Rare Earths and Travancore

A New Assessment

Some years ago, I had covered this subject, dwelling mainly on the connections between Travancore, Britain, Sir CP, and the new administration at Delhi, trying to complete the accession of all the princely states. It was not complete and lacked study of certain angles, and so, I am revisiting the study to add more asides to it after reading a recent Wall Street Journal (Dec 16-17, 2023) article ‘Hunt for Rare-Earth Supplies Accelerate”. Now, this article was all about rare earth magnets, and the search for non-radioactive sands containing the material required for production of such magnets. But it also dealt with having to look for such ore/sand at far away places such as Australia and Vietnam and wean the western world from China which holds a virtual monopoly (China refines 89% of the world's neodymium and praseodymium, the key metals for EV magnets) on such magnet production.

I have not seen Rocket Boys yet but read the interesting article by MG Radhakrishnan in Mathrubhumi which provides details of the supposed meetings between Delhi and Travancore and the arm-twisting of the young Travancore Raja by Homi Bhaba. Now what was the real story?

It all started with a very interesting UK-trained geologist working for Travancore, named Ezra Masillamani, brother of the famous CM Agur (Travancore resident’s office manager and author of the book - Church History of Travancore). The family, originally Parayas, converted and can trace their ancestry to the convert Vedamanickam of Mylady, from De-Lannoy’s period.

indications of the presence of rare earths in these sands had initially been reported by Schomberg, Tipper, Herbert, and Christie. In a report by Messrs. E. Masillamani and I. C. Chacko, State Geologists of Travancore, dealing with work done during the years 1907-10, reference was made to the occurrence of monazite in Travancore. Late in 1916, or early in 1917, a variety of thorianite was discovered by him, carrying something like 40 percent. of uranium oxide. In the same year, the same geologist discovered two other minerals in Travancore (Mr. Masillamani worked on a crystal of thorianite and a partial analysis of the mineral showed that it contains 32.27 p.c. of ThO2 and 39.86 p.c. U2O8). The most important deposit was located at the Ashtamudi Bar, where the sands are brought down by the Kallada River.

I had covered the subsequent involvement of various nations and Sir CP in controlling the sale of these Monazite sands in an earlier article but did not dwell too much on the discussions between the Delhi government and Travancore. It is quite interesting and tells you a different story of some of the arm twisting by the center, to force consensus. It will also become clear to the reader that there is quite a bit of misreporting these days while recalling such events. This one had a good trail to follow and check, but I dread the days when AI will make ‘stretching or faking news’ otherwise termed ‘inspired’, even more, complicated to decipher.

First the importance of the sands. While the initial sand exports to Europe were for the manufacture of gas mantles, the subsequent interest was its potential use in nuclear technology. European, German, and Americans competed for a share in these deposits with Travancore, and after the end of the First World War, the new crop of capitalists including Eapen, Masillamani, and Kesava Pillai came to the fore, with applications, only to see them rejected. In some cases, land purchase applications were rejected, and the land was acquired by the Circar. Eventually, a few permissions were granted but paid low royalties.

Sir CP was initially involved with Travancore as an advisor to the Maharani and later as the Dewan of Travancore, until 1947. Though involved in many pioneering schemes and developmental activities, he was seen as an autocratic administrator, loyal to the royalty that employed him. As the people’s movements geared up, Sir CP who was fiercely anticommunist, used an iron hand to put down any kind of protest or revolt, earning him a poor reputation. We have discussed all these and exemplified them in previous articles.

Later, as Ilmenite became popular for the manufacture of Titanium Dioxide, Masillamani again came to the fore in 1930, with an application for 958 acres of mining land, but the Travancore Circar looked at it as dubious he seemed to be fronted by American interests, approving just 50 acres. As time went by, CP Mathan also entered the fray, forming Malabar Minerals in 1936, but CP refused to register the mining lease due to their frayed relationship (see article on TN & Quilon bank). The situation dragged on until independence, with British and sometimes American companies involved in the fringes, and Travancore drew very little royalty in the export of these sands. The overall market and strategic outlook were not clear, but the importance of these rare earth sands remained paramount in the public sphere, with new applications for the metals coming about rapidly, not only in the nuclear industry but also elsewhere.

The techno-politics of Rare Earths, Sir CP

The importance of Monazite, a phosphate compound, is that it contains radioactive Thorium. As mentioned previously, it was originally used for gas mantle lamps (a technology patented by Germans, but with raw material (acquired from Travancore) monopolized by the British). With the pioneering research by Marie Curie and Carl Schmidt, its importance in radioactivity became clear and as the nuclear age dawned in 1945, its potential use to breed nuclear fuel became clear.

That the British would be on their way out of India was clear in the early years of the 40s and Sir CP, an avowed monarchist started to lay grounds for the state to remain independent of the new India. His arguments were persuasive and the state itself was more developed than most, relatively stable, and considerably wealthy. I have covered these at length in an earlier essay. For some strange reason, Sir CP did not play his critical pawn, the Thorium business, in his play, or so we thought.

This was the period when the US decided to try and control the global nuclear scene (after it had dropped the bombs at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945), by establishing a monopoly over all aspects of atomic research & production.  But naturally, the Thorium deposits at Travancore came up in discussions between the US and the UK. Until then and through WW II, sales of sands were embargoed by Britain. As the war ground to a close, Sir CP refused to lift the embargo and insisted that those who wanted the minerals had to establish production plants in Travancore, arguing its desire to become an industrialized state. The US was vexed at the turn of events, for 73% of the Monazite import was from Travancore. The British however, were not upset about this as they continued to control the overseas communication channels.

Covert communications, however, continued between the US and Sir CP, and they knew that the key to success was support for Sir CP’s visions of an independent Travancore. Thus, a tenuous link started to form between Thorium and Travancore’s independence. As late as July 1947, an official communique between the US Department of State and the US consul in Madras read - We must be careful to avoid giving the Dewan any opportunity to claim a special relationship with us, unless it should actually be our intention to establish one. At this particular time, I should imagine he would be particularly eager to see in the Consulate’s dealings with him, some explicit or tacit approval of his idea of Travancore independence, in advance of the time when we can take any decision on that question.

Sir CP knew about the nuclear significance of thorium and after the Nagasaki bombing, he wrote to the Maharaja in 1946- “If thorium can be utilized for the manufacture of atomic bombs (there is no reason why it should not be), Travancore will enjoy a position very high in the world.” He also made it clear to the newly minted CSIR, that Travancore was the sole owner of all mineral deposits and would only deal directly with interested parties. He went on to conclude a secret deal with the UK to export 9,000 tonnes between 1947 and 1950, in return for the establishment of a new processing plant in Travancore. The men in power at Delhi came to know the facts only after the reporter Bamzai, published the explosive article in Bombay’s Blitz.

Even though Homi Bhabha, the Chairman of CSIR seemed unconcerned, Nehru was incensed. Speaking to the Indian cabinet in April 1947, Nehru is reported to have said that he “would approve the ‘use of airpower against Travancore, if necessary, to bring them to heel. He then asked the head of CSIR, Sir Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar, to travel to Travancore to obtain more information about the nature of Travancore’s arrangement with the British. Bhabha and Swarup traveled to Trivandrum in June 1947 and came back with an acceptable agreement, while the central government thanked Sir CP for his cooperation.

Itty Abraham in his lovely article, stops here, but the story had another angle altogether and for that, we must study the fascinating account provided by Sandeep Bamzai, the grandson of KN Bamzai, the intrepid Blitz journalist. Blitz did provide an expose of what was going on, behind closed doors, then. Bamzai explains that the printed version was one thing, but what was provided to Nehru by Blitz behind the scenes, had damaging information on Sir CP.

Now what could Sir CP have been up to or for that matter, how did Nehru outwit Sir CP using the Blitz investigative report? Here is where you can see the collective genius of Nehru, Patel, and Menon, working together before they deputed Sampath and Bhabha.

