not digress and please allow me to introduce you all to Goda Varma.

The young lad born to Ambalika and Puthusseri Narayanan Nampoothiri in Poonjar in 1908 was educated at the Mar Dionysius Seminary at Kottayam (another source however states he was educated at SMV school) and later at the CMC College there. After these early days, the rebel in the young mind surfaced when he and his brother were not granted permission to pursue higher studies. They went on a hunger strike and the police who got involved following a formal petition by the elders, threatened action, but even this was of no avail. The matter was eventually resolved and GVR joined medical school at Madras but discontinued it in 1933 after an alliance was fixed with Karthika Thirunal Lekshmi Bayi, the Princes of Travancore, whom he married formally in 1934. After this and a honeymoon in Kovalam, he moved to Trivandrum. This pleasant stay in Kovalam was perhaps the reason why he became a great promoter of beach tourism in Kerala and went on place the state on the global tourist map.

But all kinds of sports and games fascinated him, especially tennis and cricket. Not only those, but also other activities involving physical training, for when the Trivandrum university got established in 1937, Goda Varma found himself appointed as the president of the board of physical education and commandant of the university labor corps. External coaching was introduced by him when he hired AG Ram Singh as Cricket coach. But here was where he crossed swords with Sir CP Ramaswamy Iyer and soon resigned this position. Anyway by then he had also become a Lt Col in the Travancore army.

While his younger days were spent in the pursuit of excellence in football, tennis and cricket for his young wards, he himself continued with other sporting activities like golf, rock climbing, surfing and flying through his middle ages.

The King Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda varma reminiscences (data sourced from Thrippadidanam by Uma Maheswari, duly acknowledged with many thanks ) .…………..

“If Kerala and India has a place in the sports world, it is because of Col GV Raja. In fact his vision was to put Travancore on the world map by first creating a world class international airport here (took a long time for international status - until 1967). For its development and for tourism promotion, an airport tis not just a necessity. In fact he wanted to get the ITI building demolished to make way for the airport.

He started the labor corps in 1937 after the Travancore University was established since he always wanted students to work. In their parades, he led them with a rifle in one hand and a shovel/spade (mammatti) in the other. The helped in the building of roads and bridges. Today that is all gone, though we have NCC in its place though it partakes in no labor activities. Do you know, he was the person who after an official visit to Pangode and seeing soldiers sleeping on the floor ensured they had beds, ever after?

When he wanted to promote tennis, he brought a coach and that was the all India coach Ranvir Singh. At first the tennis club was at Rathapuram in Sasthamangalam. The shirts had a black and orange color and were initially imported from Britain. At that point of time, Travancore was the only club which had all of nine courts! The very famous Ramanathan Krishnan used to practice in those courts. He did not just hang around at the upper ranks, but spent time with lowly ball pickers (Maniyan or Thankappan are examples who rose to the rank of State tennis players).

The story of how Tilden, Koshay Emerson and Ramilen played an exhibition match in Trivandrum is very interesting, just imagine how it would be if Federer and Nadal played a match in Trivandrum today? Well it was like that in those days with these luminaries. And so they came there after all of GV Raja’s unstinted efforts.

He got a set of four courts built where the senate hall stands today, in a week, but then there was a problem. As there were no floodlights, the game was slated to start at 2PM. it was very bright and the visitors hesitated to come out and play that afternoon (to me that was plain ‘gora’ petulance, the clay court tournaments and the other opens are played in blazing sunlight and with a good amount of discomfort!). As it appears GV Raja had to resort to some threats to get them out and come out they did to play on till 6PM, thus heralding Travancore to the tennis scene!

Well, you may not know, he was the person who discovered Vijay and Anand Amritaraj! He was the one who insisted that they be taken for the Davis cup, but there were protests as they were not members of the team. Varma insisted. As there was a shortage of finances, support came from JRD Tata and Vikram Sarabhai. It was after this tournament that GV Raja argued for and obtained the inclusion of an Asian zone for the tournament.

When the Trivandrum airport finally got international status in 1967 and a service was organized to Colombo, there were no takers. They would all go to Madras or Trichy to get to Colombo, mainly because of a special reserve bank requirement to obtain and submit a special P form to fly out of Trivandrum. GV Raja eventually got involved, and had the form requirement withdrawn. He was also the person who got the Pushpak trainer aircraft introduced in the Trivandrum flying club against unnecessary objections about its airworthiness. After GV Raja proved that they were unfounded, other clubs also introduced the Pushpak in their clubs!

Later there was a demonstration show involving many fighter jets from Nagpur to Trivandrum. When a problem arose about getting fuel for these planes which had to fly 2500 nautical miles, GV Raja was the man who came up with a workable solution of getting fuel to various Kerala airstrips using bullock carts.

Quoting the maharaja - Interestingly it was also GV Raja who brought together the cosmonauts and the astronauts together at Delhi (I myself could not find any details of this meeting though!) and had them sit at the same table! He had Yuri Gagarin, Neil Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins together with their country secretaries and ambassadors at the same meeting at Delhi! Perhaps this was the time when he jokingly apologized to Indira Gandhi as she had to stay awake till 430AM to watch him land on the moon!

You may not know this, but he was the President of Kerala Cricket Association for 13 years from 1950 to 1963 and was the first person from Kerala to become an office bearer of the BCCI; when he became its Vice-president. His services were treasured in posterity by the people of Travancore and the G. V. Raja Pavilion in the University Stadium, Trivandrum as well as the first and the premier Sports School in Kerala are named after him. To commemorate his memory, the G.V.Raja Indoor Stadium was started in a very good and convenient building previously owned by the Maharajas of Travancore. Widely regarded as the Father of Kerala Sport, the birthday of Raja, falling on October 13 is now celebrated as Sports Day in Kerala since 2007. The GV raja pavilion was inaugurated by Pres VV Giri who remarked that it was possible only because GV Raja was travelling, or else he would have forbid such things!

Col. Thirumeni as he was fondly known, got an indoor stadium built at Shangumukham, a roller skating ring, the Veli boat club, and the Sreepadam stadium at Attingal. In 1953 he was involved in conducting the Trivandrum-Kochi swimming competition after he formed the aquatic association and as we saw before, with his great interest in tennis, was also the president of Lawn tennis association. He had established the sports council in 1954, which was apparently the first of its kind in India and took the initiative to form a Golf club association in Travancore. Cricket, football and tennis were his favorite games. He was the person who started up mountaineering activities (this was after he did a mountaineering course in Switzerland and the establishment of the institute at Darjeeling) at the funnel rock in Neyyar dam and other nearby hills and it is said that he even promoted surfing so that the youth imbibed a love for adventure.

Most of information provided above can be found elsewhere, but there is a little known fact about him and his relationship with Sir CP Ramaswamy Iyer which is not talked about. This is brought to light in KPS Menon’s couriered letter to Nehru a few days before Indian Independence, while he was serving in China.

Goda Varma was one who supported Travancore’s accession to the Indian union, and felt that the caustic tongued Dewan was trying to take advantage of the situation. The letter was perhaps written just before the CP assassination attempt was made on 25^th July after which Sir CP left Travancore. The situation slowly changed with the creation of the Travancore Cochin state in 1949 and finally in 1956, the formation of Kerala.

Going back to 1947, the exasperated Goda Varma secretly wrote to KPS Menon, his friend. KPS Menon transferred this information to Nehru. The letter reads as follows, quoting KPS Menon and provides an interesting account of the times and situation in Travancore.

I do hope something will be done to bring Sir C. P.—for he is Travancore today—to his senses. I reproduce below for your personal information an extract from a letter I have received from Goda Varma Raja, brother-in-law of the Maharaja of Travancore.

"Here in Travancore I don't know how things are going to turn out. I am almost enclosed in a water-tight compartment. On principle I am against my taking (because of my position) any active part in the day-to-day politics of the State. At the same time I cannot agree to things which are against the real interests of the Maharaja or the people. There is a lot of loud talk on independence. It might be good or bad according to circumstances. But the whole thing is vitiated by the advocacy and energy put into it by Sir C.P. This man is clever, able and learned. All this makes him dangerous. I told him some years back that if he cannot behave like a gentleman he must keep out of my affairs. He has yet to learn completely the wisdom of that suggestion.

"To me Travancore can make a real contribution to the greatness of India. The talk of independence I hear from the papers is just creating an opportunity for Si C.P. to have his own way while others break each other's heads or pour abuse at each other. My personal view is that Travancore should have gone into the Constituent Assembly and made a real contribution in its work. Then if the final shape of things did not emerge as befitting the status and self-respect of Travancore it will be time to make a fight for it. Brave and confident people need not be afraid of consulting each other."

KPS continues to Nehru - Men like the writer of this letter dare not speak out. And the press is gagged. Incidentally, I see that that statement of about Travancore has leaked out in a wildly distorted form. A Chinese paper here contained a translation of a report in the Forum of 13th July to the effect that I had tendered my resignation to you in order to go and have it out with C.P! I wonder if it will not be better to let my statement be published after all. When no Travancorean in Travancore dare speak out, those outside must. Besides, when an officer of the Foreign Service has reached the rank of Ambassador, is he to be debarred, as Bajpai is trying, from expressing his views even when they are altogether consistent with his Government's? And in the present case the views were expressed by me, not as a member of the Foreign Service but as a Travancorean, pained to see his State taking a wrong turn at a critical juncture………………

Besides his contribution to sports and games, the genial Raja was also instrumental in sowing the seeds for the growth of tourism and aviation in the State. His life was always filled with adventure and some amount of danger and was once attacked by a tusker He later wrote, “I escaped with no serious injury, except a four inch hole on my right thigh. My football days might have triggered off some reflexes, but I have been forced to remain in bed. I may console myself that it took an elephant to do it”

In 1971 he went to Amritsar, to participate in All India sports Council Conference. He made an unscheduled trip to the Kulu Valley on 30th April 1972. With friends Bolina, the then Aero Club president, and Swaranjit Singh, they flew in a three-seater aircraft which suddenly nosedived and crashed. GV Raja always had great desire to see a Viscount Flight landing in Trivandrum, but tragically, its first landing was with his corpse in it.

Fellow blogger Abraham Tharakan fondly remembers theKarthika Thirunal - wife of Goda Varma in his blog and provides valuable snippets about the sportsman prince as well.

Goda Varma’s concise bio reads thus - Sri P.R. Goda Varma Raja Avargal (b. at the Kanijiramattam Palace, Poonjar, Kottayam dist, 17th September 1908; d. in a plane crash in the Kulu Valley, 30th April 1971), Hon Lt-Col 1st Travancore Nair Infantry, Chair Kerala Travels 1959-1971, Presdt Aero Club of India, All India Lawn Tennis Assoc, Trivandrum Tennis Club (TTC) 1938-1971, Kerala Sports Council (KSC) 1954-1971, Kerala Cricket Assoc 1956-1963, and Kerala Flying Club 1959-1971, Vice-Presdt All India Council of Sports, the Swimming Fed of India, and the Brd of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), Dir India Tourism Development Corp, rcvd: Coron Medal (1937), son of Srimathi Ambalika Tampuratti, of Poonjar, by her husband, Sri Puthusseri Narayanan Nampoothiri - issues - two sons and two daughters:

His grandson through his daughter Gouri Parvathi Bayi is my favorite musician these days, Prince Rama Varma as he is popularly known.

And that brings me to an oft quoted amusing anecdote from Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of Pres Roosevelt. After a visit to Kaudiar Palace, she wrote in Life magazine, 'I went to Travancore, where I met Chithira Tirunal, the Maharaja. He introduced me to the Maharani, who was not his wife, but his mother, and the heir apparent, who was not his son, but his brother. I have not understood the system. But I am glad that the power is vested with the women.'

References

Thripadidanam – S Uma Maheswari

Travancore – the footprints of destiny – HH Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma – as told to Uma Maheswari

Bio source – Christopher Buyers

Twilight in China – KPS Menon

Kerala spirit of sports article
Hindu Newspaper reports

Photos - Wikipedia etc duly acknowledged with thanks

Parayail Abraham Tharakan – Fondly remembered

Our association started sometime in 2006 after both of us had decided to enter the blogosphere. Since then I have followed his voluminous output with so much respect, so much interest and much kinship, for we had similar tastes though so apart in age (That comparison was not to signify how far in age he was, but how young at heart he was). Interestingly we became good friends after he helped me source an article on Mehaboob the Singer. We had never met and even though Abe, that was how I called him, invited me on a couple of occasions to his ancestral estate located at Olavipe as his village was called, I never managed to get to traveling down south to meet him and his family. I think he was bit miffed by that, and I had always had that lapse prick my conscience, and it continues to do so.

Abe communicated less after his heart attack in 2009, but continued his presence on his blog as well as Mysore blog park, a portal where both he and I contributed thanks to a person named GVK or GV Krishnan (an eminent journalist, now retired), who brought us together. In fact at that time, our small group comprised a few likeminded individuals, some of whom who write less these days. As you can see from Abe’s blog Song of the waves, he continued to be a voluminous writer, posting many hundred posts in these 8 years.

Olavipe Thekanat Parayil Abraham Tharakan aged 81 (a.k.a Papachan) - On the professional front, he used to be a General Manager for the Kerala unit of Apollo Tires and a director for Excel glass. Abe was also a sports buff and cared much about its development in Kerala. He wrote a number of articles on those subjects, be it hockey, cricket, athletics or tennis, his favorite. I am sure he would have been the first to rejoice that Sania Mirza had won a grand slam title for the mixed doubles at the US open this year, after many years. Ironically, his last post was titled ‘God bless Indian sports’. Abe had represented Kerala in Hockey as its goal keeper in 1950.

But you can see from his posts that he enjoyed politics, TV and all that was happening around him while living at Madras, often traveling back to Kerala for family meets at Olavipe. I assume nostalgia caught up and he soon moved back to Cochin for good in 2011. He loved photography, be it quaint objects, flowers or trees. There is so much more to Abe I presume, though I knew him only a little and that too, through the bits and bytes that we put up on the virtual world called the internet.

Yesterday I got the information of his passing through a comment from a mutual friend Ashvin on my latest blog where I had mentioned him. Sadly his younger brother had passed away just a fortnight ago.

May his soul rest in peace. God Bless………………….

Abe - The waves may have become still but the songs will remain in our memories…

Abe’s blog – Song of the waves

Murali's visit to Olavipe

Tracing the curious story of ‘The King of the Coast’, an American in Kerala

There is a fascinating song ‘kayalinarike’ which was originally sung by Mehaboob and recently re-sung by a favorite of mine, Shahabaz Aman about Cochin’s past, where they mention a number of foreign companies which used to do business in Cochin. Well, perhaps then and before that they were all entrenched in the port and backwaters of Alappuzha- Alleppey or the Venice of Kerala, a place that later declined to become a sleepy town and a forgotten port. But many will not know that there was a time when it was a major port of Travancore and termed ‘second to Bombay only’. It was a port created with a purpose and it served it eminently, which was to break the Dutch blockade of the coast and establish a Travancore monopoly of all its produce. To further promote trade all kinds of foreigners (people from other regions like Malabar, Surat, Bombay, Chettis, Konkanis and so on) were invited to work under a commercial department sponsored by the King of Travancore and run under the Dewan Keshavadas. Over a period of time, the commercial and the vadai canal were built to access the backwaters and lakes. And as we near the 1860’s we find that a lighthouse was built, a telegraph office was constructed and people from the West started to take notice and arrive at this fine harbor.

The song that we started with should actually have mentioned a pioneer among them all, none other than Darragh Smail & Company which employed over 1170 people during the turn of the 20^th century, though it would not have been rhyming. And this is all about James Darragh, the American who not only influenced the region, but created a legion of left handed weavers…

Sometimes people wonder why I work on getting minute details about such obscure persons and write a few thousand words about them. I enjoy getting the story out of it and knowing those lost souls and you the reader, must realize that it is because of such adventurers that we are living comfortably today and mankind is reaping the benefits from their hard work and adventurous efforts.

And so we go to Alleppey (it was called exactly that even then) in the late 19^th and early 20^th century. To get a feel, you have to read a fine article about the locale, words which would be valid even today - An Indian Venice by CE Bechhoffer (circa 1918). Quoting him – Imagine a narrow spit of sand covered with coconut palms; on one side of it the waves of the Indian Ocean are beating in a continual foam. Few boats would dare to put out from this shore, lest they should be caught in the surf and swamped. But barely fifty yards away, on the other side of the palm-covered spit, lies a vast and placid lagoon. The wind that is tearing the sea into fury is averted from the surface of the lagoon by the impenetrable barrier of palms; but it sweeps over a few feet above the waters and fills the sails of numberless boats. The sea is desolate, except for one or two daring fishing craft and a tramp steamer quite half a mile from the shore. But the lagoon teems with life, covered with the tracks of sailing-boats and canoes. This propinquity of sea and lagoon is the characteristic of the coast of South-West India from a distance north of Cochin almost all the way to Trivandrum, the capital city of the State of Travancore.

It had been a torture in the lagoon to stifle in the appalling heat, and now at last we came to water-ways where the sun's rays rarely penetrated. The water in front of us was absolutely still, but our wash sent great rolling waves to break upon the banks.

Sometimes we stopped in midstream, for the canals were too shallow and sandy for us to venture close inshore — to disembark and take up passengers in canoes, a proceeding attended with tremendous excitement and trepidation. Especially when we got under way again and rocked their thin and fragile canoes with our wash did the timid passengers show alarm, and with some reason, for, though crocodiles are as rare in these canals as they are conspicuous on the shores of the broad lagoons, there is doubtless always the possibility of being snapped up in the event of the canoe's overturning. Towards evening, after one or two delays upon unsuspected sandbanks, we began to near the end of the first part of our journey. The banks of the canals were lined with canoes, and on shore huts became more and more frequent among the palms. As we passed, not without many blasts of the siren to clear our path, bands of children would run down from the huts and fling themselves on the painters of their canoes, lest our wash should carry these away; and the handsome, half-naked men and women looked up at us from their work among the coconut groves. At last we came into the straight channel which forms the main thoroughfare of the town of Alleppey, and ran in to the quay. There we disembarked, and I called a rickshaw, leaving my servant to follow me with the luggage to the Travellers' Bungalow.

My rickshawman was a fine tall fellow, and he started off at a quick pace. But in a minute or two he slowed down and began unaccountably to hobble along at little better than walking speed. At last I discovered the cause. The rickshaw man suffered from the curse of the district—"Cochin leg," a disease which is, however, much more frequent in Alleppey than in Cochin itself. It is elephantiasis, which gradually swells and thickens a limb until it reaches the ghastly dimensions that have suggested its name. The inhabitants of Alleppey seem to be affected mainly in the leg though I have seen men with the marks of the disease upon other limbs. Its extraordinary prevalence in the towns and villages of the back-waters is presumed to be due to the brackish water; there is said to be no cure for it. Practically all the rickshaw men at Alleppey are affected by this complaint, with the result that locomotion there is excessively unpleasant for both runner and passenger. But there is, after all, no need to move about at Alleppey. The Travellers' Bungalow lies on the seashore, beside the lighthouse and the jetty. The city itself stretches for the most part along either side of the main water-way, with occasional bridges over side canals. It is a clearing-house for the products of the interior, but there are no signs of life in the "town” itself.

To trace the story of the protagonist, we have to go back in time, to 1855 when a Brooklyn man left New York to seek his fortune in Kerala. At that time, he was actually an apprentice in his father’s coir factory. He sailed to India destined for Calcutta but was unsuccessful in making mats with Bengali labor and English expert supervision, for some strange reason (Remember now that coir matting was unknown in India but was already established in Britain and America). As it appears he took a couple of his trained laborers together with the English supervisor to a place he had heard of, rich in coconuts and teeming with people willing to work their butts off, but had no idea of their commercial potential. The man had big business in mind, nothing short of setting up a world class factory and to become the biggest manufacturer of coir products in the world! That my friends, is pioneering and James Darragh, that was his name, realized his dreams in a very short period.

He was a pioneer, in all respects when it came to cocoa mats (The US name for coir), but he also tried his hand in a few other businesses like cotton, oil and so on before making his fortunes on coir and propelling Kerala to the forefront of the industry, worldwide. Darragh, Small and Co., thus became the first American firm in these parts, soon employing some 1,081 hands and shipping coir matting to all parts of the world. His biography (It is a pity but so many books provide wrong accounts of his life) as printed in the American businessmen reads thus. Let us look at that and dig around a little bit more to see what drove the 28 year old young man many miles eastwards…

JAMES DARRAGH, merchant, born in Lurgan, Ireland, in 1827, died in Cairo, Egypt, in December, 1889. He emigrated to America while a boy and found employment in New York city in the manufacture of coir mats and matting. Learning that labor was low in price in India and that mats could be woven there at the smallest expense, he sailed for Aleppy on the west coast of Malabar, where, although beginning with small means, he gradually developed a factory, employing a thousand natives in this industry. He spoke the native language with fluency, made friends among the high caste residents, was kind to the poor, and acquired such influence as to earn the title of "King of the Coast." The house in this city took the name of Darragh & Smail, in consequence of the admission of Henry Smail, a son-in-law, to partnership. Mr. Darragh was the first person to manufacture cotton spool thread in Travancore. His mill at Quilon cost $350,000 to build and gave employment to 1,500 natives and a few expert Europeans. The Maharajah and his cabinet opened the mill with formal ceremonies. Mr. Darragh's family consisted of his wife and two daughters, the latter being Mary, wife of Henry Smail, and Ellen, wife of John McStay of Belfast, Ireland.

We see here that after about 25 years, Darragh has become a bigwig and was hobnobbing with the royalty of Travancore and even minting his own coins. He quickly diversified into coconut oil, tea, coffee, rubber and so on….and become a very rich man. In 1889 he decided to head back to New York and enroute at Cairo, he fell ill and died.

From the headstone of James Darragh’s grave, we get the following additional information.

Erected by Mary Darragh to the memory of her husband James Darragh who died at Cairo, Egypt, December 20th 1889 aged 62 years. Also their two children who died in India in their infancy. Of your charity pray for the above-named Mary Darragh who died at Hannahstown 17th March 1900 and whose remains are interred here. Of your charity pray for the soul of John McStay son-in-law of the above and dearly beloved husband of Ellen McStay who died at Locust Lodge, Belfast, March 8th 1912, aged 51 years RIP. Of your charity pray for the soul of Ellen McStay beloved wife of John McStay and daughter of James and Mary Darragh who died at Bromley, Kent, August 10th 1943 aged 75 years.

So now we know that Darragh’s wife was Mary, that he perhaps lost two of his children in India and had two more who survived. We see that he had two daughters, Mary and Ellen. Mary went on to marry Henry Smail later. We can perhaps conclude that Mary Smail was married to Henry after Smail was inducted into the family business.

We note from other accounts that the first small but modern factory of Travancore was thus started in Alleppey in 1859 by James Darragh to manufacture coir and coir products and for this he brought in some master weavers (two are mentioned, Banerjee & Chatterjee by some imaginative writer – but this does not sound right for both are Brahmin surnames and they would not be weavers in a caste conscious Bengal) from Bengal. Now let us take a look at the travails of Henry Smail and soon we will bring together their accounts and life stories.

1895 - Henry Smail, head of the firm of Darragh & Smail, arrived in New York on the 16th ult. from India, via London, and will hereafter make his headquarters at the firm's New York establishment, 177 Water Street. Mr. Smail has spent a number of years in India, overlooking the factories and exporting business of his firm. He was also formerly in charge of the New York business, but five years ago, on the death of James Darragh, then the senior partner, he returned to India and has made his headquarters in Alipee up to February last. On the death of Thomas. F. Bryce, the New York partner, in November last, Mr. Smail decided to leave India and make his home and headquarters in New York.

So we see that Darragh disappeared from the Kerala accounts of Darragh Smail & Co in 1860, whereas Smail remained in Alleppey (Alipee) for another 25 years. In the meantime, the advertising was ramped up (For some strange reason the Kerala Coir mats were termed Calcutta Coir mats!). The advt says - Buyers of either Calcutta or domestic coir mats and mattings can hardly be said to have inspected this market until they have seen the samples and obtained the quotations of Darragh & Smail, the old established India house, of 177 Water Street, New York. It used to be - Darragh & Smail are the most extensive manufacturers of cocoa mats and matting in India and also have one of the largest factories of the same goods in this country, located in Brooklyn. They are extensive exporters from India of coir fiber and yarns and other India products.

Browsing through New York records we now note that one Margaret Holt in 1890 transfers property to Mary, wife of henry Smail in 1890. Who could be this new character named Holt? Hang on, we will soon try to find out.

We also get to know more of Darragh from the accounts of an old China trader in New York named Charley Gustchow who was a dock supervisor involved in the review of legal cases related to coconut oil spillage and product damage complaints related to shipments from China and India. Prior to that Charley had sailed extensively to Japan, China and India many a time and was considered a storehouse of information. He also acquired and sold curios from India, to people in New York. As it appears, he traveled down to Alleppy once and chanced a meeting with James Darragh. Charley’s obituary in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle of Dec 12^th 1908 reveals the following about Darragh. That Darragh was a man of original Ideas and force of character is evidenced by this brief sketch of his character as set forth by "Charley" Gutschow, who appears to have known him well In India.

It was on one of his expeditions along the West Coast of the Indian peninsula that he reached Allepy, a port of Travancore. This latter is a long, narrow dependency that runs along the coast from above the apex of the great peninsula. It is ruled by a rajah under the supervision of a British resident. It was there that "Charley" met a Brooklyn man who had become enormously wealthy as the owner of cocoanut fiber manufactories, cotton, coffee and tea plantations, and whose story reads like a romance. This man was James Darragh, who lived in Williamsburg many years ago and conducted a small factory for the manufacture of cocoanut fiber, otherwise coir fiber, into mats, door mats, matting and other similar articles. He discovered that the raw material coming here in the shape of fiber cord was manufactured In Travancore at a nominal cost by cheap native labor. Gathering together what little property he could, he turned it into cash and sailed for India, leaving his wife and two daughters here. He settled In Travancore and established a business that throve rapidly in his hands. He acquired wealth quickly and became a confidant and adviser of the rajah. He obtained such influence with the native ruler that he was permitted to coin his own money, and the influence lasted up to the time he died at Cairo several years ago. Mr. Darragh waxed wealthy and started tea, cotton and coffee plantations that throve rapidly under his careful supervision. He usually sent one full cargo of Indian products to New York yearly in a sailing vessel and established here the East Indian Importing house of Darragh & Small that still exists at 177 Water Street. Manhattan. Mr. Smail was a partner and married one of Mr. Darragh's daughters. Some years ago Mr. Darragh decided to leave India and see Brooklyn once more. On his way he was taken ill and died at Cairo. His first wife and their daughters became involved in a lawsuit that was finally adjusted amicably to their satisfaction, and they returned to Ireland to spend the remainder of their days.

Herein lies an interesting observation, that he had two wives. This was not quite what we could make out from some sketchy details of the lawsuit itself or the tombstone. What was reality? The New York Times of July 12, 1893 provides the answer.

Frederick A. Ward yesterday' asked Judge Cullen, in the Supreme Court, Brooklyn to appoint a commission to take the testimony of Mrs. Henry Small, at Aleppy India, in the suit of Margaret Holt against the executors of the late James Darragh of that place. James Darragh was a poor Brooklyn boy, who went to India, accumulated money, established a matting factory, and became wealthy. He married and had one daughter, whom he brought to Brooklyn and left with his sister, Mrs. Holt, to be educated. He promised Mrs. Holt that he would remember her in his will, and he made a will leaving her $7,000. This will he afterwards revoked, and made another in which Mrs. Holt was not mentioned, but her daughter was willed $15,000. Afterward, Mr Darragh’s daughter returned to India and married Henry Smail, Mr Darragh’s surviving partner at Aleppy. Her testimony is considered Important enough to send for. Mrs. Holt wants $25,000 for taking care of and educating Mrs Smail during her childhood. Decision was reserved……..

Now we make some interesting observations, that Smail was originally a partner (?) in the New York office, perhaps a partner who had previously been in India a few times between 1855 and 1890. We note that he went to India after the death of Darragh to manage the affairs there. We can guess that Mary was born just around the time Darragh reached India i.e. 1856. We observe that Mary went to India after Darragh’s death and perhaps got married at Quilon around 1890. We see that they both returned to New York after five more years i.e. after settling the above case, while the second daughter and husband moved to Ireland with their mother. The fact that Mary Smail is not mentioned on the tombstone perhaps signifies a rift between her and her mother, Mary Darragh, who died in 1900. Did Smail and Mary conspire to take over the reins of Darragh and Small in far flung Travancore? But then again Darragh did make a will and disposed of his property & establishment legally previously. I was intrigued and continued to check till I got the answer from the Brooklyn daily newspaper dated May 14^th 1911. The various inputs to the newspaper came from US congressman Redfield.

It comes to light that the New York office was created after Darragh made his fortune in Aleppey and was favored and supported by the rajah of Travancore. His stories came to American ears through Charlie Gutschow who was sent to oversee the proper stowage of Darragh’s cargo into the merchant ships. According to Charles, Darragh left his wife and two daughters behind when he went to India. In India he married a high caste lady but continued to provide amply for his wife and daughters in Brooklyn.

The interesting part comes to light now. Henry Smail, his manager and later his partner, married Darragh’s Indian born daughter. So was Mary Smail a third daughter from his Hindu wife? Did he have two more girls in India who died? Who was Mary’s Hindu mother? What happened to the first daughter in Brooklyn? Perhaps a deeper study of the Smail family line will give more clues.

But now let us go to Alleppy and see how the fortunes of Darragh were made and how the company prospered. He was the first foreigner to start a modern factory in Alleppey Travancore and went on to provide employment to many thousands, that itself being a huge thing in a poverty stricken region at that time. This investment as you can imagine marked the beginning of a gradual process of industrialization in Kerala which in due course boosted the fortunes of the sleepy backwaters of Travancore.

1898 - It looks like our friend Smail fell ill, for the C&UR reports - We are pleased to learn that Mr. Henry Small, of Darragh & Smail, has recovered from his severe illness, and is again at his office. And soon he is up and complaining… In fact they had a hearing at the US senate as well, ensuring that matting companies paid no duty on the coir. Then came shipping issues - Referring to his firm's importations from India, Mr. Henry Small, of Darragh & Smail, says that it is now very difficult to charter sailing vessels to bring a cargo from India to New York. Very few sailing vessels are being built, while steamships are constantly increasing in number and are closely competing with the old fleet of sailors. For many years his firm has brought its products of coir fiber, yarns and Calcutta matting from India to this country in sailing vessels, but Mr. Small says that he will soon have to resort to the use of steamers. The latter now ply directly between India and New York, whereas heretofore almost all steamers went first to England, necessitating transshipping the goods to America. Why does he mention it? To signal higher prices due to the changed shipping and increased expenses!

Finally the Smail name comes up again in the case hearings of the Dunbritton 1896. He is now in partnership with Thomas F Bryce and files a suit to recover damages from Andrew weir & Co, owners of the ships Dunbritton after his coir dholls, mats etc (tea, fiber, mats, turmeric, coconut oil etc) had been damaged in transit from Aleppey to New York in 1892 (Getschow whom we talked about earlier was involved in the survey of damages). It was decided by the court that the damages due to improper stowage be made good.

Later, Darragh Smail and Co., Ltd., Alleppy, and the Commercial Union, Ltd, Quilon, were sanctioned and registered under an emergency regulation by the Rajah of Travancore for the construction of two pattamars and two schooners respectively. One of the pattamars, was named 'Lakshmi Pasha' and had a tonnage of 170 tons. Perhaps they were the first of Travancore registered ships.

With that we lose sight of Smail from written history, I could find no obituary of the bloke, who turned out to be the typical Manhattan businessman, living well, marrying high and retiring awash in money.… S. C. Wilber continued to be the selling representative for the cocoa goods at the warehouse and also on the road. They named a hall after Smail in the school at Aleppey and there his name remains etched for posterity.

But Darragh and Smail Co continued its existence in Aleppey. By 1881-90 they made over 13 lakhs of coir exports. In the first few years, the wages they paid were in kind, articles and gifts on special occasions. By 1860, cash wages became the norm and Darragh’s wage payouts were considered quite high (rice and 4 annas per day).

In 1908, the Quilon mills owned by Darragh changed ownership after it was acquired by South Indian Mills, but was liquidated by 1913 after accumulated losses and debts. Of his Quilon spinning mills, we get an insight from Henry Bruce who has this to say - There are about a dozen Europeans, whose chief excuse for a sweltering existence is business. People dress mercifully little in Malabar; yet at Quilon there are often dinners where dressing is required. The Darragh Cotton Mills, with all their clangor of machinery, are worth a visit. Here are 650 men; and more interesting, 150 women—or rather young girls, up to marriage.

The ownerships would have left the Smail family in the first decade of the 20^th century ( the Mcstays continued on till 1935) and I am not sure who the owners were, though the founders name continued to be used until after independence, in 1957 that the ownership changed hands, a year after Kerala was formed. Vakkan & Sons purchased the Baling Department of M/S Darragh Small & Co. Ltd., Alleppey on 2-1-1957. Pursuant to the sale the Management of Vakkan & Sons took over the premises of Darragh Smail & Co. Ltd., on the same date. That signaled the transfer of Darragh’s legacy to Indian owners.

But why did I mention the left handed weaver aspect? That is most interesting. One source says - A curious fact dating back to the inception of mat making in Alleppey district is that every mat maker in Travancore is left-handed, which may be attributed to the fact that Mr. Collins, Mr. Darragh's first factory manager, was left-handed, and so this became the norm ever after. He was left-handed and his machines too were for left-handers. Is it true? Perhaps it may be just that, yet another legend!! We get another angle from his grandson DL Vickers who mentions that his parents (John and Ellen McStay??) were living in India in 1935. He states – Tradition has it that Darragh was so closely imitated by his operatives that they worked left handed, even as Darragh did himself, he being , as they say in the States ‘south pawed’.

The house or bungalow they lived was I believe, called the Dow’s bungalow and until the 1950’s there were a motley collection of Europeans and their retinues of ayahs and servants and bungalows in the region. I do not know Dow’s bungalow survives any longer.

As Aleppey became better known and prospered, the stagnating lagoons were filled with coconut husks needed for the industry and this increased the infestation of mosquitoes and one also had to endure the horribly smelly air that hung around. The result was that many a person was afflicted with the Cochin leg of Alleppy, elephantiasis or filariasis.

You may be surprised to hear this though - fittingly a cure (Drug - Hetrazan) was discovered by an Indian (his name was Yellapragada Subba Row – I will write about him soon) around the 1940’s living in Brooklyn New York and working for Lederle!!!

Darragh & Smail continued on in New York and the company got involved with the innovative teaboy gas/electric tea maker in 1959 made of alloy and Bakelite, with settable (infinitely variable!) strength, essentially a combined kettle and teapot.

As days went by, trade unionism and worker agitation became pronounced, cost increased and management became complicated, so many of the owners left, and Aleppey reverted back to a sleepy port with the result that a modern port like Cochin took over. And so we hear the song kayalinarike connected to Kochi…which should actually have been Aleppey kayalinakrike………….

And with this I bring to end the story of the American who brought prosperity and fame to Alleppey, but who is now resting in the depths of obscurity. Hopefully this will cast a ray of light into those murky depths…..

UPDATE:

The following is an update received from descendants of Darragh's daughter Mary, now living in Australia. While it helps provide some clarity, the family was also kind enough to send me the reminiscences lsited under item 1 of the references, which go on change my inferences somewhat. I will correct those ASAP.

In Kathy’s family, stories were told of James having ‘an adopted Indian daughter’ - a bit of social licence? It’s much more likely that she was illegitimate by an Indian mistress he had after he arrived in India, although there is still a possibility that he did marry an Indian woman.

James Darragh’s partner or wife in India - and mother of Mary - is a mystery. No-one has been able to trace her or find out what became of her. She may have died or been disowned. So far no birth record for Mary has been found, if there ever was one.

James later married Mary (yes, same name), nee Fleming, in Ireland, about 5 years after he had had Mary, his first daughter. With his wife Mary he then had three more children, of which there was just the one surviving daughter, Ellen.

Some scandalous NY newspaper reports after James Darragh's death talked of him 'taking a second Hindu wife' after his wife Mary and daughter Ellen returned to Ireland. In fact it was Mary Fleming who was his second ‘wife’. Although he may of course have had later Indian partners, contributing to those stories ...

James sent his daughter Mary to New York to be schooled - and possibly also to distance her from what could have been a disapproving and conventional ex-patriot social milieu in India. Whatever his relationship with - and the fate of - her unknown mother, James obviously accepted responsibility for Mary, and it is likely that she was his daughter.

Mary lived in NY with James Darragh’s sister and the sister's daughter - of the court case fame. Since he changed his will to leave money to Mary (more proof that she was his real daughter and not adopted?) it seems there may have also been a falling out with his sister for some reason.

Henry Smail was James Darragh's manager, and he was made a partner in the business after Henry had married Darragh's (possibly illegitimate) half-Indian daughter. Was this a deal made to secure daughter Mary’s future?

James' wife Mary, and their daughter Ellen, would have been unlikely to have kept close to his first daughter. Their return to Ireland suggest a rejection of life in India as well as in the USA.

Given the attitudes of the time - regarding Mary's mixed race, and possible illegitimacy too - it may be that no-one openly talked about her origins.

This could have lead to several of the confused reports of the time about ‘second' wives and Ellen being her sister (rather than her half-sister).

Henry and Mary Smail returned to England before the 1901 census, as there was an arm of the business still in London. They had five children and lived most of the latter part of their lives at Wimbledon, now a south-western suburb of London. One of those children, Alice Smail, married my wife's grandfather, Georges Waterkeyn.

References

Regrettably I could not lay my hands on the article - G.H. Davey, Reminiscences of James Darragh & Henry Smail - Carpet and Upholstery Trade Review, 15 February 1890, even though I requested a copy from the Coir board who possess the same. Perhaps there is more information there.

