V K KRISHNA MENON AS A HEADLOAD WORKER

Menon's sister was married to Raja of Cochin

Lalan Thampuran of  Cochin Royal family had married from the famous Vengalil Nair family of Calicut.He had not finished his school finals.Maybe the Vengalil family members thought a relationship with the Royal family was what mattered,more than anything else.The family was already related to the Kadathanad Raja.

Lalan's wife Kochunarayanikutty Amma was none other than the sister of V K Krishna Menon.She was seven years younger than Menon;Lalan was 16 years elder to her!
My brother who lived in Mumbai for 40 years and who saw Menon contesting a Loksabha election there is an ardent fan of Menon.Whenever I meet him,he comes up with stories about Menon.To provoke him,once I quoted an infamous line from Khushwant Singh,arch rival of Menon,which Singh attributed to a General:Menon was a bachelor,the same as his father!
My brother was truly amazed when I told him the following story which was shared by my former colleague R T Ravi Varma,who was writing under the pseudonym,Seeri, on agricultural matters.Seeri is Balaraman of the puranas,the man with the plough.Here we go:
Menon who was a Barrister in London and an active worker in the freedom movement,reached Calicut on vacation.He sent a telegram to his sister and Lalan who were living in a Tripunithura palace:I am reaching Ernakulam by the night train.Please send the vehicle.The telegram didn't reach them.

Menon,June 1964/Photo:James Burke/Life

Menon reached the Railway station around 10 PM.None was there to receive him.Menon who had never been to Tripunithura,was approached by a stranger with a big bundle.He asked the bewildered Menon what bothered him.Menon said he is from Kozhikode and wanted to see his sister.The stranger,a Nambudiri, assured  that he will take him to the palace.They started walking.Since I am from Tripunithura,I know the distance is 10 kilometres.
Nambudiri told Menon that he is from Chendamangalam and is married to a lady of the famous Paliath family.The bundle is full of handloom clothes.Since Chendamangalam hand loom is much in demand  in Tripunithura,he sells it there.Nambudiri found Menon  stout and healthy and asked him whether he can carry the load of cloth bundle.Menon agreed without hesitation.

Lalan Thampuran

They reached Tripunithura;Nambudiri showed Menon Lalan's palace and left him there.The family was wonder struck by the unexpected visitor and perplexed to hear what the Nambudiri had done to him.The Nambudiri was summoned to the palace.He apologized.Menon gave him a small gift.
Menon used to see Lalan and sister in Tripunithura or Trichur whenever he was in Kerala.It was Menon who sent his sister's daughter Ammalukutty Amma(born 1922) to Stella Marie's College in Madras.
Lalan and Narayani were married in 1919.She was 16 and he,32.Compared to Lalan,Kochunarayanikutty Amma was more knowledgeable.She was well mannered and knew Sanskrit.Lalan's mother who knew Sanskrit was a solace to her.She was born in 1903 to Advocate Krishna Kurup Komath and Lakshmikutty Amma Vengalil.She had two sisters,Janaki and Padmavathi.Krishna Kurup was the son of Kadathanad Raja Udaya Varma and Komath Sreedevi Kettilamma of Komath family,Vatakara.Kochu Narayanikutty's mother Lakshmikutty Amma was the grand daughter of Raman Menon,Dewan of Travancore(1815-1817).Raman Menon,a Judge of the Huzur Court was appointed Dewan at the suggestion of the Resident Col Munro,by  Gowri Parvati Bayi,Regent during Swati Thirunal.Vengalil family originated from Narayana Menon and wife Narayani Amma. It was customary for the princes and their nethyarammas(nair wives) to visit the Poornathrayeesa Temple at Tripunithura.The ladies were not allowed to wear blouses;instead,they were asked to use an upper cloth.Kochunarayanikutty Amma (Narayani Amma in records)rebelled and refused to go to the Temple.The King relented and lifted the ban on blouses.It is said that the men were dejected and the women became more coercive.

Lalan's real name was Ramavarma(1887-1975) Kunjikidavu Thampuran,belonging to the Padinjare Kovilakath Thavazhi.He was nicknamed Lalan because he was always seen with flowing saliva in childhood.In later years it was red saliva because of his addiction to chewing betel leaf.He walked with both the hands on his back with the betel leaf box in one hand.He had bouts of depression.He was seen in the palace for six months;he was out for another.He skipped classes while he was a student.When once he skipped and ran away,he was caught by the Director for Education,Davis,who was from Scotland.
"Where are you going in a hurry?",Davis asked.
"Rome was not built in a day",Lalan replied and ran away.
It didn't make any sense to Davis.So he asked Lalan the hidden meaning of the tricky sentence when he met him next."Nothing",Lalan said,"I just wanted to escape,that's all!".
Lalan was liked by all;he conqured people by cracking jokes. He was successor to King Parikshith Thampuran,and could be termed Ramavarma XIX.But the King Parikshit  had lost the kingdom in 1949 after the merger of Travancore and Cochin.Lalan became Valiyathampuran or Chief of the Royal family after the death of Parikshit in 1964.He died in 1975.He stayed in Krishna Vilasom Palace near Siva Temple,Ernakulam till 1970;later shifted to daughter's residence on Warriam Road.He had a son too-Raman Menon(born 1920),who was Superintendent in Madras Secretariat(1945-1964).
Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wrote this letter from Calicut to his private secretary on December 27,1955:"When I arrived in Calicut and reached Krisha Menon's house,I found that there was much consternation at the prospect of my having to be provided with plenty of meat after the European style.The house is vegetarian and they were unhappy about this.Worse still,the District Magistrate sent four chickens to be slaughtered and cooked.The lady of the house was completely upset about this idea.Fortunately I came in time to prevent this outrage on her sentiment and I asked specially for a Malayali vegetarian meal.A very good  dinner was given to me which I enjoyed".Prodded by Padmaja Naidu,Sarojini Naidu's daughter whom Nehru loved,his secretary had sent a non vegetarian menu to all states!

Now let us meet Mappilakuttan.Mappila means a Christian.

Rama Varma XVI

The Poornathrayeesa Temple was damaged in a severe fire in 1921.The fire was first seen  in the Sreekovil(sanctum sanctrorum) around 3 AM.Within minutes the entire Temple was engulfed by fire.There were no fire engines then.The bell in the mani malika close to the temple was set in motion.A prince by the name Kuttan Thampuran went to the Puthen Church outside the Fort and asked the Jacobite Christians to ring the Church bell.All the Christians around the town entered the Temple,cut the Anakottil(shelter for elephants) and prevented the fire from spreading to other parts.The Christians were led by DSP Kandaramparampil Chacko(You have a story on Chacko in muralirvarama.blogspot.in,told to him by Parayil Abraham Tharakan.).That Christians entered the Temple became a big controversy and Chacko was summoned by the King Rama Varma XVI,Madrasil Theepetta Thampuran (the King who died in Madras)to Hill Palace.In police uniform,he saluted the King.
"Chacko!did u enter the Temple?",the King questioned.
"Yes,your Highness".
"Chacko,are you not aware that Christians are not allowed in temples?"
"Yes your Highness",Chacko said,"but I didn't enter the Temple as a Christian;I entered as Your DSP to lead the rescue operations".
King was extremely happy by the reason Chacko provided;he gave Chacko Onappudava.The conservatives who were flustered by the action of the King turned against Kuttan Thampuran and began to call him Mappilakuttan;Christian Kuttan!
In a poem by Vayalar Rama Varma,a Pariah became a Christian taking the name Ithapiri to escape from the cruel practice of untouchability.From then on people called him,Parayan Ithapiri!

