(Originally written for Bodhi Commons on November 1st anniversary)

At 55, Kerala is at legal retirement age, an age when a more healthy, a better educated crop takes over. But United Nation’s Human Development Report for 2011 seems to suggest Kerala has just started. Kerala has the least loss in human development due to inequality in healthcare, the least loss due to inequality in education, and a host of other parameters.

National & state media were distracted by another significant finding in the report which suggested that Gujarat, in spite of its fan boys and poster boy chief minister, performed really poorly. Given the fact that Gujarat has been one of India’s wealthiest states historically should make us question the inherent assumptions of industrialization and development. What is progress after all? Each of us have different opinions (which is natural), this compilation will try for some agreement around the facts (which should be common).

Anniversaries are unique, because they give us the opportunity to drill into the ground water of yesterday, and splash it for a second on our day to day. It is a time to celebrate our triumphs, and our pitfalls. To retrospect on how we fared, and to figure out what is in store. To brood on our darkest hours, and to celebrate our Santosh trophy victories. To mark the last 55 years with 55 landmarks is naïve. Then Bodhi has all the naivety of a campus wall magazine, and I assume we do not give a damn.

Because the list below is nothing short of impressive, and nowhere near comprehensive. This list is subjective, and at times prejudiced, though it tries to be prejudiced towards the best within us. Like this video:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZtWQp-CyqE

Because it tilts more towards the generation that grew up in the 90s, so that’s what we are. Because there are multiple events and people and struggles we left out from our long list, we would like to hear your thoughts. Because rather than big events, we have focused on big patterns. And while we disagree on a lot many things here -- political, cultural, developmental, social, and personal, I hope we all agree that Kerala got it mostly right in the past 55 years. Because Kerala is the No.1 state in India, here we go, and as always we would like to hear your thoughts.

1. Woman’s Work Participation Rate
Because this man-woman divide is evident even in migration, for every 10 men who migrate only one woman leaves the country, and most of them are Syrian Christian women, while least of them are Muslim women. Because in spite of the human development claims, Kerala has an abysmal woman’s participation in the economy with a 15% WPR, nearly 10 percentage points below the national average. Because while initiatives like Kudumbasree try to address the issue, this remains one of the reasons why social progress is not reflecting in economic progress in the state. Because there isn’t a sunrise sector of the economy which can compensate for the jobs lost by women in the declining agricultural sector (where women engaged in economic activities alongside their household work).

2. M.T. Vasudevan Nair writes ‘Oru Vadakkan Veeragadha’
Because MT redefined vernacular language and dialect in movies like no one ever did, and kindled our softest emotions. Because one of malayalam’s most loved novelists turned three of our classic folk tales on their head: Chanthu was not the arch betrayer anymore, there was no Freudian “Perumthachan Complex”, and Bhiman was the sidelined, sensitive brute. Because with a Jnanpith, multiple academy awards, ten national film awards, and over 25 state film awards, MT undeniably is the towering giant of the last 55 years.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=aPqAmcRVMr0

3. Mathrubhumi weekly publishes O.V.Vijayan’s Ithihasam
Because Appu-Kili, the town idiot, was to be allowed the freedom of both religions, some days a Muslim, some days a Hindu, and on some other days he could be Hindu, Muslim, and Appu-Kili at the same time. Because O.V. Vijayan was brutal at times, like his geometric cartoons, like his sweeping criticisms of geo-politics, and like Ravi who walked the slopes of Khasak reminding us of the loveless thread of Karma. Because O.V. Vijayan was the classic iconoclast in our search for modernism, and ourselves.

4. Migration to the Middle East 1970s
Because with close to 3 million Malayalis in the Gulf nations, remittances augment one-fourth of the Kerala economy, where neon lights of post-1991 India shine next to fluttering red flags. Because with its millennia old relationship with Arab states, unique religious demographic, and highly educated population, Kerala was at the right place to maximize the benefits of an exploding workforce demand in the Arab states starting in 1972. Because some call Kerala a “money order economy”, even though that is not true.

5. Keltron, CDS, Sree Chitra, and C. Achutha Menon.
Because middle-class Kerala perhaps has no doubts about it, Achutha Menon was our best Chief Minister ever. Because Kerala’s first finance minister brought land reforms to a meaningful legislative conclusion, picked KPP Nambiar to establish Keltron (yes our first TV sets were homemade), K.N.Raj to setup CDS (which to date remain one of Kerala’s most respected intellectual playgrounds), and M.S.Valiathan to lead Sree Chitra Institute (yes we make our own heart valves). Because, not many people have survived in Kerala politics from being EMS’s Man Friday to Arch Nemesis. Because if SSLC 1st rank is the minimum qualification for a Chief Minister, we would have had only one.

6. Muthanga Massacre
Because there are some people we have screwed over 55 times, and then banished into the western ghats of our political consciousness. Because our inability to meet their basic demands and accept their organic leadership continues to this day, and our interaction with them is limited to exploitation of their forest lands and marginalization of their ethos. Because adivasis make up just 2% of Kerala’s population, similar to christian and sikh demographic from a national context, and may be it is ok to screw the 2%.

7. Naxal movement
Because blood was on the streets of Kerala from 1968 to 1976, and Thalasseri, Pulpally, Kuttiyadi, Varghese, Mandakini, Ajitha, Venu, Philip, Stephen, are names that remind us that annihilation of class enemies isn’t utopian, but yet it is. Because one could blame the youth of the summer of love, for ideological confusion and moral disarray, one could question their methods, but even today, there aren’t many who question their intentions. Because suppressing the Naxal movement is considered K. Karunakaran’s towering achievement in the minds of people who fail to understand the historic role of democratic progressive politics in making Kerala less suitable for extremist left movements.

8. New Wave Malayalam Cinema circa 1970
Because Adoor Gopalakrishnan, MT Vasudevan Nair, K.G. George, Aravindan, Padmarajan, and John Abraham took malayalam cinema to its current international repute with films that embraced modernism and portrayed human condition at its brutal best. Because suddenly a village priest could spit blood on an idol, and a lazy middle class man in ‘Elipathayam’ could spit on our collective paralysis. Because cinema for cinema’s sake isn’t such a bad idea, and malayalam cinema realized that in the late 70′s.

9. Land reforms 1957 & 1971
Because every political revolution worth its salt should have a considerable impact on the political economy, ours surely did. Because when the EMS government came to power in 1957, 60% of Keralites owned just 10% of the land, and 1% of the wealthy owned 40%. Because the acceleration of human development in Kerala lists land reforms as an important catalyst. Because this one we have to give to the political will of the Communist party, which even after a host of compromises, finally kept its word to the peasants who lost their life fighting for a more equal society. Because India might catch up one day, and then we’ll have a more perfect republic.

10. Overthrow of EMS Government in 1959
Because Vimochana Samaram brought together feudal caste and religious forces in the state against education and land reforms, and institutionalized a political coalition that continues to this day. Because CIA funding of churches to topple the world’s first democratically elected communist government, union of hindu upper caste land owners under NSS, and Indira Gandhi’s first successful homicide of democracy (she became a serial killer of democracy after that), now figure in the darkest chapter of democracy in India.

11. Kerala Police Football Team circa 1990
Because people who grew up in the 90s would have listened with bated breath to All India Radio’s live telecast of Federation Cup and Santosh Trophy. Because if they won, schools would close in celebration, and win they did. Because after the untimely death of Jimmy George, it took a while for the state to coalesce behind a galaxy of stars. Because Kerala police boys -- Anchery, Sharafali, Chacko, Sathyan, Pappachan, and IM Vijayan, took India to its highest FIFA rankings ever.

12. K Karunakaran vs A K Antony
Because in spite of Congress (I) and Congress (A) merging in early 80s, congress politics in Kerala has revolved around these two entities for over three decades. Because partisan squabbles have haunted every UDF government to the extent of paralyzing the state, and brought down three of its own Chief Ministers. Because Karunakaran and A.K.Antony are the tallest leaders INC has produced in the state, towering over the pygmy coteries of today. Because Antony has risen to the top of national politics as we speak, despite expectations to the contrary, and Karunakaran is dead, despite expectations to the contrary.