The Carpet and upholstery trade review and the rug trade review 1896

Brooklyn Daily Eagle of Dec 12th 1908,

Brooklyn daily eagle May 14 1911

On a Human Note – Dom Leonard Vickers (A touch of God – Eight monastic journeys)

Letters from Malabar and on the Way - By Henry Bruce

Gateways of Asia – Aleppey – Hans Schenk

America's Successful Men of Affairs: The city of New York - edited by Henry Hall

The Wide World: The Magazine for Everybody, Volume 42 – An Indian Venice by CE Bechhofer

The history of trade union movement in Kerala – K Ramachandran Nair

Darragh tombstone

Pics

Darraghs Mill Quilon

Other sources – Google images…

Afterward

Darragh and Smail Co in Aleppey were to figure again, this time with respect to trade unionism. We see that by 1907 the company’s new administrators became tougher businessmen and profit became paramount. After the First World War, demand dipped and wages dropped. Work was organized by job contractors or moopans who were known to treat the weavers very badly, especially the women. They also extorted the workers by demanding a commission or moopakasu. The working hours are seen to stretch from 6AM to 6PM, late coming was not allowed and the women laborers not treated very well. In addition to factory work, they had to do menial work for the owners too. After a strike and walkout, an agreement to start work at 7AM was reached at. This was the first of its kind in Kerala. Darragh Smail and Co also got named in militant women’s uprisings and we can see a large number of trade union cases related to the company. It appears that a physical clash between labor and management occurred once and that a European manager was beaten up by a group of women workers inside the factory. The K Meenakshi case was a prominent one relating to pregnancy - Darragh Smail Company, the employer felt that as women became pregnant at home, the management could not be called up to make any extra payments. Meenakshi organized the women who argued for the linkage between the two, i.e. the fact that women worked to give themselves and their children a dignified life. All this turbulence continued on till 1946 when Sir CP intervened and the bloody Punnapra Vaylar revolt occurred. But that is another story, for another day.

I apologize for the length of this article, my heart just did not allow me to cull it…

The 1940’s were certainly turbulent if you look into the history of mankind. Half of the world’s population were striving to gain independence from imperialist powers and deliverance from famine while the other half fought for all of six years over a multitude of issues. Turbulence in Ethiopia, Spain, China and other parts of Europe led to the declarations of this global war in which many fought and died. What earthly importance did the hilly and difficult terrains of Afghanistan and its warring tribes have in this war? One only needs to look into any Asian map to see the Afghans sandwiched between India and Russia and notice a great strategic importance.

For the British, the Jewel in the Crown India was under threat. They always feared that the Russians would find ways of wresting control from them and presumably the Russians did have some ideas of that sort. The first Afghan ruler who signed a treaty of friendship with Russia was Amanullah in 1921. But he was soon gone, by 1928. Nadir shah who ruled between 1929 to 1933 was wooed by both the Soviets and the British. But when the 2^nd world war started, the nature of the game changed as a third party who was present in Kabul, gained some importance. That was Germany, and some 120 of its citizens working in Afghanistan. Let’s go to Kabul of the 1940’s to see what was going on. You will find all kinds of interesting people playing their cards in this game, Subhash Bose, Hitler, Canaris, Churchill, Peter Fleming and so on…

But to get to the details, you have to first of all know about the Abwehr, the intelligence agency which was part of the well-oiled German war machine in those days. Abwehr was the German war agency which dealt exclusively with raw human intelligence, obtained from field agents and other sources. In 1939 Canaris, the head of Abwehr was tasked with planning a Russo-German invasion of India, perhaps to be strategized only on paper to counter the British when needed, as a threat. Hatched in Istanbul by Eppler Gafer, it was initially unraveled in Masuleh - Afghanistan, with a fellow conspirator Ghulam Barakatullah who had connections to the influential Mirza Ali, the Fakir of Ipi. That operation was known by the code name Operation Tiger and to get some perspective it is probably a better idea to start with a previous article of mine detailing the adventurous flight of Subhash Bose from India to Germany. Bose had planned to seek support from Hitler in his fight against Britain and that was what took him to Berlin in 1941, where ACN Nambiar had already set up stage. The Germans were not too receptive to the Indian guest, to start with. Why so?

Hitler had neither the plans to invade India nor to help the Indian legion make a charge into British held India, as Bose desired. His intention was to take control of the Soviet Union and wait on the wings of India to use the situation for further negotiation with the Allies in dividing up the world. Hitler had always been clear that Indians needed to be ruled by a superior white British government and also agreed that the Brits were doing a good job at it (For him, the Indian freedom movement was just a rebellion of an inferior Indian race (Asiatic jugglers) against the superior English Nordic race! And that the Nordic race had all the rights to rule the world.). For Hitler, the Indian congress were a waste of time and he recommended as follows to Lord Irwin in Nov 1937 “Shoot Gandhi, and if this doesn't suffice to reduce them to submission, shoot a dozen leading members of Congress and if that doesn't suffice, shoot 200 and so on until order is established. You will see how quickly they will collapse as soon you make it clear that you mean business”. Goering supporting Hitler, quickly labelled Gandhi an anti-British Bolshevik agent in India. But these were not clear to Bose (though he had complained about Hitler’s remarks in Mein Kempf) and if he had really understood all this he would never had wasted time in Berlin, The Nazi’s had no intention of helping Bose (in reality Hitler considered hobnobbing with people like the Agha Khan) and that was the reason why the disillusioned Bose eventually drifted away to Japan.

But let’s get back to the Northwest frontier where Germany had already established their place as a third power after the British and the Russians. By 1924 the Germans were running a popular school called the Nedjat German School in Kabul. Later, the Germans were able to sign an agreement with the Afghans in 1937 (Todt agreement) to supervise road construction all over Afghanistan. In 1937 a Lufthansa line was established to Kabul, a Telefunken radio link was set up and Siemens put up a 20kW broadcasting station. The few Germans were well respected in Kabul and they were seen as more lenient towards Islam in general.

All this was fine, but the Pathans of the NWFP were restless, their rights to raid the fertile lands and people of the plains had been disallowed by the British in return for some money, insufficient as it always was (essentially economic and their implementation of their moral codes (Pukhtunwali), which imply retaliation and blood feud (Badal) in settling old disputes). Here is where you get to hear of the Fakir of Ipi or the Waziri warlord Mirza Ali Khan who rose to fame in the notorious Islam Bibi case. With his leadership Waziristan became the most notorious area of tribal unrest in the British Empire on the eve of the Second World War. Mirza Ali also provided support for Abdul Gaffer Khan’s leadership to the red shirts. They were also allied with Gandhi and Indian congress. The fakir was difficult to catch for he played a cat and mouse game, forever on the move as the scarlet pimpernel of Afghanistan.

Back in Germany, the Abwehr decided to increase their presence in Kabul. I am sure you all remember TEL or TE Lawrence, a.k.a Lawrence of Arabia. Well, to a certain extent it was his strategy and success that was followed and mimicked by Hauptmann Theodor von Hippel who once worked under ~~him~~ Canaris, in the formation of the Branderberger commando unit. Hippel planned to insert élite units, meticulously trained in sabotage and well versed in specific foreign languages, operating behind enemy lines and wreaking havoc on the enemy's ‘command, communication and logistical’ units.

Abdul Majid, the Afghan economy minister who had traveled to Berlin, in the meantime suggested a pact with the Germans stating that they would support Germans against the British so that the suffering Afghans could be liberated and in return economic support and access to the sea. Agha khan also tried his hand at winning Hitler’s support, but failed. Anyway after a number of subtle but failed overtures, the Abwher decided to place their agents in Kabul. The frontline attachment 200 was to be led by Oberleutenat Dieter Witzel Kirn (Code name Pathan) with his team of specially recruited men aimed to establish camp near the Indian border, establish a transmitter and start radio transmissions. He was also supposed to create a good rapport with the Fakir of Ipi and get the people to back the Axis powers.

D Witzel

That was the beginning of Operation Tiger. The time period being the summer of 1941 and a time when Operation Barbarossa was being executed with the German all-out attack on the Soviet borders. Some 4 million soldiers were on the move, to capture the USSR and complete Hitler’s ‘Generalplan Ost’. Operation Barbarossa was the largest military operation in world history in both manpower and casualties and was to become a major failure when it faltered at the gates of Leningrad.

The German legation in Kabul comprised their commercial attaché Carl Rasmuss, Dieter Witzel or The Pathan and two radio operators Doh and Zugenbuhler. They were the people who oversaw Operation Tiger and Operation Fuerfresser (Fire eater). The intention behind Operation tiger was to foment a full scale uprising on the frontier and was initially scheduled for Sept 1941. Two more agents, Prof Manfred Oberdorffer (code name Keil) and Fred Brandt (code name Arma) were also deputed under cover of their professions namely tropical medicine and entomology, with both purportedly working on finding a cure for leprosy. They were tasked with establishing contact with the fakir of Ipi. Further they had to train the locals in explosives and so on, and this was the sub operation code named Fuerfresser. In addition to training the locals, the so called Bose organization from Germany was to be inserted into the borders to join the masses streaming in revolt into India against the British. That was the full grand plan of the operation Tiger, the Grobiensatz. The Germans had an Indian contact who would help them, that was none other than Ram Bhagat Talwar of the Kirti Kisan party, whom I introduced in the article detailing Bose’s flight.

Talwar was certainly a devious man and very clever one at that, he was perhaps the most difficult to follow and a master of his trade, that being deception and agent extraordinary. Who were his masters? British? Soviet? German? Short, lean, handsome, fit, intelligent, able, quick witted, cool headed and self-assured, this young fella born in the NWFP knew his territory better than anybody. As we get into our story, this staunch communist was all of 32 years old and known as the guide who would frequently lead his communist friends from India to freedom, through Afghanistan. He had just completed the task of getting Orlando Mazotta, NSC Bose through enemy hands and sent him off to Berlin and his brother had been hanged (for assassinating the British Punjab governor in 1930) by the British testifying his hatred for the English. The Germans trusted him implicitly and he became their link man in Kabul. The Abwher would pay him what he asked in return for guidance.

The Russian NKVD was a law enforcement agency of the Soviet Union closely associated with the Soviet secret police and was known for its political repression during the era of Joseph Stalin. It is best known for the activities of the Gulag and the Main Directorate for State Security (GUGB), the predecessor of the KGB. Talwar signed up with the Russian NKVD sometime after Bose left for Berlin, perhaps in June 1941. Though the Russians were a little leery, they finally agreed to his recruitment as agent (Code name Rom) and explained to him that they would carefully edit and redo any document Talwar passed on to the Abwehr agents.

In Kabul, a radio station run by Iqbal Shedai called Radio Himalaya also broadcast daily, which Bose did not quite like as they had different ideologies. Bose wanted a Free India radio, to rule the airs. But soon the British learned of Bose’s presence in Berlin and made a splash stating Boses’ fascist leaning, prompting a number of issues which hastened his eventual departure. Bose in the meantime was appraised of the Abwehr operation in Kabul and he was in agreement with the general idea. Bose also wanted an airstrip to be established in tribal territory there so that the commandos and Indian legion forces to be deployed in large numbers, since the FW Kondor transport plane needed a long runway to land. The border unrest was in continuous foment by the Fakir of Ipi and the British spent a lot of time fighting the Waziris. In India, C. F. Andrews made an eloquent plea decrying the situation: "We cannot stand out boldly for disarmament in Europe while carrying on war in Asia."

The German attack on Russia was in full swing and the Middle East and India were forgotten for a moment, and the Afghans were relieved to see their hated enemy being attacked up north in Operation Barbarossa. But the hated Soviets were soon to become members of the allies and more strongly allied with the British. And the Afghans were in deeper trouble as they could no longer play one against the other. As the war progressed and the invincible German forces faltered at Leningrad, the Afghans felt cornered.

The German station Chief Hans Pilger was by now considered too passive by Berlin and was ordered to be replaced by the outspoken Otto von Hentig. The British would have none of it, they reacted by demanding expulsion of all 120 or so Germans from Kabul. They also informed the Afghans that Hentig was the man behind the earlier Shami pir folly and that Hentig should be thrown out. The Afghans refused and the British retaliated with economic sanctions of some sort by stopping petrol Lorries (US GM make) from plying to Kabul.While the Hentig appointment was being hotly debated, two of our german agents in disguise (keil and arma) and scouting for leprosy cures were caught with ammunition and money meant for the fakir of Ipi. In the ensuing firefight ‘keil’ Oberdorffer was killed and brandt escaped. As the story of German covert involvement became overt, Hentig remained at home and those at Kabul were ordered to lie low and not antagonize the British. Things normalized and the Lorries with petrol crossed the borders once again.

The situation swung in a different direction after the German decline in Stalingrad. The Germans had gone silent in Kabul and the British ratcheted their strength a notch.The British applied pressure on Kabul asking them to decide who they were aligned with if they needed British support. They asked for all Germans to be expelled from Afghanistan.

The orders for German expulsion resulted in the departure of 204 Germans and Italians by Oct 1941. Only four of the original team remained, Witzel, Doh, Zugenbuhler and Rasmuss. Around that time another operation (somewhat lukewarm as it turned out) code named Elephant was launched, to place agents in Bangkok to liaise with Bengal. Nevertheless, Operation Tiger was still on the anvil, but yet to get executed.

Back at the Russian borders, a number of Muslim Red Army prisoners had been taken and it was an Uzbek then living in Germany (he fled communist USSR in 1922 and moved to Berlin) named Veli Kayum Khan, heading the operations of Operation Tiger B who was given the responsibility of recruiting willing soldiers from the prisoners of war. The intent was to create a Muslim regiment to fight at the Eastern front. The grand mufti of Jerusalem Hajj Amin Al Hussayni, a friend of Hitler and Himmler, provided the jihad endorsement (His own story is fascinating, for he was the only person close to the Nazi warlords who was allowed to escape as Berlin fell and was never tried for war crimes since the British (Arthur Giles) wanted him to become a leader to unite the Palestinians. The plan to fly the FW200 Kondor aircraft with personnel was becoming problematic and soon the plan was changed to drop them in Turkmenistan.

Witzel continued his work diligently and the Operation B personnel had by then been deputed to Afghanistan. Witzel reported that over 5,500 supporters of Bose had lined up in Afghanistan and 2,000 of them were armed British military deserters. These people were training local guerilla leaders and getting ready to fight the British. Bose in the meantime created a number of cells operating all over India who were reporting British movements (recall my article on the Ehrenfels?) sabotaging the railway and jute factories in Calcutta, to name a few. But was Witzel providing correct information to berlin?

At Kabul, Bhagat Ram Talwar, (axis code name RK) was keeping Berlin informed of various developments. The Italians in Kabul provided some amount of training to the Indians who had gathered, like Talwar, Sodhi and Ganguly and who sent their own reports to Berlin and Bose. In the meantime RK obtained more and more money from the Nazis while providing them faked reports purportedly from Bose’s organization in Bengal. The reversals in Russia and other events resulted in Operation Tiger being postponed several times. Bose had in the meantime moved to Japan and Singapore had fallen. The Japanese march through Assam into India was now a definite possibility.

Rassmuss gave Talwar all the money and wireless equipment demanded, but he would faithfully turn them over to the NKVD. The complete details of Axis activity gleaned by Talwar was thus passed on to the Russians. The NKVD also tested Talwar often to see if he could handle a double agent stress. Well, as we will soon find out, he was not just a double agent, but a quintuple agent (remember that he had a number of dealings with the Italians as well) .The NKVD asked Talwar to shed off his communist leanings

Uttam Chand was the shop owner in Kabul who provided housing to the Indians. He was soon picked up by the Afghans when his British passport expired and expelled to India where he was promptly arrested by the English. Harminder Singh Sodhi had in the meantime become an agent for the Soviets providing whatever he knew to the Russians and focused on heading the communist Kirti party’s work in India based on Soviet instructions rather than Bose’s or axis. He was also arrested by the British soon after. So as we see, Talwar, alias Rahmat Khan alias Ram was soon all alone.

In Jan 1942, the Abwehr airdropped 100 trained Indians from the Indian legion into an area deep in East Iran. Their mission was to reach India via Baluchistan and carry Sabotage acts and eventually prepare a national uprising. This was code named operation Bajedere. In March 42, Witzel asked Berlin for permission to commence preparations for Operation Tiger by visiting the borders and starting training of tribesmen. He got it only in June, but it resulted in nothing under watchful eyes of the Afghan police. Meanwhile the fakir of ipi was having his own tussles with the British and kept on demanding money from the Talwar in return for his support. Talwar in the meantime gave the Nazis fanciful accounts that preparations for a major revolt in the tribal areas was well underway. He also made a request for sabotage material (while at the same time ditching dynamite supplied by the Italians) and half a million Duetsche marks to bribe the Fakir of Ipi. Ribbentrop from Berlin approved a million! Things were coming to a head.

In June 1942, the NKVD’s Ovakimyan met with SOE’s George hill to discuss mutual cooperation and to work jointly against the Germans, perhaps fearing that Uttam chand and Sodhi would talk and reveal Bhagat Ram talwar’s role in Kabul. For the first time in history two secret agencies agreed to share Talwar, the double agent. The NKVD in return wanted information on Japans moves against China.

We mentioned that Talwar was a multiple agent. We know already that he worked for the Italians, the

Germans and the Soviets. Who else did he work with? Here enters a very interesting man, a writer who strayed into the activities of the SOE, none other than Peter Fleming who had come to join the Indian raj as the head of the SEAC’s deception division. Peter frequently used AIR radio broadcasts to convey secret messages. The stock trade of the DIB’s SEAC was manipulation of double agents. (Peter’s brother was Ian Fleming who later wrote all the 007 James Bond books – so now you know where the inspiration came from). Peter was given charge of running Talwar and that was how quad agent Silver was created.

Silver and Fleming got to work, the ensuing reports fed to the Germans claimed that Bose’s organization in India was massively supported and leady to leap in support of the Germans! Fictitious organizations like the All India national revolutionary committee and the Provisional central committee were mentioned.

RK or Talwar was already a quad agent, but the reason why the Abwher used his dispatches so implicitly needs a little diverse thought. Interestingly, Witzel and Rasmuss did not pass this on to Berlin and focused on sabotage and other similar efforts. However Silver’s demand for 5,000 pounds to start a wireless link between Delhi and Berlin was quickly complied with. Many more similar monetary demands resulted in Silver collecting a considerable fortune. Why did the Germans not pass on all the information? Perhaps they had their own suspicions about the facts and were using his dispatches only to cling on further their own careers.

Soon after all this, the British arrested all the German agents (perhaps with Talwar’s help) and activities ceased. In 1943, Witzel and Doh were released under a British guarantee of safe conduct. Rassmuss fled (after the NKVD tried to recruit Rassmuss) through India. Pietro Quaroni the Italian later exposed the full Axis network in Kabul to the British, in his testimony. The soviets in the meantime also told Rassmuss about Silver being a multiple agent. But Talwar continued his trips to Kabul and kept in touch with Witzel who was back in Berlin. We do not know for sure if Rassmuss worked for the British while in India following his flight from Kabul, but he certainly did not tell Berlin about Silver.

Nothing more was done with respect to the originally planned NWFP operation. And with that came an end to Operation Tiger or the German plan to invade India through the NWFP.

The winter of 42 was when Emile Schenkl delivered Bose’s daughter. Things were turbulent in India, his people were starving and Bose was upset that in this critical juncture, he could not travel to India. So after handing over Azad Hind to ACN Nambiar, he left for Japan in the U boat 180.

Canaris fell afoul of Hitler for various reasons. The Abweher was abolished and Canaris was arrested on 23 July 1944, in the aftermath of the plot against Hitler and executed shortly before the end of the war, along with Oster, his deputy. As we all know, the Axis powers lost the war and all the surly characters met with just ends.

Peter Fleming returned to Britain and did other things, but whenever his feet touched the magnificent tiger skin which adorned his study floor, he remembered his grand times in Delhi. I do not know if he ever remembered Silver.

Silver’s complete story is not detailed here, for there is so much more, and can be a book by itself. In any case, what happened to him? As Mihir Bose explains in his article ‘Everyone’s man in Kabul’ - In 1976, when Bhagat Ram wrote his autobiography, aware that Bose was now a hero of India’s freedom struggle, Silver decided he could not tell the truth. He wrote of Quaroni and Rasmuss but there was no mention of the Russians, Fleming nor of his nickname, Silver. This most remarkable spy carried that secret to his grave

Bose it appears, sadly knew nothing about Silvers deception and vanished in 1945…

Dietrich Witzel, code name Pathan, was later involved in the UPA movement in Ukraine, leading the FAK 202 and was awarded an Iron Cross. Later known under the name Dietrich Kirn, he became a writer of some repute.

After the Germans were expelled from Kabul, a period of mutual cooperation continued between the USSR and UK against Nazi Germany until the end of the war in 1945.The Fakir of Ipi continued on, even though Quaroni himself admitted to his British interrogators that he had realized during the summer of 1941 that the Axis plans to use the Faqir of Ipi were a sheer waste of time and money. After Partition the Fakir turned into the most vehement tribal opponent to their Pakistan takeover. The Fakir made a series of overtures to Pandit Nehru, whom he allegedly addressed as 'King of India’ - but to no avail. In1954 his Commander-in-Chief, Mehar Dil, surrendered to Pakistan and this brought the Waziristan insurrection to an end. The Fakir of Ipi passed away in 1960.

Afghanistan continues to be a place where intrigues are wrought, wars are fought and death can be seen every day, even today. As Lord Curzon once said: 'I do not prophesy about the future. No man who has read a page of Indian history will ever prophesy about the Frontier……………….

References

India in Axis strategy – Milan Hauner

Dealing with the Devil: Donal O'Sullivan

The Deceivers: Allied Military Deception in the Second World War- Thaddeus Holt

Subash Chandra Bose in Nazi Germany – Romain Hayes

The Brandenburger Commandos: Germany's Elite Warrior Spies in World War II

Franz Kurowski

Raj, Secrets, Revolution: A Life of Subhas Chandra Bose - Mihir Bose

The Jew is Not My Enemy: Tarek Fatah

Orlando Mazotta - Bose's flight to Berlin

Notes:

History will refer to two Operation Tiger’s annals, and there is another little known Operation Tiger from the WW II. It was a botched US rehearsal of the D Day landings at Normandy, carried out at Slapton Sands in the UK. Due to an error in transmitting frequencies, the Germans picked up the radio signals and US forces were attacked by German E boats who saw they had no escorts. Close to 800 sailors and soldiers were apparently killed and the story was hushed up.
Shami Pir folly - A number of Wazirs cross the Afghan frontier with the object of looting and of stirring up a rising against the reigning Afghan house as a result of an agitation headed by Syed Mohammad Sadi or Shami Pir (Syrian imam), a priest from Damascus whose family was connected with the ex-king Amanullah. After collecting a British bribe, Pir went back to Europe.

When music and dance ruled

Some months ago, we traced the route taken by exponents of Carnatic music in the Vijayanagara kingdom to Tanjore, where the Maratha Nayaks patronized them. That there were a number of music and dance forms in vogue already, is pretty clear, but with time new systems became the norm. The new forms flourished but with pressure from the British rulers and missionaries, some of the old practices were getting forced out. One of the older forms that underwent change was what was termed Dasiattam and four brothers known as the Tanjai nalavar got involved (together with some others) in its revival and restructuring into what we know as today’s Bharatnatyam. However for certain reasons they were forced to move to other regions. Let’s go to the Tanjore of those periods and retrace the steps of the famous Quartet to Travancore and their stay there.

The history of Devadasis is very often misunderstood and confused with anglicized definitions of courtesans (A courtesan was originally a courtier, which means a person who attends the court of a monarch or other powerful person) and prostitutes. In Kerala and Tamil regions, the meanings of the words Tevadicci and Kuttaci are often intermixed with these wrong English terms mostly due to the influence of missionaries of that time. But I will not get into that study as yet, let us be content with the fact that these dasis actually sang and danced (also, let’s not dwell upon other aspects of their decadence, as yet). Their dances were usually conducted in temples and palaces, to the accompaniment of Carnatic music. Due to various socio cultural reasons, there was a degeneration of this art and this resulted in them getting a very bad image. The 1800’s were thus a period when the Devadasis were decried, stigmatized and their art forms derided. Their nautch (Natch in Hindi, anglicized) dance otherwise known as dasiyattam was on the chopping block. It was during this period that dasiattam moved to the royal courts to become Sadir or court dance and this eventually metamorphosed to Bharatnatyam.

Art especially temple dancing, is not a money maker and always required a carefully selected patron. Since multinationals and industries did not exist then, exponents relied on individual patrons or the state. The early patrons of these arts were either the kings or rich brahmins, rich traders from the vaisya communities. The selection of a patron was very important, and many factors came into play such as their wealth, standing and learning, for it was the only route for the family of a good looking dasi with some dancing ability to climb up the social ladder. Typically they hailed from the isai vellalar communities who even had a matrilineal (for girls) naming convention (Pillai added to the male names). Sringara rasa and Bhakti got interspersed over time with dasiattam. And so when they danced, the varnams sung took to praising not just the lord, but also the patron in many cases.

The nattuvanar, most usually male, was integral to a dasi’s performance, he was the dace conductor who knew the music and choreography intimately. A senior teacher, and in many cases he took to managing the group. His nattuvangam involved playing the cymbals, holding the rhythm with jatis, sometimes singing the song and controlling the laya or tempo of the dance. Now as you can imagine this was a tall task and required one to know and master so many sub arts, so it took a long time for one to become a nattuvanar and not many made it. And dasis were also particular, for the dancer needed to be familiar with the style of a nattuvanar before performing with him, so this led to creation of teams performing dasiyattam or in later days Bharatanatyam. The older teachers passed on learning to the younger ones through a gurukula system. And thus was formed gharanas or banis as they were called based on individual styles of Nattuvanars.

One of the first Bharatnatyam bani’s was originated by the Tanjavur quartet. They created a powerful and long line of dance teachers and masters and somewhat of interest is the fact that they never married into families with devadasis in their lineage. As you can imagine these four brothers (also isai vellalars) who we will talk about were amply endowed with brilliance, and in certain cases, genius. They were Chinnaya, Ponnaiya, Sivanandam and Vadivelu. Their compositions were the ones which mainly set the trend and defined the repoitre in today’s Bharatnatyam performances.

The Isai vellalars (music cultivator) are also known as Melakkarar or Molakkara Mudaliar, as times went by, reversed the roles in their community with the suppression of the dasi's involvement with patrons and bringing about elevation of the standing of male teachers. But let’s not speed by, we are still in the times of the quartet, in Serfoji’s court, the early decades of the 19^th century. For that is where the ekartha prayoga (single theme - different but interlinked combinations of Natya, Nritya which was the ‘Ekartha’ style) style of Sadir dance was recomposed by the brothers to form the unlinked prithagartha prayoga structure or ‘margam’ used today - stretching from Alarippu to Tillana (Alarippu, Jatisvaram, Shabdam, Varnam, Padam, Javali, and Tillana), demonstrating multiple themes and incorporating jathiswarams, varnams, swarajatis and tillanas.

A note to keep in mind – Sadir and natyam re-composition was not just carried out by the Tanjore quartet, but also other famous banis and nattuvanars of that period such as Sabhapati, Gopala Narayana and Sivarama subayya.

Serfoji inherited a great musical tradition in his courts from his ancestors, great contributors to the schools of Sadir and Carnatic music (see my previous article). He was not only trained in local arts but was also schooled in the western fashion by CF Schwarz and even though the English rulers were in full control, they allowed him to continue as a titular monarch thus providing him the time to scholarly pursuits. The musical department of his court was headed by Varahappa Dikshitar of Varahapayyar. The four brothers who served in the court reported to Varahapayyar.

This family with a strong musical tradition started with Gopala Nattuvanar who served in the Rajagopalasvami temple at Mannargudi, and as the chief musician of the court of King Vijayaraghava Nayaka in the seventeenth century. The family later moved to Madurai, and then to Tirunelveli. During the rule of King Tulaja II, three brothers from the family, Mahadevan, Gangaimuttu and Ramalingam went back to Tanjore. Gangaimuttu had two sons, Subbarayan and Chidambaram and Subbarayan (chupparaya) fathered the Thanjavur Brothers. Subbaraya in those days was responsible for the female dancers performing in the royal court.

Ponnaiah was a composer and vocalist, Chinnaiah was a choreographer, Sivanandam excelled as a mridangist and nattuvanar, and lastly Vadivelu was a composer and violinist. Originally these brothers recited the tevaram and led dance performances at the Brihadiswara temple. Chinnaiya (1802-56), the eldest of the four, was a great teacher of dance, and in addition was supposed to have been one of the few males who actually performed the dance dressed as a woman (and taught men to perform during the mattu pongal). He later moved to the Mysore court of Krishnaraja Udaiyar III (1811-68). Among the compositions of the Quartette, a few are dedicated to Krishnaraja Udaiyar III. Those compositions are mostly the creations of Chinnaiya. He also wrote a Telugu text called Abhinaya Lakshanamu, a reworked version of the Sanskrit Abhinayadarpana of Nandikeshvara and narrated to him by his father. Ponnaiya (1804-64) was prolific composer among the brothers. Systematization of the Sadir Kacheri is credited to him. Most of the compositions by the brothers on Brihadishvara as well as several Nritta compositions (Jatisvarams and Tillanas) are attributed to him.

Vadivelu, an accomplished vocalist, composer and violinist was the youngest and is said to have accompanied himself on the violin, which by itself is a rare accomplishment at those high levels. Their musical abilities were tested by three prominent female dancers: Kamalamuttu of Tiruvarur, Sarasammal of Thanjavur, and Meenakshi of Mannargudi, who likely performed at Serfoji’s darbar. During their stay in Tanjore, they perfected the use of the violin, the clarinet, structuring of the Sadir, and training of so many dancers and documenting of their efforts. Sivanandam brought in the western Clarinet as an accompaniment for Carnatic music, and Ponnayya created many famous kritis in praise of Brihadiswara. Vadivelu contributed significantly to dance also. The brothers propagated the Pandanaloor style of dance. Navasanthi Kavithuvam, a traditional dance form was pioneered by the quartet

While one story has it that Baluswamy, Muthuswami dikshitar’s brother picked up the violin upon the insistence of Manali Chinnaya Mudaliyar, and thus brought about the introduction of the violin into the Carnatic scene, another has it that it was Vadivelu who initially studied the violin under his teacher Schwarz (some others say that Varahapayyar chose the violin over the piano and later taught Vadivelu). Vadivelu later became a disciple of Muthuswami Dikshitar when he spent four years in Tanjore. He mastered the instrument and became so proficient that Thaygaraja, it is said, would summon Vadivelu often to listen to the new instrument. All four were called `Eka Chanda Grahi,' for they had the ability to repeat what they have heard just once.

As Arul Francis a modern day teacher summarizes - The greatest works of the Tanjore Quartet are the varnams, which contain depictions of the ecstasy and torment of romantic love, as well as depictions of states of spiritual rapture, interspersed throughout with abstract dance sequences. The dance compositions of the Tanjore Quartet form the classical canon, or the supreme masterpieces, of Bharatanatyam.

Mural at the Big Temple - The quartet

All was going well in Tanjore until Serfoji appointed the young son of his mistress to take over temple affairs much to the disgust of the brothers and this led to their walkout from the court. The story is somewhat like this - As luck or lack thereof would have it the brothers quarreled with the King around 1830 and were promptly banished from the court due to the relationship between Serfoji and a young boy who was trained in dancing and music by Vadivelu, and due to the preference shown by the king to the boy instead of the illustrious four. It appears that the boy was felicitated during a Chittira Thiruvazha, instead of the quartet. The foursome showed their irritation by refusing to sing standing up or something of that sort. The inebriated (?) king curtailed their temple honors and that worsened the issue further, eventually resulting in their banishment.

This was in the 1830 time frame from what we can gather. When Serfoji passed away in 1832, he was succeeded by Shivaji 2 and that was when Ponnaiya and Sivanadam returned to Tanjore upon his invitation. The brothers had originally traveled to Swati Tirunal's court in Travancore at the behest of the Swati’s teacher and Dewan Subba Rao who hailed from Tanjore.

Vadivelu was then 22 years of age, and he was soon appointed as Asthanavidvan of Travancore court for 8 years. Vadivelu’s skills as a vocalist, dance expert and violinist immediately caught the fancy of Swathi Thirunal. Vadivelu was a scholar in Tamil and Telugu and his violin mastery is said to have been unmatched. Swathi was convinced of the importance of violin to Carnatic music and he ordered it be used in concerts after gifting a rare violin made of ivory to Vadivelu, in 1834. Though people mention this often, I have not yet concluded my studies on the topic – for Vadivelu is believed to have a role in codifying and transforming the Mohiniyattom dance form of Kerala which both Swati Tirunal and his ancestors had favored in the Travancore courts. In addition to his own composition Vadivelu is known to have been the reviewer and critic of Swathi’s music and dance compositions.

Kamakshi Ammal was another accomplished singer who accompanied Vadivelu to Travancore together with the Tanjore sisters Sundara Lakshmi and Sugandha Parvathi. Kamakshi was an ancestor (her great granddaughter Jayammal was Balasaraswati’s mother) of the great dancer Blasaraswati and spent some 8 years in Travancore.

Vadivelu lived close to Karamana at Shankara Vilasom in Pazhayasala, close to the Killiyaar (parallel to the south end of Chalai Street).

Anyway the combination of Swati Tirunal and Vadivelu resulted in the creation of many varnas, Swarajatis, Padas and Tillanas. But it is also said that they had a fall out once after which Vadivelu left Travancore and moved to Harippad. He did move back after the intervention of other senior members of the court and we often hear of the varna he composed in praise of his patron upon his return. This apparently had just the opposite effect for Swati Tirunal had changed by then, and was mentally troubled with all the problems from the British resident. Swati Tirunal’s anger at the flattery resulted in Vadivelu changing the text of the Varna ‘Sammugamu’.

He was as you recall familiar with Tyagaraja and it is said that Swati Tirunal, after hearing Vadivelu sing Tyagaraja kritis wanted vadivelu to go to Tanjore and invite Tyagaraja to Travancore. Tygaraja declined. This trip is also often mentioned and in Ulloor S Parameshwara Iyer’s poem Kattile Pattu, one can get some details of the visit and the fact that Vadivelu was robbed of his possessions, but had them returned after the robbers listened to Vadivelu playing the violin.

Vadivelu passed away in 1846. The ivory violin gifted by Swathi Tirunal can be seen at the Quartet’s ancestral home at 1818, West Main Street, Behind Brihadeswara Temple, Thanjavoor even today. Though Vadivelu himself was never married, descendants of the other brothers carried on the work and trained many great dancers of Bharatnatyam. Bharata Natya exponent Kittappa Pillai, himself trained many famous dancers such as Vaijayanthi Mala Bali, Indirani Rahman, Yamini Krishna Moorthy, Suchetha Chapekkar etc

It is also said that many of the kritis composed during Swati’s period were set in the Sopana Sangeetham slow style perfectly suited for Mohiniyattam which Swati favored. But what we see today as Swati Tirunal’s work is faster and owes the transformation to some polishing and resetting by Muthaiah Bhagavathar and Semmangudi, more about it when we discuss the details later.

Inputs from RP Raja’s work on Swati Turunal

Vadivelu was the most proficient vocalist in his court and an excellent choreographer. After leaving Tanjore, and facing the wrath of Serfoji who even burnt their house (unlikely since the house is still in use), they lived in a village called Orathunadu (perhaps near Tirunelveli- Which was part of Travancore in those days) for a year or two. They reached the Travancore palace in Jan 1832 and the entourage comprised not only the four brothers but also their father Subbarayan and Chidambaram (uncle) three years after Swati Tirunal had become the ruler. Serfoji passed away in March 1832 and Sivaji who took over invited the brothers back, but only Ponnayya and Sivanandam returned. So that makes it clear that two of the brothers lived only for a few days in Travancore. Krishnaraja Wodeyar invited the brothers to Mysore and Chinnayya left Travancore for Mysore where he propagated the Mysore Bharatanatyam style and composed many kritis. Swati Tirunal constructed two houses for the brothers, Sankaravilasam for Vadivelu and Chempakasseri Veedu for Chinayya (?). Both brothers were formally employed by the court in June 1832 on a monthly salary of 15 gold varahams each.

Until then the entire group were paid on a daily rate. But here comes a little mystery for we read that Chinnayya passed away in Trivandrum in 1839 and the government spent over 30 varahams for his funeral (other sources indicate Chinayya died only in 1856). Was that when he moved to Mysore? So why the mention of a death and a funeral? Was it done in spite since Swati was upset that he moved to Mysore? Anyway court records show that Vadivelu’s salary was doubled and that he died in 1846, and was cremated perhaps at the Puthencotta cremation ground. Six months later Swati Tiruanl also passed away, silencing the duo’s prodigious outputs. The music and dance at Swati Tirunals Natyagraha was slowly silenced, and the singers and dancers started their move again, towards British madras.

The exact period which Chinnaya spent in Mysore is not clear and many source indicate he was invited by Chamrajendra which is not correct as Chinnayya passed away even before (1856 if the later year is correct) Chamrajendra acceded the throne. Also since he composed kritis dedicated to Krishnaraja Wodeyar, he could not have passed away in Travancore in 1839.

Anyway, purists are upset and disturbed that Bharatanatyam scene today. The Margam evolved by the Quartet in a structured manner introducing nritta and nritya, including abhinaya, to make the transition from one to the other easy and smooth fashion for the artiste and the viewer alike, is dying with the introduction of Neo classical and many other modern infusions. But then again that is how it is. Dasiattam and Ekartha gave way to Bharatnatyam, now it is mutating again, and it is but natural, for man is never satisfied…..

In upcoming articles, we will study the origins of Mohiniyattam, we will delve into Sopana Sangeetham and also spend awhile on early dasiyattam performances which caught the fancy of Europe.

References

Bharatnatyam – from temple to theatre – Anne Marie Gaston

Theorizing the Local -Music, Practice, and Experience in South Asia- Richard Wolf Harris (Listening to the Violin article by Amanda Weidman)

Singing the classical, voicing the modern – Amanda Weidman

Unfinished Gestures: Devadasis, Memory, and Modernity in South India -Davesh Soneji

Development of Sadir in the court of Raja Serfoji II (1798-1832) of Tanjore – VS Radhika
Tanjore and its Carnatic music legacy - Maddys Ramblings

Radhika’s book has in many ways been invaluable for many of my studies. It continues to provide me so much insight.

Images

Tanjavur quartet painting courtesy Hindu

Tanjore quartet Lineage – Sunil Kothari

Quartet Home – Hindu

Some weeks ago I delivered a short talk on this subject to a few friends in our music group and as it involved some study, I decided to write an article around it. We enjoy these Sunday afternoons trying out some songs under the watchful eyes and ears of our much beloved and patient teacher Sunitha and at times we go over a little bit of theory and history. With that backdrop, let’s get started and go over the matter presented in that short talk, not to be considered in any way an exhaustive treatise on the subject.