See my blog,PRINCE RAMA VARMA BECOMES JACOB RAMAVARMA

WITH JASWANT SINGH IN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

Jaswant Singh avoided controversial sites

The cry of a lakh children still reverberates in my soul.An everlasting memory.Only Israel can give  such a silencing cry.

Yad Vashem is located on the western slope of Mount Herzel or the Mountain of Remembrance in Jerusalem. It is the official memorial to the Jewish victims of Holocaust.It is a 44.5 acre complex 2638 feet above sea level,containing the Holocaust History Museum,Children's Memorial and Hall of remembrance.I was not at all prepared for the cry amidst darkness and among stars when I was leaving the Children's Memorial.An immaculate conception.

Yad Vashem

Yad Vashem is a Hebrew word meaning A Place and a Name.It comes in the Book of Isaiah,56:5:"Even unto them will I give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name better than of sons and daughters:I will give them an everlasting name,that shall not be cut off."

Thus the name,Yad Vashem conveys the idea that it is a national depository for the names of Jewish victims who will not be remembered otherwise.It will never be cut off.It rips apart  the very foundations of Nazism.As a memorabilia,I bought a VCD of the Eichmann trial.Adolf Eichmann,a Nazi Lieutenant Colonel,one the main organizers of Holocaust,underwent trial in Jerusalem.

Hall of Names

I was in Israel to report the first ever visit by an Indian Foreign Minister-Jaswant Singh.Jaswant was to land in Bengurion air port from Russia.We traveled from Newdelhi to Dubai;from there to Abudhabi where Ambassador K C Singh was our host.From there to Amman,capital of Jordan and then by road to Jerusalem.It was a four day visit of Jaswant starting July 1,2000.We reached Jerusalem on the Sabbath day,June 30.We traveled by the King Hussein Bridge or Allenby Bridge,past three border crossings.The Allenby Bridge that connects Jordan with West Bank and crosses the Jordan river,comes after 70 kilometers to the west of Amman,after the first crossing on the Jordanian side.You can't walk the bridge which is 0.24 kilometers.A bus travel is mandatory after paying the $ 29 toll.The bridge is named after British  General Edmund Allenby who replaced an old Ottoman bridge in 1918 after capturing Jerusalem in 1917.He entered Jerusalem on 17,December on foot through the Jaffa Gate instead of using horses or vehicles to show respect for the old city.He was the first Christian to control Jerusalem after many centuries.

Allenby entering Jerusalem on foot

This is the only way for the Palestinians to cross.Others can use the Northern crossing of Bet She'an,which is devoid of the long queue of Allenby.There are direct buses from Amman to Nazareth in the Old City.

Since it was a Sabbath day,the lift in the King David Hotel was stopping on every floor.Jews are not supposed to touch anything,even the switches on the lift,Yehonathan Tommer,the Israeli journalist friend who met me later,enlightened me.We went to the Old City in the night.I bought a couple of paintings.Lovers were having a good time after Sabbath.

The Old City is in East Jerusalem which was captured by Israel in the six day war in 1967.In the morning I went to the Wailing Wall,overlooking the Temple Mount,the site of the ancient temple with only the Western Wall at its foot remaining,now with the Dome of the Rock and Al-Aqsa Mosque.Three religions from the same root in proximity.The Palestinians,it is said, have their Parliament built underground.Jaswant  went to the Wailing Wall built by King Solomon,and prayed.It is a place where Jews pray.

I went to Bethlehem which fall under  Palestinian Administration.I prayed in the Church of Nativity,bought a Hebrew Bible with Olive covering,an Olive engraving of Jesus and a candle holder.

A foreign minister from the BJP cabinet visiting a Jewish state was a bold initiative.Palestine too was in his itinerary.It was a postponed trip;Egypt was in the first list.Home Minister L K Advani had been to Israel in June.Camp David was behind;Egypt,the prominent Arab country had accepted Israel a reality.King Hussein of Jordan and King Hassan of Morocco were maintaining good relations with Israel.King Hassan's Principal Adviser,Andre Azouley was a practicing Jew.The Hotel was full of Americans.The boss of both Israel and Saudi Arabia were the same-Americans.

President of Israel,Ezer Weizman had visited Newdelhi in 1997.

When we were there Jyoti Basu was also there.The visits by several Indian Chief Ministers had resulted in more than 180 joint ventures.Lot of them in agriculture.While visiting a diary farm near Tel Aviv,I met a few Cochin Jews who migrated.One Woman told me she lived near the Market Road in Ernakulam.

Prime Minister Ehud Barak had called  the relationship between India and Israel "intuitive".Jaswant referred to this expression in his dinner lecture,'Foreign Policy Planning in an Uncertain World', the next day.He said:"We were thrown out of the loop of West Asia,particularly in the Post Gulf war scenario.We have been now drawn into the process of peace here.It is a beginning".He again used the word intuition  when he summed up his impressions at the port city of Haifa to us.The flight to Haifa,to see the War Memorial,was a trip down the memory lane for Jaswant.The Jodhpur Lancers led by his ancestors had helped liberate Haifa from the Turkish-German Forces during World War 1.The two Indian Cavalry Regiments of the 15th Imperial Service Cavalry Brigade under the command of Gen.Allenby had fought the Battle of Haifa on September 20,1918.Haifa Historical Society documents reveal that 900 Indian soldiers laid down their lives in the battle,for the Allied Forces.Major Dalpat Singh  who got the Military Cross is known as the Hero of Haifa.Captain Aman Singh Bahadur ,Dafedar Jor Singh got the Indian Order of Merit.Captain Anop Singh and Second Lieutenant Sagat Singh were awarded Military Cross.

Haifa War Memorial

Apart from Barak,Jaswant met President Weizman,Foreign Minister David Levy,Minister of Regional Development Shimon Peres and Opposition Leader Ariel Sharon.

As we crossed the border to Gaza,the difference was visible.Palestine had not recovered from the terrible destiny it had at the hands of Israel.Jaswant skirted the sensitive sites just paying a visit to the library of the Al-Azhar University in Gaza City that was funded by India.He met Palestinian leaders including Yasser Arafat and Palestinian Minister for International Co Operation,Dr Nabil Sha'ath.He termed his visit to Gaza a pilgrimage because it was the first substantive visit by an Indian leader after the Nasser-Nehru dialogue at Gaza in 1960.

Jaswant avoided the controversial sites and people.He didn't see Faisal Husseini,Palestinian Authority Minister for Jerusalem Affairs and unofficial Palestinian Foreign  Minister at Orient House in East Jerusalem.Jaswant avoided him so as not to anger Israel by giving an implied recognition to Palestinian claims to East Jerusalem as the capital of a future Palestinian State.He also didn't visit the Temple Mount, where the Palestinians have 'illegally' built an underground mosque in Solomon's Stables.

I felt we have one Ayodhya;some have a hundred.For the first time in my life,I heard gun shots just behind me,in Palestine.

Reference:My article with Yehonathan Tommer/The Pilgrim's Progress/The Week,July 16,2000
See my blog,WITH K R NARAYANAN IN CHINA

WITH K R NARAYANAN IN CHINA

His birth day in China

Though I have worked for a big newspaper with right leanings for 20 years, my political orientation had always been Left, in the larger sense of the term. So I was pleasantly surprised when I was assigned to accompany the then Vice President K R Narayanan on his visit to China. It was for an entire week during 21-28 October 1994. I was in Thiruvananthapuram. The ISRO espionage scandal had just broken when I left India.

Prior to the trip, there was an official briefing by the Foreign Secretary Salman Haidar and Joint Secretary Shivsankar Menon, grand son of the legendary K P S Menon. It was written in the horoscope of K P S Menon that his son and grand son would occupy the same position he had held. My college mate Venu Rajamony, IFS, who speaks Mandarin fluently and was serving  in our Embassy in China was also present. I remember him, asking me whether it was my first visit to the South Block. Well, it was.