13. People’s plan campaign launched
Because after EMS government was overthrown in 1959, decentralization of power was never treated seriously in Kerala, except the creation of district councils during 1990-91. Because People’s plan campaign launched by LDF government in 1996 (thanks to KSSP, Rajiv Gandhi, and EMS) earmarked 40% of the plan budget of the state to facilitate local level development by mobilizing both people and resources to strengthen the productive base, especially in the primary sector by creating and maintaining public and collective goods. Because despite criticism around execution issues, and capacity building, People’s plan brought ground level changes to the remotest areas in the state at a pace unseen before or hence. Because when people plan, you do not need to wait for Delhi’s or Trivandrum’s kindness, and that is empowering.

14. IFFK launches in Kozhikode
Because the International Film Festival of Kerala has now grown bigger than India International, and is the best that came out of Film Society movements in the state. Because cinema is our most popular art, and when a whole city comes out to celebrate quality cinema from across the world, IFFK becomes the people’s film festival, the Thrissur Pooram of all film festivals, and another feather in the cap of progressive forces in Kerala which started and sustained the festival. Because when the film Gods descend again on Thiruvananthapuram in December for the 16th edition, they will once again find packed theatres full of people who’ve been fed good cinema year after year for 16 years now.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2t8zHVS55k

15. Protests against Coca Cola
Because Coca Cola exploitating water resources in Plachimada flew in the face of advocates of unbridled deregulation and industrialization. Because the struggle against Coca Cola became a larger symbol in a fight against neo-liberal tendencies in our societies at social forums across the world. Because as M.N.Vijayan said, drinking Coca Cola is drinking the politics of Coca Cola, and consumption habits may determine how we mold our future.

16. Rajan Murder Case & K Karunakaran
Because the murder of REC Calicut student Rajan under the auspices of then Police minister K. Karunakaran haunted Kerala’s strongest rightwing leader till his death, and the image of T.V.Eachara Warrier frantically searching for his son continues to haunt malayali’s collective consciousness. Because Rajan murder case, and the murder of Naxal Varghese, are classic examples of a police state, of everything that is wrong with giving police officers a blank cheque -- a practice that UDF governments continue to this day. Because notorious police officers like Jayaram Padickal, Pulikkodan Narayanan, and Lakshmana had a free rein in the state, and we can only make a wild guess about how many more Rajans and Vargheses were tortured and killed back then.

17. Ramu Karyat’s Chemmeen wins national award
Because Chemmeen single handedly in 1965 put south Indian cinema in the national map, won the national award for the best movie, and went on to win best cinematography award in Cannes film festival. Because Karyat transformed one of Thakazhi’s lesser works into cinematic magic with a galaxy of stars -- Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Marcus Bartley, SL Puram, Salil Choudhary, Mannadey, Sathyan, and Kottarakkara.

18. Self financing colleges in professional education
Because Kerala hasn’t started reaping what A.K.Antony started sowing in 1999. Because every private professional college has betrayed and backtracked on it’s agreements with the people of Kerala, and professional education is on sale -- it shouldn’t be. Because charitable societies running these institutions, have neither charity, nor are social as one corruption case after the other come up against the church run institutions. Because if there is a second coming, one can be mighty sure who he will whip first.

19. Silent valley movement
Because Silent Valley movement and KSSP’s important role in “Save Silent Valley” was an important landmark in Kerala history, as it brought in “Green” issues to the fore in a nationally noted people’s movement. Because technology and development are not always the right option as we sometimes assume, and creating a scientific understanding of our ecosystem in the masses was Silent Valley movement’s lasting achievement. Because Munnar, Mathikettan, and Athirapalli wouldn’t make much sense in many other Indian states even now.

20. Vaikom Muhammed Basheer publishes ‘Pathummayude Aadu’
Because one plus one is a pretty big one, and so is Basheer. Because Aana Vari, Ponkurisu, Pathumma, Suhara, and Majeed are characters who despite their flaws appeals to some eccentric humanity within us. Because Beppur Sultan appeals to the best within us, and his earthly characters still live amongst us in our most poignant love stories and our best social satires.

21. Satchidananthan and Chullikkadu
Because Satchidanandan wrote an animal which has forests and gushing forest rivers in it’s memory can never be domesticated. Because Chullikadu and Satchi are animals that refuse to be domesticated, and they spread the anger, conflict, and devastation felt by a generation over their poems.

22. Wanted for Murder -- Sukumara Kurup
Because we didn’t have a classic Charles Sobhraj, but we did have rippers Surendran, Chacko, and more recently Jayanandan, and Kurup trounced them all -- big time. Because since he murdered Chacko and escaped, he is the most wanted fugitive from law in the state, and a pop culture phenomenon. Because he’s been supposedly arrested a hundred different times, and most recently spotted in tinsel town, making movies under the fake name Santosh Pandit -- he should be arrested and charged rightfully with murder.

23. Kamala publishes ‘My Story’ circa 1976
Because what would happen if one woman told the truth about her life? Because Malayalam’s greatest woman writer scandalized a nation with ‘My Story’ talking about her extramarital affairs and her teenage lesbian crushes. Because ‘My Story’ wasn’t even her second best work, and she continued to tear us apart with her truth telling over the years. Because Yesudas worshipping hindu gods is secularism, Kamala finding solace in Allah is plain lunacy. Because if a woman tells the truth about her life, the world would be split open.

24. Kudumbashree Movement
Because poverty eradication is not about transfer of funds, and Kudumbasree launched in 1998 by the LDF government created a climate of entrepreneurship which over the years has become a success story Kerala is proud of. Because when half the seats were reserved for women in local governments, a big majority of candidates were Kudumbasree members. Because microfinance at bank rates has very few precedents elsewhere in the world and Kerala’s journey to the fortune at the bottom of the pyramid may have a Kudumbasree route.

25. Nilackal controversy
Because when a society moves faster than ever in the direction of secularism, a forceful pull in the opposite direction is inevitable. Because Nilackal controversy saw the biggest hindu fundamentalist resurgence in a society known for it’s progressive, secular roots. Because when a Christian church found what it claims to be a cross left by ST. Thomas in the close vicinity of Sabarimala and demanded a church be built there, there was an unusually strong reaction from hindu groups across the state, and even years after the issue died down, pockets in Kerala’s saffronised neighborhoods tell tales of Kummanam Rajashekaran, and the RSS led resistance.

26. 30 years of Mammooty and Mohanlal
Because the two stars rose to mega-stardom in the golden age of malayalam cinema, defined movies, consumer tastes, and most importantly, the constant duality of the malayali male. Because the first thing any non-Keralite knows about malayalam cinema is two words. Because one keeps getting younger, and other keeps getting philosophical.

27. Delhicate Constitution
Because in the fall of 2006, this is how malayali presence in Delhi looked like -- “defense minister, National Security Adviser, Foreign Secretary of India, Space agency Chairman , India’s candidate for the UN secretary bid , Prime Minister’s secretary, President’s secretary “. Because from the days of Mathai and Krishna Menon, Kerala always had a significant presence in Delhi’s power corridors, unlikely of a state that seems to be oblivious of Delhi.

28. O.Rajagopal and a BJP that refuses to bloom
Because O.Rajagopal may have been BJP’s best chance to win in arguably India’s most progressive state. Because despite charismatic leaders, and intensely communal campaigns in Hindu uppercaste strongholds, BJP has never had a single MLA or MP from Kerala. Because with the eroding vote percentage, the nationalist rightwingers are increasingly irrelevant. Because L.K.Advani’s new Rath Yatra is in the state today, and nobody knew.

29. Asianet and Indiavision

Because the day, the “Ray and Keshavan” designed blue and pink logo started transmission in 1993, Asianet replaced Doordarshan as our defacto communication channel. Because Indiavision proved that 24 hour news or activist journalism is not overkill in a state where people continue to read four newspapers. Because despite Rupert Murdoch buy-outs, and media syndicate allegations, the channels maintain their credibility, and focus their lens on some of the state’s most burning issues.

30. Babri Masjid is demolished
Because as India burned in the post-Masjid months, Kerala where the single largest community is Muslims, stayed sane. Because the political left gave voice to the outraged, and Kerala owes it to Muslim League for the thin line it tread in months following the Masjid demolition. Because like rest of India, even in Kerala, this was the start of home grown terrorism.

