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MEMORIES OF COCHIN

‘Mr Bandey’ to Fort Kochiites

The barriers between the English and the Indians were just coming down when I came to Alleppey in 1954. I was never racially conscious but the divide between the Indians and the British was clear. I remember being hauled up by my GM at William Goodac re and Sons, and told, ‘I hear you have quite a few Indian friends. Go a bit steady if you want to keep your job.’ It was a warning but I remember my reply to Mr. Jones, an ex - Gurkha officer in the World War, “As long as I do my work for the company properly and am not an embarrassment to them, I will continue to be friends with whomsoever I please. Why did I come to India if I had not to know the people?” I was not a popular British person here, then.

I continued to make friends with many people and it is this deep friendship with those people that has kept me happily here. I am very close to the Koder family and lived with them in the red house (it’s hotel now) for a long time. I was friendly with the Maharaja of Travancore and would send him a copy of The Daily Telegraph regularly. This was in the 60s.

I remember that there was only a dirt track to Quilon then and we would be covered with red dust travelling on the road. Bullock carts were the common man’s mode of transport. Lorries had not yet made an appearance. There were six cars in Alleppey and about the same number in Cochin. Our company had an Austin. The first tarred road from Quilon to Cochin came after I came to Kerala. It was the time the Communist government had come to power. The trade unions had a big say and I was ‘gheraoed’ by the workers many times. At one time they were protesting outside my office and they entered the cabin and began smashing the windows. I telephoned the Chief Minister and did not think that he would come on the line. But he came and assured me help and the problem was sorted out quickly.

Raj glamour Society as it was in the Raj days. An English party and travelling in rickshaws

When I came our company employed over a 1,000 people and we had factories in Cochin, Quilon and Calicut. The workers got Rs. 2 a day.

We used to travel in ships then. There was only the P&O Lines between the Far East and England. That was the only mode of transport then. It took 14 days to reach Tilbury and the ships were huge beauties. There was such good food served on them. When the ships reached England they came back with many passengers who included the unmarried ladies who came to India and the Far East where there were many English bachelors.

Shopping and cinema were always in Ernakulam. ‘Sealord’ was a skyscraper then to us and travelling in valloms on the backwaters was the easiest way of transport. The English managers had cars. The Cochin Club was an all-English hub. The club chambers were earlier a godown belonging to Wockhardt and the club was on Beach Road. There were still some barracks and some troops in Fort Cochin then. When I came the hottest discussion was about allowing Indians to join the club. The members were deeply divided on the issue and I thought that to be ridiculous. After all it was a decade after Independence. The first Indian member of the club was a Judge, I remember.

REMEMBER

When the Queen visited Cochin there was a lunch in her honour at the Taj Malabar. She visited the St. Francis Church and the Pardesi Synagogue in Fort Cochin. I remember that one heritage hotel was completely vacated for her in case she required to use the toilet! At the synagogue she revealed that it was the first time ever that she was inside a synagogue and she fell completely in love with the blue tiles on the floor.

Later at the investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace, where she awarded me the MBE, she told me how her niece had insisted that she visit Cochin, a beautiful place

Kenneth Lawrence Bandey was born at Bedfordshire on August 4, 1921. He served in the Royal Air Force in World War II. He worked in William Goodacre and Sons in Alleppey and Cochin for many years. As an Englishman living in Cochin he became a known face and has cordial and friendly relations with the local people. He was the secretary of the Cochin Club earlier and now lives there. Bandey was awarded the MBE for his distinguished services as a Briton in India.

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