Father was born in Kandy, Ceylon on 9th November 1882. He came to India with his mother and the rest of the family and appa settled them in Periyakulam.
Vappa (father)’s education began in Periyakulam, where grandmother taught her children with others on the verandah of her home. When she died, struck by cholera, her children were taken to Kottayam to their stepmother’s house.
In Kottayam School, Vappa was a good pupil. He studied under the late Mr.Mamman Mappillai for whom he had great affection and respect. And this developed into a mutual thing as years went by. Vappa was the captain of the football team in his school.
It was difficult for vappa to study in his stepmother’s house. So appa send him to St.Joseph’s school in Trichinopoly, where he did his matriculation, but could not continue his studies further. His unhappy childhood and frustration in studies made him resolve that he would have a happy home and give his children the best of education, for which he strove and succeeded.
At 25, a romantic young man walked from Mundakayam to Peermade to get the consent of the formidable Ibrahim Kutty to marry his 11 year old niece. It was no hitchhike! His determination took him to Peermade through cart tracts in the jungle.With the blessings of the two uncles, vappa got married to their niece, Mariambi.
Vappa started his married life in Palar. He traded in small items like hosiery, and did not get any financial assistance from anybody. However, mother was taken to Peermade for the birth of the first four children.
Appa presented each of his sons with a pony from his stable (equivalent to a Honda or a B.M.W.now!!) Vappa appreciated this gift very much as he loved animals and the white beautiful pony became his companion. An envious hand set fire to his stable one night killing the 20 horses in it. Mother told us that vappa wept inconsolably, when he saw the helpless animals dying.
Our parents lost both their elder sons in Palar. Akka and brother Majeed were very small. In Palar, vappa took up part time work with the Munnar railways. He would walk the distance to Munnar early morning to keep time at the station. Some times on shifts, he would walk home late in the nights. There were no roads, no lights and the weather used to be freezing cold. In the eerie darkness, he would walk alone amidst the tall trees. Literally, we are reminded of Robert Frost’s poem
“The woods are lovely dark and deep
But I have promises to keep
And miles to go before I sleep
And miles to go before I sleep…..”
By the grace of God, father went the miles and kept the promises. But one wonders if he thought so when he passed away at the age of 62.
Brother Hassan and I were born in Kallar, where vappa had taken up the distribution of supplies to the estates. Vappa’s greatest worry was the education of the children. There were no schools in Munnar. It was then that he had to take a major decision that would result in a lonely and hard life for him without the family in Munnar where he had moved. Thus Mother and we were settled in Trivandrum entirely for our schooling.
In Munnar he set up his own shop. His visits to Trivandurm and our holidays to Munnar were events that we looked forward to. The journey from Munnar was not as easy as it is now. From Top Station to Bodinayakkanoor the only way to travel was by trekking. We had to walk for seven miles through Korangani pathway. That journey was most interesting for us children. We used to carry curd rice and other home made eats for the way. Mother was carried in a ‘Doli’, if she felt tired. And at the end of the trail in Bodinayakkanoor, a hot meal and hospitality awaited us from father’s good friend, Sultan Rowther. The other choice was to travel by car through the snaky Udumalpet road, with its hairpin bends and curves, which was equally exciting. During those days ours was one of the first cars in the hills.
The colonial planters had envisaged only two roads to Madras Presidency from Munnar. One was the northern outlet to Udumalpet and the other to the northeast via Top station and Korangani to Bodinayakkanoor. There was an intended trace through Mankulam for connecting Munnar to the rest of the erstwhile Travancore. It was father, with his foresight, who met the Senior Maharani at Trivandrum and convinced her of the importance of opening the present Munnar Alwaye road via the now township of Adimali and Neriyamangalam. For this meritorious service, the late Sir.C.P.Ramaswami Iyer, the then Divan of Travancore, creditably commended him.
When we were in Trivandrum, came the devastating floods in Munnar, in 1924. The township which nestled on the banks of the river was washed away and with it vappa’s shops, and all his hopes and dreams. M/s James Finley of Scotland, the colonial planters, was in two minds about continuing their activities after the floods. However, Mr.Pinches, the then G.M. in Munnar, an obstinate Scot insisted on re building the plantation and their company from the ruins. A personal friend of vappa’s, and in who he had immense confidence, Mr.Pinches threw a challenge to him, of taking up the Herculean task of reconstructing a new township and other contract works such as the roads and bridges etc. With his indomitable courage and determination, vappa took up the challenge and with his capacity for hard work, the town was rebuilt in record time. His work was highly lauded by the company, both in Munnar and in Scotland. This was the turning point in vappa’s life.