31. Cochin International Airport Limited
Because CIAL is a symbol on the ground of expatriate malayali’s daily contribution to the state’s economy, and one of a well-executed public-private partnership. Because Cochin International is now one of the top five busiest international terminals in India, and makes as much money every year, as it cost to build it.

32. Sabarimala Season
Because in the past fifty years, pilgrimage to Sabarimala has increased exponentially, and with close to 50 million pilgrims visiting the temple in just over 60 days, Sabarimala is the largest annual human gathering in the world. Because the state’s economy, especially the transport and retail sector have their best non-Onam sales during this period, and the temple continues to shine on Kerala’s secular ethos and Buddhist traditions.

33. Communist Party of India splits in two
Because of the split, Keralites who identify themselves on the political left developed a constant habit of claiming their form of communism as the best.Because if you’ve grown up in Kerala and asked yourself why 32 comrades including EMS,VS,AKG,and Nayanar walked out of CPI’s National council to form CPM, your unofficial education in subjects like imperialism, comprador bourgeoisie, and internationalists would have started then. Because of the split, Keralites who identify themselves on the political left developed a constant habit of claiming their form of communism as the best, and even claiming themselves as individual republics. Because 3 years after the split, one firebrand youth leader got disillusioned and started a peasant uprising in a tiny village called Naxalbari.

34. DPEP and Curriculum Renewal
Because DPEP was one of the first steps in a decade long curriculum renewal program that changed primary and secondary school education in the state. Because all round development of students was not the purvey of elite private schools anymore, and examinations produced verifiable positive results on the ground. Because “critical pedagogy” and “Jeevan without Religion” set national television agendas. Because it gave us the confidence that if executed well, we don’t need to fear World Bank or ADB funding.

35. First democratically elected Communist government
Because this is a golden bullet point even in India’s history, and an end product of decades long, at times bloody, churn, that transformed one of India’s most caste ridden, feudal societies into one of its most secular, progressive ones. Because what the EMS government legislated then, still defines a lot of what we are today as a political economy, be it land reforms, decentralization of power, women’s rights, or the seemingly unending struggle for education reform. Because the Communist government proved that government can be a great equalizer amongst centuries of feudal privileges, and the idea of equality flourishes in our beautiful state.

36. First Gulf war
Because “the Berlin airlift was chicken feed.” compared to Air India’s massive airlift of over 100,000 Indians, mostly Keralites when Iraq invaded Kuwait. Because it exposed India’s and Indian Navy’s unpreparedness for a crisis in the Gulf, and Kerala’s vulnerabilities in accommodating it’s millions strong expatriates, and lessons learnt from Gulf war helped the LDF government plan it’s much commendable response to the 2008 global financial crisis which triggered another wave of returns.

37. Formation of DYFI & SFI
Because an organized strike force is at the center of progressive politics everywhere in the world. Because status quo sometimes needs a little prodding to change, and DYFI and SFI despite their youthful arrogance has provided just that. Because nothing good has come out in the world of middle aged men legislating in air conditioned rooms, without youth and students willing to spill their blood on the streets.

Because the 40-year history of SFI and DYFI has chronicled the scholar’s lasting struggle, and irrespective of whoever is in power, mostly written in blood and pain. Because the retirement age is still 55 in Kerala, and even today a farm laborer or an auto driver can confidently say his kids will be an engineer or a doctor. Because my annual college fees was less than my monthly school fee.

38. Founding of Kerala congress
Because since its inception in early 60s, Kerala Congress has consistently fought for the rights and privileges of cash crop farmers, and the emergence of rubber as Kerala’s white gold has sustained this political party. Because the alleged “rubber backbone” of Kerala Congress has brought many a government down, and proved that ‘real politik’ is much more fun and rewarding than long term governance. Because Kerala Congress has no pretensions, and it’s galaxy of leaders including Mani, Joseph, Jacob (RIP), and Pillai have been constantly pounded by corruption allegations.

39. Founding of Left Democratic Front and UDF
Because it is gentle reminder that in our state, we do things in our own happy pace. (Image Credits: beinnmhor@flickr)Because since late 70′s, and notably since EMS proposed not to align with communal parties in 1987, UDF and LDF are bedrocks of Kerala Politics. Because not one government was brought down by coalition partners, and despite big brother allegations, the two political formations in Kerala have literally created a highly democratic two party system. Because despite allegations of both formations being the same, the Kerala voter understands they are different, and goes off to show how advanced representative democracy in Kerala is.

40. Founding of Technopark in Trivandrum
Because Technopark may be the single largest employment location in Kerala, and may account for over 70% of state’s IT exports, but it still feels it’s just getting started with the ongoing expansions, and the upcoming IT corridor. Because when it was conceived and created by LDF government in 1990 and headed by legendary KPP Nambiar, India was just opening up, and hence it is a story of long term vision, and one of opportunties lost since then when every other state marched past us. Because it is gentle reminder that in our state, we do things in our own happy pace.

41. Pinarayi Vijayan & VS expelled from CPM politburo
Because despite running one of the best governments in Kerala from 2006-11, internal squabbles within the CPM unlike other times got more air time than anything else. (Image Credits: CPIM Kerala)Because partisan disputes and clash of big egos is nothing new to CPM, but expulsion of VS and Vijayan (sitting Chief Minister and the state party secretary) from the CPM polit was unprecedented, and was arguably a fitting climax to a long and drawn out war VS has waged within the party since the Palakkad conference. Because howsoever the party blames the “media syndicate”, VS versus rest of the party has been playing out for over a decade now, to the extent that VS refused to take sides with some of his cabinet colleagues, collective responsibility notwithstanding. Because despite running one of the best governments in Kerala from 2006-11, internal squabbles within the CPM unlike other times got more air time than anything else. Because as the CPM nears another state conference, there isn’t a slow drumbeat of another war, but a party like CPM should ideally be in a constant war with itself.

42. India’s Space Program launches in Trivandrum
Because when Homi Bhaba and Vikram Sarabhai setup India’s first spaceport in Thumba, and engineers including APJ Abdul Kalam worked out of a cattle shed, we never knew a capsule developed in that village would one day put India’s first man on the moon (we are not sure even now, but most surely we will). Because Sarabhai’s namesake Space Center in Trivandrum is the largest of Indian space facilities and fully responsible for programs like Nike Apache, SLV, ASLV, PSLV, GSLV, and space recovery capsule -- abbreviations written in golden letters in the history of Indian science and technology history.

43. Jawaharlal Nehru -- 1928 -- 1959
Because the 1928 peoples conference in the state which first raised the demand for a democratic unified state for malayalam speaking people was presided over by the young leader of the socialist faction of INC, one year before he rose to prominence as Congress party president. Because the pragmatist in Nehru dismissed the first democratically elected government in the state 31 years later. Because Article 356, which founding fathers envisioned for the rarest of rare cases, was since 1959 misused by every central government to crush state’s rights. Because it took a malayali statesman, KR Narayanan in Rashtrapathi Bhavan, and SR Bommai Vs Union of India to set the republic straight.

44. Payyoli Express
Because P.T.Usha was a legend when she was 18, she is one as she nears 50. Because Usha is one of the greatest sportspersons India ever produced, she was the first Indian woman to reach the final of an Olympics event, and what happened at that event is now a folk tale. Because Usha reminds us when she is not given the respect she deserves, and with the school of athletics she started, Usha can rightfully claim some.

45. Kanayi completes ‘Yakshi’ in Malampuzha
Because neurotically conservative Kerala grudgingly lives with the “Yakshi” in Malampuzha and the fifty feet long, fully nude mermaid in Trivandrum. Because across the state starting from tourist village in Veli, Kanhayi’s impressions challenge the status quo. Because Kanhayi’s dream for Kochi -- a hundred feet tall woman, entering the sea of Arabs (Queen of the Arabian Sea) may just be our lady liberty.

46. Mimicry as popular art
Because mimicry provided our best social satire over the past two decades and our best entertainers. Because of this endless list -- Cochin Haneefa, Fazil, Siddiue, Lal, Jayaram, Dileep, Mani, Ashokan, Nazeer, Aby,…. Nadirshah. Because in every single other movie industry in India stardom needs to be inherited.

