The stories that I heard of members of my family, the stories that were played out in front of me in the family setting, both have had a profound influence of how I thought and acted. It has had its role in shaping the values that I live with or try to live with. I still remember the solemn promise I made to myself when writing my name on top of the answer sheet in exams. 'This answer sheet belongs to Thomas P. Thomas and it has my grandfather's name on it. (My paternal grandfather is Dr. P. M. Thomas and I am named after him.) I will not do anything that will sully his name.' Basically, it was just my prop to stop myself from cheating in the exam. Clearly, the unethical nature of cheating in the exam itself was not enough to stop me. And I must admit. This did not always stop me. I did have a couple of instances of cheating in exams in my time. But it did seem to work in most cases. But that is how I look at family folklore.
Now, it was not just Dr. P. M. Thomas, I also had another grandfather, the one on my mother's side. C. J. Palu. Now if you were to look at the two characters, they appeared very different from each other. One was a medical doctor working as a missionary doctor, initially for a short spell in Dahod in Gujarat and then later settling in with another missionary hospital in Vazhoor in Kottayam district of Kerala. He took matters of Christian faith very seriously. I will rely on his nephew for a description of him. "Dr. P.M. Thomas who passed away in Oct. 1972 was a very extraordinary man. Six feet tall, broad shouldered and weighing over 80kg, he had an arresting personality. Always pleasant and soft-spoken, calm and unruffled, his eyes bespoke sympathy and tenderness. The papers have done scant justice in reporting his death, because in his lifetime he never cared to publicise his services; but the village (Vazhoor, near Kottayam) where he practiced medicine for over 30 years, held a condolence meeting and decided to perpetuate his memory. They wanted to construct a village hall in his name; but being short of funds, decided in stead to institute a foundation to help the poor children studying in schools."
Now C. J. Palu had fairly different pursuits in his life time. He was a businessman with interests in gold, agriculture and agri-commodities, chit funds (a financing mechanism), real estate and perhaps a few others as well that I do not know. In many ways he was a remarkable man. He grew up in a rather poor family. Was not educated beyond basic schooling, his grasp on matters of faith was perhaps not very high (Although he was fairly active in the church and my most enduring image of him is when I saw him through a partly opened door saying his prayers just before hitting the bed. He built a bit of a business empire during his time and he became a fairly well recognised person in Thrissur district. I came to know about the breadth of his influence only when I was typing address on invites to his death anniversary function. I was typing addresses of half the town of Thrissur and even senior politicians in Kerala turned up when he died. For me, he was the person who brought chewing gum for us in the evening when he returned from his shop, the leader of a silent pack of three (including his brothers) who sat quietly when there was any celebratory function at home. He was the one who took us to his farm early in the mornings and instructed the person in charge there to give us tender coconut water and raw mangoes with chilly powder and salt as accompaniments. He was the one who would address us in rather uniquely Thrissur ways like 'Kochappan' for boys and 'Kochammani' for girls, asked why we lacked 'chodi' (energy), moru kazhukiyo (did you wash your face?) and much more. His quietness was one of the most remarkable traits. As my uncle, his eldest son used to say, 'You should have seen him in his elements in his youth. He was a fairly fiery character.' But I did not get to see much of it. I still do not know much about him. But from what I have overheard about him at numerous alcohol driven conversations at home between my uncles, he must have been quite a character in his times, unafraid of anything, a visionary businessman and someone who always acted with a sense of fairness and in a spirit of compassion.
While, the two appear different on many fronts, there are two stories that I have heard about both of them which tells me that there was something which was common to both of them.
On one occasion, there was a theft at my grandfather's (Dr. P. M. Thomas) place. He knew who had done it. It became a bit of a talk of the town or rather the village. He did not file a police complaint because he felt that it was not required to harass the person on this theft which he was willing to overlook. The then Home Minister, who happened to be a friend dropped down in Vazhoor around the time and heard about this incident. He asked him to file a police complaint. However, he declined. The Home Minister then asked the police to send the beat police every night to their house. Thus was established a routine of two policemen coming to the house every night to sign the beat record kept at the house. Meanwhile, the person who committed the theft was not acted against.
Coming to my maternal grandfather, one of his friend's and supplier of gold for his business was arrested under a dreaded anti smuggling law of the time. The man was isolated by the gold business community as none of them wanted to direct the suspicion of the police towards themselves. My grand father was the one person who stood by him and helped him fight the case. He came down from Thrissur to Trivandrum to meet him in jail. The man, after the case was settled, went on to become a successful businessman in Thrissur. He remained a loyal friend of my grand father and his family since then.
