Kallen Pokkudan — Being with Nature
Friday, October 8, 2010, 8:08
Kallen Pokkudan, the eponymous character of mangrove preservation in Kerala talks with Aneesh Pookad about
his love for mangroves and its need for the swamp ecosystem, his early
and present political life and the recent you tube controversy that
meant to paralyse a true comrade who loves the Nature and the naturals….Even when the High Court stay order against the Union Ministy’s directives came out, Kallen Pokkudan was in his marshy fields, pricking the slushy muddy pools, to make little caverns for the mangrove seedlings. He was deaf to the howls and hoots of opening and closing of the Mangrove Theme Park that echoed up to New Delhi. He planted the seedlings over the marshy lands and river banks..along the wide spread sea shores where
the lonely coconut trees stand chips down leaning towards a close fall.Even before the terms like Eco- tourism, Eco-socialism intrude into the socialistic mind set up of Kerala, Kallen Pokkudan picked up the Mangrove seeds, planted it, made them the guardian angels for those who live depends on that lush habitat. For his community (regarded as the most down trodden and untouchable in the socio-cultural arena of Kerala) it had been the source of food, fodder, fuel and medicine. Within the frame of his ecosystem, people, fish and birds depended upon mangroves for their down-to-earth living.
When the Mangrove Park in Kannur grabs national attention, at least the people around that small Malabar region, turn the pages to the chapter in which their small villages found a niche in the map of environmentalists and to the humble man who happened to be the cause of it. He is Kallen Pokkudan rather known as Kandal Pokkudan (Kandal is the Malayalam synonym of mangrove) who lives among the fading mangroves of an ecologically fragile area in Kannur.
Pokkudan and Communism
Perhaps, Kannur is one of the dense areas in Kerala where the term Communism still exists with its strong arm tactics. Pokkudan also was a part of the Communism in Kannur even when he was a teenager. Pokkudan stood by the Communists who fight for the oppressed then. He also joined hands with the revolutionary ism that sprouted from the pain and neglect of the downtrodden. He participated with hi fervor in every activity the party called for, because as a school drop out, his only communi
cation
with the world was the pep talks with instigating verbosity shot up by
the comrades. He took part in the early peasant revolts in the Malabar
region and has got jailed a number of times for the party. What Pokkudan
realized was that it was all a fight for the right.Along with the illiterate Pokkudan, umpteen poor Dalit agricultural laborers joined the party, and its growth fixing feet in the marshy soil of Kannur was amazing. But once the party attained the goals, the rights, the power, it became a visionary experience to unchain the ladders by which it attained the heights. then Communism became an apparent institution where individual value is a mere naught. Every decision taken inside that institution was that of solidarity and it never concerned with individuals. So, as an individual, Pokkudan’s role became hazy and he was sacked one fine morning charging ‘ideological conflict’ with the party.
However, Communism was attaining awesome heights in and around Kannur. Penury and oppression that gave birth to the party now possess hardly any space here as it is busy growing up with the new generation whose most equations are left as floorers to the conservatives.
Pokkudan – Today
“Those who are not with me are against me’– the basic concept of cold wars, is the present ideology that reigns in Communism now. That is why Kallen Pokkudan is left to the mercy of the local besiegers now, for his living a dusky grey life in Ezhom Panchayath hardly 4 Kilometers from the controversial Mangrove Theme Park.
Pokkudan, a name synonymous with mangrove conservation in Kerala is now more familiar to the e-generation of today thr
ough
a chain of you tubes that flashes across the globe. It becomes the most
subtle example of distortion by media or through the media. Through
that popular you tube we see the anchor reading news about an
‘unfortunate incident’ in which Kallen Pokkudan has physically abused a
Dalit woman along with his son. That Dalit woman has been admitted in a
hospital and police has registered a case against Pokkudan and his son.
Along with the visuals of a woman lying in hospital bed (with no voice
over), we see the smiling Pokkudan’s passport size photo in the left
corner.You ask an auto driver to take you to Pokkudan’ home – he won’t come. At last you will ask him to take you to Padamdakki Thamburatti temple and then he will be ready and you can walk from there to Pokkudan’s leaking thatch. You will find a hapless old couple there isolated and alienated, living with what the Nature provides in raw. You also will have to yield to that subtle and untainted hospitality to have raw fish, even if you are a vegetarian.
Ask me about mangroves
“I don’t know anything about Mangrove theme park or its controversies. Ask me about mangroves..” says Pokkuden in his rustic voice taking us to the near by wet land now turned out to a garbage bowl.
