Chapter III
A Name without a Face
Geeta Abraham Jose’s By The River Pampa I Stood
(Time - Early part of the twentieth century)
Keralam (the State of Kerala was formed in September 1956) became the site of progressive ideals as early as the nineteenth century with the arrival of missionaries from England and other parts of Europe to Malabar, Kochi and Tiruvitamkoor. Missionaries criticized various practices like untouchability, unapproachability, sexual immorality, hierarchies based on caste, and the entrenched power structures of the society. Later, community movements like the Shree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, the Nair Service Soceity and Yogakshema Sabha were formed to weed out the evil practices existing in their respective communities. …show more content…
Jose is concerned about the condition of women especially in a strictly patriarchal Christian family of the early twentieth century when women were enjoined to live according to the religious and caste norms of the society. Though women of yesteryears lived according to the strict parameters laid down for them, a few flouted age-old conventions to register their protests. But these protests were in no way revolutionary to bring about drastic changes in the lives of women or in the attitudes of …show more content…
The novel, By The River Pampa I Stood, published in 2007, deals with the life of the Syrian Christians of Kerala which was steeped in tradition dating back to the time of St. Thomas, the apostle of Jesus. The story spans over a century and gives an insight into the life of the Syrian Christians of Kerala – their customs and traditions, the feudal set up and the social discrimination which have always remained a part and parcel of the social fabric of the community. This community which boasts of its tradition and ancestry sticks to age-old conventions and ancient laws, abhorring changes. The caste feelings and feudal hierarchy prevalent in the first half of the twentieth century and to some extent to this day are presented in detail. As such, this novel has a lot of similarities with Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things. This novel features a typical Syrian Christian family’s great history, its glory, tradition, joys and sorrows and its eventual degradation and decay rewriting the contours of human
A Name without a Face
Geeta Abraham Jose’s By The River Pampa I Stood
(Time - Early part of the twentieth century)
Keralam (the State of Kerala was formed in September 1956) became the site of progressive ideals as early as the nineteenth century with the arrival of missionaries from England and other parts of Europe to Malabar, Kochi and Tiruvitamkoor. Missionaries criticized various practices like untouchability, unapproachability, sexual immorality, hierarchies based on caste, and the entrenched power structures of the society. Later, community movements like the Shree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam, the Nair Service Soceity and Yogakshema Sabha were formed to weed out the evil practices existing in their respective communities. …show more content…
Jose is concerned about the condition of women especially in a strictly patriarchal Christian family of the early twentieth century when women were enjoined to live according to the religious and caste norms of the society. Though women of yesteryears lived according to the strict parameters laid down for them, a few flouted age-old conventions to register their protests. But these protests were in no way revolutionary to bring about drastic changes in the lives of women or in the attitudes of …show more content…
The novel, By The River Pampa I Stood, published in 2007, deals with the life of the Syrian Christians of Kerala which was steeped in tradition dating back to the time of St. Thomas, the apostle of Jesus. The story spans over a century and gives an insight into the life of the Syrian Christians of Kerala – their customs and traditions, the feudal set up and the social discrimination which have always remained a part and parcel of the social fabric of the community. This community which boasts of its tradition and ancestry sticks to age-old conventions and ancient laws, abhorring changes. The caste feelings and feudal hierarchy prevalent in the first half of the twentieth century and to some extent to this day are presented in detail. As such, this novel has a lot of similarities with Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things. This novel features a typical Syrian Christian family’s great history, its glory, tradition, joys and sorrows and its eventual degradation and decay rewriting the contours of human