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കൊച്ചിക്കാർ | KOCHIKKAR: ഫോർട്ടുകൊച്ചി-മട്ടാഞ്ചേരിയുടെ അദ്യശ്യപൈതൃകാന്വേഷണം
മലയാളം കൂടാതെ 16 വ്യത്യസ്ത ഭാഷകൾ സംസാരിക്കുന്ന 30ൽ പരം കുടിയേറ്റ സമൂഹങ്ങൾ പാർക്കുന്ന ഫോർട്ടുകൊച്ചി-മട്ടാഞ്ചേരി പ്രദേശത്തിന്റെ സാംസ്കാരികതയിലേയ്ക്കുള്ള പ്രവേശികയാണ് ഈ പുസ്തകം. സ്പര്ശിക്കാനും ദർശിക്കാനുമാവാത്ത അനേകം പൈതൃകചിഹ്നങ്ങളുടെ, മലകൾക്കും പുഴകൾക്കും കടലുകൾക്കും അപ്പുറത്തുനിന്ന് കുടിയേറി പാർക്കുന്ന സമൂഹങ്ങളുടെ പതിറ്റാണ്ട് - നൂറ്റാണ്ട് കാലത്തെ വായ്മൊഴികഥകളുടെ സമാഹാരം. ചരിത്രപുസ്തകങ്ങളിൽ രേഖപ്പെടുത്തിയിട്ടില്ലാത്ത ജീവിതസംസ്കാര രേഖകളാകുന്ന 33 ലേഖനങ്ങൾ.ഫോർട്ടുകൊച്ചി-മട്ടാഞ്ചേരിയുടെ അദ്യശ്യപൈതൃകാന്വേഷണംഫോർട്ടുകൊച്ചി, മട്ടാഞ്ചേരി പ്രദേശങ്ങളിൽ സമുദായങ്ങളെ തമ്മിൽ ഇണക്കുന്ന കണ്ണികളാകുന്നു കച്ചവടവും പണിയും.
269 pages, Kindle Edition
Published August 7, 2021
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April 17, 2022
I usually review Malayalam books in Malayalam. But I am putting up an English review of this book purposefully - because my target audience here are the non-Malayalis.
Kochikkar means "Kochiites", the people who belong to Kochi (or Cochin, as it is famed outside India). Outsiders know of Cochin as the main city of the tourist hot-spot Kerala in India; for Malayalis, it is the 4.5 square kilometres comprising Fort Cochin and Mattanchery. This tiny piece of land is home to more than 30 groups of immigrants, who speak sixteen different languages (from Aramaic to Kashmiri) in addition to Malayalam.
Here, we have both "white" Jews (who consider themselves racially pure) and "black" Jews (who are considered racially impure by the "whites"); we have Arab settlers from Yemen and Iraq (from the mythical Nineveh, it is said); Muslims from Deccan, who came along with Tipu's invading army; Bohra Muslims from the Kutch region of Gujarat; descendants of the Portuguese and Dutch colonists; five different castes from the Konkan coast of Goa; Gujaratis; Marathis; Telugu people; Tamilians; Kannadigas; and of late, even Kashmiris. They all live together in perfect harmony, but in insular fashion - rather like the salad bowl of Canada.
When the busy trading port of Muziris (today's Kodungallur) was destroyed due to floods in the Fourteenth Century, the star of Kochi rose. Seafaring traders flocked to the new port. Many who came there fell in love with place and dropped permanent anchor, warmly welcomed by the rulers of Kochi. Later on, persecuted people like Konkanis and Jews also arrived, and they were also welcomed by the king. The quarreling colonial powers, Portugal and Holland, also left their footprints in the shape of a sizeable Eurasian population.
Bony Thomas, cartoonist and journalist, makes a laudable attempt to record the unwritten history of these peoples. He calls it Kochi's "intangible heritage". As time goes by, many of these indigenous communities are disappearing or getting homogenised: so this work becomes important in capturing a unique ethos.
PS: If any book screams to be translated, it is this!
Kochikkar means "Kochiites", the people who belong to Kochi (or Cochin, as it is famed outside India). Outsiders know of Cochin as the main city of the tourist hot-spot Kerala in India; for Malayalis, it is the 4.5 square kilometres comprising Fort Cochin and Mattanchery. This tiny piece of land is home to more than 30 groups of immigrants, who speak sixteen different languages (from Aramaic to Kashmiri) in addition to Malayalam.
Here, we have both "white" Jews (who consider themselves racially pure) and "black" Jews (who are considered racially impure by the "whites"); we have Arab settlers from Yemen and Iraq (from the mythical Nineveh, it is said); Muslims from Deccan, who came along with Tipu's invading army; Bohra Muslims from the Kutch region of Gujarat; descendants of the Portuguese and Dutch colonists; five different castes from the Konkan coast of Goa; Gujaratis; Marathis; Telugu people; Tamilians; Kannadigas; and of late, even Kashmiris. They all live together in perfect harmony, but in insular fashion - rather like the salad bowl of Canada.
When the busy trading port of Muziris (today's Kodungallur) was destroyed due to floods in the Fourteenth Century, the star of Kochi rose. Seafaring traders flocked to the new port. Many who came there fell in love with place and dropped permanent anchor, warmly welcomed by the rulers of Kochi. Later on, persecuted people like Konkanis and Jews also arrived, and they were also welcomed by the king. The quarreling colonial powers, Portugal and Holland, also left their footprints in the shape of a sizeable Eurasian population.
Bony Thomas, cartoonist and journalist, makes a laudable attempt to record the unwritten history of these peoples. He calls it Kochi's "intangible heritage". As time goes by, many of these indigenous communities are disappearing or getting homogenised: so this work becomes important in capturing a unique ethos.
PS: If any book screams to be translated, it is this!
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review