Though Sir CP found some support from Veer Savarkar, his master plan was to establish a direct communication link with Britain and sign the agreement with Thorium Ltd, where on the face of it, a plant would be established for processing the sands in Travancore (retaining natural resources within the country), but on detailed perusal; it turned out that a majority of the 9,000 tones would be directly exported, while only a small portion would be processed locally. This deal was unearthed by Bamzai, and its details were turned over to Nehru.

As Sir CP traveled to Delhi and met Mountbatten to argue his case on Travancore’s independence, Mountbatten refused to buy Sir CP’s arguments that Nehru was unstable and Patel was ruthless and asked him to deal with VP Menon. VP Menon, it is mentioned, reminded Sir CP that Travancore was the strongest breeding ground for communists in India. He asked CP what CP could do if the communists revolted against him after 15th August, and this veiled threat discomfited Sir CP. As we know now, a personal attack on Sir CP would take place, sooner than later.

The counter was multipronged, and the sequence of events went thus.

-        - VP Menon mentioned the communist threat to the Dewan, per Bamzai’s account.

-       -  The Dewan returning from Delhi, asked the Maharaja to write that he would agree to the conditions, but the Raja delayed signing the letter. Mountbatten insisted on receiving a signed document.

-        - At the same time, the state congress agitation strengthened, and, in a few days, Sir CP was stabbed by KCS Mani at a public function.

-        - The Maharaja confirmed he would sign, and Patel called off the agitation.

-        - Blitz then published the one-sided agreement between Travancore and Thorium Ltd.

Now how did Sir CP establish channels with the British? He used the Nizam of Hyderabad to channel his communications through the Nawab of Bhopal – Hamidullah Khan, to Jinnah in Pakistan. Using his sleuths, Nehru obtained a copy of the Nawab’s letter to Jinnah. It signaled a confederation of these recalcitrant states either themselves or through Pakistan to establish links with Britain. It also became clear that Churchill was a party to this maneuver, through his secretary Gillatt. Eventually, Nehru exposed the complete plan to the powers in the center.

So much for Sir CP and his machinations.

Oppenheimer, Nehru & India

The involvement of Oppenheimer with India was twofold, and I had mentioned one of them in the past, his devotion to the Bhagavad Gita. As it turns out, when he ran afoul of Edgar Hoover and got into the bad books of the FBI, he was invited to India by Nehru, a sanctuary of sorts. Bernard Peters had by then moved to India to work at TIFR. Nehru’s missive was sent through a member of the Indian Consul General, inviting Oppenheimer to visit India for a month or two or even longer, perhaps for good. Dr Oppenheimer replied that he was deeply moved by the PM’s letter and invitation, mentioning that he would always have it in mind, that he did indeed hope to visit India, but that right then he thought his place was in the USA. The Indian diplomat assured Oppenheimer that no atomic bomb work was taking place in India, but Oppenheimer told him this wasn’t a consideration in his decision. Instead, Oppenheimer thought that ‘were he to leave the United States now, this action would be misconstrued in such as way as to be very dangerous and indeed harmful to the good relations between the two countries’.

But there is more to this as well – it turns out as Nayantara Sahgal narrates, that Oppenheimer attempted to communicate secretly with Nehru through Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit, who was serving at the time as India’s envoy to Washington.

A chilling climax to her growing unease over the prevailing political climate in America came two weeks later with s telephone call from Robert Oppenheimer, the renowned physicist who had headed the experiment that produced the atom bomb. On 21 February 1951, she wrote to her brother,

Quote – Letter dated 21st Feb 1951 VLP to JN (quoted verbatim as recent news reports have ‘massaged’ parts of it) though the veracity of its contents cannot be established as factual.

Two days ago, I had a phone call from Professor Oppenheimer from Princeton saying that he wanted to communicate something of a very urgent nature and that he was sending Amiya Chakravarti because he could not come personally for reasons I would understand. He sounded agitated on the phone. Amiya arrived next day and delivered the following verbal message, to be communicated to you as early as possible.

Oppenheimer wants you to know that work of a most horrible and deadly nature is being done on the atom bomb, that step by step America is 'deliberately' moving towards a war of annihilation. The recent promises given by Truman to Attlee regarding the atom have resulted in research for a weapon of the same deadly quality which will be kept very secret and used INSTEAD of the atom. This research is going on at a furious pace. Many of those engaged in this work are going to pieces as it is against all accepted standards of civilized decency, and the secrecy imposed on them is almost more than some of them can bear, Oppenheimer among them. For this purpose, more and more thorium is required and the U.S. desires to stockpile all available thorium. Oppenheimer has reason to believe that an approach will be made very soon to India directly, and through Britain. In fact, he believes that one reason why the Indian request for wheat has been so readily sponsored by the State Department is because of what they themselves require from India. The argument used for obtaining thorium will be that it is intended for humanitarian purposes. According to Oppenheimer NO such purpose can at present be achieved.

Oppenheimer 'begs' the Government of India not to sell any thorium to the U.S. voluntarily or through pressure. He thinks India holds the key to peace at present, but if India's vast resources of thorium are placed at the disposal of the U.S., the greatest war ever fought will be made possible. Secret talks have been going on between the U.S. and Britain.

Oppenheimer wants you to know that in spite of the general belief that Britain has the atom, the only bombs she has have gone from the U.S. That is the hold the U.S., has on her and it may be used to put pressure on India. In conclusion, Oppenheimer begs India in the name of humanity to maintain her present foreign policy and not be swayed by any pressure, national or international, to depart from it.

This remarkable letter marked Top Secret and never, to my knowledge, made public before, from the American scientist who knew what the ghastly consequences of a war worse than nuclear war would be, carries no hint or smear of betrayal, only a desperate bid to avert catastrophe. It appeals to a man whom Oppenheimer regards as the sole dependable advocate for peace in circumstances where preparations for a destructive war are proceeding behind a facade of peace.

Oppenheimer's messenger, Amiya Chakravarti was a Bengali poet and academic who had been closely associated with Tagore and Gandhi. At this time, he was Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Studies in Princeton.

Oppenheimer's anguish over his part in the atom bomb had turned him to the study of Hindu philosophy and Gandhi’s doctrine of ahimsa. He had unbounded admiration for Nehru and had written to him in his search for comfort during his own period of soul-searching. Vijaya Lakshmi had once had lunch with him at Princeton and found him 'as rare a human being as he was a great scientist'.

The US deliberations

Well, remarkable right?? I should have written this before the article on Russell, Menon, and Nehru. But it tells you the way thoughts went in those Cold War days. Anyway, a lot of water has flown under the bridge and all these only raise an eyebrow. This is just yet another story from the past, of no real relevance these days.

The sands of Travancore are still coveted. The KMML and Titanium units, locations we used to wander around during our childhood days remain, mining rare earths, be they for magnets or whatever. Scandals concerning exports of these sands continue to sport headlines now and then. Interestingly while the treasures of the temple are dedicated to Lord Padmanabha, these precious sands don't seem to be!

As regards Oppenheimer & the Bhagavad Gita, I chanced on a lengthy paper on - The “Gita’ of J Robert Oppenheimer by James A. Hijiya, published by the American Philosophical Society, Jun 2000. It is a fairly complex but thought-provoking paper and requires careful study. That will remain a work in progress….

References

'Captains of the Sands' Metropolitan Hegemony in Mining in Tiruvitamkur, 1900-50 - K T Ram Mohan

Radioactive Minerals and Private Sector Mining – VT Padmanabhan

Princestan – Sandeep Bamzai

Rare Earths: The cold war in the annals of Travancore – Itty Abraham

Travancore’s Pakistan Intrigues, 1946-47

A Life in Twilight -Mark Wolverton

Nehru: Civilizing A Savage World - Nayantara Sahgal

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Mexico City – A metropolis full of surprises

Our recent visit, and of course, a little bit on India-Mexico relations.

