We couldn't have lived in more interesting times...

When educator and crusader for equal intestate inheritance rights for Christian women - Mary Roy, (Arundati Roy's mother) changed her school name from "Corpus Christi" to "Pallikuddam" (http://www.pallikoodam.org/main/aboutus.asp ) the world once again looked askance at her and thought she had lost it. However, to a reformist Mary Roy, it wasn't merely a change of name , but, a conscious step to make her school children look inward towards their own cultural leanings and be adept at their mother tongue and think in that language. Mary Roy went forth to make it compulsory for all her primary school children to thoroughly learn their mother tongue first instead of any other language. This, she felt, greatly helped her school children to think, adapt and act better in both their formative years and also during later academic years in other parts of the world. All her alumni  know, think in and speak their mother tongue in chaste Malayalam and not the horribly anglicized version (Manglish) that is presently doing the rounds on Malayalam television channels. See illustrations of this here:   http://www.youtube.com/channel/HChX7_AiTyKuw

These days, it is also quite common for us to see television commercials that infra dig someone who speaks English with a "Mallu" or Tamil accent.  When a 'firangi' speaks English with, say,  a native Hispanic or Italian accent that is acceptable and repeatable to us Indians, but when Indians speak English laced with their native accent it is 'pooh poohed' and laughed at. Present day hypocrisy is indeed at it's worst and meaningless sophistry at its best. 

These days it is also unduly trendy  to set up restaurants in the emerging Indian Metro cities with titles such as "China Town" or say "Little Italy" among innumerable others.  While not many really know that 'China Town' is just a quaint neighborhood of Chinese people in the city of New York,  "Little Italy" is actually an ethnic enclave in Syracuse, New York that contains several bakeries, cafés, pizzerias, restaurants, beauty salons, shops, bars and nightclubs. Today every large Metro in India touts a "China Town" or a "Little Italy" restaurant simply because it is simply very hep to do so.  While the ethnic communities of Italians or Chinese in the USA, made a serious effort to preserve their identity through a concerted effort to preserve their cultural background and ethnicity, Indians prefer and continue to remain comatose on theirs. 

When the Prince of Wales visited Kochi, his first stop from the Kochi Airport was at the city's Kerala Folklore Theatre And Museum ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=7xvuZwDT9WE‎ ) and thereafter to the ancient Jewish Town located  in Mattancherry/ Fort Kochi (jewsofcochin.blogspot.com/.../prince-charles-in-synagogue-lane-and-in )

In the U.S or Europe millions of Dollar or Euros are wasted by natives to locate ones ancestry - a thriving business proposition. These western folks who seek their ancestry in the U.S or Britain are desperately seeking an identity after their parents having adopted a totally modern life style. They are in search of an identify  and  wish to be some how connected back to their pristine culture and ancestry. If you watch the movie the "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" ( http://viooz.co/movies/4778-dirty-rotten-scoundrels-1988.html  ) you will figure out a westerner's fixation and attraction towards royalty and their traditions which results in an amusing con game to dupe them.

Britain took great care to preserve Shakespeare's birthplace "Stratford Upon Avon" (www.visitstratforduponavon.co.uk ) and the "Change of Guard" each day at Buckingham Palace amongst many other age old traditions and monuments connected to their Royalty. The French deify the Moulin Rouge  ( http://www.moulinrouge.fr/?lang=en ) which is a five starred cabaret that is frequented by many eminent citizens of the world for their voyeuristic pleasure. 

If you travel towards Germany, Austria or any European country and you will see how they have carefully preserved their old towns and its rich heritage. One can still visit Mozart's home in Salzburg ( http://www.mozarteum.at/en/museums/mozarts-birthplace.html  ) or Beethoven's home in Bonn ( www.beethoven-haus-bonn.de. ) amongst a thousand other places of historical interest.

However, sadly, when it comes to India's past heritage or monuments, we are in a state of denial about its importance as a cultural and heritable identity card for the future generations. Our nation and it's people have systematically ensured that our ancient royalty and the traditions they followed are stripped of all its power and glory. The iconoclasts among our so called intelligentsia have also ensured that the royalty did not get their "Privy Purse" and follow their royal traditions which their counterparts in Britain did.  

If you watch M.T Vasudevan's Malayalam movie "NIRMALYAM" ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtEF5Zut3CU  ) you will witness a very poignant account of how Kerala tragically lost some of its culture and heritage on account of feudalism and the callous indifference on the part of the elite. You will be moved and shaken to see the cruel and crude way in which we Indians down played and destroyed our glorious temple traditions and along with it, all those people who eked a livelihood through it. 

Someone aptly put it, " In our road towards a better society, we have swiftly degenerated from meaningful monarchy under the Indian Kings and under the British empire  to a state of total apathy and dangerous anarchy".  

Makes me wonder if democracy and its rule of law was merely Ambedkar's or Nehru's pipe dream?

These days, the members of our Indian royalty are in a state of abject penury. One can see old monarchs of Travancore, Poonjar, Kochi or Malabar being paid a few hundred rupees by the Government each year. You will see these members of the royal families struggling to make ends meet with the laity sadistically enjoying their discomfiture and predicament.

There is however a dichotomy here. It's only the Indian royalty that we hate. We Indian's respect and revere royalty from Britain or some other country (presumably a hang-over of our colonial past). We are subservient to a "Gora" and his 'firangi' culture and happily don it and suck up to their fanciful traditions. Many old foggy's (Some of whom are bilious old wind-bags -  who have outlived their times and still live in Kochi, reminisce about how they missed the last boat, bus or train to England when India got independence. You can see these @$$0L#$ at the Rotary of Club of Cochin, the Yacht Club or the Cochin Club at Fort Kochi.  