The Carnatic has variously been described as the land to the south of the Vindhyas or the land between the Krishna and Kaveri. While Carnatic music should simply mean as the music of the Carnatic, this blend of Indian classical music has also been defined using the various meanings of Kar and Karna, with the word Kar meaning old, black, or that which pleases the ear. So it could be music of the old, music that pleases the ear or music of the darker skinned people. All debatable, but well, a separate topic for those hard core enthusiasts I suppose.

Indian Classical music has its origins attributed to Vedic times and also celestial beings like Narada, but the form familiar today was originally popularized during the 13^th and 14^th centuries by Purandaradasa (the pitamaha or grandsire), Bhadrachalam Ramadasa and Kshetrayya in the Kannada rajya while a senior contemporary Annamacharya also composed and sang his songs in praise of the Tirumala Lords. The most luminous of the composers and originators of the Carnatic style of music was Pundarika Vittala. The Haridasa bhakti tradition popularized songs sung in praise the celestial and Purandaradasa codified and consolidated it by evolving several graded steps such as sarali, jantai, thattu varisai, alankara and geetham.

This music flourished with the patronage of the powerful Vijayanagar kings. Patronage as you can imagine was a prerequisite, for music did not fetch any revenues for the singer or composer and thus they had to find support from royal courts to survive. The above named composed many thousand songs, but while some of those lyrics remain, the musical parts of many of them was lost and it is believed that this was mainly due to a stoppage in propagation of their teachings due to an absence of a formal student teacher (Guru Shishya parampara) tradition. Two events were to affect the growth of this musical form in the year 1565, one being the death of Purandaradasa and the second being the battle of Talikota where the Deccan Sultans routed the Rayas of Vijayanagar.

While all this confusion was going on, the township of Thanjavur, at the delta of river Cauvery or Kaveri was under the rule of the benign Tanjore Nayaks. Tanjore or Tanjavur as hoary legends go, derived its name from Tanjan (another of those indigenous kings termed asura or demon in later days by Aryan scribes) who was killed by one Anandavalli Amman and another Neelamegha Perumal. Tanjan's dying request was that the city be named after him and his request was granted. The town was very famous for the Bhrihadeeswara temple built by Raja Raja Chola in1010. In later days it was also the seat of the Tyagaraja Cult which became popular with Saivites after the Chola Murugan cult lost its sheen. The Somascanda (Shiva+Uma+the child Murugan) based Tyagaraja cult had its seat at Thiruvavur. As time went by, a number of Smarta Brahmins from Mulakanadu relocated from Kannada and Deccan to Tanjavur and they were the people who popularized the Carnatic music form in the centuries which followed. The kings of the region, both the Tanjore Nayaks and the Madurai Nayaks were of Telugu origin and the court language was Telugu. Many of the compositions of that period were therefore either in Telugu and Sanskrit. We will now trace its popularization first by the Tanjavur Nayaks and later by the Maratha Bhonsle kings, all fortunately patrons of music, art, and dance, not to forget literature of all kinds. The ambience was also there, with many a temple, royal patronage and the various annual competitions held every year to attract hordes of scholars, composers and musicians from neighboring regions.

Carnatic music had by the 16th Century thus shifted to Tanjore, where under the benign rule of the Nayaks and later the Maratha kings, it flourished as a major art form. As you will see, many of the kings were composers and musicologists themselves. Attracted by employment opportunity and the stability, several Bhagavathars from Kannada and Andhra regions moved to Tanjore and its environs. Interestingly while the Cholas promoted Tamil literature and arts, the Nayaks brought in the Telugu art forms and later it was upto the Marathas to continue to work with these accepted forms and also add in a Marathi touch. Not only that they also went on to codify Dasi dances and introduce western touches to the Carnatic music world.

Tanjavur Nayak period – 1530-1674.

The main contributions during this time came from the three kings, Achyutappa, Raghunatha and Vijayaraghava, all of whom patronized Carnatic music. Even though plagued with skirmishes and wars throughout their reign, they found time for the arts.

Achyutappa (1560 AD-1614 AD) Achyutappa (the son of a betel leaf bearer Sevappa Nayak of Achutaraya) spearheaded the promotion of music by granting asylum to those Brahmin families fleeing from the Kannada regions after the loss of the Vijayanagar kings and by resettling them at Unnathapuri (Achutapuri or Melattur). The composer who really got things going was Givinda Dikshita who oversaw the resettlement of the families on behalf of Achutappa. Govinda Dikshitar it appears, had the Unnathapureeswarar temple renovated and extended, created the various agraharams around it and constructed the pond in front of the temple, named after Govinda Dikshitar as "Ayyan Kulam".It was in Melattur that the great poets Bharatam Kasinathayya and his disciple, Veerabadrayya were born. In fact it could be summarized that the move of Govinda dikshita from Vijayanagara to Tanjore shifted the center of Carnatic music to Tanjore.

Raghunatha (1600 AD-1645 AD) by all records was termed as a gifted scholar in both Sanskrit and Telugu language, and a talented musician with his court crowded with poets and scholars. Raghunatha takes credit for not only writing several books on music and Telugu literature, but also compositions. Raghunatha created new ragas, talas, and melas like Jayanta sena (ragam), Ramananda (Talam), Sargita vidya and Raghunatha (Mela). Maduravani and Ramabhadramba were famous poets in his court, whereas Sudhindra and Raghavendra were two famous Madhava gurus patronized by him. Govinda Dikshita continued to be a minister in his court as well and Raghunatha’s Sanskrit treatise on music, Sangita Sudha opened the intricacies and secrets of music to the public. The later scholar Venketamakhin however states that the Sangita Sudha was actually authored by Govinda Dikshita.

Raghunatha also composed kavyas and dance-dramas and popularized the 24 fret horizontally held Raghunatha mela veena or the Saraswati veena (a.k.a Tanjore veena) which is staple to Carnatic music today. It was during Raghunatha's reign that a palace library was established and it was in this Saraswati Bhandar is where the manuscripts from Raghunatha's prolific court scholars were collected and preserved. Raghtnatha Nayak specifically mentions in Sangitha Sudha that he undertook the task of simplifying classical music so that there was no variation between the defined and the actual recitals. His aim was that people should recognize the ragas simply by listening to the songs once and that it was his aim to open the secrets of music to all.

Vijayaraghava(1634 AD-1673 AD) Vijayaraghava's stable and somewhat longer reign witnessed a good amount of literary output both in music and Telugu literature. Vijayaraghava’s court was also filled with a number of poets and literary scholars and he is credited with more than thirty books in Telugu and the great Venkatamakhin, Govinda Dikshitar’s son, served his court, so also Chengalvakala Kavi and Yagnanarayana Dikshita (Venkatamakhin’s brother).Venkatamakhin later authored the Chaturdandi Prakashika, which is probably the most important treatise in the Mela era and one that codified the melekarta scheme. Venkatamakhin also composed many geethams and prabandhas, as well as 24 ashtapadis in praise of Lord Thyagaraja of Tiruvarur. Following Venkatamakhin, his descendant Muddu Venkatamakhin is attributed to have authored the Ragalakshana (early 18th century). A later scholar, Govinda, further refined this scheme in his Sangraha Choodamani and it is his nomenclature that survives till date.

And what is evident in this period is the solid guru shishya parambara and the natural passage of music forms from teacher to student and movements across regions, locales and generations.

The Maratha period 1674-1855

The Maratha rulers of Thanjavur were major contributors to musicology including Shahaji who authored the Ragalakshanamu (1684 – 1712) and Thulaja who authored the Sangita Saramruta (1728 – 1736). The Marathas had differing food habits, different gods, differing language and different dance and music forms, but Venkoji (Ekoji) the Maratha ruler and his successors did not impose any of that. They adapted Telugu, Sanskrit and Tamil, and continued with their patronage and support to existing traditions, but also allowing new art forms to enter the scene. This 200 year span as the Bhonsles of Maharashtra ruled is considered to be Tanjore Carnatic music’s and Tanjore Natyashastra’s golden period. Neighboring regions Kumbhakonam and Mannargudi also benefited under the administration of the Maratha rulers.

How Sambaji (credited with our staple curry Sambhar!!!) and Venkoji a half-brother of Maratha warlord Shivaji landed up in Tanjore and displaced the Tanjore Nayaks is an interesting story for another day, but to start this part, Venkoji was invited to support the last Tanjore Nayak Alagari’s war efforts when the latter was threatened by the Madurai Nayak. Venkoji or Ekoji as he was called chose however to remain and take over the kingdom, partly due to his not being paid promised remuneration, and also because of differences with his brother who had taken over parts of the Mysore kingdom. This was to benefit the people of the region, as we look at that decision today, for all practical purposes.

Even though their reign was dotted with many wars with various other local rulers and later overtures by the English, these rulers provided unstinted support to the musical and dance forms of the region, and remained great lovers and patrons of art and literature. The Saraswati Bhandar became a library of repute and is the Saraswati Mahal of today. Their courts supported many a composer and musician and we see the results from the prodigious output of the famous trilogy of Thyagaraja, Shama Sastry and Dikshitar. But before we get to them, let us start with Venkoji or Ekoji, the first of the rulers.

Venkoji (1674 AD – 1684 AD) was a great follower of Carnatic music and is important because he not only allowed the continual use of Telugu as the court language, but also patronized the cultural and musical traditions of the erstwhile Nayaka kingdom. He promoted the culture of Sadir or court dance in Tanjore courts, while Dasiattam was already prevalent in the temples.

Shahaji (1684 AD-1712 AD) was a scholar both in music and literature. Around thirty works consisting of dramas, Padyas and Kavyas have been ascribed to him. Scholars of Tanjavur bestowed upon him the titles of Abhinavabhoja and Navina bhoja. He donated a village Shahjirajapuram (Thiruvisanellur) and resettled 46 Brahmin pundits there. He wrote the Raga Lakshanamu, a treatise on rare ragas (perhaps done by Muudu Lakshana - grandson of Venkatamakhin) and went on to author over 208 padas and ashtapatis with the mudra Tyagesa and popularized the usage of the name Tyagaraja.

Saraboji 1 (1720 AD-1728 AD) followed, he created the villages or agraharams of Mangamatam (Tiruvenkadu) and Sarabojirajapuram (Tirukkadiyur), endowed many Brahmins and promoted the work of poet Giriraja kavi who invented many ragas (Tyagaraja was his grandson) and worked in his court. He was titled Vidyabhoja.

Tulaja I (1728 AD- 1736 AD) who followed was the one who authored the musical treatise Sangeeta Saramrita. He was also to become the promoter of Sadir and Bharatnatyam styles of dance and wrote a few yakshaganas. Interestingly the Tanjore Veena was named Tulaja Vina during his times. He was well versed in Jyostishya, Ayurveda, law and politics. Ghanasyama Pundit and Manabhatta were composers in his court.

Ekoji 2 (1736 AD - 1737 AD) followed at the age of 40 during a period when Tanjore was beset with a lot of problems over accession, and composed over 86 padas called Ekoji sahityamu. The famous dancer Muddamanga danced in his court.

Pratapasimha(1739 AD-1763 AD), who was more a Marathi writer and an able administrator, was less a musicologist compared to the others, but promoted many composers & poets such as Melattur Veerabhadrayya. Notable in his court was Muddapalani whom I briefly introduced in a previously posted short story. More on her and her work Radhika Santawanamu on another day.

Tulaja 2 (1763 AD – 1787 AD) was the reason for the renaissance in Carnatic music mainly due to his building the framework for the success of the Tanjavur trio of Shyama Sastri, Tyagaraja and Muthuswamy Dikshitar. The reasons are very interesting. His court had eminent musicians such as Sonti Venkataramayya (Tyagaraja’s teacher), Pachimiriyam Adiyappaiah (Syama Sastri’s teacher). His building a temple Bangaram Kamakshi temple made Syama Sastri’s father settle in the region. Similarly Ramabrahmam, Tyagaraja’s father was appointed by Tulaja to take care of the Tulajamaharajapuram and Hariharapuram agraharams. Ramaswami dikshitar was appointed by Tulaja to compose and formalize the songs for the dasis of the Tiruvavur temple. As you can imagine the progenies later grew up in Thiruvavur in this cultural atmosphere and were well trained by the proficient gurus of the court. Tyagaraja incidentally was the grandson of Giriraja Kavi, a Sanskrit poet in the Saraboji I’s Court. Subbaraya Oduvar the father of the Tanjore quartet also served in his court.

Amarasimha (1787 AD-1798 AD) An uncle of Serfoji 2, and stepson of Pratapasimha ruled over the kingdom since the young Serfoji II was a child and still under the care of Rev Schwarz. He was also a good patron of art and literature and it is said that several musicians and poets of repute adorned his court. But he spent much of his time plotting to kill the young boy and the Westerners, especially Rev Schwarz took care to ensure that he did not.

Sarabhoji 2 (1798 AD- 1832 AD) was perhaps the biggest of the patrons of art in Tanjore. His childhood and story of arrival is quite interesting. The doctrine of lapse was being imposed strictly by the British and Tulaja’ children had all died. So he rushed to Satara to adopt a Bhonsle boy and that was the great Serfoji 2. It was to prove to be a wise choice. The young boy was sent to St George School in Madras under care of Rev Schwarz, a Danish missionary. Schwarz helped Serfoji survive in peace when surrounded by Hyder Ali on one side and the British on the other. You will also recall that his uncle was trying his best to get him killed. Eventually he took over Tanjore but soon after, gifted his kingdom to the British in 1798. A food and fun loving person with many wives and 25 odd concubines, he had all the time in the world for art and music and he did well to promote it.

During his time Muthuswamy Dikshitar and his brother Baluswamy came to his court leaving Madras, and the Tanjore quartet also came into prominence. While they excelled in fine tuning the art of Bharatanatyam, they also authored a number of varnams and Kritis. The brothers Chinnayya (1802–1856), Ponnayya (1804–1864), Sivanandam (1808–1863) and Vadivelu (1810–1845) were employed in the Tanjore courts initially, after which they moved to Travancore to work for Swati Tirunal who incidentally was a good friend of Serfoji. Serfoji himself was a composer and writer. As Radhika explains - Serfoji's works can be considered as a milestone in the growth and development of the theory and practice of the Sadir dance. Apart from these works on classical music and dance, the royal composer is said to have authored a Kuravanji nataka as well as a lavani, a Marathi folk musical form. Another great composer, the Christian convert Vedanayagam Sastriyar who wrote over 500 kritis and 133 books served in his court. Scholars like Subba Dixit and many others thrived in his court, but slowly they were starting to consider other locales for nationalistic reasons and monetary benefits to Ettayapuram and Travancore.

Serfoji was not just a great music and art lover, but also an avid reader as evidenced in the thousands of books and scriptures he hoarded and left (over 80,000)in the Sarswati Mahal, most of them with his scribbles on the pages. He also made huge contributions in the field of medicine and technology not to mention yeoman service in the field of dance by defining and promoting Bharatanaytam with the Tanjavur quartet. The navavidhya Kalanidhi Salai was started by him.

And of course he was well taught in western music, later creating the Tanjavur band as well as ensuring the introduction of the violin, piano, flute, guitar, clarinet and so on to the music scene. Varaha Payyar served in his court, and it was with his support that many a western instrument got added to the chamber music orchestra. A number of English notes or Nottuswaras (see my previous article on M Dikshitar and his nottuswaras) were also composed during his period.

Thus we see that the Nayaks and the Bhonsle’s preserved and promoted Carnatic music in Tanjore, till eventually British ascendancy in Madras resulted in the poets, composers and musicians moving slowly to the new center at Madras from the various principalities. The music form also changed with the passage of time. With the advent of Maratha rule, Marathi style Bhajans were introduced to blend with the Ashtapadis, Tarangam, keertans and other forms and compositions. Harikatha and yakshagana were popularized and the use of western instruments like the flute and the violin promoted. Purists however complained that the Carnatic style was getting diluted, becoming populist and simpler, but that was development, I suppose. And as we saw the dasiattam or nautch dance which had attained a bad name (and was banned by the British) evolved into the flowing dance form Bharata natyam that we see and enjoy today.

All of this took place at the Sangeetha mahal or the royal hall of music in the Tanjore palace. Quoting a Hindu article, the hall, a rectangular hall with a vaulted roof, used to have four punkahs that spanned the breadth of the room.The design of the hall is such that it would have helped in balanced absorption and deflection of sound waves. The chandeliers and other decorations must have helped in sound dispersion. The many perforations would have ensured that excess amplification was avoided. There used to be a pit in front of the stage, which would be filled with water. This too must have helped in proper deflection of sound waves to the upper gallery. But as we all know good things come to an end, the Sangeetha Mahal that had seen all these stalwarts (except perhaps Tyagaraja) perform since the 1600’s became a godown and a government office during the British rule and even after Independence.

As always these things change with time, in fact there are people who now feel that places like Cleveland, the birthplace of rock music may soon become another new center for Carnatic music with a growing number of listeners, wealthy patrons, annual concerts and a steady flow of teachers on demand. That then would be a passage across time and the oceans….

References

Development of Sadir in the court of Raja Serfoji II (1798-1832) of Tanjore – VS Radhika

The Reception of Western Music in South India around 1800 - Takako Inoue

From the Tanjore Court to the Madras Music Academy - Lakshmi Subramanian

Maddys ramblings

NottuSwara – Muthuswamy Dikshitar’s European airs
A Rummy Tale

Dasiyattam and the first professional performances by an Indian dance troupe in Europe - 1838

1838 was a year of many events, some routine but some of greater importance. For example it was the year when the world’s first photograph of a person was taken by Louis-Jacques-Mandé Daguerre of the Boulevard de temple. It was of a person in a top hat, getting his shoe shined at the corner. It was also the year when The Times of India, the world's largest circulated English language daily newspaper was founded as The Bombay Times and Journal of Commerce. The Morse code had been invented, Queen Victoria’s coronation took place, proteins were discovered and the Duke University was established here in N Carolina. On the colonial end, the French were negotiating with India on new slaves for Mauritius after a British ban on slavery. The British were not too happy either, for they had lost the first Afghan War. The French presence in India was miniscule, with just Pondicherry near Madras and Mahe in Malabar.

But this is not about all that and traces the travails of a young girl called Ammani, starting at Pondicherry and across the seas to France and other European cities.

At Tiruvendipuram or Tiruvaheendrapuram - 6 leagues away (33km) from Pondicherry, ceded to the British (In 1712, by the Raja of Ginjee) by its previous rulers and now in the Cudallore Taluk, the Tengalis and the Vadagalai sects were feuding as usual, and the priests of the Devanatha temple would soon be asked to intervene, as it had high standing in the South Arcot district. The 2000 odd year old Devanatha Vishnu temple planned and developed by Adisesha and dating back to the period of the Chola ruler Vikrama, was busy and as usual, during prayers, the singers sang devaram while the dancers danced (like many other Vaishnavite temples, this one too had a number of temple dancers and singers in their payroll).

As I mentioned previously in the article on the Tanjavur Quartet, the history of Devadasis is very often misunderstood and confused with anglicized definitions of courtesans and prostitutes due to the influence of zealous missionaries of that time. But I will not get into that study as yet, let us be content with the fact that these dasis in the service of the lord actually sang and danced (let’s not dwell upon other aspects of their decadence, as yet). Their dances were usually conducted in temples and palaces, to the accompaniment of Devaram singing set to ragas or older panns. The 1800’s were a period when the Devadasis were decried, stigmatized and their art forms derided. Their nautch (Natch in Hindi, anglicized) dance otherwise known as dasiyattam was on the chopping block. Father away, in Tanjore, the Quartet had finished laying the margam for the new attam, (known today as Bharatanatyam) and some dancers were slowly adapting to it. However the musicians in Tiruvendipuram were perhaps slow on the pickup of new instruments like the violin. In any case, Ramalingam a nattuvanar of the area, continued with his old methods and managed his small troupe ably.

The nattuvanar, most usually male, was integral to a dasi’s performance, he was the troupe conductor and dace choreographer who also knew the music aspects intimately. His nattuvangam involved playing the cymbals, holding the rhythm with jatis (tha dhi dhinna…), sometimes singing the song and controlling the laya or tempo of the dance. Now as you can imagine this was a tall task and required one to know and master so many sub arts, so it took a long time for one to become a nattuvanar and not many made it. And dasis were also particular, for the dancer needed to be familiar with the style of a nattuvanar before performing with him, so this led to creation of teams performing dasiyattam or in later days Bharatanatyam.

His troupe comprised himself, Ramalingam Mudaliar, Tillammal the Taikelavi in charge of the girls aged 30 (perhaps 50 in reality), a Thooti player and singer Saravanan, a maddalam player Devanayakam and three young dancers. The dancers were Ammani aged 18, two sisters Sundaram aged 14, Rangam aged 13 and accompanied by a little understudy aged 6, Ramalingam’s granddaughter named Vedam. Tille was apparently the mother of the two sisters and Ammani her niece.

Whether they expected the invitation from the French in Puducherry is not clear, but it came like a bolt from the blue and was fraught with all kinds of danger and social issues. It involved crossing the seas to France and Europe and spending a period of 18 months singing and dancing in those unknown places. It also involved crossing the oceans. The troupe acceded to the request, perhaps due to economic hardship or some other reason such as repression by the British. Much effort was put in to secure their release from temple services and eventually they reached the French Notary’s office to sign a well preserved contract, written in French. The event organizer or promoter to acquire their services was one EC Tardivel who had come all the way from France.

Tardivel had decided to bring these exotic dancers (by this time the Portuguese term Bayladeria or female dancer shortened to Bayaderes was used to signify Devadasis) after he felt a certain interest among the French populace to see these dance forms of the orient. Marie Tagiloni, the ballet dancer had already portrayed the part of the temple danseuse in her act.

As events would transpire, the agent in Pondicherry (One Kanakambaram) established contact with Ramalingam and worked out a contract agreement. A decent contract, it was clear in daily and starting/ending emoluments for each member, other allowances, facilities offered as well as penalties for any girl falling pregnant (they would be sent home without any share of the profits).

Interestingly you can see that the girls were literate, they signed their names in Telugu (Saravanan signed his name in Tamil). The contract period was 18 months from the date of embarkation, free travel and maintenance, and not including per diem, a sum of Rs 500.00 per head in addition to an advance payment of Rs 500.00 per head, all in all a handsome compensation in those days.

A report in the ‘Word of fashion’ dated Sept 15th provides some more details. Tillamal the taikelavi, was not happy about the young girls leaving, even after signing the contract. A lawsuit threat however brought her to her senses and she acceded. A Brahmin boy besotted (one sided attraction apparently) with the pretty lass Ammani came to the harbor with entreaties for her not to leave and even jumped into the water, but eventually swam back ashore after the ship departed. The girls were nonplussed, proved to be merry on the voyage, even though the men were melancholic and seen praying often.

They arrived in Bordeaux on 24th July 1838 after a long voyage, and at this juncture one may of course wonder if the members ran a risk of losing caste as a sea voyage would typically entail. Perhaps the purification costs were part of the remuneration, perhaps they were already excommunicated and lost their temple positions.

The group are soon reviewed, with reports on their looks, likes, dislikes, food and manners. Tillammal is considered surly, one who has surpassed the love of men, one who never smiled. Ammani from the outset is hailed as the perfect creature, noble and gentle. Vadyam, Vedam or vaidyam, is cast as an impish tot. They are shown around Paris, and eventually quartered in a little bungalow near the Seine with a guard in front, lest they be kidnapped or people climb over the fence. Some even suspected that they were imposters and Ribaud even rubbed their skins to check if the black would come off to ensure they were indeed from India. The French who had until then seen a localized version from Tagiloni, were all agog seeing this entourage.

Pierre Jules Théophile Gautier a French poet, dramatist, novelist, journalist, and art and literary critic was the person who got much involved with the press portrayal of the Bayaderes, for he tracked their performances and was smitten by Ammani. Perhaps he was already influenced by Baudelaire about the greatness of the Orient and mentioned India in his writings, though he had never visited the country. As Figueira puts it – He found their dancing an endless enchantment, with his poetic fantasies coming to life. Interestingly, Ammani impressed not only Gautier, but also his friend Gerad de Nerval who mentioned Amany often in his works.

We get a nice description of Ammani from Gautier who met them at the cottage for a private performance – He mentions the olive gold color of her skin, silky rice paper texture to touch, rounded hips, pure in blood compared to the mixed European, oval head, straight nose, pointed chin, low cheekbones, lovely face all in all with a true small mouth. The eyes are simply beautiful, ecstatic languorous and voluptuous and a half smile completes a glorious look. Huge pendants, adorn her ears and the holes still leave a gap, where one could insert a thumb. The lobe top is riddled with openings plugged with small wooden bits for keep it open. In addition, what upsets them all, the left nostril was pierced and a diamond ring inserted. Two or three copper bangles are seen around her wrists; the upper arm is fitted by a kind of bracelet of an inverted V shape. She wears a sari and between her blouse and pants, the space showing bare flesh is much appreciated. Amber and sandalwood incense smells complete the experience.

A lot of mysteries are cleared here, that dasiyattam dancers were not bare breasted, that they wore their hair in a bun behind and that they wore white saris for the dance. They were dressed a little differently in the sense that they had dancing pants on, North Indian style under the sari. The thootti provided the sruti, which the French found boring (Gautier mentions that the music is soft and only enjoyed if the dancers are dancing round you) and a monotone which it is supposed to be, since its holes except for one are plugged. Some of the songs used were dreamy, and light (lilting Devaram – tevaram verses). The dance itself is very original and involves much eye and head movement, and steps in synchronism with the drum beats and cymbals used by the musicians. The last number, perhaps a tillana or a kummi is similar to a Celtic waltz.

The public performances in August that year got tongues to chatter in Paris. The playbill details the events - A salutation, Robing of Shiva, Dance of the melancholy, The doves and the Malapou. The dancer’s days were full and no less than two dozen performances were completed in a month, spanning the theaters of Paris, Versailles and Tivoli. Many articles are testament to their popularity and Ammani’s (known as Amany, Ammale or Amani to the press) statue was soon cast in bronze by Jean August Barre. The statue itself is interesting. As you can see below, an early sketch of the same shows her wearing an Andhra style checkered sari, while the bronze statue is a mirror image of the former. Perhaps Barre made a set of two, I am not sure.

A report in Le Figaro 27^th August stated - the ticket sales for the shows set a record and they were sold out days in advance with the result that the season was extended. The Bayaderes it seems took Paris by storm – for the Figaro report says - One finds the word ‘Bayadère’ printed and lithographed everywhere; paper, marble, cloth and plaster reproduce their names, their traits.

Nevertheless, the music is not considered great and is remarked as somewhat primitive. Hector Berlioz states (translation by Inge Van Rij, acknowledged with thanks) - I don’t know if you still remember the peculiar music that accompanied the movements of the Indian bayadères who appeared, around ten years ago, at the Théâtre des Variétés? It consisted of some faint sounds murmured in a low weary voice by those of the bayadères who weren’t dancing; chanting that wavered exclusively on the minor third, around a single tone, continuously sustained by a fife into which an Indian blew, while the rhythm of the dance was marked with the fingers of his right hand on a small drum. If someone had told us that the flute of the Indian musician only produced a single note that was prolonged indefinitely like the buzzing of a wasp, and that his drum only produced a feeble and muted sound, comparable to that obtained by lightly hitting the fingers against the body of a hat; that the bayadères, in the supposed song that accompanies their dance, contented themselves by murmuring every now and then, in an undertone, some words on the note prolonged by the flute of their musician, while embellishing only as required this note by means of two other sounds that form with the main sound the interval of a second or minor third, like la la la—ti do, la la—do ti do la, and continued in this way for an hour, most likely we wouldn’t have wanted to believe it.

It is almost clear that the performance had a Vandanam or invocation, Jatiswaram, Varnam and a Tillana. Perhaps the small girl performed a Padam.

Athanaeum - Paris, Aug. 1838. A performance before the monarchy - the Bayaderes whose performance at the Tuileries, before the Royal Family, is elaborately discussed this morning in the Journal des Dibats, after that journal's most flowery fashion. These nymphs are five in number….. While dancing, they are accompanied by three male musicians, of an inferior caste, each of whom bears his part on an instrument of but one note; the band consisting of a tiny pair of cymbals, almost hidden in the hollow of the hand, a pipe, and a tamtam. ………… But, nevertheless, their dancing and their costume, as first displayed to a select set of connoisseurs, underwent considerable modification and veiling before they were exhibited to royalty. On the former occasion, the breast and shoulders were closely covered with gold tissue, and immense petticoats perfectly concealing the shape were gathered round the hips, but all between these two masses of drapery lay bare. To present thus the torrid zone of the human form at court and upon the stage, was pronounced not comme il faut; when, therefore, they danced before Louis Philippe, the Bayaderes were totally enveloped in scarfs.

The writer questions - Everyone in Paris, however, will go to see them once, which will suffice to make their trip lucrative. But, after all, was it fair in M. Tardivel to kidnap these poor creatures, and bring them to Europe, where they must lose caste, and where their devotional pirouettes can only last as long as other nine days' wonders?

Yates’s son explains what happened next (though I do not believe they lost any money in the bargain since all shows were full) - On one occasion a rumor reached London that a great success had been achieved in Paris by the performance of a set of Hindoo dancers, called "Les Bayaderes," who were supposed to be priestesses of a certain sect; and the London theatrical managers were at once on the queue to secure the new attraction. Three of them—Laporte, of the Italian Opera; Alfred Bunn, of Drury Lane; and my father set out for Paris much about the same time; it was diligence-traveling or posting in those days, and the man with the loosest purse strings went the fastest. My father had concluded his arrangement with the "Bayaderes" before his brother managers arrived in Paris. Shortly afterwards, the Hindoo priestesses appeared at the Adelphi. They were utterly uninteresting, wholly unattractive. My father lost £2000 by the speculation; and in the family they were known as the "Buy-em-dears" ever after.

The dancers thus moved on to perform at the Adelphi in London where mixed reviews came out. Some liked it, but many did not.

Finally we get a decent description of the dances as understood by the western eye from the Spectator V 11- First, the two young girls, Sundaram and Rangam, advance, and their performance maybe regarded as a type of the rest; for though slight variations of action distinguish each dance, the general character of the style is the same in all. They keep time to the music with the simultaneous movement of every muscle in their bodies and limbs, rolling their lustrous black eyes, and muttering a low chant incessantly, like beings under the influence of some magic spell. Their motions are not so violent as to seem to require effort, and are entirely free from contortions; yet, notwithstanding the air of Oriental languor and repose, the muscular energy that is thrown into every movement makes the process exhausting; and on one occasion we detected what appeared to us an indication of fatigue on the part of one of the girls, attended with a momentary pause, which the other seemed to recognize; and the final salaam, when they bend themselves almost double, the hands meeting over the forehead, seemed a welcome relief. They scarcely stir from the place they occupy, and their principal bodily movements consist of turning round and crouching down, and in this position throwing out first one leg and then the other, resting on the heel: they use the heel as much as the toes. The prevailing movement of the arms is horizontal, crossing the face, and seeming to touch the nose; the long slender arms, and taper fingers pointed with sharp nails, darting to and fro with angular action. There is very little if anything of flowing and serpentine movement of the limbs: nearly all is abrupt and rectilinear, but continuous. The inflections of the body are graceful, but its twining’s are not developed by corresponding movements of the limbs: one action resembles the effect of a choking sensation ; the upper part of the spine curving, the head poking forward, and the eye-lids and brown being drawn upwards. This dance is called "The robing of Vishnu “ The pas dc deuz concluded, the sweet little Vedom performs an elaborate dance of less violent action, termed “The Salute to the Rajah;" her brilliant eyes and teeth of dazzling whiteness seeming to light up her infantine countenance with pleasure. The tall graceful AMANY then steps forward, with a melancholy aspect, and an air of languishment, and rolls her lustrous eyes, that seem suffused with sorrow as if they would literally dissolve with melting tenderness: her movements are more grave and slow, for she is performing “The Widow's Lament;" and she chants audibly a measured strain of woe. The matron TILLE, who all this while has not ceased waving the horsetail fan before the image, now resigns that task to the infant Vedom, and joins Amany, and her daughter and niece, in " The Malapou, or Delightful Dance;" a sort of Indian quadrille, in which the four performers keep their respective places, and the principal movement is bending the body from side to side, and making the arms meet in a graceful curve above the head. Meanwhile, the two cousins have performed “The Dagger Dance, or the Hindoo Widow‘s Excitement to Death; " which is of a more theatrical character than any other, but without the vehement and startling action of ballet-dancing. A fifth dance, “The Carrier Doves," has not yet been performed at the Adelphi: this, we suppose, is kept in reserve.

It is clear from the above that many of the moves are from the dasiyattam routine….

The new sporting magazine was distinctly unsporting - What utter—abominable—inexplicable nonsense. Yet again, what clear—nice—perfect managerial humbug! It is quite clear that the blacks will be slaves; Inkle, Mr. Yates—Yarico, Miss Bayadere!— "White man don't leave me,"—and depend upon it my dear Saundorouna, Ramgoun, Veydoun, Amany, and Tille,—as long as white man can get one single farthing out of your dingy persons and most unpoetical postures—white man will not leave you. Money, and money alone, will, according to the proverb, make the Bayaderes to go, as well as the mare. The thing is a dead failure as a dramatic exhibition…………. So disreputable an attack upon the gullibility of the English public has not been attempted since the man advertised to enter into a quart bottle, at the Haymarket Theatre—or since Yates proposed enacting the part of Cassius at Covent Garden! I wish I had my entrance money safely back in my pocket again.

James Ewing Ritchie wrote - The dancing Bayaderes, who visited London some fifteen years back, were shocked at what they conceived the immodest attire of our English dames, who, in their turn, were thankful that they did not dress as the Bayaderes.

Let us look at their daily routine. Quoting the Spectator v11 - The Bayaderes have not changed their custom since their arrival in Europe. They live on rice and vegetables, cooked by themselves. Each morning they rise with the sun, descend to the fountain, or the imitation of a fountain, which is prepared for them, and there make their ablutions. They return then to their apartment, and remain there the whole day. The day is passed in singing or sleeping. They do not know how to do anything, and they do nothing. But they are gentle and sweet-tempered, and their indolence does not create either jealousy or quarrels. Their conversation is as quiet as their manners. It is a kind of whispering, timid and monotonous, of which their countenance renders the expression more faithfully than their lips. A day thus passed should be very tedious, but they do not know what ennui is; and it is quite clear that their health is not injured by that idleness. The men keep company with them, but at a respectful distance. The law forbids their approaching or touching the Bayaderes. At night they all lie down to sleep in the same apartment, upon mats, rolled up in their cloaks; the men at the top of the mat, the women lower down. In a few minutes all are asleep— for their simple hearts know no passions—they have neither love our jealousy; still, Tillé watches over all, and remains awake till they are sound asleep

Others focused on their customs - On the arrival of the Orientals in London, their (oriental) feelings were greatly shocked at seeing the flesh of the ox (a sacred animal in their country) exposed for sale, and lying familiarly by the side of unhallowed mutton. We would ask the concoctor of this piece of romance how it was possible for the young ladies (never having witnessed the dissection of the beast from which beef cometh) to discover that the formidable sirloins, briskets, and steaks before them, belonged to an animal at all analogous to the magnificent and sanctified ox of their native country? This is drawing the long bow with a vengeance…………..

Some others opined that it was much better to watch Taglioni’s or Duvernay’s imitations. The Aldine magazine was forthright - The leading speculation at the Adelphi, this season, has been the exhibition of the Bayaderes; a failure, we presume, so far as the treasury of the theatre may be concerned. To us, the dancing of our own chimney-sweepers on May-day is a thousand times more amusing. Still, as the bona fide dance of a foreign, remote, and very ancient nation, the display of the Bayaderes is not without interest.

The London program comprised the acts of laws of Brahma (actually the play - Widow of Malabar), Robing of Vishnu, Salute of the Rajah, the Hindu Lament, the dagger dance and the Malapou.

Actors by daylight stated over many reports - At Adelphi, the young women appeared in A Race for a Rarity, The Law of Brahma; or, the Hindoo Widow, and Arajoon or, The Conquest of Mysore, whose plots were merely frames upon which to present occasions for the Indians to dance. The Bayaderes received unanimous praise in the London press for their exotic dancing and they remained at the Adelphi throughout the fall. Most of the nobility went to watch it. Some opined that the dance by Amani should have been done by the whole group, others liked the dagger dance by Sundaram and Rangom. They received good applause and the scenic effects of the last two acts great. Lady Morgan, the prince and the princesses attended. Since the troupe do not touch utensils touched by Europeans, the entire kitchen of the Yates home is allocated only to the Bayaderes supervised scrupulously by Tillammal.

Then they moved on to perform at the Egyptian hall, Piccadilly. The announcement read M.

TARDIVEL'S MORNING EXHIBITION of the BAYADERES, or Indian Dancing Priestesses, who will have the honor to present themselves at 2 o'clock. At half past 2 will be given the Toilet of Vishnu; at a quarter before 3, the Pas Melancolique; at 3, the Salute of the Rajah; at a quarter past 3, the Pas de Poignard; at half past 3, the Malapou. During the intervals of exhibiting they will promenade and converse with any lady or gentleman who may understand their language. The doors open at half past 1. Admission to the whole 1s.

A conclusion is worth reading - This Hindoo dancing is totally different from either; it is the pantomime of emotion-exhibiting the flow of soul, not of the animal spirits. Regarded as one style of the poetry of motion, it is to European dancing what we suppose the Greek music to have been in comparison with that of modern times-rude and limited, but withal expressive.

Holloway’s ointment were perhaps sponsors for Yates’s exertions (note that contemporary Swati Tirunal ordered a consignment of 6 jars). An advertisement followed (Fly p23) - Secret of the Elasticity of the Bayaderes -These surprising dancers have astonished the Parisians and Londoners by their unparalleled elasticity of movement. Taglioni, Duvernay, and the Elslers, celebrated as they are, must in this instance give place to their Indian rivals. Now, the question is, how is this accomplished? We must let the public into a secret. There is an unguent in great repute for an immense variety of external disorders, such as gout, rheumatism, glandular complaints, scrofula, wounds, &c, which is also admirable in giving suppleness to the joints land limbs; and, of course, the Bayaderes, at the suggestion of Mr. Yates, were only too happy to avail themselves of its use. The unguent alluded to is Holloway's Ointment…ta ta……

They covered many more parts of Europe, but from some of the reports, they were not very well received.