The aircraft that we boarded was Rajhans, one of the three  Air India One Boeing 747 special air crafts operated by the Air Force to fly the President, Vice President and the Prime Minister. The Other two being Rajdoot and Rajkamal. Each cost the IAF $ 9.34 Billion. Each 46 seater plane is called the Boeing Business Jet, BBJ. We boarded the flight in the morning from the Old Palam South parking , the Air Force Base. There was a technical snag and we were asked to disembark and were sent to a five star hotel to take rest. The flight took off in the afternoon.

Narayanan with Jiang Zemin

I met the doyen of Indian journalism, Nikhil Chakroborty of the Mainstream inside the flight and he spoke of the olden days of the CPI ; about the Communist stalwarts, M N Govindan Nair, EMS, AKG , C Achyutha Menon and P K Vasudevan Nair. He spoke about the vacillating nature of EMS during the party split of 1964. E M S, he said, had tried to join the Editorial Board of the Indian Express. We met again in Thiruvananthapuram when he came to inaugurate the Kollam edition of the Daily I was working in. We walked for few hours and he bought some curios.

In Beijing, I stayed in the Shangri-La Hotel, Room No 917. The double room rent was $100 +15% tax. I shared the room with V K Madhavan Kutty, former Editor of Mathrubhumi.Though retired, he had found a place in the entourage because of his friendship with Narayanan. He asked me whether I can share the room with him because he was spending from own purse for food. I agreed. He had brought an electric kettle and tea bags. I still have the instructions sheet from the hotel which says: Tipping of waiters is not customary in China.The hotel was run by the Chinese Army as partner, the receptionist Charlie Shi told me. I got a Christmas greeting card from him; it is signed 05.12.1994.

Great Hall of the People

The same evening, there was a five course dinner at the Great Hall of People, hosted by Rong Yiren,Vice President. Not all were invited. Nikhil  told me that he will get me invited, keeping Madhavankutty out, since he was not representing any paper. He kept his word.The invitation which is still with me, says my table number was 8. N Ravi, Editor of The Hindu and Kalyani Sankar, New Delhi Bureau Chief of Hindustan Times shared the table with me because we were vegetarians. The Chinese ran a five course vegetarian dinner for us. I still remember a kozhukattai with vegetables inside which I am yet to come across in India.

Myself and an old friend K P Nair, of the Economic Times, went to the Mao Mausoleum, in the middle of Tienanmen Square in the morning. I had butterflies in my stomach, seeing the bloodless, embalmed body of Mao Zedong. Mao had been the Chairman, from 1945 until his death in 1976. The  Mausoleum stands on the previous site of the Gate of China, the main gate of the city during the Ming and Qing dynasties.Mao had wished to be cremated, but was embalmed to listen to the gun shots of Tienanmen in 1989. I had taken a week long dictation from Kannada writer U R Anantha Murthy,for a series on the incident. He was in China, during the time.

Mao Mausoleum in Tienanmen Square

For Narayanan, there was a welcome ceremony in the Great Hall the next day. We entered the Hall through the North gate. The ceremony was at the court yard outside East gate. Narayanan was welcomed "as an old friend" of China, because he was India's first Ambassador to China in 1962, the year in which we lost the war. Official talks between Narayanan and Yiren were held at Hebie Hall. Two MOU s were signed. The lunch for Narayanan was in Western Hall and for us a Buffet was arranged in our hotel.Then we moved to Zgungnanhai where Narayanan met President Jiang Zemin and then to Diayutai State Guest House where Narayanan had a talk with Li Ruihan, Chairman of Chinese People's Political Committee Conferences, followed by a banquet in the same venue at Fang Feinan Pavilion. Narayanan was staying in the Guest House. Salman Haidar had met the Foreign Minister Tang Jiaxuan in the Guest House.

Dead Mao inside Mausoleum

On October 23, Sunday, myself and K P Nair decided to go on our own to see the Great wall. The taxi driver got us a very young interpreter and guide, Jennifer, his girl friend.Her original name was different. She had studied spoken English and had selected an English name to introduce herself to the tourists. She asked us whether India has something like the Forbidden City; we told her we had harems. I didn't know then Chikka Veera Rajendra, the last Kodagu King had even his father's youngest wife in his harem. Jennifer said she and her boyfriend wanted to get married as early as possible. But there was a long queue for apartments because everything is state owned. One can marry only if an apartment is alloted. So, she said, the boy and girl at times, manipulate a marriage certificate much before the actual marriage.

In the afternoon, Jennifer took us to a restaurant where she assured,there will be something vegetarian. An owen was placed in front of me on my table, with a crab and  cooked Chinese Cabbage. I ate some cabbage leaves. It was compensated by the buffet dinner at Ta Yuan hosted by Bhaskar Roy, Counsellor at our Embassy. Narayanan had left by a Chinese special flight to Dunhuang, to visit Mogao Grottoes or the Caves of the Thousand Buddhas. It forms a system of 492 temples on the Silk Road. The caves contain Buddhist murals spanning a period of 1000 years. Narayanan had his family members, Usha, Dr P C Mohan, Chitra and Chandrika,with him.

Avalokiteswara Mural in Cave 57

Since Narayanan was not in Beijing, we were totally free on October 24. We were asked to see the  Great Wall, Ming Tomb and Summer Palace. Since I had already seen the Great Wall, I thought I will skip the tourist places and do some work. I met Sam Venkatesh, Head of Motorola and Pradeep Mathur, Country Manager of Chase Manhattan Bank. Both of them had a lot to tell about  Deng Xiao Ping's daughters, Deng Nan and Deng Rong. They had to be bribed if some one was looking for a prime property. Pradeep said Deng was President of the Chinese Chess Association! Deng, as you know, was famous for the quote, It doesn't matter whether a cat is white or black as long as it catches the mice.

I also met Rajiv Chandra who was working for a news agency and Sheela, the correspondent of The Christian Science Monitor. They told me how the surveillance system of the party works. They also waxed eloquent about the so called resurgence of Christianity and democracy. Nikhil was busy meeting his personal friends in the Chinese Polit Buro and Central Committee. At nightfall, we were invited by S  Jaishankar, Minister at embassy, for a buffet dinner at his residence in Jianguoyenwah diplomatic apartments.

Narayanan was taken to Xian by a special Chinese aircraft next day, October 25, to see Terracota Warrior's Museum and Huaqing Hot springs. I went to the Friends Store, bought a couple of paintings. One, The Thousand Children in silk, later, tore off in the middle, while I was shifting from my rented home, to own home in Thiruvananthapuram.

S K Verma, Second Secretary hosted the lunch at Omar Khayyam Hotel. On 26, we were flown to Shanghai by Rajhans. I stayed in Jin Jiang Hotel.The rent for the room was $ 115.50 + 15% tax. In the evening there was a banquet by the Vice Mayor, Xu Kuangdi in the Magnolia Hall of the hotel.

Before going to China, I had gone through Narayanan's bio- data and found that a beautiful story was in store for me in Shanghai-next day, October 27 was Narayanan's birth day.To do the story, I had to speak to him. I met Arif S Khan, Joint Secretary and told him my dilemma; none knew Narayanan was having his birthday in China! Arif promised me he will do something-while we were returning after the banquet, Arif pushed me into the lift with Narayanan. I spoke to Narayanan in the lift. It seemed he too was not aware of his birth day. He said he doesn't celebrate it at all; and for Keralites, the star is important, not the date.I had a front page story for my daily, from Shanghai.

