Chapter 6 Burning ambers

Mr.  Nair placed his hand on his grandson and spoke thus 

“ I am  sorry that  I did not tell you  this before  but I guess that  its time that I told you this deep dark secret  i  know  I  should have told it to  you of all  people  but as you may  understand  I  come from a day  and age  where  the  word  of  a man  meant more than  his  life   seconded only   by  his family

 I   don’t  know  if  you  can comprehend  it  but I was  oath bound to  my  father  not to  revel it to anyone  but now since you have come to know  so much about the incident I might as well  tell you the  part that the  Government at the time didn’t   cover   and  what was not put in to the “books” so to speak “

 Mr.  Nair took out an antiquated   dairy which looked like a twin of Mr. Nair’s fathers personnel dairy. This dairy had a different demeanor to it that of sadness and tragedy It was named after a lady by the name of Sethu Lakshmi Raman Nair as the Renjith red this name, Out of the corner of his eyes he saw his   grand dad’s eyes tear up as he ran small tracing fingers Over the said lady’s name again and again.

Mr. Nair quickly composed himself and he turned the pages to the same   Date as that of his father

Date lined from ottapalam on the 20th of august 1923

Date: 20-08-1920

My dearest,

We have been in a literal siege the whole day with the Maphillas baying for our blood

I am in the basement shrine with the kids   I can’t take this ordeal any more

But the elder brothers of the house have assured me that all this will pass and there is

Nothing to……………………………..

The rest of the page  was crumbled and bloodied  Mr. Nair  could not take  it anymore and  walked out of  the  room  with  tearful  eyes  he later came back his face composed

Then he spoke again

“ Renjith  what you saw was the last dairy entry of my mother  I myself have vague memories of her  people say that she was a great lady  and had a royal  grace to her

I have very sketchy memories of my mother but still could recognize her warmth it was special

But alas  that’s  all  that I  have  to remember her  by  is it not sad  I still  have a  tattered

  Picture of her given to me by my father”

Renjith   looked at his grandfather and hug him as that is the least he could do to comfort him

As Renjith looked out of his palatial ancestral home   in to the setting sun he knew that the 

There was more bloodshed   in store for him   and many a horror stories were yet to come

 From the vast amount of papers and newspaper cuttings that were yet to be untangled

Over all he would have to   find out what happened to his great grandmother he knew 

It would be a grisly task.

But he had to do it for his grandfather to bring him some closure.

And to assuage the burning ambers that his grandfather carried in his heart

Chapter 5 by the gods

 But this had hit him hard then he started to connect the dots together   why as a kid he was taken

To   the family  temple   on the 20^th august  every  year and  why he  paid obsence   to  the  dead  ancestors  at the river  but when  doing this Renjith always  felt an  immense  amount of  sadness   that overtook him  and many  a times  he would  break  down  for no  reason  what so  ever so much  so  that  he would  not be  able  to  attend the  function any more 

He also  noticed  that  the maternal  family  temple was  in a destroyed  state  he always   felt an  urge to discover why was  it like this.

Renjith briskly walked to the side of his computer   table and    grabbed    His maternal great granddad’s Dairy

He briskly  turned the page  to the  one dated 20^th August  1920  it  was  date lined  from Jaisalmer  it  lacked the  natural  polished hand writing  that he  had come to  expect from his  Maternal great grand  father

Date: 20/8/1920

Dearest dairy,

It  is with  the utmost   sadness that I  write  this  to  you the  whole of  malabar is   in a state  of riot  the 

Same folk who we once called our own has turned against us wonder what has happened to our 

Musalmans?

I am hearing terrifying tales of wanton riots in the whole of Lower malabar I worry for the safety of my wife and children 

As  I  am deputed  in  the Rajputana agency  at the court of  Jaisalmer  I am in  no condition to go   back  home  and be with them in  this hour of need 

By the  gods I  pray that  my  wife  and family are hale and hearty  I have  asked  for an  emergency leave  to  go and look for them

I am worried sick as the news that the papers carry from the south is darkening by the day gods dam the

Indian national congress and their brand of politics  

The so called freedom fighters have kept surprisingly mum on this issue

If they are doing this on purpose then mark my words a day will come when the people

Of this country shall ask about this incident and demand to know the truth

I also here that many who were formerly rich and prosperous to publicly beg for a piece or two in the streets of Calicut, to buy salt or chilly or betel-leaf

Why has this come to this   I don’t know but in no way is this justifiable?