Finally let’s get to Strauss and the Indian Galop - The malapua – malpua delightful dance, a quadrille by the bayaderes …..Perhaps danced to a tillana at the end of their performance. As the description in the CD explains - In the summer of 1839, the Bayaderes reached Vienna and performed at the Theater an der Wien. All kinds of Indian festivals were arranged and Strauss wrote a composition as well, commemorating the event. Whether he was inspired by Ramalingam’s Tillana or not is unclear (I doubt it) but he had more success selling it compared to the Indian troupe who by then were doing dances based on their managers whims and far from the margam they set out with.

But the Indian Malapou Galop remained – a chirpy piece (hear it by clicking this link) composed in the honor of the Bayaderes which many opine, had no connection musically to anything remotely Indian.

In all they covered a good distance from Bordeaux to Paris to London to Brighton, and from there to Antwerp, Brussels, Ghent, The Hague, Rotterdam and Amsterdam. They also performed in Frankfurt, Mannheim, Karlruhe, Aschaffenburg, Wiesbaden, Darmstadt, Mainz, Weimar, Leipzig, Dresden, Berlin, Potsdam, Wroclaw, Prague, Vienna, Linz, Munich, Augsburg, Stuttgart, Strasbourg and Bordeaux. I look forward to the works of Joep Bor and Tiziana Leucci who are working on the project reconstructing their complete tour.

What happened at the end? Did they return and live on happily ever after? Perhaps, though Gautier wanted his heroine to meet a tragic end, at least in his thoughts and mind. He mentions that Ammani hung herself in a fit of depression on a foggy day in London, which was most certainly untrue since no death record exists of such an event. But Gautier remembered Ammani for the rest of his life and mentioned her often in his writings.

References

There is no anachronism: Indian Dancing Girls in Ancient Carthage in Berlioz’s Les Troyens- Inge Van Rij
Mamia, Ammani and other Bayaderes: Europe’s portrayal of India’s temple dancers – Joep Bor
Les Bayaderes – Gautier (Le Orient – Tome second)
The Exotic: A Decadent Quest By Dorothy Matilda Figueira
Widows Pariahs and Bayaderes – Binita Mehta
Fifty years of London life: memoirs of a man of the world - By Edmund Hodgson Yates
Revue universelle: bibliothèque de l'homme du monde et de l'homme Politique, Volume 35 (Pages 201-203)
Gautier on Dance – Ivor Guest
Etudes et Recherches Sur Theophile gautier Prosateur – Jean richer
Translating the orient – Dorothy Matilda Figueira
Charlotte Ackerman – Otto Muller

Notes

1. While it is stated in the contract that the dancers are from Tiruvendipuram which is 6 leagues from Pondicherry and that they danced for the Perumal temple there, there are some inconsistencies.

a. The girls are grouped as pagoda Brahmins, but they are most certainly isai vellalars or kaikolars if they were weavers.

b. It is intriguing that they were wearing white clothes, more like Mohiniyattam dancers. Ammani’s dance feature is somewhat reminiscent of Mohiniyattam.

c. The contract mentions witnesses from Malabar - They are Appuchetty and Subramania Pillay son of Parasurama Pilla, Malabar inhabitants residing in Pondicherry, who are well known to and have accompanied the dancers. So did they come from Malabar? Was Ammani really Ammini from Malabar?

2. The Holloway ointment aspect is intriguing. How did Swati order 6 jars around the same time? Did he hear about it from the returning dancers, and have it ordered for his own court dancers?

3. Barre’s statue of Ammani is described as follows by Sotheby’s - its auctioneers - An exotic statuette of the Indian dancer Amany, by Barre, portrays her dancing the Malapou, or dance of delight, in a public performance at the Théâtre des Variétés, Paris, in August 1838. Beautiful details such as the coils of her hair and sparkling brilliance of the tinsel and glass jewelry that adorned her make this a truly sumptuous piece. Signed and dated 1838, it is estimated to fetch £6,000-8,000

4. The Otto Muller book provides an interesting amount of detail of the dances themselves though it is a work of fiction.

Images

- The Bayadères, Amany, Saundirounn, Tillé, Ramgoun & Veydoun dancing the malapou, accompanied by the bard Ramalingan and musicians Saravanini & Devenayagon. By Hamerton, Robert Jacob, courtesy NYPL collections

- Other pictures from the web

The music tradition of Kerala – A performance for the gods

We talked about the movement of Carnatic music stalwarts and capitals, its development in Tanjore, and the part played by the Tanjavur quartet. We also looked at the contributions of the famous Shadkala Govinda Marar from Kerala. Now let us change tack and focus on a music form which was in vogue in Kerala, one that was slightly different from the Carnatic music that we covered so far. In the process we will also very briefly touch upon the language prevalent in Kerala in the medieval times, namely Manipravalam and get to know the marar community.

There is nobody who has done better research on this subject than Leela Omcherry and her daughter Deepti Omcherry. The history of music in Kerala is explained by them in such detail and anybody who is keen on the subject is advised to refer their works or listen to their lucid interviews. This article will only serve to be an introduction and is based very much on the fine and painstaking research by Deepti and her mother, augmented with finer details provided by others (referenced at the end of the article), so I start with my thanks to those fine teachers.

Like everywhere else, there was traditional music which refined itself to Jati (tribe, clan) or nadodi (folk) sangeetham. They were but naturally simplistic and based on a few notes or swaras. This was in colloquial languages prevalent in various regions and suited the performance, dance and worship forms of the period, at primate places of worship be it located in groves or caves. Sometimes this kind of music was termed Dravidian music. But it became something different in the precinct of the temples, though quite naturally evolving out of the Jati sangeetham (Pulluvan pattu, Kaniyan pattu, pana pattui, Thottam Pattu, Arjuna nrittam etc) which we mentioned above.

Kulashekara Varman of Malayalam as many of you know, was instrumental in the building of some of the first temples after the various Chola temples in the Tamilakam region. With the construction of the sopana mandapam and the koothambalam in Kerala temples, the forms of offerings, prayers and methods (aradhana sampradaya) were augmented with music and dance, both of which ended up as samarpanams or devotional submissions to the reigning deity in the temple.

But there is more to all this for in the old days, most Siva temples followed Tamil practices and the songs sung were Saiva thevaram or Tevaram pattu (KVK Guruvayoor pg42). The arrival of Jayadeva’s Ashtapathi in the 13^th-14^th century (which details the romantic life of Krishna) and its acceptance resulted in its eventual implementation as the quasi standard in temples, coinciding with the prevalent Bhakti movement. Perhaps it also fitted well with the Sanskritized Manipravalam development in early medieval Kerala and hence gained popularity over the Tevaram practice in Tamil. The development of the Sopanam style gained popularity and, by the 14th century, singers of the sopanam style contributed extensively to temple music. It was also the period when the Sanketham concept was in vogue where the temple and its authorities exercised a good amount of authority. A large number of temples in Kerala were virtually sovereign states (akin to the Vatican today) with a well-defined territory called the Sanketham. The rituals and methods of worship were also prescribed by the Sanketham authorities. The temple owned property, employed many personnel for its upkeep, and laid strict rules. It also decided who did what and which caste was ideal for what. Bigger temples had a hand in promotion of specific art forms, such as Ramanattam, Kathakali and so on.

Music for the gods followed bhakti traditions and were usually in Sanskrit (hence termed Arya bhasha) and when done at the sopnama or temple steps was called Kotti paadi seva (prayers with vocal singing and drumming). Obviously as it involved an individual enacting various events of an epic or legend concerning the particular god, the intonation presented but one singular bhava (mood) and used only swaras (notes) most suited for that performance. This limited repertoire remained constant with the passage of time for the simple reason that it was ritualistic and any change would in theory have upset the gods. So the strict outline of a jeeva swara with its related swaras to create a sopnana sthayam remained unaltered with the passage of time and thankfully we still see it in Kerala. But it was not necessarily one which fitted with what is today known as the structured (sashtriya) music from the Carnatic melekarta scheme, and did have a few anya swaras (unrelated notes) creeping in but suiting the creation of a bhava or moving within it.

The vocalist thus stood to one side of the sopanam and sang devotional hymns to a set structure devoid of too many complications. Whether he did it solo to the accompaniment of the idakka or with an edakka player is subject to debate, but as it is to the accompaniment of kottal or drumming, it was also known as kottipaadiseva. Njeralath Harigovindan a present day exponent explains - This music form was intended to be sung for a short while, while the doors of the sanctum were shut and the deity was not visible. The aim was to fill the ears of the worshippers standing in front of the doorway, with devotional songs so that their attention did not wander while their eyes had nothing to look at.

The style of singing is seen to be quite influenced by the old ragas or ‘panns’ which were commonplace in the Tamilakam (The term “Pan” is used to denote the term “raga” in Tamil isai). The ancient panns evolved first into a five note scale and later into the seven note Carnatic Sargam or Ezhisai. Today, you can see the usage of these paans only in Kerala’s unaltered versions of Sopana Sangeetham. As a temple performance, and one which depended on what time of the day prayers and poojas were done, it was intrinsically related to time and hence termed samaya sangeetham.

Examples of the ancient ragas used for Sopana saneetham are Desakshi, Sreekandi, Malabari, Banli, Samantha, Malahosvi, Goulipantu, Nalatha, Puraniru, Padi, Kanakkurinchi, Khandaram and so on. These ragas as mentioned, are typically sung to the time theory or Ganakala Niyama (certain ragas for certain periods of the day or night) which was also prevalent in Tamilian music. The Sopana style of singing is focused on devotional moods and has less of raga sancharas and sangathis.

As Sanketams dictated, orchestra during the puja became the exclusive right of the Marar (Poduval) community from North Malabar. Maaran (Maaraar, Maran) is the name given to temple musicians of Travancore, Cochin and Malabar in Kerala, and their primary duty was to provide the traditional temple Sopanam music. In parts of North Malabar they are known as Ochhans and Poduvals instead of Marar while in Travancore Panicker and Kurup are used. The higher classes of Maarans (Asupani Maarans) claim the six privileges Pani or Pano, Koni, Thirumuttom, Nadumuttam, Velichor and Poochor. Pani is the right to play the Asu and Pani. (In the Travancore regions they are called Chitikans (chaitaka)). Kerala’s temple music allows only certain talas and the ones preferred are Chempada (adi), Adanta (ata), Muriadanta(chapu) , Champa (jhampa) and panchari (rupaka).

A music enthusiast would always want a comparison and in general one can say that while the

scientific basis behind Sopnam and Carnatic are similar, the main difference is in the style of rendition. As it is sung near the steps or sopanam, it was called Sopanathil Pattu and is today broadly termed Sopana Sangeetham. Those items required for a public Carnatic performance such as aalapana, sangathis, brighas and so on are mostly absent in Sopanam. The focus instead is on gamakas and a slow tempo with long pauses to provide dramatic effect provides a classic example of bhava sangeetham. The stress is on the sahitya (textual poem) and generally does not exceed one sthayi in Octave range. Sruthi is still paramount, and tempo is kept with the chengila – a gong tapped with a wooden stick. It is also termed as an example of kalpitha sangeetham set to specific norms whereas Carnatic is more manodharma. The edakka, the main shruti-laya instrument of Sopanam, is incidentally tuned to pancham (Pa) and has a range of only one sthayi, with panchamam as its base.

But there is a different angle proposed by some experts, that it was a music meant for sobhana or dance, and that they were originally sung by devasris or singing girls of the temple. Dr Omchery opines that in the South it was sung originally by the padi ilars or the Tali nangas of Travancore. They were the kriyangis or wives of god who alone had the authority to perform before god, be it music or dance. Similar to the Nuns of Chritianity, they were secluded inside the temple precincts and appeared only for the pooja performance. The girls belonging to the highest level were offerings by the king from his family and were called Uttamottama and were hardly seen, and spent all their time in prayers in seclusion.

The melodious rendering of Ashtapadi in the traditional Sopana style can still be heard in places like the Guruvayur temple in Kerala, but what is it actually? Imagine ascending the steps or sopanam, i.e. the steps leading to the sreekovil in a Kerala temple. Sopanam music is like climbing the steps, slowly, step by step in a slow tempo (like vilambit laya in Hindustani). The glide is akin to slow sea waves and very rhythmic (andolita gamaka), but unique to Sopana singing with a focus on bhakti. As exponents explain, typically you begin with a graha swara, rotating in and out of laya in vilambita, using one or two swaras and then moving on to the next step using the swaying adolita gamaka. Strictly old margam tala (Carnatic is laya bound) bound, it reaches a climactic phase through differing singing speeds vary from patikaala to shatkaala without the steps becoming evident. Purists will also notice that sopnam exhibits two additional swaras and they are termed the kairali gandhari and kairali nishada. Even the Sa and pa are shaken. The drum accompaniment to Kerala’s sopnam singing is the idakka, a small drum shaped like Siva’s damaru.

Sopana Sangeetham actually underwent some compositional changes when the Geeta Govindam or Ashtapadi by Jayadeva reached Kerala. Jayadeva’s Ashtapadi in Sanskrit covering the tales of Krishna and Radha (eight stanzas) soon became a norm for Sopanam singers and it was also the music for temple dances such as Ashtapadi attam. This was the forerunner to Krishnattam (Krishnagiti - covering the whole life of Krishna) later formulated in the courts of Manavedan the Zamorin of Calicut. As it moved Southwards, Krishnattam developed into Ramanattam (See related article under references) and later to Kathakali where Sopnaa sangeetham continued to form the bedrock, but based on manipravalam. And slowly it left the temple and got associated with performing arts. Some works like shivashtapadi also found popularity in those days.

Tamil language was the original language of Tamilakam, but Grantha bhasha used by the nobility of Cheranaad was a mixture of Tamil with Sanskrit. Manipravalam was a mixture of Sanskrit and early Malayalam (the version popular in Kerala – more like Karin Tamil) and was more of a literary style used in medieval Kerala. For cultural purposes at that time, Malayalam and Sanskrit formed a language known as Manipravalam, where both languages were used in an alternating style, and Manipravalam slowly transitioned to what we know as modern Malayalam. It was as you can imagine popular for poetry and used by poets and writers.

Sopanam was the music to which medieval Travancore dancers performed, as Sopana sangeetham evolved to abhinaya sangeetha. And so as you can see, it formed the musical basis of the Kerala’s tauryatrika – sageetham, nrittam and natakam. As time passed by, it found a powerful patron in the form of Swathi Tirunal of Travancore who together with his uncle Iraviyamman Thampi created even more manipravalam based compositions, in the Sopanam style and also used it as a base for the Dasiyattam of Travancore as well as the revitalized art form which we all know as Kerala’s Mohiniyattam. Post Swati Thirunal, we see that some of his compositions were being reset or polished and represented in relatively modern Carnatic ragas and styles due to the efforts of Sethu Parvathi Bayi, Muthaiah Bhagavathar and Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer.

Sugandhavalli Bayi and Nanditha Prabhu add that a style of Mohinyattam termed the Sopanam style was revived with Kavalam Narayan Panikkar’s efforts. As they put it, it was a retreat into Kerala’s own forgotten treasures which were latent in the ritual dance traditions. Panicker tried to re- look on the vāchika aspect of Mōhiniyāṭtam. Rendering of music in this tradition mainly tried to bring out the emotions and feelings through the eloquent pauses to stress on the lyrics. Kavalam Narayana Panicker advocated that this style of rendering would be more apt for Mōhiniyāṭtam rather than using Carnatic music which laid more stress on gamaka prayoga. In addition to the above, introduction of sopana sangeetham was more readily accepted by the dancers Kanak Rele of Bombay and Bharathi Sivaji of Delhi. They used this musical rendering in combination with their own definitions of Mōhiniyāṭtam (Angika aspect) which was well received by rasikas outside Kerala. This style developed a repertoire with items like Ganapathy, Mukhachalam, Tatvam, Niram, Padam and Jeeva. This was patterned as a journey of Jeevatma towards the Paramatma symbolically represented by a devotee’s journey from the entrance of the temple to the inner sanctum sanctorum. Today more dancers in Kerala are accepting this sopanam style.

The two styles Thekkan (south) and vadakkan (north) developed and the southern style virtually vanished. As days passed by, the vadakkan style started to get influenced by the populist Carnatic music. It is not an art taught in schools since Sopana sangeetham is traditionally taught by singers to boys of the next generation, so has few takers these days. While I was growing up, we used to have two great exponents Appu and Kunjukuttan, in Pallavur. The one name that is synonymous with Idakka and Sopana sangeetham is the legendary Pallavur AppuMarar—he was not only adept at using the edakka as a percussion drum, but also as a musical instrument.I can proudly say that I have been lucky to see many of his performances.

Nevertheless, there are a few Sopanam performers these days like Njeralath Harigovindan (Son of the great Rama Poduval), Sooranadu Harikumar, Ambalapuzha Vijayakumar and so on. We also have a lady singer of Sopanam these days, Girija Balakrishnan from Anamangad who plays her own edakka.

Mohiniyattam which utilized only Sopanam music is also evolving with faster Carnatic notes and we get to hear Sopanam only during daily performances in bigger temples. But perhaps that is where it always belonged, in the temple, as a performance only for gods….. And at the end of the day people will continue to ask – why did the people of Kerala always strive to be different, be it music, dance, language….well a tricky question, best answered another day.

So how does Sopana sangeetham, defined thus by Lakshmana Pillai as ‘simple, sweet, perhaps more languid, yet more pathetic and tender than the Aryan, and more sung in country parts than in towns’…. sound like? Click these links to hear some examples.

One

Two

Three

Four

But the one that comes to the mind of most malayalee’s is that classic scene with Oduvil Unnikrishnan and his rendering of vande mukunda hare(Sung by MG Radhakrishnan) with an idakka accompaniment.

My next article will focus on the temple dancers and a popular dance of Kerala – Mohiniyattam, the influence of Sopanam on it and many other related aspects

References

The Immortals of Indian Music – Ed Leela Omchery, Deepti Omchery Bhalla

Stylistic variations in Mohiniyattam – S Sugandhavalli Bayi and Nandita Prabhu

Contributions of Travancore to Carnatic music – Dr S Bhagyalekshmy

Madhurakala – Kerala theatrical arts – Dr Kanak Rele

Music in Travancore – RV Poduval

Kerala and Karnatic music – PN Krishnamoorthy

Music of the Sopanam – Brig RB Nayar

Mohiniyattam – A dance tradition of Kerala – Betty True Jones

Ritual music and Hindu rituals of Kerala – Rolf Killius

Vanishing temple arts- Deepti Omchery Bhalla

Music of Kerala - For a more detailed explanation please follow Leela Omchery’s explanation

Role of Music in the temples of Northern Kerala – M Varma

Maddys Ramblings – From Krishnattam to Kathakali

All about Pan Ragas -

Thevaram pans

Rama Poduval Interview and performance

A successful Malayalee, in my opinion, has either an inflated ego or is highly opinionated, and at times exhibits both characteristics. Can you imagine a situation where ten of them, well known to you, seasoned politicians, bureaucrats and people of high standing got together and accomplished something at the international scene? To hear this interesting account, I have to first take you back to the decade of the 1940’s. What on earth brought them all together? Now that is fine, but what is an elephant doing in their midst? An even more interesting aside….

1945 – The world was finally rejoicing as the terrible world war was over and the axis powers had been decimated by the allies. Life was slowly starting to limp back to normalcy but the people of Japan had an even steeper hill to climb. Douglas Mc Arthur, the allied supreme commander in Japan, otherwise known as Gaijin Shogun was on his ‘clean up and purge the old leadership’ mode. The Japanese bureaucracy was sullenly taking new orders, while the survivors or Hibaikushawere tottering about coping with the aftereffects of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. A few more bombs had been readied, but were mercifully not used, for Japan quickly surrendered. The once proud people now averted their eyes and refused to stare at fate.

Two years later India witnessed tragedy and triumph. It had become independent finally, freeing itself from the imperialist British yoke and Jawaharlal Nehru had become prime minister. Pakistan was created and the partition on the East and West borders brought suffering, tragedy and a multitude of deaths. Nehru wrestled with the arduous task of quietening the country and assimilating the many states, provinces and kingdoms of British India. In this he was helped by many an administrator from the south, and we have already talked about many of them, VK Krishna Menon, VP Menon, KM Panikkar and so on. There were other global challenges and with a nonaligned concept spearheading his actions, Nehru set about in right earnest.

He said in 1947 - We propose, as far as possible, to keep away from the power politics of groups, aligned against one another, which had led in the past to world wars and which may again lead to disasters on an even vaster scale. In 1951, he repeated - We have to try to understand others, just as we expect them to understand us. We cannot seek peace in the language of war or threats. But I guess, as Nehru himself realized, friends would soon become foes and violence continuously stood up and peeked through its hooded eyes at the meek public.

But now I take you to Japan, a period when the western world decried the actions of Japan as an axis power and the mauled country was subjected to many conditions, sometimes dishonorable, undignified and affecting its sovereignty. Many changes took place with large scale reconstruction starting around 1948 and a democratic constitution replaced the military influence and the rule of monarchy. The gaijin Shogun was firing away with reforms, and industries such as the bombed out Mitsubishi resurrected itself to rebuild the infrastructure. By 1949, MacArthur made changes to the power structure which increased the power of Japanese, and we see the occupation begin to draw to a close.

India’s relationship with Japan was slightly shaky, for it had been the supporter of INA which was at loggerheads with Nehru’s INC and the British. Subhash Chandra Bose was gone from the midst of the INA and Japan was still home to a few of the old INA stalwarts, one of them being NairSan or AM Nair. Japan was also home to some 750 businessmen from India, and a few students. Rama Rao was the first head of the Indian Liaison mission in Tokyo and quickly got on the wrong side of the imperial MacArthur who was already unhappy with India’s overtures to help a stricken Japan, instead of toeing behind the SCAP (supreme commander of allied powers). Rao quietly told him that India was no longer British but was an independent country. RB Pal and Govinda Menon came for the war trials, and made their mark with independent opinions. Nairsan watched and waited, and was involved often as an advisor or interpreter to some of these Indian officials (I had briefly introduced Nairsan earlier, but I promise, I will do a detailed article on him soon).

If I told you that this was the time when an elephant ambassador came to Japan, would you believe me? Well, this was exactly what happened. The Ueno zoo suffered after the war with a lack of feed for the animals and it became so bad that only people who brought in food got admission. Tonki an Indian elephant in the zoo had died tragically (three of them had to be killed off during the war – see article under references). By 1949, some animals were sent from Utah (many Japanese internees in the US were relocated to Utah and they mooted the transfer) to the depleted zoo. But they did not have an elephant, and the children of the Taito-ward, submitted a request to SCAP asking for an Asian elephant. The SCAP-GHQ which had to authorize the import, turned a blind eye. Soon a petition drive was launched and some 900-1500 kids wrote to Pt Nehru in India asking for an elephant. A reporter named Shimura collected these letters and gave them to a businessman Niyogi who knew Nehru and who was returning to India. With all this noise, the SCAP finally accorded import permission in July 1949. Nehru agreed to gift an elephant so long as Japan paid the $2,000 shipping cost. The elephant chosen was smart 15 year old with four toes (auspicious 8 symbols of Buddhism) on each foot and involved with timber logging (but well trained), from the hills of the Western Ghats. It was named Indira after Nehru’s daughter. By Sept 1949, she was on the way to Japan, though quite disgusted having to leave its abode.

Nehru wrote – “Indira is a fine elephant, very well-behaved. I hope that when the children of India and the children of Japan will grow up, they will serve not only their great countries, but also the cause of peace and cooperation all over Asia and the world. So you must look upon this elephant, Indira by name, as a messenger of affection and goodwill from the children of India. The elephant is a noble animal. It is wise and patient, strong and yet, gentle. I hope all of us will also develop these qualities.”

The elephant ambassador from India was on the way. Sugaya Kitsuichiro was sent to India to escort it to its new home and two Indian mahouts were to accompany it, but return after training the Japanese. The ship Encho Maru carrying it was hit by typhoons and rains, Indira was thoroughly seasick on the way. Special permission had been accorded for the ship to stop at Okinawa and collect fresh bananas and palm leaves for Indira. Life magazine captured the disembarkation at Japan, in pictures. Arriving at Yokohama on Sept 23^rd, it was heralded as a reborn Tonki.

In the meantime a Thai elephant Gachako had arrived, but when the majestic Indira stepped on Japanese shores, it blew away the breaths from the populace. The official presentation took place in Oct with the Japanese Prime Minister Yoshida Shigeru. Indira was a worker elephant, not a performer and the Zoo needed performances to keep the children amused. But Indira only listened to Kannada commands and the mahouts quickly set about training the trainers in Kannada language, and this took two months. And as they said in Japan, Indira fever had caught the populace…

By April 1950, the people of Japan wanted to see the pachyderm and so a travelling menagerie hit the roads. The demoralized villagers were seeing the majestic vegetarian beast with twinkling eyes from India, that distant abode of Buddha who had given them their religion and the well-known Bodhidharama. It is said that their spirits were restored, though I would take that report with a pinch of salt. Shimura the reporter who started it all was asked to accompany Indira. He was told ‘guard the elephant with your life, you can easily be replaced by many, but Indira can never be’. Indira was not amused with all the related activity and became very nervous, but was eventually calmed down after ingesting some sweets. In fact it turned out to be a terrible trip with the elephant being fed all kinds of rubbish food and it playing truant. Some 4 million people paid to see her and after this turbulent trip it was finally installed in the Ueno zoo.

The elephant was loved by everybody in Japan. Children who were starving brought sweet potatoes for Indira. They waved Japanese flags when she passed by. Indira on the other hand, must have dreamed of coconut trees and rice balls with sesame oil, her life in India, and of tuskers…….

Douglas Mcarthur, the man who smoked a Popeye style pipe, had in the meantime returned to America and Japan was quietly and efficiently rebuilding itself. The world decided to let the country back into the international fold and a big conference was arranged at San Francisco. Dulles was the architect of the new treaty. But India would have no part of it. Pt Nehru refused to attend the 1951 San Francisco peace conference. Minister Jayawardene of Ceylon attending the meeting, on the other hand went one step further and stated that it was important to be magnanimous to a defeated foe and refused to accept payment of any reparations that would harm Japan's economy and quoted a Buddhist teaching – ‘hatred ceases not by hatred but by love’.

India signed a separate Peace Treaty with Japan in 1952. This Pundit Nehru felt, gave to Japan a proper position of honor and equality among the community of free nations. In that Peace Treaty, India waived all reparation claims against Japan. Each country accorded the other the most favored nation status. This interestingly was a treaty cobbled up by the ten Malayalees and signed off at Japan by a Malayalee ambassador Mr KK Chettur. Unbelievable, right?

KK Chettur (father of Jaya Jaitley), a nephew of Sir C Sankaran Nair and a rising bureaucrat, arrived at Japan around the time Indira did, as the head of the mission and quickly took AM Nair into his confidence to meet many reticent Japanese bigwigs who were cowering under Macarthur’s blacklists and purges. He was keen on building direct relationships with the future leaders of Japan and formulating a path for the decades to follow. Yoshida Shigeru, the PM whom we met at Indira’s acceptance ceremony earlier, was a good friend. KK was kept in the know about the discussions between Dulles and Shigeru and seeing the contents of the treaty in advance, made him realize that India could not be a party to it. Nehru who was quickly prepped, agreed and India disagreed to sign it due to some clauses relating to a security pact, which Japan were forced to agree.

India signed a separate peace and amity treaty with Japan in 1952. The simple pact can be found under references and makes interesting reading. This carefully prepared treaty was drafted in Delhi by a decision making team of Nehru, set up for this purpose. Interestingly (per AM Nair’s reminiscences) it comprised KK Chettur the head of the Japanese mission, AM Nair (nairsan – advisor), NR Pillai ( Foreign secretary), KPS Menon (Foreign secretary), VK Krishna Menon (British HC and roving ambassador) , N Raghavan ( French ambassador), KM Panikkar (Chinese ambassador). Three others in Tokyo handling the rear end were KR Narayanan (later the president of India, somebody I had met), MS Nair (3^rd secretary) and PS Parasuram (KK’s secretary).

If you know these people you will realize the high voltage situation. Each of them by himself was a handful and so if you put ten of them together, how could anything be worked out? Well, the ten gentlemen from Kerala indeed got together and worked it all out.

VC Trivedi, first secretary of the Japanese mission theorized that it worked out in the following fashion. Dulles had recruited 20 people in Delhi to lobby the US position and get India to sign up at San Francisco. Nehru decided to minimize costs and counter with half the number and selected them from the smallest state. But life is never simple, and Vijayalakshmi Pundit, Nehru’s sister (refer the second part of my Syud Hossain articles) was pushing for India to sign it and make it her big American success, as ambassador to the US. But Nehru vetoed it eventually and the ten Kerala gentlemen forged out the Japanese treaty. Even though India was suffering from the pangs of poverty and strife at that moment, it signed off any potential reparation from Japan.

Nehru followed up the delivery of the elephant in 1949, later with supply of steel for Japan’s rebuilding and Ceylon supplied much needed rice. India also offered to mediate between Japan and the Soviet bloc, while Japan transferred (1955-6) the iconic Pilot pen technology (famous since 1918) to India. Nehru also promised to consider sending a companion for Indira.

Whatever happened to Indira the elephant? It continued to be a star attraction at the Ueno zoo. We next hear about it when Nehru and Indira Gandhi visited Japan in 1957 and met the animal personally. It was the first thing he wanted to do after landing in Japan. In 1967, a young elephant Jumbo joined the zoo and it pushed Indira into a 9 foot deep moat after a brief quarrel. Indira clambered out over the spectator fence and became restless when a hovering news helicopter added to the noise of panicked spectators. Its old mahout Ochai Seigo lying in bed and dying of cancer was summoned as a last resort and he succeeded in calming Indira. Seigo went back to his hospital bed and died 10 days later.

But Indira had been traumatized by the above event and refused to lie down, to sleep ever after. For those who do not know, an elephant stops lying down when it realizes that it cannot get up from that position on its own. Her condition deteriorated and it even fell down while sleeping once, but stabilized. In 1972 a couple of giant pandas from China took over her star status and finally aged 49, Indira died in 1983. It had watched over Japan’s recovery for over three decades as a true ambassador of peace.

Addressing the departed friend, the Director of the Zoo said, “You came from a faraway country. It must have been so difficult for you to get used to this new country that became your home. And yet you brought cheer to so many, day after day, for so many years. You will never be forgotten. We pray for the peace of your soul.”

Lalitha Menon wife of KPS Menon wrote - In front of a beautifully decorated picture of Indira, everyone bowed, and maybe a tear was shed in memory of a truly dear friend.

In 1995 Indira’s bones were reconstructed and you can see it at the natural history museum in Ueno. The ambassador of peace still looks on serenely as the children of Japan troop by.

Life went on, Japan rose to become a global giant, Nehru died soon after the China crisis, Krishna Menon was sidelined, while each of the other Kerala gentlemen did well as India forged on with its difficulties and amalgamated the states.

AM Nair became a businessman and his curry power was aptly named Indira curry powder after the Indian elephant, the very symbol of India. His detailed story is something I am currently studying and will come out as a separate article. He died in 1990, at the age of 85. He had lived in Japan for most of his life, known fondly as the Nairsan of Tokyo, purveyor of Indira Curry powder. I have not visited the Nair restaurant in Ginza Tokyo, but I hope to do so, someday.

Indira Gandhi hearing about Indira’s demise, was naturally upset and sent two more elephants to Japan in Sept 1984. A month later she was assassinated.

Nehru had said - The elephant is a noble animal. It is wise and patient, strong and yet, gentle. I hope all of us will also develop these qualities.

Did we become wise and patient? Are we strong yet gentle? You decide….

References

Japanese Wartime Zoo Policy: The Silent Victims of World War II Mayumi Itoh

An Indian freedom fighter in Japan - Memories of AM Nair – AM Nair

Starving the Elephants: The Slaughter of Animals in Wartime Tokyo’s Ueno Zoo Frederick S. Litten

Maddys Ramblings - Nairsan

The Treaty

Pics

Courtesy Life Magazine – Oct 17^th 1949, photo division (GOI), thanks to the many others who uploaded the other pics.

Nairsan - An Indian in Manchuria, China and Japan

Many a hotel in Kerala serves chiggen manjuri (Chicken Manchurian) or Gobi manjuri (Cauliflower Manchurian) these days and you will see that it is relished with gusto by the finger slurping Malayali, wrapping it inside bits of Malabar Porotta. Of course Ayappan Pillai Madhavan Nair, the subject of our story was not the one who brought it to Kerala from Manchuria, for it was apparently conceived by one Nelson Wang of Calcutta (owner of China Garden Bombay) in 1975, using Indian spices.

So what has AM Nair got to do with Manchuria? Then again many won’t even know there was once a state called Manchuria, for it does not exist today. Some people may remember Nair as the Nairsan of Japan, purveyor of Indira curry powder and late owner of the Indian restaurant in the trendy Ginza area of Tokyo, but his exploits during the World War II are legendary, if not in public, at least in the intelligence circles where he was known as the Manchukuo Nair. So I will now go on to narrate to you some of the exploits of this interesting man from Neyyatinkara - Travancore, son of Aramuda Iyengar and Lakshmi Amma…

After schooling at Model school Trivandrum, and later the Srimmolavilasm School at Vanchiyoor, Nair was drawn into the vortex of the anti-British freedom movement in the 1920’s. He got into trouble leading student marches and was quickly listed as a trouble maker by the British. In order to get him out of troubles way, Nair’s well to do father decided to send him for Civil engineering studies in Japan, following the footsteps of his brother who had earlier completed a fisheries degree from the Sapparo University. Nair’s degree in engineering was to be done in Kyoto.

This was how he ended up meeting the wanted revolutionary Rash Behari Bose who had fled British India and settled down in Japan. A powerful Japanese extreme right nationalist leader Mitsuru Toyama had taken Bose under his wings and sheltered him in the house of the Soma’s. Soon their daughter was married off to Bose and Bose had taken on Japanese nationality. Bose was the first to lead the anti-British movement from Japan.

Rash Behari Bose

Nair was always under British observation, but that petered off to an extent and he soon became fluent in Japanese and excelled in his studies to graduate in 1932. After this he plunged headlong into the anti-British movement, touring around Japan and giving speeches as well as writing for publications. During this period, he built up excellent contacts in the top circles of the Japanese bureaucracy and military, all of which was to stand him in good staid in the days to come.

Nair was initially planning to return to Kerala, but found out that the British were waiting or him to get back, to put him behind bars and this information from Kerala made him stay back in Japan. Back in India, Nair’s family acting on the advice of Sir CP declared AM Nair dead and divided up his remaining properties. This resulted in Nair, a person who had only Indian freedom foremost in his mind, living in Japan and concentrating his activities on the Indian freedom movement from this far away corner of the world.

A little Central Asian history has to be narrated to set the following scene. If you recall, there existed a 4,000 odd mile silk road many centuries back and it was on this road that camels and mules plied, laden with wool, silk, spice or whatever was needed along the route. The profitable venture took a turn for the worse when the Ottoman Turks became powerful and seized Constantinople or todays Istanbul, in 1453 and declared a trade embargo on the West. To get around it, a sea route was established by the Portuguese after Vasco da Gama successfully sailed around Africa to Calicut. Following this Magellan and others went around India to Chinese ports later. The seaborne Indian Ocean trade had become the new norm. The people who were most affected were the Muslim trading families on the land route in Central Asia and of course the Muslim traders dealing with Malabar ports. For now, we will confine ourselves to the Mongols on the silk route.

In Japan, population was increasing and expansionist tendencies were discussed. Korea was already under them. Now their eyes were on the state of Manchuria (Manzhou), with China on the south, Mongolia on the west, Russia in the north and Korea on the North east. In the late 14^thcentury, the Mings were in control of the territory, but in 1644 the Qing Manchus took control of Beijing. By 1858, it again changed hands and became Russian controlled. By 1904, the Japanese had taken over and exercised control over Inner or Southern Manchuria. Manchuria was noted for its abundant mineral and coal reserves, and its soil suited for soy and barley production. For pre–World War II Japan, Manchuria was therefore an essential source of raw materials and needed for Japan’s war cause. This inner Manzhou was otherwise known as Manchukou or Manchuria. China and Japan quibbled incessantly over the area and its administration.

Japan at that time was still smarting from how it got boxed into signing the naval treaty in 1921-22, though it had done so amidst intrigues and much wrangling. In 1931, Chinese expelled Japanese supported Korean workers from Manchukuo and a Japanese intelligence officer Nakumura was killed at Mukden. The Mukden bomb incident on the railway line followed, and the Japanese army blaming the Chinese and utilizing the situation, moved in and occupied Manchuria. Korea in those days was a Japanese colony and the infamous Japanese Kwantung army was based in Manchukou and controlling the place.

Manchuria had become Japanese territory by now, and Pu-yi of the Qing dynasty (the Qings who had previously defeated the Ming’s and taken control of China) was kept as the titular emperor. The imperialist tendencies of Japan were not popular and the rest of the world was watching these steps warily.

In China, the Xin Hai or Scarlet winter revolution had overthrown the Qing emperors and a republic was born. Sun Yat-Sen was elected president and the capital was moved from Nanjin to Beijing. Soon after this Yuan Shikai took over from Sun Yat-Sen. Anti-Manchu movements started and a new leader Mao Zedong was slowly becoming heard in the midst of the Bolshevik movement in Russia. In 1919, anti-Japanese protests took place in China. Mao in the meantime was heavily influenced by communism and soon became a member and officer. By 1923, he was elected to the party committee, taking up residence in Shanghai. When party leader Sun Yat-sen died in May 1925, he was succeeded by a rightist, Chiang Kai-shek, who initiated moves to marginalize the position of the Communists. Soon Mao and Chiang were to fight each other for supremacy.

In the meantime, the many thousand Japanese in Shanghai were starting to feel nervous about the Chinese intrigues and so the Japanese deputed a large number of troops, mainly from Manchuria, for their comfort. They fought the Chinese and ousted them out of Shanghai, in what was known as the Nanking massacre. In the melee an American aircraft painted with Chinese colors was shot down. The League of Nations got involved and appointed a commission under the Earl of Lytton to enquire.

The commission did its work and declared that the Kwantung army did have a hand in Manchurian aggression, but at the same time did not accept the status of Manchuria as a separate state outside the suzerainty of China. The furious Japanese pulled out of the League of Nations. Manchuria was critical for the Japanese, as a supplier of raw material and Japan had held Manchuria stable while there was chaos in the rest of China and had kept the Soviets at bay. Japan retaliated with an anti-Lytton movement and Nair was quickly involved in that and promulgated the Asia for Asians theme, raising the ire of the British, yet again. This was all in 1932-33 period.

