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B. MARIAMMA CHAMAKALA

Mariamma was born on January 8, 1918. She inherited her mother’s good looks . After
her early education in Kaipuzha Convent, she was sent to St. Anne’s School, Kottayam,
to pursue her higher studies. She, along with her younger sister Annamma, spent a few
years in the boarding under the supervision of the Visitation nuns. Her years in school
were uneventful. Mariamma seems to have been a favorite of the nuns as many of them
in later years spoke lovingly about her. At the age of 15 she was married to Chamakala
Chummaru Kutty. The marriage took place on the same day as that of her brother Luka
(June 26, 1933), though the receptions were held separately.

Chamakala family is one of the oldest and noblest of Kaipuzha. The Tharayil family had
been brought to Kaipuzha to be the “purificators” of the Hindu temple in Shasthangal.
They were given lands and settled in Kaipuzha. One of the properties thus occupied by
the original Tharayil family was Chamakala. The family acquired vast tracts of fields and
lands in and around the area.

Kochokan Chamakala was an only son. His first wife, from the Chemmarappally family,
having died after giving birth to a boy and a girl, he married Kocheeryam Manthuruthil,
and they had a son and two daughters. Thomas, the son by the first marriage became a
priest in the Order of the Sacred Heart and the girl-Mariamma- died within a year of her
marriage to Stephen Naduvilapparampil. Chummaru Kutty was to inherit vast lands, and
so he was the most eligible bachelor of his time. Therefore it was no mean mark of
recognition that Abraham Pathyil managed to arrange the wedding of his daughter to
Chummaru Kutty. Very soon after the marriage, Kochokan handed over all responsibility
to his son, and lived in quiet retirement.

Kocheeryam was a different story. She loved her son and would not countenance that
love being shared with anyone else. Mariamma’s arrival into the Chamakala household
was seen by her as intrusion in her relationship with her only son. As years went by,
instead of the struggle diminishing in intensity, the rivalry for the heart of
Chummarukutty took on epic proportions.

Her mother in law found fault with everything that Mariamma did and said. Mariamma
having come from a family that was used to spending money, insisted on running her
kitchen as she had learned. Kocheeryam would not let go of the keys of her kingdom.
Mariamma would not yield an inch either. Her parents and siblings visited her often as
the Kalluvelil house was only a mile away. Kocheeryam resented this intrusion.
Mariamma defied the edicts of her mother in law. Mariamma gave birth every eighteen
months to two years with regularity. Kocheeryam thought that this unchecked
proliferation was unhealthy for her son and for the sharing of the family wealth.
Kochokan was a pacifist; his interventions to establish peace were anemic at best.
Therefore he pretended not to hear the goings-on in the kitchen. He could not control his
wife’s outbursts. He died in 1951, grieved by his children and grandchildren, and
especially by his daughter in law. As for Chummaru Kutty he was in a dilemma. He
loved his mother as a loyal son would, and tried to mediate the disputes between his wife

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