Keralites are Bengalis.

There was nothing more rewarding than a meeting with Dr Varahalingam, an anthropologist. He always had something sensational up his sleeve. That exactly was the reason for my rushing to his hotel immediately after his telephone call.

"Look", he had said over the phone. "I have a plane to catch in the next two hours and I can give you an hour. I have something very special which you will like".

I put the receiver down, grabbed a notebook and was in his hotel in the next 20 minutes. "Ah, there you are; thank you for being punctual. Do sit down", he said.

Dr Varahalingam had spent 30 years in Calcutta as an assistant with the Geological Survey of India. It was only after his retirement that he started revealing his anthropomorphism. His revelations always were remarkable.

He took the spectacles off his nose, smiled and said, "This time I am giving you something about Bengal and Kerala. I have spent a lot of time on the subject. The original natives of Kerala, I mean the Nairs and Pillais, are all Bengalis. Many centuries ago, the Kapalikas of Bengal had to flee to the south to escape from the attacking Aryans. The Kapalikas worshipped Durga and they took with them 108 Durga images. They settled down in Kerala since the place was without any human settlement. They installed the images all over Kerala. He stopped and looked at me.

I asked,"You mean all Keralaites, Menons, Panickers, Kurups are Bengalis? "No", said Dr Varahalingam. "Menon, Kurup and Panicker are titles based on their professions but they are all Nairs, Nambudiris are originally Brahmins from Tamil Nadu who settled in Kerala later and have adopted Kerala's customs".

Dr Varahalingam continued. "Let me come to recent times. Take Rabindranath Tagore. His contemporary in Kerala was Vallathol Narayana Menon. Both were great poets. While Tagore created Visva-Bharati at Santiniketan , Vallathol created Kalamandalam at Cheruthuruthi to teach Kathakali and other arts. Both exchanged artistes. If you examine the works of Tagore and Vallathol, I mean the originals, you would be surprised at the similarities. Do you know that the green paste used for the make-up of Kathakali  actors (Pacha) is from Manayola, a stone available in Bengal?"

He stopped to watch my reaction and said, "Both Bengali and Keralites are extremely fish. Ladies get predominance in Bengali and Malayali homes. I don't mean that husbands are hen-pecked. But men give importance importance to women". 

Dr Varahalingam became serious, "Political behaviour is almost the same. The Naxalite movement started simultaneously in Bengal and Kerala. I can assure you that one did not imitate the other but the thinking was identical. Take language, both Bengali and Malayalam have the maximum borrowings from Sanskrit.

"Onam and Durga Puja are the greatest festivals in Kerala and Bengal. Both are of three days' duration and the festivities for both start ten days earlier. There are several similarities in the method of celebration, including new clothes, feasting and above all Bisurjan.

"Almost all the great literary works of Bengal have been transferred into Malayalam and all of them enjoy immense popularity in Kerala. Saratchandra, Bankim Chandra and Tarashankar are all household names in Kerala".

I tried to intervene, "But I not think any Malayalam works were translated into Bengal".

Dr Varahalingam was ready with the answer, "I said Bengalis went to Kerala and settled. Hence Keralites are Bengalis and not vice versa but Malayalam  being a recent language does not have much great literature worthy of translation.

"Finally, take films. Maximum award-winning films are in Bengali and Malayalam. Won't you agree?

"No doubt",  Dr Varahalingam is explosive.   

Courtesy. NS Mani.

Tailpiece.

Got up a half an hour earlier than my usual time, the chores and was ready by 10. 

Washing machinex of soiled clothes.

A quiet day.