This was when Nair decided to step into the Manchurian cauldron. In his own words, Nair says it was to help his class mate and friend Nagao set up the Manchukuo administration and to profess the Indian independence movement, but Manchukuo to me seemed an unlikely place to fight it singlehandedly, for there were hardly 20 Indian families in all, comprising Sindhi’s and a few Tamilian jewelers. Nair organized the Asian conference in Dairen with Mahendra Pratap in tow and later based himself in Hsinking and learnt a smattering of Mongolian, all financed by the South Manchurian railway. Nair had one other objective in mind, to sabotage British trade activity as much as he could, himself. Not directly under control of any Japanese officer or department, Nair was akin to a Japanese Ronin.

Now what is a Ronin? A Ronin was a samurai with no lord or master and was seen during the feudal period (1185–1868) of Japan. A samurai became master-less from the death or fall of his master, or after the loss of his master's favor or privilege. The samurai incidentally is like a medieval Malabar Nair, licensed to fight and kill.

Teh Wang

Anti-British propaganda in Northern China and Inner Mongolia was the next target for Nair and this was planned amidst his administration set up and consultations with the emperor Pu-Yi. One thing Nair had noticed was the flourishing wool trade over the silk route, terminating in the Sea port of Tientsin which was under British Control. In fact caravans from southerly Tibet and North westerly Alashan were converging at Pao-tao before moving on to the sea port. Nair discovered that all the wool was later shipped to Manchester and Lancashire. Recalling Gandhi’s boycott of British goods, Nair decided to see if he could somehow stop or reduce the wool trade. An important link in this was the Mongol Prince Teh Wang (Demchugdongrub) based at Sunit and soon Nairsan befriended him and gave this simple local chieftain a class on the scenario going on. He also got him on the Japanese side, thereafter.

Upon receiving letters of introduction and assistance from Teh Wang, Nair travelled westwards for 4 weeks on camel-back to Ujino, and thence for Alashan in the Gobi desert. But it was not so easy and to pass off as a lay person, Nair donned the disguise of a religious Tibetan monk – a Lama Rimpoche. He had another reason for this, to avoid getting laid by the Mongol women (many of whom were STD carriers) who were highly desirous of getting a child fathered by a monk, but they would stay clear of a senior Rimpoche. And so, Nair went about his spy work, questioning traders and so on, trying to get the details of the wool trade, and managed not to get laid…

Much of the wool (Marco Polo mentioned it and even today you can get Alashan Cashmere) did originate at Alashan. To the west of Alashan is Lop Nur. From Alashan, Nair travelled back to Ujino and spent a few days there, playing Mahjong and doing not much else. His next plan was hazardous, for he wanted to travel westwards to Hami and Urumchi and think of going further southwards to Tibet. The Ujino king warned him against it, as there were bandits around, but Nair in his exploratory enthusiasm decided to plod on. He did reach Hami, but was soon waylaid by a gun toting Chinese bandit who relived him of what little money (50 coins) he had.

Inner Mongolia

Nair’s Japanese friends in Manchukuo had by now (it had been a 6 month expedition) come to the conclusion that he was dead and completed his death rites and a snake party. When he turned up suddenly, Nair had a tough time convincing them that his heavily bearded unkempt lama façade was actually himself. Anyway he got back to Hsinking, safe and sound, and everybody celebrated his rebirth with gusto.

It was during this trip that Nair discovered the presence of many Chinese Muslim (Uighur?) tribal traders who controlled the wool trade. They would procure the wool and trade them on a barter system for grains (Wheat, millet), cotton cloth, chop-sticks, implements, tobacco and so on. The caravanserais were also owned by Chinese Muslims. Nair decided to head to Tokyo and apprise others about the situation in Manchukuo and Mongolia. But Japan was tense, with martial law virtually clamped over the city due to some rebellious acts. In any case, the government officials stated that he was free to pursue the matter on his own and that he would be provided with all support & finances for the plan. Nair convinced Japan to step in and buy all the wool at the marshaling location which was Pao-tao, but this was to be done only after he had convinced the traders to divert the supplies to the new buyers.

A check on this matter provided the following information from an Australian newspaper report which stated – Mongolia is the best wool growing land in Asia and Mongolia has been marked down as the home farm for the Tokyo mills.

So how did Nair fight what he called, his single handed economic war in 1936? Well to execute that part of the plan, he decided to don yet another disguise, this time as a mullah (Muslim religious priest) from India touring Mongolia. With the help of Colonel Kuo, a Muslim officer in the Kwantung army, the Mullah Nair now trained himself in perfecting Islamic rituals and did a crash course on the Koran. What further aided him was the fact that an abscess had necessitated a circumcision a couple of years back, in 1934. Now sure that he could pass off as a Muslim, Nair started the second part of his reconnaissance mission, in the guise of a Mullah, heavily bearded. They left in 1937 to Pao-tao and met the many traders involved. Together with Col Kuo, he helped form a Muslim wool merchants association and convinced them to sell the wool at the same price to the Japanese instead of the British. This was how the wool delivery from Mongolia to Tientsin got adversely affected by Nair’s intervention. Nair returned to Hsinking in 1938, by now marked up as an even more dangerous Indian in Japan, by the British. Known officially as a liaison man in Manchukuo, he was actually ranked equivalent to a Lt Colonel in the Japanese military - intelligence section.

Things were however not going too well in Manchukuo and Korea and there was a Russian invasion threat hanging in the air. As the Manchukuo army became heavy handed, the next task was to create a buffer zone between Manchukuo and Russia by penetrating the Mongol population on the Russian side of the border. Nair’s next task was to work with one of those leaders named Lee Kai-ten in assuring support for Japan, which he managed admirably. The boryaku or espionage school set up to train willing Koreans was headed by Lee and it had Nair as one of its ‘un-committed’ instructors.

Nair and Janaki

It was in 1938 that Nair got married to Iku Asami, a Japanese girl from an aristocratic family. She was renamed Janaki Amma and again they went back to Manchukuo where Nair got involved in a newly started university for administration students, as a visiting professor. But things went steadily downhill as the army got mauled in a skirmish with the Soviets in 1939. Things were not going too well in the Chinese areas controlled by the Japanese and Nair took on a counter-intelligence trip to those places as well as to Peking (Beijing) and Nanking (Nanjing).

There he was involved with Eric Teichman, a British consular representative, who was intent on mapping a land route from China via Tibet to Delhi. In 1943 Teichman began his journey from Chongqing. Nair did try to delay or stop Teichman, by blowing up some gas stations on the way so as to halt or slow the trip, but was not successful in the end. After caravanning as far as Lanzhou, his truck continued along the outer Silk Road, across the Tarim basin, and over the Pamir Mountains to New Delhi.

Nair’s last task in Manchukuo was to infiltrate the white Russian community. He provides a very interesting explanation on how he handled Vodka drinking sessions with Russians, by first drinking an amount of olive oil to remain sober and to even outdrink a Russian. Nair completed this task as well, adroitly.

This article will not go on to explain AM Nair’s other exploits (For that I encourage you to read AM Nair’s autobiography), but I will surmise them quickly. After getting back to Tokyo, Nair finds the Japanese war machine in full swing and Rash Behari Bose ill, with little time in his hands. Nair takes to making radio broadcasts on the NHK. The WWII has started and Japan had marched into Singapore and Malaya. Upon Nair’s specific instructions, the larger Indian populace is spared of any Japanese brutality.

The Indian Independence league is formed and Nair is entrusted with organizing all kinds of activities. Shivaram becomes a friend, Mohan Singh does not and all kinds of issues are created by the sparring Indians in the independence fray. The INA is created and KP Keshava Menon takes Mohan Singh’s side. Behari Bose is too ill with TB and passes on the baton to NSC Bose who is drafted in from Germany where he has not had much success. The INA is integrated with the Japanese army and the army loses heavily in the U-Go campaign at Imphal – Kohima. In the INA there is large scale corruption and soon Behari Bose passes away. Keshava Menon is arrested in Singapore at NSC Bose’s behest, and Shivaram resigns from the IIL. Japan is routed in Burma and A-bombed in August 1945. It surrenders and MacArthur moves in by September to Tokyo.

Subash Chandra Bose vanishes, so also the vast amount of gold and silver as well as currency collected from the masses in the name of INA. Nair is not convinced and feels that Subash’s accomplices are to blame and that there is some hanky panky involved.

Nairsan became a manager of a PX department store for American servicemen after the war. Life went on, Nair is later involved in the 19521-52 treaty with Japan which we talked about in my earlier article, and the independent Indian government has nothing to offer him in return for all the work he had done. However an Indian representative does sound him out - If he could help mediate with the Chinese - post 1962, after the war. Nair refuses. He was a Manchukuo Nair, but he will not be a China Nair, as he says……

Nair never got the recognition he deserved, and driven by his own convictions was always an Indian at heart. For all his services to India, he got no recognition… According to TP Sreenivasan who met him often, Nairsan expected to be appointed the first Indian ambassador to Japan, but the highest post he was offered was that of the consul general in Kobe. Later he decided to become an entrepreneur.

And that was how he got to starting the Nair restaurant eventually…. In the late nineteen sixties and early nineteen seventies, no Indian visitor could have missed the small Indian restaurant in Higashi Ginza in Tokyo, right across the Kabuki theatre. Nair continued to visit Trivandrum often, till his death in 1990, aged 85. His sons Gopalan and Vasudevan continue to live in Japan.

People ask me how Malayalees end up in the most obscure places and thrive. Well, if you read Nair’s exploits, you can see yet another of those from Kerala, driven by pure tenacity and conviction. An extraordinary man, who loved his land, who loved his people, but was perpetually exiled in another. Then again, he remained with his benefactors the Japanese, in their time of need, and remained true to them ever after.

No wonder the Japanese respected AM Nair.

Epilogue

Manchukuo does not exist anymore. On 8 August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, and invaded Manchukuo from Outer Manchuria and Outer Mongolia. Emperor Pu-Yi abdicated and was captured by the Soviets and eventually extradited to China. From 1945 to 1948, Inner Manchuria served as a base area for the People's Liberation Army in the Chinese Civil War. Nowadays the name Manchuria is not used, for it is NE China.

The military in Manchukuo were terrible people actually and their acts, especially those of the unit 731 dealing with human experimentation is unbelievably horrible. It is possible that Nair knew about it and he does mention that the Kumantung army were not above reprieve. The Japanese army were also involved in untold brutalities in Shanghai and other SE Asian places which they conquered during or before the WWII. The Indian population in Malaya, Burma and Singapore may have escaped much of the brutality thanks to AM Nair.

The Pao-Tao wool association disintegrated when the Japanese army which starting to feel invincible when the WWII started, wised up and decided to only pay a fraction of what was originally agreed by them with Nair.

Not very many people even know who Rash Behari Bose is, but instead believe that Subash Chandra Bose was the one and only person behind the IIL and the INA. Many of his dealings and connections with the Japanese were mainly through AM Nair.

As I said before, Alashan wool is still popular.

Lop Nur became the site of Chinese nuclear tests, and how India got involved with that is a very interesting story. I will write about it soon.

Nair’s son runs the Nair restaurant. Indira Curry powder is still popular. To clarify, Behari Bose was one of the first made curries in his father in law’s restaurant/bakery, where he was in hiding.

Sivaram wrote a book ‘Road to Delhi’ where he talks well about AM Nair

Teh Wang lived on, braving many regimes. His story can befound here.

Teichman completed his last road trip and flew back to England, where a few days later, at the age of 60, he was killed by an American GI and his pal, who were poaching on his estate. When Teichman confronted them, he was shot and killed.

Nothing is known about Lee kai-ten, perhaps he is in N Korea or dead by now. Mohan Singh did well, following Indian independence, he served as a Member of Parliament in the Rajya Sabha (Upper House) of the Indian Parliament. Mahendra Pratap returned to India in 1946 and faded into obscurity.

Malayalees will continue to love Chicken Manchurian, but the fact remains that many do not know Manchukuo Nair, the only Malaylee who lived for so many years in Manchuria. Perhaps that at least will change for the few who read this……

References

An Indian freedom fighter in Japan: memoirs – AM Nair

Subhas Chandra Bose: A Biography - Marshall J. Getz (Pg 137)

Words, Words, Words: Adventures in Diplomacy - Sreenivasan, T. P. (Pg 29)

The man who knew Netaji – TP Sreenivasan

Nair's Restaurant - Ginza - Time Out Tokyo

Murgi lunch at Nair’s restaurant

The Road to Delhi - M. Sivaram

Pics - from the net - thanks and ack to original uploaders...

Wishing you all a happy and prosperous 2015

Jackie Kennedy in India – and how she charmed

Barrack Obama is in Delhi, charming the Indians. The papers are full of what’s going on. A great relationship is being forged. US’s icy relations with Cuba are on the thaw.But that made me think of a period in the past, 53 years ago, when an attempt was made, to forge a relationship between India and the USA. The first lady was the emissary, and she was none other than the graceful Jacqueline Kennedy Bouvier.

This first lady always had a special allure, primarily because of her youth and beauty. In 1962, she was just 33 years old and only the previous year had her husband JF Kennedy become the 35^thpresident of the United States. Their marriage at that time was 9 years old. A consummate entertainer, she was very popular with visiting dignitaries, and in fact even the dour Khrushchev had mentioned that he wanted to shake Jackie’s hand fist and then JFK’s. Her restoration of the white house and getting it accessible to public eye took her into the limelight and the resulting focus and admiration for Jacqueline Kennedy took some of the negative attention away from her husband. By attracting worldwide public attention, the First Lady gained allies for the White House and international support for the Kennedy administration and its Cold War policies. But her (JKB – Jacqueline Kennedy Bouvier) visit to India at a very crucial juncture was a masterstroke by Ambassador John Kenneth Galbraith. Clint Hill, JKB’s secret service agent would remark – Little did we know it would be one of the best years of our lives.

So I take you to the 60’s, a period which turned out to be terrible for India. Nehru’s grip at the age of 70 was still strong at the turn of the 60’s, but the Chinese border issue was taking alarming proportions and crafty Krishna Menon was stirring the pot at home and squabbling with the military as the defense minister.

Most of you would not know how it was in those days, as it was a time when electricity had yet to reach many villages, we had limited public transportation, listening to valve radios for news or reading the newspaper in unison, music was enjoyed at public performances, a time when we had rudimentary schooling in most parts, and joint families depended on farming. Those were days when postmen, doctors and teachers were demi gods and a government job something to look up to. Saigal, Noorjehan and a few others ruled the roost and a trip to the movie theatre with the grainy newsreel before the B&W film, a must watch to see the food scarcity in Bihar and the floods in Bengal. Bees Saal Baad was the big hit of 62. Out there in the big bad world, lots of things were happening. While on one hand the Beatles were in infancy of their formation and Joan Baez just becoming popular for her activism, the cold war peaking and the Vietnam War was dragging on.

As all this was going on, Galbraith, US ambassador in India was busy with twin objectives. He had to get India on the US side, weaning them away from the USSR who became an ally following USA’s treaty with Pakistan. Close ties between the countries were further consolidated by a mutual defense treaty signed in May 1954, after which hundreds of Pakistani military officers began to regularly train in the United States. During Eisenhower’s time, it was also a secret base for reconnaissance on the USSR ICBM program. Ayub Khan had become a good friend of the US and U2 spy missions had begun from Peshawar. Allan Dulles of the CIA was the father of the critical alliance with Pakistan’s ISI.

On May Day, 1960, Francis Gary Powers left the US base in Peshawar on a mission to photograph the ICBM sites inside the Soviet Union. It would be the twenty-fourth U-2 spy mission over Soviet territory. Soviet Air Defense Forces were on red alert as they suspected a U-2 flight and Powers was subsequently shot down. Eisenhower almost resigned in the bungling following that incident after this covert espionage activity had been exposed. The incident compromised Pakistan's security and affected relations between it and the United States. However, the Cold War was still in full force and a replacement intelligence gathering reconnaissance aircraft was required. For a while, RB-57D models were flown along the air borders of both the USSR and Communist China by the PAF.

Zulfikar Ali Bhutto a great fan of Chou En Lai was a minister in Ayub Khan’s cabinet and supported eliminating the US presence. President Johnson apparently wanted him fired and Bhutto finally had to quit. Ironically, the U2 was already outdated by the time the Soviets shot it down as it was quietly replaced by the Corona mission using the Discoverer spy satellites, soon after.

The Americans were getting nervous while the Chinese were getting busy, for they were developing both missiles and nuclear bombs. With Pakistan’s support not forthcoming, there was only one way to keep an eye on the Chinese, and for that they needed India’s support. To get broad support, two people had to be influenced, Krishna Menon and Nehru. Krishna Menon was simply not a possibility, and the various actions to sideline him were gaining steam. Simultaneously, Nehru had to be charmed. Galbraith launched his plan (actually a number of plans, and this article will cover only one, and it involved Jackie).

Kennedy also had other ideas about global relationships and world peace. His idea was always to develop India as a counterweight against China’s rise in Asia and was exasperated with Pakistan’s refusal to understand the situation and its continuous squabble about Kashmir and other minor issues. It was with this in mind that Galbraith was deputed to Delhi as ambassador with a primary mission – Sideline Menon, woo Nehru.

On Sept 13^th 1961, Galbraith broached the idea of a trip to India by JKB. JFK applauded the idea according to Galbraith’s memoirs and when he talked to Jackie about this, she was enchanted and wanted to travel in October/November, the following month. Thus Nov 20^th was planned as the date for the private and informal trip of Jackie to India accompanied by her sister princess Lee Radziwill (Some trivia - do you know that Onasis was Lee’s boyfriend and eventually her elder sister Jackie married her later?). Meeting Nehru on Oct 28^th to confirm the invitation, Galbraith notes that Nehru is equally delighted and insists Jackie stay in his house for part of the duration. By then, JFK is troubled over many other matters, the Cuban Bay of Pigs incidents, Vietnam and the USSR.

On Nov 6^th, a moody Nehru visits Washington with Indira in tow and the meeting and discussions did not amount to much, in fact Nehru had lost all interest midway. JKB, a bit miffed postponed her visit to January. Incidentally, as a souvenir of the visit, the US announced help to set up IIT Kanpur.

Soon preparations start for Jackie’s trip but the Indian protocol organizers are alarmed that Jackie wants to visit Konark. They are absolutely worried about the prospect of a wrong photograph of hers in a hugely pornographic ambience. In the midst of this Yuri Gagarin visits Delhi for a reception, which Galbraith attends. The play ‘Passage to India’ had just opened on Broadway and people in America are getting a better feel of India. At this point of time the Goa incident takes place.

This became a problem for the US since Dulles had already taken a stand by agreeing with the Portuguese foreign minister that Goa was a Portuguese province and not a colony. Though Galbraith did not agree with this basis, he tried to persuade Nehru not to use force. The Portuguese even suggested that Pakistan move some troops to scare the Indians and dissuade them from going into Goa. In a military operation led by Gen Candeth, on 18^th and 19^th December 1961, Indian troops capture Goa with little resistance and no causalities. The governor-general of Portuguese India surrenders.

Cables pour in from America asking Galbraith to get Americans out of troubles way from Goa.Galbraith wittily responds that there was just one person there other than some reporters and that they would be better off in Goa than at the New Jersey turnpike, on an average day. JFK tells BK Nehru in private that India should have done it 15 years ago instead of preaching morality to US for 15 years. He compares it to the incident when the priest is caught coming out of the brothel door.

Indians in the Delhi bureaucracy worry on rumors that JBK’s trip might be cancelled. Menon approaches the Americans for military equipment as he is worried about the Chinese on the border. Galbraith recommends that JBK delay her trip and cut it short to give the right counter message to India. In the meantime Galbraith falls sick with an infected sinus for a few days and is recuperating in Switzerland. During this, Pakistan tried to raise a ruckus by bringing up Kashmir at the Security Council. Kennedy warns Galbraith that he has no idea what traveling around with Jackie would be like and suggests that Galbraith take a breather in Florida before the event. Krishna Menon remarks in good humor that Galbraith is becoming too pro Indian (Sadly Menon has no idea what is coming – more about it another day)…

Republic day is on and JKB delays her trip by a week. Galbraith worries about all the work in rearranging schedules and despairs on the thousands of rupees spent. A huge number of animals arrive from America for the Delhi Zoo, perhaps there just in case JKB falls homesick.

Nehru in the meantime has decorated his hallway with picture of his strolling with JKB, according to Galbraith, he is already in love. Krishna Menon is out of town campaigning and so the capital is slightly pro American. The embassy worries about trifles like flowerbed lighting for JKB’s dinner, should they be floating Diwali candles or flashing lights? Two tiger cubs are placed in the house (Gerry Gerald’s house – duly repainted and refurnished for the occasion) JBK was to occupy, just in case she wants to pet them. A rehearsal dinner is carried out.

March 13^th– JKB arrives and the car meant to take the ambassador is locked out, with the keys inside. Here in USA, they would have AAA take care of it by sliding a flat blade through the window, but in Delhi they had no such option and a Mercedes was sent. JKB arrived in an Air India plane, disembarked in a radioactive pink suit accompanied by Lee, a personal maid and a secret service team. Nehru, Indira, Menon and a ‘million’ children received them. More people lined up than did for Lyndon Johnson.

They meet President Rajendra Prasad, a remarkably uncommunicative man, then walkabout in the Moghul gardens, lay roses at the Rajghat and go to the chancery to meet the embassy staff. A lovely lunch follows at the Raj Bhavan where S Radhakrishnana VP and Nehru kept Jackie in good humor with their entertaining talk. The next day she is moved to the PM’s house as a guest and goes riding which is her pet hobby, doing well, but Bubbles the prince of Jaipur has a dreadful fall from his horse. The guests are set in a flower petal canopied area. Singing and dancing follow at Nehru’s house, and Jackie in a turquoise dress glows amidst gorgeous Indian women in glittering sarees, a stunning array, as reported. Jackie then visits Agra in the presidential train, posing for photographs that have since then became famous. They also visited the AIMS aided by USA.

Like always things did not go right next, the plane that was to take Jackie to Benares had a problem and within no time the IAF sent a plane, and a few others were also made available, but Jackie chose to go by train. She loved them and had previously got herself photographed next to an engine with its driver in Agra. There was alarm when a ‘Made in Poland’ label was spotted in the photo frame, but it was shrugged off.

The Benares trip was quite a crowded event where she purchased silk material for a Presidential coat and got photographed next to the Ashoka pillar, visited a Buddhist temple and as joked by Galbraith, passed on the opportunity to die in Benares and go straight to heaven. Later they flew to Udaipur. The main palace was where they settled for the evening while the lake palace on the Pichola Lake was being converted into a hotel. And that was where she got christened the America maharani, by the thousands of screaming children. Perhaps their teacher taught them. Jackie wanted to give the secret service the slip and meet the children, but the Indian police refused permission. Jaipur presented problems when the maharajah took off with Jackie, as he was a friend of Lee’s and left the official entourage behind. Later they wanted to take her to the city palace, a private residence but this would not be quite right. Eventually this was arranged and Galbraith gets fascinated by the vivacious maharani – Gayatri Devi.

The next day is the grand gala which goes off splendidly after a final visit to the Nehru household where Holi was celebrated and where she applied a tikka on his forehead and Nehru doing likewise. The day after she flies off to Lahore to be a guest of Pakistan and Ayub Khan. She took away some jeweled brocade and some handbags from Benares, too expensive for her plans and the newspapers reported that Jackie spent $600 in less than 5 minutes.

Jackie met Galbraith later in USA, presented him with a well reported kiss at the airport and thanked him profusely for a beautiful trip to India. Galbraith, happy with his ambassadorial success, returned and went off on a trip to Kerala. Meeting Nehru later, he found the photo had been moved to Nehru’s upstairs sitting room – that of his walking arm in arm with Jackie in the white house garden. So much from the Ambassadors diary. Later he wrote – When Mrs Kennedy came to N Delhi in March of 1962, Nehru went to the airport to greet her and at the earliest opportunity moved her from the quarters we had contrived, to his own house. There, she had her sister occupied the apartment once inhabited by Edwina Mountbatten, and a great Nehru favorite, Nehru did not fail to tell of the earlier tenant, and he devoted himself fully to his guests instruction and enjoyment. As the resident expert, I was commissioned to buy an 18^th century miniature to be presented to her by the prime minister.

Enroute her return, Jackie met the British queen and had a delightful English lunch. Back in America, she talked incessantly of her trip to India.

The world was soon on the brink of a nuclear war, with the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962. It was the moment when the two superpowers came closest to nuclear conflict. After a critical period, Khrushchev finally pulled back stating “If there is no intention to doom the world to the catastrophe of thermonuclear war, then let us not only relax the forces pulling on the ends of the rope, let us take measures to untie that knot. We are ready for this”.

In an effort to prevent this from happening again, a direct telephone link between the White House and the Kremlin was established; it became known as the “Hotline.”

A couple of years later, Nehru collapsed on the floor of the Lok Sabha. This visit by Jaqueline was as they say, perhaps the last spring in his life….

Jackie left and Delhi went back to what it was, a great big dusty bureaucratic capital full of backbiting politicians. While they argued, the Chinese took a bite off the North East, jolted the Indian mindset and alarmed the world. With only UAE supporting India and the other NAM nations desisting from condemning China, the lofty NAM ideal of Nehru disintegrated. As John Scofield of National Geographic wrote - India’s cherished neutrality lay shattered—perhaps forever—and the nation was united as never before. The arms race in the subcontinent was soon to begin.

Mukesh and Rafi became famous, Lata got her Filmfare award for Kahi deep jale kahe dil, Bandini with Dharmendra won the national award and actress Sreedevi, my favorite actress was born while I was packed off to a kindergarten in Calicut.

I just heard that India and USA will soon establish a direct hotline between the respective heads of state.

Some Tidbits

Jackie carried 48 pairs of gloves to remain clean in India. Two lady reporters carry, in addition to typewriters, hatboxes containing wigs, and three take notes while wearing little white gloves.

Jackie never forgot how elegant the women in India looked in their diaphanous saris gracefully draped across the contours of their bodies. A friend of Jean Kennedy Smith, Jackie's sister-in-law, remembers seeing Jackie wearing a sari at a winter party held in the Smith townhouse in Manhattan in the 80’s, a cotton pastel sari - turquoise & cream flecked with gold while others had jackets and coats. There was the time when sari based dresses worn by Jackie pervaded America according to Tina Santi Flaherty. Flaherty wrote. “Extremely feminine, this flattering garment is both demure and seductive at the same time. Jackie decided that the style suited her.”

Jackie, in particular, disliked Nehru’s daughter, Indira, who accompanied her father to Washington. Referring to a decision by JFK to separate the men from the women during dinner, Jackie said of Indira: "Well, of course, she hated that. She liked to be in with the men. And she is a real prune -- bitter, kind of pushy, horrible woman. You know, I just don't like her a bit. It always looks like she's been sucking a lemon.”

During the Indo China border war, JFK became popular in India when he ordered the USS Kitty Hawk aircraft carrier to the Bay of Bengal to help India in the event of an invasion by Chinese forces. He also apparently had plans to deploy US forces stationed in the Philippines to assist India should the war expand. Historians have suggested that China’s quick ceasefire may have been the result of such threats made by the U.S. against Beijing. In a May 1963 National Security Council meeting, contingency planning on the part of the United States in the event of another Chinese attack on India was discussed. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara and General Maxwell Taylor advised the president to use nuclear weapons should the Americans intervene in such a situation. McNamara stated "Before any substantial commitment to defend India against China is given, we should recognize that in order to carry out that commitment against any substantial Chinese attack, we would have to use nuclear weapons. Any large Chinese Communist attack on any part of that area would require the use of nuclear weapons by the U.S., and this is to be preferred over the introduction of large numbers of U.S. soldiers." After hearing this and listening to two other advisers, Kennedy stated "We should defend India, and therefore we will defend India”.

When the Indian government hear that Jackie was going to Pakistan later, they rescinded the offer to pay for the rooms occupied by the secret service. The agents who had spent all their allowances on gifts were left in a quandary and scrounged for the rest of the trip.

Jackie carried Cowhide Leather framed pictures from US. They were replaced with Indian made silver frames when it was made clear that it was not a good idea to make such a present, insulting the cow, a revered animal in India.

William Kuhn writing about Jackie notes that Lee found Nehru sensual and that – The sexiest thing about Nehru was that he made Jackie laugh.

JKB was gifted two paintings in India. The painting ‘Lovers watching rain clouds’ dated 1780 was willed by her to her friend Rachel Bunny Melon. A second miniature ‘Gardens of the Palace of the Rajah’ was also gifted to Bunny.

After JFK died, JKB became a book editor for Doubleday in New York. In later days her protégé would prove to be an Indian, Naveen Patnaik. They published a book ‘A second paradise’ on Indian artwork.

JKB visited India again in 1984, this time as Jackie Onassis. John Kennedy her son, was in India studying Indian culture and history at the Delhi University.

References

A life in our times – JK Galbraith

Ambassador’s journal – JK Galbraith

Indian summer – Alex Von Tunzelmann

Mrs Kennedy and me – Clint Hill

Pics – from the net thanks to the uploaders….

Life photographs of the visits

Various Videos of the visit

Friday, Oct 12^th 1956 – That was the fateful day when the motely group comprising members of the Vereinte Aquarienfreunde (united friends of the aquarium) met as usual at the local pub in the spa town of Bad Krueznach, a locale once famous for radon balneology. That by the way, is where one immerses oneself in waters which had traces of radium, supposedly soothing for rheumatic joints. The people of Krueznach later built a radon inhalatorium, also popular for a period, into which was piped air from an old mining gallery. Later, during WWI, Kaiser Wilhelm II lived in the spa house and then the town became the seat of the German Army High Command during WWII, only to get bombed with marked regularity by the Allies. Kreuznach was later occupied by US troops in March 1945. But more mundane activities occupied the minds of the group, the plan was to discuss nothing in specific, perhaps they talked about fishes and it is a fact that many years ago, one of the gentlemen among them, a Prussian, used to study protozoa collected from his aquarium, with a Leitz microscope which he had been gifted.

The German urologist had been a prisoner of war between 1937 and 1945, after capture by the allies for having served the Nazi cause and had thence moved to Krueznach. His story is a fairy tale one, and as you will soon observe, many of you continue to live because of him and his firm convictions.

I would guess that the stout Prussian, an urologist in real life, swigging his mug of beer, looked and acted as though he was quite annoyed with life. He did have reasons for that and all his medical life he had been ignored or scoffed at, and his attempts at heading a research team was reaching nowhere. When the barman bawled out at him to attend to a phone call from his agitated wife Elsbet, he suspected nothing. When she told him that some woman with a foreign accent had called to say she wanted to discuss regarding the Nobel Prize, he scoffed at her and continued with his drink. Anyway he dutifully trotted home to attend to the matter. The woman with the foreign accent, Frau Johansson a reporter at Svenska Dagblad called again late at night when he reached home, and asked for an interview.

The lady told him that he had a 25% chance of winning a Nobel Prize. The physician with the gruff voice did not curse Johansson nor did he slam the phone (not that anything would have happened to the phone, for in those days those black phones were made of Bakelite). The next day a letter arrived from the Carolinska institute asking for his photograph. The man who handled the nether regions of the body in hospitals with great dexterity, was quite surprised when a photographer later arrived to take his family photographs. Soon the petite Swede, Frau Johansson, presented herself at his home to state that there was a better chance of his getting a joint Nobel. The press started to hound his house and children, even at school. On Oct 18th, after he had completed surgeries on three kidney patients, the medical director Dr Alfred Behrens came by to formally congratulate him for the Nobel Prize he had won jointly with a French American and an American, and then, finally, realization sank in. That evening his trembling white faced wife collected the formal telegram from Stockholm, one that heralded a new lease of life to the hitherto unknown urologist. As the press entourage arrived to make life complicated for the flabbergasted urologist, he must have wondered, ‘for what’?

Why would somebody who had been told that he had been bestowed a Nobel Prize (nobody gets a Nobel accidentally) ask such a mundane question? As you can imagine there is an interesting story behind it all, and an even more interesting person. This is the story of a German surgeon and Nobel laureate, Werner Theodor Otto Forssmann.

First a bit of perspective - In 1895, Roentgen discovered the existence of x-rays and took the very first X-ray of his wife’s hand, after which he won the first ever Nobel awarded, in 1901. He died in 1923 due to carcinoma of his intestines, contracted perhaps from X ray exposure but then again, X ray therapy was not known to be of any use in treating carcinomas at that time, whereas radiation therapy is extensively used for the same today. Marie Curie who had won twin Nobel prizes since then for her work on radio activity, succumbed to aplastic anemia contracted from long term exposure. Barry Marshall on the other hand, kept saying that H Pylori was the main cause for peptic ulcer while the learned medical fraternity and as it appears, the antacid lobby went against him and prevented his rise to fame for a full two decades, before everybody finally accepted his views and became a Nobel laureate himself. At one point of time, Marshall had to swallow the bacterial concoction himself to prove the point.

The world as you can see, recognizes greatness only after sustained reluctance especially when it relates to these kind of path breaking discoveries. It was the same in the matter concerning Werner Forssmann, a person recently described by a thoughtful blogger as ‘the most badass scientist’.

Many years back, I stood beside an equally brilliant cardiac surgeon, Dr Cherian and watched a complex cardiac bypass surgery which took many hours. I saw and recorded in my mind every step, but I had missed seeing the diagnostic step that preceded it, a procedure called the angiography. In order to map the blockages in the arteries leading to the heart, a dye is injected, then a catheter is threaded through the femoral vein or artery in your groin, all the way to the heart while the path is filmed using X-rays. The doctor thus sees blockages and plans a surgery to bypass them with coronary grafts from the patient’s leg. That in essence is a bypass surgery, the basics of which many people know about today. It is matter of fact, something that has been done very often since R Goetz first performed it in 1960. The procedure is not without complications and rare as they are, sternal infections can lead to death, like it happened in the case of my dear friend Mohan, recently. Cardiac afflictions are still the leading cause of death around the world and as you can imagine, the angiogram or cardiac catheterization is the main tool used by surgeons and cardiac consultants.

Cardiac catheterization was first performed and so named by Claude Bernard in 1844 on a horse, and using a glass thermometer he reached the animals heart, in order to check temperatures. Though it looked challenging, nobody even dreamt of carrying out such a procedure on humans, fearing instant death.

Werner Forssmann had by now become a doctor after fatefully deciding not to become a tradesman, graduating from the Friedrich-Wilhelm-University in Berlin. After many unsuccessful attempts to obtain a residency in internal medicine, he was finally admitted at the Auguste-Victoria-Heim in Eberswalde, a small Red Cross hospital supervised by Dr Richard Schneider..

But as you know youthfulness is often associated (if it fails, such events are classified as ‘stupidity of youth’) with fearlessness. The 25 year old surgical resident Werner Forssmann was one of them but he was sure that his procedure was not reckless. He was particularly interested in analyzing lung damage due to heart valve failures and wondered if one could find a safe path into the heart without anesthesia and without triggering the body’s reflexes. It was his intent to find a path to the heart while at the same time avoiding dangerous surgery. He had seen the work of Claude on a horse, but instead of entering the heart through the jugular, he wanted to get in through the cubital vein with an elevated arm. The median cubital vein is typically used for taking blood samples, for intravenous injections, for blood transfusions, and as Forssmann was about to consider, for the introduction of catheters. People who have seen the TV series ‘Lost’ will remember how Jack the doctor threads a sea urchin needle into his cubital vein for a live ‘person to person’ transfusion.

With a bit of local anesthesia near the venal incision, Forssmann concluded that it was indeed possible to pass a urinary catheter through the vein and all the way to the heart. But to check its efficacy on a live patient, he had to obtain permission from Dr Richard Schneider. Schneider, whose sister was his mother’s friend, refused to give him permission but then, Forssmann persisted stating that he was even willing to experiment on himself. When Schneider refused again, the young Werner was devastated. In those days it was a medical taboo to work directly on the heart for it was a surefire way to invite death. Even if one could access it through the ribs, without piercing the lung, potential hemorrhaging was impossible to stop, if something untoward happened. Also, if the endocardium was irritated, fatal arrhythmia could develop and kill the patient. But it had been done, for in 1903, the famous Dr Sauerbrunch did operate on a woman with an aneurysm of the heart.

You will not believe it, but it was perhaps a risqué joke narrated by his college professor Frederich Kopsch (according to Forssmann’s memoirs) which inspired him. The joke went thus- ‘the only way to a woman’s heart is through her v$%$^na. You go from the uterus and the fallopian tubes to the abdominal cavity, then via the lymphatic space into the lymphatic vessels and veins and thus to the goal’!!!! That ignited the idea of finding an un-traumatic way to the heart.

Most thrillers show the hero in association with a sidekick. Such a sidekick lends both physical and moral support to the protagonist. Werner needed one, not only to witness his next steps, but also to help him get the deed done in the hospital and to obtain the required supplies, which he as in intern, could not. And that is how he selected Nurse Gerda Ditzen, in order to get hold of the hollow needle, scalpels, sutures, urinary catheters, and Novocain for local anesthesia. Gerda was very interested in medicine and so Forssmann plied her with books and explained to her the procedure, step by step. As he narrated later, he went after her ‘like a sweet toothed cat around a cream jug’. After lunches together and further talks, Werner told her that he had been forbidden from doing the procedure. As planned, the nurse suggested that she would be glad to have the experiment done on her. That was just what Werner wanted to hear and quickly he chose an afternoon to do the deed, a time when the hospital staff took their routine siesta.

Gerda Ditzen the surgical nurse, sterilized the equipment and had them all ready for the venesection, including the 30 inch long catheter. Werner asked Gerda to lie down on the surgical table, put her legs through the straps and he then tied her down, explaining to her that it was so that she would not fall over from the effects of the anesthetic.

Behind her head, Forssmann went on to do the unexpected, he dabbed iodine on his left elbow crease and injected the Novocain. As he waited for the anesthesia to take effect, he moved over to Ditzen and dabbed her venal area with iodine, laid gauze over it and talked reassuringly to the heady patient on the gurney, as his own anesthetic took effect. As soon as he felt the deadening on the elbow, he took the scalpel and cut through his skin. The nurse seeing this, watched wide eyed, struggling under the belt but then, he had intentionally tied her down tight and made sure she had no chance to get to the buckles.

