124

Chapter 4

DaHt Christian Assertions in Literature and Church

Begiruring with the engagement and transformation of the missionary and Syrian

Christianities through different stages, a Dalit Christian subject gradually emerged in

Kerala. The Dalit Christian subject, as opposed to the European Missionary Christian

and the Syrian Christian ones, also endured associations and fissures with various kinds

of theological and political movements in Kerala including the Communist and workers'

movements. The search for the beginnings of a Dalit Christian assertion involves an

analysis of the struggles and the separate administration movement by the Dalit

converts in the missionary church and the subsequent formation ofa separate C.M.S.

church in the 1960s under Bishop V. J. Stephen I.

The chapter would primarily focus on some of the available Malayalam literary

works to analyse the conversion, pre-conversion and post-conversion situations of

certain Dalit communities in Kerala. I would be dealing with the novels Samvatsarangal

by S. E. James, Mukkany by D. Rajan, and short stories like "Eli, Eli, La'ma Sa bach

Tha'niT by Paul Chirakkarodu, "Achanda Vendinja Inna" by T. K. C. Vadutala and

"Prethabashanam (Ghost-Speech)" by C. Ayyappan. These texts are selected for the

study as they deal with the Dalit Christian subject and the manner in which it is being

executed differs considerably from the missionary discourse (as given in the previous

chapter) as well as the early social realist writings of those associated with the

I Rev. V. 1. Stephen became the first bishop of the C.M.S. Anglican Church Kerala after the church was •
formed in the I 960s. He was one of the pioneers of the movement (from the I 940s) that demanded a

separate administration for Dalit Christians in the C.S.!. Church (formerly C.M.S. Anglican Church

Travancore-Cochin Diocese).
 125

Progressive Writers' Movement 2, Also, the plurality of the conversions, Christianities

and the experiences and memories associated with it require the inclusion of these

mUltiple voices from the margins in the study, The chapter would also critically examine

theJanakeeya Vimochana Viswasa Prasthanam (JVVP) or People's Movement of Faith

for Liberation in the Church of South India (CS.L) to see how religion and struggles for

justice go hand in hand for the Dalit Christians in Kerala,

The conversion experience of the Dalits (as individuals as well as groups) and

the continuation of caste discrimination in the lives ofthe converts, as given in the

literary works, would be studied to understand how intricately caste works within

Christianity, This would also include analysing the questions of rights to education,

naming, ministry etc, The chapter would also analyse some ofthc songs by Poykayil

Yohannan Appachan (ofPratyaksha Raksha Deiva Sabha- PRDS) to understand how the

Dalit communities were not mere passive recipients in the process of conversions into

Christianity, This would be an attempt to analyse how.Christianity was incorporated,

transformed and politicised by the Dalits in Kerala,

Datit Conversions into Christianity in Kerala

The notion that Christianity is a religion introduced by the colonial powers stands

invalid in the context ofKerala as Syrian Christians, the earliest mOWn Christian

community in India, were not a result of European evangelical mission, Instead, their

cultural and religious traditions point to the origin of the community to the endeavors of

St. Thomas, who is believed to have arrived on the Malabar Coast ofKerala in AD 52

~ Progressive Wrjters~ Movement was a literary movement of left-oriented writers that started in 1936 and

spread across various tanguages in India. The focus of the literature was shifted towards social issues.

rejecting the 'art for art's sake' dictum and aiming for a 'purposeful art', Amongst the pioneers of this

movement were writers like Premchand and Mulk Raj Anand.

 126

(Robinson 885), For many centuries before the arrival of the colonial powers, they

enjoyed the status of a high caste conununity within the Kerala society that was ruled by

Hindu kings. The peculiar status enjoyed by the Syrian Christians can be further

understood from the group's privilege to participate in important Hindu religious

ceremonies (Bayly 249). Hence, it is appropriate to state that the uniqueness of Syrian

Christianity has also led to the emergence ofa unique version ofDalit Christianity in

Kerala.

The Dalit conversions into Christianity in Kerala took place mainly as a result of

the proselytizing works of missionary organisations like the London missionary Society

(L.M.S.), the Church Missionary Society (C.M.S.) etc. It is to be noted that in the initial

years, C.M.S. had a 'Mission of Help' and was aimed at bringing the Syrian churches

that existed in Kcrala into an alliance with the European churches, in the assumption

that it would make the Syrian Christians more evangelic. As a result, the missions

chiefly worked amongst the Syria11-Christians and not amongst the Datits. Later, in the

late I 830s, the incompatibility with the Syrian churches forced these European

missionaries (mainly the C.M.S. as the L.M.S. was already working amongst the lower

castes in Southern Travancore) to move towards the untouchable castes in the society.

The untouchable castes in Kerala, Pulayas and Parayas being the major

conununities amongst them, found the European missionaries and their new religion as

a means to escape from the clutches of the upper caste Hindus and Christians. The

missionary work amongst the Datits also resulted in various remarkable changes in their

lives. A number of schools and colleges were established by the missionaries, which

though did not accommodate the DaHt students in the beginning, later played a major

role in educating the Datits and thereby improving their lives in a variety of ways,

Conversion into Christianity has, thus, played a major role in the Dalit search for
 127

dignity and liberation in Kerala. Though he moved away from the Christian fold in later

times, Poikayil Yohannan Appachen or Kumara Gurudevan (as he is referred to as now),

who founded the Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha (PROS) in Kerala, used and

assimilated a number of Christian ideals and stories to revisit the Dalit past in Kerala

and assert the Dalit identity. He invoked the slave pasts of the Dalits to organise them

spiritually as well as politically. A memorandum submitted by the members of the

Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha to Morris Watts, the Diwan ofTravancore in 1926

reveals how the Dalits incorporated Christianity into their lived experiences, at the same

time, refusing to adhere to the casteist propaganda of the Syrian Christians.

We the people numbering 10,000 belonging to Parayar, Pulayar and

Kizhakke Pulayar who have been slaves for a long time, and are in the

lowest rung of the society in terms of landed property and education

have come together in the witness of the holy Bible and joined together in

the nomenclature of Prathyaksha Raksha Daiva Sabha. We the original

inhabitants of this land were for a long time steeped in slavery, and had

to depend on others as we did not have our own land to stay and we lived

like animals without education, social reform and such civilizational

qualities. We are poor people who subsist from the little income that we

get from daily wage earning. Now in different parts of the state we have

63 parishes and there we have churches and schools for the worship of

God and education of our children (qtd. in Mohan 8).

We can see a similar assertion of the Indian Dalit identity in the church, which

gets materialised with the emergence of a Dalit theology. Thus, it can be found that the

Dalits in Kerala, instead of merely getting incorporated into Christianity, incorporated

Christianity into their experiences. Thus, the conversion into Christianity with its own
 128

limitations, has led to tbe emergence of a powerful means for the Dalits, one that would

help them understand their pasts, identifY a 'Dalit God.' wh(iJ work for the liberation of

the oppressed. This shows how Christianity has helped the Dalits in voicing against the

oppression and how Christianity has become a part of their identity. Thus, Christianity

has become a source of dignity and salvation for the Dalits, mainly through the ways in

which the Dalits incorporated the Biblical stories ofliberation from slavery. The Dalit

Christians fmd Christianity as a source of redemption and liberation from Hinduism, the

way the Israelites were liberated from the Egypt under the leadership of Moses. For the

Dalit Christians, Jesus Christ becomes a 'God of the Dalits' as his message was for the

liberation of the oppressed, who in Indian context would be the Dalits.

Religious conversions, thus, though upset the 'superficial' stability and calmness

of a society, should be understood as the expressions of the oppressed people's pursuit

for social justice, mobility and happiness. The various accusations that hover around the

notion of conversion becomes justifiable when one succeeds in understanding what

leads a person or a community to leave the religion of one's ancestors in which one was

hom and brought up, in order to embrace a new religion and a new order.

