Page 10 - Microsoft Word - My story of Pathyil Kalluvelil as told by Joseph Pathyil

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story of our family. Close to the school is the hospital, which too has received much,
loving care from our family and relatives even till today. The survival and growth of the
hospital was due, in no small measure to the unstinting service of men such as Chamakala
Chummaru Kutty and, in the recent past, Thomas Kalluvelil.

St.Therese of Avila Church in Palathuruth, next to our ancestral home, is very much our
church too. Indeed the original plot of land was given by one of our own. Ever since then,
to the most recent rebuilding of the Church, our family members have participated
without counting cost and time. Thomas Pathyil and Babychan Chamakala were in the
forefront of the construction of the magnificent church that stands as a model of Kerala’s
unique ecclesial architecture.

Kaipuzha population consists of not only Knanaya Catholics, but also people of different
religions. The Nairs have been the early settlers on the land. They are landholders, but
generally continue to be civil servants. The Ezhava community, the traditional toddy
tappers, constitutes an important minority. The Pulayas who have been for centuries the
tenants and workers of the landlords are an important segment of the Kaipuzha
community. The Mukavas (Valans) have been fishermen and boatmen for centuries. All
these segments live in relative harmony and communal peace. To all of them St. George’s
school has been the alma mater, the fields and the water their common ground. At
festivals, marriages, and funerals all these people show their mutual respect and regard,
by sharing joy and grief.

Kaipuzha has always been associated with its neighboring village of Neendoor. In fact
Neendoor is an extension of Kaipuzha. For very long time the school and the hospital in
Kaipuzha were as much part of Neendoor. Apart from the fact that Neendoor has its own
Church and community centre, Kaipuzha has been the mother church and spiritual centre.
The civic government of the Panchayat is now in Neendoor, and new industries and
progress have veered towards Neendoor. But Neendoor is integral to the soul of
Kaipuzha. The Pathyils originated from Neendoor and the ancestors have had intimate
involvement in the development of Neendoor, even to this day.

Another satellite village close to Kaipuzha is Kurumulloor (Onanthuruthu and Vedagiri
are names for parts of the same place.) People of Kurumulloor have traditionally gone to
Kaipuzha school, been treated in Kaipuzha hospital, and they too have been integral parts
of Kaipuzha life. Places such as Manjoor and Kallara also looked to Kaipuzha as its
mother church and St. George’s school has educated all the youngsters of all these
villages. In other words, the whole region, known as Kaipuzha-Neendoor Sekharam has
been one entity. The Pathyil family has had very close links with all these places.

The history of the Pathyil family is not a story in isolation. The land, its people, its
institutions, and the evolutions of time have marked the family. And the family has left
its mark in the process of this evolution.

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