The Deschamps aneurism needle was next pushed into his cubital vein and Werner eased it up a foot.You must now understand that this is possible in a vein with little resistance because it moves with the flow of blood towards the heart and in the direction of venal valves. Werner then put gauze over the wound and tied a sterile split over it. After all this was done, he loosened the straps on Ditzen and released her hands. Werner himself felt no pain, just a little feeling of warmth. Gerda was furious at being duped and aghast of course, seeing the doctor with the dawdling catheter, and wondering if and when he was going to die in front of her.

But Forssmann had other ideas. He had to inch up the catheter all the way to the heart and record the event by taking x-rays of the procedure. The problem was that the X-ray room was in the basement, two floors below. As they rushed down the stairs, the word went around the hospital of the bizarre event taking place. The duo reached the x-ray room and a stunned nurse named Eva took orders to ready the equipment for the x-rays. Peter Romeis, a surgery friend and drinking partner of Forssmann burst in screaming and tried to pull the catheter out. Werner was heard to shout back ‘nein nein’ and kicked Romeis in his ankles to get him to stop. It was all melodramatic and in the middle of it all, the Prussian doctor kept barking commands to Eva, for he wanted a mirror to view the fluoroscope display as he threaded the catheter past the collar bone, while Romeis continued his dire threats, and got it past the two foot mark. Soon the tube was inside the heart, its tip near the right ventricle, just as Werner had planned.

Eva was asked to click an x-ray picture which she did and that image burnt the event forever into posterity. Werner pulled out the catheter slowly, sutured and dressed the wound on his elbow and everybody went home, while Werner was summoned by Schneider for a stern lecture. But the senior doctor Schneider saw the value of the experiment and the importance of the x-ray picture. He asked Werner to prepare a paper, gave him advice on how to go about it, by laying some precedence and toning down on the revolutionary aspects, so that it got accepted and then took the young lad for dinner at Kretchmer’s where they consumed several bottles of good wine. The paper was published in Klinische Wochenschrift, in Nov 1929.

As expected, it created a furor and the story became a sensation. Dr Ernst Unger another doctor who had done experiments on volunteers protested, stating that he had already done it in 1912. But they had never recorded the results or taken x-rays, so their claim reached nowhere (In reality there was one attempt carried out during the 1830’s by the founder of modern plastic surgery, Johan Dieffenbach who used a catheter to drain ‘bad’ blood from the heart of a man afflicted with cholera, a fact that Forssmann himself heard about, only in 1971).

Schneider seeing the boys genius, recommended him to a position under Sauerbrunch at Charit’e, the mecca of surgery. The collaboration was not to last long and he was fired for his new ideas while other doctors felt that he was a danger to their patients. The great Sauerbrunch then stated publically that Werner belonged in a circus, not a hospital. The hurt young man slunk back to his old position under Dr Schneider and continued self-experimentation to herald contrast radiography, this time injecting dyes into his circulation system and taking x-rays, just as they do in today’s angio-cardiography. It was as you can imagine, events benefiting the future of medicine. He published yet another paper and was invited back to Sauerbrunch’s hospital only to leave the hospital again in a huff. At this juncture, Germany was in the grip of nationalism and Nazism and like most young men, Werner was drawn into it in 1932 and to the Nazi party by a friend in Sauerbrunch’s hospital.

It was in 1932 that he met the Dr Elsbet Engel at Mainz and by 1933 they were married. His next experiment was aortography, but the painful procedures on himself were finally stopped at the insistence of his wife. He continued to experiment with catheterization in dogs and it is also rumored good naturedly that he stopped self-experimentation only when he had used all of his veins with 17 cut downs.

He never did any more experiments on himself and moved away from cardiology to work as an urologist and practice general surgery. Karl Heusch, who had been trained by Sauerbruch, opened the Virchow Krankenhaus urology department at a city hospital in Berlin, and when Heusch offered Forssmann a position as senior physician, he accepted it after some hesitation. He excelled in the position, publishing many papers on kidney, bladder, and prostate surgery. By 1936 he had moved to work with Professor Fromme in Dresden, and in 1938 he moved to the Third Surgical University Clinic in Berlin. In 1939 he was called up for military reservist training, with World War II beginning shortly afterward. Until the end of the war, Forssmann served as a frontline medical officer in Poland, Russia, and Norway.

Until 1945, he could be seen tending to the sick and injured at the war front. Towards the end, faced with the Red army on one side, Werner fled toward the Americans swimming across the Elbe, while getting strafed by the SS, and was caught and imprisoned as a POW. All he had on him were his family photos and a copy of Gothe’s Faust.

Werner Forssmann and family

When he came out of prison in 1946, life was changed. He was forbidden from practicing medicine for having collaborated with the Nazi’s. It was only in the 1950’s after the ban was rescinded that he could work again. The doctor had initially settled with his wife Elsbet in the small town of Wambach in the Black Forest and eventually, in 1950 took a position as the director of the Department of Urology in Bad Kreuznach.

The world had moved on by then, the medical field had developed further and many new techniques including Werner’s own methods were being practiced. There was a new catheterization lab in Basel and in 1951 he met Cournand. In 1954 he was awarded the highly esteemed Leibniz Medaille by the German Academy of Science in Berlin, but his attempts at becoming a professor was not to become successful because they said he had not obtained a PhD. The world passed Forssmann by, and the man who once had glory in cardiology in his sights was now tending to kidneys and bladders. As he said later after the Nobel ceremony, it was painful so see others gathered at the harvest in his own apple orchard, laughing at him.

Now we go across the pond to America to meet the other two doctors who won the prize with him, namely Andre Cournand and Dickenson Richards, who worked at the Bellevue hospital in New York. By 1930, Cournand was qualified to enter private practice and trained in pulmonary medicine at the renowned Columbia Chest Service at the Bellevue Hospital. During this residency, Cournand participated in studies of pulmonary physiology with Dr. Richards after bidding goodbye to Paris.

As Enson and Chamberlain explains, Cournand and Richards were aware of Werner Forssmann’s report of catheterizing his own heart in 1929 and of subsequent pioneering work by European radiologists who injected contrast material into the right atrium for diagnostic purposes. Despite the opposition of many renowned cardiologists of the time, over the next four years Cournand worked to demonstrate the feasibility and safety of catheterizing the right heart, first in dogs, then in a chimpanzee, and, finally, in humans. In all the early procedures, the catheter tip was positioned in the right atrium. It was feared that attempts to catheterize the pulmonary artery might be excessively dangerous. The catheters were permitted to remain in that position for prolonged periods without side effects or complications. As a consequence catheterization of this vessel became a routine feature of hemodynamic evaluations.

All this while Forssmann lived in relative obscurity, until the phone call came on Oct 12^th, 1956. As Renate Flack (his daughter) writes - The Nobel ceremony was moving and overwhelming. My father while giving his Nobel address struggled with emotions and was close to tears when he received the award by the Swedish King. Forssmann later said, “No one in West Germany has paid any attention to me,” he told reporters. “The Americans were the ones who recognized my work.” He added that in 1929, when he performed the first of nine dangerous catheterization experiments on himself, “the time was not yet ripe for this discovery.” Still, it was “a very satisfying feeling to know that my research was right.”

Upon his return from the ceremonies in Stockholm, he tried again to obtain a better position but did not succeed. In 1958, Forssmann was appointed as the Chair of Surgery at the Evangelische Krankenhaus, a large hospital in Dusseldorf, where after initial problems, he worked on as a general and trauma surgeon until his retirement in 1969.

Werner Forssmann died on June 1, 1979, following two myocardial infarctions (heart attack due to blockages in the vessels to the heart). Ironically, it was his own heart and vascular system that did him in….

He and his wife, who died in 1993, are buried in the country cemetery of Wies. His wife Elsbet was among the first women physicians in urology when she received her board certification in 1954. All of his 6 children excelled in their careers, and among them his son, Wolf Georg, became an internationally renowned peptide researcher, and his son Bernd developed the HM1 lithotripter.

The operating room, where Werner opened his vein and inserted the catheter, and the x-ray room, where the x-rays were taken, are still in use today. I do not know if the Vereinte Aquarienfreunde meet for drinks on weekends, but I won’t be surprised if they still do though it is unlikely they have heard of the great Werner Forssmann who once drank there. I am also not aware of what happened subsequently to nurse Ditzen, technician Eva and Dr Romeis.

My son does his medical studies at the New York University and is often with patients at the Bellevue hospital, the very hospital where Cournand and Richard furthered the path breaking research of Werner Forssmann.

References

Experiments on myself – Werner Forssmann

Who Goes First? The Story of Self-experimentation in Medicine - Lawrence K. Altman

Werner Forssmann: A German Problem with the Nobel Prize H.W. HEISS, M.D.

Journey into the Heart - David Monagan

Werner Forssmann: surgeon, urologist, and Nobel Prize winner - Michael C. Truss á Christian G. Stief á Udo Jonas

Werner Forssmann: A Pioneer of Cardiology Renate Forssmann- R Falck, MD

Cournand, Richards and the Bellevue Hospital Cardiopulmonary Laboratory by Yale Enson and Mary Dickinson Chamberlin

Tailnote

Approximately 4 million cardiac catheterizations are being performed annually in the US alone. They are also performed daily in untold numbers around the world. However, in recent years, with the push to make medical care as noninvasive as possible and with the development of possible alternatives, less invasive means of monitoring are being developed, and you will see methods using nanotechnology, embedded nanobots and so on in the fore….

The Cafres of the Portuguese & the Dutch

The last months of 1662 in Cochin were proving to be a test to the Portuguese who remained. The Portuguese Casado no longer carried the usual armaments like the sword, gun or spear like their well protected, but uncomfortable predecessors had, clad in mail. They were once upon a time, much better in strategic thinking and came up with a number of new techniques of war. Who else would think of cutting down trees on the opposite banks like Duarte Pacheco in the battle of Cochin? As the Franks perfected their act and got better at keeping the Zamorin’s forces in check, and getting rich off the relative monopoly of the seas and the trade of spices, the community in Goa declined in morality, often behind the shrouds of religion. But Cochin in comparison was benign until the Dutch peeped around the corner.

During the period between the 1663 and somewhere after 1500 when the Vasco Da Gama decided that Calicut had no plans of welcoming him, the Cochin Raja provided the Portuguese with a place to reside and the support to establish trade. The Portuguese flourished as we saw in many previous articles and soon started a regular colonial relationship not only in Goa, but also in Cochin. They intermingled with the local populace to create a group of Mestizo’s who spoke Portuguese and had Portuguese names. A new caste called Topasses (dark skinned, half caste – wearing a topi - gente de chapeo or Topci – gunner in Turkish) came into effect mainly to man the cannons and were Christians by way of religion. Around 1662, the Portuguese lived in a larger area within the fort and this was the Portuguese town where some 900 houses existed and around 2,000 Topasses were resident. Most of the other Topasses lived outside the fort, but close to 2,000 of them moved in after the Portuguese left while many left for Goa with their masters.

Much like the Anglo Indian community, these Toepasses classed themselves with the Portuguese. Visscher opines that the name came from the Portuguese Tu Pai (my boy) who later learnt the Portuguese language and became interpreters. Later, especially in Cochin they became bakers, carpenters, tailors, shoemakers and so on or during the war as letter carriers. He considers them exceedingly superstitious, and possess many heathen customs. A mourning toepass wears his black coat inside out and grows his beard!

By 1565, the Jews of Cranganore fled to Cochin and erected what we know today as the Jew town, and close to a century later, the lives of the Portuguese and their associates were soon to be in peril, not from the 3 million or so of local forces, but from another foe from afar, the Lanthan’s or the Dutch. The Dutch resolve was clear when Rijklof Van Goens sailed away from Batavia to confront the Portuguese in Malabar. By 1657 he had gotten the Franks out of Jaffna and were entrenched in their all-important base at Jaffnapattanam. By 1658, he had taken over the pearl fisheries and Tuticorin, the very place where Joao da Cruz and Francis Xavier had once carried out the evangelization of the Paravas. Goens was a mature warrior and decided to leave Goa alone, but set his sights on Cochin instead. It took all of five years and some five expeditions for him to execute his plans. These actions were also to eventually launch the career of a simple Jonkheer – Henderik van Rhede, the man behind the great Hortus Malbaricus, who in 1663, was just a warrior participating in the second siege of Cochin.

The first three Dutch forays in 1658, 1660 and 1661 aimed at the Portuguese in Cochin were not to bring much by way of success. Interestingly the people who ordered this were the members of the High government of Batavia - the Dutch VOC’s Gentlemen XVII. Anyway in the winter months of 1661, the Dutch took Quilon, and Cranganore was taken a month later. It was then that they worked out an interesting ploy, by getting support from Vira Kerala Varma, a claimant to the throne, and the incumbent Rama Varma was already on the Portuguese side.

Planning from the Roman Catholic bishop’s house on Vypin, Van Goens oversaw the construction of Fort Orange, a small fortification for the cannons aimed at Cochin. Mattancheri, just outside the Fort Cochin walls was in those days called Cochim de Cima or Native Cochin in Portuguese. This was where the raja of Cochin had his seat of government and here stood the Pazhanyannur temple. The Dutch palace as it is known today, was actually the Vira Kerala Varma’s palace which the Portuguese had built for him. Of course he had other palaces near Jew town and in Tripunithara.

As this was taking place, the Paliyath Achan tried to persuade the Portuguese to have the Mutta tavazhi raja take over to avoid Dutch slaughter and simultaneously the Zamorin’s forces moved in to Elankunnapuzha. Goda Varma tried encouraging Vira Kerala Varma to flee, but the latter desisted.

The forces of Van Goens landed some miles south of Cochin and advanced towards Mattanchery, while the king requested that they spare his women. Meanwhile the Nair’s defending the palace put up a stout fight against the well-armed Dutch, many of the Nairs being Chavers (mistaken for people influenced by Opium in Baldaeus’s accounts) and about 400 perished. And soon Van Rhede an ordinary soldier, made his place in history for killing Rama Raja and his brothers and saving the aging queen rani Gangadhara Lakshmi from a hiding room under the roof in a nearby temple. Three or four princes of the royal family were killed while Goda Varma escaped. The main fortress of the Portuguese was now under attack on three sides, the southern side by Goens’s forces, western side by Isbrand Goske and the eastern side by Root bans. Simultaneously cannonades followed from Fort Orange in Vypin.

But the siege in Oct 1662 failed, the rains came in unseasonably and the Dutch had to retreat while Kerala Varma and his brother fled to Mannar and later to Quilon to be covered by the Dutch safety net. However the claimant to the throne died and his brother who went by the same name was proclaimed king by the queen rani who had the final say in these matters. By December, the returning Rhede took over Bolghaty Island, exiled Goda varma who sided with the Portuguese and a decision was taken to lay siege to Cochin next. That fateful day of liberation from the Portuguese was to be 6^th Jan 1663. Tavernier the jeweler whom we talked about in the Kohinoor story was one of the persons who provided a graphic description of that fateful day.

Let us however get back to that fateful week in Cochin. What followed next was interesting. The Dutch sent two captains with a white flag. These two fellows were blindfolded by the Portuguese so that they would not see the planned fortifications, but the clever Dutch brought along with them a small boy, who cleverly took in minute details. In the meantime, the Dutch and the Portuguese had signed a peace treaty in Europe on 14^th Dec 1662.

The Portuguese governor Ignatio Sermento was offered a treaty based on free commerce and religious freedom in return for Portuguese surrender. The Frank captain refused as expected and the Dutch went back with the little boy providing valuable details of the fortifications. The Dutch erected cannons at various strategic points (near the churches of St Thomas and St John as well as Calvetti). The Portuguese expected an attack from Calvetti while at the same time the Raja of Porkkad sent his Nairs with food for the Portuguese and were trounced by the Dutch forces landing there. Finally it was time for the Dutch to storm the fort and they decided to do it with soldiers coming in by a frigate from Vypeen. The boat capsized on the way killing all but 10 soldiers who were also decimated by the Portuguese. The final attack took place on the 6^th January with 600 Dutch soldiers and finally the team under du Pon entered the fort. Goda Varma and his family had fled, so without much ado, Sermento delivered the keys of the fort to Van Goens in surrender on the 7^th January 1663. 360 Dutch died, 300 were hospitalized and 500 became unfits for further duty. 900 Portuguese were killed. According to the terms of surrender, all valuables and property and slaves were to be handed over to the Dutch. All Toepasses and Konkanis were to serve under the Dutch.

But the accounts of what transpired later are not clear. The Bishop states that the town was looted for three days and many cruel actions took place. The Portuguese complained later that the Dutch took Cochin after the treaty was signed in Europe, whereas van Goens stated that the treaty was ratified only in March. The Mutta tavazhi prince was crowned by Van Goens and after 1663, the VOC considered all trade in pepper on the Malabar Coast undertaken by any other party except itself ‘illegal’. The pepper monopoly had to work, either through force or through contract. Three new forts were constructed and the raja of Porkkad signed a treaty with the Dutch as though he was an old friend. Ten years later Van Rheede himself came back to Cochin as commander.For those who wish to read more in detail the siege, check this link.

But as you can all imagine, this story is not about the Dutch capture of Fort Cochin, for it will now move on touch upon the Kappiri myth associated with the Toepasses of Cochin. That these people made plenty of wealth from trading is clear and were favored by the Portuguese masters. It is also clear that after the attack and siege of the fort, they were not allowed to go to Goa. From Visscher’s notes on Toepasses, we can see that they were exceedingly superstitious, and this largely contributed to the myths which followed. So what did the fleeing Portuguese Casados and the resident Toepasses do to all their wealth? In order to hide it from the Portuguese, it is rumored that they hid it underground, and also hatched a ghoulish plan to guard the treasure. Here is where the kappiri or the cafre African slave comes in as recounted by the old-timers of Cochin.

That the Portuguese brought in large numbers of African slaves is clear and they mainly served them in the warfront, as fearless and tireless warriors, but their presence in Cochin is lesser documented save for their continued presence in our minds through the myth. Most of the Toepasses and the Casados must have surely had a few in their midst and it can be concluded that some of them were the reason for it. We know for certain that many Kafir soldiers lived in Cochin and we also see from records that while 100 of them joined Capt Almeida, another 200 stationed there were moved to Ceylon later. They were considered very loyal, an aspect that we will come to see being utilized by both the fleeing Portuguese as well as the Topasses who remained. Baldaeus himself recounts presence of Negro slaves in Cochin during the first attack by the Dutch in 1662. Bindu Malieckal establishes in her paper (India’s luso-Africans) that they were indeed called kapiris and according to Linschoten, they, both men and women slaves were brought to Goa from Mozambique and sold for 2-3 ducats. Goa was also a place where the African slave got transshipped to places like Macau and continued on till the 1800’s. A number of Abyssinian women and men worked for Portuguese masters and even today we come across their descendants in towns where the Portuguese settled, Cochin being one among them. The men occupied the rank and file of the Portuguese armies.

But their connections with the gods date back to an earlier time when a group of them were being brought to India from Africa. Quoting Dr VGeorge Mathew , we hear of a tale that is retold, many centuries ago a Portuguese ship laden with slaves was enroute Malabar when it got caught in a violent storm. Soon it became clear that the ship would capsize and the entire crew and living souls went up to the deck for mass prayers, but the waves only kept becoming bigger. Finally it was decided to sacrifice a human, and of course a healthy Cafre slave was chosen. He was taken to the edge, his head was cut and the body and head consigned to the seas. Lo and behold, the storm blew over and the sea was calm. The Portuguese captain settled in Cochin and would always remember the sacrificed slave every day before he ate. In fact he started the custom of making the first offering of food to the departed slave. That was how the ‘cafre food portion’ custom came about. And as you can imagine, the Kappiri slaves were subsequently associated with power and their spirits ever present where they died such violent deaths.

So as the Dutch attacked, a number of wealthy Portuguese Casados and Mesticos decided to do exactly that, as the story goes, they either walled up a living Kaffir with the wealth in a hole in the wall and mortared it or dug a hole in the ground , executed a slave and buried the wealth with the slave. The spirit of the slave was supposed to guard the treasure trove and lead the owner back to it when he came back. Well, so it seems, for we have not heard of any wealth dug up in those regions, in the recent past.

Obviously these spirits liked to lead an interesting life. Like the stories associated with ghost e.g. the Poole’s ghost story I wrote about earlier, these spirits dressed well, smoked cigars, lounged against walls in the neighborhood and drank a lot. So they had to be satiated with these things if their support was expected. As is said, there are a few of these spots known as ‘Kappiri Mathil’ (Negro Wall) in local parlance and some of them were located at Chakkamadam and Parwana. Here the cigar smoking ‘Kappiri’ apparently safeguards treasures hidden by their masters. The natives of Mattanchery, irrespective of their religion, still believe that the ‘Kappiri Muthappan’ will one day be their savior. And when the Kerala delicacy puttu is made in mattanchery, the first block is given to a Kappiri spirit to ensure that the rest following do not crumble!

Today, you can see a small temple near Manghatmukku, which is the benign grandpa kappiri’s abode, and even today people offer small offerings to appease the Negro god. In some of the spots such as Mangattumukku and Panayapally, the days for offerings are Tuesdays and Fridays when candles and arrack are offered, with the hope that someday the ghost will lead them to a treasure and obviate their day to day miseries.

In the early 1900’s there lived a very interesting lady, in the confines of Jew town, named Ruby. Her story provides so many insights into the daily lives and happenings of Mattanchery. Let us now peek into the pages of her reminiscences to see what see has to say about the ones she calls ‘mischievous spirits’. She lends them a physical structure too and one which surprised me (I though these warrior slaves were tall and hefty), she says they were considered to be short, black and with curly black hair, with small white teeth and quite harmless unless they were harmed. Interestingly in those times, slaves had to be blacker than the blackest, women had to have breasts which were not pendulous and anyone with a lighter color or straight hair would be shunned! But they, the ‘indigenas’ of Mozambique, were also considered to have a sort of a devil in them and had scars on their faces. But Ruby points out that they also enjoyed playing tricks on people, living invisibly in home corners and sometimes inside of a cupboard. In some cases they were whole families, not just one and were particular about cleanliness. In case their area gets polluted and you pass by, they even threw excrement at you. There were all kinds of beliefs - if the master of the house (in those days) has forgotten to take the mug of water to the toilet, and calls out for water, it is sometimes the kappiri of the house who brings him the water, scaring the X&^% out of the master. She also mentions many other pranks played by the spirits, and narrates stories of the kappiri leaving small rewards for good deeds, especially with respect to keeping areas around their abode clean, but only as long as they kept it a secret. She had personal experiences too, like the time a cloth was lost in the neighbors well and the sprit brought it back when she started cribbing about it.

Another astounding story is when a resident Jew decided to dig his backyard for buried treasure. They dug and dug, and saw a large pot, but just could not get to it. First, some obstacles were observed by the workers, then an elephant was bought to pull the pot out but curiously the handle broke and simultaneously the pot was pulled underground by some force and moved under the terrain, to another location. It is said that the broken handle was pure gold and the crown for the Sefer Torah of the Tekkumbagam synagogue was actually made from this piece of gold! She makes a poignant statement that just like the Jews who came to Cochin and never ‘really’ wanted to leave, the spirits also will never leave Mattanchery.

Some others mention that people who got lost were shown the way by these spirits inhabiting trees bearing sour mangoes, and that people also faced misfortune if one of those trees got hacked down. We also hear stories of Hindus moving into such houses and feeding the ghosts vegetarian food instead of meat. And so, many of the locals are firm believers in the ghostly powers of the Kappiri, the cigar smoking benevolent negro, sometimes propped on the wall, drinking arrack or toddy and humming some soft African tunes. A graphic description of the Dutch looting, the helplessness of the defeated Portuguese and the human sacrifice of a willing servant Ambrose in order to secure his masters (Asvares) Portuguese treasure, (but with no connections to a negro slave) can all be read in Raphy’s Malayalam novel O Rapro Nobis.

As a newspaper titled the story, this is the story of the kappiri, now consigned to newspaper reports, tourists, and the minds of the people of Cochin and a temple or two….

The Kappiri - Once a slave, now a deity.

References

Fort Cochin in Kerala 1750-1830 - Anjana Singh

The Rajas of Cochin 1663-1720 - Hugo K s’ Jacob

Ruby of Cochin – Ruby Daniels

O Rapro Nobis- P Raphy

The Dutch power in Kerala – MO Koshy

The Dutch in Malabar – PC Alexander

The Slave Trade: The Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade: 1440-1870 - Hugh Thomas

Letters from Malabar by Jacob Canter Visscher

A True and Exact Description of the Most Celebrated East-India Coasts of Malabar and Coromandel - Philippus Baldaeus

For those interested in an interesting deeper analysis of the myth, please read Dr Edward A Edezhath’s paper Kappiri Myth: a living remnant of Luso–Dutch encounter in Cochin

Van Rhede in Cochin http://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2009/04/rani-of-cochin-van-reede-and-hortus.html

Note- The large Siddi Muslim population in India living in the upper west coast states of Gujarat & Karnataka also have ancestral connections to the African slaves brought in by the Portuguese. Some of those who settled down in Kerala however adopted Christianity and have merged fully with the local population and were termed Siddhi Malayalam community. Perhaps they were the original kappris.

The Occupants of Staffa lodge, somewhere near Westhill

Calicut as they said in history books, was on the way to everywhere. Many Westerners came and went, some stayed, some loved their stays while others detested the damp little town with hardly any social life and later drifted on to the hustle and bustle of Bombay, Delhi or Calcutta. In the process, many a white man made their fortune at and from Malabar, with the list is too long to tabulate. But the story of Lachlan Macquarie, a proverbial soldier of fortune, stands well above most. His travails around the world and the various written accounts of them make interesting reading, but the founder of Australia did spend a couple of years at Calicut. This article while briefly touching on his overall story, will hover around the years spent in Calicut for they provide a good understanding of colonial life in Calicut during the late 18^th century.

Lachlan the Scotsman had his eyes on money early on in his youth and I guess life in Mull or Staffa

at Scotland was tough and dreary, enough to dream of warmer climes. But when a sojourn to the American shores fighting for the British earned him no prize money, his mind was set on the east, especially India, for the next adventure. Macquarie was intent on enriching himself along the way and planned to settle down eventually in Scotland, to be one among the landlords. This may look like the typical dream of a Malayali searching for Gulf jobs, but as far as Lachlan Macquarie was concerned, money could be made by soldiering. And this he did, traversing the world, to America, the West Indies, India and finally Australia. The last stop at Australia was even to earn him the title ‘Father of Modern Australia’. In this journey which spanned all of 45 years from one end of the globe to the other. In between he married an heiress, made and spent a lot of money, loved and lost, saw good days and some very sick days, enslaved and emancipated lesser beings, saw and experienced the world, and eventually returned to his roots. But when he did, much like the Gulf returnee to Kerala, his investments proved to be not so worthy and he died poor.

Starting with the Royal Highland Emigrants or the 84^thregiment, he served at Nova Scotia, New York. Moving on as Lieutenant to the 71^stat Charleston, he transferred to Jamaica for a while and then decided to travel to India. Retired at half pay in Scotland and living with his mother, he used his uncle’s (M Maclaine) contacts with Col Marsh to rejoin the military, as famine hit Scotland. Life in those days was not easy, to get a position as senior lieutenant in the newly formed 77th regiment, and to get full pay, he had to find and select 15 recruits (it was to prove quite tough for he had to walk hundreds of miles to find the blokes, but he did eventually, rounding up 21 of them for a price of 3 guineas each. Sadly four were eventually rejected as unsuitable and Marsh was furious as he was led to believe that the Scotsman was arriving with a 100 recruits). The pompous fella he was, Lachlan also employed a servant who had to satisfy the advertised needs of ‘dresses hair remarkably well, waits table, and plays very well upon the Fiddle’ and went on to command the 5^th company in the 77^th.

In 1787 tensions in India between Britain and France were high (matters concerning Holland) and the East India Company decided to raise four regiments to defend its interests there. However, by the time the regiments had been raised, the threat of war had passed and the EIC refused to pay for them. The Prime minister got involved and the matter was finally resolved with a declaratory bill. That was in 1788 and Lachlan was a member of Colonel James Marsh’s new unit, the 77th (Hindoostan) Regiment of Foot, arriving in India in August 1788, remaining there until 1807. And so, the 26 year old indebted man (enlisted as Lt Lauchlan M’Quarrie) sailed for Bombay with 10 guineas in his pocket, shouting ‘Ich Dien’ (I serve), the 77^thmotto, at the top of his voice, member of the 77^th regiment nick named pot hooks.

So many chaps from these regiments are known to us through the musty pages of Malabar history, names like Campbell, Dunlop, Gordon, Hartley, Lawrence, Marshall, Paterson, Sartorius, Stuart, Griffith, Moncrieff, Walker and so on…But as you may not have seen Macquarie among them, we shall soon bring him to light. Lachlan was a bit worried that he was not going to Madras or Calcutta where better opportunities were at hand, but Bombay was where his regiment were headed, and thus began a 19-year stay in India.

The regiment cooled its heel in Fort Bombay for 2 years, and Lachlan was ensconced at Colaba rooming with a Dr Anderson (whom we will hear more of, soon), a place where the English ate too much, drank too much, fornicated with gusto, catching clap, creating ‘blue skins’ and employed too many servants to do too little work. The bored young man desperately wanted to get promoted and work his way into high society, and try he did writing to the top brass in Calcutta and Bombay. By a stroke of luck, he got his promotion as a result of this pestering correspondence. Now his desire was to get into the heat of a good battle and make money off the event as booty or prize money.

Down south, the British were being troubled by Tipu who had threatened to invade Travancore and the third Anglo Mysore war which would drag on for close to three years, was soon to commence. And when Tipu attacked Travancore in Dec 1789, and continued to press for spoils in 1790, the 77^thwhich was itching for action, got exactly what the doctor ordered. The 77^thcomprising 673 soldiers were finally deputed to Malabar in November and were in position at Tellicherry by Dec 5th 1790. Cannanore had fallen by the 16^thand the next step was to march towards Mysore. It was an arduous task, going up through the guards with the equipment in the rain, something the British had not planned for. After five long months of struggle, and intense rains, the 125 miles proved to be a million miles and Abercromby abandoned the plan to attack Seringapatanam. Many died and became violently sick, Macquarie included. He had fever, bowel complaints and what they called liver (presumably syphilis). They got back to Malabar in June and had an extended R and R until November, after which a new plan to take Seringapatnam was hatched. Teaming up with the Madras troops of Cornwallis, they reached Mysore in Feb 1792. After a quick battle, Tipu surrendered and soon the British exercised control over Malabar which as a result of the defeat, was ceded to the EIC by Tipu.

Back in Bombay, Lachlan was nursed back to health by three doctors, one of them being his friend Dr Anderson, who took care of his liver problem, by getting Lachlan’s wick dipped in a bowl of mercury for a period of time and after getting him to drink dilute nitric acid (those were the syphilis treatments in those days)!. Though he obtained only £308 as prize money, he utilized his additional responsibility as regimental paymaster to use the company coffers for personal profits. Not only did he clear his debts, but also did he (and his family whom he would always help in times of need) gain eminently from this enterprise. We also hear of a later treatment for the liver which perhaps involved a mercury wash of his waterworks. Surgeon Colin Anderson and his understudy Helenus Scott pioneered many such methods of treating the lower level issues of the 77^th.

In Nov 1792, life was to change when he met a 20 year old pretty heiress Jane Jarvis whose father, a

judge had made his fortunes at Jamaica. The meeting took place at John Forbes’s home. Forbes and his bank were also to play a role in his future life. Lachlan went after Jane, but her brother in Law, James Morley would not agree, sensing an opportunist in the Scotsman. Another turn of luck got him a promotion to Malabar at the right moment and Lachlan proposed to Jane again. The brother in Law agreed, provided Lachlan signed a prenuptial agreement forfeiting any of Jane’s wealth and the suitor committed £1000 of his savings to Jane’s trust fund. Lachlan, very much in love, agreed. Two years of wedded bliss and partying turned out to be financially disastrous for him, for he had monthly expenses of Rs 800 when his salary was Rs 500. When he tried to draw money from Jane’s account to order a chariot and some silver, he was threatened with legal proceedings by his brother in law. Just in order to avoid bankruptcy, he had to retire and live low, away from Bombay.

Where else do you think, was he headed? Calicut of course. And so he sailed to Calicut with his wife Jane, in Dec 1794. Here we can take up the tale in first person, by referring to the meticulous journals kept by Lachlan Macquarie.

In those days at Calicut, officers and their spouses rode horses and at times the spouse rode in a palanquin carried by native servants. So the first thing Lachlan did was to buy Jane a Turkai breed horse at Calicut for Rs 300. The house or bungalow at the cantonment (Westhill) was more a cottage, with perhaps two bedrooms and a hall. It was thatched with cajan (cadjun – coconut palm) leaves. Considering that a seasonal thatching required about 15,000 cajun leaves, the house does seem somewhat big. They had outhouses for the servants and a large lawn. The house was purchased from Dr Kerr for Rs 400 and Lachlan spent another Rs 700 modifying and repairing it, to suit the new memsaheb’s tastes. They called it the Staffa lodge after Lachlan’s home town in Scotland. Life there was typical tropical colonial style, drinking, dancing, partying and riding to Calicut town often for dinners. They had three things to think about the bungalow, the cantonment and finally the nearest hill station. Both Lachlan and Jane seemed to enjoy it. Looking at contemporary accounts, how would one document that life?

Naufragus gives us a taste of life in the Calicut of 1790’s- The English at Calicut reside in

bungalows, of a capacious size, and well built: society here more resembles the unanimity of a family, than anything else, the only residents being the civil, military, and naval officers of the Company; and as they are all, in point of respectability, upon an equal footing, few or no discords arise among them. Typically the bungalow contains four or six spacious rooms, all on one floor, with back and front verandahs: the roof is thatched; and its external appearance is not unlike that of a large barn in England. It is built of brick, or "pucka," as the native term is, sometimes of bamboos and matting alone; and its price is about fifteen hundred rupees (So it looks like Lachlan got a good deal unless Staffa lodge required extensive repairs). In the daytime, the members of our little society usually repaired to the habitation of Mr. so and so. In one room a few English ladies would charm the votaries of music with their performance on the harp and piano, the gentlemen accompanying them on the flute, or bass viol; while in an adjoining apartment, billiards were the amusement: in another room were newspapers and other periodical works, recently brought from Europe, with pamphlets, etc. for the literati; and wide verandahs afforded a cheerful promenade. In the evenings, I was favored with the loan of a fine Arabian horse; and a ball frequently concluded the day's entertainment.

Another description by Richardson goes thus - The country surrounding Calicut is exceedingly beautiful; from the plain near the sea, which is fertile and well wooded, the ascent to the uplands is easy and gentle, and admits of good roads over hill and dale. Behind this the same degrees of acclivity and descent are preserved in undulating ridges, which here and there interrupt the monotony of the plain, till at length the hills begin to rise higher and higher in successive beds, and the horizon of the east is at last intercepted by the towering range of the Ghauts, 'on whose broken summits the clouds themselves repose.

The dwelling-houses of the English families at Calicut, are mostly to the northward of the town, and stand at some distance from each other, having gardens and grounds attached to them. Some indeed are several miles in the country, and stand on elevated situations from whence the finest views are commanded, and where the purest air is breathed. The house of the Collector at which we dined on Sunday, was of this description, and the friend with whom I was staying, had lately constructed a bungalow, on a still more elevated site, from which a scene was displayed, that whether for extent or beauty could scarcely be surpassed perhaps in any part of India. The houses themselves had nothing peculiar in their construction, but resemble those common to European residences in India, being contrived for comfort rather than for show; and being considered perfect in the degree in which they ensured shade, and a cool and free circulation of air.

No article written about the life in a Bungalow surpasses the one found in the Saturday review dt 28^th June 1902, and I will proceed to give you a sample to get a feel for life in one.

At all times and seasons the Indian bungalow is a very Zoological Gardens. The human occupant scarcely counts; is but one among many. The number of his uninvited guests is legion. They look upon the building of houses for the shelter of animals as the excuse for man's existence. The flies seem to increase a thousandfold. In India these insects, like the poor, are always with us; they, however, favour us during the rains more than at any other season. The Indian fly is far more depraved than his English brother. If one of the latter settle on your nose and you drive him off, he seeks another playground. Not so the Indian. You are writing and he selects your right hand as his resting place, you blow him off and resume your writing. By the time you have written half a word he is again comfortably settled on the identical spot on your hand. You drive him off, he again settles. After three or four repetitions of this operation you seize the fly-flapper and murder him. The fly-flapper is an indispensable piece of furniture in India. It is a short stick with a flat piece of leather attached to one end. The fly is slain with the leather flap. The fly plagues the Anglo-Indian during the whole of the day, the mosquito torments him throughout the night. With the setting of the sun the mosquito, refreshed by sweat sleep in an old hat or other secluded spot, relieves the wearied fly and takes up the flagging attack with renewed vigour. The mosquito adopts the following plan of campaign. He, not being able to live in the draught caused by the punka, hovers about just outside its sphere of influence, emitting the most unholy sound. As the punka-coolie grows sleepier and the motion of the punka diminishes the mosquito is able to approach nearer his victim. When at last soft slumber overtakes the coolie the patient insect reaps his reward and settles down to his meal. The gnawing of the rats, the chirruping of hundreds of crickets to which the rain appears to act as a stimulant, and the unceasing croaking of the frogs in and around the bungalow, combine to curtail the sleep of the unfortunate Anglo-Indian.

You return from the club at 8 P.m. to find that in spite of the chiks in front of the doors, the floor of the bungalow is strewn with wings which the termites have shed; while a couple of toads are making merry with the soft succulent bodies of the insects. On the wall the lizards are devouring white ants by the hundred. The lizard is a great institution in the bungalow. He is as much a part and parcel of the house as the dog is. Every bungalow in India contains its pair of lizards. Daring the day they live behind pictures or in other sheltered places. At dusk when the lamp is lighted they leave their cover and come out and hunt. Their hunting-ground is the zone of light on the wall round the lamp………

There is one insect—a little, flat, brown, shining, creature—which emits the worst odour in the world. If one of these touches your food the whole is tainted and rendered inedible. You dare not kill these pests, for if one be squashed the whole room becomes filled with its disgusting smell and is uninhabitable for the next half-hour. So these abominable insects fly about with impunity while the poor Anglo-Indian must perforce look helplessly on and inwardly sigh "Spero meliora "(means - I hope for better things)

So that must have given you a little taste of what Lachlan and Jane lived through. Though we have no trace of that cottage or bungalow left, we are provided literary detail of its existence from Lachlan’s journals. They rode often to Calicut town, to eat with the civilian British gentry there.One of their first indulgences was the purchase of two slave boys from Cochin. He records

Sat Jan 24 - Saturday. Lieut. Gray returned from Cochin, and brought me two very fine, well–looking healthy Black Boys; both seemingly of the same age, and I should suppose from their size and appearance that they must be between six and seven year old. — The stoutest of them Mrs. Macquarie has called Hector after my Brother: and the smallest I have called George after her Brother.Lieut. Gray has executed his Commission much to our satisfaction, for which I conceive myself much obliged to him. — The Two Slave Boys cost One Hundred and Seventy Rupees. We had the Boys immediately well washed, their Hair cut and combed, and well clothed.