This trip had been in the making for quite some time, we had planned to go some years ago and had to abort after COVID restrictions forced us to cancel it. But we made it last month and it was no doubt, a fascinating week in a teeming, colorful city, steeped in history. So much different from the seaside resort of Los Cabos that we had been to, some years ago!

What strikes you first is the strange fact that it was a city that grew over time, atop a lake, and that you can trace its development since then, from the city center outwards. As the story goes, Aztecs moved south in search of their god, Huitzilopochtli, and finally spotting the sign - an eagle with a snake on its beak, perched on a cactus, went on to settle down on a small island in the middle of Lake Texcoco. Its history started with a settlement called Tenochtitlan and grew over many artificial islands on the lake.  The population grew and grew and the city was built, into a great urban city, with the Templo mayor at its center. Today, it is a bustling city with over 20 million or more living on it! But well, the underground water sources have not fully dried up and so, buildings tend to sink here and there! While Venice is most noted for sinking, having sunk over 9-10 inches, Mexico City has parts that have sunk as much as 26 feet! But the sinking is not uniform, and well, is proving to be an expensive nuisance to the populace living over the depleted aquifer!

Anyway, all this becomes evident as you do a walking tour over the city center, and the guide drones on about the avarice of human beings, who have scant disregard for nature and do such idiotic things, while he stops to point out marvels of architecture, the original ruins and monuments. Automobiles and thousands of people pass by and you pause to wonder about the 700 or so years of the city’s history. You look around and see the two distant types of people, the slick urban, meticulously dressed, perhaps showing his Spanish lineage, and the native Indian population, plus of course hordes of gawking tourists. But I can tell you, the city is safe, the people are nice and tourist-friendly, and there is so much to see and learn, and well, the food is fabulous! Compared to the ‘Tex-Mex’ food you get in the US, the stuff you get in Mexico City is on a different level altogether. There are great eating places, good fusion food, and of course, many a ‘cantina’ doling out authentic cuisine. And there are patisseries which one should not miss, the cakes, pastries and scones mouthwatering!

But what strikes you most is the amount of history. though not meticulously preserved, quite a bit is still available for perusal, for the avid enthusiast. As you walk around the Zocalo or the main plaza in the Centro, you can see the layers from the pre-Hispanic ancient Aztec city of Tenochtitlan at the center, to the 16th century Hispanic and the present. It will take weeks to cover all of the monuments and buildings on offer, but the Templo Mayor site showing the ancient excavated remains of a grand pyramid, and the Cathedral will start things off.  The streets branching off from the centro are meant for the intrepid explorer. The loveliest among the buildings are the Bellas Artes Museum and the incredible post office building. The older buildings are great examples of architecture. As we were staying at the Reforma, transport to all these places was not too difficult, though the morning and evening hour trips get delayed by traffic jams.

If you recall, I mentioned that Mexico City (known by theacronym CDMEX) was built on several artificial islands resulting in many canals. Most of them vanished, but there is one canal, which is popular for tourists, called Xochimilcan,   where they have hundreds of brightly colored boats that take you along the ancient waterway, the boatman using long poles to move the boat along, while hawkers on shop boats crowd around you selling food, alcohol and what not! Moving on, we got to the Aztec stadium, which had been home and witnessed soccer world cups, football giants like Maradona (his ‘infamous’ hand-of-God goal was shot there), many concerts by Michael Jackson, U2 and Paul McCartney, and of course Olympic ceremonies. Standing on the turf of the football pitch, you wonder about the boots that thundered across the same grass and ended up with incredible shots into the net and the 100,000-odd people screaming Goooooooaaaaaal in unison. Phew! Must have been a great experience!

No one would miss the pyramids at Teotihuacan, a short ride away, the Tlatelolco area, with its Aztec ruins and the square that witnessed the political unrest, and of course, the Guadalupe shrine. The pyramids of the sun and moon rival those in Egypt, they are great though not majestic, are flat-topped, and have steps, though these days nobody is allowed to climb them! I won’t go into the history of the Aztecs, or the Spanish arrival in Mexico, these are vast topics and I have only a minuscule idea about them. But a visit to CDMEX can help you get a proper perspective, which is required for future study. The Guadalupe Shrine, the holiest of places in Mexico, is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. Millions throng the church during December, and what struck me was the little walking belt in front of the shrine, which ensures that you don’t hang around in front of the Virgin Mary image for too long. It will be a good idea to have something like this in Guruvayur where a traffic jam in front of the idol, is a norm.

Along the way, we did a bit of heady tequila tasting and heard of the difference between Mezcal, Tequila, and the Agave toddy called Pulque. Interestingly, Mezcal is made from different types of Agaves, but the real Tequila is made from a specific blue agave. Mezcal is usually sold with a worm in the bottle (to show its authenticity, and origin at Oaxaca) and these worms are roasted and powdered with the chili salts, licked with lime, while sipping the liquor!

Off we went next to see the home of Leon Trotsky, the Russian revolutionary, who was ousted by Stalin and fled from Russia, to settle down in Mexico City, only to be assassinated by an NKVD agent, in 1940. That reminded me of the Indian connection to the Mexican working class - MN Roy’s sojourn in Mexico, if you recall Roy is considered the person who introduced communism to Mexico, after jumping bail in San Francisco and fleeing across the border to Mexico, with his wife Evelyn, to help found the Mexican Communist Party in 1917. In M.N. Roy’s Memoirs, he wrote, “Mexico was the land of my rebirth”. His former home has been converted into the exclusive MN Roy nightclub serving music and liquor (but not food), and is considered an architectural jewel. I did not know about it and missed a chance to see it!

Now let me digress a bit and link Indian Mexican relations, which not many are aware of, even though these days many Indians travel to or via Mexico.

It is said that Roy met an aging Mexican socialist Adolfo Santibanez at a Chinese restaurant and came up with the idea of creating a party, the first outside of Russia. This was after an aborted attempt in Germany and Japan, to bolster support for Indian independence, a subject I will cover in more detail separately. Sreenivasa Rao who has covered it in a detailed 5-part blog states - It was Mexico and Evelyn that intellectually liberated Roy; broadened his attitude and outlook towards life; and, transformed him into a truly cosmopolitan person with a new cultural sensitivity. He developed a more open approach and a new outlook to life. Much credit must be given to Evelyn in transforming Roy’s sensibility while in Mexico. That formative period in Mexico was a very important phase in his life. It molded him as a person and as an intellectual with a perceptive understanding of life.

This brings me to a few other connections between India and Mexico, since ancient times. Though there are some fanciful mentions of a ship full of Nairs sailing from Kerala to Mexico and creating a home in the Nayarit state in Mexico, it is clear that many an Indian did get transported to various countries in South America during the 16th -18th century, as slaves, on slave runs coordinated by Spanish and Portuguese runners. Many have assimilated into the populace, and it is hardly possible to trace their origins, though history books spit out rare mentions, here and there.

In the case of Mexico, the very first slave mentioned is a Malabar cook employed by a Spanish pastor, in the early part of the 16th century. He was the forerunner to the so-called Indeos Chinos batch of Indian slaves. Juan Nunez from Calicut was the slave/cook of the first Bishop of Mexico (1533-1548), Juan de Zumárraga, he was later manumitted in June 1548 when the padre expired. Some culinary experts state that the famous Mole curry could in theory be attributed to this cook from India!

Once the Portuguese established control over Malacca and Manila, the latter location became the holding point for large numbers of young Indian slaves, both men and women. They were held in captivity in Manila together with many Filipinos and sold off to the highest Iberian bidder taking them to new Spanish colonies in the Americas, i.e., primarily to Mexico. Galleons (termed the Manilla Galleons) of increasing tonnage carrying these hapless Indians and Filipinos sailed the rough seas between the Philippines and Acapulco in New Spain during the 17th century. These slaves were, on the social ladder, placed on par with the lowest category, the indigenous – Indians of South America. Thus, the term stuck, Indeos Chinos. They traveled for months on the Spanish ships and were carted off to small industries existing then, such as textile units. Interestingly, indigenous peoples had greater freedom and some of these Indeos Chinos tried to pass off as local Indians to claim manumission, while others spent considerable effort to maintain their original identities. In any case, over time, this resulted in the intermixing of the two communities, i.e., the Indians from India and the local South American Indians. Out in the Philippines, for this reason, the slave traders resorted to the horrible practice of branding these Indian slaves on their faces to ensure that their origin was clear. I will write more about them soon.

