Aliyah – Sethu (Translated by Catherine Thankamma)
“If you remain in the land where you sprouted, you will
wilt. It is good to be replanted when you grow a bit. It is true in the case of
plants and in the case of people too. You need some time to take root, that is
all.”
Kochi , a seaside town in the coastal state of Kerala has
had a very colourful past – but one which is probably fading with time. In A. Sethumadhavan’s novel, which has
been translated from Malayalam by Catherine Thankamma , he narrates through the
medium of fiction, the tale of a community of Jews who once called Kochi their
home. Focusing on Salomon, a young Jewish man and the decisions that his family
and his community would have to take – to ultimately confront their Jewish heritage
and the land they belong to.
Jews, while being persecuted across Europe, had once fled to different
parts of the world. Those who landed in Kochi were welcomed and given safety by
the then ruling monarchs. For many centuries did Jews, Muslims, Hindus and
Christians all live beside each other in certain pockets of this port city of Kochi.
Synagogues were built and they settled down and laid roots as time went by.
By the 16th century, after a new wave of Jewish migration
there became established two groups of Jews – the white skinned foreign Jews
and the black skinned native Jews , a.k.a. Paradesi Jews and Malabari ‘Black’
Jews. Apparently it wasn’t necessarily based on the skin colour. By
the 18th century there were eight synagogues in five different Kerala towns and
villages.
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| The Paradesi Jewish Synagogue in Kochi, Kerala - now a Heritage Monument |
However, after decades of calling Kochi their home, shifting political
climate caused a mass migration of Jews to a newly formed state – Israel (formed
in 1948). This migration was termed as ‘aliyah’ – thus the title. However, as
we see through the fictionalized story of Salomon and his family, it was not an
easy decision to make. Many Jews did migrate in response to the Zionist call –
and many Jews remained. Because, in the end, where do you belong – in the soil
that you grew up in or in the soil that has been newly demarcated to be your “land”?
What does it mean to be a Jew in Kochi, the last Jew that too – when all the
rest have decided to leave for the Promised Land? These and many other
diasporic dilemmas are poignantly explored in this novel.
Set in the village of Chendamangalam, it begins with a
nightmare seen by young Salomon who sees a ship and sea crows in his prophetic
dream. His affectionate grandmother Eshimuthimma is thrilled since she believes
it is a sign from above that the time has come for them to move to the Promised
Land, Israel. However, Salomon will keep questioning whether he feels more at
home here - in the only land he has ever known,
the land where his mother was buried (Rebeccamma, died when he was
four), the place where he has an identity. His father, Evron and his uncle Elias are more
practical in their ways unlike Salomon who is a bit of a dreamer.
The chapters reveal the past of the family, from the time of
their grandfather who settled there first and to the present generation where
only one male heir remain to continue the family line – Salomon. The political turmoil, the religious and
cultural conflict of the time, the myth and cultural beliefs of a time that
remains forgotten in dusty volumes, empty synagogues are brought alive in the
pages of Aliyah. We meet several
characters through Salomon, who have their own part to play in the unfolding of
events that leads up to the day when the Jewish community finally leaves the
shores of the town.
Which country is home? On the one hand there is India, where
generations of Jews have lived peacefully and where they have never been
persecuted for their faith. And on the other hand, there is the promised land
of Israel, which they know very little about — and going there means that
suddenly there are possessions be sold, money to be paid to an agency, ships to
board, and a final, overwhelming cutting of all ties to their homes.
The Hindu and Christian neighbours of the Jews are
bewildered at this turn of events, and rather suspicious. Nobody can comprehend
why the Jews feel that they are foreigners in India — which is not surprising,
since most of the Jews are not necessarily able to articulate why they want to
leave. Nor do they know much about Israel.
So, this novel gives a certain insight into a lot of history
which is relatively unknown. However, it does not meet the promise it sets out
to deliver. At certain points it felt that there was too much meandering and
the character of Salomon simply seemed to be acting as a bystander rather than
someone who we could relate to as being caught in a decisive turmoil. It
generated enough interest simply by its premise of a story that surrounds a
fading community. And certain moments were
decidedly poignant. For instance, the night before they have to leave
for Israel, not one of them in the family can bring themselves to eat anything.
And Eshimuthimma, who had for so long yearned to go the land across the seas,
calls Salomon beside her and shows him a
tiny pouch in which she is carrying the soil of her homeland, of Kochi, so that
when she dies she can be buried with it beside her. Memorable.
Sashi Tharoor, who was present at the launch of this book in Delhi earlier
this year had this to say about the novel:
What is your identity? Is it the racial memory as it were or
is it the place and the people with whom you always lived? Where is your
allegiance? Where is your love and loyalty? Who commands it? These are
questions embedded in the narrative of Aliyah.
Couldn’t have put it better.
[Note on title: Aliyah - Pronounced: a-LEE-yuh for synagogue use, ah-lee-YAH
for immigration to Israel, Origin: Hebrew, literally, “to go up.” This can mean
the honour of saying a blessing before and after the Torah reading during a
worship service, or immigrating to Israel.]
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