MALAPPURAM: Muhammad Ali wants to keep his part of the bargain, and is seeking the state government’s help in doing so. It was in the final months of his life that Kappekkadan Beerankutty of Manoor, Ponmala, sought a favour from his son: Protect his collection of antiques. True to his word, Muhammad Ali has been protecting treasured items -- worth lakhs of rupees -- for the past eight years.
Beerankutty’s collection includes the skull of a whale, palm leaf manuscripts, currencies and coins from various countries, postal stamps and covers, a 150-year-old camera, weapons from the Stone Age, a handwritten copy of Mahakavi Moyinkutty Vaidyar’s Badar Pattu, a 200-year-old veena, besides gramophone players and records, and Chinese jars.
“My father was 75 years old when he passed away. I have been protecting his collection since. Many people have offered lakhs of rupees for various items. But I have the promise to keep. Even during his time, my father had refused to part with the items, despite good offers,” Muhammad Ali said.
Beerankutty began his collection during his days in Wayanad. “My father moved from Malappuram to Wayanad to sell aluminium utensils. He made good money from the business and began investing the profits in antiques. This put him under financial strain.
Later, he returned to Malappuram and began to exhibit his items in a building near our house. He also organised exhibitions around the state. He used the revenue generated from the shows to purchase more antiques. This pushed him into penury again,” Muhammad Ali said.
‘Will give items for free if govt guards them’
After the death of his father, Muhammad Ali continued to exhibit the items across the state. However, the pandemic put a stop to that, and the collection has since been confined to a room in his new house. Muhammad Ali now wants the state government to set up a museum in Malappuram to exhibit his father’s collection. “Working at a three-wheeler workshop, I hardly get time to take care of the items.
We are ready to hand over the items for free if the government is willing to come forward to protect them. A new museum could be set up in Malappuram to exhibit the items. The museum should be named after my father. When M A Baby was the cultural minister, he had allotted `25,000 to protect the collection,” he said.