NEW DELHI, April 29 -- It was in 2008 that I attended a friend's sister's marriage at the Catholic Cathedral Church at Goldakhana in New Delhi. The girl, a Malayali, was from Banswara in Rajasthan. Her brother introduced me to all their relatives who came from the Cherrapunji of Rajasthan, as Banswara is known.

What I noticed was that they all belonged to various Christian denominations like the Orthodox, the Jacobite, the Marthoma, and the Pentecostal. There were also Hindus, mostly Nairs and Ezhavas among them. In fact, one of them told me, "All the Malayalis living in Banswara are related to one another in one way or another".

That explained how they were able to build a large church named after St. Thomas, who brought Christianity t...