Memories & Reflections

PREFACE

In December 1989, while on a visit to Kumbanad, my father showed me his writings on the Malankara Church and the Kumbanattu Kudumbam. I quickly volunteered to have them typed primarily because, unknown to my father, I had wanted to record some of those facts on that visit. He had over 80 handwritten pages of information ready!

The first two sections were just simply typed, copied and stapled together. In the meantime, my father was busy writing a third installment about the Theckethil Family (first four generations) and preparing a family tree. This was completed in 1995 and forwarded to me, at which time I felt that all three parts should be combined into a book!

This book titled KUMBANATTU KUDUMBAM and THECKETHIL FAMILY was published in December 1997. Meanwhile, in July 1996, a fourth installment arrived, titled "My Early Days," with this note:

Beloved Ben,

This was prepared more than a year ago. I was awaiting the time you would send me copies of the work you are doing now so that I could send you this also for duplicating.

I have a guilty feeling that I am taxing you too much or even burdening you. With this, I hope to put an end to the work in this line. I intend no more such writing to do.

I am sure many of these things I wrote, if not all, are news to you. A strong desire that my children should be aware of these things prompted me to write all this. I hope my labour is not in vain.

Bear with me and do this also.

Loving Appachen,

Sd/T.J. Thomas

night 19 July ’96.

But wait! In December 1996 I received yet another installment titled "About Me." The five installments, beginning with the Malankara Church, now totaled 312 handwritten pages! Shortly thereafter, I decided to go with two books instead of one.

I don’t think we can ever thank my father enough for the time, effort and dedication shown over the past decade in writing these two books and providing us with a history of our forefathers.

These books capture the spirit of the Theckethil family, especially those of the first five generations whose extended family (the Kumbanattu Kudumbam) was an integral part of their daily lives. Beginning with the sixth generation, however, most of us grew up with less of the extended family ties and in a different environment, culturally and economically. The blessings we enjoy today are the results of many generations of emphasis on industriousness, education, thrift and virtue.

This book, the second one, contains all the information in the last two installments plus many pages extracted from the Theckethil family history (completed in 1994) that are not included in Book One. I have combined these and as far as possible, I have attempted to eliminate any duplicate information without changing any words as originally written. I have taken the liberty of combining the paragraphs from each installment in a sequence that I felt was appropriate and then dividing the book into the sections you see.

In a letter written in March 1998, asking me to write this preface, my father says:

....My aim in writing this was not to project me or what I did, but to bring out the conditions under which I grew up and worked, or the circumstances available in that period. Could any one these days imagine that a chicken egg was available for less than a pice? And yet, that pice was so precious that the egg was sold and not eaten; not given even to a child! More than 100 eggs for a rupee!!..........

In addition to the time I have spent on the second book, my son Adam completed all the typing for the last two installments. The copying and binding were completed at a printing press.

In reading this book, I hope you will experience at least a small measure of the immense pleasure that I had in preparing it.

Ben Thomas

June 1998

Midland, Michigan

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