Richard Warren came out as our No.2 man in Cochin in place of Prafull Goradia who was returning to Calcutta by the end of 1964. Richard was a bachelor and was the second son of Sir Kenneth Warren. As in the case of aristocracy everywhere, but particularly the UK, the eldest son inherited the family title and succeeded the father in business. The other sons were usually ‘sent out East’ to have an interesting life and perhaps make a fortune for themselves. Richard was in that category. His older brother was chosen to succeed Sir Kenneth as the Chairman of James Warren and Co. Ltd. 

Richard of course had connections and was welcomed by J. Thomas & Co. with much anticipation. It was hoped that Richard would use the Warren network to bring some GBP sterling accounts into our catalogue. But that was not to be, nor was Richard very ambitious either. 

He was however, a great traveller and soon after arrival he was looking for interesting places to visit. 

You must remember this was a time when there was no Google Search or iMaps or any such aid that people take for granted these days. My son in law in California will not go anywhere without keying in the destination even if it was five minutes away! In fact he will say something like this when he gets into his car, “Hey Siri, let’s go home!” Then all he needs to do is follow the prompts and voila he’s home!

In Kerala if you stopped someone on the road and asked directions to a particular address they would want to know who we intended to meet. Once we got over the ‘it’s none of your business stage’ we would say, ‘We want to meet Joseph of Angili House.” The man would take it to the next level and ask “Why?”
Gritting our teeth and clenching our fists we would give our reason.
“Oh, he left for Bangalore last week!” 

But let’s say we were in luck and Joseph was in town. The guy would look at his watch and say, “He should be home now, but he usually has a nap in the afternoon”. 

“So can you tell us the way?”, we persist. 

“Go south for five or six furlongs, turn east at the junction and carry on for two more furlongs. You will see a double storied white house with a big Jackfruit tree by the side. That’s were Ousephachan (Joseph) lives.” 

So this is how Richard and I went around those days. Yes, we would carry a roadmap but it was useless to actually get to our destination. We always had to stop and ask someone. That was our ‘Hey Siri’!

With all that Richard and I travelled to a lot of places but a few trips stand out in my memory. 

The first one was to “Bison House” in Mandapam which was on the South-East Coast of India. Remember Cochin is on West Coast.
Mandapam was close to the Dhanushkodi – Talaimannar Ferry Crossing to Ceylon. 

We drove from Cochin on a Thursday morning via Coimbatore which took about five hours, then another four hours to Madurai, and from there a further 3 hours to Mandapam. It was a long and tiring drive. Richard was at the wheel most of the time though I relieved him for an hour or two in between. 

We arrived at Bison House in time for a bath and supper. Our hosts were a older English couple. He had retired from Travancore Tea Estates (TTE) in Vandiperiyar, bought Bison House from the Nejedlys, and ran it as a B&B place. We could have other meals if we ordered early. The husband and wife were delighted to see another Englishman and happy that we were both in Tea. There is a camaraderie amongst us Tea folk!  

Mandapam was quiet and restful and we didn’t do a heck of a lot. Just swam in the sea, saw a few jelly fish wash up on the shore. We drove down to see the Dhanushkodi crossing. But the change felt good and the long drive there and back felt like some sort of an achievement! Like climbing Mount Everest! 

The next trip was a much shorter one. Richard wanted to visit a stately home and we decided to drive up to the Kollengode Palace. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kollengode_Palace)

This was the private residence of the Rajah of Kollengode. After India’s independence the princely states lost their suzerainty and a few years later their privy purse as well.
A privy purse was offered to the Maharajas when they acceded to the Republic of India. The privy purse was abolished in 1971 by the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who argued the case for abolition based on equal rights for all citizens. I think the real reason was that the government needed money for developmental work.

However, this came as shock to all the erstwhile rulers as they had large retinues of people dependant on them. Nearly all descendants had to find jobs and many palaces were turned into grand fairy tale hotels.    

I think it was Satyanath who set up the introduction to the Kollengode family.
We were well received and Richard was made much of! A sahib (white man) had a head start anywhere he went in India even a decade or two after independence! 

As a student of History I too lapped up all the stories of the good old days. It was said that the Kollengode Rajah sent his royal clothes to Paris to be laundered!  For some reason a lot of people connected with this family joined Tea plantations and broking houses as well.  

The next trip was also connected with royalty. Richard was keen to witness the festivities during the Dussehra festival celebrated annually by the Maharajah of Mysore. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mysore_Dasara

Maharaja Jayachamarajendra Wadiar was one the wealthiest Maharajas in the Indian subcontinent and was entitled to a 21 gun salute. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jayachamarajendra_Wadiyar

It was my turn to organise the trip to Mysore. The Maharaja owned a tea estate in the Nilgiris appropriately called Royal Valley Tea Estate!

I knew the Manager of this estate and through him I got an invite for us to be guests of the Palace and watch everything real close. Richard was thrilled. He wanted us to wear Court attire and we found a place which rented ornate costumes for such occasions. We got fitted out in a sherwani replete with a grand turban. This was Richard at his best though it wasn’t as if I was not enjoying it as well!
Alas, there were no smart phones and Instagram those days! Otherwise some of those pictures would have gone viral!

We had a ball! It was a 10 day festival. We were there for the most important 3 days. The grand finale would be the arrival of the Maharaja on a caparisoned Elephant. He would get down and mount his Royal Throne. And then the ceremony and puja would begin.

Much later I was to become a good friend of the Maharaja’s daughter Vislakshi Devi and her husband Gajender Singh. 

Her brother Srikantadatta Narasimharaja Wadiyar (see picture) took on the title of Maharaja after Jayachamarajendra Wadiar passed away in 1974. Alas, he too passed away in 2013. 

The visit to the Mysore Palace left an indelible impression on Richard Warren. A few months later the two of us arranged a fancy dress party in Cochin. Richard was dressed as a King wearing a Crown with Page Boys attending.
Obviously, he had visions of grandeur!

What was I wearing?  I will tell you when we talk about that party…