Narayanan spoke to the students of the Fudan University, the next morning-it was his lone speech in the week long itinerary. The President of the University, Prof Yan Fujin received Narayanan to Sir Run Run Shaw Hall. In his speech, Narayanan indirectly solicited China's support for India's entry into the U N Security Council. He reminisced that India had stepped away in 1955, for  China to get into the Security Council. He quoted from a letter, the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru sent to the Indian Chief Ministers on 20 July 1955. Nehru had said: "Informally suggestions have been made that China would be taken into the United Nations but not in the Security Council. We cannot, of course, accept this as it means falling out with China and it would be very unfair for a great country like China not to be in the Security Council.We have, therefore, made it clear to those who suggested this that we cannot agree to this suggestion.We have even gone a little further and said that India is not anxious to enter the Security Council at this stage, even though as a great country she ought to be there. The first step to be taken is for China to take her rightful place,and then the question of India might be considered separately". (Jawaharlal Nehru-Letters to Chief Ministers.vol 4,page 237).

I personally doubt whether Nehru was sincere.

Chinese Cabbage

Narayanan also remembered Kerala. He said it was from the shores of China Admiral Zheng Ho set sail in the 15th Century on his epic voyages and visited Kerala years before Vasco da Gama landed in Calicut. He referred to the part played by the pilgrim scholars  Xuan Xang, Fa Xian, Kumara Jiva and Bodhi Dharma in the cultural exchanges between India and China.

We went to Fudan passing over Yangpu bridge and returned via Nanpu bridge.

We reached Hong Kong on 28th and stayed in the Hilton Hotel. My room was 2224. A plan to demolish the hotel was on. So, I have kept the swiping key as a relic. The 26 storey land mark Hilton was closed in May, 1995 and demolished to make way for Cheung Kong Centre. The book, The Private Life of Chairman Mao written by his personal physician Li Zhisui was just out. I bought a copy. I met P K Vasudevan Nair's son Kesavan Kutty in his video shop; his nephew M P Gopalan organised a dinner, in which a few Keralites were present.

On the return flight, J J Tharayil, Chief Security Laison Officer , an I B officer belonging to Kerala, took me to Narayanan's cabin. Narayanan asked me whether it was possible to trace the poem ,Kanthara Chandrika, which he wrote in Malayala Manorama while he was studying in C M S College, Kottayam. I got it traced, and sent to him, after my return.

While in Jin Jiang hotel, a lady foreign service officer of China came to me to brief on India and China. She didn't seem to care for the 1962 India-China war. It appeared to me that a war will be remembered  only by the losers. So we remember. I asked her whether she has heard the name of a place called Kerala; is she aware of a Leftist movement in Kerala and Naxalbari in Bengal, which was called by Chinese Radio termed  as 'The Thunder in Spring?".

She shook her head. No. Never.

See my blog,WITH JASWANT SINGH IN ISRAEL AND PALESTINE

GURUVA PILLAI IN PARIS,1718

Lady Dupleix used to ask for bribes

It is a cliche when I say strange are the ways of human mind.In Pondicherry,a son was able to avenge the imprisonment and death of his father at the hands of the Governor only through conversion into Christianity.To achieve the aim,he went to Paris.This is a story which we get from the first volume of the 12 volume Private Diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai.Ananda Ranga Pillai (1709-1761)was the First Secretary of the French East India Company in Pondicherry.
I am speaking about Guruva Pillai,who was Head of all subjects of India at Pondicherry.
Guruva Pillai was the son of Nainiya Pillai or Nainappa ,who was Agent of the Company in Pondicherry during Governor, General  Guillame Andre de Hebert.

Dupleix

 Hebert (1653-1725)was Governor of Pondicherry first during 1708-1712and then in 1717-1718.He had invited Nainappa's brother in law Thiruvengadam Pillai and some other rich merchants from Perambur to Pondicherry to do trade there.The trade had flourished when some charges were put up against Nainappa.He was arrested and sent to jail,where he died of ill treatment.Guruva Pillai and Thiruvengadam fearing resentment by the Governor fled to Madras.From there Guruva Pillai went to England and from there to Paris,to meet the Regent,The Duke of Orleans.The Governor Hebert was recalled in August 1718 and replaced by Pierre Andre Prevost de la Prevostiere.
We  don't have the  details of  Hebert's recall in Ananda Ranga Pilla's accounts.But from Church history I have found that the recall was because he had yielded too much to the machinations of the Jesuits.So it has to be assumed that there was Church politics behind Nainappa's imprisonment.It is possible that he invited the wrath of the Jesuits.

AnandaRanga pillai

It was the time when Jesuits had poisoned Cardinal Charles Thomas Maillard de Tour non,but survived .Cardinal Tournon(1668-1710) was born in the Savoyard family of Turin in Italy.After studies he went to see Pope Clement XI(he had made several Bishops).Pope ordained him as Bishop  with the title Patriarch of Antioch in 1701 and made him Legate to East Indies and China,to create harmony among missionaries.He arrived in Pondicherry on November 6,1703 in French vessel Maurepas.On June 23,1704 he issued the decree Inter Graviores forbidding Malabar rites in churches.The Jesuits were up in arms.The Cardinal then sailed to China and the Emperor Kangxi received him with pleasure initially.The Emperor became furious when he heard the Cardinal was there to forbid Chinese rites in churches-Chinese Christians were making offerings to Confucius.The Emperor sent some Jesuits to Rome in protest. Through the intrigues of the Jesuit Fr Emmanuel Osorio with the Governor,the Emperor expelled the Cardinal .He was confined in a prison in Macau,where he died.He was made Cardinal just before his death.His remains were buried in Rome only in 1723.His death made the Jesuits happy but threw all the missionaries in India and China into great consternation.
The Cardinal had patronized a Jesuit priest, Le Pere Claude de Visdelou(1656-1737),who was made Bishop of Claudiopolis.In 1714 the Pope appointed him Vicar Apostle in India for the resentment of the Jesuits.The Pope sent him his Bulls condemnation of the superstitions with which rites of Churches have been corrupted. Visdelou circulated it to all churches for publication,but the Jesuits refused.Visdelou separated himself from his own order of Jesuits.The Jesuits in turn reiterated that the Bishop of Claudiopolis has no jurisdiction in India or Pondicherry.The rival faction was led by Bishop of St Thome(Mylapore), de Lainez.Though Lainez died in 1715,the Jesuits continued to protest against Visdelou.They found a political friend in Governor Hebert.There were countable priests who supported Visdelou.Fr Esprit,who was among them escaped from the scene of action.He was brought back by a detachment of soldiers at the behest of the Jesuits.He was deported to Paris;but was sent back  by Cardinal Noailles.

Cardinal Tour non

It was during this turbulence,Guruva Pillai reached Paris.His wishes were granted.He embraced Christianity. He was admitted to the order of St Michael as a Chevalier.He returned to Pondicherry and became the Head of all Indians there and Courtier.Thiruvengadam was recalled.
After Nainappa, Pedro Kanakaraya Mudaliyar(1696-1746) was made Courtier,considering the view of the evangelists to appoint a Christian.He became Chief Dubash and Broker in 1724 and remained in service for 21 years.When the Jesuits insisted on a Christian,the Company worked out a compromise  by creating the post of Co-Mudaliars.While Nainappa and Thiruvengadam were Courtiers,Savari Pillai and Guruva Pillai were Co Mudaliars respectively.Guruva Pillai was the first Indian to get the Cross of St Lazar for meritorious service.In the same platform,Kanakraya was also honored for playing a role in the negotiations with the Nawab of Arcot.He was gifted a palanquin by Dupleix.Guruva Pillai died in 1724.One account says he was issueless and another says since his children were raised as Hindus none could succeed him.When Thiruvengadam died in 1726,his son Ananda Rangam Pillai was made Courtier by the new Governor,Le Noir.Kanakaraya was the first Tamilian to own a Ship under French rule,in India.The ship,Soucourarna was sold to the French in June,1730.Joseph Francois Dupleix,the Governor  paid 2800 pagodas as price.It was remitted in cargo of  gold of the voyage to Bengal and Surat.

