With the usual roads leading to Edappally often chocked with traffic, there has arisen a need for commuters to find other ways around the snarl-up. Pipeline Road in Thrikkakara is one such alternative. Though neglected for decades, the spike in movement on this stretch has seen local administration allotting money and resources for its upgradation in recent years.
Now, the road offers almost seamless passage for commuters headed towards Lulu Mall in Edappally, Thrikkakara or Palarivattom. The intersection of all these individual pathways is the Kennedy Mukku Junction, where an imposing kappela (chapel) stands ever-watchful, guiding the motorists to their destinations.
“‘Take a left from Kennedy Mukku Junction. You’ll know when you see the kappela’ — we tell commuters seeking directions to Lulu Mall. The kappela is now like a signpost on this stretch,” says Romal Varghese, a local resident.
Indeed, with the kappela acting as a way-stop , Kennedy Mukku Junction too has become quite popular. More so because its name is one that invokes curiosity in all. ‘Why Kennedy? Does it have anything to do with the world’s most famous Kennedy of all,’ one may wonder as they pass by.
Well, indeed it does. The junction is named after John F Kennedy, the youngest man elected to the Oval Office. Kennedy served as the 35th president of the US during the height of the Cold War. However, his tenure was cut shot when he was assassinated on November 22, 1963. Yet, even within that short span, his Camelot presidency made him the icon of the 1960s across the world. A name so recognisable that transcends to cultural icon status.
So when news broke out about his assassination, this small suburb of Edappally — earlier known as Pallypattu Kavala — was thrown to sorrow. “In the early 1960s, the residents of the locality had come together to form a club. It was named after John F Kennedy following his assassination. Over time, the whole junction came to be known as Kennedy Mukku,” says Antony Paravara, a local politician and former councillor of the area.
“November 22 is also the day when a 36-inch-long pipeline of the Kerala Water Authority was laid and joined in Pallypattu Kavala — an otherwise unremarkable corner of the town. If the pipeline made the junction, the news of Kennedy’s assassination gave it its name,” says Venu T K, a local resident.
V Shambashivan, a 73-year-old resident of the area, concurs. “We were kids when the pipeline was joined. Later on, it was extended to other areas. But by then, the name Kennedy Mukku had stuck,” he says.
Saint George's kappela continues to be the landmark of the area. Locals, especially the elders, meet at this intersection most evenings for long chats encompassing US politics and more. With the directions becoming well known now, motorists don’t pause at Kennedy Mukku like they once used to. But the few who do invariably also wonder, why Kennedy.