The past through Kuttan's eyes

by Aditha Dissanayake

Call him Edward. Call her Juliet. The year is 1945. The taxi turns into the forecourt of the Galle Face Hotel, drawing up in the shade of the deep awning.

"Edward you said you have a date? says Juliet.

"I have" says Edward.

"Who with?"

"Wait and see" he tells her, and turns to the Sinhalese receptionist and asks 'Does Kuttan still work here?" When he nods "Yes" Edward wonders if he could have a word with Kuttan.

They walk down the polished wooden floor of the foyer and out on to the terrace, choose a table and sit on cane chairs.

A few moments later Kuttan stands in front of them , beaming. Dressed in his white tunic embellished with colourful badges representing two dozen countries; his hair neat and oiled, a silver tray in his hands...

Fast forward. The year is 2007. The wooden floor is replaced with marble. The cane chairs are no more...and today instead of Edward and Juliet there is only, good old me, with beads of sweat pouring down my forehead after the long walk from the bus-halt.

Everybody has changed. Everybody? Yes, Everything and everybody? except, Kuttan.

Walk into the Galle Face Hotel between six in the morning and two in the afternoon on any day of the week, except on Mondays and you will find him standing there, at the entrance, with his palms together, welcoming you with typical Sri Lankan warmth.

Yet, in spite of his authentic Sri Lankan appearance K.C Kuttan who has seen all the changes that have taken place in and around the Galle Face Green since 1942 was born in Kerala. His eyes sparkle with amusement when I stare at him in disbelief. Born in Kerala?. "Yes" says Kuttan. "In 1920, in Kerala. My father Kotarapattu Chathru, was a farmer. My brothers and sisters are still living in Kerala".

In 1938, at the age of eighteen he had jumped on board a ship and sailed to Ceylon with three friends, in search of greener pastures. "Those days there was no need to have visas or passports, so travelling was easier.

We were too young to bother about them anyway (podi vayasane)" recalls Kuttan. Even though originally he had planned to return to Kerala once he had amassed a fortune by working on this tropical island, he had done neither. "I have been to Kerala only once since 1938. Sri Lanka is my home now. I am not rich, but my employer, Sanjeewa Gardiner looks after me very well. He doesn't want me to retire."

Even though he has no complaints to make about his life right now, an unmistakable light comes into his eyes when he recalls the past - the good old days when he had lived with his wife, Ruth Mary and two daughters in a house situated where the Liberty Plaza stands today, and walked to the Galle Face Hotel.

"The Galle Face Green was much bigger than what it is today. They used to have horse races on it and the white ladies and gentlemen would watch the races from the terrace of our hotel. The ladies wore hats and were covered with frills and lace".

He had been a waiter when he first came to work at the hotel. Before that he had worked for a "local mahaththaya" in his bungalow. When the Japanese bombed Colombo during the second world war, the workers at the hotel fled back to India.

Kuttan was taken on to fill one of the vacancies. Though he had known only Malayalam when he landed in Colombo he had picked up Sinhala within six months and worked at the hotel as a waiter for fifty three years.

During the past twelve years he had been welcoming the guests at the hotel lobby. The guests he had encountered in this long career are uncountable but he remembers vividly the visits of Lord Mountbatten, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Ghandi. "There were lots of other guests too, because our hotel was the only one around those days."

Kuttan is amazed at the number of vehicles on the roads today. "Fifty-three years ago I don't think there would have been more than hundred cars in Colombo. A gallon of petrol cost Rs. 2.80. But today, even though petrol is expensive almost everyone owns a car. Some families have two or three cars".

He says he still walks half way to work from his daughter's house in Maligawatta and attributes his good health to being a non-smoker and a teetotaller. His meals are mostly made of vegetables, prepared by his daughter or by any one of his five grandchildren. "Yes. I have five grandchildren" he says beaming with satisfaction.

"Life has been good to me, and if I can go back once more to Kerala to see my brothers and sisters no one would be happier than I". End of the story? No. What about his legendary Raj-style moustache. "I started to grow it when I was twenty-six". Says Kuttan. And never shaved it off since then? No. Never. Never in the past and never in the future."

Here is Reader's Digest material. An unforgettable character. And for me, an unforgettable moment. For, seated in the colonial surroundings, sipping a cup of tea kindly offered by Kuttan, I momentarily feel as though I am in the land of pukka sahibs.

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