Fiction: Eranimos stirs controversies since he does not resemble his fair-skinned ancestors

The Adhikarathil family was one among the ancient, venerated Christian families of Kerala. The distinctive family history written after considerable research and genealogical studies, under the supervision of MP Padmanabha Panicker, underscores this facet of that noble family.

Afroth, the brother of Mar Sapir Iso, the custodian of the Tharisa Church, was the family’s progenitor in 842 CE. He hailed from Persia, and as per the royal decree, he married Maninanga, from the Puniyarath Mana, a nampoothiri tharavad. The Adhikarathil family sprung from that union.

Venad chieftain Ayyan Adikal Thiruvadikal had granted Syrian Christians seventy-two land grants such as of Thalakkanam, Enikkanam, Meniponnu, Polippennu, Iravuchoru and Kutanazhi. The family name Adhikarathil – which in the vernacular means authority – could have come from these grants.

Whatever it may have been, the family had emerged from the union of two noble lineages, one native and one foreign. This meant that its members were tall and fair.

As one of the pre-eminent families in the history of Christianity in Kerala, in order to protect the tradition of purity of their pedigree and lineage, the Adhikarathil family had laid down a few strict bye-laws:

1. When brides are chosen for the family, their bloodline, going back at least five generations, should be investigated and their family’s unblemished nobility should be ascertained.

2. All members should be staunch and steadfast Christians and believers (this was later amended to Roman Catholic Church believers).

3. When girls of the family are to be married off, similar investigations and determinations are required to be done.

4. The members of the Adhikarathil family can have only two occupations – either trading carried out by the progenitor or landownership as practised by the progenitrix.

5. Those who do not abide by these conditions may be expelled from all branches of the family. They shall not have the right to use the Adhikarathil family name.

From time to time, those who failed to honour and abide by these laws and were banished from the family ended up as Adhikarathil Puthenveetil, Adhikarathil Thazhaeppurayil or Adhikarathil Kozhinjamyaalil families, though none of their members used “Adhikarathil” as part of their family names.

The official family history claims that members of the Adhikarathil family were found to be involved in all the critical and historical episodes of the Catholic Church in the state. The Synod of Diamper at Udayamperoor, Coonan Cross Oath, the fight against the Puthankoottukar or New Party in the first schism in the Syrian Christian community – at least one member of the Adhikarathil family was present in these episodes.

As long as the sun and moon endure, the Adhikarathil family’s predominance should also endure without any diminution. In the opulent quinquennial family unions held with pomp and deep, devout devotion, those present from various generations were reminded of this. Though the early history does touch upon family reunions, it can also be read in the family history that it was systematized, in the manner seen in the present day, around 1870 by Varkeyavira, the hardworking karanavar those days and a resident of Uzhavoor in Thiruvithamkoor.

The family members held this forebear’s vision in high esteem. One day, in his old age, his walking stick in hand, he headed for his regular stroll. He walked along the foot trails and side lanes. He bent down and picked up an overripe coconut that had brushed against his foot.

“Lord Varkey, this is Pathittethil Pillai’s land.”

The landowner’s nephew only said so much. For three days, Varkeyavira lay in his armchair on the patio of his house. On the fourth day, he summoned his three sons to his side.

“We have reigned over a whole county. Yet, though it was inadvertent, your father was humiliated. When I walked a mere mile, I lost my way, ended up on someone’s land. You are the ones who have to do the walking now. You should not have to step into another man’s land. Even if you walk a whole day, it should be only through Adhikarathil lands. For that, Malavar is better.”

The family has on record that those words of Varkeyaviravaliachan set off the migration of the family to Malabar, which helped a large section of the family to prosper.

The sons of Varkeyavira – Pappachan, Kochu and Kuncheriya – had identified for the family, in the valleys of the Western Ghats, locations ranging from Mannarkkad in the south to Sullia in the north. The family grew only plantation crops – rubber, coffee, cardamom, tea, pepper and cashew along with a few annual crops that the family needed for their own consumption.

“Our karanavars” foresight helped us to remain landlords even after those guys’ land reforms acts,” is how Adhikarathil Kuncheriya described the family’s vision in concentrating only on estates, referring to the Communist government’s actions to distribute land among the landless. Occasionally, he would also pass a vain opinion that all the other migrants from Thiruvithamkoor were workers in the Adhikarathil family’s estates. He had cornered estates in the region which has today become Kannur and Kasaragod districts.

By the time the valleys became populated, Kuncheriya had become an old man. Kunjepp, his eldest son, was running the show. He had selected Malom, which became the stronghold of the family and built the tharavad there. He made estates for his sons in the neighbourhood. His youngest son, Philippose, lived in the tharavad, and the elder one, Johnny, in another house in Malom.

Kunjepp, more vainglorious than Kuncheriya, abided by the family norms without compromises. The day he came to know that his younger son had made a pass at a maid, he headed for Alakkode to check on a prospective bride for him. With the blessings of his father, Philippose wed Rosamma, the daughter of Valiath Rarichan, the leading grandee of Alakkode. When the union did not produce offspring even after two years, Kunjepp was distressed. He handed a candle to his son and daughter-in-law and advised them, “Go to Arthunkal, light this candle and pray to Veluthachan. To have a fair son like him.”

Philippose and Rosamma went to Arthunkal, lit the candle and prayed. The next month, Rosamma had morning sickness. Philippose and Kunjepp went back and thanked Veluthachan and lit more candles.

In the ninth month, on 18 May 1972 to be exact, Kunjepp arrived at Josegiri Hospital in Kanhangad bearing a sterling gold ring, sweetmeats, a tin of baby talcum powder and dresses to see his grandson, who lay flush against his mother’s belly, enjoying its warmth. After entering the room, he first looked between the tiny legs of the baby. It was, thankfully, a boy.

His dark testicles resembled flecked rubber seeds. As his eyes moved away from the testicles to other parts of the body, his knees turned into jelly. The darkness of the testicles did not end; it spread to the extremities with more virulence. When he realized that this was the kind of dark-skinned brood that had never been born in his family, he had to catch hold of the edge of the chair to keep himself from staggering. He shot a look at Rosamma and left the room without uttering a word.

The baptism was done with little pomp; Kunjepp was not even present at the church. Johnny, his uncle, was the godfather. When asked what he should be christened, Philippose said, “Eranimos, Eranimos Philippose.”

Johnny was astonished. Whose name was this? There had been no karanavar with that name in their family. Well, anyway, new names are always better.

The relatives, acquaintances and family friends got their first glimpse of the baby on the day of the baptism. They whispered among themselves, “Hey, this guy is a Karikkottakkaran.”

That was the day Karikkottakkary entered Eranimos’s life for the first time. After forty-two years, when he sat down to narrate his amazing history, he gave it the title “Karikkottakkary”.

Excerpted with permission from Blackened, Vinoy Thomas, translated from the Malayalam by Nandakumar K, Penguin India.