Kanakaraya bust in Church

Kanakaraya financed the French during their crisis in 1739,without taking interest.On october 22,same year his son Velavendra died.He was just 21.He was buried with silk attire,pearl ear rings and a ring in finger.On return from cemetery,his wife ,Natchathiram's sari was  in ablaze,apparently in an act of suicide.The house was destroyed in fire.Ananda Ranga Pillai,who was an astrologer himself blames it on Kanakaraya's star.But he started exporting textiles to France in 1743.In 1744 when Kanakaraya was made Courtier,the highest job an Indian can have with the French, Ananta Ranga was presented with torches by Dupleix publicly.
Kanakaraya's son's death shattered him.He built  the St Andrews Church in his memory.It was opened on November 30,1745.He invited the whole Pondicherry for the feast.It is the first recorded equality meal in India(Sambandhivirundhu in Tamil;Panthi Bhojanam in Malayalam).Inscriptions on him are there on the walls of the Church.

St Andrews Church

On February 11,1746, he fell ill.Lady Jeanne Dupleix came home and consoled Natchathiram.She pleaded for sealing off the properties fearing his brother would claim inheritance.Jeanne(1706-1756) was born in Pondicherry,daughter of the Surgeon of the Company,Dr Jacques Albert.Ananda Rangam Pillai records about Jeanne:"All curse her as a pupil of devil who will ruin town". He has recorded her cruelty,corruption and religious persecution against Hindus.Dupleix had tried to destroy the Eswaran Temple several times.She gave Nellithope,a gooseberry orchard by the sea to Jesuits to build the Assumption Church. Dupleix was her second husband.Her first husband Vinces was Councillor of the Company.He died at 60,Jeanne married Dupleix at 33.She had 11 children from Vinces,five boys and six girls.Her only child,a boy,from Dupleix died the same day of birth.Jeanne had even taken bribe from one Annapurna Aiyan to be appointed as Courtier in place of Ananda Ranga Pillai.The move got aborted.She died in Paris.Hindus used to call her as Joanna Begum. An official committee of 20 led by Ananda Ranga Pillai settled the claim on Kanakaraya's property in favour of Chinna Mudali,Kanakaraya's brother;the two ladies,Natchathiram and her issueless daughter in law were given interest for life from the Estate.After their lifetime,it was decided that the interest would go to brother Thanappa.

Kanakaraya's grandfather Thanappa Mudaliar was the first Chief Dubash(translator in trade) of the Company.He had a prominent role in establishing the French  colony in Pondicherry.He had come from Poonamallee.He and his son  became Christians on  March 10,1671.He took the name Lazaro de Mota.He began a rice business with the French in 1672.It was on his suggestion 150 French migrants came by the sea to Pondicherry on January 15,1674.He became Chief Agent same year and Head of Tamil merchants in 1686.He controlled the entire business.He invited weavers to settle.He exported textiles,salt peter,camphor,ivory,precious stones and spices to France.He spent a huge sum to build the St Lazaros Church.Ananda Ranga Pillai,history says,was jealous of this family.

Ananda Ranga home

I have been to Thiruvannamalai a couple of times.Close to the Gopal Pillayar temple,there is,Kanakaraya Mudali street;Thiruvannamalai also was a French settlement.
Ananda Ranga Pillai succeeded him.A street in his name is there in Pondicherry.

Reference:The History of Christianity in India/James Hough/Rare Books Club.com/2012
The Indian Trade at the Asian Frontier/Ed.by S Jeyaseelan Stephen/Gyan Publishing House,2010
The Madras Tercentenary Commemoration Volume.
The Private Diary of Ananda Ranga Pillai/Ed by J Frederick Price & K Rangachari/1904/available online

See my blogs,JESUS IN TANNIRPALLY,RAIMON HAD ROOTS IN PALAKKAD

JESUS CHRIST AND ADVAITA

A rare experiment in Advaita and monasticism

Three Benedictine monks who tried to experiment with Advaita constitute the Trinity of Tannirpalli.They are Jules Monchanin or Swami Arupiananda(1895-1957),Henri Le Saux,very well known as Swami Abhishikthananda(1910-1973) and Bede Griffiths or Swami Dayananda(1906-1993).The unsuccessful attempt of Monchanin and Le Saux was made partially successful by Griffiths.What surprised me was the fact that  Monchanin and Griffiths were invited to India by individuals from my state of Kerala in South India.Monchanin got the invitation from Fr Kalathil on his last sacrament day and he survived death.Griffiths was brought to India by Fr Benedict Alappat.Tannirpalli is a large village on the banks of Kaveri river  in Tiruchirapally,Tamil Nadu where Monchanin and Le Saux founded the Saccidananda Ashram in Santivanam.

Monchanin

The missionary enterprise in India has a chequered past. "An arrogant and intolerant Christian exclusivism has sometimes been an accomplice in a  rapacious empire building",notes Harry Oldmeadow,who wrote on the first two of the trinity.Roberto De Nobli(1577-1656),Ippolito Desideri(1684-1733),Matteo Ricci (1552-1610)and Francis Xavier (1506-1552) tried to dispel the European ignorance and open their eyes to the spiritual riches of the East.After the advent of Vasco da Gama and Pedro Cabral,the search for spices was soon joined by the quest for souls.The earliest European missionaries were Franciscans and Dominicans,followed by Jesuits.In the middle of the 16th century Jesuits entrenched in Goa and its hinterlands and mastered languages.In 1579,the British Jesuit Thomas Stephens wrote the 11000 verse Christian Purana.Nobili took it to a new level trying doctrinal rapprochement.He found in Upanishads a Pristine monotheism and even intimations of the "recondite mystery of the most sacred trinity."He knew early fathers had lend their ears to the Greek thought.Nobili was a model for Griffiths.

Abhishikthananda

Heinrich Roth(1620-1668) produced the first European Sanskrit Grammar.Another Jesuit,Fr J F Pons wrote the Grammar of Sanskrit in Latin in 1733.The protestants Abraham Roger,Philippus Baldaens and the Moravian Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg too did pioneering work.The missionaries of 17th and 18th centuries laid the foundation for Indological research though Jones,Wilkins and Colebrook are considered to be the proper British Orientalists.Max Mueller and Monier Williams followed;Scottish missionary in Kolkata John  Nicol Farquhar(1861-1929) was the most influential.Farquhar corrected the infamous statement of T E Slater,"all religions wait for their fulfilment  in Christianity", thus:"The vedanta is not Christianity,and never will be-simply as the vedanta:but a very definite preparation for it....it is our belief that the living Christ will sanctify and make complete the religious thought of India.For centuries her saints have been longing for Him,and her thinkers,not least the thinkers of vedanta have been thinking His thought".
Macaulay had notoriously boasted in 1836:"The English education would see to it that thirty years hence there will not be a single idolator(Hindu) among the respectable classes in Bengal".
Oldmeadow observes:"In India Christian triumphalism was quite misplaced,that the rates of conversion are pitifully small,that while most Hindus are perfectly willing to accept Christ as an avatar among many,they remain impervious to the fulfilment theory and its many variants".The "problematic " nature of missionizing  is dramatically personified in the modern times in the work of the Trinity of Tannirpalli,each of whom wished to reconcile Hinduism and Christianity.