47. Palmolein, Idamalayar, and SNC Lavalin cases
Because even though cronyism and blatant corruption is not new in India, K.Karunakaran’s style of governance (like Indira’s) made it endemic, with many of these scams playing out for decades now. Because Balakrishna Pillai went to jail, a CVC had to resign, K.Karunakaran was defendant until death, T.M.Jacob and Mani were constantly inundated, and these scandals have hogged constant media and public attention. Because Chief Minister Ommen Chandy, the number two man in the cabinet, CPM State Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan, and Speaker of the house are now under investigation in different cases.

48. Kerala Science Literature Movement
KSSP is closely entwined with many of the things Keralites are publicly proud of.Because in March 1986, the General Council of the KSSP took a decision to make Kerala totally literate in five years, which meant educating 170,000 people in Ernakulam district alone. Because taking two hundred years of scientific thought to the people is one thing, but speaking their language, engaging with them, and building arguably India’s largest volunteer movement to use science for social revolution is another. Because ranging from rural forums to mass literacy campaigns to democratic decentralization to science publications that reduced the knowledge gap between the haves and have nots, KSSP is closely entwined with many of the things Keralites are publicly proud of.

49. Kerala state youth festival -- Yuvajanotsavam
Because many a movie star, and a celestial singer launched into stardom from the state youth festival, one of the largest student festivals in Asia. Because from 400 odd students in 1956 to over 10,000 competitors, and hundreds of thousands of spectators, the event now sits at the cultural activities in the state, both in terms of quality and participation. Because, like the Kerala entrance results, the winners tell the story of emerging districts. Trivandrum won overall championship ten times in a row since 1980; not once since.

50. Kerala’s extremist movements PDP to NDF
Because homegrown terror is a constant threat we sleep with, and as no one is born a terrorist, extremist groups based on whacky religious discourses more often than not play a significant role in creating home grown terrorists. Because NDF, SIMI, and PDP have grown, sustained, and propagated through the vitriol of vengeance since the demolition of the mosque, and the genocide in Gujarat. Because many a terrorist attack in India has had elements from Kerala involved, and the arab umbilical cord of hawala runs right through the state.

51. Free Software Movement & FOSS
Because Jayalalitha’s government in TN will supply 7 million laptops over the next 5 years to students at a total cost of over 10,000 crore, all loaded with Microsoft’s proprietary software, and experts across the country call it a millstone around students’ neck. Because that is the difference between a government with vision, and another with a lot of money to spare. Because Free and Open Source Software adopted by the LDF government in 2007, with VS as its lead proponent, was another success story of ours in proving that another world is possible. Because e-literacy in Kerala is driven on the free software platform, and IT fixed costs across government departments are highly reduced because of FOSS adoption. Because this was led by a Chief Minister who didn’t complete high school education.

52. AKG leads “Michabhoomi Samaram”
Because despite the best efforts of the Communist party to legislate land reforms, successful campaigns toppled the governments and derailed the land reforms agenda. Because revolution through parliamentary democracy can be plan A, but it is always good to have a plan B up your sleeves, and forceful occupation of excess land was the Plan B. Because 28 people lost their lives across the state in “Michabhoomi Samaram” fighting for the land which was legally theirs, proving that political power and people’s movements can go hand in hand.

53. Rubber as a cash crop
Because rubber prices significantly contribute to trends in state domestic product, and Kerala produces more than 90% of all natural rubber produced in the country. Because Kerala is in one weird sort of way, a state which benefits when international crude oil prices go up (since price of synthetic rubber increases). Because ASEAN and WTO agreements can break the backbone of the rubber and coconut oil economy, which explains why popular struggles again free trade are indeed popular in the state.

54. Cochin Ship Yard
Because India’s first indigenous Aircraft carrier will hit the waters of Vembanad lake in a few months time, another feather in the cap of India’s largest ship building yard. Because more than the money and the jobs it brings to the state, shipyard will become increasingly critical as India plans to raise its stake for control over the Indian Ocean.

55. KTDC coins ‘Gods Own Country’
Because Amitabh Kant may have moved on from driving brand “God’s Own country” to brand “Incredible India”, but the Europeans keep coming in chartered flights, and in the hundreds of thousands. Because may be Kovalam, Allapuzha, and Munnar are genuine compared to the formulaic Sea-Sand-Surf-Sex concotions of Cancuns and Pattayas. Because it is a classic, though subtle, unorganised entrepreneurial triumph, and no one would believe Kerala had just 30,000 foreign visitors in 1980.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=oc8oOksJHZk

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Cross Posted in Bodhi Commons – liberating Thoughts, reclaiming Commons

Because if you remember 1991-1996, and 2001-2006, and what we collectively went through as a group of helpless people with no semblance of a government, you don’t want a 2011-2017. Because on an evening in May 2001, Eliyas John of NTV, producer of then popular news programme “Aniyara”, a vocal critic of the then left front government, summarized the election results that came in, in this way -

“This programme has been a harsh critic of the Nayanar government. But tonight we feel sad that Kerala is losing another left democratic government. Because if history is any indicator, we have nothing much to hope for in the next five years”. Short and sad. But if anyone remembers the UDF reign from 2001 to 2006, you might have that sinking feeling on the night of May 13th, whichever party you voted for.

Now in case you don’t remember stuff from 5 years back, these names might ring a bell -

Do you remember Nalakath Soopy? I clearly remember the Minister for Education, a person handling one of the most tricky and critical departments in Kerala, as a student activist. Soopy was a fool, to put it lightly. A senior congress minister admitted that Soopy didn’t get it, and another doubted if Soopy had seen a school veranda given the way he conducted himself in cabinet and outside. But Soopy reigned over the education sector for 4 long nightmarish years. 4 long nightmare years at the end of which A.K. Antony expressed his disgust over how minority institutions have let the people of Kerala down. A.K.Antony had to step down as Chief Minister, and Soopy went back to eating koi biriyani he made out of Kerala’s educational sector.

Hightlight: “Pennum Koiyiyum” in reference to this classic painting.

Do you remember P.Sankaran? The Karunakaran loyalist who ran Health for 4 years? Do you remember how he sleep walked through Kerala’s much touted health sector with no clue what he was speaking about. Do you remember him complaining about the fact that no one listens to him anywhere. Malabar owes a lot to rest of Kerala for sending Soopy and this gentleman to Thiruvanathapuram.

Do you remember Cherkalam Abdullah? the man who replaced and was succeeded by Paloli, to run the most critical experiment in the Kerala Model. Do you remember him making egg scramble out of the People’s Plan campaign initiated by the Nayanar government and referred by Nobel winning economists as the most important experiment in any third world country? He was another lucky dude from Malabar who escaped multiple corruption charges along with P.Sankaran and T.M. Jacob because the limelight of corruption and decadence, and the opposition’s ire was monopolized by another fine gentleman from Malabar – P.K.Kunjalikutty.

Now if education, health, and local self government seem unimportant to you, we should look at the Ministry of Industries.

Kunjalikutty demonstrates what he will do with Kerala come May 13th. Something like ‘up yours’

I’m sure you remember P.K.Kunjalikutty. And unlike Soopy, Sankaran, and Abdullah, Kunjalikutty has not gone anywhere. He will be back as a deputy Chief Minister if UDF wins this election. Haha the ides of May.

So you remember Balakrishna Pillai I guess. The Minister for Transportation, and long serving minister for power. He is in Poojapura central jail. He did file a review petition, and the court said fuck off.

Do you remember Kuriyartutti-Karappara? also known as T.M.Jacob’s route to join his fellow Kerala Congress man in Poojapura Jail.

Do you remember M.V.Raghavan? This gentleman spend his five long years as Minister for Co-operatives and Ports, as a long fight to win the control of Pariyaram Medical College. He did score a couple of points against arch nemesis CPM, but then he kept saying no to the vizhinjam port and then slept over it as pressure built up.

Do you remember Gowriamma? The question was less about whether Agriculture sector in Kerala will survive the monsoon, and more about will Gowriamma survive the rainy season. She is still there. Respect.

Do you remember M.A.Kuttapan? A pawn in the long squabble between the Karunakaran and Ommen Chandy groups. Thats all i remember about him.

