My grandfather, Shri Sankara Pillai was a rich land lord whose property spread across many fields in the South of India right upto Kanya Kumari. But he was also reputed lawyer and freedom fighter, his proficiency with the law made him an asset to every Nationalist of that time. India’s finest (including Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Nehru among many others) often sought his advice before taking giant steps. The fact that he was rich, highly educated, razor sharp, fearless and committed to the cause of freedom made him a thorn on the British side because unlike most Indians of those days, he knew the law and used this knowledge aggressively for his compatriots in their struggle for freedom.
The British authorities in turn regularly raided our ancestral home and confiscated, destroyed and damaged everything they could (harassment and pressure was one of their most popular tactics). They ripped mattresses, broke walls, tore through fertile fields destroying crops. They man handled every member of our family and anyone even close to the family. Shri Sanakar Pillai, members of the family, relatives and neighbours were often dragged off to prison where they were beaten mercilessly and tortured for no crime at all. Besides this, they burnt and shredded any documentation they could get their hands on including property papers. In a few years, our farms and lands that once spanned many, many acres shrunk to virtually nothing. Our ancestral home, once a sprawling 26-room mansion looked like it had been hit by several tornados at once. Harassment and pressure was one of their most popular tactics.
Shri Sankara Pillai’s resolve and iron will was supported and yet surpassed only by his wife, Appiama Bhargavi Amma. She was his backbone. In those years of turmoil and chaos, they somehow managed to maintain a balance between passion for their country’s freedom and their personal life. Together they raised eight wonderful children (four boys and four girls). While Shri Sankara Pillai continued to work towards procuring freedom for his country, his wife Bhargavi Amma took care of their eight children, ran an orphanage, a temple and toiled towards educating uplifting women. This was during the early 19th century. Long, long before the West started bra burning and other allied causes for women’s rights.
They proudly hoisted and fluttered an Indian flag outside their home every single day regardless of the consequences. On one occasion, when Shri Sankara Pillai was carted off to jail on some flimsy pretext, the British Brigadier (Simpson) in charge of that area decided to bring down the flag. He gave a 24-hour notice to the Indians in his area to remove all such local flags or face dire consequences. Since Shri Sankara Pillai was in jail, the onus now fell on Bhargavi Amma.
Residents of the village ran to her to warn her and help her bring down the flag. Without batting an eyelid, she flatly refused went about her business of the day. The village folk then went to the local jail where her husband, (my grandfather) Shri Sankara Pillai was lodged. On hearing the entire story, he said that since he was in jail and she was now the head of the family, the decision was hers and hers alone. Whatever she decided, he would stand by her.
The clock was ticking and the villagers knew what would happen to their beloved Bhargavi Amma and her eight adorable children if the flag was not pulled down before that dreaded Brigadier Simpson reached the spot. They ran back to her and pleaded with her to bring down the flag. They tried to reason with her for the sake of her eight children if not anything else. An ever smiling and perpetually pleasant Bhargavi Amma simply refused and stood her ground in the politest, plainest yet most assertive way possible.
Strangely, their nerve-racking fear of the British crackdown was over powered by their love for their beloved Bhargavi Amma and her children. Knowing that they could not get her to change her mind, they decided to stand by her. One by one village folk came together and quietly camped outside our ancestral home. They decided that if anything had to happen to her it would have to happen to them first. As the news spread, the number of villagers outside our home kept multiplying in geometric progression! By early next morning our home was surrounded by thousands of villagers not only from our own sleepy little hamlet but from all over the state!!
By 12 noon that day, Brigadier Simpson suddenly decided that he needed to attend some other pressing matters in his area and therefore ‘postponed’ his order regarding Indian flags indefinitely.
What a victory it was, unarmed, under nourished, untrained and unorganized villagers stood their ground against a trained, well fed, well equipped and organized army and that too without any violence!!! No press, no 24/7 news coverage, no high stakes, no speeches. Conviction, faith, love and affection versus lust for power.
My dear readers, this entire episode may ring a bell, in that you may find a few similarities between this incident and one that happened recently here over the release of a film.
Does this story end here? No it does not!!
The British army issued shoot at sight orders against all eight of Shri Sankara Pillai’s children. To know what happened, do look out for part 2 of this very true series.
Born and brought up in Mumbai, I have served the Indian army with dignity and honour in battlefields in far-flung corners of our proud nation and still help wherever possible. I love Mumbai, I love Delhi, I love Kerala, I love Kolkata, I love every inch of my motherland and uphold the rights that our constitution has given us: My name is Captain Vinod Nair.
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