AN ARTICLE PUBLISHED IN HARMONY MAGAZINE SEP-10 ISSUE
FORWARD MARCH
For some ex-servicemen in Kerala, retirement is a way to a new life. Nisary Mahesh recounts her visit to the Sainik Ashram in Kakkanad, where pensionless veterans are rehabilitated with a sense of dignity.
Smartly turned out as always in crisp shirt and trousers, complete with peak cap and white canvas shoes, 92 year-old A P Peters loves chatting about the little things in life. His comrade, 90 year-old K M George, seems a little distracted though his face lights up every now and then. However, T K Bhaskaran, another nonagenarian, wears a charming innocence and is all ears to Peters.
Peters, George and Bhaskaran are bound together by more than friendship; all three were once members of the British Army of India. And after retirement, they have had no independent means of support. Today, along with five other war veterans and a few ex-servicemen the trio call the Sainik Ashram at Kakkanad in Kochi their home.
Sainik Ashram is a residential facility run by the Kerala Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association (KEXWA), which was established in 1995 by Col (retd) K B R Pillai, who retired from the defence services in 1991. “I saw a group of men staging a satyagraha [protest] and literally begging in front of the Kochi naval base,” he recalls. “I learnt that they were World War II veterans seeking a pension. That’s when six comrades and I decided to establish KEXWA as a charitable trust.”
The Ashram, which offers free accommodation, meals and medical treatment, is a godsend for abandoned veterans and pensionless soldiers, who served with the imperial army for 12 years and had a bullet surgically removed from his back just two years ago. George, whose postings ranged from Iraq to Myanmar during his four years with the Royal Indian Army Medical Corps, says, “All we get is Rs 400 from the state government. I didn’t want to become a burden on my children.” To this, 88 year-old Prabhakaran Nair, self-appointed ‘leader’ of the Ashram’s residents, adds, “We would have been on the streets as we were without any money.” Nair’s friend, Pappi, nods in agreement. A seaman with the Navy till 1947, Pappi had no means of income when his only son died in an accident. Now he lives at the Ashram with his wife.
Members of the Ashram now lead a dignified life Elegant accommodation and lush green premises make Sainik Ashram a soothing haven
The Ashram
When they started out, Pillai and his comrades knew a soldier’s pride would shun charity of any kind. So they brainstormed on ways to help the veterans remain self-sufficient. “We did not wait for donations or charity to start the Ashram,” he explains. “We tried a different approach to raise funds.” KEXWA registered a business unit—Kerala Ex-Servicemen Service Organisation (KEXSO)—to start second-career options for ex-servicemen. KEXSO was conceived to generate funds from the company’s own profits to finance welfare activities as well as set up the Sainik Ashram. An advertisement was published in local newspapers in 1995; around 1,000 ex-servicemen from all over Kerala signed up as members. KEXSO soon began to employ ex-servicemen as security staff in hotels, hospitals and industrial establishments. After extensive networking and with the required revenue earned, KEXSO finally opened the Sainik Ashram in 1998. When it started out, the Ashram operated out of rented premise at Palarivattom in Kochi. In its present avatar in Kakannad, it is a spacious three-storied building with a dormitory and six single rooms, and includes plant nurseries and aquariums where veterans can indulge in hobbies.
Fortune smiled benignly at the veterans when Colonel Pope, secretary general of the British Commonwealth Ex-Service League, learnt about Sainik Ashram during a visit to Kochi in 1999. He raised £ 10,000 from ex-British officers in the Indian Army and donated it to the Ashram. “It was a turning point,” recalls Col Pillai, who is president of both KEXWA and KEXSO and lives nearby with his wife. “We used the funds, along with donations from some members, to buy land at Kakkanad and built a full-fledged facility there in 2001.”
Pillai’s optimism about the Ashram is tempered with a tinge of sadness. “When the Ashram opened, we had about 20 war veterans living here,” he says. “Their numbers shrunk to eight as death came calling. There are an estimated 20,000 pensionless ex-servicemen across Kerala. We are looking forward to extending a helping hand to all those who need it.” KEXWA is now rallying the retired defence fraternity in Kerala so they can reach out to more abandoned veterans.
