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This is the house that Sanku Vaidyan built
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Old houses tell tales. The tale of this 104-year-old house, as told to K. PRADEEP, reveals the love that people had for a village vaidyan..
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THE FERRY purred, snorted and grinded to a halt at the small pier. It took some time for the two-wheeler to touch down on the shores of this little island. Mulavukad nestles close to the sprawling, overcrowded Kochi mainland. This island, on the enchanting backwaters, has very little to boast of, except perhaps the famed, typically Dutch, Bolghatty Palace, now spruced up into a luxury hotel.
Across the heart of this narrow strip of land, a narrower road stretches, surrounded by the enticing backwaters. On either side of this `lifeline' are thickly huddled houses. The two-wheeler bumped its way through the uneven badly kept road. There were very few people around and a kind of unnatural stillness. It was almost like you were moving through a time warp, into a world of unhurried activity. Suddenly the road forks at a point where stands an age-worn temple, now given a new coat of paint.
Moving a bit further you reach an unpretentious low building, Pathiparambil House, with white walls and red tiled roof. As much as the outside is notable for the lack of ostentation, the interior, with a marked, traditional Kerala flavour, is a revelation.
The ornate brass lock on the solid, polished teak front door, with its exquisite hand carving, gives you an indication of the apparent contrast that lies within these white washed walls.
"This house must be around 104 years old. That is what is indicated by some of the inscriptions found on the woodwork of the now unused outhouse. The woodwork and architecture reveals the traditional style that was in vogue at least a century ago," said K.S.Anilkumar, who stays here with his mother and an elder brother.
The narrow, long drawing room, with elegant furniture and a beautifully converted telephone stand are in stark contrast to the modern, custom made, cabinet at one end. The floor has been done up. "In fact, we had to make some major renovations. The floor had cracked at many places as it was made of ordinary limestone. But there was no damage to the woodwork, which needed only some polishing," said Anilkumar. However, they have not used the now commonly monotonous marble or ceramic tiles for the floor. They have only dug up the space and used cement and red oxide, which gives it an ethnic look.
The spectre of change looms over the household. The verandah, that runs round the house has been rebuilt. "It was sad to remodel the whole place. There were some fine brickwork designs, which was destroyed. We did try to form those designs again, but the masons on the job just could not reconstruct them," said Ms P.P.Prasanna, who now lives here.
From the drawing room, a heavy door opens to a wooden storehouse, once used to store grain. This takes up a lot of space, but it is preserved, simply because of sentimental value. One of the rooms, also remodelled, now functions as the dining room. Standing behind a plush table, placed at the centre of the room Ms Prasanna recollects how this house looked when she was a child.
" My grandfather, Sanku Vaidyan, built this house. Earlier, it was a small building with a separate kitchen, now demolished, a small shed to house the boats and an outhouse which was used by my grandfather to make medicines.''
On the attic above are dumped some valuable artefacts that belonged to Sanku Vaidyar. The stuffy place, with its thick stucco walls, is stored with those huge porcelain jars, used to preserve the ayurvedic medicines, a wooden stretcher, boxes, vessels used as measuring tools, wooden sieve used to sift the medicine, weathered hurricane lamps... .
"All the wood needed for this house was brought in huge country craft from the mainland. Every piece was gifted to grandfather by his grateful patients. And when this house was ready people from this island and beyond thronged to have a look at it. It was then considered a piece of architectural excellence," Ms Prasanna went on.
More than the architectural beauty of this house, with its lovely, spacious verandah, the geometrical symmetry of the wooden awnings, this house has a history too. It was here that Sree Narayana Guru stopped over when he made his visit to this island. "Guru came here twice, I was told by my mother. Once when one of my uncles fell ill and the other time when he supervised the removal of the sacred groves and even performed the poojas in this connection," Ms Prasanna reminisced.
It was a historical refuge, more than a house. So many corners in the house, so many things, brought back memories of that famed village vaidyan, who found a place on the Maharaja of Cochin's medical panel. Memories of that regular journey to the mainland, with a few brawny men rowing him across flit through your mind as you leave the island, taking a long look at the house that Sanku Vaidyan built.
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
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Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
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