Throwing light on a dark and oppressed world

When Devaki Nilayamgode published her short memoir ‘Yatra: Kattilum Nattilum’ in 2003, it revealed the dark and oppressed world of an Antharjanam to the reading community of Kerala. She went on to write four books on the largely unknown life of Namboodiri women in Kerala till the reform movements threw open the claustrophobic illams. Devaki’s memoir, to be published in English soon, (Oxford University Press) is a collection of the writings selected from her books.When did it occur to you that you had something to write about?I live with my daughter and her family in Thrissur. For most part of the day, my grandson, Tathagathan, and I were left to each other after his parents left for their offices. I told him stories about the old times, my childhood, the people and the life I had known then and so on. When he was old enough for college, he began telling me that I should put down those memories in writing. Bhashaposhini’s Editor K C Narayanan is a family friend and when he read the manuscript, he was certain that readers would be interested in it. And he published it in the annual issue of the magazine. It was well-received by readers. Later the Oxford University Press came forward to publish the memoirs.Major influencesI saw my elder sisters reading whatever books they could smuggle into the secrecy of their corridors. Our elder brothers who could borrow books from the nearby library left them under the wooden stools which they sat on while eating food. I was fascinated by these sights and started reading to find out what the books contained. Then I chanced upon ‘Pavangal’ (Victor Hugo’s ‘Les Miserables’). That was the point when I came to know about human life in the outside world. It changed my outlook on life and people forever.Expectations about life as a young girlThere were no expectations at all. Girls were not educated, had no opportunities to step out of our homes. There was nothing about life that nurtured any expectations. The only two things a girl was taught to pray for were regular meals and a good husband. Were you aware of the reform movements sweeping the Namboodiri community in the middle of the last century?No, we had no idea at all. The ‘akathalams’ of the ‘illams’ were impervious. Newspapers never reached us. All we understood was that some people in the community had started going for modern education and were wearing more modern clothes. Some of the Nair community women who visited the ‘illams’ wore colourful silk blouses and saris.Experiences in taking part in the reform movementsI joined it much later. The activities were led by men like V T Bhattathirippad. I remember going with a group of activists to stall a young girl’s marriage with an old Namboodiri. In about five or six years from then, the Yoga Kshema Sabha (YSK) was dissolved because we had become a community just like any other. The differences were evened out, at least on the surface. The leaders of YSK joined mainstream politics. And women like me were caught up in the running of the family.What kind of a home did you make? Did it hold on to the traditions?My husband’s family, Nilayamgode, was a progressive ‘illam.’ My husband, Ravi Namboodiri, was a good human being and educated our two daughters and four sons. We showed love and care to our children unlike the cold relation parents had with their children in traditional Namboodiri ‘illams.’