Dalit Christian Struggles within the Church

While the identity assertions and protests against casteism emerged in Malayalam

literature as Dalit literature through the I 960s.80s, the Dalit Christian struggles within

the various churches in Kerala has a long history that dates back to the missionary

period itself. As most ofthe Dalits who converted into Christianity in Kerala had

converted into one missionary organisation or the other, the Dalit Christian struggles are

also predominant in the Church of South India, which emerged after the reorganisation

ofthe Anglican Church in India in 1947 (Varghese 37). On 24th April 1935, Pambadi
 129

John Joseph3, leader ofCheramar Mahajana Sabha and member ofTravancore Praja

Sabha 4 , presented a memorandum in the British Parliament through the Travancore

government. The memorandum stood fInn against the inadequacies of considering the

upper caste Syrian Christians and the Dalit Christians as a single and uniform

community. The memorandum demanded that the Dalit Christians should be considered

as a separate community and that they should be given representation in public service

as well as government in correspondence to their population (Yesudasan 92). The Dalit

Christians within the Anglican Church formulated tbe concept of a separate

administration within the church during the period starting 1938. A resolution

demanding the separation was introduced and passed in the Diocesan Council on 30th

December 1941. But, the separation plan as formulated by the Datit Christians got

rejected and reformulated in the Standing Committee ofthe church (Raj 74-5). In spite

of these attempts, the move for a separate administration failed in the CM.S. Church

and the state of affairs continued to remain unfavourable for the Dalit Christians.

In 1951, three organisations working for different communities ofDalit

Christians merged to form Avasha (Weak) Christian Federation. In another meeting on

24th March 1956, a number of organisations working for Dalit Christians came together

and formed the 'Backward Class Christian Federation' (BCCF). In January-February

1957, BCCF organised a rally and a protest in front of the secretariat in

Thiruvananthapuram and the Governor was forced into agreeing on a lump sum grant

3 Joseph (1887-1940) was an activist who worked for the Dalit causes, mainly within the churches. He

formed 'Cheramar Sangham' in 1921 and submited a memorandum to the British parliament in 1935

on the condition of the Dalit Christians and the incongruity in considering the Syrian Christians and •
the Dalil Christians together as a single community

~ Travancore Praja Sabha or Sree Moolam Popular Assembly was a legislative body that was formed in

1904 to facilitate the increased participation ofpeopJe in the administration ofTravancore.

 130

for Datit Christian students. In April 1957, BCCF undertook another protest against the

ministry headed by E.M.gankaran Namboodiripad (E. M. g,).5 The protest and strike

ended with E.M.g. sanctioning half-stipend and lump sum grant for the Dalit Christian

students (Yesudasan 112-4).

The continued caste practices within the e.g.1. church led to the formation of a

'Separate Administration Movement' (g.A.M.). A pamphlet named Separate

Administration Movement was brought out by V. J. Joseph and E. 1. Mathai on 21st

December 1960, which reveals the caste situations and circumstances within the church.

From the beginning itself, Avasha Christians remain separated without

merging with other sections. This is not the fault of the Avasha

Christians. They have special churches, special priests, special preachers

and even separate seats in those churches where the upper castes and

Dalits worship together. Either they have special cemeteries or special

rows in the cemetery. For instance, we have a Pulaya Preacher appointed

for the Avasha Christians in our Diocesan church (qtd. in Yesudasan

121).6

S.A.M. was banned by the e.S.1. church in 1961 though they staged several protests and

challenged the caste ism within the church. This led to the formation/rebirth of the

C.M.S. Church of Kerala in 1966.

As per the call issued by S.A.M. on 10.4. 1964, the Diocesan DaHl

Representative Meeting was held on 24.8.1964 in Changanassery

, E. M. S. was the first chief minister of Keral. (1957-59) and was noted to be the head of the first ever

democratieally elected Communist government in India. He is known fo.- the land reforms that he •
introduced in Kernl .. but is also widely criticized by the Dati! intelligentsia for his cold attitudes

towards casteism.

6 (Translation is mine.)
 131

Nalanda College and it was decided to re-establish the CM.S. Anglican

Church as the CM.S. Church Kerala. The meeting that echoed with the

declaration 'Come back to CM.S: elected Rev. V. J. Stephen as the

president. The announcement that Rev. V. J. Stephen produced from

Eanaath had the title, 'We stand as C.M.S. Church Kerala' (Yesudasan

129).7

After the declaration about the re-establishment of the CM.S. Church, Rev. V. 1.

Stephen was consecrated as a bishop on 5th May 1966 by Bishop Rev. Dr. James Parker

Dees (Meteropolitan of Anglican Orthodox Church in USA), Bishop Rev. A. Matthew

Ajuga (Anglican Church, Africa) and Bishop Rev. K. N. Oommen (St. Thomas

Evangelical Church oflndia, Kerala). Several other Christian leaders from all over the

world participated in the programme and the programme also witnessed the newly

appointed bishop, Bishop Rev. Dr. V. J. Stephen, ordaining twenty four people as

deacons of the church (Vattapara 2-7).

On the other hand, the DaHt struggles within the CS.1. Church continued and it

led to the emergence of the Janakeeya Yimochana Yiswasa Prasthanam (' Peop Ie's

Movement of Faith for Liberation') in the Central Kerala Diocese. Though this

movement does not seem to be active in the church today, it is important to study the

movement for its motives, deliberations, protests and the related political and

theological streams of thought. The movement emerged in the 1980s through the efforts

of the politicized Dalit Christians and progressive Syrian Christians'in the church

(Varghese 68). Thus, a group of people working in the youth league of the church along

with some working fur developmental issues within the church, some people with •
progressive ideologies and some who were the proponents of Liberation Theology came

, (Translation is mine.)
 132

together to fight for the rights of the Dalits within the church. Though there were certain

concessions and special privileges given to the Dalits in the church, they neither had any

rights nor any participation in the administrative positions within the church (Joseph

176). The Syrian Christians within the church occupied all major positions of power and

nepotism was prevalent in the church.

The movement submitted a memorandum to the bishop on 26th November 1982

demanding a revolutionary makeover for the casteist nature of the church. The

memorandum brought forth several issues as follows (Joseph 177-8). Firstly, the

majority of the population of the church, who are called 'Backward Class

Christians'(Dalit Christians) should be given participation in the various strata of the

church through a constitutional assurance of bishoprics, priesthood etc. along with jobs

in the church institutions and representation in accordance with the population in

elections. Secondly, as the church was formed through the liberation of slaves. the

church has to maintain its liberative ethics and spirit always. "Only that fellowship can

be accepted as a church which wou Id stand against all kinds of oppressions, separations

and exploitations based on caste and wealth. The god whom the true church worships is

a god who liberates. That is the god that the bible witnesses (Joseph 177).,,8 Thirdly, the

church stands for injustices and inequalities based on differences based on caste and

race, which are contradictory to what bible prescribes for a church and hence, the

church has to reform itself based on bible. Fourthly, the awakening in the church was

termed on par with the other similar awakenings of the poor in various churches across
9
the world , based on a return to bible and the subsequent struggles against oppressions

•
8 (Translation is mine.)

9 The period between 1960s and 1990s saw the rise, growth and decline of various contextual theologies

like Liberation theology and Black theology. which influenced and catalysed similar expressions and
 133

ofvanous kinds. The focus of the movement was on faith and liberation through faith.

Fifthly and [mally, the memorandum accused the church of)1aving resorted to violence

against those who are fighting the differences and declared that the bishop, estate

owners, bankers etc are representatives ofthose who oppress the poor, the workers and

the women. It is worth noticing that the communist undercurrents one could read into

this movement did not discount the role or assertion for the need of a faith based on a

contemporary biblical hermeneutics. Though People's Movement of Faith for Liberation

met an early death in 1988, it has opened up certain fissures in the church, its faith and

politics at large. The failure ofthe movement to attain all its demands as represented

through the memorandum, though it led to a certain level of democratization ofthe

church, is believed to be due to the superiority of the Syrian Christians within the

movement. This is an ironic and revealing conclusion as People's Movement of Faith

for Liberation was primarily attempting beller rights and participation for the Dalit
•
Christians in the church (Varghese 88_90).10

Dalit Literature in Malayalam •

While the Dalit struggles within religious and secular spaces in Kerala have a long

history, a glance at the literary works defmitely provides an insight into its emergence,

developments and trajectories. On the one hand, there have been literary works on Dalit

lives in Malayalam and translations into Malayalam in the colonial period itself, but on

struggles of faith across the world. A detailed discussion ofOOth these theologies are given in Cnapter

5 of this thesis.

'0 For a detailed study of lhe People's Movement of Faith for Liberation, refer to the unpubliShed MPhii
•
thesis "Between Faith and Self-affirmation: The Problems of Dalit Liberation in the Church" (2012)

submitted by Jestin T. Varghese to Mahatma Gandhi University, Kallayarn, Korala.