What I see as common to both the persons is that they give primacy to their own moral judgment instead of legality and due process of the law. They had their own convictions about rights and wrongs and was not willing to 'let the law take its own course.' There is a boldness in asserting their sense of rights and wrongs and they had not 'outsourced' their ethical framework for operation to the 'law of the land'. Perhaps, I note this feature the most because I find myself often doing this outsourcing and being afraid to apply my own sense of rights and wrongs when the law says the opposite.
Now, it was not just Dr. P. M. Thomas, I also had another grandfather, the one on my mother's side. C. J. Palu. Now if you were to look at the two characters, they appeared very different from each other. One was a medical doctor working as a missionary doctor, initially for a short spell in Dahod in Gujarat and then later settling in with another missionary hospital in Vazhoor in Kottayam district of Kerala. He took matters of Christian faith very seriously. I will rely on his nephew for a description of him. "Dr. P.M. Thomas who passed away in Oct. 1972 was a very extraordinary man. Six feet tall, broad shouldered and weighing over 80kg, he had an arresting personality. Always pleasant and soft-spoken, calm and unruffled, his eyes bespoke sympathy and tenderness. The papers have done scant justice in reporting his death, because in his lifetime he never cared to publicise his services; but the village (Vazhoor, near Kottayam) where he practiced medicine for over 30 years, held a condolence meeting and decided to perpetuate his memory. They wanted to construct a village hall in his name; but being short of funds, decided in stead to institute a foundation to help the poor children studying in schools."
Now C. J. Palu had fairly different pursuits in his life time. He was a businessman with interests in gold, agriculture and agri-commodities, chit funds (a financing mechanism), real estate and perhaps a few others as well that I do not know. In many ways he was a remarkable man. He grew up in a rather poor family. Was not educated beyond basic schooling, his grasp on matters of faith was perhaps not very high (Although he was fairly active in the church and my most enduring image of him is when I saw him through a partly opened door saying his prayers just before hitting the bed. He built a bit of a business empire during his time and he became a fairly well recognised person in Thrissur district. I came to know about the breadth of his influence only when I was typing address on invites to his death anniversary function. I was typing addresses of half the town of Thrissur and even senior politicians in Kerala turned up when he died. For me, he was the person who brought chewing gum for us in the evening when he returned from his shop, the leader of a silent pack of three (including his brothers) who sat quietly when there was any celebratory function at home. He was the one who took us to his farm early in the mornings and instructed the person in charge there to give us tender coconut water and raw mangoes with chilly powder and salt as accompaniments. He was the one who would address us in rather uniquely Thrissur ways like 'Kochappan' for boys and 'Kochammani' for girls, asked why we lacked 'chodi' (energy), moru kazhukiyo (did you wash your face?) and much more. His quietness was one of the most remarkable traits. As my uncle, his eldest son used to say, 'You should have seen him in his elements in his youth. He was a fairly fiery character.' But I did not get to see much of it. I still do not know much about him. But from what I have overheard about him at numerous alcohol driven conversations at home between my uncles, he must have been quite a character in his times, unafraid of anything, a visionary businessman and someone who always acted with a sense of fairness and in a spirit of compassion.
While, the two appear different on many fronts, there are two stories that I have heard about both of them which tells me that there was something which was common to both of them.
On one occasion, there was a theft at my grandfather's (Dr. P. M. Thomas) place. He knew who had done it. It became a bit of a talk of the town or rather the village. He did not file a police complaint because he felt that it was not required to harass the person on this theft which he was willing to overlook. The then Home Minister, who happened to be a friend dropped down in Vazhoor around the time and heard about this incident. He asked him to file a police complaint. However, he declined. The Home Minister then asked the police to send the beat police every night to their house. Thus was established a routine of two policemen coming to the house every night to sign the beat record kept at the house. Meanwhile, the person who committed the theft was not acted against.
Coming to my maternal grandfather, one of his friend's and supplier of gold for his business was arrested under a dreaded anti smuggling law of the time. The man was isolated by the gold business community as none of them wanted to direct the suspicion of the police towards themselves. My grand father was the one person who stood by him and helped him fight the case. He came down from Thrissur to Trivandrum to meet him in jail. The man, after the case was settled, went on to become a successful businessman in Thrissur. He remained a loyal friend of my grand father and his family since then.
What I see as common to both the persons is that they give primacy to their own moral judgment instead of legality and due process of the law. They had their own convictions about rights and wrongs and was not willing to 'let the law take its own course.' There is a boldness in asserting their sense of rights and wrongs and they had not 'outsourced' their ethical framework for operation to the 'law of the land'. Perhaps, I note this feature the most because I find myself often doing this outsourcing and being afraid to apply my own sense of rights and wrongs when the law says the opposite.
No comments:
Post a Comment