Monchanin was born in Lyons,France.For the first 40 years in his life he did nothing spectacular.He completed Theological training in 1922,didn't complete doctoral studies.He served in three parishes and while he was Chaplain in a Boys Boarding School,fell fatally ill.He in early 30s had dreamt of a monastic life in India.While he was receiving  the last sacrament on  Passion Sunday in 1932 from Fr Edouard Duperray,he vowed that he would serve in India,if he recovers.By evening,the invitation from Fr Kalathil came."Consecration to India,he would note later,"for death and for life,according to God alone".Monchanin was assigned to work under the Bishop of Tiruchirapally,James Mendonca.Fr John Kalathil was also working there.Fr Kalathil(1900-1994),a Jesuit priest born in Kerala and assigned to Madurai and Andhra provinces was the first Indian to obtain a doctorate from Gregorian University.He was Rector at St Paul's Seminary,St Joseph's College,Trichy and later of Loyola College,Madras.He was a rare combination of a philosopher and an agriculturist;he started a dairy farm in Loyola.A P J Abdul Kalam,former President of India,in his address to the students of Colombo  University on January 24,2012 fondly remembered Kalathil's moral science classes on Mondays,in St Joseph's,Trichy.

Trinity temple in Ashram

Monchanin was a Benedictine monk or the Black monk,referring to the dress.Benedictine is a Roman Catholic religious order but an autonomous monastic community.They follow the rule of Saint Benedict of Nurcia(C.529).He found a dozen monasteries in Italy,the first of which was in Sabiaco.The monks in the order take the vows of stability,conversion to manners and obedience.Monchanin had to do several negotiations with the Abbot.Finally he was allowed to go to India on one condition.He will have to work under a local Bishop,discarding his vows.It was painful because the monastery was much more free.He left Marseilles in 1939.
The next decade was one of struggle and deprivation.In 1950 he was allowed to open a monastery of his own on the banks of river Kaveri in Tannirpalli,near Kulithalai.He was accompanied by fellow Benedictine, Le Saux.He was sent in 1948 to India to join Monchanin.They were destined to part ways later.
Le Saux was born in Brittany.He joined the Benedictine order in 1929.He always had a call of India.
For the Tannirpalli Saccidananda Ashram,Le Saux set the agenda:"Our goal:to form the first nucleus of a monastery which buttresses the rule of St Benedict-a primitive,sober,discrete rule.Only one purpose:to seek God.And the monastery will be in Indian style.We would like to crystallize and trans substantiate the search of the Hindu sanyasis.Advaita and the praise of the Trinity are our only aim.This means we must grasp the authentic Hindu search for God in order to Christianize it,starting with ourselves first of all,within".He hoped:"What is deepest in Christianity maybe grafted on to what is deepest in India.To fathom the depths of Christianity with the aid of the wisdom of India".

Road to Saccidananda Ashram

They took new names,became Swamis and began to wear ochre.
After setting up Ashram,both went to Ramana Maharshi in Thiruvannamalai.It made a profound impression on Le Saux:"Even before my mind was able to recognize the fact ,and still less to express it,the invisible halo of this Sage had been perceived by something in me deeper than any words.Unknown harmonies awoke in my heart..In the Sage of Arunachala of our time I discerned the unique sage of the eternal India,the unbroken succession of her sages,her ascetics,her seers,it was as if the very depths of my own soul had held mysterious communion with it.It was a call which pierced through everything,rent it in pieces and opened a mighty abyss".
Following Ramana's death the same year,in 1950, Le Saux (hereafter Abhishikthananda because he is universally known by that name among the three) spent two extended periods in one of Arunachala's many caves.He wrote he was truly reborn,understanding "what is beyond silence:sunyata".He said:"Ramana's advaita is my birth place.Against that all rationalization is shattered".

Abhishikthananda in Cave

The separation from Monchanin was inevitable.About Abhishiktananda,on July 12,1957 Monchanin wrote to Mlle C.Bouiller:"He is following his own line and wants to live as a Christian hermit in the midst of Hindu spirituals.Serious divergences between us have thrown a shadow over us these past years.I believe that he is going too far in his concession to Hinduism and it seems to me increasingly doubtful that one can rediscover the essence of Christianity beyond the advaita.The advaita  like Yoga and more than it,is an abyss.Whoever plunges to it,with a feeling of dizziness cannot know what he finds in fact".
Abhishiktananda had freed himself from the doctrinal binds and tension with which Monchanin lived.Monchanin believed Christian mysticism is trinitarian,or it is nothing.He noted:"Hindu thought so profoundly centered on the unicity of the One...could not be sublimated in trinitarian thought without a crucifying night of the soul.It has to submit to a noetic metamorphosis,a passion of the spirit".He has not written any book;but his notes and textual thoughts are available.He sought a synthesis,he feared confusion.He was unable to find his way out of that dilemma.Alain Danielou,French scholar who was committed to Hinduism,in his autobiography,The Way to the Labyrinth assessed Monchanin:"Instead of mellowing through Hinduism,Monchanin and his devotees remained frustrated,neurotic,ill at ease and as the whole,rather disagreeable people...He was well equipped to appreciate the vast store house of Indian spirituality.But through out his life he felt bound to the conventional Christian belief in the ultimate superiority of his own faith,a position to which he was theologically committed to the weight of the centuries".
During his near fatal illness in 1932 he had vowed if he survives,he will work for the salvation of India.India convinced him it doesn't need salvation!He could not even die in India.He was taken for treatment to Paris where he died in 1957.
Abhishiktananda became a  permanent Indian citizen  in 1960 and became a disciple of Sri Gnananda Giri of Tirukoyilur in 1967.He wrote The Secret of Arunachala in 1974.After that he spent much time in Himalayas.It was his conviction that the life of renunciation was the meeting point of Christianity and Hinduism.He built a hermitage on the banks of the Ganges in Uttar Kashi.His disciples include Marc Chaduc or Swami Ajatananda Saraswathi who committed suicide jumping into Ganga at Rishikesh.
In his final illness he experienced an "inner apocalypse".He went through his favorite Upanishad
                                 I know him,the great Purusha
                                 The colour of the Sun

                                Beyond all darkness.
                               He who has known him
                               Goes beyond death
                              There is no other way. 
                                                   Svetasvatara Upanishad.111.8.
For him,the quest was fulfilled.He made it clear in his final book,The Further Shore(1975).His friend,Raymon Panikkar(see my blog,Raimon meets Advaita)summed up:"Abhishikthananda was one of the most authentic witnesses of our times of the encounter in depth between Christian and Eastern spiritualities".

Ramana Maharshi

Bede Griffiths was born Alan Richard Griffiths  in Surrey,England.He was the youngest of three children in a middle class family.His father was cheated by his partner in business making him penniless.Griffiths was admitted to Christ Hospital,a school for poor boys.He excelled and went to Magdalen College,Oxford to study Literature and Philosophy.In his last year he got C S Lewis as Professor and they,two Anglicans, became lifelong friends.He wrote an article on Lewis for James Como's collection,C S Lewis at Breakfast Table.Lewis told him:"with the Catholics I find no difficulty in deriving much edification from religious talk on the common ground:but you refuse to show any interest except in differences.Griffiths became  a Catholic,Lewis remained an Anglican.After degree Griffiths  and two of his friends tried community living for a year in vain.
He wanted to become a priest,but was advised by the clergy to work in slums.He was shattered by this suggestion because he felt his vocation was something else.A poor boy need not work in slums again!He was attracted to Cardinal Newman's teaching and he speaks about his conversion in his autobiography,The Golden String.He joined the Benedictine monastery in Prinknash Abbey,against the wishes of his mother who was anti Roman Catholic Church.He was given monastic name Bede.His mother died in a car accident in 1938.He became priest in 1940.He spent four years in two monasteries run by French friars,before moving to Scotland.It is in Farnborough monastery in Hampshire he met Fr Benedict Alappat,a priest born in Europe with roots in Kerala, who cherished a life in monastery.He sailed to India with Alappat in 1955.The Catholic Herald of April 29,1955 reports that they arrived on the invitation of Arch Bishop of Bangalore Thomas Pothakamuri(1889-1968)a malayali who  was born in Ravipadu,Guntur in Andhra.He was Arch Bishop of Bangalore for 27 years and was Archbishop Emeritus.The report tells us that Fr Alappat was the only Indian Benedictine monk then.

