Staying loyal till the end

The Muslim Thaha Ibrahim looked after the oldest Jew, Sarah Cohen at Mattancherry till she passed away last month 

Photos: Thaha Ibrahim. Photo by Albin Mathew. Sarah Cohen with Thaha

By Shevlin Sebastian  

Thaha Ibrahim stared at Sarah Cohen intently. He could see the eyelashes trembling. It unnerved him. He stepped out of the Cohen house in Jew Town, Mattancherry and rushed to the opposite building. He ran up the stairs to the first floor and told Dr David Hallegua, “Something’s going wrong with Sarah Aunty. Can you come quickly.” 

David nodded. He had come from the US to take his mother, Queenie, a neighbour and friend of Sarah, to Israel for a wedding, when he heard that the nonagenarian was not well. 

Thaha ran back to the house. He looked at Sarah and said, “Aunty, what has happened?”

Sarah said “Yes.” 

Then her eyes widened... 

When David came, moments later, he checked the pulse and did not get a response. He blew oxygen inside her mouth, but nothing happened. “Thaha, she is gone,” said David, in a sombre voice.

The time: 1.55 p.m. The date: August 30. Thus, one of the last surviving white Jews of Kochi, Sarah Cohen had passed away at the age of 96. Her husband, Jacob had passed away in 1999. The couple had no children.   

But they had one boy who seemed like one: Thaha. 

In 1982, Thaha’s uncle Ummer told the 12-year-old class six dropout to stand in the lane leading to the Paradesi synagogue at Mattancherry and sell postcards and spices in plastic pouches to foreigners, who came on ships. Thaha stood outside the Cohen household and did the job for months, selling the cards for $1 each. Jacob and Thaha would exchange pleasantries. By 5 p.m. Thaha would take his merchandise and place it in a godown belonging to his uncle, some distance away. 

But one Sunday morning, during a busy day in the tourist season the godown could not be opened. Apparently, the security guard had a tiff with Ummer and walked away with the keys. Ummer told Thaha to stand in the lane and he would bring the merchandise later. But Ummer could not locate the security guard. Jacob enquired from Thaha as to why he had no merchandise with him. And he nodded when he heard Thaha’s reply.  

The next day, after the key was procured, Thaha again stood with the goods. But at the end of the day, Jacob told Thaha he could store it in the house. But when Thaha entered the living room, Sarah opposed the idea vehemently. There was an argument between husband and wife which lasted for an hour. Finally, Sarah relented. 

And thus Thaha slowly became part of the household. Sometimes Jacob would send Thaha to the bank to collect money or he would ask him to buy bread. “When I was doing the errands Jacob Uncle would stand with the cards,” says Thaha. “He would sell more because he could speak English so well.” 

The years went by. One day, in 1999, Jacob told Thaha, “I am ageing. You know I have no children. I have brought up a lot of youngsters by paying for their education and other expenses. But they have all gone away. So you must look after Sarah till her death. She has nobody else.”

It was a momentous moment. Thaha felt overwhelmed. But a few moments later, he nodded. Less than two months later, on October 28, Jacob died, at age 86. 

And Thaha took his responsibility seriously. He was there every day at Sarah’s house. Sarah sold Jewish caps like the kippah, and embroidered handkerchiefs, tablecloths and children’s dresses. Thaha would help in the stitching, in the buying of materials and the selling of the goods. 

And thanks to international media coverage, Sarah had become famous all over the world, especially among the Jews. So there was always a string of visitors to her  home. And there were unusual reactions when they came to know that a Muslim, Thaha, was looking after a Jew. 

“Many were very happy about this but there were a few who did not like it,” says Thaha. When some Jews expressed their apprehensions, Sarah would say, “I trust Thaha. I have no worries about it. Thaha looks after me very well. I have known him for decades.”  

As for Thaha, his community members would say, “You are looking after a Jew. What type of people are they?”

Thaha shakes his head exasperatedly, and says, “It is by mixing with each other that we understand each other’s faiths and beliefs. Sarah’s cook, Selin is a Christian. So the people of three faiths intermingled very peacefully. It is because of a lack of understanding that the Jews are fighting the Muslims, the Hindus with Muslims and Christians. We are all God’s children. Islam, Hinduism, and the Judaism are different paths to the same God. That’s what people need to understand.” 

Meanwhile, in his day-to-day life, Thaha, 49, who is married to Jasmine and has three grown-up sons, is keen on setting up a museum, in the memory of Jacob and Sarah, at the Cohen’s house.

He is a torch-bearer with a heart of gold.