KOCHI: One of Kochi’s darling senior citizens, Parameswaran (Aniyan) Moothathu passed away at the age of 106 on October 1. It came as a numbing shock, as I had spent a day with him for a feature just some days ago. His sweet smile and pleasant demeanour remain frozen in my mind.
I was at his place to gather some details for a story on the Ernakulam Shiva Temple. His health was okay, except for some hearing difficulty and memory lapses. Born into the Nenmanassery Illam in 1917, Moothathu was an ‘Ambalavasi’, who had believed his life’s purpose was to serve the deity. He did that with utmost dedication for seven decades.
Moothathu hit headlines when he completed the 2017 Spice Coast marathon, at the age of 101. “I have always been a disciplined person, and would go for long walks every morning. So, I was confident of pulling off the challenge,” he said.
After the marathon, he got a ‘new friend’ Sachin Tendulkar, who was in town for the event. Sachin had told Moothathu he was “an inspiration to live a healthy life”. “Sachin wished me on my last birthday,” said Moothathu. But among his most priceless memories is “touching Gandhiji”.
A voracious reader, Moothathu advised: “One must read books to understand history.” The current generation, he added, should explore Gandhiji’s My Experiments with Truth and works of legends such as Vivekananda.
After a long pause, Moothathu recalled: “I was in school. On hearing that Gandhiji was visiting Kochi, I rushed to see him. I remember holding his left hand; he did not speak anything. Later, when Gandhiji was arrested, I joined a students’s protest.”
Upholding nationalist values, Moothathu mostly wore khadar garments, and was an ace at spinning the charkha. “To make a khadar shirt, we need 21 yarns. It takes almost two hours to create one set of thread,” he explained. As I prepared to leave, he gifted me a yarn that he had spun. It will be cherished for long.