Do you remember Kadavoor Sivadasan? The man who inherited a state without power cuts, and then totally derailed the Vision 2000 gains made by Pinarayi Vijayan as Minister for Power. Kadavoor though gained his share of notoriety by distributing pamphelts during election season to split Ezhava votes against Mercykutty Amma. He won the election, though the matter was taken up by the court. That remains his only achievement.

Do you remember K.Sudhakaran? Otherwise this video might help.

Do you remember Vakkom Purushu? The man who officiated during Ommen’s absence and was finance minister. And many of us think Veerappan was the biggest sandal wood smuggler. Then of course Andamans is not India, though cellular jail wasn’t the biggest crime that happened in Andamans.

That my fellow Malayalis was the UDF cabinet of 2001-2006.

I am skipping the treacherous Smart City Deal, the “GIM”mmick, Kodoth episode, Black Sands controversy, K.Karunakaran, Pappykutty, and totally skipping the 1991-96 cabinet with the likes of Musthafa, Pillai, Padmarajan, and Ommen.

The choice in front of the electorate in Kerala is amply clear.  Have things changed in the UDF? How did the UDF perform in the opposition? Can Ramesh Chennithala frame a coherent policy and articulate it? Have you ever seen him do that – Other than say things like “..if we come to power we will bring 2 smart cities” (one in Puthupally and the other in Mavelikkara ofcourse). Cannot sum up the Ommen Chandy opposition’s performance better than this -

“കേരളത്തിലെ പ്രതിപക്ഷത്തിന്റെ പ്രവര്‍ത്തനം അല്‍പത്തരങ്ങളുടെ ആകെത്തുകയാണ്. രാഷ്ട്രീയ കാരണങ്ങളാല്‍ ചില മാധ്യമങ്ങള്‍ ഈ അല്‍പത്തരങ്ങളെ ആഘോഷമാക്കി മാറ്റുന്നുവെന്നു മാത്രം.”

Berly summarizes it with a classic curtain raiser,

കേരളത്തില്‍ നിയമസഭാ തിരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പു കഴിഞ്ഞു എന്നും നമ്മളെല്ലാവരും കൂടി ഉമ്മന്‍ ചാണ്ടിയുടെ നേതൃത്വത്തിലുള്ള സര്‍ക്കാരിനെ വോട്ടു ചെയ്ത് വിജയിപ്പിച്ചു നിര്‍ത്തിയിരിക്കുകയാണെന്നും ഇപ്പോഴത്തെ സര്‍ക്കാര്‍ കാലാവധി കഴിഞ്ഞിറങ്ങുന്ന മുറയ്‍്ക്ക് ആ ടീം കയറി ഭരണം തുടങ്ങുമെന്നുമുള്ള കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ ഞാന്‍ മാത്രമേ അറിയാത്തതായുള്ളോ അതോ നിങ്ങളും അറിഞ്ഞിട്ടില്ലേ ?

ഇന്നലത്തെ ബജറ്റിനെപ്പറ്റിയുള്ള യുഡിഎഫുകാരുടെ പ്രതികരണം കണ്ടപ്പോള്‍ മുതലാണ് എനിക്കു സംശയം തോന്നിത്തുടങ്ങിയത്. ബാലകൃഷ്ണപിള്ള അകത്തുപോയി. പാമൊലിന്‍ കേസിലേക്ക് ഉമ്മന്‍ ചാണ്ടിയെക്കൂടി വലിച്ചിടാന്‍ മുസ്തഫ ആഞ്ഞു ശ്രമിക്കുന്നുണ്ട്. കുരിയാര്‍കുറ്റി-കാരപ്പാറ പദ്ധതി അഴിമതി കേസില്‍ ജേക്കബിന്റെ കാര്യവും കയ്യാലപ്പുറത്താണ്. കുഞ്ഞാലിക്കുട്ടി സാഹിബ് ഐസ്ക്രീം കേസില്‍ പാറിപ്പറന്നു നില്‍ക്കുകയാണ്. അഥവാ മണ്ടന്മാരായ നമ്മള്‍ വോട്ടു ചയ്തു വിജയിപ്പിച്ചാലും യുഡിഎഫില്‍ ഗൗരിയമ്മയും മാണിസാറുമല്ലാതെ വല്ലവരും പുറത്തുണ്ടാവുമോ എന്നുറപ്പു പറയാറായിട്ടില്ല. മുഖ്യമന്ത്രിയാവാന്‍ റെഡിയാണെന്ന മട്ടില്‍ വയലാര്‍ രവി ഗദ്ഗദങ്ങള്‍ പുറപ്പെടുവിക്കുന്നുണ്ട്. എല്ലാവരും അകത്തുപോകുന്ന സാഹചര്യം വന്നാല്‍ കെ.മുരളീധരനു പോലും സ്വപ്നങ്ങള്‍ നെയ്യേണ്ടി വരും.

The choice is not roundabout. It is clear. If you are voting for your caste or your religion, none of the above matters. Nor does 1991-1996 or 2001-2006. And we’ll see the clear divisions across districts with CPM carrying the southern districts and the north and madhya Keralam voting for the right. A very plausible scenario.

But if you are looking for a government which hits the right buttons with a 20 year vision for the state, which does not sell out our precious assets and our land, which has clear policies for human development and the ability to execute that on multiple fronts, which does not bow to the pressures of retrograde caste and religious organizations, which has a cabinet of people who know what they are talking about, which makes Kerala rank consistently as the best state in India – You might want to put some effort, drink some coffee, take a deep breath, and try to remember 2006. And try to remember what we went through as a group of helpless people with no semblance of a government. Because otherwise, if history is any indicator, things will fall apart and the center will not hold. 2011-2016 will be a nightmare.

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Sreekumar-Sreevisakh theater complex in Trivandrum is arguably the nerve center of Malayalam cinema. It is less known for Yehudi Menuhin performing his violin there, than for the rising and falling fortunes in Malayalam film industry. Once upon a time a haven for English movies, the twin theatres were Mohanlal’s bastion by the time yours truly was of movie going age. Since then the theatres have chronicled the rise of stars notably Dileep, and many production houses. A Sreekumar release in the festival season is a sure indicator of entry into the elite club of Malayalam cinema. One can sense a hidden glass ceiling between movies that release in SL Theatre complex or the Kairali-Sri complex vis-à-vis a movie that releases in Sreekumar. It is more often than not that a movie releasing in Sreekumar as opposed to these second rung theatres opens to spectacular fanfare and rides the celebration onto being a hit, a super hit, or even hit the elusive holy grail of blockbuster status. I have never seen a Kalabhavan Mani movie release in Sreekumar. Then you have to believe me when I say there are Kalabhavan Mani movies.

Watching Malayalam cinema from down below

The blockbusters movies are unique propositions from a larger cultural perspective. These are celebrated movies which literally influence culture, spoken language, buying patterns, and even food habits, while at a more subtle level are entertaining reflections of what we think our main stream culture is. So when I say a “malayalam blockbuster”, I expect it to reflect what Malayalam is, to represent the malayali mainstream, or at least what we think malayali mainstream is. A movie becomes a blockbuster when a significant majority of people watch it, and decide that this movie entertains them more compared to all other movies. Hence a blockbuster is an essentially democratic example of what entertains the majority of the population.

The Stats of Kerala

Now let’s take a look at how the population looks like. The haves and have-nots classification and whose story movies focus on is a question beaten to untimely death long back. It is understandable that we do not want to see poverty in our movies, especially in our blockbusters. So I chose religion and caste as a measure to look at the movies we have celebrated over the past twenty years. I understand that many of you hate caste. Even I try to do that in public, but believe me when I say this is a very private conversation.

This is how the Kerala society looks like –

On religious lines – Hindu (55%), Muslim (27%), Christian (18%) Hindus on caste lines – Ezhava (23%), Nair (13%), SC & ST (10%), Other Hindu (9%)

So approximately, from an identity standpoint,

Muslim (27%) + Ezhava (23%) = 50%
SC & ST and Other OBC = 18%
Christian = 18% (12%-6% Forward-Backward divide)
Nair = 13%
Other Forward Caste Hindus = 2%

To summarize, Muslims and Ezhavas constitute 50% of the population, other backward castes constitute 25%, Nairs, Other Hindus, and Upper Caste Christians constitute 25%.

