Like women’s magazines down the centuries The Christhava Mahilamani , one of the earliest Malayalam magazines in this genre, responded to its readers’ desires. It had all the staple ingredients–cookery columns, articles on relationship problems, women’s issues, parenting, stories, and poems–a prototype for similar magazines that came later.
It was not the first time that women were looked at as a special interest category and defined by a magazine in Malayalam. Keraleeya Suguna Bodhini , published from Trivandrum in 1886, was the first women’s magazine in the language. It was the brainchild of Kerala Varma Valiya Koyi Thampuran, K. Chidambaram Vadhyar and N.C. Narayana Pillai.
The Christhava Mahilamani , like this pioneer and others such as Sarada (1904), Lakshmi Bai (1906), Bhasha Sarada (1914), Mahila Ratnam (1914) and Sumangala (1915), Sahodari (1925) and the very popular Vanitha Kusumam (1926) that came later attempted to create a social, moral and cultural space for women.
The first issue of The Christhava Mahilamani came out in 1920. It was printed and published by P.M. Mammen at K.V. Press, Thiruvalla. Since then till mid 1940s this magazine became very popular among women in Travancore and Malabar, especially among Christian women. “I’m not really sure what inspired my father to start such a venture like this. The only guess is his passion for Malayalam language, something that he always tried to pass on to all of us. From 1920, till the days of World War II, when there was a shortage of newsprint, this magazine reached the doors of subscribers without fail. Around 50 copies were sent to Malayalis in Burma, Ceylon and Singapore those days. By this time my father had turned diabetic, he was hospitalised, the magazine was stopped and he passed away in 1949,” says his son and namesake, P.M. Mammen, who retired from Central Excise and is now running a Central Excise and service tax consultancy.
The name did create a bit of a misunderstanding. Many thought that it was published by the Church and that it was a tool for religious propaganda. “I remember pasting the stamps, writing the addresses on the magazines. What I noticed then was that it was not in circulation, except for the occasional copy, in Cochin. It was perhaps because of the name as the Cochin State had only a small Christian population at that time. Realising this, my father dropped the Christhava part and retained Mahilamani in 1932. I feel he used Christhava because women in the community were largely confined to their kitchens with absolutely no idea of the world outside. The intention was to make them aware of the more creative aspects of domesticity and inform them of world events.”
P.M. Mammen (senior) completed his Malayalam ninth standard, which in those days was a big deal, worked as a PWD contractor and along with a friend of his, also set up Bharat Bank, which was in business for some years. “The magazine was certainly not business for him. Every morning he used to go to the office room at Kavumbhagom, in Thiruvalla, and return late in the evening. I remember him stretching out on the easy-chair and talking to my mother of the day’s events. A trip to the Malayala Manorama office in Kottayam was also part of his routine. He maintained a very close relationship with Kandathil Varghese Mappillai. They used to send their publications to us and I’m sure Mahilamani reached them too.”
“Mahilamani was sent by post at a cost of Rs. 2 and three chakram. In every issue the editor urged subscribers to send in their fees or pay the postman, referred to as peon. Around 300-400 copies were sold every month. Between the covers, in around 30-40 pages, there was poetry, prose, short stories, book reviews, articles on health care, parenting, families, profiles of leading women, a cookery column, news from across the world and an occasional article on the political rights of women. What we don’t find is fashion, cinema, glamour and gloss that one usually associates with modern day women’s magazines. “There was nothing to do with Christianity in the magazine. Except for the opening page that had messages from the scriptures, the magazine focused wholly on women’s interests and women’s issues.”
The magazine contained works from popular writers of the time. “So many writers were part of Mahilamani and that included the likes of Puthankavu Mathan Tharakan, Mary John Koothatukulam, Dr. Saramma Joseph, Vidwan M. Thommy, Annamma Chandy, P.K. Parameswaran Nair, Ponkunnam V.A. Koshy etc. I don’t think any of the contributors were paid. If at all there was a payment it was for Valanjavattam K.G. Nair who wrote the cookery column.”
The magazine had a ‘miscellaneous’ section, which included comments, views, a list of publications from Malayala Manorama, obituaries, and advertisements that were a reflection of the times.
Mahilamani came out with a very simple cover page that clearly illustrated the objective of the magazine. It had a ‘contents’ page and the pages were numbered continuously beginning from the first issue.