I hope that His majesty’s government   met out the most severest punishment

To these thugs

Regards

SR Nair,

 Dty collector revenue department

State of Jaisalmer

Rajputana agency

Renjith was beyond shocked  now he was  so sad that he  started to  cry out  loud in anguish and despair  at the  shear helplessnes  that   was in  display   in  the dairy  entry  of  his ancestor In  a way he was angry too  because  he  was not  told about this  episode in the family tree

Now  Renjith   was angry as well  why  didn’t  his granddad tell  him about this  while  he was  crying and in the  grip of this  depressing  train of thought  he  felt a heavy hand of  a man he looked up to the most on his  shoulder

He turned around with the fury of a warrior in his answers to these things the grand old man spoke to the young one with the years of experience   that came with his age

Chapter4 Brewing trouble

It was a week since Renjith had come back   from the divisional archives   he was a changed man 

He was more studious now   preparing like a mad man for his prelims and any spare time

He got you could find him with his granddad pouring over the documents that he had found in

The archives.

But that was just the tip of the iceberg he had found tucked away in the Conner of all these documents a small bundle of documents that would change his life forever

As he gingerly advanced his hands towards the bundle of documents he was interrupted by the call for dinner.

Renjith  did  not  waste  time he was  so engrossed in the  resrech that he  had  his dinner in  a flash  and got  back  to  his  research  

This time he picked up the bundle of papers that were tied with a red string he and his   grandfather   looked at each other   before they gingerly untied the Knot.

Something in renjith’s mind told him that this bundle of papers would turn in to a Pandora’s box for his  family   and a life changing  event  for  him personally  even the grand old man  sitting beside him knew that he would  have  to face  the demons  that  he  had sealed so  successful on  a man’s word to  his father .

But there was no turning back now Sachindra Shanmukham Raman Nair knew this as clear as day   

No  one  could  mistake  the  document for  what it was  it  was a  FIR  issued  by the SI of Tirur

 It was not what the document were that shocked Renjith and Mr. Nair but what was in it

Book No. 125QWE___________

FORM NO. 24.5 (1) FIRST INFORMATION REPORT

First Information of a Cognizable Crime Reported under Section 154, Criminal Penal Code

Police Station .tirur west................................... District...Malabar............................ No 11..................

Date and hour of Occurrence. 20 August 1921...6:50am..................

1. Date and hour when reported 20 August 1921...7:50am

2.Name and residence of informer and complainant.

Vadakaka kolikal ,Vadakan tirur kovilanagdi  amsham,Eranadu malabar

3.Brief description of offence (with section) and of property carried off, if any. In the said  Amsom several men and women and children have been murdered by Moplahs. Dead bodies of children and grown up men and women were floating in the river further to this it is  reported that temples have been partly destroyed and the idols have been dug up and removed

4. Place of occurrence and distance and direction from the Police Station.

Vadakaka kolikal ,Vadakan tirur kovilanagdi  amsham,Eranadu malabar
eastern tirur

5.Name & Address of the Criminal. Kunhi Kadir, Khilafat Secretary, Tanur

6. Steps taken regarding investigation explanation of delay in regarding information.

Copy of the said  FIR forwarded to the Local detachment of the  Malabar specials and  the  two  cantonment  an armed  patrolling party also  sent in the  said direction

7.Date and Time of dispatch from Police Station. 22 August 1921...7:50am

Signature ...G, H Wilson....................

Designation ....Sub inspector IP............................

As if this was not shocking enough the SI had noted in a red ink that it was   registered under extreme   what he called “tense” situation which Renjith   regarded as a polite word for dangerous.

He went over and over the dates   but he still could not place the hand on the significance of it

 Then it   hit him like a train   this FIR was logged on the starting day of what would be called the Malabar rebellion

Chapter 3 the Land lord

R

enjith was up early this morning he was he carried the thoughts from yesterday   with   him 

As he sat down In front of   his laptop and   surfed the web   regarding the era of landlordism

In Kerala he stumbled upon the Wikipedia page that   stated about    his   family   that said that

 They had   owned over 200 Sq. Klm   on the frontiers of eranadu and Cochin   then why he wondered 

  He was not told about this matter.

he  closed his  laptop and  made his  way  determined  to  find out  if  he was really  part of  the  family that   he had  read  about  in  the  web.

As he made   his way for the day’s barkefast   he   listed out the   people who he could ask about the   history of the family

He   could not ask his   grandfather because she would   know not much 

Then there was his grandmother   but that would not help because she was   English ah yes

 He was partly  of  English descent   his  grandmother   also belonged  to an  aristocrat family   he  could not   get the name to come to him  but put it  aside  for a later  date   now the only one who   was let was his granddad's  mother .

For that he had to go to Thripunithura   in the erstwhile Cochin state and he was supposed to   go    back to Missouri   next Thursday.

