Thiruvananthapuram, KERALA :

Thiruvananthapuram :

The Kakkat family has always been a big one. During marriages and other functions the ancestral house fills up with relatives. It is these past few years that the sons and daughters of the family have started living separately.

This family has always stressed on  the importance of living in harmony and with  generations together. In the Kakkat house it is a normal thing to see grandchildren and great grandchildren of the same age playing together. Four generations sit together and reminisce about their childhood and their fathers.

The great grandfather

Leaning heavily on a walking stick is eighty-year-old Moideenkutty Haji who loves spinning tales of the past. Stories mostly about his father Alippu Haji, and his grandfather, who was killed in the wagon tragedy. His favourite pastime include gathering all the young ones and regaling them with all kinds of anecdotes.

“There are so many stories that I can tell you,” he says with a twinkle in his eyes. “My father was a good man, very brave. He used to have this business (malancharakku), where he would take the goods from home (Kattuppara in Malappuram) to Ponnani Sea port. I was the eldest and he would often take me with him.”

The grandfather

Like his father before him, Ashraf Ali, now at 56, began dabbling in business at a very early age. “By the time we were 15, we started accompanying vappa (father) to different places as he went about with his business. He used to travel a lot, but when he came home he used to make sure that we knew about his experiences and such.” Though he had a job in the Gulf as a marketing manager in a watch company, he was keen on starting his own business. “Vappa is not a very educated man. He learned what he did during his travels. He taught us that. To seek knowledge from the world around us,” says Ashraf.

The Father

“Uppa (father) never told me outright what to do. Sometimes he would not answer all of my queries but made me find the answers myself,” Mohammed Thabith talks about his father. “This used to frustrate me a lot. But his discipline and his penchant of pushing me to find solutions myself helped me find my independence later in life.”

Great onus was put on the need for education. Thabith recalls how his father used to be adamant that all of his children be highly educated.

“We were all pushed to do the best we could. And that didn’t stop with education. I’m thirty-year-old. Even now he gives us practical pieces of advises from time to time. Now that I have a son, I will definitely ape my father and teach him how to question things and learn the truth by himself, while being a strong person for him.”

source:  http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Hana Ashraf / June 16th, 2016