4 Apr 2022

An Exodus From Arcot

An exodus that never made any waves 
Under the siege of British colonial army 
Long before the formation of India union
A break away group left the native Arcot
Leaving behind their wealth,and heritage
To avoid life under the captive of enemy
Found refuge in the southern travancore 
Locals ostracized them as the outsiders 
Treating them as unequals in all sectors
They were served tea in coconut shells 
They became a new community with
New narrative and a new resolve to fight
The successors revolted against British 
They chose to seek education for kids 
At the cost of surrendering the identity 
When India became sovereign nation 
They stopped speaking their lingua Tamil
They stopped celebrating their customs 
They became malayalies like the natives
Celebrating the festivals of the Kerala 
They have slowly attained prosperity 
None of them tried to go back to Arcot 
They wonder if locals will welcome them 
More than a century after the exodus 



This poem is about a section of a community that had to relocate from Arcot near Chennai  to travancore/Kerala during British onslaught in 19th century. It changed their lives. They had to rebuild their lives with new realities and identity.  Missionaries gave them education. They chose education over social status. They became a new community with privileges attained for being backward in their new native.

4 comments:

J G Moore said...

Such a rich, moving account...well done!

Simona ~ The Grumpy Olive said...

I love that you add where the poem stems from, it makes it much more enjoyable to me!

Lisa's Notebook said...

It's always enlightening to discover history that you didn't know about. Beautifully written, very evocative.

Heidi - RealLifeofLulu.com said...

Very well done! Thank you for including the history with the poem as well. You learn something new everyday!