Tender coconuts: For class distinction to fighting hangovers

Sounds strange, doesn’t it? But it is true, at least in my part of the world. I don’t know whether such a system exists in other areas of Kerala.

When coconut plucking is on, if a passer by asks for a karikku (tender coconut) he usually means a mature coconut. Only a poor man would make such a request. A whole nut without de-husking is always given to him unless there is some compelling reason to refuse. That is the convention. The supervisors in charge write it off in the ‘charity’ column of the concerned register.

But if a karikku is to be given to a person of a slightly higher class, the husk on the top of the tender coconut would be chopped off. For the higher class, more of the husk would be removed. That makes the karikku lighter and easier to hold.

But for the ‘House’ (meaning the land owner’s abode) the entire husk is removed. It is more convenient to handle, but can be a bit sticky on the outside unless one waits for it to dry completely.

Given below is a photo by PJ Antony Tharakan showing the three different types of presentation of karikku. Read from right to left: Regular, Deluxe, Super Deluxe.

Click on photo for enlarged view.
Photos: Copyright TP.

Only the containers differ in appearance. The content is the same, the finest natural health drink in the world. You can take it from a glass as well, nullifying the ‘class’ effect. But then, some like the tender coconut water dripping down the chin on to the clothes.

Whichever way it is consumed, tender coconut water is good for you, particularly so to get rid of a hangover.

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Also see: Caste System: Is Kerala still a madhouse?

Travel: Shendurney, the Royal Tree

“In some old texts,” the elderly physician continued, “it is said that sleeping regularly on a cot made of shendurney wood helps to resist seven major diseases. It increases potency as well.” (Flash Fiction: THE ROYAL TREE.)

There is no proven scientific basis to the statement quoted above but the belief is that Shendurney (also spelt Shendurni; local name Chenkurinji, botanical name gluta travancorica), a tall hardwood tree, has several medicinal properties. Research is going on regarding this. I know personally that a piece of shendurney wood (it has a crimson-red color) kept in a container of water would almost chill the water!

Shendurney is also called ‘Royal Tree’. There could be two reasons for this. Firstly, this highly endangered species is found almost exclusively in the Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary in the erstwhile princely State of Travancore. Secondly, only the Maharajas of Travancore had the power to order cutting down a shendurney tree or its branches. Violating this rule could result in imprisonment and a huge fine.

The 171sq.kms Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary which is situated in the Agastyamalai Biosphere Reserve of Quilon District, Kerala, seems to be the only wildlife sanctuary in the world named after a tree. There is of course the Redwood National Park in California, USA, but it is not strictly a wildlife sanctuary. Incidentally, the precise area where shendurney grows is called Rockwood. The government of Kerala is doing a commendable job in conserving and propagating shendurney which is endemic to the locality.

The wildlife sanctuary spread on either side of Shendurney River (which also apparently got the name from the tree) is part of the Thenmala (Honey Hill) Ecotourism Project, the first of its kind in India. It is reportedly a highly successful venture.

This is not surprising. The area, with an altitude between 100-600 m above MSL, is world famous for its biodiversity. Thenmala Dam has formed a beautiful lake through which also one can reach the sanctuary. Then there is Palaruvi (River of milk) with its 300ft waterfall which is considered to be the most picturesque one in Kerala. It is believed that the water of this beautiful river also has many medicinal values. The Travancore Royal Family used to have a retreat palace in the area.

With all the natural beauty of the place which is about 90kms from Trivandrum airport, the greatest attraction is still the royal tree, shendurney.

For travel information, visit www.keralatourism.org/ or contact

Department of Tourism, Government of Kerala
Park View, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India - 695 033
Phone: +91-471-2321132 Fax: +91-471-2322279
Tourist Information toll free No:1-800-425-4747
Email: info@keralatourism.org, deptour@keralatourism.org

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Gunboat Jack, a Bangalore hero of the past

Many who were in Bangalore during the 1940s and 1950s are likely to have seen Gunboat Jack, or at least heard of him. He had several roles in life: boxer, circus performer, speedster, bar fighter, street brawler, bouncer, tap dancer, perhaps even smuggler. During his sunset years he had two more parts, which I shall come to later.

