Canvassing for elections through graffiti and posters is at a peak right now. Every time I see a loose poll poster I shudder about an incident from five decades ago that made my life most miserable for days.
I was an elementary school student during the first Assembly polls held in 1957 after the formation of Kerala. Our remote village, Peralam in Kannur district, had no road access. The village had lots of open spaces. Compound walls were made of a mixture of mud and sand called kayyala which were smoothened every year. Next to our homestead there was a large open ground. It had walls and there were pandanus, a type of screw pine as fencing. A footpath on the side led to the nearby village. Long stretches of walls were available for graffiti and posters.
The election battle was between the Congress and the Communists. The Communist party had a strong following thanks to police atrocities and hounding of persons suspected in an agrarian revolt in the years immediately after Independence. The Congress party was miniscule but very active.
The Congress election symbol was a pair of yoked oxen. The Communists’ slogans included “Congress Kaala (ox), Kozhuppulla (Fat) Kaala, British-America Pottunna Kaala” (Nurtured by imperial Britain and America). The Congress slogans were ‘Bharat Mata Ki Jai’, ‘Mahatma Gandhi Ki Jai’ and ‘Jawarharlal Nehru Ki Jai’.
Writing on mud walls was done with a thick mixture of lime and indigo. The blue stood out. The brushes used were crushed tender tips or stems of the pandanus. It was hard to use the mixture to write.
Sticking huge posters was still more difficult. The posters were colourful and I was fascinated by the quality of paper. Gum for pasting posters was cooked rice mashed into a paste. It would not stick for long on the mud walls. The posters would hang loosely just hours after being pasted onto walls. I picked up one Congress poster and after removing the dried paste, cut it and used it to cover my school books. My maternal uncle, an active Congress worker, noticed this. He was furious. I was beaten blue and was admonished that removal of an election poster was a criminal offence and I could end up in a jail for children. My nightmares and panic were so intense that for the next few days I could not sleep or eat! I did not carry the stylishly ‘covered’ books. I could neither attend classes properly nor answer questions though I was the best student. I was mortally afraid of the gravity of the crime and the prospect of a uniformed constable whisking me away.
On the third day, the school headmaster smelt a rat and questioned me. Sobbing, I confessed my ‘crime’ and dread. He had a hearty laugh after listening to me. He did not scold me for my prank. He narrated my mischief to other teachers to their amusement. He sent the Craft teacher with me to the Congress party office and apprised them of my using the poster. They said that if posters were removed by workers of another party, it would be an offence. They held no grudge against me, and gave me two fresh posters! My happiness at the exoneration knew no bounds.
kkunhikrishnan@gmail.com
