THE LEGACY OF EZHAVAS
There may be more gems like AVP, hidden by the cunning upper castes or portrayed in a belittling way to hide the real incidents. We may dust off each of these forefathers who stood firm against insult practically empty handed, with the knowledge purposely hidden from them. They had to brave through fear of God, as inculcated by the Brahmins, preserve the self respect and the natural urge to live decently. Each of these great forefathers are to be studied and presented to the new generation so that at least they will know that their ancestors were not actually toddy tappers, as taught by the upper castes.
In fact I thought that most of the ezhavas were actually toddy tappers earlier and my parents somehow managed to study and become teachers ! Even in the Engg college, when I was trying to behave like another bright child, the others were rating me according to the caste, which I did not know ! In the campus, there were coconut trees. Only I could climb them to pluck the coconuts. I thought this was quite a creditable skill among the engg batch mates, none of whom could climb. The others waiting at the bottom while I scaled tall coconut trees, encouraging me from below, might have been whispering "No wonder ! It is in his genes " or "A squirrel need not be taught how to climb trees' or so. LOL !
But how I had learned climbing the hard way they did not know. With bruises all over the chest and hands initially. With the fear of falling off and facing the sneer of the girls who adored fast tree climbing boys! The champion climber of my village who moved from branches of cashew trees with both hands free walking like a crouched monkey and plucking the cashew fruits from the tip of the branches ! I was scared of him and treated him as a real hero ! LOL !
Now I know better. There were some Ezhava vaidyas who were living quite well in Punalur too. I fell in love with a vaidyar girl in the 7th standard whom the whole boys of the school were already in love with ! LOL ! The ral reason for that 'love' is now clear. She exuded confidence, richness and grace not normally seen among the ezhava girls, most of whom were poor, ordinary looking and not confident. Still my feeling in those times was that probably the vaidyars were also toddy tappers earlier and luckily got a break through to vaidyam ! That ezhavas were basically toddy tappers were a given. No idea how that idea entered me and settled as gospel fact ! LOL !
So we were not just toddy tappers alone. Right ? Thanks for the information. Let me update myself ! LOL!
But climbing coconut trees is no joke. It needs tremendous level of fitness. Even I cant climb them today, having lived the 'civilised' life of a babu ! In fact we should be proud of this tag, the coconut tree climbers ! I may even risk my neck out and request SNDP to arrange for coconut tree climbing competitions for fun and fitness. Lets hug that tag given by the upper castes to belittle us. That will be like biting the bullet. LOL ! If we can laugh at us ourselves that way, then the potbellied upper castes will realise nothing can weaken the psyche of the ezhavas. That I cannot climb coconut trees is the only worry I have today ! Ha ha !
After AVP, I am in a state of realisation that nothing can surprise me any more ! Still there will be people like him and Guru, who exhibited the same bravery fearlessness and self esteem. All such forefathers ar kindly requested to reveal themselves so that we, your proud children can bow in awe and respect and place you all in our minds for ever. To draw inspiration and courage when we get confused. Pranaam !
Mattha kutthiyaal pinne kumpalam mulaykkumo? LOL !
This wonderful legacy of self respecting people who stood the test of times of abuse, insult and lack of true knowledge, purely because of their bravery, self esteem and humility towards the learned. I hereby stake claim for my deserving share of this great legacy ! Thanks everyone. That was a tough journey indeed, a relay changing batons despite the partisan umpires.
The baton of self respect,dignity and honour is to be carried on.
What else ?! I would kneel on my knees to accept the baton with both hands. Lets hear about the lesser known ones too even though my love to AVP, is slightly more than the respects to the Guru. None may be higher than these two. Still....all those who stood up against injustice had the same blood running in their veins until help came from the learned ones like Vivekananda vindicating their stand against inhuman treatments which no self respecting individual could tolerate. In short, we fought for the dignity of ourselves and everyone else as true warriors despite the odds. Gold becomes brighter when in fire.
After loitering all life seeking the truth and looking for the right Guru, I am back at square one. The same Guru who looked not stylish enough when the search started has reentered as the right one towards the end of the journey ! That too after the stage managed noise about some failed mystics like Jesus and Mohammed as the most followed Gurus ! After reading all these Gurus, I have come to the conclusion that there are very few Gurus as complete as our own Guru. It was a funny revelation indeed. The saying holds. Muttatthe Mullaykku manam illa ! (The jasmine in our own courtyard has no fragrance).
Frankly, that the Guru is greater than Jesus and Mohammed, was truly a revelation.
I apologize for the misunderstanding and stand corrected. May be this was a necessary evil. That is to know the value of the eyes, one needs to become blind ! Or to know the taste of ordinary water, one has to walk in the desert. Now the truth is clear. There is no other Guru as clean and complete as our on Guru. So that settles the issue. Muttatthe Mullaykku manam undu ! (The jasmine in our own courtyard indeed has fragrance), after all ! LOL !
Just think of it ! What is SNDP doing ? What are the priorities?
They were supposed to tell us about Aaraattupuzha Velaayudha Panikkar. I heard it from Maliny Madhavan who happened to be his great grand daughter ! We need to urgently trace our legacy, recognize and study all those who stood up naturally against injustice and anaylse their importance in the history. For one, we now clearly know what the upper castes propagated as history are shameless stories of sycophancy and sexual misadventures. To them that may be history. LOL ! Show their true standards. But the true history of humanity is how they braved ignorance and fear and strived to become self respecting humans. That, to me, is actual history. Not the stories of Kingini kuttans who were born in rich families with platinum spoons in their mouths. LOL !
