Kannur: He is 93 and she, 88. It was more than seven decades in between and still the memory was clear, like their eyesight and speech. E K Narayanan Nambiar was meeting his first wife Sarada for the first time after they got separated in 1946 during the Kavumbai peasant uprising. They had been together for hardly 10 months. The rendezvous took place at Sarada's son Bhargavan's house in Kolmotta near Parassinikkadavu.
It was the historic Kavumbayi peasant revolt that came in between the star-crossed couple. Narayanan was imprisoned along with his father Thaliyil Raman Nambiar, the leader of the uprising. Later, Thaliyil Raman was killed during the infamous firing at the Salem prison. ayanan survived with injuries. After spending nearly eight years in hospital and prison, he returned home to find his life in complete ruins; his house destroyed, a younger brother starved to death, all his family property encroached, mother living like a refugee in houses of relatives, and wife married to another man.
Sarada married Narayanan when she was 13. He was 18 then. Both were distantly related. "Frequent attacks against the family in the wake of the Kavumbayi uprising forced Narayanan's mother Ummanga (fondly called as Kunjiyamma) to sent Sarada back to her home," said Santha Kavumbayi, novelist and Narayanan's younger brother Raghavan Nambiar's daughter.
Kavumbayi uprising and December 30
Santha Kavumbayi said that her historical novel 'December 30' was fictional only in its structure but the incidents and characters are real. The protagonist is Raman Nambiar, a peasant leader who mobilised farmers in the area and led the uprising in December 1946.
“My father was a bit tough in nature. So it was my Valyachan (father's elder brother) Narayanan, who has a sharp memory and humorous by nature, I depended on to collect information. He narrated the events one by one, his struggle along with father and younger brother. How their plan to attack the landlord failed after the information about the revolt was leaked. Three of them, including my father, were attacked in that revolt. Five people died in that attack in Kavumbayi hills. They were first taken to a prison in Kannur, then taken to Viyyur and finally to Salem,” recollects Santha, whose novel was published in May, 2013.
Over seven decades have passed. It was a surprise meeting of Sarada's son Bhargavan and Santha and her brother Madhukumar that led to the fleeting reunion of the former couple. Madhukumar is an architect based in Kannur and Bhargavan is an organic farmer. Sarada, was married off again by her family after everyone assumed that Narayanan too was killed along with his father in the Salem prison.
“It was my grandmother Ummanga, who convinced Sarada Vallyamma (aunt) to go back to her house. Their house was burnt down and the women were frequently attacked. Three times, the police came to extract information from Sarada, who was a little girl then, using all means at their disposal. Seeing her innocent face, they went back. However, Ummanga felt that the situation was so dangerous that it was not safe to keep Sarada with them. She herself had to keep shifting from one house to the other in the most secretive manner. After sending Sarada Vallyamma to her parents, Ummanga took her youngest son Kunjappa, who was less than three years, and sought refuge in the house of relatives,” says Madhukumar.
Narayanan's return and Sarada's second marriage
There were strong rumours that Narayanan, too, was shot dead along with his father but Sarada as well as her family waited for him for more than a year. Sarada's father Pulikkananth Gopalan Nambiar was famous for treating snake bites. Her mother was Madhavi Amma. After they were convinced that Narayanan was dead, they married her off to Kurumathool Govindan Nambiar, a farmer. Govindan died 30 years ago and the couple has six children – Bhargavi, Bhaskaran, Janardhanan, Govindan, Bhargavan and Kunhiraman. Bhargavi and Janardhanan passed away a few years ago and Sarada is living with Bhargavan, who shifted to Kolmotta.
Bhargavan said that his mother had good memory, and had not kept her former marriage a secret from her children. "It was with great fondness that she used to tell us about her former mother-in-law. How she had treated her like her own daughter, and how her mother-in-law had protected her from the police. It was against amma's will that she was separated from that family. But we left things at that till I went to writer Santha Kavumbayi's house. I had known her well and once when I visited her house, her mother was also present. When I told her about my native place and my mother, Santha's mother said that her former sister-in-law was also from there. Soon we realised that the woman she was referring to was my own mother. It was a pleasant surprise,” said Bhargavan.
Santha, Madhukumar and Bhargavan arranged a meeting for the former couple when both of them admitted that they would like to meet.
“They did not talk much, but he just touched her head and invited her to our house. As a distant relative she can always visit his place. It was an emotional meeting I should say," Santha said. "Vallyachan (Narayanan) spent around eight years in jail and hospital, before returning. By that time, my father had returned and started recovering the property, which we have now. After returning, he enquired about Vallyamma (Sarada) and came to know that she got married. Later he married Karthyayani from Edavan Koroth and they have a daughter, Prasanna,” said Santha.
After the daughter's birth, Karthyayani fell ill and went back to her house, leaving the daughter with her husband. Later Narayanan married Devi and they had a son, Ramachandran. Later, when Karthyayani got better and wanted to live with her daughter, she was received back by Narayanan and they lived together along with the other wife and children. Narayanan has four children from Devi – Ramachandran, Usha, Ganesan and Ramani and three children from Karthyayani – Prasanna, Rukmini and Sobha. Karthyayani died six years ago after prolonged illness, and Devi died last year.
“Vallyachan got separated from his wives by fate. It was never by force or compulsion or cruelty. When we asked him whether he wished to see Sarada again, he said – 'What if I wished to see her? She is living elsewhere, and I am here'. Then we thought that we should arrange a meeting. I discussed with my brother as well as Bhargavan, and we took him to Bhargavan's house a few days ago, where she is living,” Santha said.
Bhargavan says that his mother's part in the Kavumbayi revolt was never documented. "Though the Kavumbayi revolt is part of history, those who wrote about it did not check what happened to that little girl who had to leave the house," he said. Santha Kavumbayi's book, in a sense, gave history more layers. “In Santha Kavumbayi's novel I found a beautiful, elaborate description of my mother and how she was protected by her mother-in-law, who was a strong woman. My mother also has only good memories about that house. She could not live as a wife to Narayanan, as she was very small, but lived along with her mother-in-law as a daughter in the family,” says Bhargavan.
Though Kavumbayi uprising is accepted by the government as part of the freedom struggle, Narayanan is yet to get the pension from the Central government, Santha added.
