I had sworn to myself
that I won’t be buying any new books or borrowing any from the Eloor lending
library until I have finished reading the stuff which already rests in a tidy
pile near the bedside and in the bookshelf. I did a quick check of books bought
but remained unread. I was astonished by the sheer numbers and also the huge investment
it entailed from a Babu’s modest salary. Two things happened recently. A friend
gave me a gift of Rs 5000 in the form of Amazon coupons. And here I am buying
books of my choice in frenzy, an act that gives me true happiness. Secondly,
the Missus handed me a copy of the Ivory Throne written by Manu S Pillai from
the Library with an admonition that I ought to finish reading it soon.
Since the huge tome of 550 odd pages had to
be returned in about a fortnight’s time, I decided to read the first chapter which
has a gist of Kerala history, a topic of interest to me. I disagreed with the
establishment narrative and was about to return the book. I went ahead and read
on. And I got totally absorbed in the book and finished it in three days flat
in the midst of my hectic work life.
The book primarily revolves around the
women who constituted Travancore Royalty, more specifically, Rani Lakshmi Bayi,
who reigned as regent (1924-31) until the prince attained adulthood and her
cousin Sethu Parvati Bayi, the mother of the prince. A word about the young
author. He is all of 27 years old, a graduate of Kings college London and has
worked as Parliamentary assistant to Shashi Tharoor. He has a very easy and readable style that keeps
the reader engrossed in a tale full of machinations, intrigues, twists and the
battles for riches and cash allowances to royalty.
The Travancore kingdom pioneered several progressive
measures and legislation. Some of these measures were during the reign of the
Regent and some during the reign of Chithira Tirunal Maharajah (the prince who
eventually ascended the throne). The central theme of this book is that the
Maharani rose above the petty conflicts that plagued the Royal household, and
laid the foundation to what became the most progressive state. Whereas the
Prince’s mother had many insecurities and even resorted to Black Magic to cut
short the reign of her cousin, the Regent. The nephew who succeeded her wasn’t
so charitable either, cutting his aunt out of her sources of income as Attingal
Rani which eventually led to her leaving Travancore to the cooler climes of
Bangalore, shorn of royalty and spending a rich life with children,
Grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The Regent’s husband was often
(unfairly) accused of interfering with the administration. However the Regent
introduced a large element of fairness into what was a tinderbox of communal
passions where the Nairs, Christians and Ezhavas were fighting for a legitimate
share of power. The Regent took many decisions that insulated her from this
power play (like appointing an Anglo Indian Dewan) and also encouraged
education of the girl child. She also issued the proclamation that opened the
roads around the temples to all cases, a forerunner to eventually issuing the
temple entry proclamation some years later.
This reading led me to another book on the
life of C P Ramaswamy Iyer written by A Sreedhara Menon (in Malayalam), which
has been lying unread for the last one year. Sir CP, was originally the
constitutional and legal adviser to the Maharajah Chithira Tirunal (the prince
who eventually took over from the Regent) and eventually became the Dewan. He
was absolutely loyal to the Maharajah and his mother. He went to meet Lord
Willingdon, the then Viceroy with whom he shared a good professional
relationship to terminate the Regency earlier than usual and coronate the King.
This book gives credit to CP for piloting
the fortunes of the state in the name of the Maharajah.
According to him the Regent was
against issuing the Temple entry proclamation and merely got by with issuing
transit rights to all castes on roads around the temples. If the family of the
Regent comes across smelling roses in Manu S Pillai’s book, it is CP’s firm and
progressive hand that characterized the golden era of Travancore, according to
Menon. But the Maharajah hogged the limelight and CP was credited with most things
that went wrong. But just a cursory reading of the various initiatives by Sir
CP, would lead one to believe that the era of firm and progressive decision
making in administration came to an end after Sir CP. The Left narrative has
always characterized him as the villain, who has the blood of thousands in his
hands as a result of police firing in Punnapra- Vayalar agitation. He also ran
the State with an iron hand which stifled press freedom and other initiated
many repressive acts that turned Travancore into a Police State. He even tried to
retain sovereignty of the State of Travancore at the time of partition and
finally advised the Maharajah against it on practical considerations.
Manu Pillai’s book cites correspondence
between the Regent, Dewan, Resident, Viceroy and others. It is educative to
know how they used the English language with economy of words and beautiful
turns of phrases. Even drab official letters are a study in elegance. This
journey into the past was absorbing, to say the least. The bygone era had men
and women of character. Even when they erred or failed to assess the pulse of
the populace, one could never accuse them of having done it to line their
pockets. History is often not fair to these souls who heralded the beginnings
of a revolution, in education, equality of opportunity, industrialization and
infrastructure.