When the going gets tough,the tough gets going....
There may be more gems like AVP, hidden by the cunning upper castes or portrayed in a belittling way to hide the real incidents. We may dust off each of these forefathers who stood firm against insult practically empty handed, with the knowledge purposely hidden from them. They had to brave through fear of God, as inculcated by the Brahmins, preserve the self respect and the natural urge to live decently. Each of these great forefathers are to be studied and presented to the new generation so that at least they will know that their ancestors were not actually toddy tappers, as taught by the upper castes.
In fact I thought that most of the ezhavas were actually toddy tappers earlier and my parents somehow managed to study and become teachers ! Even in the Engg college, when I was trying to behave like another bright child, the others were rating me according to the caste, which I did not know ! In the campus, there were coconut trees. Only I could climb them to pluck the coconuts. I thought this was quite a creditable skill among the engg batch mates, none of whom could climb. The others waiting at the bottom while I scaled tall coconut trees, encouraging me from below, might have been whispering "No wonder ! It is in his genes " or "A squirrel need not be taught how to climb trees' or so. LOL !
But how I had learned climbing the hard way they did not know. With bruises all over the chest and hands initially. With the fear of falling off and facing the sneer of the girls who adored fast tree climbing boys! The champion climber of my village who moved from branches of cashew trees with both hands free walking like a crouched monkey and plucking the cashew fruits from the tip of the branches ! I was scared of him and treated him as a real hero ! LOL !
Now I know better. There were some Ezhava vaidyas who were living quite well in Punalur too. I fell in love with a vaidyar girl in the 7th standard whom the whole boys of the school were already in love with ! LOL ! The ral reason for that 'love' is now clear. She exuded confidence, richness and grace not normally seen among the ezhava girls, most of whom were poor, ordinary looking and not confident. Still my feeling in those times was that probably the vaidyars were also toddy tappers earlier and luckily got a break through to vaidyam ! That ezhavas were basically toddy tappers were a given. No idea how that idea entered me and settled as gospel fact ! LOL !
So we were not just toddy tappers alone. Right ? Thanks for the information. Let me update myself ! LOL!
But climbing coconut trees is no joke. It needs tremendous level of fitness. Even I cant climb them today, having lived the 'civilised' life of a babu ! In fact we should be proud of this tag, the coconut tree climbers ! I may even risk my neck out and request SNDP to arrange for coconut tree climbing competitions for fun and fitness. Lets hug that tag given by the upper castes to belittle us. That will be like biting the bullet. LOL ! If we can laugh at us ourselves that way, then the potbellied upper castes will realise nothing can weaken the psyche of the ezhavas. That I cannot climb coconut trees is the only worry I have today ! Ha ha !
After AVP, I am in a state of realisation that nothing can surprise me any more ! Still there will be people like him and Guru, who exhibited the same bravery fearlessness and self esteem. All such forefathers ar kindly requested to reveal themselves so that we, your proud children can bow in awe and respect and place you all in our minds for ever. To draw inspiration and courage when we get confused. Pranaam !
Mattha kutthiyaal pinne kumpalam mulaykkumo? LOL !
This wonderful legacy of self respecting people who stood the test of times of abuse, insult and lack of true knowledge, purely because of their bravery, self esteem and humility towards the learned. I hereby stake claim for my deserving share of this great legacy ! Thanks everyone. That was a tough journey indeed, a relay changing batons despite the partisan umpires.
The baton of self respect,dignity and honour is to be carried on.
What else ?! I would kneel on my knees to accept the baton with both hands. Lets hear about the lesser known ones too even though my love to AVP, is slightly more than the respects to the Guru. None may be higher than these two. Still....all those who stood up against injustice had the same blood running in their veins until help came from the learned ones like Vivekananda vindicating their stand against inhuman treatments which no self respecting individual could tolerate. In short, we fought for the dignity of ourselves and everyone else as true warriors despite the odds. Gold becomes brighter when in fire.
After loitering all life seeking the truth and looking for the right Guru, I am back at square one. The same Guru who looked not stylish enough when the search started has reentered as the right one towards the end of the journey ! That too after the stage managed noise about some failed mystics like Jesus and Mohammed as the most followed Gurus ! After reading all these Gurus, I have come to the conclusion that there are very few Gurus as complete as our own Guru. It was a funny revelation indeed. The saying holds. Muttatthe Mullaykku manam illa ! (The jasmine in our own courtyard has no fragrance).
Frankly, that the Guru is greater than Jesus and Mohammed, was truly a revelation.
I apologize for the misunderstanding and stand corrected. May be this was a necessary evil. That is to know the value of the eyes, one needs to become blind ! Or to know the taste of ordinary water, one has to walk in the desert. Now the truth is clear. There is no other Guru as clean and complete as our on Guru. So that settles the issue. Muttatthe Mullaykku manam undu ! (The jasmine in our own courtyard indeed has fragrance), after all ! LOL !
Just think of it ! What is SNDP doing ? What are the priorities?
They were supposed to tell us about Aaraattupuzha Velaayudha Panikkar. I heard it from Maliny Madhavan who happened to be his great grand daughter ! We need to urgently trace our legacy, recognize and study all those who stood up naturally against injustice and anaylse their importance in the history. For one, we now clearly know what the upper castes propagated as history are shameless stories of sycophancy and sexual misadventures. To them that may be history. LOL ! Show their true standards. But the true history of humanity is how they braved ignorance and fear and strived to become self respecting humans. That, to me, is actual history. Not the stories of Kingini kuttans who were born in rich families with platinum spoons in their mouths. LOL !
When the going gets tough,the tough gets going....
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