By May they have settled down and he writes - On this day I am happy to find I have finished all my repairs and improvements on my Houses and Out–Houses, and also upon all my Estate at Staffa–Lodge, the name I have given to the sweet spot we now reside on and inhabit. The amount of my repairs and improvements, including Cajans and enclosures, since my arrival at this Cantonment, upon the whole of my Estate, I find to be about Seven Hundred Rupees; which with the original Price I gave Doctor Ker for the Property (vizt. 400 Rupees) has now I find cost me altogether Eleven Hundred Rupees: – but, I have the satisfaction to find both Mrs. Macquarie and myself very comfortably and commodiously lodged.

They grew fruits and vegetables in the garden, and expanded their estate with more trees and crosswalks. It appears his plan was to spend six more years there and they got regular parcels of goodies from Bombay containing ham, ale, cheese, coffee etc. The only other Lady in the neighborhood was one Mrs. Shaw, but she moved, to spend her pregnancy in Bombay. Jane was but naturally the most popular woman in town, according to Lachlan. The only other event to note was the arrival of Jane’s brother George, which overjoyed the couple.

By July Lachlan got his summons to go to Cochin, for the Dutch siege. Leaving servants to take care of Staffa, Lachlan and George (as a volunteer) left Jane in a friend’s house in Calicut town while he marched off to Cochin with the 77^th. Jane is heartbroken, but Lachlan and George participate merrily in the takeover of Cochin after the Dutch surrender. As this is going on, Lachlan is ordered to go to Bombay to give evidence in a court martial case. The battle over, he arranges for collection of his prize money and organizes travel plans to Bombay with Jane who is still unwell, with a severe cold and cough.

He writes - My dear Mrs. M, George Jarvis and myself dined today with our friend Major Gore, at whose House we had a very pleasant Party. During the forenoon we had sent out our Servants and Baggage to our House at Staffa Lodge in Cantonments; and in the Evening after drinking Tea at Major Gore's we ourselves removed thither, accompanied by George Jarvis, and Slept there this Night. My dearest Jane went out in her Palanquin, and her Brother and myself rode along with her on Horseback – it being a most beautiful moonlight Night. We found everything right at Staffa Lodge, and we both felt extreme joy at finding ourselves there once more so comfortably settled.

Sunday Nov 15^th 1795. Lachlan and Jane bid goodbye to Calicut. At that time, Jane was not to know that she would never come back to Calicut, for tragedy was soon to strike.

He writes - After Breakfasting with Major Gore we proceeded, attended by him and all our friends, to the House of Doctor Moir situated close to the Beach, and from which it was agreed we should take our final departure as Doctor Moir himself was to be one of our fellow Passengers. At the Doctor's House we found Capt. Seton waiting for us ready to escort my dear Mrs. M. in his own Boat on board the Helen. — We here took leave of all our good friends, and Mrs. M. embarked about half past Ten O'Clock. I staid [sic] on shore till the Post came in to get some Letters I expected from Madras, which having received and answered, I embarked on board the Helen at half past 11,O'Clock, which weighed anchor and made sail immediately on my getting on board. I found my dearest Jane in high spirits, and most genteely and comfortably accommodated, Capt. Seton having allotted us Half of his Round house with a Quarter Gallery which gave us ample room and which we found very neatly furnished and conveniently arranged for our reception. He had also allotted very good accommodation for our Brother George; who accompanies us to Bombay principally with a view of getting a Passage the easier from thence to Madras to rejoin his Regt., his leave of absence being now nearly expired.

The story of Lachlan changes a lot after this embarkation. Jane’s cough becomes worse, and treatment with mercury and warm milk (Lachlan even buys a Surat cow for daily fresh milk) does not help at all. In between all this he is now summoned (Feb 1796) to Ceylon to fight the Dutch. He shone in the mission and gets promoted to major. But then he hears of a bad turn in his wife’s health from Bombay, he rushes back, stopping enroute at Calicut where he sees new letters from Jane announcing she is feeling better and perhaps pregnant. Lachlan is overjoyed and eventually docks at Bombay in May 1796 only to find that Jane is seriously ill with TB and that the pregnancy was just a delusion. Listening to advice that sea air will do her good, he finds a passage to Portuguese Macau, where the charade continues but within days she breathes her last. The distraught Lachlan gets back to Bombay with the lead coffin only in Jan 1797 and buries her with a long 475 word eulogy after which he slips into a period of deep depression and goes about wearing a black armband.

The Staffa lodge was soon sold, all of Jane’s stuff disposed of and Lachlan finds himself left with a legacy of £6,000. The two slave boys Hector and George were put into Parish school at Bombay. Soon he found his way back to Malabar joining in the British fight against the Pazhassi Raja of Kottayam. That done, he moved on to fight Tipu in the final battle at Seringapatanam and as expected obtained a share of the loot. On 18 September 1800 when he took office as president of the Sans Souci Club in Bombay he finally abandoned the black arm-band he had worn since his wife's death

As all this happened the next three years passed by hazily, and by 1800, we see the 40 year old career soldier back as secretary to Jonathan Duncan, Governor of Bombay. Simultaneously Arthur Wellesley the future Duke of Wellington lands in Bombay and passes over Lachlan Macquarie whom he does not take a liking to. Lachlan is instead recommended to go to Egypt to fight the French as Dy Adjutant General.

His future however had greater things in store, for he spends all his life’s earnings, some £15,000 to hold on to his uncle’s land within the family. The Egyptian campaign had been so profitable that raising such a sum presented no difficulty; at the beginning of 1803 he estimated that he was worth £20,000 in money and land, twice the amount of his wealth only two years before. He was also desirous of becoming a Highland laird, an estate owner. It is here that he meets and becomes fond of his cousin Elizabeth Campbell whom he later marries.

He spends a few years in high society in London, gets into trouble (he did participate in or even organize many a swindle during his life) with the Duke of York and soon ordered back to India to fight the Holkars. In 1807, he happily bids goodbye to India for the last time, which he considered a land of death, after Jane’s demise. After another two years he is appointed as governor (curiously recommended by two people who posed trouble for him earlier – the Duke of York and Arthur Wellesley!! Maybe they were acting in unison to exile him?) of New South Wales where trouble was brewing. This was where he made his name, finally, and today many consider him as the founder of modern Australia. But that and the fortunes and misfortunes which followed this Scotsman, is another story, for another day. In any case Bombay, Staffa, Calicut and all those places in India may have always been in his dreams. It is said that he used the Indian columned model to build the famous Rum hospital in Australia.

Whatever happened to the two slave boys of Cochin? Hector was kidnapped during the Tipu war in 1799 and never to be heard of again, but George Jarvis, the Malayali slave boy (perhaps a Topass) was at his side always and continued to serve him in Australia (first Malayali in Australia?) and England. When Lachlan died, he willed a house and an annuity to George, but George followed his master beyond this world, just a year later. Elizabeth, Lachlan’s wife outlived him, and George Jarvis the Scottish educated servant boy continued to serve her, marrying the chamber maid Mary Jelly. Their daughter Elizabeth Jarvis died in 1835. Lachlan’s and Elizabeth’s son Lachlan Jr died in 1845, falling down the stairs of Craignish castle. Colin Anderson, his surgeon friend, fathered many children, and one of them was curiously named Jane Jarvis Anderson (?) as seen in his will. Anderson is mentioned in a suit for the unpaid Cochin prize money and Forbes went on to create a company in Bombay. Francis Gordon his friend in Calicut Town, the resident of Calicut, returned to Britain, never recovering from a bad attack of sunstroke.

There are no English bungalows in Calicut anymore, in fact not a single colonial building survives time, but a healthy respect for the Ingriz administrators remain amongst the old timers of Malabar.

References

Lachlan Macquarie, A biography - John Ritchie

Governor Macquarie: His Life, Times and Revolutionary Vision for Australia Derek Parker

The adventures of Naufragus, written by himself - M J. Horn

Girt: The Unauthorized History of Australia, Volume 1 - David Hunt

Historical records of Australia – Vol 8

Photos - from the net - thanks to the uploaders

The stories of TP Kumaran Nair and Abdul Khadir

Part 1

Each of the 5 Indians in the Japanese submarine prowling under the Indian Ocean waters, of which four were Malayali’s, had Rs 500 with them in crisp Rs 10 notes, an astronomical sum in 1942. They were after a long sojourn in Malaysia, destined for the shores of Tanur near Calicut, to be precise. Though all the Malayalees were from Travancore, they were bound for the shores of their motherland, and so joy filled their hearts. Somewhat groggy with the seasickness pills and the many deep dives the U boat took at sea to avoid allied ships, the boys were still in good shape. The little training they had received in the swimming pools helped, but it had been many years since they left Indian shores and the five were unsure of what to expect when they reached the shores…

Retracing the days of the Indian freedom fighters in SE Asia is not too easy and the fragmentary stories left by them, the evolution of the INA from the IIL and so on are not very easy since a good amount of spin and nationalist fervor can be seen in those accounts. Separating fact from fiction is quite complicated and sources not easy to come by. But then, this forgotten story of the actions of a group of Malayalees at the very onset of the INA would be interesting to some readers, who have so far mainly seen and read about only the highly publicized moves of NSC Bose. Stories of people like Kumaran Nair, Raghavan and Khader fell by the wayside and never got recounted, but they were all people who gave it the right impetus at the outset.

By 1930, the demand for Purna Swaraj (Full independence) had been made and the non-co-operation movement had started to gain traction. The salt satyagraha followed, and congress became a resourceful power. In 1939, the British declared India's entrance into the Second World War without consulting provincial governments and by 1940 Jinnah promulgated the two nation theory. Back in Kerala the Kallara Pangode struggle resulted in the hanging of Kochappi and Krishnan, one of the 39 such events against the British. In 1942 the Quit India resolution was passed and the anti-British activities strengthened.

On the war front, the Japanese were victoriously marching through SE Asia and Malaya, Singapore and Burma had fallen by Dec 1941. The British retaliated by imprisoning Gandhi and banning the INC. Violence erupted and with Gandhi in jail, the leaderless masses resorted to many attacks on British interests. Earlier NSC Bose had escaped from India and gone to Germany, but gained no real support from the Nazi’s. His next destination was Japan where revolutionary Resh Bihari Bose had launched the IIL or Indian Independence league. Resh Bose found support in Malaya and Singapore, with Mohan Singh in Malaya and KP Keshava Menon in Singapore. The INA was formed in Malaysia and they were supposed to march through the Burma border with the Japanese army with an aim to free India. Penang had become the Japanese submarine base and some of those I class U boats would feature later in this story.

The British, not sure how the eastern border would hold up, focused a lot of attention on the boiling cauldron called SE Asia. By 1931 there were 640,000 Indians in Malaya and Singapore and interestingly they even outnumbered the native Malays in the state of Selangor that year. They were predominantly adult males who were single and with family back in India and moved because there was work at hand and the situation benign compared to Malabar where poverty was strife.

Zoom in to Today - If you go on the Mavoor road in Calicut and deviate to the right to go to the Presentation convent, you will note that the road is named the TP Kumaran road. If you asked somebody who this Nair is, they would have no earthly idea. If you asked somebody in the bureaucracy or the PWD, they would blink. Members of the his family would mention that he was involved in building the road many years ago to reach the Nellikode Ganpat school (now Presentation school). We note that this Kumaran’s parents were Krishna Panickar and TP Kalyani Amma, and that he studied first at the Ganpat School at Nellikode and later at the Zamorins School Tali. His wife Malu Amma no longer lives to tell Kumaran’s hair raising tale.

And so we go on to tell his story- Nair was just that, one such person who moved to Singapore in 1939 in search of a new life. In the Hindu newspaper report, we read that he was a jamadar in the MSP and that it was circumstance which caused his move to Singapore, resulting from his resignation from service after refusing to stop a patriotic procession protecting the death of Bhagat Singh. We also note that Kumaran, was born around 20 September 1906 at Calicut, passed his S.S.L.C. examination and eventually joined the Indian National Congress.

While we see from the Hindu article that Nair was in the MSP, we also see from trial records that Nair perhaps served in the RAF or the Bengal air force as a clerk for some time before proceeding to Singapore. We can guess that he must have been aged 34 when he moved abroad. Tracking Kumaran Nair proved tough and we get a first notice of him right after he reached Singapore and took up the job as a Taxi driver. In fact he soon landed up in court, accused or murder. On May 22^nd, 1939, his car, passing a parked bus, hit and killed a Chinese woman Ong Ah Yit, crossing the Sembawang road. CH Witton the judge acquitted Nair, after reviewing evidence and analysis of the brake marks, concluding that his car was too slow and that the woman was perhaps at fault by running into the oncoming vehicle.

His next brush with the British law system was unfortunately not so fortunate, for it would lead him to the gallows. How did this turnabout happen and why did he end up in the courts again? Trail records leave a sorrowful tale of treachery, homesickness and patriotism, as well as a show of heroic valor and leadership.

I would assume that Nair continued to work in Singapore till 1942, not really making a mark, perhaps the typical frustrated overseas Malabari, itching for action. Life was actually a total mess in those parts by 1941 especially in Malaya, where in reality the situation was somewhat different. While the marauding Japanese were somewhat partial to Indians, they still showed a marked racial attitude towards the Indians whom they held in low esteem. Many stories of them using Indians for menial work had been reported and even at more influential levels, Japanese officers held Indian counterparts in contempt. R Bose and AM Nair had the right connections in Japan, but rapidly moving events did not allow that goodwill to filter down the ranks to the common man.

Malaya's major ethnic groups, the Indians and Malays, generally escaped the worst of this treatment while the Chinese bore the brunt of it. The Japanese wanted the support of the Indian community to invade and free India from British rule. As the war progressed all three ethnic communities began to suffer deprivations from increasingly severe rationing, hyper-inflation, and a lack of resources. Both the Malay and Indian communities gradually came into more conflict with the occupying Japanese.

Japanese intelligence officer Major Iwaichi Fujiwara had persuaded Major Mohan Singh of the 14^th Punjab to form the INA with defecting and Indian soldiers (POW’s from the battle of Jitra). By 1942, the INA had 40,000 members with Mohan Singh as CInC.

In Singapore, we now see the proclamation of the All-Malayan Indian Independence League. The League was headed by Nedyam Raghavan, a Penang Barrister and a prominent Malayan Indian. Joining him at the board was another Malayali, K.P.Kesava Menon from Singapore and S.C Goho (head of Indian Passive defense in Singapore and a lawyer himself). Indians flocked to join the IIL and membership was estimated to be around a hundred-thousand at the end of August 1942. The IIL card helped them when accosted by a Japanese soldier for the League's membership card identified the holder as Indian (and thus an ally), it was needed to collect rations from Japanese depots.

Kumaran Nair but naturally joined the IIL like others at the exhortation of Raghavan and we see him next moving to Penang. But as he still is somewhat obscure and out of harm’s way, let us meet the other prominent Malayali whose name we saw a little while ago.

Nedayam (Nediyamveetil) Raghavan, what an interesting person he was, and like many others, you

will hardly see an article about this influential diplomat. This person from Shoranur/Guruvayoor, had paternal links to the Kottakkal Zamorin family and lived in Cochin and Madras (studied at MCC) before he moved to Britain to become a barrister. He relocated to Penang in 1920 or so, became a dignified and popular person there, soon to head the Malayali and Indian associations. By 1936, this splendid orator was also well known to the congress leaders in India and Nehru was as associate, a connection which would stand him in good stead later in life.

KP Keshava Menon on the other hand was from Palghat, hailing from the Tharoor region and a member of the Palghat royalty. He was like Raghavan, a London educated barrister, but had actually moved to Singapore from Calicut where he used to practice earlier. Keshava Menon established the popular Malayalam newspaper Mathrubhumi in 1923 and was its Chief Editor from the beginning till his death, except for the brief period when he went to practice law in Malaysia and Singapore and got actively involved in the nationalist movement.

These gentlemen were some of the people in SE Asia who organized finances for the nationalist movements, with the benevolent Nattukottai Chettiars in Malaya, Burma and Singapore contributing lavishly to the INC.

Soon, the paths of all these people from Kerala were to cross and remain intertwined. Even more coincidental is the fact that the fates of some of them, such as Abdul Khader and Kumaran Nair were to a certain extent in the hands of the organization headed by another person so well known to Calicut, none other than the Hon A C Thorne, the home secretary.

The dashing Japanese officer who fostered goodwill for the Indians in 1941 (at Bangkok) and the one who personally promoted Mohan Singh into limelight was one Iwachi Fujuwara who went on to form the network called the F Kikan or the Friendship Kikan. He was the person who with the help of POW Captain Mohan Singh, the one who created the first rag tag INA after the Jitra debacle. The Singapore prisoners joined the INA, so persuaded by Mohan Singh. Mohan Singh then became a general commanding the IN army, much to the disgust of the senior officers. But soon the ‘Indian friendly’ Fujiwara was transferred back to Japan and his place was taken by a rigid intelligence officer Hideo Iwakuro who was not too particular about Indians of their independence. He was a spy maker and this was the reason why Iwakuro sponsored the school for spies in Penang.

That was how N Raghavan decided to head what is known as the Hind Swaraj vidyalaya (Indian Swaraj institute) or the Nakano Gakko at the Free school building (now the state museum) on the Green line road in Penang on 3/8/42. The school was formed to provide crash courses for people of Indian origin, in espionage, intelligence gathering, photography, use of firearms and surveying. The intention of course was to create a 5^th column and send them to India. Did they join due to the lure of adventure or was it just to get a ticket back to India? Other units were also being trained, namely the Osman group with Sikhs, the Gilani group with Muslims, a group destined for Ceylon and finally a group with Gurkhas.

The cadets were perhaps never aware of the Enemy ordnance act which had been passed in India. In fact the rule of the law was stretched to the fullest in some of these cases against the defendants, and perhaps the spy school should have concentrated on such matters, but then again, perhaps not, for these were simple lower middle class people with little education.

Needless to say that the British had their eyes and ears in Malaya and Rangoon, for they knew quite a bit of what was going on. In fact Dewan CP Travancore also had his informers in Malaya reporting events as they progressed. The British and the Travancoreans were on the watch, waiting for action.

The first ISI batch had a number of Malayalees (13/26) , VMA Khader, Surveyor from Vaikom, Anand Thanu Pillai, foreman from Trivandrum, KA George, teacher from Ambalpuzha, CP Eapen, Stenographer from Tiruvalla, Leon D’Cruz, Salesman from Trivandrum, Boniface Periera, draftsman from Kazhakuttam, K Mamman Mathai chemist from Tiruvalla, Kochugovindan from Tiruvillwamala, KM Cherian from Airoor, M Gangadharan from Palghat, TP Kumaran Nair from Calicut, Sethu Sankaran Nair and KP Balakrishnan Nair from Tellichery. So you see that two were from Malabar, one from Cochin and 8 from Travancore. This is of particular importance since Malabar was British territory while Cochin and Travancore were independent states at that point of time. Except for the senior Anand Thanu Pillai (aged 39) and another named CGK Reddy who were well employed even before joining the ISI, all others were low level employees and aged under 30.

The curriculum comprised history & geography, history, Revolution, nationalism, British acquisitions first aid, Physical & military training etc were imparted by instructors Keneko, Dallal, Alagappan, Raghavan, Kaneko and Ichiunna. TP Kumaran Nair served as the drill instructor, perhaps due to his familiarity with task from his MSP days in Malappuram (Dare we say - trained by Hitchcock?). KNS Iyer was the superintendent.

However matters started to take a change for the worse in the military circles at Malaysia, mainly due to ego clashes and internal squabbles. Iwakuro had other ideas in mind which Raghavan refused to agree with, Mohan Singh had clashes with Iwakuro and the Japanese high command, Fujiwara’s intervention proved useless, Resh Behari did not agree with Mohan and so KP Keshava Menon and others resigned from their posts. The INA was not accorded the due status (The Japanese believed the lack of unity among the units with low morale, cast issues and so on would never suit the creation of a unified army) by Japan and Mohan Singh was exiled.

During all this turmoil, Iwakuro forcefully moved the first batches totaling some 26 of these cadets into a nearby bungalow one night in Nov 1942 and made them undertake intensive courses on subversion and guerrilla activities. He decided to deploy them out with immediate effect, into India in line with independent Japanese plans.

Kumaran Nair however continued as drill instructor at ISI Penang. His fate had still not been decided. That it would be decided by one of his own compatriots from the first batch is the tragedy of the story.

Iwakuro decided to send the first batches into India by submarines and overland. The first group comprising Anandan, Khader, Abdul Ghani, Eapen and George started on 26^th Sept 1942 and were destined for Tanur near Calicut. The second group Bonifice, Baradan, Decruz, Mammen and Balakrishnan Nair left Penang on 27^th Sept 1942 and were dropped off near Okhamadi on the Gujarat coast. ~~The British trackers even had code names for each of these groups. The Calicut group was called Hat trick, the next two were called Audrey and Doubtful.~~ In fact the British were lying in wait to catch them at an opportune movement and turn them around against the Japanese as double agents, so sure where they of Indian duplicity. But then again did Iwakuro have other ideas with his pawns which only he and his Japanese circle knew? We will soon find out.

The submarine carrying Khader (Anand Thanu Pillai at 39 was the senior most) and party reached the Calicut shores in the evening of the 27^th. Due to RAF planes patrolling the shores, the submarine surfaced only in the early hours of the 28^th. The Tanur town having a substantial Moplah population was busy with Ramazan fasting and so there were many people awake and alert when the rubber dinghies carrying the five landed on their shores. Abdul Khader was to make a fatal mistake, for he met the Moplah leaders in Tanur and secured from two brothers, a place to stay. During the night the villagers passed on information to the Calicut police about the agents from Penang. Khader tried to persuade the two brothers to join him in the Indian independence movement.

In the meantime, Gangadharan, Dufferin trained CGK Reddi, Kochugovindan, Santa Pillai, Pal, Mathew, Andrews and Faulja Singh had also been deployed as the 3rd batch. The 4th batch had Unniram, Rathnam, Muthumani, Mazumdar, Ramu Thevar. A total of 26 agents had been deputed by now, including TP Kumaran Nair who was sent later overland with Sankaran Nair.

When Raghavan at Penang heard of all this (in fact he had known that a plan was afoot and had warned the Japanese to wait for a decision by the Council of action), he was furious and resigned from the ISI without further negotiations (he and his family were threatened of death) on 29/11/42. He had enough of the high handed Iwakuro and was aghast at the timing of the deployment and the way the whole thing was done. As Raghavan was to recount later, his instructions to the cadets were, as patriots, to report to the local INC personnel after reaching India, not to do spy work for Japan, but to work for the Azad hind.

Meanwhile the second group who landed in Gujarat were apprehended and soon enough the rest of the motley team were also arrested.

The complete story would come out only at two trails held in Madras called the Madras Enemy Agents trials 1 and 2. The first covered the 20 and the second the case of Kumaran Nair and Ramu Thevar. While the former was under the special justice Elmar Mack, the latter was judged by Krishna Rao ICS. All prisoners were provided Indian lawyers by the court, except for one who hired his own lawyer, that being Damodara Menon. Khader and Kumaran Nair were represented by V Rajagoplacharya. Did they have a chance? We will find out in the next part of the article.

References

Hindu article - Remembering an unsung hero June 19, 2007

N Raghavan: A Malaysian freedom fighter in South-East Asia – Suja Sugathan, JOKS Vol 32

From the diary of a freedom fighter – K A K Menon

Indian national Army Secret Service – Motilal Bharghava, Amerik Singh Gill

The Indian National Army and Japan - Joyce Lebra

Devil's Circle - Walter Woon

British intelligence in the 2nd WW – Vol 5, Michael Howard

Forgotten Armies: The Fall of British Asia, 1941-1945 - Christopher Alan Bayly, Timothy Norman Harper

The Springing Tiger: A Study of the Indian National Army and of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose- Hugh Toye

Towards freedom: documents on the movement for independence in India, 1943-1944, Volume 3

Note: The agents code named Audrey, Hattrick and Doubtful belonged to a 1944 group, so corrected..

To read the rest of the story, click on this link

The stories of TP Kumaran Nair and Abdul Khadir Contd..

To recap, the INA had been built up in Malaysia by Mohan Singh and a few others with Fujiwara’s guidance. Getting it recognized by the Japanese was proving difficult and the top brass were quarreling. Raghavan had started his Swaraj institute where young Indians were trained in spy craft, such as opening letters, tapping phones, making secret ink, forging documents and so on. Iwakuro however had other ideas. Before Raghavan could do anything, he spirited away the first batch of 20 cadets and sent them off to India. The first two batches were sent by submarine to the West Coast, the next two overland through the Burma border. Raghavan resigned in a huff and that was the end of new Indian recruitment to the ISI. Meanwhile the four groups had landed and curiously they proved to be very ineffective, since every single one of them were picked up within no time by the British who were lying in wait. But then again what could you achieve in a month’s training? These people had no local contacts and stood out like sore thumbs. Anyway they were all caught quickly and sent off to Madras for trials.

The first Madras trial in April 43 was supervised by Judge Elmar E Mack, a tough burly burgher of Dutch Afrikaner origins from Ceylon, legally trained at Oxford. As S Muthian put it…

Of him it was said, “Mr. Mack often behaved in court as if he was on the golf course, intensely human every minute of his life.” Informal in court almost to a fault, his sympathies always lay with those he thought had been charged wrongfully or were not willfully guilty of the crime charged with.

That was exactly what Mack thought from the beginning. That they should not have been charged so severely and that the rule of ‘putting all of them to death’ should not be enforced. Anyway they were so charged and his task was to determine if they were indeed enemy agents by definition, if they planned to commit espionage and other terrorist acts in India and if they had been paid to do so by a foreign country, an enemy. It was easily possible to establish the last aspect since they had Indian money from the same source (Rs 10 notes evenly numbered, presumably stolen by the Japanese from a British treasury). It was however difficult to establish that all of them were agents since most were simpletons with no real aim or purpose. What worked completely for the British and against the Indians was the fact that one of the group turned approver and provided complete details of the entire operation. That was the Malabar subject named KP Balakrishnan Nair (Balan) from Tellicherry who for doing it (at the Calicut court on 6^th Jan 1943) got a pardon in Feb 1943. He named 33 of his team mates and outlined the full workings of Raghavan and the ISI, to the authorities.

The defendants had only one thing to say, that they just wanted to come back home and were in no position to do anything else as they were afraid of the Japanese in Penang. They had just nodded and gone along with the plan to drop them in India as that was the only way they could get back to their families.

Anyway let us quickly trace the movements of the four teams. Khadir’s group landed at Tanur in two rubber dinghies on 27/8/42 after midnight. Tanur was mostly awake as it was Ramzan. Poker a local Moplah who was relieving himself on the beach saw the group was given a Rs 10 note and asked by the group to go to Tanur and get them food. This kind of money is not usually seen and the alert shopkeeper Syed Ali Kutti reported this to the police. The police sent food to the beach and found one of the team digging a hole at the beach claiming they were looking for a lost watch. The group then bluffed the police that they were on a pleasure trip from Travancore and had landed in Tanur since there was a hole in one of the rubber boats. The police found close to 500/- on them and took them to a room above a shop. During further interrogation, Khadir admitted that he was trained in the ISI and had come to do propaganda work. The others also maintained similar stories, but with some changes here and there. Anand Thanu pillai however tried to keep himself separate and tried other tactics (In fact he knew about all the other 19 members). He wanted to write down what he said and wanted to discuss with the police and the authorities in private. Khadir in the meantime talked to two local men and exhorted them to join his cause and work against the British and that they would be paid for the same by the Japanese. This event was to play against him.

The second batch had meanwhile landed at Okhamandi in Gujarat. Only one spoke Hindi and he asked a local laborer who saw them, to get them food. They were taken to a local choultry and while they were resting, the local police arrived. Again the Rs 10 note was to become the cause of suspicion since it was a large note which could not be easily exchanged for annas & paise. The police recorded that the group was headed to Karachi for subversive activities. The only person who stated his real name was KP Balan the approver, who was part of the 2^nd group and turned approver.

Balan of course gave a lucid account of the ISI, the days spent at Penang and the 27 days of training. After they were bundled into the subs, they were given typewritten instructions and the money. They were to scatter, find out details about troop movements and meet up with their partners at predesignated places such as the Meenakshi temple or the Tajmahal. In fact the instructions were somewhat stupid and required these chaps to travel the length and breadth of India. Balan knew all the others and he accounted for them in his confession.

The third group were taken to Rangoon, given money and the typed sheets and then inserted at Akyab (Sittwe) in Burma, south of Chittagoing. They were picked up by the police at Girjiana. In this group we see Govindan from Cochin (who was represented by Damodara Menon) and the curious case of a well-qualified CGK Reddi, INS Dufferin trained. They all claimed they were escaping the Japanese. Many of them got into further trouble by stating they earned the money they had in their possession and thus lied.

The fourth group also moved up the Burma mainland towards the Manipur border and were picked up by the British, failing to slip through. In fact they had even been instructed to separate out and act as mad men if captured. Also the Japanese had informed the Indian groups that the civil administration had broken down and that they would therefore have no problems with the police etc. Eventually the plan was to get them all back to the Burma border with the information that had gathered, to be used when operation 21 was executed, i.e. the Japanese surge into India. But was that really so? Judge Mack used his sleuthing mind efficiently to come to a conclusion which I will detail later.

TP Kumaran Nair
Photo courtesy Vijay Balakrishnan

The judgement file of Madras case 1 makes interesting reading and the arguments look sound in most respects. Mack did not agree that all of them should be put to death but found only five of the 19 accused, guilty. But he did not want them hanged. He also concluded that Thanu Pillai was the kingpin for he alone knew the exact instructions of the Japanese. In a review judgement by Judge Wadsworth, Boniface was sentenced to five years RI on a technicality since he a Travancorean was arrested in Baroda and not in English territory. The case went for appeal, with V Rajagopalchari arguing for Khader. The appeal was rejected as it was groundless and a further appeal to the Governor General also failed. The guilty five were hanged on 10^thSept 1943. This therefore covers the fate of 20 people from the first batch.

The ordnance was strict in making sure that nobody breathed a word of what was going on, and the trials were secret (in camera). The first time any information hit the press was when the Statesman reported on Oct 21st 1943 that Jap agents were foiled by villagers at Tanur. Following this the Home secretary JA Thorne was questioned and came out with some obscure answers.

But how did Kumaran Nair get into this sordid mess? We still do not have a clear answer as to when he was pulled out of the ISSI bungalow and sent to India by Iwakuro. We also do not know if he went on his own accord to find out what happened to his compatriots or if N Raghavan sent him to track them down and help them. From the records of KAK Menon we see that the people of Malaya considered him alone a martyr, not anybody else from the first 20. So it is very possible that he set out on his own for KAK Menon says Kumaran vanished from the school many days after the first 4 batches had left.

Now let us pick his story from the court trial records of what is known as Madras case 2, relating to the enemy agents. We see that three people are named in the trial, that they were TP Kumaran Nair, Ramu Thevar and Sethu Sankaran Nair. The last named had already killed himself in jail at Bengal. We also note that in all 26 people had been sent, 20 in the first four groups after a ‘short course’ in the ISI and then there were these two, and a final four tried in the Madras case 3. The additional person tried in case 2 was Kumaran Nair and it is recorded that he is considered as part of the same parcel only due to the confession by KP Balakrishnan Nair or Balan.

Kumaran Nair was unfortunate in a way that he was tried separately, and not together with the other 20, for Judge Mack was perhaps a little bit more lenient. This case came up separately since it came to light much later that three others Ramu Thevar, Kumaran Nair and Sethu Nair were being held in Bengal. Sankaran Nair (Sethu) however committed suicide in the jail and so there were only two brought over to Madras, based on their identification and role at Penang revealed by the approver Balakrishnan Nair. So a fresh trial was ordered and ND Krishna Rao ICS presided as special judge and the high court Judge Wadsworth as the reviewing judge. The date of their entry into India is not clear but it was sometime between end Nov and early Dec 1942. Kumaran Nair was represented by V Rajagopalachari and the trials started on 13^thMarch 1944.

In the trial, it was established that Ramu was part of the original 26 and that four others were presumed missing or still in Penang, after accounting for the dead Sethu. But why was Kumaran Nair tried in this group? The home department (Jenkin, 8-9-43) opined that it is better to wait and find out what Nair was upto, however the Madras CID were firmly in favor of prosecution based on the information provided by the approver. The home ministry stated that they did not wish to continue to oppose opinion so firmly held! The public prosecutor was VL Ethiraj.

Nair was interrogated many times and from the results, it appears Nair staged an elaborate event to get into India and escape detection. He claimed that he was jailed by the Japanese at Pokokku and that he escaped, after which he met three Indians (Sethu, Ramu and XXX). On 1^st Dec he was shot at and hit on the knee at the Chin Hills. Later Sankaran Nair and Ramu Thevar were arrested at Cox bazar. A number of lies told by the two were checked and proved false. They also got an admission from Thevar that the Iwakuro Kikan people at Akyab had helped them.

The findings state that Kumaran Nair, assistant drill teacher at ISI was deputed to supervise the teams sent earlier, after making contact with them and was caught while attempting to cross the border between Gaugaw and Haba on 1^st Dec 1942. When caught at the Chin hills, Nair went on say, he was fleeing Singapore via Rangoon and that he had been a Japanese POW briefly from which detention he escaped. This was established as a lie since he had tutored others in the group of 3 to say the same, if questioned. Rajagopalchari argued that these were only acts preparatory to espionage, but the court decided that Nair became an enemy agent as soon as he agreed to conduct espionage for Iwakuro and accepted his money. Acharya also argued that while taken, Nair was actually in Burma and so fell outside the purview of the act. This fell flat since he was from Malabar and hence a British Indian subject. Also the currency notes which Nair had were of the same series as the ones with the others and finally he had in his possession some Japanese propaganda material (notices, posters etc). This trail was also held ‘in camera’ or in other words was a secret trial.

Krishna Rao judged thus – I find that both the accused are enemy agents, they conspired with each other and other members of the ISI to do acts of espionage. Their intention was undoubtedly to aid the enemy state of Japan although their ultimate object might have been to secure Indian independence with Japanese assistance. For the offence under section 3 of the ordinance, I have no other alternative but to sentence both the accused to be hanged by the neck till they are dead.

The judgement was passed on 13^th March 1944. One the main witnesses for the prosecution was the approver KP Balakrishnan Nair. An appeal to the governor general failed.

The last letter written by Nair was addressed to his brother. It said thus

Courtesy KAK Menon'

TP M Nair esq, Nellikode, PO Puthiyara, Via Calicut, Malabar

My Dear brother,

I have just received information that the Governor General has refused to interfere in the sentence passed on me. I never counted on it and so am not at all disappointed. I am extremely happy I will soon be rid of this brutal world and its treacherous ways. I am commending all to the almighty and wish you all goodbye. 5/7/44.

PS. I am to swing on to the other world on 7/7/44 early morning s.d. TP Kumar

The handwriting is meticulous and the grammar precise, which is a bit unusual for an SSLC educated young man. Perhaps he was very well read and his stay at Singapore and Malaysia may have augmented his skills, but of that, I am not sure.

Accordingly both men were hanged on 7-7-1944. Curiously nobody came to claim their bodies, and for that reason they were not cremated, but buried in the public cemetery at Ottery outside the jail. It is surprising that Nair’s brother and wife did not turn up at Madras to claim his body. Did they know in time? I don’t think so for the above letter should have taken a couple of weeks to reach Calicut.

In the Madras case 3 which took place later, Unniram, Rathnam, Muthumani and Krishnan were tried and all sentenced to death in March 1945 for the same reasons. One later prisoner who also trained in the ISI and was sentenced to death, Americk Singh Gill, escaped while being transported under police guard in Calcutta, in a crowd. He lived to tell his tale.

The Swaraj institute was bound to fail (after Mohan Singh and Raghavan left) for unbeknownst to them was the existence of a 6th column (Gill and Durrani) within the school, passing on information to the British. All other cadets sent to India were captured by the British.

Raghavan was threatened with arrest and forced to resign from the IIL/INA on health grounds by Feb 1943. The Japanese had decided on handing over INA command to the incoming Subash Chandra Bose and did not want any dilution of authority. Eventually Raghavan rejoined the INA at the behest of Bose as finance minister and continued on dealing with the Penang chapter and the fund collection for the INA.

Iwaichi Fujiwara served as Intelligence Officer on the staff of Fifteenth Army in Burma. He reconnoitered the border to prepare for Operation U-Go, the offensive into British India. Following the failure of this offensive, Fujiwara was reassigned to Japan, in December 1944. He survived the war and is sometimes known as the ‘Lawrence of Arabia of SE Asia’.

N. Raghavan too survived the war and served as Indian Ambassador in Indonesia, Brussels and Germany until 1952. The next posting was in China where from 26 September 1952 to 2 October 1955, he served as the Indian Ambassador. It was during his tenure that India and China agreed to the Panchsheel Treaty. From 1956 to 1959 he served in Argentina and Chile before zigzagging to Europe. He was ambassador in Paris until 1962. In 1963 returned for a lecture tour of Malaysia, and Ceylon.

Judge Mack had in his judgement concluded with remarkably lucid reasoning behind the sordid affair involving all these men from the ISI. He believed that Anand Pillay alone knew the real reasons and that the team was sent out simply for its propaganda value, to be captured and publicized so that the rest of India knew that many of their counterparts were working with the Japanese and willing to lay down their lives against the British. But the British did not publicize the arrests until much later.

According to Mack, Pillai’s plan was to become the approver and condemn the rest as soon as he got caught, but Balakrishnan did it even before he could. As for Kumaran Nair who set out to find out what happened, well, he had no idea of all this and simply walked into a trap. And because of Balan’s becoming approver, he lost his life.