The floating of Marikar & Co. was the next step. His reputation for honesty and integrity, made friends and the public rallyround him. This was the forerunner of all the other Marikar Organizations that were to follow over the years. The rapid growth of Marikar & Co., under his management, enabled father to take up the Ford Agency in 1933, blazing a glorious trail.
Setting his eyes on further horizons he expanded the business by floating Marikar Motors Ltd. in Trivandrum in the year 1940-41. The first branch was in Kottayam. However, none can forget the convoy of Lorries that plied between Alwaye and Munnar, daily transporting tea and other commodities, under the banner of Marikar Transports based at Perambavoor. It was not an easy achievement, considering the fact that those were the lean years of World War II.
Meanwhile the family had grown and our education was still father’s greatest concern. Akka (Abusha) had finished schooling successfully in Trivandurm and her Intermediate course in Queen Mary’s College, Madras, where she did well in sports also, winning a medal for Tennis. Her ambition and determination was to become a doctor. She would not consider marriage proposals and joined the Madras Medical College with the blessings of our parents. She was the first Muslim woman to do so in 1930. It created uproar amongst the Muslim community as there were many who believed that female education was against the religion. Vappa stood every type of harsh and unkind criticisms and even physical threats. Akka finished her M.B.B.S, D.G.O. and M.D. to the great delight and pride of our parents. She then joined the Madras Medical Service and later rose to be the first woman Director of Medical and Health Services in the State. She was also the first woman to be the D.M.S. in the whole of India.
The rest of us had the best of education in good schools and colleges. Suri, Habeeb and Shamshu were sent to Madras. Shamshu was only 4 at the time.
Separation from the children was not easy for mother. However, her love for them and their future and her implicit faith and trust in vappa’s judgment made her accept her loneliness. Vappa appreciated her understanding and courage. Every year he made it a point to take her to Madras to spend the time with the children.
Vappa was a visionary in the field of education. He was of the view that emancipation of women especially Muslims could be achieved only through education. To this end he worked and contributed whatever he could. He helped many with scholarships and financial assistance. Mother supported him wholeheartedly in these activities.
He had definite views on marriage. He was a pioneer against the dowry system and he was strongly against polygamy. He would not condone a second marriage while the first wife was living, perhaps due to the memories of his own childhood.
Vappa was a patriot. He was an admirer of Mahatma Gandhi. He spoke and discussed with us the happening in India at the time. He encouraged akka to take part in the Swadeshi Movement, while she was in the Madras Medical College. He did not miss and opportunity to take his family to attend the Congress meetings held at Madras by the great leaders of that time.
It was owing to his exemplary character and discipline that he was appointed as a member of the Legislative Council by the Government of Travancore.
When the Munnar business was stabilized, father wanted to concentrate on expanding the business in Trivandrum. With this in view he built a house in Pattom and moved in with mother. It was a staggering blow to vappa when mother suddenly passed away on 18th May 1942 of a heart attack in Trivandrum while he away in Munnar. She was only 48.
In conclusion, vappa was one of those rare personalities. His courage and determination, his stamina for hard work, and stubbornness in his outlook to his principles in life were qualities that endeared him to every one. Though he was deeply religious, he never did flaunt it around. His sentiment in this area culminated in his initiating the building of the only mosque in Munnar (the only one even today-1991).
Father was never the same after mother’s death. His health suffered as he neglected it. She was the one who mattered most in his life, some one, who inspired, trusted and respected him. A companion who stood by him, especially in the early days of his pioneering struggles in the lonely and Malaria and danger ridden hills of Munnar. His end also came prematurely, two years after mother’s demise.
During his short illness, he would call out to Allah and repeat the name of his beloved Mariam. He passed away on the 5th of April 1944 and was buried in the Palayam Mosque next to Mother. As he breathed his last, father recited the kalima-La Ilaha Illallah…La Ilaha Illallah…La Ilaha Illallah.
(Signed) Ayesha Razi Mohamed Madras Dated: 16/12/91
No comments:
Post a Comment