Written by Krishna Kumar KE for The New Indian Express

An abandoned sacred grove by the roadside posed difficulties for the residents of Mukkottil Temple Road in Tripunithura for long with antisocial elements dumping waste in the cover of darkness and reptiles posing threat with overgrowth. Not anymore!

The Arippil family, which owns the land, is now winning praises after they turned the land into a beautiful open space for the public with facilities such as colourful seating arrangements, solar light and CCTV camera — all by spending money from their own pocket.

Aptly titled ‘Edam’, the landscaped open space — enhanced with natural and architectural elements like grass, flowers, and decorative stone works, and constructed by noted architect Koshy P Koshy will be thrown open to the public at 5.30 pm on October 2, on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.

“There are few open spaces in the locality. Hence we thought of transforming it into a welcoming place for the local residents. We seek the support and involvement of all our neighbours in upkeeping and securing this open space.

We are respectfully dedicating this open space to the memory of our forefather K Narayana Menon -- an educationist, novelist, critic, poet, orator, journalist and publisher,” said a member of the family who doesn’t want to be named.

Post inauguration, the public can unwind at the open space from 5 am to 9 pm. The “mini park” has also been put under CCTV surveillance to ensure safety and prevent anti-social elements from dumping garbage.“The abandoned land had become a dumping yard.

But hats off to the family which turned it into a beautiful open space for the public. The family is also encouraging the public to conduct cultural and literature-related activities there,” K S Sankaranarayanan, vice-president of the Mukkotil Temple Road Residents Association, told TNIE.

The walls of the open space are decorated with writings praising prominent poets like Kunchan Nambiar. A memorial of K Narayana Menon, the forefather of the current generation of Arippil family has also been set up. Menon was an educationist, novelist, critic, poet, orator, journalist and publisher.

His famous works include a novel, “Pizhacha Unnam” and a seminal critique of Kunchan Nambiar’s art form, Ottamthullal. In 1904, he launched the second women’s magazine in Malayalam “Sarada”, which was also the first ever Malayalam publication edited by women. He also helmed another publication, “Mahathi”.

“We constantly lived in fear of reptiles with the overgrowth in the vacant land. But the family spent nearly Rs 5 to 8 lakh to first fill the plot and then turn it into a beautiful open space. The land price itself here comes to around Rs 15 lakh a cent. The facility has been set up in nearly two cents of land,” said Govind Raj, a local resident.