We know for sure that Gunboat Jack was a tall American Black, and apparently a good boxer. I have heard it mentioned that he was once a sparring partner to Jersey Joe Walcott who became the World Heavyweight Boxing Champion after the legendary Joe Louis. He is said to have been an American sailor who jumped ship at Madras (Chennai) and thus the name ‘Gunboat’. But this story may not be true. According to one version ‘Jack’ was not his Christian name but came about because he had penchant for settling street fights with a car jack.Whatever his background was, Gunboat Jack sparkled in Bangalore in the 1940s, both in the ring and outside of it. In his own words to J.T. Seamands, an American who studied in Baldwins, Bangalore and did missionary work in India, “I’m a fighter. A boxer. I’m a middle-weight, but I fight good." And again, “I like three things too much. I like drinkin,’ I like women, and I like music.” (These quotes are from Forensics & Faith, a Blog by the best selling author Brandilyn Collins nee Seamands.See http://forensicsandfaith.blogspot.com/2006/08/seeds-of-faith-part-1.html) TN Murari made Gunboat Jack a major character in his novel, Field of Honour, of which Graham Greene said, 'I was very much impressed by Field of Honour’. The famous Madras historian S. Muthiah has written about this boxer.

It is not clear when Gunboat Jack reached Bangalore. In an article ‘Of Gunboat Jack and Princess Amina’ (http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/aug2005-weekly/nos-07-08-2005/dia.htm#1) Kaleem Omar writes that the man landed in Bombay at the outbreak of World War II and was perhaps involved in smuggling. He used to visit Karachi during weekends and in 1941 sired a girl by an Anglo Indian teacher. The girl was a good athlete, but later became a well-known belly dancer.

But I don’t think we are talking about the same Gunboat Jack because the timeframe doesn’t seem to fit. J.T. Seamands, the American missionary is quoted saying that he used to read about our Gunboat Jack during his Baldwin School days. That was in the 1930s. They met for the first time in 1943 on a train to Madras. By then the boxer was already on the decline. For some time he stayed at Park Town in Madras (Chennai) and married an Anglo Indian lady. He used to fight at Madras and Bangalore.

Fighting, wine and women took their toll and age caught up too. For sometime Gunboat Jack worked as a bouncer at Bosco’s on Brigade Road. I used to see him in the early 1950s with a hat in hand, moving up and down Brigade Road. It was such a sad sight.

But JT Seamands met him again in 1958, quite by chance. Those days Gunboat Jack used to sit at a street corner on a chair, Bible in hand, and preach. The Seamands took him to their residence for Thanksgiving Dinner at which the American community in Bangalore was present. I cannot find any further trace of the boxer.

Gunboat Jack was a star in the boxing arena; perhaps unbeaten in India. But he lost out in the ring of life. His story reminds me the title of a good novel I read long ago (forget the author’s name), The Bigger They Come the Harder They Fall.

Ends.

Updates

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Bangalore Memories: Cricket, hockey and the tragedy of Len Dial

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The Bangalore that was, 60 years ago!

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When the Communists came marching in...

Olavipe. A Sunday morning in October 1950. My elder sister Mariamma was expecting her first child by November. The baby would be the first of the fifth generation at Thekkanattu Parayil. Those days women didn’t go to hospital for delivery. They depended on the local midwife and the elders. In this case, the doctor at Thycattussarry Government Hospital was also on the alert.

On the previous evening secret information came that the Communists planned a demonstration march by Comrades brought from other places, through the path in front of our eastern gatehouse. It was something that was unthinkable those days. Four years earlier there had been Communist led uprisings in two places, Vayalar and Punnappura, south of Olavipe. They were put down by the Maharaja’s army (see Morning After the Storm - concluding part.) and the Party was banned.

Then came India’s Independence and the Communists were back in action.

The Party had planned the timing of the march with great care. On Sunday mornings all of us would go to the family church across the lake and only the servants would be at home. In Appan’s absence it was unlikely that any one would dare to prevent the Communist procession. If Appan. had stayed back that by itself would have been considered a success for the Party. Well, Appan, Ammachi (Oru Desathinte Amma.) along with the other children went to church as usual but asked me to stay back in the house.