Judge Mack continued to make a name for himself, became a popular person in Bellary and went on to sue Air India for damages when his wife slipped and broke her leg while disembarking from one of their flights. He was a fair man and in his fine judgment states that he does not believe any of the nationalists should be hanged, but then the law was the law and took its course.

Of Balakrishnan Nair’s fate, nothing is known in detail, but his ancestral house in Tellicherry is still around, so I could gather. We do note that all the acquitted including Balan served jail terms until 1945.

Iwakuro continued his stint in Burma, but left back for Japan as his kikan did not do well after the acts of the 6^th column in the ISI. But he too rose up the ranks, survived the war and was one of the founders of the Kyoto Sangyo University.

The Madras penitentiary which was built in 1837 to house the Kaala Paani convicts, became the Madras central jail. This was where all the ‘enemy agents’ were housed. It became the central Jail and was finally closed in 2009 to make way for other buildings. The Ottery burial grounds (I am not sure if this was also a public burial ground, for Kumaran Nair and Thevar were actually buried in the Public grounds) still exist at the St Mary’s Church and Kumaran Nair’s bones still lie there, unclaimed.

Who built the road after him? Was it due to the benevolence of Raghavan or was it because of KPK Menon? I do not know, but the road is mute testimony to the efforts of small men like Nair who strived for a change.

In many ways it was a sad effort, tracing the story of Nair and Khader. They were all beset with homesickness, did what they did for a few hundred rupees and the feelings of patriotism and nationalism, goaded on by local leaders, but at the wrong moment chose to believe the words of Ikamuro instead of Raghavan and rushed into action. Perhaps they really had no choice, for they had already been quartered in a Japanese bungalow and were perhaps coerced into taking the trip to India, like proverbial pigs led to the slaughter house, all for the sake of the propaganda value and success desired by the I Kikan.

So the next time you go to Calicut and by chance traverse the TP Kumaran Road, spare a thought for that poor soul.

References

Indian national Army Secret Service – Motilal Bharghava, Amerik Singh Gill

Towards freedom: documents on the movement for independence in India, 1943-1944, Volume 3

TPK Nair’s last letter – Courtesy Kavungal Anat K Menon

Notes

Why did I write this article? Well, it started with the Hindu report by Maleeha Raghaviah and in it there was a mention of a retired school teacher named Sulochana who was TPK Nair’s niece. It reminded me of one of my school teachers at Ganapati School in Chalappuram. She has since then always remained in my mind. I am not sure if she was the same person mentioned in the Hindu article, but if it is, this is my tribute to her.

Kumaran Nair’s role in the taxi case is not quite clear. It may have been another Kumaran Nair.

Vijay, my friend (I did not known until after I uploaded part 1 that he was TPK Nair’s grandnephew) explained the difference between the terms ‘in camera’ and ‘on camera’ to me. ‘In camera’ is a legal term that means ‘in private’. The same meaning is sometimes expressed in the English equivalent: ‘in chambers’. Generally, in-camera describes court cases, parts of it, or a process where the public and press are not allowed to observe the procedure or process. I was initially under the impression that the trial was filmed ‘on camera’ which was not the case.

Part 1 can be read by clicking this link

Raja Ravi Varma’s twilight years 1890-1904, at Bombay

Everybody has a favorite Ravi Varma painting or water color. My favorite is the ‘Milkmaid’ watercolor, and I had written about it earlier. Every time I see it, I think of the girl behind the painting, and many a time, I had stopped to wonder who it was and what her story was. So I started out on a literary search for her, and was initially under the impression that this was one Suguna or Sugandha bai as others had alluded. But as I checked deeper and harder I felt that Sugandha was perhaps a fictional character and then again, the Milkmaid, in comparison was not one of the well rounded buxom girls as was common in other Ravi Varma pictures.

Rajibai Moolgavkar

As I studied Varma’s life over a period of time, I read that he did meet a number of girls as he travelled around India, always trying to find the right face for his paintings, some from high society and some from the lowest of societies. And thus the face of a girl bathing at a bathing ghat became the coy modern girl in a painting while a Muslim prostitute’s face could end up in a calendar picture depicting a Hindu goddess. Sugandha bai turned out to be a fictitious character from Ranjit Desai’s novel on Varma and she went on to become the central character in a Malayalam and later a Hindi film. As I perused the topic, I meandered through the side lanes of Girgoan and Walkeshwar at Malabar hill and the turbulent South Bombay of the late 1890’s and early 1900’s.

And that is how I got to studying the story of three of his muses, two of them turning out to be fascinating people on their own. One became a fine exponent of Hindustani music (you can still hear her recordings) and the other turned out to be a socialite in Madras. The third remained elusive and perhaps was the face behind the milkmaid. But to hear their stories, I have to take you to the Bombay as it was at the turn of the 20^th century, home to those in rags, home to the rich, home to those with dreams and home to depravity.

By 1890, Bombay was a teeming city, housing some 900,000 people and many of the new

immigrants lived in poverty and unsanitary conditions (not that it is any different now!). Stagnant air and filth added to the woes of the crowded masses. But it was still so different from sleepy South Indian towns and boasted of electricity, gas as well as horse driven tram ways (electric trams came by only in 1907). Since 1877, ice (Iced Sherbet was something Ravi Varma enjoyed) was available locally and was no longer imported from Boston USA. The Victoria terminus station had been inaugurated in 1887. The motor car came in 1898 and Ravi Varma was one of the first to paint it. Movies were not yet shown until 1908 and it was a Ravi Varma associate, the famous Dadasaheb Phalke who brought the silent Indian movie to Bombay in 1913, 7 years after Varma’s death. Cigarettes, telephones, horse races and phonographs were popular, and many games including cricket were catching up, with Parsees and wealthy Seth’s being the local representation among the British gentry. People went to watch plays, photography was popular, with newspapers being the medium to disseminate information to the upper class.

That was the Bombay Ravi Varma and his brother came to like, visit and spend stretches of time between 1881 and 1904. Life was not always benign or calm, for there were the Parsee-Muslim riots in 1893 and then the second wave of plague hit the city in 1896-97. The bubonic plague of 1896 was to decimate the population at the rate of 22 per 1000. The efforts of Dr Viegas and J Tata to reduce its impact were no match for the destructive power of plague, cholera and TB all of which were endemic in South Bombay and the city’s mood, nothing better than desultory, and it was a time when Bombay was termed the Morgue of India. Shops, schools and colleges were closed, bazaars were abandoned and infected people forcefully moved away. But at the same time, the rich enjoyed life as usual, theaters and dance halls full. Singers, painters and other purveyors of art feverishly sought wealthy patrons. Ravi Varma was one among them, albeit a better known and popular artist.

While Malabar hill and Breach candy were frequented by the upper class, the middle class teemed the vicinity of Girgaon. Predominantly Maharashtrian, the place also had a number of dadas and mawalis and virtually all males chewed pan with tobacco, a habit Varma was to soon pick up. Goan immigrants and among them many representing the fields of music and dance as well as the flesh trade lived there. That was the area where the Varma brothers Ravi and Raja were headed to. Their visits became frequent, but off and on between 1881 and 1894.

Ravi Varma had decided to try his fortunes in Bombay after enjoying a fruitful period at Baroda where he had found patronage thanks to Madhava Rao who was previously the Dewan of Travancore. Some of his finest paintings were created during the period when Sayajirao Gaekwad III was his patron. He had done well at the Baroda palace and Gaekwad allowed some of the paintings to be exhibited in nearby Bombay around 1891 where Varma’s mythological series quickly became a sensation. Demand for his paintings were high and Sayajirao suggested that he order oleograph copies of some of his paintings from Germany. Varma instead decided to set up his own press and also take on painting commissions from the wealthy. He commanded high rates (Rs 1500 or thereabouts per portrait) and planned to start a studio and a lithographic press at Kalbadevi. Ravi did wish to go to Europe from what I read, but the fear of losing caste (ocean taboo) made him drop that idea.

It was finally in 1892 that the by now famous 46 year old painter and member of the Kilimanoor Kovilakom took the plunge and moved to live at the Setna lodge (they purchased their own house in Gangadevi road only in 1903) at Girgaon. In those days salons in Bombay imported nude pictures from Germany as lithographs and these were commonplace. This was the business Ravi Varma decided to concentrate in, replacing those pictures with Indian faces (and for that reason he is termed a nationalist painter) and his other reasoning was that he desired his art to be seen by thousands, not just the few visitors to the palaces where his originals were housed. And so the two brothers decided to become entrepreneurs and start a lithographic press. Ravi spoke many Indian languages, but Raja was the one adept in English.

Varma decided that he would put the faces of people and gods in color on these lithograph prints and price them to be affordable to the public. The machinery was imported from Germany and the money he had earned at Baroda, was part of the investment. Remember the Khatau group? Well as it transpires, he consulted some of his friends like Dadabhai Naoroji and Justice Ranade and on their advice took in as a partner the Bombay industrialist, Govardhandas Khatau Makhanji. Soon the machinery arrived and he employed a German named Schleizer to handle the work.

Calendar art soon became a part and parcel of marketing advertisements and Varma’s press created the images with DadaSaheb (Dhendiraj Gobind) Phalke (Strange are the fingers of fate, for Phalke had originally been sent by a rival German group to check out the workings of the successful Ravi Varma press) taking care of the large scale printing at his Laxmi (Phalke’s engraving and printing) printing depot. Soon Varma’s images adorned the walls of houses and shops and were seen on everything, be it matchbox labels, tobacco, liquor, gripe water or Diwali crackers. Readers must note here that even though we mention Ravi Varma, the entire affair was a joint effort by the two brothers working in tandem, Raja and Ravi Varma.

Bal Gangadhar Tilak then leading a revolt against the British had himself painted by Varma (did you know that Tilak was one of the persons behind popularizing the Ganesh festival in Bombay?) and Tilak’s Kesari newspaper promoted Varma’s work. Though Varma made a lot of money, the revenues dropped due to pirate activities and the effects f plague in Bombay. Ravi Varma quickly started losing business and racking up expenses and debts. Bombay and Poona were in turmoil with the plague and Girgaon was badly hit.

Ravi Varma was never a keen businessman and did not take his finances seriously and soon the brothers had arguments with Khatau. Govardhan’s split with the brothers was apparently due to his siphoning off of some of the printed stock and the revenues surreptitiously and this gave the brothers sleepless nights. With the plague, the brothers had to move frequently and were subjected to inspections and the problems of quarantining. Later in 1901 they transferred the studio and press to cooler Ghatakopar, commuting between Girgaon and Ghtakopar by train. But that was also of little use and since Varma had to go back to Travancore (as his uncle had passed away in Travancore) business faltered badly. The brothers had to borrow Rs. 33,000/- from a friend, Dr. Balachandra Krishna, to buy out Makhanji’s shares and eventually shifted the press to Karla - Malavli, near Lonavla. Schleizer and team moved with the press. By 1901, the German purchased the press from Varma who had lost interest in the enterprise, together with copyright for 89 of the original paintings. Very soon Ravi lost his sheet anchor, travel partner and friend, his own brother Raja Varma. Though he returned to Bombay, the zest was gone and soon Ravi Varma went back to Travancore and sadly succumbed to Diabetes.

This however is not an account of Varma’s fortunes and misfortunes, but about three lovely ladies who cast an influence on him in those final years of his life, cut short at the age of 58. These ladies and their countenances or likeliness’s can be seen in so many of Varma’s paintings today. One of them is usually the demure beauty representing many a mythological character or personifying homeliness, another is the face of a more modern Indian while the third is the common girl.

Foremost among them is Anjanibai Malpekar, today remembered as an outstanding exponent of

Anjanibai Malpekar

Hindustani music from the Bhendi Bazar Gharana. Anjanibai was a Kalavant Goan Devadasi. The Bhendi bazar Gharana was started by three brothers from Moradabad namely Nazir, Chajju and Khadim Hussain and Nazir went on to become a music teacher at the Gayak Uttejan Mandali. Anjanbai was one of the singer members of this group which wielded much control and established the gharana amidst much intrigue and machinations involving wealthy patrons. By the time Varma met her, she was a leading courtesan with many connections in Gurgaon as well as the upper echelons of Bombay society, sought for not only musical performances but purportedly companionship thereafter. Trained by Nazir Khan and Aman Ali, she was quite wealthy. She must have been just 17 years old when Varma met her for the first time at a Baitak at Narayan Dwarakdas Khimji’s house. The six years of association following that meeting with Varma gave her much solace and she confided in him often, ruminating about the fact that she could never escape the clutches of the many men who wanted to spend the night with her. She is today remembered as one of the finest singers produced by the Gharana and as a teacher of famous people like Kumar Gandharva and Kishori Amonkar.

She talked about Varma and that first meeting many years later, at the age of 89, in 1972 remembering those six years of their relationship vividly, and her interview to a Marathi newspaper provides an insight into Varma’s character. The close to 35 years separating them was never an issue. Was the relationship platonic, physical or just so, stimulating as a muse? We do not know, but we do know that she cast a spell on him and Varma enjoyed it for she figured in many a painting of his. While some of her biographers mention that Anjanibai never posed formally for Varma, it is a fact that she did often. After Varma left back for Travancore, he never painted a goddess again, and Anjanibai aged just 21 became a mistress of the Gujarati businessman Ved Vasanji Bhagawandas in 1903. Apparently she had a big Ravi Varma painting in her home to keep her company and remind her of the old times. Sometime in 1923 she lost her voice after drinking a laced drink but was eventually cured by a sadhu named Narayan, though she never sang in public ever again. Mannadey, Begum Akhtar, Suman Kalyanpur, Pankaj Udhas, Mahendar Kapoor, Lata Mangeshkar and Asha Mangeshkar were other luminaries who trained under the Bhendi Bazar Gharana Ustads.

Chawla’s book provides further details - Anjanabai remembered his lovely smile, fondness for tobacco laced paan, for coffee, tea and sweets. She mentions that Varma found her broad forehead similar to one that Saraswati, the goddess of knowledge would have had, and was entranced by her music and sparkling eyes. His eyes became teary often, when she sang, and if it was Shyam kalyan or Gunakali, he would rest his hands on her forehead and murmur his favorite shlokas. He laughed easily, smelled of the khus perfume, had an evocative voice and sparkling eyes, liked dressing in a white kurta or sherwani and sometimes wore socks with slippers. That was Anajanibai’s Ravi Varma.

Rajibai

While at Bombay, and elsewhere, the Varma brothers were always abreast of the happenings in the art scene in Europe and subscribed to papers, books and magazines. It was this thirst for knowledge that led to a friendship with the English painter Frank Brooks who was briefly employed as a tutor for Raja Varma. The Moolgavkar sisters (the ‘lady with a fan’ painting was Brook’s portrait of Rajibai and was commissioned by Ravi Varma himself) were also Kalavants from Goa and one of them Rajibai was a regular at his studio. The brothers continued the relationship with her for a number of years, for Rajibai’s father’s portrait was made by Ravi Varma before raji became a model for him. We see mentions of Raja varnishing the portrait three years later and hear of the death of Raji’s mother and of her infant son. Her sisters were also to figure in some of Varma’s paintings. Rajibai herself can be seen in many of his paintings including the milkmaid, but we see a pointer in Raja’s diary that she probably had a relationship with Varma’s friend Bapuji later on. The round faced woman in many of his paintings is either the pretty and homely Anjanibai or Rajibai in a sari.

From the diary it appears that the brothers were not too forward and even took to boating to gaze at the bathing bodies on the ghats in Walkeshwar. As critics explain, the face, shape and color for a god or goddess in the popular Indian mind was created by Varma. And believe it or not, those very paintings popularized the wearing of a Sari all over India and the clothing of the actors and actresses of early Bollywood.

The Parsee girl mentioned in some biographies is Allamai Khareghat from famous Khareghat family

Alloo Khareghat

of Malabar hill. Mancherji Pestonji Khareghat (contemporary of MA Jinnah) was a popular high court judge and Alloo was born to that family. How she came across Varma is documented by V Sriram and Muthiah in the Hindu and Madras musings and also in Chawla’s book. In Bombay, the Varma brothers were quite close to the Khareghats. Aloo Khareghat was the young daughter of the house and, as Raja Varma, noted, was “a very intelligent lady having a thorough English education”. One day in 1899 as the story goes, Ravi Varma was fascinated by a pose that Allamai struck as she stepped out for a stroll and he captured it on canvas. When Aloo’s father died, she moved to Madras where her brother Meherwan Khareghat worked for the PWD. Mary Clubwala Jadhav her daughter donated ‘Going Out’ to the Government Museum. You can see countenances similar to that of Alloo in many paintings done by Varma.

Was there a Sugandhabai in Varma’s life as alluded by Ranjit Desai in his novel? Doubtful for Raja Varma has not mentioned her at all, but then again, he did not even mention Anjanabai in the diary. Nevertheless, though these three women influenced the paintings of Varma and his life, you can also come across faces of models like Kashi Bai, yet another Kalavant from Goa.

Ravi left the city of Bombay, a city he loved, finally in 1904 and was a shattered man after the death of his brother though he did produce the puranic masterpieces at the Mysore palace during that time. His stays away from Travancore and tiffs with his royal relatives (and Varma’s threat of being excommunicated for his life in Bombay) are all interesting stories, but when he came back, he even renovated the Kilimanoor palace. You get snippets from the diary, that of his visit to the Malayali club in Bombay, and of the brother’s habit of weighing themselves at the railway station often. They were also sick with increasing regularity during the later years and we see that Ravi was intent on retiring at 60, which some say is in line with Hindu practice. Many think that he was a one man factory, but Raja, his brother had a hand in many of those famous paintings, touching them up, doing backgrounds or completing them. Many a famous portrait had even more input from Raja Varma than Ravi. The hustle and bustle of Bombay kept the brothers on their toes with many a sitting going on in parallel as they studied photographs and books from Europe, while at the same time enjoying a lavish life.

Like always Varma had his detractors, some like Vivekanda and Coomaraswamy who mention that Ravi Varma produced trash. Great as they are, I disagree, for after all art appreciation is purely from the eyes of the beholder.

Today you see Ravi Varma copies everywhere, and if you go to Kerala, these prints are so commonplace. Perhaps that was what Ravi wanted, to get his art into as many homes as possible but he also hated the plagiarism. Ravi Varma despaired at a time when copyright was absent, worrying how good art could be protected, and it was finally his friend Gopal Krishna Gokhale who brought out a promulgation protecting art. But all that is gone and you can get Ravi Varma print copies at every gulley around Guruvayoor temple, or the internet for example.

Varma’s studios in Bombay did not survive the ravages of time, but the unit in Malvali, the one which was sold to Schleicher, was passed on to his progeny and recently got sold - lock stock and barrel to one Vijayanath Shenoy who has housed all of it in a museum in Manipal. The trust at Manipal now has nearly 100 litho stones with the impression of Ravi Varma’s paintings.

Ravi Varma’s art and Anjanibai’s music live on……

References

Art and Nationalism in Colonial India, 1850-1922: Occidental Orientations - Partha Mitter

Arts of Transitional India Twentieth Century, Volume 1 - Vinayak Purohit

Raja Ravi Varma, Portrait of an artist – edited Erwin Neumayer, Christine Schelberger

Raja Ravi Varma – Rupika Chawla

Raja Ravi Varma – the painter prince – Parsram Mangharam

The Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality, Volume 40

The Cloister's Pale: A Biography of the University of Mumbai - Aruṇa Ṭikekara

Parsi portraits from the studio of RR Varma – Priya Maholay Jaradi

Raja in Ravi Varma

Before the brush dropped – Documentary on RRV by Vinod Mankara

Photos – from google images and The Raja diaries by Neumayer/Scelberger – acknowledged with many thanks

Note

Varma also had a wooden model which was a base for many of his paintings. He not only painted Hindu subjects but also Islamic and Christian themes. It was Vinod Mankara the person behind a fine documentary, who directed me to the fact that Rajibai was perhaps the Milkmaid. He also mentioned in a newspaper interview - “Ravi Varma would have been known as a prodigious poet, if he had failed as a painter,” states Mankara, who located 500 poems written by the artist. According to him, each painting was followed by a poem that is vouched by the works ‘Ragamalika’ and ‘Manasa yathra.’

The story of how one Ramaswamy Naidu, a court painter of Travancore, became an influence to him will be told another day, and if you observe the paintings done by Naidu, you will also notice the likeness in style.

The Colonel Thirumeni of Travancore

The King Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda varma reminiscences (data sourced from Thrippadidanam by Uma Maheswari, duly acknowledged with many thanks ) .…………..

Fellow blogger Abraham Tharakan fondly remembers theKarthika Thirunal - wife of Goda Varma in his blog and provides valuable snippets about the sportsman prince as well.

His grandson through his daughter Gouri Parvathi Bayi is my favorite musician these days, Prince Rama Varma as he is popularly known.

References

Thripadidanam – S Uma Maheswari

Travancore – the footprints of destiny – HH Uthradom Thirunal Marthanda Varma – as told to Uma Maheswari

Bio source – Christopher Buyers

Twilight in China – KPS Menon

Kerala spirit of sports article
Hindu Newspaper reports

Photos - Wikipedia etc duly acknowledged with thanks

The monsoon came 4 days late to the shores of Kerala, giving a huge respite to the burning masses. As it was a little bit delayed, people who depended on it got alarmed. Some like the IMD said the El Niño delayed it, other experts opined that the Indian Ocean dipole compensates the Niño and that there is nothing to be alarmed about. The stock markets swayed and teetered on the edge, the population already nervous after their favorite Maggi noodles got pulled off the shelves looking at alternate snacks would now be heaving large sighs of relief. Anyway I will dwell not on matters such as global warming and atmospheric depressions, and will leave it for meteorologists to explain and sort out in far better fashion.

But all that reminded me of a couple of characters who were as legends go were responsible for the onset of monsoons in our land. So I will take you back to a time well into the past, even before the Rig Veda which made the first mentions of the event, in which it is said that the rains were halted by Vritra an asura or demon, or perhaps, not exactly so. The story is interesting with so many connotations, contradictions and explanations and is set in a time frame well after the Himalayas were formed, for without the Himalayas, there would be no SW monsoon!

To understand it from a realistic perspective, you have to get a good handle on the time frames. Lifted by the collision of the Indian tectonic plate with the Eurasian Plate, the Himalayan range which was formed some 40-50 million years ago runs northwest to southeast in a 1,500 miles long arc. A lot of climatic changes occurred and it is presumed that the first coastal civilizations developed on Indian coast around 17,000BCE just as the ice age was tapering off. As warming started, the next 2,000 years brought about changes, and eventually with sea levels rising, the coasts started to get flooded. By 13,000 BCE, floods occurred, Matsya appears and as agreed with Manu, the Vedas are saved. And then things changed again around 11000 BCE as the younger Drya or mini ice age restarted (some say caused by a comet impact) and the freeze returned. Glaciers and ice covered the Northern regions, as the south and south East Asia continued to prosper. The climates change again by 9600 BCE, warming starts, the ice melts, the Sarasvati river dries up as time goes by, the western regions become desert like and hot and the monsoon phenomena which we see these days, sets in. Life since then is more or less as we know of it today, though the sea levels can be seen to be rising again….

This story has nicely been explained in a mythological fashion in many religions with the arrival of

Noah, Gods, goddesses and the demons or asuras. The changes for the good are wrought out after mighty duels with the good triumphing over evil. Why so, because after all, in those days and today, religion is and was a good way of bringing about a semblance of control over a large group of relatively less literate people, across a large geographical area. These simple but graphic stories were understood easily by the masses when explained by a venerable sage or traveling mendicant and ultimately they took root in their psyche. Today they are part and parcel of our lives and in most cases we heard our own versions from our grandmothers and grandfathers.

The central myth of the monsoons is that Vritra, a demon, would prevents the breaking of the monsoon over India and in order to save the beings on earth, Indra comes out to destroy Vritra, so that the monsoon breaks and rainfall results. The precipitation from the dark water heavy clouds ( the battle within the cloud, accompanied with lots of lightning, thunder – the battle of Indra and Vritra) with the help of other gods like Marut/Vayu (the fast monsoon winds), Vajra – lightning and thunderbolt and Vishnu (Sun) is in reality just a climatic fact, explained off in a simple story.

And so with that, let us get to the fascinating duel between Indra the weather god and Vritra the demon who was a hindrance to creating a salubrious climate for the peoples of India. Note for a moment that the Rigveda was compiled in the post Dreya period in the Saraswati river basins up north, as the people moved from the coasts to the interior, following the retreat of the glaciers and the exposure of fertile cultivable land. The story we will now tell, first got mentioned in the Rig Veda. Its analysis and interpretation is varied, depending on which Sanskrit scholar reviewed it or which European author transcribed it as he saw it or understood it. I claim no particular expertise on such matters, but will stick as close as possible to the legendary story line.

Indra is an interesting character, he is godly and virtuous at times and no so at other times. He has a huge ego, is lustful, is quite non-vegetarian, prone to consuming Soma, and did a lot of things gods are not supposed to do. The story of Indra and Ahalya is something I will get into in a separate article, but this is about his altercation with Vritra. His character changes with time and as Brahmanism sets into North India, he can be seen to lose favor (perhaps due to his well-known attributes). But in Vedic times, he was the master of the heavens, though one can also practically assume that he was the personification of a powerful king of the region (the Sarasvati basin), fighting incessantly with the aboriginal tribes of the dasas for superiority.

Legends about Indra describe him as riding either in a golden chariot pulled by two horses or mounted on a white elephant named Airavata signaling his arrival with rainfall, a rainbow or the sound of a gathering storm. Indra, the king of the gods is central in the Rigveda and can be seen to be the Indo-European cousin of the German Wotan, Norse Odin, Greek Zeus, Zoroastrian Avesta, and Roman Jupiter. He has been given numerous titles including Sakra (Powerful), Vajri (the Thunderer), Purandara (Destroyer of Cities), Meghavahana (Rider of the Clouds), and Svargapati (the Lord of Heaven). Indra held court at Svarga, sometimes somewhere near Amaravati and said to be around the clouds surrounding the highest peak of the sacred mountain Meru.

In the Hindu legends, the story goes thus. Indra is the god of Swragaloka and as master of the gods is supremely arrogant. One day when his guru Brihaspati visited his court, Indra shows disrespect by not acknowledging him and with that the guru walks away. Without the guru guiding the gods, they lose their next battle with the Asuras, who incidentally are also their cousins. The distraught Indra is then advised by Brahma to seek another guru, this time from the enemy’s den and recommends Viswarupa, son of Twashta. Viswarupa readily agrees, and the gods win the next battle after learning Narayana Kavacha , but Indra still does not have full belief in Viswarupa who is also seen praying for his own brethren, the asuras. In a fit of fury, Indra kills Viswarupa and this naturally gets the enraged father to create a huge monster of a son named Virtra or Ahi who as designed, swears to destroy Indra.

Soon Indra has to fight the monster to save the heavens but realizes that he is no match for the huge and powerful Vritra who could swipe away a mountain with a flick of his tail. Again he realizes the folly of arrogance and now rushes to Vishnu for help. Vishnu ponders for a bit and tells him to approach a sage Dadhichi, persuade him to give up his life and use his bones of his arms (or backbone) to make a super powerful club called Vajrayudha (Two corollaries exist as to why this was so, one - Dadichi had been praying for years for salvation and his pure faith is attributed to the strength of his bones, two he as the armorer for the heavens had for security reasons converted all the weapons into liquid form and swallowed it, thus making his bones better than any weapon). Dadichi received Indra cordially and accedes to the request, after making Indra bring all rivers to one location for him to complete his penance, and soon after his soul ascending the stairway to heaven, his bones are ground up and converted into a weapon, the Vajrayudha, to kill Vritra.

Vritra in the meantime, had already made a nuisance of himself and created a huge drought by swallowing up all the waters of the world and ensconcing them in his mammoth stomach (hence his name – Vritra the enveloper). The world dried up and people suffered, the gods as well.

But there is still a complication, for Vritra had a boon that nobody could kill Vritra with any weapon made of wood, metal or stone, with anything dry or wet or at any time during the day or night. The fact that a weapon made of bone was now available to Indra was small consolation since the other two requirements were also tough to counter. To prep himself for the battle, Indra consumed a large amount of the Soma potion, which helped. Indra thus strengthened himself for the ballet of battles by eating a lot of meat (one account mentions 300 buffaloes and 3 lakes of soma) and drinks of the elixir of immortality, the soma, which priests offer to him. The fight starts, with Indra finding the going very difficult, but he eventually succeeded in drawing away Vritra to the sea shore, fought with him until dusk (neither night nor day, destroying some 99 forts built by Vritra during this period and the exchange of much magic and illusionary feats) and stunned him by flinging foam from the sea waves at Vritra (neither wet not dry). Using this opportunity Indra plunged the Vajrayudha into Vritra’s body, killing him. In other versions, he is actually swallowed by Vritra but he cuts up Vritra’s stomach from inside killing him and emerging out, victorious. Vritra incidentally was Chitraketu reborn as an Asura due to his insulting Parvathi who was seated on Rudra’s lap. He was therefore looking forward to getting killed so that he could also get salvation and join Vishnu’s side in heaven.

The waters held in the body of the cloudlike Vritra flowed down into the earth and that was the onset of the first monsoon. As the story goes, this is repeated every year (don’t ask me why, perhaps Vritra is like the Hydra) and that is the monsoon you see. The complete story has a lot of masala attached with the entry of his assistants, the Maruts or sons of Shiva (Rudra as he was known then), Vayu, Agni and so on. According to the Rig Veda, the Maruts are the ones who use their axes to split the clouds open so that rain could fall. During this event Indra also splits the Arnava and changes course of the Indus to flow northward!

But the story is not over, for it is said that by killing Vritra who was the son of a Brahmin, Indra was culpable to the sin called Brahmahatya. Indra was terrified realizing this (in some versions he is chased by a demoness Brahmahatya) and fled to hide himself inside the stalk of the lotus on which Brahma was usually seated. And he would not come out, and the whole world suffered as a result, for he was after all, the king of gods. So, Brahma had to come up with a novel solution by splitting the sin into four and allocating it to water, trees, fire and women. These elements agreed to accept the sin on condition that those who pollute nature get a share of it. One part is given to women who are supposed to pass it to a man who has intercourse with her during mensuration, another part to water which passes it on to people who dirty it, the third part to trees and herbs who pass it on to people who cut them up at the wrong time of the year and finally the forth part to Agni or fire who passes it on to the person who fails to kindle it. With this Indra gets acquitted but not fully, and I will cover that aspect when I tell you the Ahalya story.

One thing you will note is that in the Vedic times, Indra was held in great respect, but as the Brahmanic period started, he lost out to Vishnu and Siva and was cast off as a Brahmin killer and doer of unacceptable acts. But we do note that as a mortal king, he leads cattle raids against the dasas, or dasyus, native inhabitants of the lands over which his people now rule. Now comes the variations, if Indra was an Aryan invader or not, if he was godly or not, if the battle was mythical of just the documentation of a fight between Indra the local king and Vrita a dasa chief. The Dasyu were clearly a group of people that held religious beliefs different from the Arya. The Dasas and Dasyus are also described as brahma-dvisah or "prayer haters" (loosely meaning the people that don't follow the same religion as the Aryans, non-performers of Aryan sacrifices, and observers of other rites) and non-singers of laudatory hymns).

According to Bentley, the Vedas refer frequently to conflicts between Aryans and indigenous peoples whom the Aryans called dasas, meaning “enemies” or “subject peoples.” The Vedas identify Indra, the as a war god and military hero, as one who ravaged citadels, smashed dams, and destroyed forts the way age consumes cloth garments. These characterizations suggest that these people clashed frequently with the local inhabitants of the Indus valley, attacking their cities and wrecking the irrigation systems that had supported agriculture in Harappan society.

Brian Smith opines - In the view of the noble patrons of the Vedic poets, Indra, the greatest and most anthropomorphic god of the early Vedas, was primarily a warrior god who could be invoked to bring booty and victory. Agriculturalists and hunters emphasized Indra’s fecundity, celebrating his festivals to produce fertility, welfare, and happiness. Indra, however, was essentially a representative of useful force in nature and the cosmos; he was the great champion of an ordered and habitable world. His repeated victories over Vritra, the representative of obstruction and chaos, resulted in the separation of heaven and earth (the support of the former and the stabilization of the latter), the rise of the sun, and the release of the waters—in short, the organization of the universe

And like so many other Hindu legends, these stories also ended up in Greek mythology, and you can find parallels, with Jupiter, Heracles, and so on.

Now let us look at the monsoon business a bit scientifically - The southwestern summer monsoons

typically occur from June through September. The Thar Desert and adjoining areas up in the North heat up during the summer and the hot air rises up, causing a low pressure area over the northern and central Indian subcontinent. The moisture-laden winds from the Indian Ocean rush in to the void created by the low pressure, and are drawn towards the Himalayas and as they encounter the Ghats, forces them to rise. As the clouds rise, their temperature drops and precipitation occurs. The eastern areas of the Western Ghats do not receive much rain from this monsoon as the wind does not cross the Western Ghats. The Arabian Sea Branch of the Southwest Monsoon first hits the Sahyadri or Western Ghats (These mountains formed during the break-up of the supercontinent of Gondwana some 150 million years ago, intercept the rain-bearing westerly monsoon winds, and are consequently an area of high rainfall, particularly on their western side)off the coastal state of Kerala, India, thus making this area the first state in India to receive rain from the Southwest Monsoon. This branch of the monsoon moves northwards along the Western Ghats with precipitation on coastal areas, west of the Western Ghats.

NS Rajaram explains the evolution lucidly - During the Ice Age, the great Himalayan rivers from the Indus to the Mekong either did not exist or were minor seasonal flows that could at best support small populations that subsisted by hunting, fishing and food gathering. The monsoon was also weak because low temperatures meant less evaporation. Population centers were mainly in the tropics, in tropical Asia and Africa. These were concentrated in the Savannahs in Africa and by lakes and coastal regions in India and Southeast Asia. The Vedic civilization was sustained by agriculture. What triggered the agricultural revolution was the release of the frozen waters- an event that transformed not only India but also East Asia. Temperatures rose as much as 5 degrees Celsius, melting the Himalayan glaciers in which enormous quantities of fresh water had been locked up as ice and snow. Higher temperatures also meant increased evaporation and a more vigorous monsoon. Lakes and rivers had two new sources of freshwater- melting glaciers and the abundant monsoon. Great perennial rivers burst forth from the Himalayas- Indus, Sutlej, Sarasvati (now dry), Yamuna and Ganga in North India, and Brahmaputra, Irrawady and Mekong to the east. Of these the Sarasvati was the greatest- as the Rigveda describes, and as science now confirms. It was flowing in all its majesty from 8000 B.C. to 4,000 B.C. It began to decline about 3500 B.C. and dried up completely in the 2200 B.C. to 1900 B.C period.

But the joy and the beauty of the monsoon is usually felt only by the inhabitants who see it year after year. One foreigner, a French geographer, Elisée Reclus puts it so poetically - But to whatever causes it may be due, the monsoon is one of the most majestic of terrestrial phenomena. The spectacle presented at its first approach may be easily contemplated from Matheran, near Bombay, from Mahabaleshvar, or any of the other headlands of the Western Ghats, which command at once a view of the sea, the coast, and the mountain gorges. The first storm-clouds, forerunners of the tempest, usually gather between the 6th and 18th of June, according to the year. On one side of the horizon the coppery vapours are piled up like towers, or, according to the local expression, are massed together “ like elephants in battle; ” and as they move slowly towards the land, one half of the firmament becomes densely overcast, while not a speck sullies the deep azure in the opposite direction. On the one hand, mountains and valleys are wrapped in darkness; on the other, the outline of the seaboard stands out with intense sharpness, the surface of sea and rivers assumes the metallic hue of steel, the whole land, with its scattered towns, glitters with а weird glare. As the clouds strike the crags of the Western Ghats, the thunder begins to rumble, the whirlwind bursts over the land, the lightnings flash incessantly, the peals grow more frequent and prolonged, the rain is discharged Then the black clouds are suddenly rent asunder, the light of the day gradually returns, all nature is bathed in the rays of the setting sun, and of all the banked-up masses nothing remains except some fleecy vapor ascending the valleys or drifting over the tree-tops.

Such is usually the first outburst of the monsoon, after which follow the regular rains. But the watery mists will at times present themselves unescorted by the majesty of thunder and lightning, and then а midnight darkness unexpectedly overspreads the horizon, and the whole land is deluged by torrential rains. At times also the dense masses drift slowly along the mantling headlands for hours together, like fleets of war-ships sailing by a line of strongholds, each cloud in its turn discharging its electric shocks as it doubles the capes. The heavens seem then to be at war with the frowning cliffs of the seaboard.

These winds which carried those dark clouds were the winds which brought traders and trade to the western shores and the land famed for its spices and pepper. During the rainy seasons, the ports close, people retire for their lean and jobless periods, and go in for rejuvenation and recuperation for a while as joints are made supple with oil massages, and light gruel and soup is consumed to tone up and fortify the immune system. The Ayurveda doctors are busy, so also the masseurs and the health spas. What was once a dreaded kalla karkidakam month is now a ‘healthy time’ vegetarian month while mothers listen to religious epics like Ramayana.

Schools have opened, umbrellas are out, school uniforms are ruined and children make merry while traffic snarls in those flooded roads. People smell musty with ‘not fully dry’ clothes, looking messy with tussled hair and no crease on trousers…

Oh! The rains are here in Kerala, Indra is at work, gouging out Vritra’s stomach as he does year after year, and the waters are pouring. I for one love it and so, here I go, headed to the land of my birth, if only for a few days, to Kerala, a place beautifully termed “gods own country’ or the place where rain is born. My hooked umbrella will come out, my dhoti will fly at half-mast and my rubber ‘Hawaii’ chappals (I am sure that the people of Hawaii do not know that their place is so well known in Kerala where flip flops are the order of the day, any time of the year, but then I could be wrong on this for some others opine that it comes after Hawaii or air sandals) will see the light of the day.

References

Ocean origins of Indian Civilization – NS Rajaram

Bala Bhagavatam - Swami Chinmayananda

Natural History of the Vedic Civilization - Navaratna Rajaram

The Earth and Its Inhabitants, South America, Volume 8 - Elisée Reclus

SA Krishnan’s blog

Monsoons of Kerala

Images

"Rigvedic geography" by Dbachmann.

Indra fighting Vritra - Bidindia