 134

the other hand, those might not be termed Dalit literature as most of them were by upper

caste writers who took a sympathizing and patronizing stant;! in their analyses 0 f Dalit

lives, culture etc. From the 1980s, after the emergence of the Dalit Panther and larger

Dalit identity movements, Malayalam literature saw the arrival of certain Dalit writers

giving accounts that were more SUbjective and 'closer to experience and reality'. The

lived experiences of the Dalits in Kerala have, thus, been brought out through these

works. Dalit literature in Malayalam could, thus, be defmed as a post-independence

development. The post-independence period in Kerala had also seen the rise of

Progressive Literary Movement, with several kinds of literary ventures developing even

before and after the rise and consolidation of a 'Dalit' consciousness in India in general

and Kerala in specific. Most of these works were written from a nationalist or social

realist perspective like that ofMulk Raj Anand's" Untouchable (1935), Thakazhi Shiva

Sankara Pillai's 12 Thottiyude Makan (1947 and English translation Scavenger Son in s
1975) and Randidangazhi (1948- English translation Two Measures ofRice) etc. with

writers writing about the Dalit lives and analyzing it in the class-based understanding of

societies, thereby almost completely ignoring the caste issues. P. Kesavadev'sl3 Odayil

II Mulk Raj Anand (1905-2004) was an Indian English wriler known for his novels like Untouchable

(1935) and Coolie (1936) that were based on the lower caste and class lives in India. The class

struggle as informed by the Communist ideology was prominent in his literary style.

"Thakazhi (1912-1999) was a popular Malayalam novelist and short story writer who WOn the Jnanpith

award in 1984 for his novel Kayar. His writings were noted for the realistic portrayals of the lives of

the depressed classes. Most of his novels have been translated into English and other European

languages while Chemmeen, a Kendra Sahilya Akademi award winning novel, was adapted into a film

in 1965.
•
13 Kesavadev (1904-1983) was a novelist, shon story writer and playwright and amongst Ihe imponant

writers ofMaJayalam progressive literature, having selected the poor in the society as heroes and

heroines for his works. Odayil Ninnu, one of his famous novels, was adapted into a film in 1965.
 135

Ninnu (1942- From the Gutters),and the works ofKerala People's Arts Club (KPAC)14

etc, could be considered as the some of the most popular of .this fold, Thus, there was a

need for the growth of a Dalit literature in Malayalam, by producing new literary works

and also by identifying the literary merits of the traditionally ignored folk songs of the

Dalit communities in Kerala, One example for this would be the song of a Pulaya god-

man, "Even when you're hurt, it's red blood! Even when we're hurt, it's red blood"

(Anilkumar 21), Thus, the anti-caste spirit in the Dalit songs and ballads has found its

place in the mainstream genres of novels, short stories and plays as well.

Dalil Christian in Malayalam Fiction

The development of a Dalit Christian subject in Kerala has always been in relation and

opposition to the Syrian Christian, who claims a traditional and upper caste status, With

the rise and growth ofDalit literature in Malayalam, there were attempts from the 1980s

to address the questions regarding Dalit Christians too, A variety of literary works in

Malayalam and translations have attempted to engage with, discuss and represent the

Dalit Christian lives and experiences, These works included novels and short stories that

dealt with Dalit lives and cultures in all its colours and contours in the pre-conversion

and post-conversion phases, In the recent years, with the growth and popularity ofDalit

literature in the academia, some of these works have also been translated into English,

Religious conversions and the various confusions and trauma associated with the

processes have been the focus in these works,

For a detailed study of the Dalit Christian question, two novels and three short

" KPAC emerged as a theatre movement with left ideology in Kerala from the 1950s and is believed to
•
have played a major role in propagating Communism. The noted plays by KPAC include Ente

Makananu Seri and Ningalenne Communistakki. Many of the plays by KPAC were later adapted into

films and the songs ofKPAC plays were used widely for Communist propaganda and rallies in Kerala.
 136

stories from Malayalam have been selected. The historical and psychological narratives

that are possible in fiction have inspired the selection ofth~ genres of literature. While

the two novels, Samvatsarangal and Mukkany are selected for their historical and

chronological narrations ofDalit lives, their conversions into Christianity and the

intricate politics that emerges with relation to the clash of cultures, practices, rituals etc.,

the short stories "Achanda Vendinja Inna!", "Eli, Eli, La'ama Sabach Tha'ni?" and

"Prethabhashanam" are selected as they detail the various dilemmas and psychic

traumas of the Dalit Christian in the post-conversion period, where slhe faces caste ism

within and outside the church. The fact that three of these works have figured in the

Dalit writing dossier No Alphabet in Sight (2011) and are, hence, back to the literary

discussions and Datit discourses makes it important to discuss their merit in a detailed

manner.

Samvatsarangal- The Annals of Dalit Life

Samvatsarangal (1984)15 by S, E. James l6 is considered as the only classic novel in

Malayalam which has the legendary Dalit leader, Ayyankali, as a character 17 This novel

" A translation of chapter 9 of this novel by K. M. Krishnan is included in No Alphabet in Sight: New

Dolit Writing/rom South India wtder the name "Annals".

16 James was one of the first novelists in Malayalam to address caste issues in all its intricacies. He has

published four novels and several shon stories. He also won the Mamman Mappila Award in 1980 for

his novel Sam'VolsarangaJ.

17 Ayyankali (1856-1942) is one of the pioneers in the Dalit struggles in Kerala. He fought for the rights

of the Dalits to have education and land for cultivation. His fights for the rights of Dalits to use the public

roads in Travancore are evergreen in the history of Dalit struggles in Kerala. His bullock can protest and

emphasis on dignified dressing styles for the Dalits are significant in the history of Dalit identity

assertions.
 137

deals with the intricacies of the Dalit lives and the discriminations they faced at the

hands of the land owning upper castes in Kerala, the Nairs. The novelist uses several

techniques to narrate the annals of the life of Daniel Upadeshi, the protagonist, who is a

Datit convert into Christianity and a protestant preacher. The author is unable to keep

the myths and legends of the Dalit lives away from the 'converted Christian's' life.

Upadeshi brings Christianity to Maranthadam, the locale of his life and Dalit revolution.

Upadeshi cannot separate himself from his past and the struggles he had witnessed and

experienced. Thus, the experiences prior to conversion are considered as vital for the

construction of the Datit Christian's identity as is herlhis experiences after conversion.

This is evident from the ways in which Daniel Upadeshi narrates the stories, myths and

events of his life to his grandson, Monayi. Stories of Maranthadam cannot be kept away

from the grandson. The attempts by Upadeshi to build a church and a congregation in

Maranthadam are met with scepticism, confusions, horror and violence. Both the Dalit

and upper caste gods are shown to be offended with the arrival ofa new Christian god

in their somewhat mystic habitat. The elements of magic realism in the novel reflect the

myths, beliefs and the mUltiple contours of religious and cultural practices in

Maranthadam.

The flfSt convert in Maranthadam was Daveed. Prior to conversion, he was

Govindan, though known as Konnan. His conversion initiated the mass conversion of

the Pulayas in Patinjattumuri and Kattukulam. This is also an insight into the

community life of the Pulayas in this region, where faith is not merely an individual

effort, but a community-initiated one. This would stand opposed to the missionary

notion of an individual salvation and a mere personal relation with one's god. When the
•
new being 'Daveed' comes to a local teashop run by a Nair, he is ridiculed by the upper

castes and the Dalits together for his conversion.

 138

Valladan came close to him. "We were calling your name all these while

Konna." "I'm not Konnan.'· Hunh!- Everyo!le got surprised. They

looked at each other in a meaningful fashion and laughed. "If so Konna,

are you the managerjamm/ 8 of Medappera?" "Or are you the dead

Anandanpillajammi ofVelakkenniT "No." Konnan said: "Daveesh!"

"Daveesh?" -They came closer. "0, Daveesh. The name given by

Upadeshi. For now on, call me only by that." Making the cross mark on

the forehead and keeping heaven as the witness, Upadeshi had told a

hundred times in his ear: "Daveed." Then Upadeshi had taken the bible

and told him the story of King Daveed. How much ever he tried Daveed,

the king of psalms, became Daveesh while coming from his mouth.

Damodaran Nair's regular customers looked at Daveesh sceptically.

Vaathi understood the matter. He got up and went out of the shop. Then

hemmed towards the door and spat and asked: "You have become a

Christian, haven't you KonnaT' "Not Konnan, Daveesh." -He

corrected. "Phew! Kaveesh ... Kuveesh!" Vathi walked away blabbering.

While walking towards the church yard, someone called from behind:

"Kooi Kaveeshe. Kuveeshe ... " A voice that was not recognisable.

