Bony Thomas
I have always loved history, especially in the context of a particular city. But despite Kochi being my hometown, I must admit to complete ignorance on the place’s history. That’s why I was very excited about this book.
In about 4.5 sq km in Fort Kochi and Mattancherry, there are around 30 communities! This small area is also host to the social and religious institutions of these various communities. The variety of people and the origin stories are simply astounding. From Portugal and Yemen to Kutch and the Indus Valley, and many places in between, there have been migrations that happened decades and in some cases, even centuries ago, creating a mosaic of different cultures. A lot of credit goes to the traditional kings of Kochi who were generous with their grants to migrants. It has to be said that this has been repaid manifold by the benefits to trade and the economy in general.
Their interactions too have shaped the place. There are Muslim communities, including one which can trace its ancestry to the Prophet’s daughter. And during the festivities of many of these communities, the meat is supplied by Yadavs, who, as legend goes, are descendants of Krishna! What is even more interesting are how these communities have their own sub communities. White and black Jews, Gujarati, Kutchi and Sindhi Lohanas, multiple sections of Tulu Brahmins and so on.
The 230+ pages of the book is divided into 30+ essays, and in about 7 pages each, the author does a very good job of bringing out not just the origin story, but the way the community has developed over time, the impact they have had, their ethos, practices and belief systems, and how they are faring now. Great job on the research, and it makes for some very rich content. The only thing that takes away a little from the excellent exercise is the translation. Grammar, spelling, sentence construction – everything suffers!
But despite that, the book is absolutely worth it if you are interested in Kochi and/or history.
