1947 - A Love Story – “The Day after Independence”

My dear girls and boys, there is nothing to be ashamed – the fact remains that your grand-parents – Elias Fernandez & Clara Fernandez (my mother too was a Fernandez, if I am not mistaken) had a love marriage. I wish I had more facts but I will share the little that I know and remember from what I have heard.

It seems these two love birds started dating during their school days.
My mother was quite a bright student and of course she must have been pretty. In fact, your appapan used to say that had he not cut short her studies, to have her as his bride; your ammama would have probably become a school teacher in Thumba and of course married another man.

Hold on; my father was no small timer – he was one of the few during that time who went to a far off reputed school, St. Bergman’s High School, in a place called Changanasery. That must have been where he learnt his English. Now there is a famous college (S.B. College) there by the same name.

I don’t know if they exchanged love letters, but it seems they did have some sort of “transactions” – I guess it must have been sweets, some gooseberries, cashew nuts or a few “annas”. Four annas was equal to 25 paisa and quite an amount in those days. One rupee worked out to 16 annas.

These days even “recession” is counted in $. What a world !

My father must have asked for her hand before he left for Malaya.
Who could tell; remember “Helen of Troy”.

Anyway, I am sure “kneeling” would not have done the trick – there was so much kneeling in church, school and at home in those days.

By the way, it was “Malaya” in those days.
You will appreciate that Mr. Anthony Fernandez had to come along much later to change it to “Malaysia”.

Your amamma was one of the few who did not go to the market to sell fish & she was a sort of a bookkeeper at home, she was second in the family. Your appapan must have had a lot of convincing to do for my grand-father, Mr. David Fernandez, to have allowed his favorite daughter to leave him and go to Malay. In fact she never saw her father again. All the same he did have the fortune of receiving some money from his new son-in-law before his demise. It was a sort of a proof that his daughter was in good hands.

There were no planes in those days. Imagine my mother (I think she was accompanied by someone) going to Madras (by train), then by ship (7 days at sea) to Malaya.
Wow! She must have really had the courage and love must have been really blind.

There was an uncle, named John, a cousin of Ammama. I think my mother was staying in John uncle’s house in Malaya before her wedding. He was probably the only relative of my mother in Malaya in those days. So, I guess one would understand how important he was to my mother.

In those days India was in the final stages of attaining independence from the British. There was so much happening, not just in India but also in Malaya. There was a wing of the Indian National congress in Malaya too.

I don’t know who fixed the wedding day.
There must have been a lot of excitement in the air.
They got married in Klang Church on 16th August ,1947 !

The day after India got its independence.

Well, it was their independence too and as they say “The rest is history”.

My dear ones, it is good to remember that we are part of that history.

Their life was no “honeymoon”.
They really struggled a lot.
And the cycle continues.

My dear ones, I have written all this from the little I have heard of.

I do not know if all that I have written is accurate.

Well, you see, there is one way to verify all this.

My parents got married on 16th August, 1947.
My dear brother was born on 12th May, 1948.
He must have been in the Vicinity !

Anto

To err is human
To forgive is human
And to guide is destiny.