Chronicler Nair anxious for his flooded village

  • | Tuesday | 21st August, 2018

KOLKATA: The chronicler of Kolkata’s history, P T Nair , is a worried man. Both Kerala and Kolkata are home to our family,” he added.He is looking forward to visiting his village in December. The couple still occupies the same three-room rented accommodation in Bhowanipore’s Kansaripara, where Nair moved in soon after landing in Kolkata. He has moved into my daughter’s place in Ernakulum town, which is on the sea, but has not been flooded. His wife went back to Chandamangalam 18 years ago to live with their son and his family and returned to Kolkata three years ago.

KOLKATA: The chronicler of Kolkata’s history, P T Nair , is a worried man. He is one of the thousands of Malayalis in Kolkata who are now spending sleepless days and nights, desperately trying to get in touch with family and friends but often without success.Nair’s village in Kerala , Chandamangalam in Ernakulam district, is one of those that are now under water for more than a week. The ground floor of his two-storeyed home is under 6 to 8 feet of water and the 85-year-old — who has archived Kolkata’s history for the last 63 years — is worried he may lose forever some old newspaper clippings and papers that are important pages from the history of the city he has called home since 1955.P T Nair with his wife at their Kolkata homeThe only relief for Nair and his wife, Sitha , is the knowledge that their son, daughter and grandchildren have managed to escape the flood.Nair’s son, Manoj, his wife, Seema, and their two children have moved to his sister Maya’s house in Ernakulam town, 24km away; the town has not been affected by the floods that much. “I have never seen or heard of a more devastating flood in Kerala or anywhere else in south India. My village is under water and, even though my immediate family is safe, I have relatives and friends whom I have not been able to contact. Not a single phone line is working and there is no electricity either,” the author of over 50 books on Kolkata told TOI at his Kansaripara home on Monday.“My son fled in the nick of time. He has moved into my daughter’s place in Ernakulum town, which is on the sea, but has not been flooded. But I am anxious to know the state of my ancestral home,” said Nair.The last time Kerala witnessed a similar flood was probably a century ago, he added. “I remember elders telling me that the flood had destroyed the entire state. But this one has been just as bad,” he said.It may take a week for the water to recede, but people in his village may not be able to return home before a month. “The houses will be in very bad shape and many will need to be rebuilt. I am worried about my house and waiting for my son to return,” the chronicler-archivist, whose works include ‘A History of Calcutta’s Streets’, said.The only silver lining for his battered village, Nair felt, was that the deluge might not affect livelihood in a major way. “There is hardly any rice cultivation. My village and the areas around it grow coconuts, banana and areca nuts. But it will take a huge effort to get life back on track,” he said.Even though Nair has not spent more than a fortnight at a stretch in his village since arriving in Kolkata in 1955, the old bonds remain strong. His wife went back to Chandamangalam 18 years ago to live with their son and his family and returned to Kolkata three years ago. The couple still occupies the same three-room rented accommodation in Bhowanipore’s Kansaripara, where Nair moved in soon after landing in Kolkata. “I am a Kolkatan, but haven’t severed my ties with Kerala. I visit my village every year. My son and grandchildren visit us during the Pujas. Both Kerala and Kolkata are home to our family,” he added.He is looking forward to visiting his village in December. “The weather will be fine then and I hope that my flood-ravaged village will have recovered sufficiently,” he said, adding that he knew “the scars of this calamity will persist”.

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