In the mean time he reached for his Great granddad’s diary and sat down to read it 

Date: 26/9/1919

Dearest dairy,

 There is talk of my self-taking the reins of the family

The Honorable collector of the district had made a visit on behalf of the marquees Willingdon

The fact that I had had to take the responsibility of the titles of the estate

Along with titles of my dearest father

Those are really   big shoes to fill and I pray to the gods and ancestors to help me full fill this enormous task

Regards 

S R Nair 

 The  very  next  day  Renjith   called on   his  close  friend  at the  state  divisional  archive Kozhikode or

Kalikod as Renjith   Like to call it   this State Divisional Archive clerk

Who referenced him to look up the Cannonore district manual there was only one problem though

The said book was currently out of print and he had to Visit the archives to see the same 

So he cancelled all his engagements and made his way to Kannur

As he entered the dusty environs of the archives he was lost in thoughts about his great grand dad

Whom in a way he was about to meet, this mysterious landlord of colonial Malabar who also happens

 To be his relative

Chapter 2 happy days

as they opened the dairy the found an entry that would change their life forever


Date: 24/7/1919

Dearest dairy,

today I am very happy why you ask? I have just been on a survey of our estates.

And have come to know that we have struck up a profit this year too.

Our coconuts and other agriculture produce

are fetching a good price at the Tellachery bazaar.

There is also another good news to add to this is that I am getting married next year.

The word in the house has it, that it is to be a girl from the Eranad frontier.

She is said to be from the most ancient house of meladam.

I have managed to befriend one of her brothers and have managed.

To get a hold of one of the new fancied ‘Photographs” of my mystery lady.

By the gods she is a wonder to look at I just can’t wait to meet her.

In person I just can’t wait for it, well dear friend its already 23 minutes past 11 o’ clock.

And I have to wake up early for training and studies so good night till next time



Regards

S R Nair


Renjith and his grandfather were stunned for two very different reasons, Mr. Nair for the fact that his father was such an expressive and romantic person this was a direct opposite from what he

had known his father to be a dignified recluse who gave predominant consideration to the service and his duties as the head of the extended family and as lord of the estates.

Renjith was stunned for the fact that His great grandfather was such a learned man with such good command over English.

As they retired for the night both of them knew that their lives would not be the same from now on

     

Chapter 1 Memories

S

achindra Shanmukham Raman Nair IAS /IFS was going to retire tomorrow,  yes 23.7.2016 he could not  wait  for that  day  he knew it  would be bitter sweet as he was  going to  say  good bye to  his  beloved profession and  a   city  that  he had grown  to love   like his own .

But as the old additive   goes  all  good  things should come  to an end, so  should his  time as the top beruecrat   of  the  Government  of  India , Sir Nair as he was known in  the service  was  known for his old  money charm  and  command over men,  these were   only one  of the  very few qualities  that propelled him  to the top of  the  beaurcratic tree .As he   was going   through   his old boxes he found an   old dusty dairy that belonged to   his father , a smile tugged at his face his father Shanmukham Raman Nair was an Old ICS officer Himself,  so it  was  a  non-brainier   that  he  join the Civil  services .

But now that was in the past, now  he was a retired  civil servant   but that doesn’t  mean that  he was in any way poor , as he was lost in  this train of thought   he felt  two  hands  tugging  at the  dairy  in  his hand .

 The grand old man opened his eyes to behold the youngest of his grandchildren named Renjith they  were  very  close and  young   Renjith  looked up to  his  granddad a lot so much so that he had appeared  for   the   UPSC examinations  and  passed   the 1^st prelims and was waiting   on  the dates on his  second  prelims   and was in Delhi  for his leave ,

Renjith  asked  his   granddad,  what  was this  dairy  that he  held  in his hand,  Mr. Nair smiled  and  told that   the dairy  was    that of his  father and  was  passed to him    when his father  died  in 1971.

 That tweaked the young man’s interest in the said   dairy, Renjith was known as the family history buff and resident book worm of the family,   so he pushed his grandfather to divulge the secrets that were held by   his great grandfather’s dairy.

Mr.   Nair also tagged along to see what his   grandson was up to, little did Mr.  Nair  or Renjith  Know  that  they were going  to  uncover  a  painful part of their  family  history ,  for which none of them where ready  .

The frozen tears of Malabar

The frozen tears of Malabar

Chapter 1 Memories 

Chapter 2 Happy days

Chapter 3 Land lord

 Chapter4 Brewing trouble

Chapter 5 by the gods

Chapter 6 Burning ambers

Chapter 7 the bloodshed

Chapter 8 Causalities

Chapter 9 Broken families

Chapter 10 Exodus 

Chapter 11 Restart

Chapter 12 Insult to injury

Chapter 13 roots

Chapter 14 Coming to terms

Chapter 15 justice at last

Chapter 16 in the courts

Chapter 17 the 6^th lord 

Chapter 18 towards the future