My intimate experience with Dalits are limited. But
from the age of about 12 years to around 18 years, I had seen my
father in his middle forties interacting with Dalit Christians (from the Pulaya
community) frequently, necessitated by agriculture. I am sure this has
continued from his father’s time (my grand-father), and before I had been born,
one Dalit Christian family from my grandfather’s time had been tenants on
our land. I had heard it from my father’s side that they had a hut in the
corner of the land. But a law favouring the landless tenants paved the
way (forced ?) to buy a plot of land (5 cents) for this family, and they were
thus relocated to their own land and tiled roof house less
than a kilometer away.
After partitioning of land between siblings, my father
got an acre(100 cents) of paddy field, and this land was within the municipal
limits. All the landholders around were only having the same extent of land and
those having more than five acres were non-existent. And each holder had
close contact with one Dalit Christian family , with that family head as
‘Kaval-karan” (care-taker)of the agricultural land. After sowing, during
re-planting of the shoots , during harvesting or any occasion when more
hands are needed he used to organize members from the Dalit families
around him. Otherwise he and his family handled all the agricultural works
almost six to eight months in a year and daily wages were paid , in
addition to food.(two times with black coffee in between). During the lean
months when work was not needed consecutively for more than seven to ten
days, for his needs I had seen him approaching my father, and without any
reluctance my father shared what was possible. Looking back and thinking about
the interactions, I am aware that a organic relationship existed between them,
though the surrounding environment had started vitiating with Marxisim and
trade-unionism. I also think that the land-lord and tenant were each in
his own world, and the interactions between them necessitated by the needs of
both were peaceful and cordial. There was an invisible bonding between them.
I used to go to the field during the time of re-planting and
sowing, and there is one Dalit woman in my vivid child-hood memories. She was
in her middle thirties at that time, married and with three children and my
memories connected with her is due to her singing during the time of field
labour. Her name is Thanka.
When I joined for Pre-Degree (around 16 yrs) , all
farming activities ceased. Buying rice and milk became cheaper and convenient
than the efforts and money spent for paddy cultivation and cattle rearing.
Within a few years, our contact with the Kaval-karan of our land, which used
to be regular and almost on a daily basis became few and widely spaced.
Thereafter we used to see them very rarely, mostly on festival occasions like
Christmas, Onam or Vishu. Nowadays all contact is lost between the new generations.
The agricultural labourers, mostly belonging to the
Dalit community took to other vocations, mostly modern. Thanka, the dalit woman
I had mentioned earlier, took to selling fish. Thus she used to visit our house
hold occassionally. Needless to say, the warmth in regards/relationship of
these familiar people, (shall I say old-guard) was palpable.
After 18 years, I had never been in my native place
constantly for more than six months. Thereafter I got employed and finally had
settled in Chennai. During this time my father expired, and mother was with me
and my visits to native place became few and far.
Between 2009-2011, I used to visit my hometown often.
My fathers’s younger brother stays adjacent to the family property I
inherited. During one visit, he informed that Thanka, now in her
middle sixties wished to see me and had enquired with him.
Thus she came to see me. She climbed the steps of the
verandah and sat on the half-wall, and motioned to me to take the chair
opposite to her. During my father’s time, they used to stand in the
courtyard outside the half-wall. She addressed me in my pet name, which she had
used when I was a boy. She said she had come to ask donation for the
church building. The church building, used by the small Dalit
congregation, she informed me was in a dilapidated condition. I donated her
money, for which she gave me a printed receipt.
Thereafter our conversation drifted to old reminiscences,
which were pleasant for us both. But when the conversation drifted to the
present, I could sense rancour in her words. Cultivation in large swathes
of paddy fields within and around the municipal limit terminated and were
lying fallow from 1980-82 onwards. Most of the Dalit families who were
traditionally dependent on these lands, as agricultural labourers were forced
to go in search of other work. By this time the extensive use of
fertilizers and pesticides used in these fields, had made many of them diseased.
Alchoholism became rampant. There was thus total disruption in their way
of life & work.
When it came to the talk of the new church
building, her anger burst out. Dalit Christians she said were never
treated on par by other Christian denominations. Social intercourse like
marriage or even interdining or atleast common worship
(within the same church building/congregation) were TOTALLY absent with other
Christian sects. She felt that this whole society from historical time
continues to exploit them and have let them down.
What she explained to me next surprised and shocked
me.!!! She informed me that she knew History and asked me whether I knew the
etymological origin and meaning of the word ‘Pulaya’ (male) & “Pulakalli”
(female). Pulaya is the name of the Dalit community to which she belongs.
She told me that the word Pulakkalli is comprises of two
parts. The first part according to her is the word Pular, that
means early morning. The second part is the word ‘kani’, meaning the first
object or person that you see, as soon as you wake up in the morning. If one is
seeing an auspicious object or person, the day will pass-off favourably.