Griffiths

They set up monastery in Kengeri in Bangalore.Griffith left it in 1958 saying the location is too western.He joined the Belgian monk,Fr Francis Acharya (whom I have met twice) to establish Kristhiya Sanyasa Samaj ,Kurisumala Ashram,a Syriac rite monastery of the Catholic Church in Vagamon,Idukki,Kerala.He began wearing Saffron,took the name Swami Dayananda.He moved to Saccidananda Ashram,Tannirpalli in 1968,to allow Abhishikthananda his wish to bid farewell.He got reconnected with Benedictine order.He had a stroke on his 86th birth day and died a month later.Before death he had an experience in which he felt that he was again near death;he felt a sense of unity with Christ on the cross,but "nothing"happened,and then he felt an inspiration...to surrender to the Mother".Kali or Black Madonna as Saving destroyer and killer of illusion.
His decision to go native  created tension in the Church.To add to it,he said gay sex was as normal and natural as love between people of the opposite sex."When I was young I might have been a homosexual",he added.But he was very friendly with the female students.
Since Griffiths had taken de Nobili as his Guru,he didn't follow Monchanin's dictum,"Hinduism must reject its atman-brahman equation,if it is to enter into Christ."Times had changed.He found it is possible to Hinduize Christianity.
Reference:
1.Theology in History/Henri de Lubac/Ignatius Press,1996
2.In Quest of the Absolute/ Monchanin and J G Weber/Cistercian Publications,1977
3.India and Europe:An Essay in Understanding/Wilhelm Habfass/State University of New York Press,1988
4.The Spiritual Journey of Henri Le Saux Abhishikthananda/ Odette Baumer-Despeigne/Cistercian Press,1983
5.Return to the Centre/Griffiths and Matthew Fox/Canterbury Press,1976
6.Journeys East:20th Century Western Encounters with Eastern Religious Traditions/Harry Oldmeadow/World Wisdom,2004
See my blogs,RAIMON MEETS ADVAITA,PRINCE RAMAVARMA BECOMES  JACOB

RAIMON PANIKKAR HAD HIS ROOTS IN KERALA

The Christian thinker had roots in Palakkad

Raimon Panikkar,the gigantic Christian thinker of 20th Century,had his roots in Mannarkkad.It is a small town 40 kilometers north east to the district head quarters of Palakkad in Kerala,South India,on the way to Kozhikode.I had been there only twice.But the book,Ootacamund:A History says that the first missionaries took this route to reach Ooty. The Silent Valley tropical rain forest with an unbroken evolution history of 50 million years is not far.Ramunni Panikkar,father of Raimon Panikkar,was born in Mannarkkad,in the Nair family ,Karimba Menakath Allambadath. 

He did his BA(it was not Bsc then) in Chemistry from Presidency College,Madras.The gold medal in BA Physics went to Nobel laureate C V Raman the year Panikkar finished the course.

Panikkar won a scholarship to study Msc in Leeds University,England.The family insisted that he should marry before crossing the sea.He married Kalyani and they had a son,Madhava Menon.

In England,Ramunni Panikkar organised a student group to fight against the British as part of the freedom struggle.After wandering a lot,Panikkar became a pauper,but got associated with a rich business family,Alemany which had interests in leather and sea foods.Their business which was on the verge of a collapse,was given a turn around by Panikkar.The Lady in the family placed a proposal before him to marry her daughter,Carmen.He was agonised.He wrote to his wife Kalyani,seeking her view.She wrote back:"If you can find happiness by marrying that girl,go ahead.I will look after our child".Mercedes,Raimon Panikkar's sister reminisces  having seen the letter.

Raimon Panikkar in India

Alemany was a Roman Catholic Catalan family from Spain.The first World War broke out and Panikkar together with the Alemany family escaped to Barcelona in Spain since Spain was a neutral country, not in war.Panikkar became representative of a German Chemical Company in Barcelona.Carmen and Ramunni Panikkar were married invoking the Pauline privilege.It is a term used for dissolution of a purely natural marriage which had been contracted between two non Christians,one has since become a Christian.It has reference to the letter of St Paul in  1Corinthians 7:12-16:To the rest I say,that if any brother has a wife who is an unbeliever,and she consents to live with him,he should not divorce.It means that Ramunni Panikkar had already become a Christian before he got the consent letter from his first wife,Kalyani.

Ramunni Panikkar didn't assume a Christian name after baptism.I have seen a Spanish Education Ministry document on Ramuni(one n is silent)Paniker Udbodhan Trust registered in the Ottappalam sub registrar office, Ottappalam Amsam Ariyoorthekkummuri Desam.So he has an Ottappalam connection.His earlier family members had contributed to the Trust which gives scholarships to 20 poor,deserving children in Rajagiri College,Kalamassery,Cochin.This was done after Mercedes met Madhavan Nair in Cochin.Raimon also had met his step brother on his first visit to India.

There is a story that Ramunni Panikkar was invited to join the first Indian Cabinet since he was a freedom fighter in England.He refused since he was married,settled and owned a chemical plant in Spain.Unlikely since V K Krishna Menon was there;Menon had gone to London only in 1924.Likely  if Nehru was friendly with Panikkar for which there is no proof-Nehru had studied law during 1910-12 there.Please remember the reference to C V Raman in the beginning.Raman had passed BA in 1904.So,Panikkar may have gone to London in 1906-1907.There is  chance for  Nehru-Panikkar meetings.The year of birth of Panikkar maybe 1885.He died in 1954.Carmen died in 1975.They settled in Barcelona in 1918 and had four children:Raimon,Josep Maria,Mercedes and Salvador.Salvador became a famous Spanish philosopher and journalist.Raimon had this to say about Panikkar and Carmen:"There was a profound harmony between my father and mother in spite of belonging to two different traditions."

Young Raimon

Raimon Panikkar or Raymundo Panikkar, the foremost Christian thinker of 20th century with roots in advaita was born in Barcelona on November 3,1918.He was educated in a Jesuit school.During 1936-1942,he Studied Chemistry and Philosophy at the Universities of Barcelona,Bonn and Madrid.The Spanish Civil war had put the family in risk and hence he left for Germany.He came back to Spain in the summer of  1935.Though he wanted to go back to finish his degree,the Second World War prevented it .He finished it in Spain.He also worked in his father's plant.He had three doctorates:in Philosophy (1946),in Chemistry (1958)from Madrid and in Theology from Pontifical Lateran University in Rome(1961).

He entered the Opus Dei,the most controversial force in the Catholic Church in 1940,made very unpopular by the Dan Brown novel,The da Vinci Code.It was a chapter he was never keen to speak on.Opus Dei,which means 'for work of God' in Latin ,was started in Spain by Catholic priest Jose Maria Escriva in 1928,to achieve full Christan life within professional work,though it is not clear what it means.It teaches everyone is called to Holiness and that ordinary life is a path to sanctity.Most of its members are lay people with secular priests under the governance of a prelate elected by specific members and appointed by the Pope.It got the approval of Pope Pius XII,in 1950.It has 91960 members now,of which only 2051 are priests.Everything about it is secretive-I have read a book by the same name,by John L Allen Jr..