Daveed walked as ifhe did not hear it. Maranthadam's first Christian

walked towards the church yard (92_3).19

The new name was, thus, intended to change the Dalit Konnan into a Christian Daveed.

18 Jammj refers to landlord. In pre-independence Keral~ Nairs were the major landovroing community

and prior to the abolitioo of slavery in Kerala through the Government of India Act of 1843 and the

Second Proclamation ofTravancore and Cochin, the lower castes were bought and sold by their

ovroers, who were majorly the landlords.

19 (Translation is mine).
 139

But, the transition is not a smooth one and the society ridicules it and continues to

consider him as the same person and the entire conversion process is a reason for them

to bully Daveed.

The novel also gives several other instances to explain the caste discriminations

and the attempts by the Dalits to fight these. Daniel Upadeshi writes the subaltern, and

even a Dalit Christian, history of Maranthadam through his narrations. The author's

attempt to trace the history of social transformation and tensions could be considered as

deliberate to make the Dalits remember the struggles they undertook and to remind

them of the need to preserve all that they have achieved through these struggles. The
,.
strong Christian faith in Daniel Upadeshi is also evident throughout the novel. This can

be understood from the way he quotes from the Bible at every difficult situation and

how he cries to God and asks for replies in a most intimate fashion. The frequent use of

Biblical and Christian images in the novel, while referring to Daniel, is another way in

which the author has highlighted the religiosity. But this does not, in any way, mean that

Daniel was depending merely on a divine intervention to deliver justice in his life. For

instance, when he is summoned by the local authority to express their objection to his

decision of building a church, he questions it by claiming that the Nair opinion on

church cannot be considered as the 'local people's opinion' as it should include those of

the Pulayas and Ooralis in Maranthadam. The response that he gets reveals how intense

caste ism was in the locality. "But, 'local people' here refers only to us, the Nairs. They

would have a meeting and decide. It is also we who will decide what the Pulayas and

Oooralis have to say. Upadeshi will understand this slowly and gradually (90).,,20 This

incident reveals how the Dalits in Kerala society were denied citizenship in the local
•
and larger societies in Kerala, thereby legitirnising the bans on using the public roads,

:!O (Translation is mine).

 J4()

places of worship and even dressing styles.

Upadeshi is also projected in the novel as a kind and .compassionate man, ready

to serve even those who serve him and work for him For instance, he provides all the

workers who are engaged in building the chureh with homemade delicacies as well as

clothes. This is met with surprise and respect from the workers as the caste hierarchy in

Kerala had traditionally allowed for the lower castes and classes only certain kinds and

leftover fuod and used or tampered clothes. Upadeshi preaches to the workers ahout the

futility of the worldly pleasures and happiness and urges them to seek eternal joy in

God's kingdom. This can be understood as a result of the influence Christian

missionaries had on Daniel Upadeshi. But, what is to be noted is his transformation of

the protestant theology and ethicS 21 of the Christian missionaries into his own lived

experiences. The ways in which Christian ethics and belief have been translated into

DaHt lives could be, thus, understood as a precedent of what we know now as Dalit

theologi2

The strict protestant ways of Christianity as taught by the Upadeshi is also

evident in the thoughts of Daveed, the first convert, when he is mocked at by people.

Daveed kept himself cahn and remained silent. Upadeshi has instructed

that not a single word should come from him unnecessarily. It should be

" A detailed and celebrated analysis of the rclarion between protestant Christianity and work culture as

per the rise of capitaHsm cou1d be seen in the German sociologist Max Weber'5 book The Protestant

E(hic and the Spirit o/Capitalism (1905).

"Dalit theology emerged as a counter theology to the Indian Christian theology which draws from the

Hindu Sanskrit philosophy. Dalit theology could be termed as a contextual theology that uses the livc:d
r

experiences of the Dalit Christians in biblical hermeneutics. It has been influenced by other theologies

of the twentieth cenrury like Black theology and Liberation theology. A detailed discussion of Dalil

theology is given in Chapter 5 of this thesis.

 141

followed strictly. Silly talks and jocular ways are not allowed for

Christians. Even the fact that he got angry initially could become sins. He

begged pardon to the heaven (95).-'3

This is also an insight into how Christian theology and faith are taught to the converts.

Thus, there is a deliberate rejection of certain old ways of life as is evident from the

missionary discourses on the evil nature ofDalit lives and cultures. The new life of the

converted Dalit is dedicated for the Christian ways of building the church and spreading

the gospel. The complexity of the conversion experience is also evident in the way in

which Velu, another Dalit, after his conversion into Mosha and becoming the sexton at

the church, doubts whether he has lost something dear when people are indifferent to

him and his 'progress' into the shirt of some fat white man, which he got from the

church (102). His fear of alienation in his native land and his attempts to fight it by

praying and taking consolation in God could be seen as 'essential' to the Dalit Christian

beginnings. The sudden shift of status from a Dalit to someone who has embraced a

foreign religion does disturb the convert, often leading to a trauma, which she/he fights

through an extravaganza in the new religion. This is seen in the way Mosha responds to

his initial experiences as a Christian in Maranthadam:

Is the mercy of this land drying that had given years as hereditary rights?

"God!" He raised his eyes to the heaven Sun shining high above the

Maranappara fell into his eyes. The shadow ofMaranappara has

withdrawn from the church and its compound. "God, my dear God!

(102),,24

Apart from the emphasis on salvation through one's relation with Jehovah, the God, •

~3 (Translation is mine).

~4 (Translation is mine).
 142

Daniel Upadeshi also popularises education amongst the Pulayas and Ooralis.

Once the construction of the school is over, there should be children to

join. It has been decide to appoint Habel and Lazar as teachers

temporarily. It would be enough for now. Once it progresses, a more

experienced person can be brought from outside. Anyway, children are a

must. All the hard work should not go waste. This is just a beginning.

Upadeshi informed his church people. He went from house to house and

interacted with them He tried to make them aware of the need to have

education. Don't you need a liberation from this trouble, a state close to

that oftbe animals? He asked. We have been sufiering this from years

and years together! There is only one way to escape, he said. Learn, and

progress. Through that we can become great people, like the Whites, like

the White who came to start the church, like the Diwanji (165)25

This urge for learning and education is a civilisational progress which defmitely had

repercussions amongst the Nairs in the locality. The increased interest in education by

the Dalits and Bahujans was seen as a potential threat to the caste hierarchy. "Upadeshi

had told them that the Pulaya can even own the sky if he learns the alphabet (166).,,26

The increased access and interest in education for the Dalits with the arrival of

Christianity is a historical reality in Kerala. The novelist, thus, interweaves incidents

from history through his fictional narrative to legitimise the history ofDalit Christians

and their dilemmas outside and through conversions. The invoking of Ayyankali and his

historic struggles for justice and human rights for the Dalits in Kerala fits well in the

narrative and makes it informative as well as exciting. The novelist, thus, succeeds in •

25 (Translation is mine).

26 (Translation is mine).
 143

establishing that the Dalit Christian lives cannot be devoid of the Dalit pasts and its

struggles. In fact, the protagonist carries forward his struggles against casteism in the

society using his faith in Christianity and the various modes of capital that he has

acquired in and through it. The political, cultural, religious and spiritual realms of the

Dalit Christian lives are portrayed to its fullest extend with all its intricacies in the

novel.

Mukkany- Continuing Caste in Cburch

D, Rajan, through his novel Mukkany (1987), unravels the lives ofParayas, a Dalit

community in Southern Travancore, whose occupation was to cut mukkan/ 7 from the

Sahya mountain ranges and earn a livelihood on various products made with it. The

novel brings to light the internal hierarchies within the Parayas and attempts to create a

space for their myths, beliefs and customs in Malayalam literature. The cultural

specificities and linguistic variations within the Dalit communities get painted in letters

through this novel. This is also a 'chronicle novel' (Ayrookuzhy and Chirackarodu 32)

narrating the story of three generations ofParayas.

The first generation is represented by the Paraya elder, Nanjan Mooppan, who

practices occult magic and is feared by all in the locality, He a Iso symoo Iises the' pagan'

Paraya as understood by the missionary as well as other modem discourses with his

violent ways and practice of polygamy. He is the "leader, guru, priest, magician and

everything for the Parayas (17)".

The second generation that initiates social change is represented by Najan

•
" A variety of bamboo usually found in forests and used to make baskets, mats etc, Traditiooally, the

Paraya community in Kerala was engaged in weaving using mukkany and hence, the noveHst has aptly

used tbe same as tbe title for bis novel tbat deals with the lives ofPamyas,
 144

Mooppan's daughter Painkili and her husband Chennan. Chennan is brought back to life

by the Dalit Christians from Myladi after being beaten by people ofPainkili"s sub-caste.