The story of Meera Poblana (Catarina de San Juan) is one I touched upon many years ago when a lady up north was kidnapped, brought to Cochin, converted to Catholic Christianity, transported to the Philippines, and eventually ended up in Mexico. With the passing years, this pious lady, built up a cult following after he visions of Mary and Jesus and was worshipped, till the Vatican banned it. Today her (so they say) colorful Rajput-style skirts and blouses are, quite popular. Sadly, I could not find time enough to go to Puebla and check out more details.

This was all forgotten, and not many Indians came to this part of the world until the 20th century. However, the communities met in California! Punjabis working mainly in Canada and California, in the agricultural and lumber sector, were not allowed to bring their families. Interracial marriage bans in California prevented them from marrying Black or White women but were allowed to marry Mexican women. There was something in common between them, in those days, Mexicans and Indians shared a lower-class status in American society. Many Punjabi men ended up marrying Mexican women and formed a Punjabi Mexican community, settling in Yuba city, Sacramento in North California, Imperial Valley in South California, and a few other border states, including Texas and Nevada.

As Patrick Collins explains - The wives became adept at cooking delightful fusion dishes like curried tamales, and the men learned to speak Spanish, which helped them communicate with the farm workers who were often hired to help cultivate their land. The children inherited the religion of their mothers and grew up Catholic. One common story puts an interesting twist on the tradition of following mass with a family meal. The men would wait in the church parking lot, speaking Punjabi with one another, and when their families were done worshipping, everyone would pile into their pickup trucks and go out to eat together. The tradition held until Punjabi religious institutions started to form along the lines of the three major religions of Punjab: Sikhism, Hinduism, and Islam. Similarity in food helped – the Mexican tortilla and the Indian chapati are virtually interchangeable, and the chili pepper looms equally large in both cuisines. Jordan Villegas adds that – The Punjabi-Mexican generation became known locally as “half and halves” and many members recall facing prejudice from both Anglo and Mexican schoolmates.

After India became Independent, Mexico became the first Latin American nation to recognize the independence of India, and in 1961, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru became the first Indian head-of-state to pay a visit to Mexico. Since then, intercourse between the nations has been sporadic and only in occasional world forums, but the next was during the so-called Indian Green Revolution of the 60’s.

It is a vast topic, and I have touched upon it in the grain for books and a few other articles, but suffice to mention that Mexican wheat found its way to India. The story involves the visit of MS Swaminathan to the Netherlands, the meeting with Norman Borlaug, and some years later, Swaminathan now back with the IARI in India, deciding to try out the semidwarf wheat developed by Borlaug, to combat food shortages in India. With funding from the Rockefeller Foundation, Borlaug visited India in March 1963 and organized the dispatch of Mexican red dwarf & semi-dwarf seeds to India and Pakistan. These together with local varieties, some 18000 tons of it from Mexico, (though later in 1965-66) created the golden-colored wheat (DS Athwal pioneered the modification of the red variety to the amber yield, to create the Kalyan Sona in 1967) now grown and exported from India.

Strangely, Mexico is still a corn-eating country, just like India is a rice-eating country and I still recall the ration shops where wheat was doled out and food classes were held, demonstrating what to do with wheat, in South India, where housewives were aghast seeing this new grain. Eventually, we got used to chappatis and puris, though they are still held second to rice. Nevertheless, we continue to blame Mexico for sending us the Parthenium weed (naughtily called the congress grass), its pollen a reason for the many asthma complaints in India.

Let’s get back to Mexico and our trip. Having spent an exhausting day at the Pyramids, we spent the next checking out the lovely museums dotting CDMEX. The Anthropologie Museum is a grand structure, with a giant upside-down fountain, home to much of the country’s history, tastefully displayed, though our trip was interrupted when the security sirens started blaring and all visitors were herded to the center. We thought it was a fire alarm, but it turned out to be some other security scare, which nobody bothered to explain and was soon forgotten. I was fascinated by the sunstone Aztec calendar, and so much more, but with no base in Aztec history, all this was more informational than educative.

The Chapultepec castle, (adjoining the Gandhi statue and Gandhi Road) is on the same grounds as the Anthropologie Museum, and is an uphill walk, though not so bad. It is a window to the Spanish administration, a one-time summer home for the Spanish governor. No doubt, an important place to visit, it is home to many exhibits and provides a great view of the city from up above. The Soumaya museum was fun, just like the building itself is.  A uniquely constructed building, and named after the owner’s wife, you can only marvel at the fabulous collection of art and other items, collected by the late Carlos Slim, a billionaire. You can spend hours and hours, and if art does not interest you, you can see a fascinating collection of telephones and phonographs, from the first to the present. Sculptures, paintings, and whatnot fill this multi-story structure. Along the Reforma boulevard, are so many great monuments, and an easy walk from the Centro.  We could not find the water pipe which ended up 25’ above the road level, a result of the city’s sinking in places!

If food interests you, you are in the right city. Tasteful restaurants, fancy eating joints, quick eats, cantinas, and roadside eateries are aplenty, and fusion food as well as ‘what your grandma would make’ places dot the city. From experience, I can say that the ‘Al Pastor’ taco was a revelation, the Lebanese (brought in by Christian Lebanese) shawarma-inspired taco. Let me warn you, it does not taste like Middle Eastern Shawarma at all, has vinegar, cinnamon, spices, and pineapple in it, and is made of pork. Good stuff though. Though we tried a few places, the letdown was an Indian Mexican fusion restaurant, leaving much to be desired.

We did not miss the place that everybody visits, a house that will leave a fond memory in your heart – the home and resting place of the lovely Frida Khalo. Her story is inspiring, that of a painter who produced painting marvels even though afflicted with polio and living through wracking pain and other health issues which she had to endure all her life, following a horrific bus accident. Married to another famous painter Diego Rivera, and wearing corsets to help stabilize her back, she produced marvelous Mexican folk themes and self-portraits. I am not too familiar with art, but I understand that these years, her life and work have triggered a ‘Fridamania’, and her works have been declared to be Mexican cultural heritage works. Her blue house, the La Caza Azul is one of the most visited museums in Mexico City, and her unibrow and dress sense are much talked about.

The lovely Nayantara Sehgal and her sister Rita Dar visited her in the 40s and got her to wear a Sari, pictured here. Nayantara replied to Manu Bhagavan when he questioned her about the picture. “I had just graduated from Wellesley College in the summer of 1947,” Sahgal writes when she went to Mexico for a visit. “We visited Frida whom our host in Mexico knew.” The Pandit sisters visited Kahlo at her home. “We put her in one of our saris and she loved it,” Sahgal recalled. “Frida gave me two beautiful photos of herself, inscribed by her.”

So much more, to see and experience in Mexico, but it was time to get back, but I will remember those pleasant days, the great ambiance, the simple people, the colonial architecture, the museums, and the food and drinks…well worth a visit…

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Russell, Menon & Kumar

Bertrand Russell and India

It was a siege of sorts. We were tucked away in our hostel rooms due to a ruckus between the locals and the students and for a week or so, we were stuck in our hostel, with no classes. It all started with somebody assaulting somebody and many other bodies joining the fracas, like most thallu cases. The college ground to a halt, doors were boarded, and the Regional Engineering College at Calicut was shut down for a while. But naturally, we had to find ways of making merry in these newfound holidays. I possessed a cassette tape recorder, a great novelty in those days! I had convinced my friend the late IM Sankaranarayanan to part with two of his precious Mohammed Rafi LP records for a few hours, so that I could copy a selection to a cassette tape.  The copying was done with during this holiday and the cassette was played back and forth, for hours. One song stood out - ‘Aaj ki Raat yeh kaisi raat’ – a melodious and romantic number.