Despite the challenges, the association has constantly expanded its self-employment avenues and helps ex-servicemen run taxi services, homestays, fish-breeding ventures and floriculture, to name a few. There are perks too—Pillai says ex-servicemen who find employment as security staff with KEXSO receive provident fund and medical insurance, and KEXWA members who are registered with private limited companies as a resettlement measure continue to contribute a portion of their earnings to KEXWA welfare activities. Many of these abandoned ex-servicemen like other KEXWA members have also pledged their bodies to medical colleges.
The sense of gratitude has spawned many projects. At the Armed Forces Entrance Academy at Kakkanad, veterans tutor candidates seeking a spot in the officer cadres. Those who coach at the Academy are retired officers who had served in the Service Selection Board. The Veterans Homestay Tourism Project is another KEXWA project that operates a chain of home stays across Kerala under the Ex-Servicemen Tourism Development Organisation (EXTO). Opened in 2005, the chain once included 125 home stays but that has shrunk to just 10 owing to unfriendly tax hurdles.
On a plot adjacent to Sainik Ashram is Sainik Vihar, a housing complex for ex-service men, silvers living alone and silver couples; it brims with the spirit of community living. It has 50 units of four types—single rooms, bedroom-hall-kitchen units, double rooms and independent villas. Veterans can choose to lease premises here and can also live with their spouses.
Sainik Vihar also offers self-employment opportunities in the ornamental fish-breeding and plant nurseries on the premises. These ventures are owned by residents with the assistance of KEXWA. “We want to be in the company of our colleagues so that we can retain our identity,” says a resident, who wishes to remain anonymous. “When I get to mingle with my compatriots here, I still feel I am a part of the Air Force.” Adds the widow of a deceased veteran, “The longer one stays in the Army, the harder it is to get attuned to civilian life. The feeling of loneliness that I experienced after my husband’s death is wiped away by this community.”
Next on KEXWA’s agenda is a residential school in Kochi for children of ex-servicemen who retire between the ages of 35 and 40. “Their children will be in high school when their parents retire and will be forced to continue their studies in normal schools thereafter,” explains Pillai. “Many children face problems adjusting to the change in style and medium.” The school will be run like other defence schools, with Hindi as the second medium of instruction. “We aim to not only reconnect with retired officers but find new avenues to work together.” says Pillai with a smile. “Retirement should never stagnate the psyche. KEXWA is an outlet for such frustrations.”
Featured in Harmony Magazine
September 2010
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| Photographs: Sivaram V |
For some ex-servicemen in Kerala, retirement is a way to a new life. Nisary Mahesh recounts her visit to the Sainik Ashram in Kakkanad, where pensionless veterans are rehabilitated with a sense of dignity.
Smartly turned out as always in crisp shirt and trousers, complete with peak cap and white canvas shoes, 92 year-old A P Peters loves chatting about the little things in life. His comrade, 90 year-old K M George, seems a little distracted though his face lights up every now and then. However, T K Bhaskaran, another nonagenarian, wears a charming innocence and is all ears to Peters.
Peters, George and Bhaskaran are bound together by more than friendship; all three were once members of the British Army of India. And after retirement, they have had no independent means of support. Today, along with five other war veterans and a few ex-servicemen the trio call the Sainik Ashram at Kakkanad in Kochi their home.
Sainik Ashram is a residential facility run by the Kerala Ex-Servicemen Welfare Association (KEXWA), which was established in 1995 by Col (retd) K B R Pillai, who retired from the defence services in 1991. “I saw a group of men staging a satyagraha [protest] and literally begging in front of the Kochi naval base,” he recalls. “I learnt that they were World War II veterans seeking a pension. That’s when six comrades and I decided to establish KEXWA as a charitable trust.”
The Ashram, which offers free accommodation, meals and medical treatment, is a godsend for abandoned veterans and pensionless soldiers, who served with the imperial army for 12 years and had a bullet surgically removed from his back just two years ago. George, whose postings ranged from Iraq to Myanmar during his four years with the Royal Indian Army Medical Corps, says, “All we get is Rs 400 from the state government. I didn’t want to become a burden on my children.” To this, 88 year-old Prabhakaran Nair, self-appointed ‘leader’ of the Ashram’s residents, adds, “We would have been on the streets as we were without any money.” Nair’s friend, Pappi, nods in agreement. A seaman with the Navy till 1947, Pappi had no means of income when his only son died in an accident. Now he lives at the Ashram with his wife.
