The book Kochikkar (Kochiites) by Bony Thomas is an enquiry into the lives, customs, religious practices, traditions, languages, beliefs, and stories of tens of ethno-religious communities inhabiting Cochin (Kochi), which by the earlier definition comprises the twin neighbourhoods of Fort Cochin and Mattancherry occupying an area of four and a half square kilometers. Despite having been born and growing up here, I only had a superficial understanding of these diverse communities, partly because I lacked the curiosity and inquisitiveness of an outsider.
The pages of this book helped me have a deeper look into their lives. For instance, though I knew the area where Konkanis lived, I used to be puzzled why they had at least three temples within an area of a radius of merely fifty metres. Now I do know; though I see all Konkanis as one, they are themselves divided into sub communities based on caste and live their separate lives, which is practically invisible to the onlooker. I also gained clarity about the different Jewish communities, namely the White (Paradesi) Jews and Black Jews, and their synagogues, and also how the Black Jews are again of two different groups, Kadavumbhagam and Thekkumbhagam, and how they acquired these names. Among the many other things I learned from the book is information like D V Dev, the famous perfume merchant, is Marathi and the popular vegetarian restaurant Sri Krishna Cafe belongs to Tulu Brahmins, and many such who’s whos.
The various communities in Kochi today include descendants of foreigners like the Portuguese, the English, the Dutch, the Jews, people believed to be the descendants of Arabs from Yemen and Iraq, and those who came here from other parts of India or what is now Pakistan and settled here during various periods in history to escape persecution from the imperial powers like the Portuguese in their homeland or in search of better prospects. Bony Thomas has collected a significant part of their stories from their own words. Many of these invaluable accounts come from the childhood memories of many elder citizens, which wouldn’t be available a few years hence when their lives in this world would have ended.
Many communities who migrated to Cochin centuries ago shared a common historical feature - persecution at the hands of those who ruled over them in their original lands. The Kutchi Memons, Jews, and Konkanis are examples. And the kings of the Kingdom of Cochin have played an important role in shaping the diverse history of this land. It's obvious from the book that the rulers of Cochin during various periods permitted in different communities who entered the region in hordes to escape ill-treatment, especially in the name of religion, at the hands of rulers elsewhere. Irrespective of whether it was for strategic reasons or because of their goodness, it was a positive trait indeed. If they had been intolerant and rejected the refugees, we would not see this diversity today in Cochin because they would have had to move further to other places, die because of adverse conditions and lack of help and support, or convert to the local religion and be eventually assimilated into the local populace beyond recognition, not leaving behind a trace of their original culture or customs. The book also shows how a major part of history is shaped by the theory, "the enemy of my enemy is my friend".
The book also provides some interesting geographical information from the past. And I learned the different locations where Dutch forts (that were built after demolishing the Portuguese fort) once existed besides the Dutch landmarks that are visible even today, such as the Dutch Cemetery near the beach, the remains of the gateway of Hortus Malabaricus garden at Odatha, David Hall and the gates with the Dutch East India Company (VOC) logo around the Parade Ground. The municipality's dumping yard for human waste when there were no septic tanks used to be where the naval base INS Dronacharya stands today.
In one of the initial pages of the book before the chapters begin, the author Bony Thomas remembers Dr. B Venugopal, the former head of Delhi National Museum of Natural History, who once advised him to learn about what is called 'intangible heritage'. And this book is about the intangible heritage of Cochin. However, the sub-title of the book reads 'An inquiry into the invisible heritage of Fort Cochin-Mattancherry’. He has used the Malayalam word 'Adrishyam' meaning 'invisible' instead of 'Asparshyam' [sic] meaning 'intangible', because the latter could be understood as 'untouchable' which has a negative connotation in India. The diversity of Cochin's heritage is visible to everyone. Hence the word ‘invisible’ may not be right. It seems that the language lacks an apt word equivalent to ‘intangible’.
To be honest, the literary side of the book is not as much elegant as its contents are precious. The book has many typos too. Editing is something the Malayalam publishing industry is lax in. Another point I noted is that there are many repetitions of the same information in different parts of the book. Perhaps, each chapter of the book, which is about a separate community, was written earlier as an independent essay before they all got compiled into this work.
That said, this is indeed a valuable work! It is a precious document on the communities existing today in Cochin. After a few decades, many of them might have assimilated into the region's culture beyond recognition or have fully moved into other places like what has been happening in the case of Jews. This book will remain a prized record of the diverse peoples who inhabited this land for posterity.
Book Info:
Title: Kochikkar (Malayalam) (‘Kochiites’ in English translation)
Author: Bony Thomas
ISBN: 81-88810-60-6
Publishers: Pranatha Books (February 2018 edition)
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