Youngsters reading this will wonder what this is all about, but we had such contraptions in those days, called record players, spool tape decks, and so on. Manu, my friend ran the college record room, he was the disc jockey, and music was aired in the evenings, to students living in the five residence halls (hostels). Western, Bollywood, Tamil, and Malayalam records were played and the music piped through the ‘loudspeakers’ mounted at vantage points. As for me, I had great company, with Manu in the next hostel room who held the keys to the record room, UK Haridas, the singing pride of our college living in the room across, and Venu who had a collection of lyrics to many hundred songs, just a few rooms away.

But my friends, this is not really about my college life (which without doubt, was colorful), but about the film in which that song was included, and some trivia around it. The song itself, sung by Mohammed Rafi, tuned by Shankar Jaikishan, including some crooning by Saira Banu, was made for a film called Aman. Sara Banu tells us in a 2017 interview - "It was an important film that we shot in Japan. And I did sing, and that too with the one and only Mohd. Rafi saab. I always wanted to sing but was too shy. My grandmother Shamshad Begum was an accomplished classical singer and I’d urge her to teach me. She would demand that I practice, which I never did. But finally, it happened in Kumar saab’s Aman."

And thus, we get to the topic of the day. It is about the film Aman (Peace) – a landmark film from 1967 with an important message, made by Mohan Kumar. It had Rajendra Kumar and Saira Banu in the lead. In a crowd scene, a young Naseeruddin Shah made his first film appearance (paid Rs 7 ½/- for he was picked up at a 50% discount, since unionized extras were paid Rs 15/-) as an ‘extra’, and Jagjit Singh (the late and great Ghazal singer), did a cameo, as a Sikh with a turban and beard.

The storyline is incredible, considering the potboilers of today and I saw it recently thanks to Youtube. It is about a British educated Dr Gautam Das (Rajendra Kumar) whose mother had been killed in Rangoon by a Japanese bombing. After studies, he decides to volunteer and work in war-torn Japan following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Das wants to find a cure for radiation sickness and in Japan, he meets Meloda (Saira Banu) a Japanese girl, born and brought up in India. Their love story takes up a portion of the film when the above song is sung and as the movie moves on, Das imperils his own life to rescue fishermen at the French atoll where, yet another nuclear test is carried out. Following the rescue, he is afflicted by radiation disease and succumbs to it. His body is ceremoniously brought to Delhi and millions arrive to pay their respects.

The decently made color film failed to do well, but what is fascinating about the movie is that Das, in the movie, meets and seeks the blessings of Lord Bertrand Russell before setting out to Japan, and that was the one and only appearance of the renowned British philosopher, pacifist, and Nobel Peace laureate, in a film!

Before we get to the heavy lifting of why Russell did all this, let us see what Rajendra Kumar had to say in his biography - During a brainstorming session involving the film’s creatives, Rajendra Kumar had come up with a suggestion. ‘Mohan,’ he said to the director, ‘let’s try and get Bertrand Russell in the opening scene.’

The other man laughed at the very idea. ‘You’re joking, right?’ he said. ‘Lord Russell is one of the greatest philosophers of our time and a famous member of Britain’s anti-war brigade. Look at his stature and look at us – just ordinary film-industry people! How could we even dream of bridging the divide?’

‘True!’ Rajendra admitted. ‘But he advocates nuclear disarmament. Our film Aman conveys the same message. No harm in asking him, is there?’ So, the next day, the two men composed a letter and mailed it to Lord Russell. To their surprise, they received a reply from the philosopher’s secretary ten days later. ‘Lord Russell,’ said the letter, ‘has agreed to appear in the film’s opening scene. However, because of his age, he is unable to travel to India. If you could be so kind as to come and meet him here, he will be glad to give you an hour of his time.

Elated by the news, Mohan Kumar, Rajendra Kumar, and their crew left for England without delay and made their way to Porthmadog, earlier known as Port Madoc, the small coastal town in North Wales where Bertrand Russell lived. The ailing Lord Russell received the Indian film star with great warmth and respect and so enjoyed the meeting and the shoot that he worked on the scene for all of four hours, instead of the allotted one hour.


The Russell scene in the movie is not done very well if you ask me, with the voice-over spoiling it all, as Kumar stumbles through his dialog and the 94-year-old dazed-looking Russell mumbles his reply. Russell replying to Rajendra Kumar says the following - ‘my well wishes are with you. This problem is the problem of the whole world and I hope that you will be successful in this endeavor. I respect your views. Your work is of great importance, and I hope that all the countries of the world would appreciate your work.’”

People in Japan and the Middle East were awed by the film, but it was a dud in India, landing with a thud. Kumar explains – “Aman released in May 1967. It was a very good film, but it didn’t run. For the Indian audience, the film was far ahead of its time. It enjoyed success mostly in Iran, Lebanon, Egypt and so on. It was such an honor for us to have Lord Bertrand Russell in our film, but the funny part was that the Indian audience neither knew who he was nor understood the value of his message and appearance. They thought, ‘Pata nahin kaunsa buddha - kahan se pakad layein hai? Who knows where they picked up some old man and brought him here.’

Kumar says - The climax of the film was shot in Delhi. It was a funeral-procession scene, an arthi scene for which we had placed a small advertisement in the newspaper, stating that fans who wanted to witness and be a part of the scene should come to India Gate with flowers. Next day, millions of people arrived, showering the arthi with flowers, while the song ‘Aman ka farishta’ (Angel of Peace) played in the background. Halla ho gaya! Pandemonium reigned. Even Madam [Indira] Gandhi couldn’t pass through because of the surging crowds. She asked, ‘What’s happening?’ A film shoot, she was told. From that day on, she banned shooting on Rajpath. When the film released, people thought [deceased Prime Minister Lal Bahadur] Shastriji ki arthi ka stock shot tha, but it wasn’t.”

In the end it was just another film, which bit the dust…

But what is Bertrand Russell’s connection to India and why did he decide to get involved? Therein lies a fascinating tale. Considering that his book mentioning Nehru and the Sino – India war of 1962 is still banned in India, his involvement takes even more significance. That is what the next part of this study is all about, something most Indians know little about.

As Julie Andrews sang, ‘let’s start at the very beginning, a very good place to start’

Krishna Menon, India league, and Russell

So btw, who is Bertrand Russell - Bertrand Arthur William Russell (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970) was a British mathematician, philosopher, logician, and public intellectual. Russell was a pacifist who championed anti-imperialism and chaired the India League, as well as a celebrated twentieth century mathematician. He is not only known for his work in the field of mathematics but also as a social critic, historian, author, and political activist. As a pacifist, he became an outspoken proponent of nuclear disarmament. In 1950, Russell was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature "in recognition of his varied and significant writings in which he champions humanitarian ideals and freedom of thought".

Russell was part of the “India Crowd” in London during the 30’s and 40’s. While Krishna Menon, the super senior LSE student, in a perpetual rage (India’s first angry young man, perhaps), a doctrinaire specialist and never a communist -  as an American writer and one time KGB spy Michael Straight, as well as a fellow marcher at hunger strikes in London put it, was drumming up public awareness of the situation in India, through the India House activities, Bertrand Russell came in to support Menon and another literary great who was Menon’s associate – Mulk Raj Anand. Bertrand Russell and Sir Stafford Cripps had been chairmen of the league, but Menon its secretary‐general, was the life and soul of the league. As secretary of the league, they say, Menon spoke often and got sympathetic left-wing intellectuals like Laski, Bertrand Russell, and Stafford Cripps to preach the gospel of Indian independence.

