Winston Churchill is a diehard ‘Amman’ devotee. His neighbour Edward is the temple priest. Their friend George does not fail to travel regularly to major Hindu pilgrim centres in TN.
And then there is Thomas, son of a senior functionary of a Hindu outfit in the state. Thomas, and Ahmed Raman, another village elder, are among the brains behind organising all temple festivals, including Chinnapillaiamman temple, in the Hindu majority Karugaalperi hamlet in communally-sensitive Thoothukudi district.
The five men are all born Hindus and practise it till date. However, their names, like several others in the village, have a Christian or Islamic touch. The strange christening practice has been in vogue for over two generations.
Curiously, they cite more than a few reasons for practising it. For instance, father Sudalayandi named his son Edward (temple priest) since he was the eighth ward of the family (Tamil ettu meaning numeric eight).
Mani named his son after his advocate Thomas who won him a civil suit in 1942. Sivasubramaniya Nadar named his son Vincent Karunakaran after the gynaecologists who attended on his wife decades back.
Kannudurai named his Hindu sons Ahmed Raman and Awther Raman as his Muslim friend, Mohammed Awthar, funded the rebuilding of the temple in which his wife Gnanammal was a soothsayer.
Thomas explains, “We did not care about religion or community. The others and I held gratitude above all.” However, Thomas is concerned as the village youths show less interest in the old christening practice.