Now for the blockbusters from the past 22 years – 1988 – Chitram , 1989 – Ramjirao Speaking , 1990 – His Highness Abdulla , 1991 – Godfather , 1992 – Pappayude Swantham Appose , 1993 – Manichitrathazhu , 1994 – Commisioner , 1995 – Spadikam , 1996 – Hitler , 1997 – Aaram Thampuran , 1998 – HariKrishnans , 1999 – Friends , 2000 – Narasimham , 2001 – Raavnaprabhu , 2002 – Meesamadhavan , 2003 – Chronic Bachelor , 2004 – Sethuramaiyer CBI , 2005 – Rajamanikyam , 2006 – Classmates , 2007 – Kadha Parayumbol , 2008 – Twenty:20 , 2009 – Pazhassi Raja.

A couple of observations from the blockbuster list, 21 out of 22 movies have a Hindu family setting (except Spadikam), 18 out of 22 have a Upper caste Hindu lead, and except for doubts around Kadha Parayumbol and Classmates rest all fall into an easy analysis through plot or dialogue snippets. Not one movie out of the 22 have a Muslim lead (open to discussion on Abdullah), and not one story except Kadha Parayumbol and Classmates verge out of the Upper Caste Hindu/Christian setting. The question that arises here is don’t 75% of malayalis have a story to tell? Are their stories and family settings not worth celebrating as a blockbuster? Yes we always have a dressing of secularism in these movies. Even in classic celebrations of hindu idolation like Ravana Prabhu and Aaram Thampuran there is a side kick (played by the same actor with a Malabar accent) who cries out “Allah” once in a while or delivers cash in sacks for revitalizing a hindu festival. I agree that it is true secularism when a muslim delivers cash in sacks for a hindu festival, but I cannot help wonder why our directors cannot focus cameras into the life of 75% of our people, or when they do, why more than 75% of us refuse to watch those movies.

Colonizing mind spaces

When a small subset of highly empowered people tries to influence a larger less empowered people, in medical terms it is called cancer, and in cultural terms it is called colonization. I am not radical enough to call it cancer, nor absurd enough to call for a surgical removal. Let’s stick with colonization. What is happening in malayalam cinema’s mind space over the last two decades is a colonization of sorts. A small minority of highly empowered technicians and creative artists, along with charismatic stars have focused on a small minority of people, focusing on how this small minority’s families are, their language, their customs, their food, their small and large houses, and the holy remnants of their once dark feudal past. The movies produced through this formulaic process preaches to the vast majority about how their families should be, how their religion and customs should be, how their language and dialect should be, what their aspirations should be, and most importantly shows their current standing in the mainstream – most of them are sidekicks or villains, and the unfortunate few are terrorists (that is if the production house has budget enough for a bomb explosion).

There are two paths to understand this colonization of the mind space. First is to look at the source of production, and second to look at the source of consumption. At the source of production lie two powerful cinema schools. The Priyadarshan school and the Ranjith school. At the source of consumption is us – the post 1980s generation.

Schools of Malayalam mainstream cinema

Most of the movies in the blockbuster space can be attributed to one of the above schools in malayalam cinema. The Priyadarshan school inherited by Siddique-Lal and Shafi, closely follows Priyadarshan’s early attitude towards inclusiveness. A good example is the movie “Aryan” where Mohanlal’s character (a hindu Brahmin) tells Srinivasan’s character that the idea behind Vylopalli’s ‘Vazhakula’ is outdated. That the upper castes are at the receiving end now, and then Mohanlal’s character walks out. That was a wrong assertion, not supported by facts even of the weirdest kinds, but generations of movie goers would have watched that scene and walked away thinking that to be true. There are hundreds of such assertions one can find in malayalam cinema of the last 15-20 years, and while characters are fictional and semblance is coincidental, these assertions are deliberate.

The Ranjith School brought back the classic Nair symbols, the ones that even Nairs thought were dead, back into business. These symbols were killed forty years back, and were mostly shown as examples of decay and superstition till Ranjith entered the arena with ‘Devasuram’. Symbols including – “Tharavadu”, “Parambaryam”, “Tharavattu Mahima”, “Uthsavam”, ”Aaana”, “Manthram”, “Thampuran”, “Prabhu”, “Pramani”, “Madambi”, “Chaththan”, “Marutha”, “Homam”, “Thekkini”, “Vadakkini”, “Govani”, “Kindi”, “ammomma”, “appoopan” came into malayali mainstream in less than half a decade.

To cite just one example, Ranjith School has inspired a host of movies in the past decade where large “tharavadu” fight with one another to conduct an “uthsavam”. Take a look at movies from 1960-1980, and I cannot forsee seeing many movies around the “tharavadu” or “uthsavam” theme. While Ranjith single handedly managed to create much damage, B.Unnikrishnan exemplifies the feudal Nair style, while Ranji Panicker borrows the anti-minority angle in most of his movies. Ranjith is arguably the best living director in malayalam cinema, but his early forays created an undesirable galaxy of popular symbols which neither are progressive nor have substance. We can argue on nostalgia, but whose nostalgia are we arguing on.

The caste of the directors in question is also of significance. A significant majority of malayalam’s blockbuster directors are from the 25% minority I talked about above. It is quite natural that these directors speak the case they know, because otherwise it would look weird like Kafka writing on America or Shaji Kailas trying to make Ali Bhai. The education of malayalam audience by these two powerful schools have precluded the possibility of production houses or distributors venturing into something radically different. At times when they do there is always the all powerful consumers. The popular box-office most often than not desires movies in the groove created by these two schools. That chucks the buck into our side of the court.

We the watching

The post-1980s generation, referred here as ‘us’, are a unique lot. Our generation never had a serious unemployment crisis, a serious threat to our democracy as in 1975, or a serious war as in 1971. This in turn did not put us in vulnerable positions where we had to choose an ideology to stay afloat or make better sense of the world. We have spent most of our lives in a society where “Manmohanomics” have meant a good life for a good many of us. The primary principle of a “Manmohanomic” society is that be it voting against Iran or building new highways, you do not worry about principles but about the benefits. It is surprising that it makes sense to us, while a good number of people in our previous generations would have scoffed at the very idea of living without ideologies. We wouldn’t sell our sisters yet, whatever be the benefit – that is one of our last surviving ideologies. Another 20 years of Manmohanomics could do the trick, but then we would scoff at that generation.

Three formative news events of our lifetime came early in the 1990s – the collapse of Soviet Union and the liberalization of Indian economy, the mandal quakes which spread naked the fault lines within us with livid images like Rajiv Goswami burning, and the masjid coming down and the painful rise of the Indian terrorist. These events, each of them made the high earning, high spending, mostly upper caste Indian middle class redefine the way we approach the story of the human being right next to us. A classic example is the way we treat the “Polandine kurichu nee oraksharam mindaruthu” line from Sandhesham. Sreenivasan’s character tries to make the case saying human struggle is the same everywhere, but somehow it misses our collective consciousness.

We cannot imagine our country as a third world spokesperson as in the times of Nehru-Indira, despite having the highest number of poor people in the world. This shift also resulted in the much vocal consumer class in Kerala redefining what they accepted as their own story. In a very swift time frame, the Pajeros and Audis that Mohanlal drive around in his movies became our story despite the cruel hand of the much constant per capita income, and stories of the dalits and the muslims and the socially marginalized became foreign to us – some of us sometimes visit those foreign concepts in film festivals. This selective alienation of stories that were part of us, and a collective exodus to the stories around the not-even-rich consumerist class could eventually deliver us into the hands of a situation they speak about in the movie Fight Club, when the things that you own start to own you, and around you is a wasteland of values. When a society’s biggest dream is an eight lane highway where it can further enhance its addiction to imported oil, it might soon find itself in the midst of other societies that forsake ideology – in a wasteland of values.

Couldn’t put it better than Piyush Mishra in Gulaal, Aaj ka launda yeh kehta hum to bismil thak gaye Apni aazaadi to bhaiya laundiya ke dil mein hai

The new face

Coming back to movies, Prithviraj eloquently put in a recent interview that Malayalam cinema need to go cosmopolitan for new ideas. If you’d studied social sciences in school, you would have read that the glaring disadvantage of the caste system was that it kept 80% or more of the population from the mainstream. Their stories, their talent, their ideas were all omitted. When malayalam cinema says lack of ideas is its bane, maybe it’s time to glance at 75% of the population we ignored for the past two decades. Maybe we should collectively refocus on what we really are and what we represent. In such a new light maybe we’ll liberate our mind spaces, and celebrating freedom would make much better sense then.