Ray Perkins explains - Russell was Chair of the India League in London during the 1930s and penned five letters to the Manchester Guardian in support of Indian social reforms and was in general sympathy with the aspirations of Gandhi’s National Congress Party. While in the US during World War Two Russell continued to concern himself with Indian politics and wrote five more letters to the editor during the war…

Eventually India attained independence, and Menon after a period as the Indian HC in London, moved back to India to continue work with Jawaharlal Nehru, who was also a good friend of Bertrand Russell, as their correspondence testifies to. Russell was particularly supportive of India’s nonalignment policy, though Russell remarked that, after independence, he had “felt it no longer appropriate to meddle with Indian affairs, and my connection with them came to an end.”

Nuclear days – Cold War period

In July 1945, the first nuclear device test was carried out by the US and two months later, atom bombs were dropped at Nagasaki and Hiroshima., obliterating the two cities and killing thousands. The Soviets followed up with their tests in 1949. A race was on, and the hydrogen bomb was developed next. Long distance bombers and missiles to deliver the warheads came next, followed by satellites and GPS systems. Proliferation continued, and quickly UK (1952), France (1960), and China (1964) joined the club. When the US detected Soviet nuclear missile installations under construction in nearby Cuba in 1962, the s%^& hit the fan, and the world was on the brink of a nuclear war.

As the Americans and Soviets were staring down at each other over the Cuban missile crisis, the Sino-Indian conflict erupted. This then was the backdrop to the parlays between Nehru, Menon, and Russell.

Russell, Menon, and Nehru

While their respect for one another remained high, Menon distanced himself from Russell after the latter suggested a ‘preventative war’ against Russia when it went nuclear in the late 40’s. Russell insists that it was a mistaken apprehension and clarified in 1953, in a letter to the New York Nation - I once spoke at a meeting at which only one reporter was present and he was a Communist, though reporting for orthodox newspapers. He seized on his opportunity, and in spite of my utmost efforts I have never been able to undo the harm. Krishna Menon, with whom I had collaborated for years on Indian affairs, turned against me. "The New Statesman" in London wrote assuming the truth of the report, and it was only by visiting the editor in company with my lawyer that I induced "The New Statesman" to publish a long letter of refutation from me. You are at liberty to make any use you like of this letter, and I shall be glad if you can make its contents known to anybody who still believes the slanderous report.

Krishna Menon did not quite relent, even after Russell approached him at the eve of Nehru’s arrival in London in 1955. For him, India was the most important neutral state which held a key to human survival and Russell needed Nehru to support him in his anti-nuclear initiatives. He contacted Menon through Julie Medlock and Menon replied that he continued to hold Russell with high regard and affection. Nevertheless, he curtly informed Russel that the same West had killed off his suggestion to make available to the world a report on the effects of atomic & hydrogen weapon explosions, on humans. His attempts to have the Hydrogen bomb banned, had also been scuttled by the West, Menon said. But in all fairness, he arranged for Russell and Nehru to meet, and the trio met, in March 1955.

Menon went back and planned to set up a committee to explore the effects of such modern wars, presided by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. Unfortunately, after further discussions with the IAEC and other members of the cabinet, Nehru decided not to take a public stance on the matter, though a paper was published. A plea signed by Einstein, Russell, and many more distinguished co-signatories was released, implicitly aimed at the only two nuclear-weapons states of the day, the U.S., and the Soviet Union, which in 1955 seemed on the path to war.

Nehru and Russell continued hold each other in high regard. In 1960, just two years before the Cuban missile crisis and the Sino-Indian war, Russell had written: "Nehru is known to stand for sanity and peace in this critical moment of history. Perhaps it will be he who will lead us out of the dark night of fear into a happier day."

Russell and the China-India War – 1962

Russel’s involvement in various international affairs in an individual capacity had made things so difficult that he was forced to create a foundation with personnel to spearhead and direct these efforts. Russell felt that he, as an individual stood a better chance with negotiations during crises, compared to egoistic and bureaucratic national organizations. A popular name in those days, the Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had agreed to serve as a sponsor of the new Bertrand Russell Peace Foundation.

Russell said later- “Many people seem to have been amazed that I should mediate in such matters without having any official status to do so, but I think events show that, even in our highly organized world, there are things that a private individual can do which are much more difficult for a Minister or an organization. In particular, it is much easier to agree with a powerless individual without loss of face than it is to agree with those whose arguments are backed by H-bombs of almost infinite destructive power.”

When the border between India and China became a troubled zone during the late 50’s and the early 60’s, Russell became increasingly troubled, but he kept his distance, till actual hostilities erupted in Oct 1962. He then donned the role of a peacekeeper and started writing to both Nehru and Zhou En Lai. While Russel was initially convinced of China’s role as an aggressor, he started to feel that India was unwilling to compromise, for purely nationalistic reasons as well as the right-wing pressures on Nehru after the loss of his wingman Defense minister Krishna Menon, who had to face the axe. After the Chinese withdrawal in November, Russel urged Nehru to accept the ceasefire and the Colombo declarations. Russell even feared that the conflict between Asia’s two largest countries might eventually trigger a nuclear war between the cold war nations.

This conflict is a full half of the theme (Cuba being the other) of his book ‘Unarmed Victory’, a book banned in India due to the tilt in Russell’s stance towards China. The exact role which he played, and the tightrope he and Ceylon’s Sirimavo Bandaranayake had to walk, is not very well known in India, but it was illuminating for someone like me, who had read through many books and accounts on the conflict and yet missed this. The full story of the two emissaries he deputed to India, Ceylon and China, one of them perhaps the very secretary who replied to Rajendra Kumar’s letter, is quite incredible and I will recount it in detail, another day.

Nehru explained “There is such a strong feeling in India over the invasion by China that no Government can stand if it does not pay some heed to it.” He adds that “a sense of national surrender and humiliation” would result in “a very serious setback” to “all our efforts to build up the nation.” He then points out that “the popular upsurge all over India can be utilized for strengthening the unity and capacity for work of the nation.” The complete letter is a document which stands out, in explaining the situation within India, at that time.

As we all know, Nehru was facing pressures at home, including within his own Congress party. He had to maintain balance and attain a semblance of support from the right-wingers who were clamoring for action against China, so also the public. In the end, no agreements were reached on the Colombo proposals and both countries dragged their feet. Nehru felt that negotiations with China would just have to wait. The two nations continue to exchange diplomatic overtures, but to this day, the border issues remain unresolved.

As for Menon, he was staunchly against nuclear armament until the end.  Menon, as is well known, was passionately against nuclear weapons, and partnered in many quests against their proliferation. His discussions and arguments with KC Pant and Homi Bhabha make interesting reading. Krishna Menon, who had always advocated nuclear disarmament, was ill and in hospital when Indira Gandhi carried out the peaceful nuclear explosion on May 18, 1974. He summoned her to his hospital bed and voiced his disapproval of the PNE. Until the day he died, Menon continued to fight against it, as he saw India taking steps towards nuclear programs and seeking help to reach there.

Perhaps his simplistic view of a utopian world driven by ‘common sense’, very unlike his usual firm grasp of world affairs, continued to cloud his decision making, as it did when he never expected China to attack India.

I am sorry for taking you from a light college romp, through a romantic song, and dropping you with a thud into a boiling cauldron dealing with ‘nuclear disarmament’. But in the end, we have to be aware, that if the powers be irresponsible, we could very well be left in a world that Nevil Shute described beautifully, but forlornly in his apocalyptic novel ‘On the Beach’, a dark and cold world - down under in Australia, following a nuclear holocaust.

True, it was written in 1957, when there were only a few studies available on the effects of a nuclear war and the book is quite downbeat and gloomy. Scientists say that it is unnecessarily demoralizing and perpetuates the myth that any large-scale nuclear war would inevitably wipe out all human life. But well, it is a novel that made a point then and is still worth reading. If you can’t find the movie starring Gregory Peck, read the book.

