Azhakath Rama Kurup, the rebel who fought British in His Own Way

This is rather a history than a myth. This is a real story of one of the many unsung heroes of Indian Freedom Struggle. British officials recognized the need for English education to Indians when they had suffered the scarcity of working force to work as clerks in various organizations. It was financially viable for them to bring people from England to work in India as clerks. Lord Me kale, decided to provide English education to Indians to overcome this hurdle. He did not want Indians to be smarter; hence he limited the education to produce clerks.

When the schools and colleges started teaching English as a language, Malayalam took a back seat. Those who are teaching English were known as Lecturers and Professors and those who teach Malayalam are still called as Munshis. Even the salaries for Malayalam teachers were meager when compared to those who teach English. Many eminent people such as Kaikkulangara Rama Warrier protested against this injustice by quitting their jobs or by rejecting offers. But many people had to accept the jobs due to their financial situations. Azhakath Rama Kurup was one such person who had to join in the Thiruvananthapuram Maharaja’s College as a Malayalam Teacher for a meager salary, as there was no other option for him to take care of his family. Still, he was not ready to sacrifice his self-respect and the prestige of his nation.

As per the rule prevailing on those days, the teachers should wear waistcoats as a part of their dressing code, but Rama Kurup never agreed for it and used to come to college in normal dressings. Although it continues for two or three days, the principal of the college who was a British could not tolerate this anymore. He strictly instructed Kurup to come to the college wearing the coat from the very next day onwards.

Readymade dresses were not available on those days and so was the case of taking dresses on rent. As mentioned earlier, the salary he used to get was meager and he was not in a position to pay for a waistcoat. So he decided to teach the principal a lesson. He went to a tailoring shop belonging to his friend and took the measurements for stitching a coat. Then he asked the tailor to stitch a coat with that measurement using scrap pieces of clothes dumped in a corner. The next day, he came with that multi-color, multi-design coat and wore it as he entered the staff room. Suddenly the news of this awkward coat spread inside the campus and students gathered around the staff room to see it. The news reached in the ears of the principal too. He came there and dispersed the crowd with great difficulty and then entered the staff room and told Kurup that he need not wear waistcoat from the next day and he can come in the normal dressing.

After this incident, Principal started to avoid talking to Rama Kurup. He felt like got insulted by an Indian who was a substandard man according to his standard. Still, he maintained a grudge against Rama Kurup and tried to find out some loopholes to teach him a lesson. He made it a practice to watch the classes of Rama Kurup to find out some fault or the other, but the students were happy as he was really a master in Malayalam and his teaching skills were excellent.

Days have passed and one day Rama Kurup was teaching Kathakali Padangal (Songs used for Kathakali, a traditional art form of Kerala) in the class. Suddenly the principal entered the classroom and enquired what he was teaching. He politely replied that he was teaching the songs of Kathakali.

“What teacher are you?” Principal shouted at Kurup in front of the students. “Don’t you know that you should teach them, practical classes? Why are you not conducting practical classes?”

Rama Kurup, who was naughty by birth, decided to teach him one more lesson. He told the principal with folded hands that many materials are required to conduct practical classes and it will cost a huge amount. Principal, who thought that Kurup was making an excuse to avoid practical classes, asked him to meet him before leaving the college that day. Kurup did the same. The principal handed over him money and asked him to get all the materials by the next day and start practical classes immediately.

Kurup directly went to a nearby temple from the college. There was a person who used to train people in Kathakali. He was very close to Kurup. With his help Kurup arranged some minimum make up materials, a drum a symbol, and a huge Nilavilakk (A traditional lamp of Kerala). The next day he brought everything to the college.

After a few minutes of starting the classes, there heard a loud voice of drum beats followed with songs. All classes got disturbed due to this loud voice. Principal and other teachers reached in front of Kurup’s classroom tracking the source of the sound. There they saw two students beating drums and symbols and others are dancing in tune with the music. Angry principal shouted

“Where is Mr. Rama Kurup?”

A person fully painted the face with blank ink came in front of him from behind the huge lamp and bowed in front of him with respect. The principal recognized that it was none other than Rama Kurup. This made the principal angrier.

“What the hell is going on here?” He shouted once again.

“Sir, I was conducting the practical classes for Kathakali as per your instruction. Being a subordinate of you, how I can help to obey your orders?” He asked with great humbleness and showing great respect for the principal on his face. Still, the principal could understand that Kurup was fooling him. However, he could not do anything as Kurup was just obeying his rules. He saw smiles on the faces of other teachers too who came there by this time. There was nothing to do for him other than ask Kurup to meet him in his office room.

Kurup went inside the office room along with the principal.

“Mr. Kurup, I have nothing more to say. You can stop practical classes from now onwards and concentrate on theories.”

“Sir, but we have spent a lot of money on the materials. What to do with that?”

“You may donate it to someone who is learning this art. I don’t care. But please don’t disturb me anymore.”

Rama Kurup left the room with a lot of happiness. He returned the materials to his friend in the evening and gave him a reasonable rent from the amount is given by the principal to purchase those materials. The balance the amount, which was many times larger than his monthly salary was enough for him to get rid of all his debts.