1. THE BEGINNINGS
Everything in this world has a beginning and,of course,an end at least in its physical structure and appearance.The beginning of my journey of life here,in this world was at a silent and humble house in one of the tiny,unimportant and undeveloped villages of the state of Kerala in India.The name of my birth place is Payyadimeethal,one of the wards of the Perumanna Panchayat.It is just ten kilometres east from the historic city of Calicut(presently called Kozhikode).At the time of my birth my village was presumably like an iinnocent,eversmiling child without knowing anything about the unscrupulous ways and means of the outer world.
In other words,it was like an island without anything artificial or ornamental.The people were decent,,hardworking and progressive-minded though some were illiterate and conservative.Professionally most of them were agricultural workers and engaged in village-based activities like cattle-breeding.poultry farming.vegetable cultivation,etc.There were traders,shop-keepers,masons,stonecutters,carpenters.ironsmiths,washers,goldsmiths,coconut -tree climbers,barbers,tailers,tea-shop runners and fish venders.Very few persons were engaged in government-paid servants and teachers.
The name of our locality was not Payyadimeethal in earlier times.It was called Vellayicode-Puthur.Later when the village grew in size and population,the old name became irrelevant .Moreover it was the proper name of one of the nearby villages.Thus a new name was evolved.Payyadi was the name of one of the house-names in our locality and the new place-name was derived from it.The suffix 'meethal' or 'methal' which meant 'upper' in our vernacular Malayalam was added to it.The village is beautiful like any other village in Kerala.One can sea coconut trees wherever he or she looks.They stand holding their heads high like sentinels safeguarding our economy.There were the lengthy country-roads and the zigzag shortcuts across the length and the breadth of the vilage.The house plots were fragmented and divided by bamboo compound walls.There was narrow water stream coming from the Arambakkunnu flowing to the River Mampuzha at the northern side of the village.There was a dusty road connecting the village to the outside and the city. But there was only a wooden bridge on the Mampuzha which was called Kannamchinnam palam.It connected our Panchayat to the nearby Olavanna Panchayat.On the northern side of our village there was no bridge;only a ferry at the Kunhalikkadavu to connect Keezhmadu and Medical College.People go to the Medical College Hospital through this way by walking the distance of about two Kilometres.There were several people who daily go to the Calicut city by walking through Palazhi - Pottammal as part of their business or trade activities.For fetching bus we have to go to Medical College or Pantheerankave.The number of persons using two-wheelers were also very few.I remember one of our immediate neighbours who worked as an advocate clerk at the District Court going to the city on a scooter for sometime. He was a local Congress leader who once became a member of the Panchayat and some other local committees.His name is N.V.Kunhan Nair.
Our house is situated in a valley-like plane surrounded by comparatively higher planes at the sides.There were extensive paddy fields in front of our house.In the back of the house is a mosque.There were only two-three houses in the vicinity of our house during my childhood.Our paternal ancestral house issituated just opposite to our house.
There were only people belonging to two communities,Hindus and Muslims,who lived in perfect harmony and peace.They shared their resources,pleasures and pains.On festivals they exchanged their happiness on reciprocal basis respecting the customs and practices.We even today contnue that tradition.We also repect the worshipping places of all the communities as well.There have been no kinds of thoughts of differences.Now unfortunately there are tendencies among some to forget the bonds of coexistence and unity.
There was no electricity in our village during my childhood.People depended on kerosene lamps.in the night.The ceilings and inner walls of houses and dresses put on suspended striings would become blackened by the smoke from the kerosene lamps.Inhaling the smoke for hours would adversely affect our health also with serious consequences.I would sat two-three hours continuously in front of kerosen lamps doing my homework and reading.We were not so health-conscious during my childhood.But we could maintain somewhat satisfactory level of health due to the blessings of Mother Nature.We got plenty of fresh and unpolluted air,fresh vegetables free from poisonous chemical fertilisers and insecticides.We have to depend upon the doctors and medicines very rarely.There were no clinics ran by medical practitioners im our village.There were medical practitioners in the neighbouring villages of Perumanna and Pantheerankavu.There was a homoeo doctor at Palazhi.Another nomoeo doctor had a small consultation centre at Payyadimeethal where he would be present for a one or two hours since he was visiting other places also.His name was Lawrence and he was from the southern part of the state.
The social environment was not so perfect and condusive to the harmonious growth of the individual.The scope of the social environment is very vast and extensive including the ancestry,the family,the neighbourhood,the relatives,the friends,etc.
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