British Raj Thillana

AFP Kozhipatt

Description

“British Raj Thillana the Finale”- a synopsis
What does a battle tested British Army officer do when the love of his life is herself a victim of circumstances? What can he do when his orthodox religious upbringing conflicts directly with the religious orthodoxy of the love of his life? How does he succeed in life's battlefield filled with landmines of caste, religion, political upheaval, passion, communal riots, and plain simple betrayal from structure that he trusts the most.
The protagonist Colonel K.T. George an officer of the British Raj injured in one of the key battles of World War II, in Burma, meets his future wife Janaki amidst his life-threatening battle wounds. Growing up as a motherless toddler with princely wealth, life never gives him a break.
Parallelly the love of his life Janaki also walked through a similar path of challenges and setbacks as a teenage widow due to religious orthodoxy. Geopolitical events draw them into one of the treacherous battlefields of World War Two.
British Raj Thillana the finale, tells the story of this couple whose paths in life have disparate beginnings. They experience upheavals due to geopolitical events of their time through the World wars, Indian independence struggles, and partition of India that lit the flames of occurred with communal riots, arson, and terrible loss of lives.
They find themselves in this crucible of the birth of nations that broke India from bondages of the British Raj. Unfortunate events around them change the course of many lives. Their love for each other grows through the riots which partitioned India. Their married life starts on Indian Independence Day when they make their own tryst with destiny.
A new set of geopolitical events sets forth a series of betrayals and backstabbing.
Just when George and Janaki the couple in this story begin to enjoy the joys of family life, fate throws them back into their next cauldron of challenges.
They start all over again with literally worn-out tools and nothing to call their own. Just with the strength of their relationships, this couple rebuild their lives and they serve the less fortunate. They bring a bit of heaven into the life of those who suffer.
Calcified societal norms, religious dogma, caste, xenophobia, and superstitious beliefs intervene and affect the lives of the protagonist George and his wife Janaki. Widow remarriage frowned upon and almost impossible during the British Raj years is one of the challenges they overcome. Relationships built in the battlefields this couple wins lives battles time and again.
Of course, all religious dogma is not without meaning. This book also highlights some customs and religious symbols that have roots in greater meaning with life lessons. The narrative around the six-armed figure of Ganapathi, the Hindu God with the elephant head has greater symbolism and conveys life's principles in art form. Life's lessons when conveyed through art have a better retention among human minds. All art is not without meaning.
This debutant novel narrates the life of George and Janaki through the years of World War and the finale of the British Raj. Thillana in the Bharatanatyam concert marks the end- finale and tells the story of the sunset on the empire, where the sun never set.

Sujets

• Raj Británico
• British Raj
• Indian independence movement
• Fiction
• Raj britannique

Informations

• Publié par: Archway Publishing
• Date de parution: 08 mai 2023
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665740296
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

British Raj Thillana
 
The Finale
 
 
 
 
 
AFP Kozhipatt
 
 
 
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2023 AFP Kozhipatt.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
 
 
 
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
All characters and settings are fictional and imaginary derived from perceived events. Any resemblance to real life is purely coincidental.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6657-4030-2 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-4029-6 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2023904488
 
 
 
Archway Publishing rev. date:   05/02/2023
 
Dedicated to my late sister, Mollie John, who taught me the joys of literature and whose constant encouragement propelled me in life and in this project.
Acknowledgments
My thanks to my wife, Treasa, sons Paul and Jacob, who encouraged me to memorialize the stories that I used to narrate on our long drives across USA.
My heartfelt gratitude and thanks to Ms. Sohini Ghose for her painstaking work on the manuscript.
A very special thanks to my friend, guide, and philosopher Mr. Sonadri Rao for his constant encouragement in helping me complete this project, and for sharing some of his experiences as a touchstone for my work.
Thanks to my sister, Anne Kozhipatt Panghat, who plays an encouraging role in all my ventures. Thanks to my aunts, who provided me with various inputs about growing up during the rule of the Raj.
Thanks to Dr. Anthony Kalliath oncologist who conceptualized the color page for the cover.
A note of special gratitude to all those who spent their valuable time narrating their experiences and anecdotes beside my childhood sick bed. A special mention to my late parents’ household staff.
A special mention to the Masterclass series with authors who inspired me, encouraged me, and kept me going from the lockdown during 2020. Special mention for the classes of Dan Brown, James Patterson, Salman Rushdie, Walter Mosley, and Malcolm Gladwell.
My gratitude extends to the beta readers and the ones who attended my reading trial sessions, a few who of them who continued to encourage me and provide insights are Maj General Moni Chandi, a sapper officer par excellence, Dr. Lauren Silfen and my friends in Liverpool UK.
Smoking and post-war trauma features as hidden characters through this novel. I acknowledge the great work by https://roycastle.org/ for such relief and its founder, my great friend Professor Ray Donnelly MBE FRCS.
Contents
British Raj Thillana – The Finale
Prologue
 