I was just 17 then, doing my first year of college. I was tense. The servants were huddled together in groups and whispering among them. But Mariamma seemed unconcerned. After a while I went to the eastern gatehouse and to my surprise, found the entire area full of men. Some were sitting on the pentagonal steps of the gatehouse, and others were leaning against coconut trees, or lying on the sand.

They were the people of Olavipe.

I went back inside because a senior supervisor told me that my presence there might make them uncomfortable. After a while the slogan shouting could be heard, faintly at first and louder as the jatha approached. The rest of the events were told to me later.

Instead of reaching the house by the usual route from the north, the Comrades took a detour and came from the south. Just three men, a Christian supervisor, an Ezhava and a Pulaya stopped the demonstrators on a causeway some distance from the house and asked them to go back. They increased the tempo of the slogan shouting but returned the way they came.

When a supervisor came to give me the good news, I told him to organize tender coconuts for our people. But there was no need. By the time I went to the gatehouse, they had left. That was one of the most touching moments of my life.

Francis (Alapatt) the baby boy Mariamma gave birth to is a grandfather today!

It was near the electric post that the march was stopped.
Photo: Copyright TP.

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Photos: Doors & Windows

All images from Switzerland. Copyright: KO Isaac
Click on photos for enlarged view.
Also see:

Photos: Beauty on walls.

Kerala Food: Breakfast range

Kerala has one of the largest choices for breakfast in the world. Till a few decades back, many Kerala households had kanji (rice broth) with chutneys and papadam and a couple of dry curries for the first meal of the day. The more westernized families used to have porridge, fried eggs and toast. These two types of breakfast with the exception of eggs and bread are practically extinct now.

The present scenario consists of mainly native items. Iddly, dosa, upmavu, poori and uthappam are common all over South India. If you are a non-veg, try uthappam and fish curry with cocum. Sounds weird? It tastes good though. Another suggestion – cheese dosa. It is simple to make. Cut a sandwich cheese slice into two, place them on the dosa when almost done, and fold over. Wheat flour dosa with an egg flipped in is a quick fix.

Then there are appam and idiyappam. These are found in many areas of South East Asia which had strong Dutch presence in the past. In Kerala these are usually eaten with meat or vegetable stew, but they also go well with egg roast, meat, fish and other curries, as in the case of poori. Well, you can even have an egg fried on the appam when it is almost done. Incidentally, I came across an idiyappam-chicken biriyani at Chennai. That was good.

There is another type of appam, which we call kallappam. It is made by mixing ground coconut, garlic, jeera, and onion paste with rice flour and required quantity of water. Coconut toddy or yeast is added and the dough is left overnight for rising. The kallappams are small, about uthappam thickness and goes best with fish curry.

Then we have puttu, kerala’s own versatile breakfast item. See Something different about puttu, the versatile Kerala food. It has several variations. All of them are good and can be eaten with almost anything. The same goes for roti (oroti). It is made with rice powder mixed with grated coconut. A variation of this is to add chammanthipodi and/or chopped up spinach to the mix.

See A power-pack for breakfast. about boiled bananas. Boiled chena (yam) sliced and eaten with crushed green chili-onion-coconut oil chutney is excellent. So is boiled breadfruit. Kappa can be served in different ways. Details are given in Kerala food: Kappa (cassava or casava, yuca, manioc, Manihot esculenta). Boiled and sauteed raw jackfruit is another good breakfast food.

Obviously an import, a pancake which is almost a crepe suzette without alcohol, is also good for breakfast. The non-sweet ones are to be eaten with honey or preserves or curries. Another method is to stuff the pancake with grated coconut and sugar.

Have I missed out something? May be I would come back with an addenda.

Ends.

(Note: Acknowledgements to my wife Annie.)

Also see:

Kerala food: Peechappam, a forgotten item?

Gold color chips and a golden hearted Lady

Kerala Cuisine: Manga thera (mango mat) recipe

Kerala Flowers?

Any one who grew up in Kerala or has spent some time in the many splendored God’s Own Country is likely to have seen these flowers. Do they bring back memories?

Well, these public domain photos were all taken on the Pacific Islands by Angela Kepler during the 40 years of her travel in that area. You can see more at

http://www.pbif.org/WebGallery/Default.aspx?directory=2193&sortorder=Ascending&dirsortorder=Ascending

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Also see: Karthiki captures some Olavipe flowers