Page 50 - Microsoft Word - My story of Pathyil Kalluvelil as told by Joseph Pathyil

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Abraham got Achamma to write several of his articles and formal petitions as she
possessed excellent penmanship. She was also very good at crochet work. Their first
child was still-born. Then in 1937 a strapping boy was born to them, and since the usual
custom was to name him after the paternal grandfather, Abraham took the liberty of
calling him -not Abraham- but Daniel.

Lukose was given the complete responsibility of looking after the toddy shop in
Athirampuzha, which was Abraham’s most lucrative outlet. Lukose and his young family
settled in Athirampuzha. Being a market town, Athirampuzha was a prosperous place,
and the population consisted of non-Knanaya Catholics, Muslims, Hindus and others.
Soon Lukose established tremendous rapport with all the prominent persons in
Athirampuzha. In a short time he became a community leader who would be involved in
many local matters. People such as Manattu Vakkachan, the scion of the wealthiest
family in Athirampuzha, would depend on the friendship of Lukose. When Kadavil
Kochu was implicated in a man-slaughter, he turned to Lukose for help. Lukose arranged
for Kochu to live in hiding in Kalluvelil for a long time. All these ingratiated the people
of Athirampuzha to him. In addition, he sold what all of them wanted. To his friends,
who would usually visit him rather late in the evening, after the daily rush of customers ,
he served the best. His household was a place of hospitality. Achamma was a good cook,
something that she had learned from her mother-in-law. On January 18, 1941 a second
son was born to Achamma, and Abraham insisted on calling him Xavier, to remember the
great Jesuit missionary to India. Abraham and Naithy visited them occasionally. And
Lukose made sure that he visited Kalluvelil at least once a week. It was a long walk, but
he had to see his mother regularly. He bought a bicycle, a rare mode of transportation at
that time, to expedite matters. Life was pleasant and joyful for the young couple and their
children.

When Xavi was hardly two years old, Achamma complained of severe pain in the
stomach. After several futile attempts at treating her in Athirampuzha and Kottayam,
doctors advised that she be taken to Neyyoor Mission Hospital. That hospital was
founded and run by Dr. Somervell. He had a clinic in Kundara. (Dr. Somervell was to be
a famous surgeon in Vellore Medical College Hospital. He was also a member of two
teams that attempted to climb Mount Everest in the 1922 and again in 1924. During one
of those expeditions, he and his companions established camp at 28,000 feet, only a few
metres from the peak. Then two of his companions went up to scale the last few hundred
metres to the summit. A sudden snow squall took the lives of the two. The last that Dr.
Somervell saw was two figures moving away from their binocular sites. ) The doctor
determined that Achamma had cancer. With the permission of the family, surgery was
performed and the cancerous parts of the intestine removed.. Lukose stayed with his wife
all through those difficult days, dashing back to Kaipuzha for a few hours for essential
reasons. All hoped that the cancer had not spread any further. She was weak, but full of
hope. Her beautiful hair was shorn. But at least she looked as if she was on the way to
full recovery. Life resumed in its hectic pace for Lukose. But within a year of her
surgery, Achamma had to be readmitted in Neyyoor. There, in spite of the best efforts of
Dr. Somerville, and further surgery, cancer had spread too far and too rapidly. She was
brought back to Kalluvelil, and looked after by her mother in law. Achamma saw the

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