Malayalees used to keep ‘Vishu-kani’, on the first day of the Malayalam
New-Year.
After providing the etymological roots of the word
‘Pulakkalli’, she proceeded to draw up the connections. She told that in the
pre-modern past, the Pulayas used to live in a corner of the land owned by the
‘janmi’ (land-lord) , and it is their (Pulaya women) first duty in the morning
to clean the front-courtyard of dry leaves and other materials that makes
it untidy. In those days in Travancore, women especially those belonging to
disadvantaged castes never used to cover their breasts. So these Pulaya
woman/women are required to bare their bare breasts standing upright, facing
the front-door of the house, on the crack of daylight , the instant when
they hear it being opened. The land-lord had imposed on them this duty DAILY,
so that when he opens the front door and peers out, he is able to see the most
auspicious sight of the bare breasts of these Dalit women. She narrated this
story with undertones of lascivious behavior and sexual exploitation by
landlords and Dalit women being sex-slaves of the Hindu landlords.
Those who would have tutored her to hate this land and its customs & traditions, would not have anticipated the questions that I posed to her.
Since she was married and had three children it was quite easy to put across
the idea to her. I just asked her to recollect her experience of male human
sexuality. I just asked her whether her husband in the prime of their life had
only lust and sex in his mind. 24x7 does a man think of only sex
!!!!. Moreover has she ever spared any thought regarding the
land-lords family members. Wouldn’t he be having in his house teenage sons,
grown up sons, daughters, daughters-in-law, wife, aged mother, father etc. Will
any family man dare to exhibit such unrighteous conduct, setting a
degrading example before his kith and kin. It should also be kept in mind
that matriarchy was prevalent in Kerala, with the matriarch as the head of the
house-hold.
She became speechless, considering what I had told
her. I just told her whoever is behind this venomous story being projected as
‘History” is trying their level best to create hatred between the Dalits and
other communities. In a very personal way, animosity/hatred between her
children and my children. The intensity of this hatred of her children or
succeeding generations will be very severe because of the element of
sexual exploitation and attack on the modesty/chastity of their mothers. They will try to retaliate in
the same coin.
Fortunately at that time I had an authentic Malayalam
Dictionary , ‘Shabda-tharavali’ with me , which I had bought to
take with me to Chennai. Together we looked up the meaning of the word Pulayan
& Pulakkalli in it. The word Pulayan means one who works on the land. Pulam
has the meaning land, field etc.Pulakalli is the female noun of Pulayan.
She then demanded that the Dictionary costing Rs.800/-
be given to her. She wanted to show it to those who had given her coaching in
History. I agreed on condition that it be returned during my next visit a
few months later. I could not elicit any information from her as to her
tutors. I could only speculate about them- Marxists !!??, Ambedkarites
!!!???, New Age Evangelists !!??? New Age Christian Faith Groups !!!???Other
evil influences stalking our land !!???( I believe that traditional Christians
in Kerala will not stoop down to such low levels in the indoctrination of
hatred.) Who is likely to benefit from the alienation of the Dalits !!??
Why did I narrate this experience of mine ? I feel that
there are concerted behavior from various quarters, some
committed unwittingly, some done deliberately to create cleavage between
communities. It is desired earnestly by modernity and associated
commercial interests that traditional equilibrium be broken and the
society turns violent. A violent society provides huge business
opportunities and huge/quick profits . As of today’s position
USA will then intervene and put its puppet govt and then bleed the country
white. In the process all the goodness of a society will be lost.
As far as I can recollect , I had never seen my father or
his siblings(two are alive) speaking badly about, deprecatingly or having any sort of animus to the Dalit community, even to this day.(To this day because ,both are
not bound together (at present) in the practice of agriculture). Even though,
occasionally there were discontent on the quantum of work
completed, never wages were compromised or any harsh conditions of work (like
modern time/motion study) imposed on the agricultural labourers. Nor were
any discrimination practiced , Dalits vis-à-vis labourers belonging
to other communities. Nor was there much difference between the material
conditions of the land-lords vis-a-vis labourers. The inequality in
wealth was mostly restricted to the ownership of land.
I am puzzled when reading reports about the atrocities and
violence between communities and Dalits vis-à-vis non-Dalits. What could
have gone wrong ? Did the moderns who are at the helm of authority,
newspapers and other agencies understand the problem clearly.? Has
modernity infused the undesirable value of limitless and unrestrained material ambition across all sections of people, which may be
the root cause of violence !!??Are the disturbance & violence
the handi-work of malcontents, which you can find in all sections of the
society and at all periods in time !!??
Has the modern world really contributed in
producing better human beings !!!??? Think about this. Meanwhile let us not
talk disdainfully about our ancestors and the Caste system !!!!!
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