A typical instance of dichotomy is the instance of a top executive of the "House of Tatas" who touts  the title "The Order of the British Empire" (OBE) for doing Britain a good turn. Whereas an Indian royal family who has leased the entire 1,30,000 acres of the Anjunad-Kannan Devan Hill Tract (aka Munnar Hill tract) to Daniel Munro and his assigns - The Kannan Devan Hill Produce Company Ltd of England,  ( www.kdhptea.com  ) from whom Tata's inherited all leasehold rights over about 58,000 acres of plantation land) is paying the poor king merely Rs. 3,000/- as an annual lease rent fixed during the year 1877.  If you visit the High Range Club at Munnar (a club for planters and ole farts) you will notice the relics of a British Planters Club where they try, in vain, to cling on to meaningless and age old British customs and traditions.  Go to any Gymkhana in any metro and you will see exactly the same ole farts there too.

Whereas, no one cares to  look at the Agraharams (row houses) of Kalpathy that have a 500 to 600 year history and an illustrious tradition. (www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjTUMGZT7yk‎ ) Some of the Tamil Brahmins who originally lived there (from 1425 AD) still try to imbibe their glorious past (www.flickr.com/photos/chennaihari/sets/72157619819285474/ ) and their identity as the 'Pattars of Palakkad'.  Britisher - Logan's Malabar Manual and traveler Buchanan's memoirs and diaries speak highly of the Tamil Brahmins who lived in Kalpathy. These chronicles made by Englishmen - Logan and Buchanan record the names of many Kalpathians who were highly educated scholars with outstanding achievements that brought them international recognition. Many of the natives of these Agraharams of Kalpathy held very important positions even during the RAJ in the field of literature, science, technology and education. Their lineal descendants are top professionals in science, technology and literature and probably live in the western hemisphere. 

 However, despite Kalpathy being declared as "Heritage Area"  (http://www.hindu.com/2008/02/03/stories/2008020354220500.htm, ) by the Government, no financial assistance whatsoever is granted by successive governments to restore these ancient homes to their pristine status. They, ridiculously, expect the home owners at Kalpathy to do it themselves. The short sighted Art and Heritage Commission of the State Government wants to merely embellish and maintain the old facade of these ancient row houses. They are not the least concerned about its structural stability or upkeep as a 450 year monument worth preserving in the 21st century.

The tourism department has an ax to grind since they find Kalpathy to be a convenient trapping of ancient Tamil / Kerala civilization that still subsists in this 21st Century. The Tourism Department has therefore  sequestered it from its stand point of tourism promotion for the purpose of exhibiting Kerala heritage and tradition. Both these factors have a very high shelf life and immeasurable value as tourism promotion tools to tourists.  Many will recall how the Tourism department clumsily adopted the Kumbalangi Village in Kochi to be a top destination for tourists to exemplify it as a model, eco-friendly village. http://www.keralatourism.org/kochi/kumbalangi-village-life.php   So Kalpathy appears to be just another "Kumblangi" to the Tourism Department because it attract tourists keen to observe Indian culture and traditions.

If these beautifully arrayed row houses of Kalpathy are to be legally treated as "art and heritage" properties and if construction at Kalpathy area is a subject matter of "art and heritage" then the Government  of Kerala and the Centre, must play a pivotal role to make this happen and not merely act as an indifferent regulator merely seeking to impose and enforce art and heritage mandates on the people of Kalpathy. One cannot legitimately expect the occupants of these homes (mostly older retired couple) to raise finances to preserve their homes for its monumental worth. 

Tourism seems to be the only reason why Government has taken an interest in Kalpathy. However, tourism itself appears to be the last resort of this bankrupt scoundrel run Government of Kerala that has miserably failed in every aspect of industry and commerce and chased away scarce capital and reluctant capitalism. These bureaucratic buffoons and their political patrons have hijacked the tourism sector and made it their band wagon. Going by past trends they will soon destroy it too.

The Governments both at the State and Centre must urgently provide financial support to those who wish to restore these homes to its pristine condition.

Those who now live at Kalpathy or visit there for major events, appear to be keen only to raise funds to give "Anna Daanam" (feasts to feed the "poor") and. none of this money is gainfully deployed to undertake any worthwhile social initiative such as : the setting up a geriatric centre, a test lab and doctor's clinic or an ICU equipped ambulance service. Not a farthing of contributions raised during the Kalpathy Chariot festival in November each year is  used to rehabilitate or restore these beautifully arrayed heritage homes to their pristine status.  Instead, these days, these unique row houses are being clandestinely demolished to yield way to free hold properties that will then become concrete jungles by the river front with a mountain view, to fetch a handsome price in the realty market     (http://palakkad.olx.in/house-sales-in-kalpathy-agraharam-iid-519178685  ).

Perhaps, the truth could be that a majority of the people who now live in Kalpathy are no longer from the original families that migrated from Tanjore to Kerala but those new age Tamil Brahmins who subsequently came to live there in recent years. They somehow do not appear to have any traceable family roots or strong emotional ties to Kalpathy and merely treat it as an old age home for their aged parents.  

This aspect of the origin of people living presently at Kalpathy is being investigated by the Archeological Department along with the Town Planning Department of Palakkad. The Hon'ble High Court of Kerala is also, shortly, expected to appoint an expert team that will seek answers to these and other questions including the terrible truth about the plight of the Agraharams and cruel reality of it's large scale denudation.

To be continued.....