Thalassery- the land of Pazhassi Raja

Thalassery- in memory of a trip

We started from Thiruvananthapuram in the evening of Vijayadasami (8th October,2008) to Thalassery by Train No. 6347 Mangalore Express at 20.45 and reached Thalassery at 8.00 the next day. We mean myself, Jayasree, Vijayasree, Sreekutty, Sreekuttan and Unnikannan. My friend K.P.Vinod Kumar was at the station. In his car we moved to the 3 bed suit at Sangamam Tourist Home ( Fashion Complex, Near Fly over- Phone- 2344457, 2344458) . The room was neat and the staff were quite good and had good behaviour. Per day rent for accommodation was Rs. 632 and 50 paise ( tax included) . We had taken Puttu- payar (green gram ) as break fast. ( Rs.18/-plus tax per plate) , tea Rs.6/- and coffee Rs.10/-
Our primary aim was to see the new born baby boy of Vinod and Sobha. Vinod came at 11AM and we went to the house of Sobha, seen the baby, Sobha’s mother, brother, his wife and children. Good people, had spent some time there and visited Mahe. The beautiful old town where liquor shops are more than tea shops. Malayalees are very fond of Mahe because they gets good variety of liquor on cheaper rate because of reduced tax pertains to Pondicherry , Mahe is part of that union territory. The petroleum products are also cheap. Malayalees fill the vehicle full and carry a few “fulls” in the vehicle, but there is heavy checking at Kerala border to catch the liquor smuggling. There was heavy rush on the roads since the Church festival was going on. We visited I.K.kumaran Master memorial park, spent some time there , later saw the house of Minister Sri.E.Valasaraj .Its architecture is similar to that of the MPs’ buildings at Luton zone of New Delhi.

The lunch was at Vinod’s tharavad( the family house) . It was surprisingly good and was prepared by the noble Chettathies ( Sister-in-laws ) of Vinod , supervised by his mother and assisted by the sister who is running a cooking gas supplying centre near Mahe. Enjoyed the sambar, koottukari, thorans, achar, fish curry and fish fry. Payasam was also prepared by them. After that , we went to Muzhuppilangad beach, a wonder, that is Asia’s biggest drive-in- beach . About two kilometres at length , the beach is really an attraction . The beach needs some development works , a few benches near the kandal forest and a few parking spaces without disturbing the ambience. Dharmadam Island is also near by. People can travel on foot to the Island during low tide. On high tide , the water will rise and the people could not return till the time of low tide. Sea coast have so many rocks also and is very rare in Kerala.

Evening we went to MC Lake View Resort where Vinod’s brother Ramesh is residing. It is a beautiful location having lake on one side and good villas on the other. Though it was built by reclaiming the lake by filling with earth, disturbing the nature’s comfort, the ambience is quite good. We got a nice reception there, with a dates special . Dinner was at Sangamom with Chappathi ( Rs.4/- for one ), Plain Rice (Rs.30/- per plate), Fish Curry ( Rs.40/- per plate), Chicken Curry (Rs.55/- per plate ).

Next day, we took an auto rickshaw and visited the Thalassery Fort. It is in the heart of the town. Like most of the monuments maintained by Archaeological Survey of India , no details have been given to the visitor. The office was seen closed and some maintenance work was going on. We could see the sea at a short distance , but the smell of fishes not allow us to sit under the tree shade. We felt the sleeping history of the foreign rule while seeing the cellars of the fort. Then we expressed our desire to visit the Gundert Smarakam at Illikkunnu, where the great man sat, studied and made the Malayalam English Dictionary and other grate works for Malayalam language. The auto driver said there is no such smarakam, one statue is there in the town. He shown that to us. We asked many people about the samarakam. Then one person said it is in the campus of NTTF . We went to that place. A small hilly area, near the beautiful river. The sad thing is that in the Bunglow where that great personality lived , now students are studying technology. Nettur Technology institute is a Private institution and I don’t know how they got the Gundert bunglow for such an activity. Such places should be protected and be made centre of academic discussions on language and literature. I fear they may build a big building after demolishing that bunglow. I felt shame on our casual attitude to the history.

Then we visited the Sea View Park. It’s under District tourism Promotion council and the entry pass cost Rs.2/- The location is fine but maintenance is poor. In the children’s park, all play materials were found dilapidated. Neatness is not there , ethnic beautification lacks. Recently, a few people died when sitting on the rock near the sea, hence good fencing is needed and also to make some good benches near the border wall to enjoy the sea. If the maintenance be given to a private group, they may beautifully maintain it and will definitely be a good location to enjoy. The big firms like MC Lakshmanan& co or RUBCO could take its maintenance as a social promotional activity.

Thalassery is calm and quite like its beaches, but there are under currents. The very same day, one RSS man was killed and BJP declared hartal for the next day. Politics rules the people and they are ready to die for the political cause, just like there ancestors fought and died for the feudal heads. Is the feudal system still remains in another name , politics?