KOCHI: Mercy Ravi, former legislator from the Kottayam Assembly Constituency and wife of Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Vayalar Ravi, was born on March 18, 1946 in Ernakulam. Born to Kuruvilla Kattakkaran and Thandamma, Mercy was baptised as Maria Francis.
After completing school education at the St Mary’s Convent, Ernakulam, Maria joined the Maharaja’s College, where she completed her pre-degree and graduation.
During her campus life, she entered politics as a student activist.
In 1969, while studying in the Maharaja’s College, Mercy got married to Vayalar Ravi, who was senior to her. The marriage marked the end of an eight-year-long love affair and broke the barriers of caste and religion.
After marriage, Maria Francis became Mercy Ravi, and thereafter she had been the guiding force for Ravi.
Apart from being Ravi’s wife, she was also a competent politician.
Mercy had held several key posts in the Congress Party.
From a KSU leader in the Maharaja’s College, Mercy became president of the women’s committee of the Indian National Trade Union Congress(INTUC) in 2000.
She was also a representative of the Asia Pacific Region International Confederation of Trade Unions. At state-level, Mercy was general secretary to the Kerala Pradesh Mahila Congress and general secretary to the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee(KPCC). Even though she lost her first battle in the 1996 election from the Mala Constituency, she came back strongly in the 2001 Assembly elections and defeated Vaikom Vishwan of the CPM in the Kottayam Constituency to become the first woman to represent Kottayam in the Assembly.
It was at the fag end of her tenure in the Kerala Assembly that her health deteriorated and was constantly under treatment for renal diseases. The Mercy-Ravi couple has two daughters - Lakshmi Ravi(Chakki) and Lisa Rohan (Kunji) - and one son - Ravi Krishna(Unni).