[സൂക്ഷ്മമായ ഒരു എതിരെഴുത്ത് അല്ല. ഒരു ചെറിയ ചിരി : I do understand there are diverse ways of looking at our movies and the influence it has on the larger society and vice versa. The blockbuster route is just one of them. There are always exceptions. Pointing out exceptions is easy, identifying another general pattern involves some thought. Expecting thoughtful comments.]

[Photos: Sourced using Google Images. Special courtesy: Keralaforum.com]

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“…athu….Paanashery nambi

Maniyambra Purushothaman kolu vachu, contract avan pokkattilakki

Puroshathamun Arabiyum koode Ding Ding…pimp CHANDRADASAN”

This is a question thats been nagging the boys and yours truly for years. In a recent meetup in San Francisco, the standing (also sitting and sometimes lying down) committee on “Figuring out what the hell Mohanlal talks about in his movies” watched Mohanlal’s Raavanaprabhu (as per Ranjith, the 2nd installment of a story that burns like a petromax lantern in the Malayali psyche) about 3 times back to back to see if we can figure out the question first raised at the Chavadimukku internationale about 8 years back.

In the past 8 years, multiple efforts were made using the DVD and theatre version of the movie to understand these hidden gems and symbols in malayalam’s epic classic. I will not be able to cover all the hidden symbols in Raavanaprabhu in a post, because some of them are even more subtle than Monalisa showing the middle finger in Davinci’s classic painting. My primary attempt here is to figure out the Chandradasan question. It is quite significant in the sense that it occurs in the movie about 1 minute before the classic “Nateshaa….kollanda” dialoge which over the years has attained cult status, and has attained multiple unrelated meanings.

…Athu….Paanashery nambi

Maniyambra Purushothaman kolu vachu, contract avan pokkattilakki

Puroshathamun Arabiyum koode Ding Ding…pimp CHANDRADASAN

Everybody knows Maniyambra, pakshe Chandradasan? This our last attempt in finding out who Chandradasan really is.The boys suggested that we use the power of the internets and the new age social media to crowd source the answer to this 8 year long itch. You can closely watch the video here.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=axc5Jgwxb-U

In case you are able to figure this one out, we’ll need your help in understanding who Balan Pillai is. It is the scene when Mohanlal arrives at Napolean’s house during Siddique’s engagement, gets out of his car, tilts his head to the left and says “Balan Pillai!!”, straightens his head and then says “ha…ividem onda”. Balan Pillai is another raging mystery from Raavanaprabhu. Any help will be highly appreciated by the boys and your’s truly.

In other news, today is a Friday. Vaikittentha paripadi

And there was too much drama at the World Cup. In further news Manisha Koirala got married,and Amrita Arora turned 29. Congrats! and Happy Birthday to you!

Off to watch Ravan. TGIF!

P.S: This has been an inside joke for long. Now someone’s put it on facebook. Desirability and number of hits

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from telecom to i.t. to petroleum to aviation to railways to surface transport to industries to every ministry: this govt since 2004 has probably the richest and most corrupt ministers in india’s history.. just wish they’ll stop all this sanctimoniousness over small fry tharoor. sonia, manmohan and gang make me sick.” – Kufr (via facebook)

That said, Trivandrum voted for Shashi Tharoor as MP exactly a year ago, and it’s sad to see his humiliating exit from the ministry. Netizen’s or as Tharoor called “New India” rallied behind his candidature including a very healthy debate on this blog (Can Shashi Tharoor lose in Trivandrum?). Personally I would have preferred Modi losing out in the end (yeah I did my share of anti-Modi tweets), but now that it is all said and done, some sanity check on Tharoor would be a good idea.

I wonder if there will be protests on the ground for Tharoor , or will it be limited to his 700K odd followers on Twitter. If Tharoor doesn’t evoke emotions on the ground, it could be because his priorities are slightly wrong and he is playing to the online crowd, or as the online crowd would put it, the offline crowd is “common man” or “illiterate”. I hope the offline people in Kerala are half as outraged as the angry politician hating online junta. I’m keeping my ears closer to ground, may be Tharoor should have.

Last year same time, many of us asked what Panyan (Ex-MP) did for Trivandrum, and reached a conclusion that he did nothing. I sincerely hope Tharoor has a long list on this front, or at least a small list of things he got done in the past one year for our city. At least this is the list  of things Tharoor did and I heard of -

September 2009: Tharoor and SM Krishna were rapped for staying in 5-star hotels.

September 2009: “Cattle Class” remark, Tharoor explains to party.

December 2009: Tharoor publicly criticised the new visa guidelines adopted by the government. (this was a low point, if I were PM he would have been OUT that day)

January 2010: Nehru-Gandhi remark pisses off INC.

February 2010: Saudi third party mediation controversy.

April 2010: IPL Waterloo.

“U folks are the new India”

It is more saddening to see that Tharoor is not exiting on his own, but being sacked around accusations of corruption. If he had resigned in protest against “the red tape”, or “allocation of funds to Kerala”, or even “ludicrous nature of Indian foreign policy” it would have been a worth while tenure. I do not understand when people say “tharoor is the new kinda politician”. I do understand that he never fit in, but that is not enough to claim that he is any different or any better. At this point in time Tharoor was sacked for,

1. Misusing his office and authority to influence a lucrative bidding process.

Also to note that Kochi IPL is a least priority agenda for people of Kerala. Like Thomas Issac said ‘I wish he had used his influence to get a fair allocation of rice from the center”. And I didn’t hear of Tharoor excessive interest in bringing IPL to Kerala till the controversy began.

2. Trying to make money through Sunanda Pushkar.

I would like to believe that Sunanda Pushkar’s consulting services for Kochi IPL is worth 70 crores. Then, I too eat rice, and am a cynic.

And how is Tharoor different from any politician? because he retweets?

Politicians from national parties holding governmental positions have always resigned in the face of graft allegations including, in recent memory – Advani, Madhav Rao, Madan Lal Khurana, and Arjun Singh (after Hawala scam). Tharoor for one, has been creating more distractions than needed for this government, and this time, the allegations call him a crook. Tharoor may not be a crook, but a person with no ground support, who played the online and mainstream media to create a niche for himself finally finding himself at the receiving end of media’s attention. And btw Rajdeep Sardesai and Times group – well played!

At the same time, if there is anyone out there who thinks these allegations are not serious or pure media creation, you are no different from the people who support Deve Gowda and Mayawati despite their tarred hands. And to argue that every politician is corrupt, or bring up names like Modi and Raja to counter an allegation is seriously middle class. Seriously guys, I like Tharoor, but our man messed up beyond normal. He had to go.

P.S: Other notable posts – Ajay and Anish are pissed.

P.P.S: In the mean time, prices have risen. Some people are protesting that in Delhi.

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Have a good one guys!

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It’s been 10 years since the batch of 1999-2003 entered the hallowed corridors of College of Engineering Trivandrum. A decade since  we maneuvered the absurdly steep climb dotted by acacia trees one fine November morning, for the first day of classes with awe, a little respect, a little afraid of the phenomenon called ragging, just to cut classes for the first time in three hours and go for Manoj Night Shyamalan’s new movie in New Theatre. Sixth Sense. We are that old. Ladoo, Leo, and I. It’s that vivid.

Deepak, a CETian who makes some of us proud again and again, said in a comment on another blog,

“ഞാന്‍ ആരാണ്?” എന്ന ചോദ്യം “ഞാന്‍ ആര്‍ക്ക് ആരാണ്?” എന്ന മറു ചോദ്യത്തിനു മുന്നില്‍ “ഞാന്‍ എനിക്കു ആരാണ്?” എന്ന ചോദ്യമായി പരിണമിച്ചാല്‍ പിന്നെ അതിന്റെ ഉത്തരം “എന്റെ മനസ്സു എവിടെയാണ്?” എന്ന ചോദ്യത്തിന്റെ ഉത്തരത്തിലെവിടയോ ഉണ്ടാവില്ലെ? (പ്രാഥമിക വിദ്യാലയത്തിലോ, അനന്തമായ പ്രപഞ്ചത്തിലോ).

and it struck me.

