Once the land of riches for the Nattukottai Chettiars, is now fading away. History is slowly & visibly being re-written. We watch it, as it happens.. as mute spectators.
Royal Palace-like houses of Chettinad with moppu, thinnai, vazhavu, rendangattu, machchu veedu will amaze every individual in the vicinity of Karaikudi. The quantum of Burma Teak and the artisan-ship, choice of building materials from egg white to athangudi tiles, the varman paintings and chandliers will keep its viewers awestruck for eternity. Amongst Varman paintings in the main hall, there is definitely a framed photograph of the Ancestry with white turban on solid teak chairs. And the story goes "Aiya antha kaalathule Burma le kondu vithanga..." (our great grandfather was a trader in Burma)
"Our Ancestors had the vision. Yangoon Nagarathars built the sathiram in Kasi (varanasi), madams in Chennai and Pasumanthan." "People of all streams can donate to temples. But we dont donate, we write 'magamais' in our accounts.” said Ramanathan Chettiar of Yangoon.
Just before Thaipusam 2018, I decided to explore Myanmar. Landed in Yangoon and after the usual Pagoda round-up, I went in search of the old Mogul Street (Now, Shwe Bon Than Street). Heart of the bustling city of Yangon is Shwe Bon Than with parallel gullys blotted with familiar race, speaking known languages in an unknown country - Yes, people of Indian origin speaking Tamil and Gujarati.
Aaru Arai Murugan Temple
I was rejoiced seeing the old kittangis (Kittangis were once the offices of Natukottai Chettiars whose business was financing. A bunch of Chettiars together operate out of a kittangi. Each of them is given a slot for his pottiyadi/kanaku petti & Pettagam. They reside in the hall above, save on cost of living by sharing the common space along with the cook and food)
When you step into "aaru arai" (6 consecutive kittangis), you find a hall filled with dusty Pettagams (safes) named after their owner's initials. The stairs on the left are dim lit. On the first floor is the temple. Inside "aaru arai", happily stood a "Thendayuthapani" fully dressed, waiting for the upcoming festive of Thaipusam.
Until 1965, this place was a bustling business center, financing more than 70% of this agrarian economy. Dating back to 1900s, Chettiars outstanding debt was nothing less than 700 Million Rupees. The evolution of Myanmar 100 yrs ago as a "Rice Bowl of the British Empire" would not have been possible without the Chettiar's contribution. Research tells me that 25% of the country's land was owned by Chettiars after the Great Depression. Epic isnt it?
Within 30 mins of us pondering over the place, we hear a loud bang, Guess what? the ceiling cracked and portions of it fell to the floor just behind Thendayuthapani. One would be surprised seeing the state at which "Aaru arai" is being maintained. Left with just a hand full of Chettiars (most of them in their 80s) and not much of income sources to renovate, Thendayuthapani stands there with a rich heritage of 200 over years. Ironically, Thendayuthapani is rich. He has his own wealth (jewels) locked in a safe with 5 key system - which means only if the 5 key handlers decide together, Thendayuthapani gets to see his jewels. 4 out of the 5 key handlers are bed-ridden now.
Should I say we were blessed?
It was noon. All of us were hungry. We thought Thendayuthapani would not take more than 30 mins of our time. But plans are meant to be broken. And trust me, none of us were worried about the late lunch once Ramanathan Chettiar of Natrajapuram greeted us in.
I would call him a "Man of process and meticulousness". Ramanathan Aiya was 80+, one of the left over Chettys of Burma, married to a Burmese women with 3 daughters. His wed lock and citizenship gave him a new burmese name "U Myint Thein". He is the Kariyadharisi there, shouldering the culture of Chettiars with the help of local Tamils. We were quite lucky to have seen him because he usually is not there otherwise.
He was visibly excited to see his kith and kin (Nagarathars from India). Knowing that we were from Valayapatty, Melaisivapuri, Vendhanpatty, Pudhupatty, Kuruvikondampatty... made him feel elated. We had infinite questions and he had the patience to answer all of them one after the other. The next few hours with him was equivalent to doing a crash course on 2 yrs management course at IIMB and 2 yrs Masters in History, culture and heritage.
He started off saying "Our Ancestors had the vision, systems and processes. Yangoon Nagarathars built the sathiram in Kasi (varanasi), madams in Chennai and Pasumanthan. A total of 55 Murugan/Thendayuthapani temples were built by Chettiars in Burma alone. Rangoon natukottai chettiars were flourishing to the extent that there was a quota of 1 Cabinet minister allotted to us in Burma. We managed the Kasi Chathiram from here. People trusted us so much that there was quota in almost all non-Chettiar temples for us as trustees."
To be continued.....
Watch out this space for the crash course that I went through. It covered everything from the business relationships between British Government, Imperial bank and Chettiars to establishment of The Natukottai Chettiars Association, Burma and its religiousness, the complex lending systems of Chettiars to the way they nurtured trust & a sense of community and belonging not just amongst Chettiars but also amongst locals, the rise and fall of Chettiars in Burma to today's mushrooming saviors who screwed it up royally.
It should be choice
I read through the article.Yes it is a daunting task that should be done very meticulously for which it requires enormous solidarity without corruption. Within our ranks and with great degree of wisdom coupled with perseverance.But if accomplished could prove a diplomatic victory. It is not impossible but incredible for a successful way out surely exist. May be kovilor madam or aadinam operating from Buddhist shrine of Gaya could be a good initiative of chouce