KOCHI: Though he was born in Tiruvalla, Captain Ramesh Babu has always been in awe of Kozhikode. Having spent many vacations in the coastal town, when he got a chance to go back there for work, he was quite thrilled. A travel and history enthusiast, Ramesh has been actively following Calicut’s heritage trails and helping travellers explore and learn. His book, ‘Calicut Heritage Trails’, was recently released at the Kerala Literature Fest (KLF) by DC Books.
“I started while working in the Bombay dockyard. It was the first British establishment and had plenty of history to it. We began by conducting heritage walks there. I reached Calicut in 2010. The port town had trade links with nations around the world and its history is linked to Kerala’s spice trade,” he says. Ramesh’s initiative took off, and he has been designing heritage walks for people, foreigners and Indians since 2015. He did the same for delegates at the KLF, and the idea for the book emerged. “Ravi DeeCee spoke to me about taking feedbacks from guests and putting together all the information I have collected,” he adds.
Ramesh and his team spread their heritage walks all over Calicut, parts of Mattancherry in Kochi and few bits of Thiruvananthapuram, but had to hold back due to lack of manpower. “There are many areas in Kottayam, Tellichery, Kannur, Kollam and Kodungallur waiting to be discovered. A bigger network and lot more volunteers are needed for this,” he says. The book narrates facts, hearsay and myths about places and people, which haven’t found a place in history books. “For example, at a village in Calicut, the British used to avail the service of a midwife named Narayani. They ended up believing that Narayani is the term for a midwife, which became a common synonym in the area eventually,” he says, adding that Calicut has more people-centric stories which make the book an interesting curation.
The maps in the book were designed by architect Chinnu S Kumar. It also has caricatures by Premarajan. The photographs were all taken by amateur travellers during heritage walks. Ramesh Babu and his team undertake charity work after every walk. A couple of years ago, they built a house for a homeless woman at Payyoli. “We either sponsor a meal or buy stationery for children. The revenue from my book is also going to underprivileged people,” he says. They currently operate under the organisation Heart and Heritage, and the public can contribute to the cause on https://heartandheritage.org/