I am a couple of years closer to spending three decades on this planet (though it is small and revolves around a tiny bright speck in an immensely large system of billions of universes, I still consider earth my planet, and no advances in space motivity will change my heart’s loyalty) , and looking back, and asking the final question which Deepak asks “Where does the heart lie?” – I get one answer. It’s somewhere between the Mexx Corner and Chandrannan’s Sallap, somewhere between the only canteen in the world which ‘composes’ tea (‘dei saarinoru chaya compose cheyyu, koode oru beef curryum‘) and the most godforsaken, snake infested planetarium in the universe, somewhere between the Union Room which looked like Che’s final hideout in Bolivia and the only library in the world, famous not for it’s books but for the fact that a famous CETian legend urinated on the crowds below from top of it, somewhere between erstwhile Lords and the CGPU and lazy accusations of CGPU reps eating up all our money at Lords, somewhere in the long corridor which connects the Electrical and Mech departments and passes along the despicable Principal’s office (every Principal is despicable and widely hated, even before they take charge), somewhere between the “SFI’s Red Fort” board and the the Dean’s office, and the unending debate on who among them rules the college…..

…….somewhere between the bus boarding area and the Ladies hostel, somewhere between the Electronics department famous for its revolutionary spirit and it’s bourgeoisie faculty, and the Mexx famous for it’s ‘spirit’ and ‘devil may care’ faculty, somewhere between those late night drama practices in Men’s hostel and empty handed returns from drama festivals around the universe, somewhere between Chechikada and those scores of cricket cups which the Mexx organize, Mexx win, Mexx decide and share the price money, and malayannan receives the cup, somewhere between getting called male chauvinists and actually acting like ones, somewhere between Wills and a way out, somewhere between the 500th Mohanlal movie you can think of and the general agreement that Mammooty sucks, somewhere between protesting everything and realizing protests have a meaning, somewhere between forgotten faces and the fact that even today you’ll recognize some very special people in those corridors, somewhere between the realization that you have a good life and everyone should have one. It is somewhere in between. I mean the mind.

It’s not about living in the past, but like Gunter Grass’s little Oscar, I guess some of us got stunted there and everything else in life, both good and bad has stemmed from it. Whether we’ll be a garden of Bonsais or large Banyan trees( or as a friend and comrade said “aal maramavan nattu anthuriam aayi”) is something which time will tell (and we will argue against it). There are certain things which I don’t understand even now. A few of my classmates in Michigan after hearing about the strikes in CET from another person asked me “What about classes then?”. I said “Classes??!”. And they said I had a bewildered look on my face then.

Pics courtesy: Dawn and Domain D.

In our long conversations on the National Highway between Trivandrum and Kochi, with topics ranging from growing Chinese influence in Hambantota to Meesha Madhavan’s place in malayalam movies, interspersed with ‘thalleyoli thanne’ screams on other errant drivers on the highway, Ajay and I, more than once reached the conclusion that we were damaged for life by CET and that wherever we go, and whatever we do, CET will be alma mater. Ten years later, Wills navy cut has given way to Philip Morrison’s flagship brand, there were big wins and George Bush got a second term too, a lot of beer has flown through the esophagus, almost all birds we knew have flown, many of us have kids our age, Mammooty aged back ten years, Shilpa Shetty got married, Kavya got divorced, IFFK turned 14, K Karunakaran is still alive (now I didn’t see that coming), malayalam cinema returned to world class, I check my mails every 4 minutes, Dhwani is safe in new hands, I didn’t win a booker prize, I am still single (now I didn’t see that coming). But the mind  still wanders to CET for sanity and a little courage, and CET still influences the way many of us react to money, power, and women.

And if there is one thing which differentiates a person who spent his formative years in campus, walking inconsequentially through the famed corridors which our parents had lot of expectations of and we had none, it is the way we react to power – the way we react to authority. 10 years hence I can vouch for this. It might be that “ലോകമേ പുച്ഛം” attitude which we carry along, but definitely I have seen CETians pay with blood for this disrespect for authority and anyone who claims it. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing, but I have seen CETians stand up for what they thought  was right, in the workplace and others gaining courage from that. It might be that overall experience in CET, with a large and mammoth ecosystem that doesn’t (I repeat doesn’t) work, which makes us comfortable with ambiguity. Which gives us a feeling that no system is too large to fail, and a misplaced over confidence that all systems both imposed and inherent survive by our opinion.

Coming back to Deepak’s questions, after I figured out my mind is still in CET, and I have no clue yet on  ”ഞാന്‍ എനിക്കു ആരാണ്?”, I know how an average CETian will respond to the last question.

if posed in the workplace -

“ഞാന്‍ ആര്‍ക്ക് ആരാണ്?” (Who am I to others or How do others perceive me)

if the answer is -

മയിരാണ്

That must be a CETian. 10 years later.

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Some day by day accounts at Brown Country, Dear Cinema, and the IFFK Blog.

Excerpts from BFS’s capsule reviews

‘Monrak Transistor’ is an absolute joy.
‘Eccentricities of a Blonde-Haired Girl’ is exactly that.
‘Seasons’ is definitely not ‘thegreatestmalaylamfilminthelastfiveyears’. It checks in just about okay.
‘Ek Tho Chance’ is an absolute wash-out.
‘Harishchandrachi factory’ is a classic of our times and should be given an all-India tax-free release.
‘Antichrist’ is passé.
‘The Last Supper’ is one of the greatest political films of all time.
Mrinal Sen deserves a greater focus.
Raul Ruiz is some kind of master.
Arturo Ripstein is as supremely fucked up as it gets.
And
Everbody should watch Fransesco Rosi.

The last movie I watched in Trivandrum was Blessy’s Bhramaram at SreeKumar, which I would call a classic, and hence watched twice. So to say the least I left the city with a good taste in my mouth and a lot of hope about this nth renaissance in Malayalam movie. And a real renaissance it is I feel, when I hear about Kerala Cafe, Neelathamara, and Paleri Manickam.(though with a little regret about missing all the action).

Like Jiby put it in his post on many recent malayalam movies including Swa Le and Pazhassiraja,

I have ranted and raved for a long time on the need to undermine the star system. Let the star system stay. But let us audiences value the story, director and scriptwriter on par with the stars henceforth. Neelathamara released last week to favourable reviews – I am yet to see it. Oru Paathira Kolapathakathinte Katha, adapted from a novel, the novelist of which I had the chance to meet at a Calicut bar, releases today with pre-release reports promising a good fare. All of you who stayed off Malayalam films for a while can head right back home – we are back to making good movies!

And E Pradeep reviews Paleri Manikkam – Oru Pathira Kolapathakathinte Katha with elan, and ends on a similar optimistic note

My last four movies have been Bhramaram, Kerala Cafe, Loud Speaker and now Paleri Manikyam and if this is any evidence of Malayalam cinema slowly emerging out of its worst phase, then we are definitely in for exciting times. Renjith has once again shown (after Thirakatha and Kaiyoppu) that he is an exciting talent and the new generation (with the likes of Lal Jose, Renjith Shankar and others) is ready to revive the lost art called Malayalam cinema.

I agree on this one. I so understand where Ranjith comes from that Chandrolsavam is one of my favorite movies, and I did a favorable review of Rock n Roll. Don’t even ask about Kayyoppu, Thirakatha, and Devasuram. All in all a great year for malayalam cinema, and a fitting tribute to the stalwarts who left us – Murali, Lohi, and Rajan P Dev.

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Raghu

Raghu says his name is Raghu.

Son of Thalamunda Variyath Unni and Thankam,
at school in Thalamunda,
they knew him as the kid from Variyath.

Later at the school in Kuttipuram,
they knew him as the Raghu who came from Edappal.

Later at the Engineering college in Trivandrum,
they knew him as a guy from Malappuram district.

Later at work in Bangalore,
they knew him as a colleague from Kerala.

Because he never went to North India, or outside India ,or outside the Earth,
Raghu was never known as a Madrasi, or Indian, or a man from planet Earth.

Raghu keeps searching what he really is.

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