Chenoan and Painkili convert into Christianity after they are met with certain hardships

after their marriage, and when Vedamanickam18 , a third generation Dalit Christian and

his wife, Nahomi, support them Chenoan meets with an accident and loses the sight of

his left eye. Vedamanickam and Nahomi bring them home and take care of them (158).

They were pious Christians who would not work on Sundays and would dedicate one

tenth of their earnings for the church (160-1). They taught Chennan and Painkili to sing

songs and recited verses from the Bible to them (162). The priest and other church

members oppose having the non-Christian outcastes in Vedamanickam's family (163-4).

Finally, conversion into Christianity became the solution for compromise. Chennan and

Painkilli liked this suggestion and were baptised as Shilas and Raseena respectively

(166). The adoption of a new name is significant in multiple ways. It is a public

declaration of the adoption of a new belief system and way of life. It is also a symbol of

the attempt to shed one's caste identity and be one in Christ. But, they continued their

traditional occupation of cutting mukkany and selling its products along with the Paraya

Christians and other Parayas. Vedamanickam, being a devout Christian and the deacon

in the church, assumes the role of a god-father for Stephan, who was the son ofShilas

and Raseena. He is portrayed as having guided Stephen from his childhood, reading and

narrating him biblical stories. While portraying the religious fervour of the Paraya

:=8 It could be understood that the novelist wants to invoke the history of Dallt conversions into

Christianity in Southern T ravancore through his references to Myladi, where ooe of the first Dalit

Christian communities were present· Vedamanickam ~ was also the name given to the first Da1it •
convert, Maharashan. A detailed discussion of this history can be found in Dalith Christhavar

Keralathil (2000) by Paul Chirakkrodu and published by Christhava Sahithya Samithy (CSS),

Tiruvalla.
 145

Christians, the novel employs many of the popular Christian songs in standard

Malayalam, in stark contrast to the Paraya dialect of Malayalam that the characters use

for conversation. The novelist, again through his narrative voice in standard Malayalam,

succeeds in highlighting the specific flavour of the Paraya Malayalam. The novel

employs biblical language and imageries again when Stephen gets discriminated in the

school and in the society as he is a "beef-eating Paraya (186)'". Vedamanickam advises

Stephen to depend on god and study well to overcome his difficulties, citing from the

bible how the poor and the suffering would get relief in god and his kingdom

Rajan, the novelist, employs many of the biblical stories and themes while

dealing with the Paraya lives. When Vedamanickam and others in the family decide to

meet the bishop for seeking permission to let Stephen become a priest, the image of

Moses from the Old Testament is invoked and hope of Stephen becoming a liberator for

the Parayas who are in slavery and darkness (194-5). Though it could be read as

liberation from spiritual slavery and darkness, it also implies the Paraya pasts, when

slavery was a reality. The novelist also talks of the white missionaries who used to lead

the church in the colonial period. "It used to be foreign missionaries then. They were

white bishops. They had sacrificed their lives for others. They were the true disciples of

Jesus Christ (196)." This description of the missionaries stands in stark contrast to that

of the bishop who gets angry at Vedamanickam and shouts at him for expressing his

desire to get Stephen admission in the seminary. Though Stephen is smart and has

passed the matriculation exam with a frrst class, it is not enough for him to join the

seminary. The native bishop explains why. 'That's nice. You are a deacon. Your son

should be made a priest. In this way, you would say that his son be made bishop. You ,

need lineage, heritage etc. for priesthood. Will the church members obey if the Paraya

and Pulaya becomes a priest (196- 7)T The novelist furthers this difference in the
 146

attitudes of the white missionary and the native bishop by narrating how

Vedamanickam's grandfather got converted into Christianity. Villi Parayan,

Vedamanickam's grandfather, was a black magician and he had killed an upper caste

drunkard who tried to disrupt the Paraya festival. When all the Parayas in the locality

were under persecution and police action, the white priest from the church stepped in

and ensured the security of the Parayas. 'They got saved from the police case with the

help of the saayip29 priest. They joined Christianity en masse for self-protection. Villi

Parayan, the evil magician, got baptized and became a Christian. He adopted the

Christian name, Habel. Habel's son was Hanok. Hanok's son is Vedamanickam." This

incident tells us the heterogeneous nature of motives behind the conversions of Dalits

into missionary Christianity. While for some, it was a spiritual quest, for some it was a

betterment of social status and for some certain privileges that came along with

Christianity. Whatever be the reason for the conversion, casteism is evident from the

fact that even after being a third generation Christian, Vedamanickam is still referred to

as a Parayan and is not 'eligible' to have his adopted son ordained as a priest.

The novelist makes the best use of his narrative voice to talk about the

continuing casteism in the church by referring to different parishes within the church for

different Dalit castes and for the upper caste Christians. He also refers to the work of the

European missionaries in Kerala. Vedamanickam remembers the stories he was told by

Habel, his grandfather.

European missionaries came to Kerala to spread Christianity. True

missionaries ... People who had dedicated their lives for the spread of the

•
::9 Saayip is a term used to refer to the while man, while madaamma is used for the white woman. Saayip

could be seen as similar to the words sahib and saheb as used in languages like Hindi to mean the

same.
 147

gospel... These foreign missionaries had corne to India to convert those

uncivilised people into Christianity, who were perfonning evil things like

magic, black magic, sacrifices, ghost-talks, etc ... For that, they build

churches. They started schools. They built hospitals. They employed

orphanages. They constructed factories ... Those white gospel workers

went to the huts of the poor and gave them clothes. They gave them food.

They took care of the sick. They taught how to live cleanly and neatly.

They got their children to join the school... They taught them to sing and

pray. They raised them to be humans (199-200)30

The novel continues to explain how the Syrian Christians who had joined the

missionary church employed various tricks to benefit the best from the European

missionaries while they projected the Parayas in a bad light before them. Though one

may fmd a glorification of the missionaries in the novel, as well as an ignorance of the

missionary preferences for the Syrian Christians initially, the manner in which the

missionaries are juxtaposed against the evil Syrian Christian bishop and priests explains

how casteism remains a reality within the church.

The third generation in the novel is represented by Stephen, who joins hands

with other Dalits and voices his anger against caste discriminations within the church

and outside. He is the postcolonial Dalit Christian subject who is caught up in numerous

dilemmas. As a Dalit Christian, he is refused any reservation in education or

employment, unlike other Hindu Dalits. His dilemma even leads him to think of

converting into Hinduism to avail reservation and join a co liege thus. But, he is

dissuaded by Vedamanickam, who quotes from biblical stories and reinstates in him the

Christian faith which demands one not to fall for the worldly desires, but to persist in

30 (Translation is mine.)
 148

the struggles of life (228-34). This could be understood as a realist depiction of the state

of the Dalit Christian in contemporary India, where s/he gets discriminated based on the

Dalit origins, even after generations of conversion. S/he becomes a ' Lower Caste

Christian' or 'New Christian' or ·Weak Christian' before the society and church and yet,

is kept away from the affirmative action of Scheduled Caste reselVation. The assertions

ofa 'Dalit Christian· identity and demands for reselVation could be seen as

contemporary and deliberate reactions to these concerns. The anger against the

discriminations is best portrayed in the words of Christopher, who comes to meet

Stephen to get him take part in the ongoing struggles against casteism in the church.

Nowadays, casteism is most widely practised amongst the Christians.

They build churches separately based on the caste. Pulayas and Parayas

would have small churches with roofs thatched with grass or coconut

leaves. They make fun of it calling it pulapallikal and parapallikaP'. The

elites have tall magnificent churches! They have special cemeteries ...

Lakhs of rupees get sent from America, England and Germany for

missionary work. They enjoy its fruits--the upper castes, the rich, those

from elite families! We are mere worms ... (243)32

The above given fury is a resistance by the Dalit Christians against the ways in which

the upper caste Syrian Christians occupied positions of power and manipulated

resources in their favour within the missionary church in the postcolonial period. This

could also be seen as a fictional reflection of the series of struggles that the Dalits in the

church undertook to oppose the oppressive administration. The novelist portrays

•.
31 Pillapallikal refers to Pulaya churches and parapal/ika/ refers to Paraya churches. Pa/Ii in Malyalam

stands for 'church' or 'mosque'.

3:! (Translation is mine.)

