Malayalam Books in the U.S.
joseph
If you are at a university in the U.S., check out your university
library for Malayalam books. You may be surprised.
When I was at the University of Illinois, the University library
had an impressive collection of Malayalam books. They
had more books than the Vaayana shaala in Chenappady had. That
is not saying much, but it was impressive nonetheless. Especially
so, since the university did not offer any Malayalam courses. The
UI library boasts that it is the largest public university library
in the world. So I guess it is not surprising that they had many
Malayalam books.
I used to borrow those Malayalam books from the library frequently.
It was interesting to note that many books had never been borrowed by
anybody else, and the last time many others were borrowed was almost
twenty or twentyfive years ago. Felt kinda funny looking at cards
which said something like:
RETURN ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW
9-SEPT-1968
and wondering about the person who borrowed the book back then.
Must have been a lonely Malayali, just like me.
Feeling nostalgic about home, just like me.
Longing to walk out of that building and find himself/herself to
have been magically transported back to Chenappady Kavala.
Where everybody knows you and likes you.
Where you can just walk into Chemmaakka's maadakkada and buy a
soda-naaranga vellam and browse thru the latest issue of mathrubhoomi weekly.
Sigh.... Enikkippo veettipponeae....
Sigh.... What am I doing here in New York..... ?
Sigh.... Right now, I should be sitting in Chemmaakka's maadakkada and
reading today's manorama, or listening to the praadeshika
vaarthakal on Chemmaakka's transistor radio.
Back to reality....
I haven't visited many other university libraries. University
of Mississippi did not have any Malayalam books in their collection.
I think UT Austin must have a good collection, since they offer Malayalam
courses.
The library that I visit most often these days - General Electric Corporate
R&D library - has a pretty good collection of technical books, but no
Malayalam books... They have not heeded my requests for technically perfect
works by Kaakkanaadan, Pamman, M. Mukundan, and many others. Ditto, when
I asked them to subscribe to Kumkumam, Mathrubhoomi, or Kalakaumudi.
They have no trouble subscribing to IEEE Transactions on Underwater Basket
Weaving, or the Journal of Refrigerator Cleaning, but they don't want to
subscribe to even a pynkili weekly if it is in Malayalam. What a shame...
james joseph jos...@c2a.crd.ge.com
ps: Whatever happened to the Bharanippattus that ACK was supposed to be
full of ? Wasn't that one of the charter objectives of ACK ?
Narayana Sateesh Pillai
>If you are at a university in the U.S., check out your university
>library for Malayalam books. You may be surprised.
>When I was at the University of Illinois, the University library
>had an impressive collection of Malayalam books. They
>had more books than the Vaayana shaala in Chenappady had. That
>is not saying much, but it was impressive nonetheless. Especially
>so, since the university did not offer any Malayalam courses. The
>UI library boasts that it is the largest public university library
>in the world. So I guess it is not surprising that they had many
>Malayalam books.
>I used to borrow those Malayalam books from the library frequently.
>It was interesting to note that many books had never been borrowed by
>anybody else, and the last time many others were borrowed was almost
>twenty or twentyfive years ago. Felt kinda funny looking at cards
>which said something like:
> RETURN ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW
> 9-SEPT-1968
>and wondering about the person who borrowed the book back then.
I think it was probably my father! He studied there from
'64 to '68 (assuming you are talking about Urbana-Champaigne).
Of course, there were a few other Malayalees.
--
| Sateesh Pillai
| 128-95, Caltech
who am I? | Pasadena, CA 91125
Atharvan
>> RETURN ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW
>> 9-SEPT-1968
>
>>and wondering about the person who borrowed the book back then.
>
>I think it was probably my father! He studied there from
>'64 to '68 (assuming you are talking about Urbana-Champaigne).
>
>Of course, there were a few other Malayalees.
>
1] Hmm, begins to sound like a hindi movie, long lost friends and all.
Look closely, probably will find a blue locket with a swan embossed
on it. And thereby will hang a tale.
What next, long lost twins reunited on a.c.k. ? :-) :-)
2] On the topic of books and markings in books, while we were in Belgaum,
my sister and brother told me how every Secret Seven story would have
a marking in pencil, describing how some treasure was to be found at a
spot marked with an X at the military grounds.
The kids who used the military library, when first introduced to the
joys of those silly books, would take them at their words and a group
of tiny tots would be found digging up the parade grounds and had to
be chased away all the time.
3] Stay Cool.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
. Rain makes me remember, .
. The sunset of that golden hour, .
. When my eyes were first opened, Paul Chemmanoor .
. And I saw your eyes, No longer blind. Boulder. .
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Sajeev
>
>
>When I was at the University of Illinois, the University library
>had an impressive collection of Malayalam books. They
>had more books than the Vaayana shaala in Chenappady had.
Is this the Chenappady near Manimala, Joseph? It is too fond a place to me.
When I hear or read about Indian villages, Chenappady will come to mind.
I haven't seen another village like Chenappady. Ever. But I live with
the feeling that all Indian villages are as rustic and innocent as
Chenappady is (was?). Narayan's Malgudi is very much like Chenappady;
that strengthens my feeling.
It must be 20 to 25 years since I have been there,
the place where my mother grew up.
From Changanacherry, we took a bus to Manimala. From Manimala, it was
another bus to Kanjirapally. On the way, we got down from the bus.
I was too young to know the place where we alighted.
But it was by the side of a river. I wish I knew the name of the river.
