A century old Anglican Church is being rebuilt by a committee headed by a Hindu and that too a staunch Communist in Kottamala Tea gardens in Peermade Taluk of the High Ranges of Kerala. Bishop KG Daniel of the East Kerala Diocese of the Anglican descent Church of South India laid the foundation the other day.

St George Union Church called so as faithfuls of any denomination could come together to pray was originally built by English and Scottish planters during the days of the English East India Company. It was named St George as St George was the patron saint of England. A plaque with the citation “Built in the fond remembrance of Mrs and Mr.G.G. Milne,” was affixed on its facade.

G.G. Milne, White James Frank and Patrick William Keir were the main planters in those days. Of them Patrick William Keir was a Scot. Keir's grand daughter Jeya Katherine Victoria, 52, who still lives in the Kottamala hills, feels that efforts should have been made to repair the historic structure rather than dismantling it. However, she opted to attend the foundation ceremony to extend all support.

The church built in Gothic style was in ruins for the last two decades especially after the 2800-acre, 350-workers tea plantation was shut down due to a variety of reasons.. Workers either deserted or started plucking green leaves on their own. Faithfuls remember the weed-and-moss-covered building losing its tiled roof under heavy wind and torrential rain. However, the walls plastered by surki--a mixture lime, sand and jaggery, in place of cement, stood the test of time.

The Kottamala plantation changed hands when the original planters quit India on the eve of of Independence. MMJ Plantations of Palai, Kottayam District took over it from Dancan Brothers, a Calcutta-based company.Reji Michael Manarkatt, the present Managing Director, agreed for the reconstruction as the site was the same within the estate.

Jeya Katherine Victoria's life is inextricably tied to the fortunes of the estate her grandfather pioneered. She is sorry that all the remaining remnants of a glorious past are being trampled on. Keir was married to Vellayamma, a smart girl in Tuticorin where he first arrived as a missionary. Jeya is the daughter of Vellayamma’s daughter Katherine Baby.

She studied in Government Higher Secondary School. Thakkalay and earned a Tripple E from Govt Polytechnic, Nagarcoil. Jeya’s husband Ponnuswamy was employed in the Union Bank of India, Sivakashi. They have two children, Vidya and John. Vidya with an MS in environmental science from Magdeburg University, Germany, is married to Muralikrishnan from Khammam in Andhra Pradesh, an M.Tech from Berlin. They are settled there.

Jeya went to Germany to spend five years along with her daughter. She did some courses in Otto von Guericke University, Magdeburg. After five years, she went to the US, reaching Fairfax, Virginia where she worked in an old age institution earning a diploma in geriatric care. She returned to her moors in Kottamala near Vagamon to set up Patrick William Keir Memorial Hospital in the town but had to shut in down after a few years owing to circumstances beyond her control. She wants to revive the hospital as well as a primary school that her grand father had established during estate's heyday. Her son John, a trained fashion designer, is there to help her.

On the intervention of the State Government, MMJ has agreed to revive the plantation paying all dues to its workers. It has also agreed to parcel 10 cents each of land free of cost to some 40 select workers who owe no land at all. Thomas Prasad, head clerk of the estate was busy making calculations of the workers' dues. He is a third generation staff of the garden after his father and grandfather. He himself has put in 30 years of service.

“I do remember the good old days when Kottamala was perhaps one of the the best tea gardens in Peermade Taluk.” said Thomas. His wife Suja proudly showed a picture of her husband and his colleague Jacob Kurian standing along with playback singer Yesudas with the backdrop of the tea garden. “The singer had come looking around for a few hundred acres to establish a music school. But somehow it didn't click”.

Rev. VS Francis Director of Mission, East Kerala Diocese and Rev. Sunish P. Divakaran, vicar of the Union Church, said that the new structure would be an exact replica of the old one, but slightly larger in dimension. “The plaque in memory of Mrs and Mr.G.G. Milne has broken into smithereens while demolition by an excavator. But a faithful replica will be made to be installed on the facade.”

Everyone in the whole region is waiting for the rebirth of the Church and reopening of the estate in conjunction. The tarred road ends at the Church and the nearby tea factory abandoned for many years. The road to the other divisions are in utter disrepair. There used to be a regular bus service. Hope it will come back.

Before departing, we saw the remains Kottamala Post Office, still holding fort in a corner of an abandoned estate building. Post Master P.K.Sasidharan of 18 years service, has two assistants to do everything including postal insurance for a wide area of 35 square kms. Luckily, the estate’s lone Ration Shop run by Sashikuar and his family for the last 48 years, still serves its purpose.

V. Manoharan who heads the reconstruction committee is a popular leader of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the leading partner of Kerala's Left Democratic Government. The eleven-member committee comprises of representatives of political parties of every hue barring the right-wing Bharatiya Jananta Party ruling at the Centre at New Delhi. K.C. Sukumaran of the Congress Party is the Secretary and C. Ganeshan of the CPI the convenor.

“Our estimate is a humble Rs. 600, 000 which we are very confident of raising from the public. The estate management is expected to put their share. We will be using large size cement bricks and granite stones. The floor will be paved with vetrified tiles. In fact, a few persons have already agreed to fund the floor tiling.” said Manoharan.

Manoharan was born in Sri Lanka but migrated to the High Ranges when his father Vellayappan of Tamil origin chose to come back to his place of birth in early 1970's . Along with his father, he stated working in the Kottamala estate. He was only 12 by then. Had studied up to Class four while in Sri Lanka. Thereafter no schooling. Manoharan and his wife Sumangali have three children two are graduates and well employed. Manoharan’s 70-year old mother Mary is living with them.

Manoharan was almost three hours late to meet me in Vagamon town on at the appointed time of 9.30 am. Soon after alighting from a car that offered him a lift, he showed me a small wound on his left index finger oozing blood. “Sorry I am late. I was mediating in a neighbour's border tussle. Someone raised a knife but I had to stop him,” This is Manoharan, 50, a people's leader, with a lot of nerve and and lot many dreams in his eyes. “You should not publish my picture,” he pleaded before hurrying off for another errand in the true missionary spirit.