1       Alarippu—the Opening
2       Bundle of Joy
3       Kazhugumala
4       Bells of Joy
5       Baptism
6       AVI
7       The Law Office of K. G. Thomas
8       Burma
9       Safe again
10     Fort Dufferin
11     Delhi
12     Delhi Chalo
13     Storms in Cochin
14     Trials Come to Bear
15     Shabdam – difficulties
16     The Will
17     Growing up quick
18     Growing up in Thrissur
19     Bond of Brothers
20     Viceroy’s house
21     Spring
22     King’s Way
23     Mughal Garden beauty
24     Madurai in Delhi
25     Madurai to New York
26     New Delhi livens up
27     Storms and Fires in Delhi
28     Flames and hope in Delhi
29     Babes and Mothers
30     Colors, Colors, Colors
31     Independence at Last
32     Road less traveled
33     Trouble brews
34     Himalayan troubles
35     Explosion
36     Changes
37     Torpedoes
38     Food for Thought
39     Decision time
40     Dark minds damage
41     Think Slow and Hard, Act Fast
42     Act once decided
43     Varnam—the Main Play
44     Sam’s double cross
45     Medical leave
46     Time moves
47     New beginnings
48     Khizhr Mahal
49     Settling in
50     People Make It or Break It
51     Always conquering, never conquered
52     Act first, question later
53     Things change
54     Sims Park chai kada
55     Pachyderm mystery—step one
56     Great room
57     Ganapathy—Ganesha—Pachyderm
58     A meal cements friendship
59     Expedition into the Jungle
60     Danger, Danger
61     Every Beast has Beauty
62     A Drop of Honey
63     Bye to Coonoor
64     Back to the Roots
65     Wheels of Time!
66     Expect the Unexpected
67     Answers haunt
68     Thillana—the Finale
 
Epilogue
Glossary
British Raj Thillana Map
British Raj Thillana – The Finale
Prologue
Colonel K. T. George and Janaki whose lives played a few notes among the magnificent concert called the British Raj. As one Raga or a note in the larger concert.
Born into families steeped in religious orthodoxy in a society with diktats based on caste, dogmas, and even color of the skin this couple strove to do serve the less fortunate. Lives that began with princely wealth meant little when life challenged them with dangers, adventures, and failures. They led their lives to find joy and give joy. Whether they found themselves in battlefields, viceregal palaces, regimental headquarters, their friendship of their next circle gave them the strength to carry on when every sense in them said this was enough. Life’s travails set them back many times, each time their commitment to each other strengthened and rebuilt their lives to continue to serve.
This novel – Adapts the outline construct from the Bharatanatyam – the Indian classical drama in dance form. Thillana is the last Act in these concerts and thus the novel narrates the Thillana of the British Raj through the lives of George and Janaki.
1
Alarippu—the Opening
11 November 1918. East Fort, Thrissur.
T he shrill shrieks of the young girl in labor pierced the air and the heart of the patriarch, Varkeyachen, of the Pandikavuu family. The palatial family home of Pandikavuu tharavadu, commanded pride in the Kingdom of Cochin for its traditional architecture. Pandikavuu, translated roughly from Malayalam, means “the grove of the Pandi”. The root of the family’s name lay in the ancient Pandya dynasty that once stretched across peninsular India. The family gained their reputation for their earlier trade of precious stones sourced from the Pandian capital, Madurai.
The predawn darkness, dispelled only by the light spilling from the well-polished brass oil lamps in the women’s wing of the palatial house, seemed to reflect the suspense behind the painful cries from the inner chambers. The only daughter of the home, and the heiress of this powerful trading family, Iyyamolu, was in prolonged labor with her first child. Varkeyachen, who seemed to grow ever more anxious as the hours passed, eased some of his anxiety by constantly chewing betel leaves with areca nut, fragranced and laced with karuppu , an opiate extract.
Varkeyachen’s younger brother Ittrachen, the manager of his vast establishments, felt anxious for his niece’s well-being. Sibling affection made him worry for his elder brother, who was his friend, counselor, and benefactor. However, he was only human, and could not ignore the words uttered by those around him about his possible windfall. And, somewhere, in the back of his mind, he nursed a slight sliver of hope that his large brood of sons would have a chance to inherit the expansive wealth depending on the night’s outcome. Iyyamolu and her progeny was the obstacle preventing the large wealth flowing toward his offspring. Though both the brothers shared the businesses Ittrachen found himself in constant want. His spendthrift wife used most of their share of the business profits for her incessant projects. He even had to depend on his dear elder brother’s affectionate generosity to meet the unending demands from his spendthrift wife. The local folks used to say that ‘It is easy to spend it, when it is not yours.’ Hence, he hoped for the share of the wealth to turn to him and ease his non-stop shortage of spending money to run his large household.
The wealth of the Pandikavuu family consisted of estates of rubber and spices like pepper, cardamom, and cinnamon, and from the trading houses that dealt in the wholesale of paddy and rice, and a burgeoning shipping business of grains. The sizable wealth had just been enriched as the family had become the main supplier to the war efforts of the British Empire. Varkeyachen was a close confidant of the Cochin Maharaja, Rama Varma the XVI, and this led to many friendships with British residents and military and naval officers. It was said that Varkeyachen was a closet scotch drinker, who had the knack of understanding the trends of the time and knew how to capitalize on them.
Varkeyachen was so astute in his trade that he had lined up signed contracts with the British Raj even before the start of World War I, because he knew the empire would need large quantities of war supplies. His stockpiles of coir, rice, spices, rubber, and grain received a more than generous price,