A City Nook Linked to Bell-Bottoms and Jayan Effect

It's quite fascinating to discover how a quaint nook of Elamkunnapuzha village in Vypeen traces its name to a style of trousers once worn by Western sailors of yore.

- KEVIN REJIT

It's quite fascinating to discover how a quaint nook of Elamkunnapuzha village in Vypeen traces its name to a style of trousers once worn by Western sailors of yore. Yes, as the headline suggests, we are talking about bell-bottoms.

Fashion heritage columns note that bell-bottoms were initially worn by American and British navy men in the early 19th century, purely for functionality: the flared bottoms could easily be rolled up during work.

Decades later, by the 1960s and '70s, they became a fashion statement—first as high fashion, and later popularised globally by the counterculture wave.

Now, what does this have to do with Vypeen? What caught our eye was a location here with a unique name—'Belbo Junction'. The first guess that springs to mind is that it's a vestige of Kochi's colonial past. But no, that's not the case.

As we ask around, all fingers point to an old, tiny tailoring shop painted in shades of blue. The story behind the name Belbo Junction unfolds the past of Lonan Kaipperi—better known as 'Belbo ashan' in this part of the world.