Between Water and Fire

Consciousness about self-identity and history is an offshoot of colonial rule. Governments in independent India that largely inherited the economic and political structure of the colonial rule fueled this consciousness by adopting the policy of caste-based reservation in matters of public utility and services. Manifestoes issued by political parties during elections guarantee relocation of castes.

Thus, communities segmented as castes are in constant flux and often claim higher social status while providing data for lower economic status. The Parathavar community that was deeply exposed to colonial rule by the Portuguese, Dutch and English by virtue of being inhabitants of the Pearl Fishery Coast was no exception to this trend.

This book, though presented as a collection of articles, looks into the social, economic and religious past of the Parathavar community prior to their embracing Christianity and seeks to compare that with the developments after conversion.

These articles are attempts to collect historical information from the memory of noted writer and Sahitya Academy winner R. N. Joe d'Cruz and compare it with the information gleaned from archives, field visits and presentations situated within the historical context. Hence, this scholarly work is purely apolitical and academic. But, it provides critical input for understanding the consciousness of the Parathavar people and others in the present.
About the Author: Vinod Vincent Rajesh is an emerging historian and novelist. He is a teacher at the university level and holds additional responsibility in the auxiliary police force. He has written widely in English and Tamil on issues of national importance. He has also been an invited speaker at several prestigious forums. He was awarded the prestigious 'Enligthenment Award' by the International Tamil University, Washington for his maiden Tamil novel 'Oru Desam, Or Ur, Sila Manidhargal'.

Though history is his main forte, his writings and research method derive influence from disciplines such as anthropology, sociology and philosophy. His chief interest is in comparative religion from where he evokes the question of why people as individuals and groups cultivate consciousness based on identity more than is actually warranted. This consciousness that chiefly derives sanction from history often destroys the pluralistic character of the world.

Therefore, he - as a student of history and employee in the auxiliary police force - looks into the past with the help of the Marxist method inspired by the writings of D. D. Kosambi and searches for the root of problems. His intellectual journey made him reach close to Mahatma Gandhi, who understood history objectively and offered solutions to the world maladies through his ideas of satyagraha and non-violence. Thus, he is also a Gandhian statesman.