![]() ![]() There was a cryptic reference to having conducted “the first inter-caste marriage in Kerala". He wrote about the financial hurdles he faced when trying to get into a school the odd assortment of jobs he did, including playing native guide to a foreign scholar and serving as tax collector to the local king, the zamorin of Calicut his readings on theology, philosophy and science the journeys he made to places like Kashi (Varanasi) and Rishikesh and so on. In neat handwriting, it was full of his thoughts about his life and his surroundings, seemingly written at a very old age. To my mind, though, it seemed interesting as a historical document. It was deemed useless because it had none of the things they were looking for, such as details of any real estate my grandfather might have had, unknown to them. ![]() It all began when my father and uncles found a yellowing notebook, tattered and falling to pieces, in an old trunk in our ancestral home. Two years ago, I found myself staring out of the window of a train to Vadakara, a small coastal town in Kozhikode, on my way to learn more about this society, shortly after learning that my grandfather had apparently helped build it. ![]() Namboodiripad is said to have described it as a community of primitive Communists. This little-known commune was formed as a critique of private property and interests. They are inmates of Siddha Samaj, an alternative society with four branches in Kerala and one in Tamil Nadu. He is one among 300-odd people who are continuing a social experiment that began nearly a century ago in north Kerala’s Calicut (also known as Kozhikode) district. Dhananjayan, who is in his 20s, is, in his own estimation, a happy man in a free world. ![]() He has consensual sex with whoever he likes, with no expectation of love. He has no family, holds no property, does no work, makes no money, serves no government, obeys no supervisors, has no subordinates, worships no god and practises no religion. Dhananjayan likes hanging out naked, except in front of strangers. ![]()
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