Musings from Antique Origins

It was by choice that my wife’s parents decided to settle themselves in Palakkad. Though they both were from known families of the erstwhile princely state of Travancore, Palakkad seemed to be a place rich with culture, heritage and a certain simplicity that attracted them to call it home. Hence, my wife Sindhu and I too decided that it shall be our home too. While in India, I had learned that the best time to be in Kerala was during December /January when the faint winter will hold sway. Though my mother will say that it is the “Tree chilling winter” ( Maram Kochunna Manju), anybody used to real winter will vouch that Kerala’s winter is nothing more than a cool weather. In our younger days in the sixties, in our ancestral house at Cherthala, we had three large Sarppakkavu (Woods with small temple for worshipping serpents) full of large trees and plenty of birds and thousands of bats. In winter months, our servants used to mop up dried leaves from these Sarppakkavu and keep these i

Meeting with a traditionally dressed Zulu man in Durban hotel was interesting. Here, the hotel keeps him as an attraction for tourists. I took a few snaps and paid some tips too which made him very happy. I am a collector of war medals, and hence interested about the British wars of the Victorian Period. I have in my collection quite a few of these Victorian war medals of which a coveted medal pertains to the Zulu wars of 1879. One of the most bloody and colorful battles Britain has ever fought and in the aftermath of which they developed great respect for the enemy is of the Zulu war, notwithstanding the likes of the battle of Seringapatnam. Zulu War of 1879 was a conflict in South Africa between the British and the Zulu. Fearing a Zulu attack, the Afrikaners of Transvaal requested British protection. The British High Commissioner demanded that the Zulu king, Cetewayo, disband his army. He refused, and the Zulu made a surprise attack at Isandhlwana, killing 800 British soldiers. Lack

Johannesburg in January is like Kerala during the monsoons. It rains all over and the visibility is poor. Mists are rising and you will feel gloomy wanting to sit indoors. There are occasional power cuts and the traffic lights are also not spared. Despite mismanagements in many areas of administration, the city is still beautiful and there is pomposity all around. I stay in the Intercontinental hotel near the famous Wanderers club, in Sandton. All these areas are more like up market residential colonies. These are indeed the legacies of the past. Just opposite to the Hotel is a famous big mall named after Nelson Mandela. There is a big bronze statue of the great man in this area. While driving down to the Crown mines area, the navigator, Riaz showed us the area where Mandela now lives. Though ailing, he is still active for the benevolent and the charitable causes. Riaz says that the days spent in a jail make a man live longer because such days are rather free of worries and tensions.

The wizard left the stage five years back throwing us all into utter gloom. The initials LPR is familiar to music lovers all over Kerala. LPR Varma was a music director par excellence who enthralled at least three generations of Malayalis through his great tunes and stage performances in music. A classical musician, belonging to the old school, he was totally ignorant about the tricks of the trade in the commercialization of music. Yet, his tunes are sung by many a music lover sometimes not even knowing as to who composed these tunes. LPR , the maestro in Carnatic music, who won the national award for music direction in 1969, was born as Kochu Ravi to Mangala Bai Thampuratty of Lakashmipuram Palace and Vasudevan Nampoothirippad of Vadakkanchery Mana in 1926.Lakshmipuram Palace in Changanacherry, in the erstwhile princely state of Travancore is renowned as the birth place of Keralavarma Valiya Koil Thampuran, alternatively known as Kerala Kalidasa. Mahakavi Ulloor S Parameswara Iyer

DR.K.N.MALLINATHA VARMA (1937-2007) Every day, when I take a capsule of Shuddha guggulu, an Ayurvedic medicine to reduce the blood cholesterol levels I am reminded of Dr.Mallinatha Varma,( 1937-2007) a wonderful doctor and an extremely kind human being. To me, he was Mallichettan who always had a keen ear (though he had impaired hearing) about my travels and my place of job. Dr.Mallinatha Varma was born in Kattunkal Kovilakom an aristocratic Kshathriya family of Cherthala. Those were the days of Marumakkathayam, the matrilineal system of inheritance and the patriarch of the family was Advocate Goda Varma Thirumulpad, the father of Pratapa Senan, my father-in-law. He was very insistent on the best available education for his nephews and for his own children. Mallichettan had three brothers and a sister. The renowned film actor Jagannatha Varma was his younger brother. While Jagannatha Varma and Surendranatha Varma-the youngest brother- dazzled in Kathakali training in their younger days