Book Review: Santa and the Scribes- The Making of Fort Kochi

Book: Santa and the Scribes: The Making of Fort Kochi

Author: EP Unny

Publisher: Niyogi Publications

Pages: 209

Price: Rs495

The Making of Fort Kochi is a delightful literary journey through the history of Kerala's port city. The accounts are as whimsical as they are colourful, with author and cartoonist EP Unny creating a narrative from accounts of secondary sources beginning from the 14th century and interweaving sketches of present day scenes.Whilst the sketches are rarely relevant to the storyline, they nearly take the reader on a guided tour of the city. Which is what this book does. It guides the reader from Kochi's discovery by the Portuguese, its violent takeover by the Dutch and the efficient British negligence that slowly stripped the city of its grandeur. Unny introduces many legends — the creation of the original Fort Kochi, then a humble structure of coconut tree trunks held together with mud, to a more fortified version built by the Portuguese, only to be obliterated by the British. His sketches introduce us to local characters like Sanoj Rahman, a bike tourist promoter, and 'Western' Willie, chef at the Teapot restaurant — people you should look out for the next time you visit Kochi to add another dimension that historical accounts cannot provide.

There are also tales of morbid practices, such as those of the dutiful Kappiri Muthappans (Negroid elders) who were buried alive by the Portuguese to guard their wealth till the true claimants arrived. About 400 years later, unsuspecting locals were surprised by walled-in and/or chained skeletons when these buildings were demolished. The narrative is not limited to the colonisers. It also relates the arrival, spread and dwindling of the Jewish community, the enthusiastic welcome to communist ideology, the advent of Kochi's print industry and a host of other gems that non-residents will be oblivious to. Though Unny often alludes to the inexhaustible scribe, one must also applaud his own efforts to let no tidbit go untold.Unny's writing reflects the quick-wittedness expected of a cartoonist. The sentence structure is at times convoluted, but not enough to deter the reader. The only two elements that irk are the glaring error in the first line of the book which starts, "An European..." and the seemingly random use of parentheses.

Excerpt 1:
When did Kochi's heritage come alive? On earlier visits, till the 1980s, I had barely noticed it. Then across the Calvetty Bridge, no longer than a city bus and once no less than a Euro-Asian border, a fine aroma of spices floated into Fort Kochi, from the Mattancherry Bazaar in native Kochi. Not always strong enough to subdue the odour of the stagnant waterway under the bridge. This cocktail perfumery of spice and slush has since given way to the ubiquitous scent of lemon grass oil, the basic stuff that goes into mosquito-repellent skin creams and body sprays that tourists douse themselves with. Even on a sweltering April day, there are evidently touristy clusters moving from one heritage site to another like a bunch of bees, following the rehearsed drone of the guide. The spiel is a string of snatches from the past, a simplistic sideshow.

Excerpt 2:
As tourists, unmindful of such ironies, keep doing the semi-millennial walk, a small band of locals routinely chase a lot more modest heritage, A little legacy of music, built around a man who literally set the tone for the angst and mirth of subaltern Kochi. Baayi (brother) to his fans, Mehboob was a singer of popular songs, who could compose, improvise and transform. Across the lading, named after Albuquerque in Calvetty, in a little chamber on top of a row of shops, his voice still resonates many years after his death.

tanea.b@dnaindia.net, @TaneaB93