It must be some tributary of the Manimala river. We had to cross
the river in a ferry, and then walk. Walk, walk and walk.
There was no bus in Chenappady. One could get there by car
after driving an hour or two through a rubber estate.
The estate and the river separated Chenappady from the rest of the world.
Very rarely did cars come to Chenappady; people there could recognize
the sound of a car from miles away.
I remember the rare occasions when my mother would ask me to be silent.
I knew she was listening to the sound of a car which I couldn't hear.
In all earnestness she would discuss with her sisters where the car
was going to, and why.
So we walked and walked and finaly came to a three way junction. There
was a big banyan tree at the centre. On one side is the Chenappady school.
One corner, there were few shops. One of them is a textile shop.
A tailor with his sewing machine sat in front. We could
buy clothes from the shop and give it to him. I remember him as
the only tailor in Chenappady.
At the three way junction, one road went to the river and to the
outside civilization. Another road went past my mothers house.
The third road went to the city. Yes, in Chenappady they called it the city.
All I can remember about the city is the few shops
including a tea shop where they sold tasty yethackaappam,
and a cinema theatre with palm leaf roof.
Films like Velutha Kathreena "played" there.
There was no electricity in my house. My grandfather wouldn't let
the house electrified. He considered electricity to be
too dangerous for places with children around. All of us children had
tiny kerosine lamps of our own. It was a prized possession.
Once it is misplaced, the night's freedom is gone. Stealing, hiding
and quarreling, all in the name of a kerosine lamp was not unusual among
the children.
We went to a nearby river for bath. Was it the same river we crossed
(and walked and walked and walked) to come to Chenappady,
or was it a different one? I didn't know, but it was nearby.
The tapioca bush was the toilet.
Chenappady must have changed in the last twenty years.
India has..so Chenappady must have.
A bridge, buses, cinema in concrete theatres,
sealed roads, electricity in every houses, toilets, bathrooms.....
Chenappady must have changed. If it has...with that I've lost my dream.........
Sajeev
joseph
>Is this the Chenappady near Manimala, Joseph? It is too fond a place to me.
Of course it is ! There is and can be no other Chenappady in the world !!
There are a few little changes since you were there last time.
A mango tree grew up next to, and almost interwined with the banyan
tree that stood in the middle of the junction. So the junction is now
aptly called the AALMAVU junction. And the Chenappady CITY is now
about a quarter of a mile down the road.
Proprietor Kuttappan's Javulikkada cum thayyalkkada is still the only
tailor shop. A bridge and consequently couple of buses connect
chenappady to the outside world now. There is electricity, but it
is in a constant state of brown-out -- average voltage = 117.5 volts on
the 230 circuit.
All in all, we are still in the 1950's.
james joseph jos...@c2a.crd.ge.com
joseph
>>>Is this the Chenappady near Manimala, Joseph? It is too fond a place to me.
>
>> Of course it is ! There is and can be no other Chenappady in the world !!
>
>Where is Chenappady, Manimala etc..? Here I am sitting with my trusted
>"A Road guide to Kerala; A part of the Discover India Series" map of
>Kerala, and I cannot for the life of me find where either of those
>places are.
Chenappady is in Kottayam district. nearest places of any significance
are kanjirappally (7km) and erumely (5km).
Erumely is somewhat well-known among pilgrims to SABARIMALA. Many of
of the pilgrims go to Erumely also, for the "paetta-kettu". In the good old
days, when pilgrims used to walk all the way to Sabarimala, there was a
short-cut thru chenappady. Lately, since most people make the pilgrimage
in buses or cars, (and since chenappady is virtually inaccessible by
any automobile) the pilgrims no longer pass thru chenappady. But for old
times' sake, the AYYAPPA SEVA SANGHAM still sets up their "panthal"
during the Sabarimala season, even though there aren't many pilgrims to
served to.
Couple of years back, when I was home for a vacation, one day the person
who was manning the Ayyappa Seva Sangham panthal came running to my home,
almost out of breath.
"Entha Ponnukutta, enthu patti ?", I asked him.
"You have to come to the city right away. There are a bunch of people
who got lost on their way to Sabarimala and we need to tell them how
to get to Erumely"
"So you tell them how to. Why me ?"
"They are from Bangalore or Puna or something. They don't speak Malayalam.
You have to talk to them in English."
So Ponnukuttan and I trekked our way back to the city and to the panthal.
Sure enough, there were two cars (impossible as it might seem,
considering how difficult it is for cars to get to Chenappady )
parked right there in the city, by the panthal. And there were probably
a dozen or so Pilgrims, surrounded by about 50 or so curious onlookers.
As Ponnukuttan and I waded towards the "foreigners", the crowd parted
to make way for us. When I was close enough to them I asked them (in
English, of course) what the problem was. One of the them explained to
me pretty much what Ponnukuttan told me - that they got lost and wanted
to know how to get to Erumely.
I chatted with them for about half an hour, putting on my best American
accent for the benfit of my adoring fellow villagers. The Seva Sangham
offered them soda narangaa vellam and stuff and sent them on their way.
That was THE major event in chenappady for that week.
Later on, while we stood around talking, I overheard one of the
guys explaining the events to a passerby. "they ask something in english.
and he replies in even better english.... Nalla pachavellom polallae
englishu parrayunnathu..."
peace and quiet, and don't forget to stay cool....
james joseph jos...@c2a.crd.ge.com