Kochi: A surge of memories laced with pangs of hardship almost brings Eliahu Bezalel to tears when he recalls to Aravindan, the protagonist of Sethu’s novel Marupiravi , life in post-Independence Chendamangalam from where the first batch of Jews, including himself, migrated to Israel in 1955.
And he was at Fort Kochi on Monday, as if straight out of the fictionalised tale of the lost city of Muziris, to relate to an eager audience who had come to witness the release of the novel rendered in English as The Sagar of Muziris , why he still considered Kerala his motherland and Chendamangalam, where he was born, the best piece of land on earth.
Mr. Bezalel’s presence at the book launch happened by sheer accident. A frequent traveller to Kerala, he arrived at Chendamangalam, where he had bought a piece of land and built a house, on Saturday and made a courtesy phone call to Sethu, an old pal, when he got invited to the book launch.
“It looks as if God had created the people at Chendamangalam, spread over an area of just two sq.km, only yesterday. That’s why they have not got time to go bad; that’s why they still smile and treat one another well, with respect. Wherever I go, I tell people that this small area on earth is unique in that here Christians, Hindus, Jews, and Muslims have lived together in perfect harmony. That ‘give and take respect’ is their life’s philosophy,” said Mr. Bezalel, a renowned horticulturist honoured by Indian and Israel governments and a character in Sethu’s work.
In the novel, he tells Aravindan that he had carried 15 kg of black pepper and 500 balloons while migrating to the Promised Land and struggled before turning the desert into a fruit orchard and a flower garden.
Since 1983, he has been making annual trips to Kerala to introduce modern techniques in horticulture here. “It’s my duty to my motherland. And, Israel is my fatherland,” he said, almost choking with emotion.
Marupiravi , published in 2011 and exploring the heritage of Muziris from olden times to the present, was introduced by publisher Nirmal Kanti Bhattacharjee, saying the book was about the “tolerant Muziris”. The book was translated into English by Prema Jayakumar and published by Niyogi Books.
Kochi-Muziris Biennale curator Sudarshan Shetty released the book by handing over the first copy to Mr. Bezalel.
20,000 visitors on Monday
The Kochi Biennale Foundation, in a media release, said some 20,000 people had visited the Biennale on Monday, the first in a series of ticketless (free) entry Mondays.