 149

Stephen to be drawing inspiration from the words of Harold Laski" and Ambedkar in

organising against the inequalities in the church (244). Stepbenjoins Christopher and

others in writing a memorandum to be submitted to the missionary who had come from

England to study the functioning of the churcb in Kerala and make a report on it.

Though the upper caste church administration attempts to disrupt their meeting with the

missionary, tbey succeed through a public rally and submit their memorandum It is

ironic to see that in order to get justice, the Dalit Christians have to rely on the Anglican

missionary, even in the postcolonial period. The novelist al<;() attempts to bring forth

certain other modes in which casteism persists in the churcb.

When Vedamanickam dies, his body had to be taken to a far-off cemetery as the

Dalit Christians were not allowed to share the cemetery with the Syrian Christians.

Also, in spite of Stephen being popular as a writer and a god-fearing Christian, his lover

Celin's fatber, wbo also bappens to be tbe Syrian priest in the parapalli, refuses to let

them marry anQsbe has to run away from home to be with Stephen. These two incidents

also bring out the ways in which the caste identity is maintained within the church.

lnter-caste marriage, as propagated by many DaHt leaders and refonners, would be one

way in which the caste distinctions could be diluted gradually. But, the claims of an

upper caste origin and a history of upper caste status in the society prevent the Syrian

Christians from taking any collective step in that direction, though one might fmd rare

exceptions. Even Celin's father, who is a priest trained in the scriptures, refuses to

understand the egalitarian potential of his religion.

H Harold Laski (1893-1950) was a Brilish political theorist and economist active in the period between

the two world wars. He is celebrated as an intellectual who attempted to promote socialism though his

stand on Stalin and Soviet Union are under severe criticism,

 150

"Achanda Vendinja Inna!"- Father, Here's Your Scapular!

In this short sto~4, T. K. C. Vaduthala" brings to light the tensions and ironies in the

lives of Oalits in Kerala who look at conversions into Christianity as a source of

liberatory and emancipatory experience. The protagonist is a Pulaya named

Kandankoran who gets converted into Christianity when he suffers from a serious

illness and his Syrian Christian landlord, 'Kochu Thamban 36 ,. visits him and instructs to

convert. The visit of the Syrian land lord is described to have royal pomp and

importance. Kandankoran is, thus, baptized into 'Oevassi'. The immediate effect of the

conversion was appealing and impressing.

The situation changed altogether. People started to flow continuously to

Kandankoran's hut. Most of them are Christians from the neighbourhood.

Men and women came. They did not just come to enquire about his

disease and well-being, but were ready to meet, console and take care of

that man who has become a saint by believing in their religion and

thereby, redeeming himself from the dirty pit of sin (36)."

l4 This short story was published in Thirenjed/ltha Kathakal (1981) by Sahitya Pravarthaka Sahakarana

Sangham in Kerala. This was republished in Dalith Saahithyam: Onl Padanam (1995- CSS

Tiruvalla), edited by Abraham Ayrookuzhy and Paul Chirackarodu, and in Chankranthi Adayum Mattu

Pradhana Kadhakailim (2003- DC Kottayam).

3S Vaduthala could be termed the first Malayalam story writer who depicted the lives of the Dalits in all its

diverse manners. His stories have themes and subjects ranging from caste discriminations and

feudalism to alcoholism amongst Dalils and the rise of political awareness. He has al so focused on the

crisis related to the religious conversions ofDalits.

36 "Thamban' is a tenn used by the Pulayas in his locality to address the upper easte Syrian Christians. It

is similar to the term Thambran which means "lord', a tenn used by the Dalit eastes to address the

Nair and other upper caste land lords.

37 (Translation is mine.)
 151

For the "New Christian", people were ready to sacrifice anything. He is proud that he

got promotions from his lower caste status as well as beliefs. There is a description of

how the 'generous Syrian Christians' flocked in his hut to help and support the 'poor

Pulaya'. When Kandankoran converts into Christianity, the Syrian Christians bring

whatever they could to help him, from a new cot to ayurvedic and allopathic medicines.

The Christian women stayed in his hut for long hours, singing hymns and reading from

the scriptures. Gradually, after three-four days of suffering, Devassi regains health.

Devassi turns into a staunch Catholic, proud ofhis new status and religion. He

starts to assume that the Pulaya life is unworthy and pities all those Pulayas who still

continue as '1wo-legged cattle" working for others. He thinks that he should get his wife

and children converted too as he thinks ofthem as "children of Satan" and their

conversions into Christianity would mean a complete abandoning of the old Pulaya

ways oflife for the entire family. But his wife refuses and they fight. He also demands

to one of his neighbours, a Pulaya named Thevachan, to call him Thevasthi Thamban"

which everyone laughs off claiming that Devassi is still a Pulaya and not a Syrian

Christian as he expected to be. Devassi severes all ties with the Pulayas, abandons even

his Pulaya wife and children and starts a life anew.

Vaduthala describes how Devassi's life takes a different turn. He takes pride in

his association with the Syrian Christians. Vaduthala describes Oevassi's encounter with

his father-in-law as another instance of the intricacies related to conversions. He is

called 'Kandangaran Thevasthi' by his father-in-law with whom he picks up a fight and

demands him to call him 'Oevassi Thamban'. Kandankoran'sfOevassi's attempt to

transform himself into the upper caste Christian is also evident when he fights with

another Pulaya because he dares to refer to Devassi as 'brother'. Devassi, thus, isolates

himself from the other Pulayas and develops an aversion to their lifestyle, which he
 152

refers to as 'helpless'.

Vaduthala also talks of the material changes that happen to

KandankornnfDevassi with conversion. He stopped working in the fields and becomes

an attendant for the Syrian Christian family. He wears a scapularl8 or vendinja given to

him by the priest. He does not need to refer to the Syrian Christians the way other

Pulayas do. He has his own 'elevated' status and better names to use. But. this dream

world is disrupted when his father-in-law calls him 'Kandagoran Devassi' and tells him

how the Mappilas, the Syrian Christians still refer to him as a PuJaya. He is perplexed

as to why he is still Kandankoran even after conversion and after a change of his name.

One can be Kandankoran; one can be Devassi; but, how Can one be Kandankoran

Devassi? This is the question that troubles him He realizes then that even after

conversion, he does not get the opportunity to eat with the Syrian Christians, whom he

refers to as the 'real Christians' (42). Vaduthala invokes the image ofa bat when he talks

of the Dalits who get converted into Christianity. He compares a Dalit Christian to a bat,

which is neither a bird nor an animal. The narrator's voice claims that the conversion

experience instils a superiority feeling in the mind of the Dalit convert which makes

himlher to stay away from the other Dalits, but at the same time, he/she is looked down

upon by the trnditional, upper caste Syrian Christians.

Kandankoran Devassi can be, thus, understood as a representative of all the

Dalit Christians in Kerala who face caste distinctions at various levels in the church.

The politics of naming is to be understood as a crucial element in the trnnsformationof

the Dalits through religious conversion. The new name is expected and taken as a

38 Scapulars or vendinja are locket-like sacramenta's worn mainly by the Roman Catholics to show their

devotion and allegiance to certain saints. Scapulars would have images of saints. Mother Mary. Jesus

etc, or even biblical verses on them and are worn around the neck.
 153

symbol of the transformation. But, when the name deceives one and becomes a mere

adage to the previous identity, the Dalit Christian is perplexed. The Dalit fails to become

a Christian. He/she becomes a 'Dalit Christian' instead. In the short story, Kandankoran

faces this reality as he encounters more people referring to him as 'Kandankoran

Devassi' and 'Pulayan Devassi'. The culmination of this identity crisis occurs when one

of the church elders, a Syrian Christian, calls him in public by the name 'Kandankoran

Devassi', that too in an authoritative manner and asks him to take a note to the priest in

the church. Kandankoran feels that all the Pulayas started laughing at him at that

moment. He assumes that all of them are mocking at his pseudo-Christian status. He

reaches the church with a heavy heart and breaks down before the priest. He does not

answer the questions of the priest, but removes the scapular from his neck and returns it

saying "Father, here's your scapular. I'll live as the old Kandankoran itself (44}." This is

the moment when the Kandankoran decides to shed his false belief in Christianity, an

upper caste religion in Kerala and to assert himself as a Pulaya, but not as one to be

liberated and emancipated, but as one who can speak for himself and who can see

through the casteist propagandas of the society and the church.

Vaduthala critiques and challenges that society which does not accept the Puiaya

as a human being. The story also asserts that casteism operates in similar ways in both

Hinduism and Christianity, which are both upper caste enterprises (Anilkumar 83).

