"It was a wonderful experience interacting with you and appreciate the way you have planned and executed the whole publication process within the agreed timelines.”
Subrat SaurabhAuthor of Kuch Woh Pal
Stretching across nearly the entire width of peninsular India, the Vindhya Range symbolically divides the North and South. South of the Vindhya range lies a triangular-shaped mass of ancient rock, the Deccan Plateau, which slopes gently eastward towards the Bay of Bengal. Godavari, Krishna and the Cauvery are Southern rivers that originate in the rain-soaked peaks of the Western Ghats.
The Western Ghats Mountain Range or the Sahyadri Range begins South of the Tapti River, close to the boundary of Maharashtra and Gujarat. The Western Ghats begin to rise north of Mumbai, running parallel to the coast, until they reach the tip of the peninsula of India. Here, they merge with the southernmost portion of the Eastern Ghats, a chain of low interrupted ranges that sweeps northeast in the direction of Chennai.
A spirit of adventure is evident in the efforts of these explorers. Braving malarial jungle, these hardy men doggedly worked the land, crafting beautiful and productive estates out of the pristine forests. It was an enterprise in the best sense, leaving a legacy for the later generations to build on.
In Tamilnadu: A Journey in Time Part II, we embark on a journey of about three thousand years’ history of the evolution of dynasties, colonial explorations, trade, missionary work; sprinkles of stories from personal diaries interwoven with anecdotal tales and punctuated with biographies, mostly as book excerpts, which will take us back to a long-buried era when West met the East. We bring you the modern world as we see it today, as the East reaches out to the West.
George Abraham Pottamkulam
George was born to a large estate-owning family in the 1960s when plantation was the main trade. He says in the 40 years that he grew up in comfort, the world in the estate life changed, giving way to well educated and diversified entrepreneurs from plantations in south India.
He started Tourism in Plantation Bungalows fascinated by architecture and the stories of the pioneers with his first book, Souvenirs From the Past. He also compiled a coffee table book The Path to the Hills – History of Plantation upon the Western Ghats. Simultaneously in 2005, he networked plantation tourism to global tourism services.
All along the journey, George had his passion for exploring the lives of colonial Indians who were enterprising and compassionate and had religious tolerance. The Mission work of Early Missionaries caught his attention, as his native place was one of the early Mission stations in Kerala. This book is a tribute to them and more.
He lives in Mundakayam near Periyar, Travancore, Kerala, with his wife Anju, daughter Rose and son Abraham.
He is a Compiler favoured by many Indian tour companies as a storyteller and friend of ex-planters’ descendants to trace roots in India.
