MEMOIRS OF A SISTER - IN - LAW

Dr. C. I. Thomas
His Life & Mission in our Family & Community

By Mary John

In a humorous tone, my husband Johnny made an interesting comment! My father Mr. M. K. Varghese B. A. L. T. , in his simple Indian juba and dhoti and his son-in-law C. I. Thomas M. B. B. S., in his western suit and bow-tie created images of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

Jesus preached the gospeland healed the sick. My father preached the gospel “Thy kingdom come”. That was his life motto. Dr. C. I. Thomas healed the sick. They both were hot-tempered, and wereequally compassionate. They loved,respected, and appreciated each other as a father and son.

Two great women in our family played significant roles. The sacrificial lives of my mother, Mrs. Mary Varghese and our oldest sister, Mrs. Ponnamma Thomas enriched our family. My mother was the manager of the Rural Reconstruction Institute at Ullannur, Kerala, India, and my sister served as a teacher in theschool.

My father was the founding father of the RRI . In the mid 1930s,he started the RRI which was an innovative project to uplift the lives of the peoplein the neighboring villages. It had a middle school for children, a night school for adults, a rural dispensary, apost office and a rural YMCA. The RRI offered classes in bee-keeping,poultry-farming, spinning , weaving, modern methods in agriculture, bore-holelatrines, hygiene and so on. The Center attracted visitors from all over the world. Dr. Spencer Hatch, YMCA,Geneva and Dr. Somervelle, a renowned surgeon from England were close friends of my father. They volunteered to offer services to the people of Ullannur village. Dr. Somervelle had a great impact on the professional life of Dr. C. I.Thomas.

Dr. C. I. T was the youngest of nine children inhis family at Cheeramittathu, Punnaveli, Mallapally, Kerala. They belonged to Church Missionary Society (Anglican). Ponnamma was the oldest ofseven children in our family at Moosarieth, Pandalam, Kerala. We belonged to the Malankara Orthodox Church tradition. This was the beginning of ecumenism in our family life.

I met Dr. Thomas for the first time when I was ten years old, studying in the gradeschool. He was a smart looking, wellgroomed young doctor in charge of the RRI dispensary in Ullannur. He had a medical assistant to help him. The dispensary was a two-room -building with easy access to the public.

In no time he earned a good name as an excellent skilled physician. He was like a medical missionary to the local community. Patients trusted him in his diagnosis and treatment. In gratitude, they brought him gifts like chickens, eggs, vegetables etc.

One night, I remember, one of the school teachers who lived on the campus was bitten by a viper, a poisonous snake. The young doctor,very courageously, tied tight the bitten area with a long piece of cloth and made a cut on that part of his leg and squeezed out the poison. The whole operation took about an hour or so. Usually such cases, in those days, end up in the death of the victim eventhough there were special, ayurvedic
local “ vaidyans ”. This incident was something miraculous and incredible in the community.


I remember the courtship and the wedding of the young doctor and Ponnamma Kochamma, our sister. Ponnamma Kochamma was a beautiful girl of16 – 17 years old very fair, with brown eyes, long black hair and a cheerful round face like a full moon. She graduated from high school and had one year completed in Women’s College inTrivandrum. Then she discontinued herhigher studies and she became a teacher in the Ullannur School.

It was a pleasant surprise that Dr. Thomas and my sister fell in love with each other in an year or so. So it was a “love marriage” and not “arranged marriage”. It was very unusual, in those days in our state, Kerala. I remember their wedding day. It was a bright and sunny Monday. I do not know the exact date. But I think it was in the harvest season.

The wedding ceremony was in our church, the Syrian orthodox church at Ullannur. The groom’s party arrived in the church early morning at 8:00. The bride’s party was expected to be in the church soon after. But they did not leave the house as planned earlier. Just before the bride was supposed to leave, Mr. Govinda Pillay, a good friend of my father, urged him not to leave, saying that it was not “subha- muhurtham”, as astrologically appropriate time for a bride to leave her home. Accordingly, the bride and her party were one hour late to arrive in the church. Even though the groom’s party was impatient, the ceremony went well. It was a rejoicing event.

After the wedding ceremony,all the guests assembled in the big, decorated hall of our RR Institute. Then, surprisingly, the groom made a little fuss and would not sit down to eat because the bride and her guests were late to come to the church. Then, Mr. M. C. Chacko, our uncle, comfortedand consoled him. Being the firstmarriage in our family, it was very festive and grand. There were three courses in the menu,served in washed, green, wide banana leaves.


The incident of the SubhaMuhurtham had been a laughable story for a long time in our family.

After the holy matrimony, my sister Grace Kochamma and I started calling Dr. Thomas as “chettan”, means older brother. For my brothers, he was“aliyan”, brother-in-law.

Before too long, the couple had to leave Ullannur as chettan accepted appointments from other hospitals. He worked in places like Thakkalay, and Nilgiris tea estates. In Nilgiris tea estates, he worked among the poor laborers, families who picked tea leaves. By that time the couple was blessed with their three children. He served military for a few years as a medical officer during the second world war. We visited them at different times, andthey visited us on their vacations. Whenever they came, they brought gifts for all of us. Their visits were very festive. We enjoyed their company.

I can say endless storiesabout chettan and Ponnamma Kochamma. But let me conclude with a few words, I know, about chettan’s spiritual life. When we were all little kids, on many Sundays, he came with us to our church. He presented the church with a big, bronze church-bell. In fact, there was no Anglican church at Ullannur. His favorite hymn, in thosedays, was “ O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come …”
He joined the rest of us in our evening family prayers.


The most tragic event in his life was the death of his only grandson,14 years old. Ponnamma kochamma was bed-ridden for a few years before she passed away.

He had been blessed with three grown-up children, several grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Chettan had a full life passing through the the four stages in life according to the Indian tradition:1 Brahmacharya (student life), 2 Garhasthya ( married life),
3 Vanaprastha(retired life, and 4 Sanyasa ( renunciation ).

“ Therefore, my beloved, besteadfast, immovable, always excelling in the work of the Lord, because you know that in the Lord your labor is not in vain”. 1 Corinthians 15 : 58