Thus, the author asks the Dalits not to turn a blind eye to the realities of oppression in

the society, but to fight it with all might. The moment ofloss in faith in Christianity

raises several concerns as it follows a socially relevant act of conversion and a more

troubled term as a 'hybrid Christian'. Borrowing the post colonial formulations of •

Frantz Fanon39 , one can identifY the Dalit Christian as a hybrid. who faces "psychic

W Fanon was a Martinique·bom French psychiatris~ philosopher and revolutionary, known for his
 154

trauma" when s/he realises the futility in the attempts to become an upper caste

Christian or shed the lower casteness (Loomba 176). Kandankoran Devass~ the hybrid

Christian, thus, breaks the hybrid identity through the act of rejecting Christianity and

its symbols that has been traumatising him.

"Eli, Eli, La'rna Sabach Tha'ni?"- Fighting the Casteist Christian

In this short story'O, Paul Chirakkarodu 41 narrates how a pious Dalit Christian resorts to

counter violence to fight the injustice meted out to him and his family at the hands of a

Syrian Christian. This story is translated under the same name by ShirIy M. Joseph for

No Alphabet in Sight: New Dalit Writingfrom South India (2011).

The story opens with a court scene where the protagonist talks about his life. His

name is Preacher Pathrose, though he writes his name as 'Kandankoran Pathrose' as he

was Kandankoran before he was baptized into Christianity. Pathrose gives a picture of

how Pulaya life used to be in his childhood. He explains how Pulaya men and women

toil whole day in the fields to earn a living. He explains how he was, in his youth, called

by the priest from the Mission to join the seminary. He underwent three years oftraining

formulations in postcolonial theory. His most famous works include Black Sin, White Masks

(Originally in French as Peau Noire, Masques Blancs inl952 and translated into English in 1967) and

The Wretched of the Eanh (Originally in French as Les Damnes de 10 Terre in 1961 and translated into

English in 1963).

"This story was published in Dalith Saahithyam: Oro Padanam (1995- CSS Tiruvalla), edited by

Abraham Ayrookuzhy and Paul Chirackarodu.

41 Chirakkarodu was a Dalil writer and activist who worked against the casteism in Christian churches in

Kerala Apart from writing several novels, short stories and essays, he has also contributed to the

establishment ofDalit literature in Malayalam through his essay Dalit Shithyathinonl Mukhavura and •

the book Dalith Saahityam: Oro Padanam (I995, Christava Sahitya Samithy, Tiruvalla), which he co-

authored with Rev. Dr. Abraham Ayrookuzhy.

 155

and emerged as 'Preacher Pathrose', His missionary training and Christian fervour are

evident in the passionate and biblical words he uses to describe his beginnings as a

preacher.

My heart melted at the sight of the human beings squirming in the pulaya

shacks. Sons of Man toiling all day for a morsel at dusk. With a prophet's

anguish I pleaded: Save this my generation, oh God.

Girdled with His Word, I stepped out, my feet sure. Inside me

prophethood flowered in all its glory. Standing in the south comer I

warned: 'Ye brood of serpents, flee from the coming doom!' Casting

aside their sins, the sons and daughters of Man came and stood before me

in the full nakedness of spirit (397).

Pathrose marries Mariam, a Pulaya woman, who was called Chirutha before her

conversion and they have a girl child Marykutty. The passion and devotion with which

Pathrose preached got people wonder at how a Pulaya could be such a fiery preacher.

This also reveals the attitude of the society which discounts the Dalit Christian's

potential to be a good Christian and a good preacher. This is a value judgement that the

society makes on the merit of the Datit, without considering herlhis potential and

reducing the assessment to a mere casteist one.

Crowds gathered to listen to my rendering of the Word. Their eyes

reflected the shock of witnessing the unimaginable. They turned to one

another and whispered, amazed: 'Is this not one whom we know? Is he

not the one who grew up in the pulaya hovels beside tbe fields? Isn't

Thiruvanchan Pulayan his father and his mother Azhaki Pulakalli? Who
•
is it that has given him this knowledge and this power?' ... All the way,

they muttered to themselves: 'To think that this should befall us; that we
 156

should have to listen to a pulaya preaching to us!' 'Enough, Were we not

already Christian when they were still heathens (397-8)7'

The above mentioned words of amazement and shock by the crowd also points to how

the missionaries facilitated the opening up ofa new religion and a way of assertion for

the Dalits. "This knowledge and this power" for the Dalits came with the arrival of the

missionaries though Christianity was present in Kerala society for a very long time,

always remaining as a casteist and upper caste enterprise. At the same time, Marykutty

also poses a question to Pathrose that challenges his blind belief in Bible and focus on

preaching, often ignoring the needs of his family. "'God will make a way for us. Pray

earnestly. Do you not believe in the One who can send food even through a crow?' And

my daughter-God, how could she say that? -she said: 'Father, these days food does

not get sent through crows, but through ration shops and in hotels (399). ", Pathrose's

belief in God and his Words fail to match with the needs of his family.

The major event of the story follows Pathrose discovering that Marykutty is

pregnant from an illicit relationship with a Syrian Christian guy named Kunjunjutti.

Pathrose rushes to speak to him about the way he has behaved with Marykutty and asks

him to accept her as his wife. The conversation that followed between Pathrose and

Kunjunjutti reveals how caste determines the marital relationship even within the

church. ·"The preacher is knowledgeable. Though I am a wage-worker, I am from an

aristocratic Christian family. We have been Christian since the time St. Thomas landed

in Kerala."fo that I reply: ·Am I not a servant of God? Am I not a Christian?' 'Preacher,

you are a mock Christian, a convert. You have forgotten that, haven't you? Go find

some pulaya lad to give her off to (401)." This is an insight into how the Dalit Christian
•
fails to be accepted as a true Christian in the Kerala society even if she/he is a preacher

or a staunch believer. Pathrose kills Kunjunjutti by hitting him on the head with an axe.
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It is to be noted that even this act by Pathrose is based on his understanding, or lack of

it, of the Holy Scriptures.

Do I plead guilty of murder? How can this be murder? I am the one who

is the servant of God, the one for whom His Word is the girdle, the one

who obeys His commandments. It is according to His commandment that

I meted out punishment. His commandment? Which one? The Word of

God spells it out: 'The Wages of Sin is Death.' The Lord my God will

never fmd me guilty. Never. Never (402).

It is to be noted that Pathrose's understanding of various events in his life and society

are purely determined by his Christian faith and training and his responses are also in

accordance to that. For him, Christianity has overwritten his Datit identity and his trust

in the ways of God leaves him unaware of the caste colours and contours he is

associated with even though he is a fiery preacher.

"Prethabhashanam"/ "Ghost-Speech"

While religious conversion has been a major theme in many of the literary works about

Dalits in Kerala, e. Ayyappan42 stands out with his sarcasm and his denial of any 'glory'

to Christianity. His analysis of the Kerala society and Syrian Christianity, his disrespect

for the casteist system and the casteist churches get depicted in his short stories, in

which he uses extra-ordinary and innovative techniques and narrations.

"Ghost-speech" is the English translation ofe. Ayyappan's short story

"Prethabhashanam", which was published initially in the collection of short stories

-l:! Ayyappan was a noted Dalil short story writer and poet in MaJayalam, and has written widely on Dalit

issues and Dalit women '5 issues. His stories stand apart in its uncommon, intense and disturbing

themes as well as narrative techniques. Several of his short story collections have been published, like

Uchayurakathille Swapnangal (1986) and C. Ay'vappante Kadhakal (2008).

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Uchayurakkathile Swapnangal in 1986. It is translated by Udaya Kumar for the book

No Alphabet in Sight: New Dalit Writing from South India (20 II). The entire story is in

the form of a speech that a ghost who has inhabited a Syrian Christian girl's body

makes. The ghost is of a Pulaya woman and she possesses Rosykutty, to whom the

ghost explains the reasons for her actions and the reasons for her death.

When she was alive, the Pulaya girl had a relation with the Syrian girl's brother,

Kunjakko, which had started when he attempted to molest her. The Pulaya girl does not

realize that Kunjakko is after her only for the physical pleasure. This leads her to ask

him whether he would marry her. The response was a "counter-question"- "How can I

marry you (351)1" This question reflects the social condition where an upper caste finds

it all right to exploit the Datit girl sexually but problematic and unacceptable to marry

her. Feudalism and casteism and the impact these systems have on gender relations in

Kerala, as portrayed in this short story, has been a subject matter for many literary

works as well as films. Even though Kunjakko is a primary school teacher, with a steady

income, he cannot marry a Pulaya girl as he is a Christian, a Syrian Christian who has

traditionally been enjoying an upper caste status in Kerala (Bayly 249). He also spits at

the Pulaya girl's desire to have his baby, to give birth to it and bring it up. As Anilkumar

claims, the upper caste does not consider the subaltern's desires to be legitimate (61).