“I have been collecting, planting and preserving mangrove seeds for the last two decades means after my quit from the party.” Pokkudan began to unzip the horde of flash backs. After coming out of the party he had no idea of what to do except watching monsoon lashing over his marshy land along with the stormy waves. At a time when Coastal Regulation Zone Act had not come to force, even before the researchers lined up in serpentine queues at the wet land pockets of Kannur, Pokkudan thought of the traditional indigenous methods of protection from natural disasters. He knew mangroves are the best buffers against the wind and waves. He began to think of the seed of mangroves his family used to cook at the time of famine, he began to think of the special types of fishes who come out of the salty water to la
y
eggs inside the thick bushes of mangroves. It was the initiation of the
grass root movement of the mangrove preservation in Kerala by this one
man crusader.“They (mangroves) are like security guards against floods in coastal regions.” Remarks Pokkudan. “So, as the prime step, I planted 300 seedlings in Pazhayangadi. It was in 1989. At that time I was least bothered of the know-how s of its rearing or bringing up. When the media took over the matter, a lot of people from various part of the State came with support. Shower of awards and recognitions..VIP visits including poets, activists,but I was happy when school children came to learn more about the mangroves from me, a school drop out. I felt proud then. I explained everything that I know from my community living about our natural resources like rare species of fishes, birds and our natural assets and mutually dependent ecosystem. It made me publish my first book ‘Chuttachi’ with the help of my son. I felt, I have done something worthy after that..”
“Mangroves are by themselves an ecosystem. It is not stable like that of the rain forests. High tides and ebbs, wind from the land and sea, t
he
mix of salty and fresh water..it is a rare chemistry of disparities and
as such very fragile also. So a simple tilt of this system would be a
cause of its total destruction. If you want to destroy a mangrove bush
you need not cut them down. Just put some waste or soil upon its roots
that grow upwards. They are their respiratory organs and they will die
of suffocation then.”“Transformation of a lot of living beings is taking place inside the mangroves. Some kind of fishes come out of the sea water to the land to lay eggs in fresh water. The incubated larvae need a medium before entering into the salty water and the mangroves apparently serve this purpose. Like wise, shrimps and prawns also spend their infancy inside this specific ecosystem. It also houses various types of water birds”, explains Pokkudan based on his expertise.
The mangroves in Kannur are significant with its particular type of ecosystem encircling variety of fauna. Scientists say that various types of mangroves can be seen growing in Kannur-Valapatanam region including the original species Rhizophora mucronata, commonly known as ‘Mad mangroves’. These shrubs house several species of birds that are at the brim of extinction across the world. Asian Giant Soft Shielded Tortoises another variety of turtles under the threat of extinction are seen among this boggy mangrove area in Kannur. More over, they block the harmful and adverse effects of twisters and tsunami in coastal region.
Politics
Pokkudan, a person sans school ed
ucation has completed his autobiography titled ‘Ente Raashtreeya Jeevitam’
(My Politcal Life). It is a written commentary of a real comrade who
still leads a life based on true Communism. While going through that
book we see the history of the Communism in Kerala, its tragic division
and the way by which it has deep-rooted in this soil branching out
through the network of labourers and marginalized. Pokkudan’s son
Sreejith Paithalan , a freelance journalist has penned the book on
behalf of his father.“After the division of the Communist party in 1964, I was in a dilemma to which side I should go. So I asked Com. Madhavetan and he told me that majority of our Ezhom Panchayath is with CPM, so you also can join with it. ..” Pokkudan talks through his biography.
“While working with all the vigour of youth for the party along with other labourers I too was fighting against the landlords to get hold of our rights, our freedom, and our lives. Pursuing a world of freedom that is promised by the leaders, we all worked hard for the party, but the same party now makes my life desolated by forceful besiege and concocted allegations..scared of the threats our children do not live with us. In this old age we are left to the mercy of Nature..” wails Pokkudan.
Development?
“Everyone talks about development. But it should not be through the destruction of natural resources. A lot of individuals live here with acres of land at hand. This is a great fault within the Land Reformation Bill piloted by K.R.Gowri Amma..See, these acres of mangroves that dot this coastal area are the fruits of labour which lasted several decades. CPM is now trying to cash in on our noble intentions and hard labour in the name of development”
Freedom?
“Who got freedom? When we were cleaning the way to our home, a neighbour woman came abusing us and later it became a banner head in the news paper inanother version. Local channels celebrated it as a sponsored programe distorting the fact as Pokkudan and his son abused a Dalit woman. This is the freedom we are enjoying here.”
“Prior to this incident World Bank has selected 125 people as Environmental Activists and I too was one among them. By charging a criminal case against me they were hampering that World Bank aid. As I am living with financial crisis in the absence of my children they know that I won’t sit quietly.” Pokkudan explained the plot.
“But as a noted name in the Eco field, they need me to be with the party as a human shield for all their illegal practices upon our fragile ecosystem. But unfortunately I’m not with them. So this is the way to kick a man upstairs.”
Didn’t you complain about this fake media hype?
“Why not?..Only the Chief Minister has consented to receive my complaint. When enquired in the Police station, I got a nudge that there is ‘some pressure from above’ that pulls them back to do something”.
“I don’t want any icing. I like to be known as an environmental activist, a Kandal Pokkudan.”
Pokkudan walks away with the candid fervor of a comrade, a real labourer, .plunging into the mushy mud, he plants more and more mangrove seedlings to provide habitat for the struggling fauna of the coastal zone. He doesn’t give ear to the closing and opening crashes of Mangrove Theme Park where a mangrove nursery is under consideration.
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