And see ‘Aman’ on ‘youtube’ if you are so inclined.

References

Jubilee Kumar: The Life and Times of a Superstar - Seema Sonik Alimchand
Yours Faithfully, Bertrand Russell: A Lifelong Fight for Peace, Justice, and Truth- Bertrand Russell, Ray Perkins (Jr.)
Man's Peril, 1954-55 By Bertrand Russell, Ed Andrew G Bone
Mulk Raj Anand: A Reader
Unarmed Victory – Bertrand Russell
Selected letters - Bertrand Russell
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Vyazhavattom - The 12-year cycle in Kerala

 The Duodecennial concept of Malabar

Most youngsters from the present generation would hardly have come across these terms or their significance in their studies, though they may have heard it from elders. In the past, however, it was quite important and was implemented across diverse areas, such as determining the completion of a sovereign’s rule or even the duration of a legal contract such as a lease of property. It was (and is) commonly used in astrology, which the superstitious (if you wish to term them so) Malayalee was very particular about. Let’s take a look.

Simply put, a 12-year period of reckoning was used in many situations, and this was known as Vyazhavattom, Vyazham being Jupiter. As Jupiter was a representation of Guru Brhaspati (In Vedic philosophy, Jupiter equates to Brihaspati, the Guru or teacher of all gods) in North India, this cycle of Jupiter in the solar system, was termed the Brhaspati Chakra and in Malabar, as the Vyazha Vattom (Jupiter circle or Jupiter cycle). During these twelve years, Jupiter’s orbit traverses all twelve signs of the Zodiac. i.e., the Samvatsara or year begins when the Sun enters the Aries and concludes when it exits the Pisces (The entry of the Sun into every zodiac is called "Sankranti"). It typically starts on the 15th of April and marks one complete cycle of the Sun from Aries to Pisces. While it is like the Gregorian year, it differs in that it begins in the middle of April instead of January. Five such orbits or a Samavatsara Chakra equals 60 years and after 60 Samavatsaras, the cycle starts again.

Vedic astrologers, or simply said, ancient astronomers determined that while the earth takes a year to circle around the sun, Jupiter takes around 12 years to circle it (Actually Jupiter takes 4332.59 days or 11.862 years). Technically even that is not exactly right, for Jupiter does not orbit around the Sun’s center, it orbits a spot in empty space between it and the sun (called barycenter). As the huge Jupiter exerts its gravity on the Sun like the Sun exerts its gravity on Jupiter, the Sun also ends up in an orbit around its barycenter, taking the same 11.8 years to cover 1 million miles!). Check this to understand the concept in motion.  Bet nobody taught you that!

Note here that the Brhaspati Samvatsara Chakra based on the Surya Sidhanta was used mainly in N India. The sixty-year circle in S India is a lunisolar version and I must add here that there are many complications and corrections involved, as well as a mismatch between the N & S Indian computations, thus comparisons become difficult. Then again, Malabar used the Parasurama 1,000-year concept and later on, the Kollam era, about which we discussed earlier, see here for details,  but still continued with the 12-year or duodecennial concept in its legal arena.

Jupiter, named after the king of the Roman Gods, reigns supreme among the nine planets of our solar system, rivaling the Sun in its grandeur. This giant and dynamic planet, more like a small star, contains two-thirds of the planetary mass of the solar system. As a giant planet, its influence on Earth could always be considerable. This giant planet with 63 moons, is also known as Jovian (Jove is the Roman god of the Sky and thunder or counterpart of Zeus), and thus came about the usage of the jovian cycle of 12 years, in the Western world.


Since Jupiter takes a year to move through each zodiac, and astrologers felt its influence to be quite strong during that period in comparison to other planets, this was made the base for a form of calendar. One could now ask why 60 years itself became important. To get an understanding, you should take note that the three most important bodies i.e., the Sun, Jupiter, and Saturn are aligned to the same point once every 60 years, thus making it all nicely cyclic. Of course, today this is used only by astrologers and Panchaga followers, but it is interesting to understand the basis and the thought process of our ancestors. The stories and interplay between the many gods, such as the story of an older Brhaspati (Jupiter), his young wife Tara and how she gets seduced by the Chandra - Moon to beget Mercury, with the Moon backed by a powerful Venus (Shukra) is yet another of those interesting tales from our mythology.

From an astrological angle, a Jupiter return happens when the planet Jupiter makes its way back to its origin. In astrology, a return of any nature is when a planet returns to its “home base” in our personal charts. In lay terms, if you know the time, place, and date of birth of a person, and work out which samvatsara he belongs to, astrologers can predict a lot of things and foretell or give you some ideas about his or her future, primarily based on the characteristics of repeating samvatsaras.  The place occupied by Jupiter determined, according to popular belief and from the astrological point of view, the fortunes of men and women, when correlated to the star on which they were born. How a science or concept based on the influences and patterns of celestial bodies became astrology and how this influences our day-to-day life and helps foretelling the future, is a topic best left to astrology buffs.

Historical astrology explains - Some astro-historians feel that Jupiter exerts an even more powerful

influence than Saturn. Jupiter is four astronomical units closer to the Earth than Saturn, and it has a much greater percentage of mass of the solar system (about .10%) than does Saturn. Jupiter’s average period of revolution around the Sun takes 11.86 years. This period is of much shorter duration than is Saturn’s (29.46 years), which means that Jupiter’s influence comes and goes at a swifter rate of time. Perhaps its influence, when the equation of size and speed is balanced, tends to be equal with that of the slower-moving Saturn.

Before we get into the specifics of the vyazhavattom use in Malabar, it would be even more interesting to note that this 12-year cycle was also prevalent, or at least considered so, in China. The Chinese Lunar calendar follows a 12-year cycle and each of the 12 years is represented by 12 Animals which form the Chinese Zodiac. After every 12 years, the Chinese Calendar repeats itself. Pere souciet propounded this idea, thus it is clear, that in the Sung-dynasty, the 12-year cycle of Jupiter was known to the Chinese. During the "time of the Hia dynasty, the year was called Souy; "The character, Souy, means the planet Jupiter. "It was believed at that time that the revolution "of one year, is called Souy. This interpretation "is of the time of the Tsin." No doubt the appropriation of the tradition about Jupiter to the Hia dynasty was modern, like other events assigned by the Chinese, to that supposed period of their history, "The author of the Kwei Yu, whoever he is, but who lived about "Confucius's time, supposed that Jupiter made the "twelfth part of his course through the equator, or the "zodiac, in one solar year." The statement of Dr. Chalmers, and of Pere Souciet, go a long way to prove, that the Chinese had the Jupiter cycle of 12 years, as the basis of their 60-year cycle, just as the Hindoos had it.

This may be the case, if notice be only taken of the names, or order of each year, in the cycle; but it seems clear that the Chinese and Indian cycles are both founded on a certain period of the planet Jupiter's motion, and an examination of how the different insignificant ways in which the two nations worked out, or indicated their cycles, each according to their own peculiar system, may probably show that the cycle of 12 years, which is the common foundation of both of them, belonged originally to the system of some other more primitive nation, from which they both derived it; either directly and independently, or indirectly, through one of the two having first known it, and then communicated it to the other.

The cycle of Jupiter or Vyazhavattom governed the lives of many institutions and usages in ancient Travancore, Cochin, and Malabar. For example, the Mamankam or Mahamagam was held once every 12 years, along with it the meeting of the Kootams of various naduvazhis. Similarly, the re-election of a Perumal by the Brahmins of the 63 villages as ordained by Parasurama was conducted once every 12 years. It may also interest readers that the Vanavasam stipulated in the Mahabharata, which the Pandavas endured was for a Vyazhavattom, and the Shashtabdapurti (Shashtipurti) celebration when one turns 60 is after a full Samvatsara. Similarly, the imprisonment terms in mythology for Rama, Sita, Ravana by Bali (per teyyam ballads), and of course events such as the Kumbh Mela, Gomateswara’s Mahamastabhisheka etc. were all for 12 years.