Members of the Ashram now lead a dignified life Elegant accommodation and lush green premises make Sainik Ashram a soothing haven
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| ASHRAM INMATES |
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| ASHRAM |
When they started out, Pillai and his comrades knew a soldier’s pride would shun charity of any kind. So they brainstormed on ways to help the veterans remain self-sufficient. “We did not wait for donations or charity to start the Ashram,” he explains. “We tried a different approach to raise funds.” KEXWA registered a business unit—Kerala Ex-Servicemen Service Organisation (KEXSO)—to start second-career options for ex-servicemen. KEXSO was conceived to generate funds from the company’s own profits to finance welfare activities as well as set up the Sainik Ashram. An advertisement was published in local newspapers in 1995; around 1,000 ex-servicemen from all over Kerala signed up as members. KEXSO soon began to employ ex-servicemen as security staff in hotels, hospitals and industrial establishments. After extensive networking and with the required revenue earned, KEXSO finally opened the Sainik Ashram in 1998. When it started out, the Ashram operated out of rented premise at Palarivattom in Kochi. In its present avatar in Kakannad, it is a spacious three-storied building with a dormitory and six single rooms, and includes plant nurseries and aquariums where veterans can indulge in hobbies.
Fortune smiled benignly at the veterans when Colonel Pope, secretary general of the British Commonwealth Ex-Service League, learnt about Sainik Ashram during a visit to Kochi in 1999. He raised £ 10,000 from ex-British officers in the Indian Army and donated it to the Ashram. “It was a turning point,” recalls Col Pillai, who is president of both KEXWA and KEXSO and lives nearby with his wife. “We used the funds, along with donations from some members, to buy land at Kakkanad and built a full-fledged facility there in 2001.”
Pillai’s optimism about the Ashram is tempered with a tinge of sadness. “When the Ashram opened, we had about 20 war veterans living here,” he says. “Their numbers shrunk to eight as death came calling. There are an estimated 20,000 pensionless ex-servicemen across Kerala. We are looking forward to extending a helping hand to all those who need it.” KEXWA is now rallying the retired defence fraternity in Kerala so they can reach out to more abandoned veterans.
Despite the challenges, the association has constantly expanded its self-employment avenues and helps ex-servicemen run taxi services, homestays, fish-breeding ventures and floriculture, to name a few. There are perks too—Pillai says ex-servicemen who find employment as security staff with KEXSO receive provident fund and medical insurance, and KEXWA members who are registered with private limited companies as a resettlement measure continue to contribute a portion of their earnings to KEXWA welfare activities. Many of these abandoned ex-servicemen like other KEXWA members have also pledged their bodies to medical colleges.
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| COL KBR PILLAY |
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| PAPPI AND HIS WIFE |
On a plot adjacent to Sainik Ashram is Sainik Vihar, a housing complex for ex-service men, silvers living alone and silver couples; it brims with the spirit of community living. It has 50 units of four types—single rooms, bedroom-hall-kitchen units, double rooms and independent villas. Veterans can choose to lease premises here and can also live with their spouses.
Sainik Vihar also offers self-employment opportunities in the ornamental fish-breeding and plant nurseries on the premises. These ventures are owned by residents with the assistance of KEXWA. “We want to be in the company of our colleagues so that we can retain our identity,” says a resident, who wishes to remain anonymous. “When I get to mingle with my compatriots here, I still feel I am a part of the Air Force.” Adds the widow of a deceased veteran, “The longer one stays in the Army, the harder it is to get attuned to civilian life. The feeling of loneliness that I experienced after my husband’s death is wiped away by this community.”
Next on KEXWA’s agenda is a residential school in Kochi for children of ex-servicemen who retire between the ages of 35 and 40. “Their children will be in high school when their parents retire and will be forced to continue their studies in normal schools thereafter,” explains Pillai. “Many children face problems adjusting to the change in style and medium.” The school will be run like other defence schools, with Hindi as the second medium of instruction. “We aim to not only reconnect with retired officers but find new avenues to work together.” says Pillai with a smile. “Retirement should never stagnate the psyche. KEXWA is an outlet for such frustrations.”
Featured in Harmony Magazine
September 2010
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