The Dalit girl is being exploited owing to her young age, lack of knowledge of the ways

in which the caste relations operate in the society etc. Kunjakko beats her and attempts

to force her into stating that she is not in love with him He also abuses her later when

she tries to find out whether he loves her. She cries, not because of the abuse, but

because Kunjakko does not love her. She commits suicide as a result of this traumatic

situation.

It is to be noted that Kunjakko too gets scared with the fear of being polluted by
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the Dalit girl's love, with the lear of having to accept it in public. The relation between

both these castes have already been set by the society and it allows the Syrian to exploit

the Dalit in several means, but not to treat her as an equal, as a human who has dignity

and self-respect. The lack ofrespect and honour also forces the Dalit not to voice her

concern when alive, but is led to suicide, the only means through which she can not

only escape the systems of oppression but also express her feelings and thoughts as a

ghost.

In the next phase of the narration, the ghost reveals the reason why Rosykutty's

father killed her brother. The ghost describes how she inhabited Rosykutty's body and

how this led to severe trouble in the family. Rosykutty, once inhabited by the ghost,

could not stay away from Kunjakko. Even when he beat her up, she kept laughing.

Everyone except him knew that it was the ghost of the Pulaya girl in her. The ghost was

not worried about the possibility of an exorcism, but she was worried about Kunjakko.

She was worried that if he commits suicide, she would not be able to enjoy the smell of

his sweat, which she does now at least through Rosikutty's nostrils.

Kunjakko is killed in a stroke by his father when he fmds his son sleeping

hugging his sister's chained body. The ghost is doubtful regarding the reason why the

Syrian father did that. She believes that he did it not because Kunjakko took advantage

ofRosykutty's illness, but because the Pulaya girl, whose ghost has occupied Rosykutty,

was actually his illegitimate daughter, thereby making Kunjakko's relation with her

incestuous and thereby a sin according to the Christian tradition. The father had once

scolded his son in a serious manner asking him not to be in a relation with the Pulaya

girl. The son retaliates with the 'truth' that he is not anyway going to marry her. The

father was speechless when he heard this truth as it was history repeating. The son was

reliving his father's past. The mother of the girl had faced the same injustice at the
 160

hands of the father and father's younger brother in the past. This revelation is a

shocking one as it reveals bow sexual abuses ofDalit girls and women have been

common through generations in the caste-ridden Kerala society. The Syrian Christian

feudalism is being revealed here in all its evil. The ghost continues to say that God was

the one wbo revealed this secret calling her a 'sinner' as her nakedness was unveiled by

her own brother. This is a reference to the biblical dictum that one should not commit

incest, sexual relation with close relatives. But, Ayyappan challenges and ridicules the

casteist Christians in Kerala through the question that he makes the ghost ask God in

reply: "Old fool, how can a Christian have a pulaya girl as his siblingT This question

leaves the God speechless, -'as if he had swallowed a whole plantain". -'His eyes bulged,

and he bowed his head (354)." Ayyappan, thus, mocks at the casteist centre and nature

of the churches in Kerala that not only does not promote or even allow marriages

between Syrian Christians and Dalits, but also retains its upper caste status by claiming

a Brahmin and Nair heritage through its claims of an apostolic origin. Thus, a Dalit can

never be on par with the Syrian Christian before the eyes of the church. Ayyappan also

uses the biblical reference to invoke a sense of aversion to the Syrian Christians as it is

them, the so-called 'traditional' and 'true Christians' who break the laws of their own

religion. This is a ridicule of the Syrian Christians, who claim of being true Christians

of apostolic origin, but fail to live as per the dictums of their own claims.

Ayyappan brings a thought provoking end to the story when the ghost asks

Rosikutty to call Kannan Parayan to put three measures of mustard in her grave (355).

This is to prevent the gbost from leaving the grave as the ghost can come out at night

only after finishing her counting of the mustard seeds and no night is sufficient for this

task. The ghost continues to explain that it is not because she has realized that Kunjakko

is her brother that she has made this decision not to come out at night and roam around
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with his soul. Instead, the ghost did wait for Kunjakko's soul to come out of his body

when he was killed. But, there was no soul for Kunjakko! "All he had was mere breath,

mere life." This stands in a strong contrast with the image of Koshy Curien from The

Slayer Slain by Frances Wright Collins, who claims that Dalits do not have souls and

hence, any kind of spiritual activity is unnecessary for them. Ayyappan does not, on the

other hand, argue for the need for Christianity and spirituality for Dalits. Rather, he

brings out the failed mission of Christianity in the Kerala society. The reason for an

absence of soul in Kunjakko's case was given as fo 1I0ws: "Perhaps because he was a

rationalist who did not believe in the human soul. Or, on account of that wailing, tooth-

gnashing God who speaks in the language of the Bible. Perhaps (355)." Ayyappan not

only ridicules the casteism in the Kerala society, but also brings to light the inability of

Christianity to function in its true sense, to bring to life what it preaches- the equality of

all before God. Has Syrian Christianity in Kerala got no soul as well? This would be an

apt question one could raise at this juncture.

While the finishing lines of the story invoke a lot of memories associated with

the slave pasts of the Dalits, it could as well be read as what Ayyappan proposes for a

future which is devoid of caste ism. "So, I don't have any choice but to return to my

grave. Don't forget the mustard seeds. I give you my freedom. Now look at your feet;

there's the proof that I've left you. Where, oh where, is that chain (355)ry .. Grave is not

merely a place for the ghost to rest now. It is a symbol of what life has been and how to

not repeat such pasts of suffering and discrimination. Grave is the monument of the

sufferings of the Dalits. On the other hand, mustard seeds are those small things that the

society needs to do in order to prevent such discriminations, to save itself from being
,
haunted by a ghost of the Dalit lives, who have encountered a lot of violence,

molestation and discrimination. Chain, on the other hand, is also a symbol of the slave
 162

pasts ofthe Dalits. It represents the brutalities that the Dalits have undergone in the past.

But, it also stands as a symbol ofthe guilt ofthe society, the guilt of Christianity in this

context, to prove egalitarian. Ayyappan proposes a chance, a chance to let the chains go

for ever. But, this can happen only when Christianity and the society are ready to do the

necessary, to treat its members equally and learn from the graves of its past.

Ayyappan's use of ghost as a medium or character in the story is worth

analysing. It differs from the traditional methods of using a ghost in a novel or play.

So the ghostly referent is an injustice, an unpunished crime, and the

crime in the ghost story usually is a murder, that roost domestic and

individual crime, and it must be avenged for the ghost to return to his or

her proper sphere (wherever that is-perhaps it is part of our sphere,

perhaps not). But what is interesting about the genre is that the ghost is

often easily appeased, or the crime is readily available for understanding

(Frccdgood 49-50).

In "Ghost-speech", the intricacies of the plot get unveiled only through the speech of the

ghost. The ghost also does not seem to take revenge on the villain of the story, but

expresses strong contetnpt towards the system that leads to the perpetration of casteist

injustice in the society. The speech of the ghost is an act of assertion, not ofa mere

victim, but of a rehel who questions the system as weU as a god who sanctions it or

remains passi ve to it. The ghost retaliating to the god in the most disrespectful manner is

Ayyappan voicing against the church for its casteism and lack of commitment towards

the cause ofthe Dalits. Ayyappan's altempls to employ ghosts in his stories, on the other

hand, could have stemmed from his appreciation of Amos TUluola 'S43 The Palm- Wine
•

"Tutu"la (1920·97) was a Nigerian writer, ...-bose narrative techniques and style received wide

appreciation and criticism in the post colonial literary scene. The Palm· Wine Drinkard (1952) could be
 163

Drinkard, which he mentions in his interview by Dilip Raj (c. Ayyappante Kadhakal

181). The ghosts represent a pre-modem outlook towards life and the ghost speaking of

caste violence from the past makes us realise how our society'S history is rooted in

casteism and how the society relives its history in newer ways, as if the ghost of the

casteist past is still haunting it.

termed as his most famous novel and in this work, he employs both western and native Nigerian

fantastic and mythical elements to depict the story ofa person who visits the land of the dead in search

of his dead palm tapper.