KANNUR: In the dingy line room colony of working-class people at Barnassery in the Cantonment area here, Annie Meneaud was a long-forgotten name till Monday.
On Monday, Annie, the Anglo-Indian girl who grew up in the colony, became their 'link' to the clammed up Swiss banks, after her name figured among 1,195 Indians who have 'stacked away' their money overseas.
Youngsters in the colony had a busy day, trying to calculate the worth of the 84-year-old stenographer's $100,020 in Indian currency. While the figures kept varying, elders replied to journalists' queries.
Annie's is a rags-to-riches story. She had lived with her parents in the colony, and was schooled at St Teresa's here.
"She had worked there (St Teresa's School) for a brief period too, before migrating to the Gulf. Some of her relatives are said to be in Bangalore," 94-year-old Mythili tried to recall. "Though they were poor, my mother had worked as their maid," she said.
Colony elders said Annie, known among them as Annie teacher, had married a Hindu youth from Kannur town. He later converted to Christianity and adopted the name Persey. Though they could not recall his original name, they said the couple had two daughters, Coral and Emerald.
"After Annie had left for the Middle-East, Persey lived alone in the rented house. She occasionally visited him," Mythili added.
Annie's nephew Denver, however, was not forthcoming as the colony residents. The 40-something man seemed irritated by the sudden media attention he has been getting since morning.
"Shut up and get lost! This is not her house, and I am fed up answering you people," an acerbic Denver, son of Annie's younger sister, said before banging the door shut. He has been living just outside the colony.
"She made money in the Gulf. Now they want to trace her roots here as if I am the custodian of her wealth," Denver said.
Another relative was hesitant to speak. A bit of coaxing and she spoke on condition of anonymity. "She left this place a few decades ago and worked in the UAE. She later went to Australia to stay with her daughters," the woman said.
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