Padmanabha Menon (Vissciher) mentions - The Kūṭṭam of all Kerala or Malabar, under ordinary circumstances, assembled only once in 12 years, and when the whole Keralam assembled, it did so at Tirunavaye, on the banks of the Ponnani river, on the occasion of the Maha-Makham festival. Going to the Chera Perumal era, he states - Around and close by the (Allal Perumkovilakom – Tiruvanchikulam) palace were situated the Ţalies (Mēl Ţali, KiÏ Tali, Chingapurat Tali, and Nețiya Tali) or the assembly halls of the representatives of the Brahman aristocracy, by whom the Perumals were elected to rule over Malabar for a term of 12 years. He adds further that the 12-year concept had other examples – Nambuthiri priests had to be registered at the Sukapuram temple, during a formal event once every 12 years. 

He concludes - "all offices were held only for that period; all tenures of land subsisted only for that period; all transactions, appointments, contracts, and tenures had to be renewed at the end of twelve years; all feudal ties were broken at the end of that period”, The Mamankam was according to him, an occasion when all parties assembled in solemn conclave at Tirunavaya and readjusted all existing relations among themselves including the change of the over-lordship of all Malabar' which in old Malabar had a period of twelve years' duration.

Thus, the Perumals of the Chera kingdom held their tenures for 12 years and retired with some exceptions, and it is narrated by some foreign travelers though not corroborated by any local record, that the Zamorins had a strange practice of handing over power to the next in line, after getting ceremoniously killed, or as events transpired become subject of Valluvanad chaver attacks every 12 years (though no chaver succeeded).

Achuytha Menon tells us in his book ‘Ancient Kerala’ about its application in other spheres- The existence in ancient Kerala. of a twelve years' term for all contracts, undertakings, and tenures is an established fact, as can be gathered from the existence even now in Kerala, of such a term as incidental to Kanoms and even mortgages. The origin of the duo-decimal period is however obscure. It can fairly be presumed that the twelve years cycle represented in Malabar, a Vyazhavattom or Jupiter’s cycle as pointed out above. The place occupied by Jupiter determined, according to popular belief and from the astrological point of view, the fortunes of men and women, when correlated to the star on which they were born.

The Malayalee landlord, when he gave his lands for cultivation did not want them to be taken at a disadvantage. He allowed them to have a whole Vyazhavattan for their enjoyment, so that the misfortunes of any one year may be set off or compensated by the good fortune of another year, This insistence on a twelve years' period in connection with some practices and observances, agricultural and otherwise, is met with in other countries, in distant Africa and among some American Indian tribes (See 'Science in Africa', Dr. Worthington). It is said, for instance, that every twelve years, at the great feast of the dead, all the bodies of the members of Iroquois who had died during the intervening period were removed from their original scaffolds by their relatives.

During the 1940 tenancy discussions - CT. Gopala Menon was quite mystified and scoffed at connecting Vyazhavattom and Strange’s 12-year tenancy rule: he said - The 12 years rule was introduced by Mr. Strange. I am not willing to hazard any opinion on Kunhikuttan Tampuran’s view that the period was Vyazhavatta, the cycle of Jupiter and that on each Mahamagam the title to land was renewed. You have to consult astrologers to explain why ancient documents are assigned the date with reference to the motion of Vyazham.

Now there must be a good reason, so, let’s see how it got mixed up.

The prevailing concept was - The jenmi continued the kanam tenant by means of a system known as renewing the kanom deed. Originally Nambuthiri landlords or temples transferred them to Nairs and Nambiars as a token of allegiance or respect, on a kanam or 12-year fixed rent lease, with a provision to increase the rate after 12 years. The holder of Kanam right in the course of time acquired superior powers as against the real owner who had granted the kanam right.

This practice of renewing, paying a periodical fine, was a succession duty payable at the death of the jenmi and at the death of the tenant or once in 12 years usually at the feast of Mahamagam at Tirunavayi when the parties having met together, the old document was torn up and the new one substituted (Polichezuthu). The meaning of the term Kanam is not quite clear, it probably meant ‘money’ and is a combination of lease and mortgage, whereas verum patton is a simple lease. It makes one thing clear, the Mahamagham or Mamankam was thus a very important ceremony and date, and lots of things got done on that day.

The new Nairs and Nambiars kanam holders sublet these as well as their janm lands, to cultivators belonging to other castes as pattom lands with differing and tougher rules. Over time, the old 12-year rules were no longer followed correctly and especially in the case of land leases, many of the landlords who returned after the Mysore Sultan’s invasion, became vengeful and stricter, leading to communal turbulence. In fact, the 12-year rule was no longer considered common practice till many revolts and outrages took place between Moplah lessees and Hindu landlords, i.e., during HV Conolly’s tenure.

Adv KM Mathew explains - Kanam entrustment was renewable at the option of the tenant after the expiry of 12 years The holder was free to make any improvement in the Kanam property and enjoy the fruits of the same by paying a comparatively small amount as yearly rent and a nominal share of the crops. If the landlord desired to resume the land at the expiry of the lease period, he had to pay the full value of all the improvements made by the holder of Kanam. It was also a transferable right. The net result was that in most cases landlords were totally incapable of resuming the land after paying the value of improvements to the Kanamdar (lessee) and the Kanamdar in most cases became richer and more powerful than the landlords and “Kanam” right became more valuable than the Jenm right itself. For, the Jenmi (landlord) could claim right over the ‘land’ only while the Kanamdar had the full right over the trees, structures, buildings, etc. on the Kanam land. It was very easy to purchase the Jenm right of a land while very many could not afford to purchase the improvements that belonged to the Kanamdar.

Logan adds – Indeed it originated with Mr. Holloway who taking Kanom as equivalent to the Roman Emphyteusis is said to have substituted Vyalavattam or Jubilee and then argued that under Kanom demise, the tenant was to hold for a Vyalavattam or twelve years.

How it got reintroduced legally in Malabar is explained below and is fully attributable to TL Strange, as extracted from Malabar Law - One of the earliest effects of judicial decisions was the engrafting of the 12 years term on kanom tenure which was not regarded as part of the common law of Malabar up to 1853. A. D. In A. S. 36 of 1854, Mr. Cook as Sub-Judge of Calicut observed that " unless the kanomdar fails in his engagement either to pay rent or unnecessarily damages, alters, or otherwise destroys the mortgaged land he has a right to expect he shall not be removed before the expiration of 12 years." The Sudder Court also held that a tenant's right for a term should be upheld such term may not have been expressed in the lease deed. Mr Strange as Special Commissioner (investigating Moplah disturbances) wrote in 1852 " that if he (tenant) should have paid fine for his lease, it should endure for twelve years under certain reservations “; thence forward the custom was established and on the 5th of August 1856, the Sudder Court recorded its proceedings defining the various tenures in Malabar and the conditions attaching to them.

And that is how an Englishmen named TL Strange, dealing with Moplah disturbances got connected to a strange concept called Vyazhavattom!

There is one more 12-year event which people recall, that of the Neela kurinji flower (on the Shola, Chikmangalur, Kodai, Idukki and Munnar hills) which flowers once in 12 years. It is believed that the first settlers of Kodaikanal in Tamil Nadu - the tribes of Paliyan and Puliyan, used the Neelakurinji flowering cycle to calculate their age. Every new bloom would account for an addition of 12 years by the members of the tribe to their age. But then again, this has nothing to do with Jupiter.

References
Chinese chronology & cycles. (Chin. researches)- Thomas Fergusson (M.R.A.S.)
The Indian Calendar – Robert Sewell, AB Dikshit
Book of Indian Eras: With Tables for Calculating Indian Dates - Sir Alexander Cunningham
Malabar Manual – Logan
Ancient Kerala – C Achyutha Menon
History of Kerala (Visscher’s letters) – Padmanabha Menon
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