Escriva

Raimon became very close to Escriva and became a priest in 1946 agreeing to  his suggestion.Ramunni Panikkar was bedridden and took part in the ordination ceremony lying on bed.Raimon became a Chaplain at Colegio Major la Moncola and a Professor of Philosophy.He was accepted to the company of famous philosophy professors of Madrid,Lain Entralgo,Garcia Morente and Xabier Zubiri.They offered a Chair at Madrid University.Escriva didn't agree saying that it will affect Raimon's pastoral dedication.Raimon was in Madrid till 1950.After that he was in Salamanca for three years.At the end of 1953,moved to Rome and remained there for a year.He was incardinated at the Indian Diocese of Varanasi in 1954,after his father's death.
Varanasi transformed him.He felt proud of his Indian origin.It was a turning point.It made a decisive reorientation of his thoughts.He learnt Sanskrit;he studied Indian Philosophy and religion at Mysore and Benares Hindu University.He taught in Varanasi for long.There he met several western monks seeking Eastern wisdom for the expression for their Christian beliefs.He began to wear ochre dhoti, sandals and a shawl on his shoulders.In this transformation he was influenced by three Benedictan monks who were called the trinity of Tannirpalli.:Jules Monchanin(1895-1957) or Swami Arupiananda,Henri le Saux or better known as Swami Abhishiktananda(1910-1973) and Bede Griffiths(1906-1993) or Swami Dayananda.Monchanin and le Saux cofounded the Sachidanda Asram in Tannirpalli near Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu which was taken forward  by Griffiths.Abhishiktananda became Raimon's close friend.They tried to express their core Christian convictions in Hindu/Buddhist terms and forms.

Raimon began to take interest in advaita.Christianity began as a Jewish tradition,spread to Greco-Roman world imbibing Greek/Roman cultural expressions which gave it a certain form and character.He respected this,and it in turn equipped him to interact with greatest minds of 20th century Catholicism,like Jean Danielou,Yves Congar,Hans Urs Von Balthazar and several others.He famously said later:"I left Europe (for India)as a Christian,I discovered I was a Hindu and returned as a Buddhist without ever having ceased to be a Christian".He mixed his multicultural origin with Hindu religion and metaphysical leanings.He said:"I don't see myself as half Spanish and half Indian,half Catholic and Half Hindu,but fully Western and fully Eastern...I have always been someone concerned about what is usually called the religious problem".

He lived in a house on the banks of the Ganges.Pope Paul VI called him back to Europe and selected him to be one of the founders of an  Institute in Jerusalem together with Hans Urs Von Balthazar and others.He was a Consultant during the second Vatican Council(1962-1965)to address the relations between the Catholic Church and modern world.He was also invited to the Synod of Rome(I have referred to the Second Council in my story,Panchakshatangal,the stigmata or five wounds of Christ).

While in Jerusalem,he was summoned by Opus Dei Chief Escriva.After a brief trial,Raymon was expelled from it for disobedience.In his 1972 autobiographical book,Cometas,Raimon said:"I don't repent that period in my life...Life's line is neither straight nor zigzag".Advaita rescued him from Opus Dei!

He had the option to be professor in Germany,Harvard and California.Harvard rejected his condition that he want to be in India for six months a year.California accepted it.He joined it in 1972,and taught only during spring.There in Santa Barbara,his Easter service was famous.Raymon would bless the elements-earth,air,water,fire and all surrounding forms of life-plant,animal,human,and then celebrate Mass and the Eucharist,as if he was chanting,agnaye idam na mama(Oh Fire,this was not for me).He coined a new expression for it:Cosmotheandric celebration.Cosmo is universe,theo is God  and antropos,man.After  retirement in 1987,he moved to Tavertet in Catalonia ,100 kilometres north of Barcelona.He bought a farmhouse on a hilltop and formed the Raimon Panikkar Vivarium Foundation,a centre for inter cultural studies.vivarium in Latin means speech.He became the first Indian and Asian to deliver the Gifford Lectures in 1989,in the University of Edinburgh ,thereby joining the company of geniuses like,Karl Barth,William James,Albert Schweitzer and Reinhold Niebuhr.

Raimon during his last days

He married at the age of 73,in 1991,Maria,a novelist against the Church rule to remain a celibate.Not much is known about her.Marriage was  a civil ceremony.She died of cancer;they had adopted a daughter.It was short lived.He considered it later an ineffective mistake.The matter of marriage was "satisfactorily settled" in Rome by Bishop of Varanasi,Patrick D'Souza.Mercedes shared the opinion that it was not right to get another person involved in his sign of protest against the Church.The official Church always kept him out,though few Seminaries in India teach his Theology.Though he was at loggerheads with the conservative Bishop Vic of his Diocese in Madrid ,the Bishop did Raimon's funeral service.Raymon had written against the Bishop to Rome.Raymon lived like an Indian monk completely in reflection and mysticism in his final days.He had even touched the feet of the dancers after a Sufi dance performance in Vivarium.
His doctorate in Philosophy was On the Concept of Nature.In the Introduction he said:
"Concerned about the theological problem of what is beyond nature as metaphysical substratum of an integral Anthropology that would explain the specific and personal man,the real and historical Christian,I had to deal first with the Metaphysical problem of nature".

He matured a lot by the time he got his doctorate in Theology.The thesis was the textual comparison between Adisankara's(788-820) commentary of Brahmasutras with the teachings of Thomas Aquinas(1225-1274).If Sankara was the father of advaita,Aquinas was the father of Thomism.He attempted to synthesize Aristotelian philosophy with the principles of Christianity.His prominent works are,Summa Theologica and Summa Contragentiles.Raimon didn't confuse historical contingency with ultimate truth.In both Hinduism and Budhism he found other languages in addition to Biblical Hebrew,Latin or Greek.This was the main focus of this thesis which became a book,The Unknown Christ of Hinduism(1964).He found Christ transcending Christianity.Raymon called Christ a "super name" because it can encompass other names like Krishna,Rama or Ishwara.So he said:

"To the third Christian millennium is reserved the task of overcoming a tribal Christology by a Christophany which allows Christians to see the work of Christ everywhere,without assuming that they have a better grasp or monopoly of that Mystery,which has been revealed to them in a Unique way." This view is definitely against that of Rome.
Dr K S Radhakrishnan,philosopher,had met Raimon in 1980 in Cochin when he came for an International Religious conference.Radhakrishnan,whose doctorate is in The system of Advaita as it is Exposed in the Adhyatma Ramayana of Ezhuthachan,feels that Raimon had not been transformed to an advaitin.He had tried to read vedas on the basis of Aristotelian philosophy.So he is more close to Aquinas.His logical sructure was that of a Christian.Radhakrishnan felt Raimon was confused because his emphasis was on limitations.

His books include,The Crisis of Madhyamika and Indian Philosophy Today(1966),The Vedic Experience:Mantramanjari-An Anthology of the Vedas for Modern Man(1977) and Initiation to the Vedas(2006).He was unable to fine tune his last book, based on his Gifford Lectures,Rhythm of Being and also avoided the final chapter ,The Survival of Being.In the book he observed:

"I must admit that all ultimate questions cannot have final answers,but that we can at least be aware of the problem we have presented.I have touched the limits of my understanding and must stop here.The Tree of Knowledge again and again attempts one at the cost of neglecting the more important Tree,the Tree of Life.How can Human thinking grasp the destiny of life itself,when we are not its owners".

This view is again  at loggerheads with that of the Church.For Church,Christ is the ultimate truth.For them the final answer is Him.Raimon confessed he didn't get the final answer there.

Reference:
1.The Unknown Christ of Hinduism/Orbis Books/1981
2.Cometas
3.The Rhythm of Being/Orbis Books/2013
4.Talk with my friend Dr K S Radhakrishnan

See my blog,PRINCE RAMAVARMA BECOMES PRINCE JACOB RAMAVARMA