(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

Read the original post and discussion at Bodhi Commons.

…need a Prime Minister who can explain this to the nation. This is where I miss the Nehrus, and Vajpayees, and the Vishwanath Prataps of yester years. Manmohan Singh over the past years has alarmingly proved his impotence as a leader, and while we are at it, an honest impotent leader. The new-India seem to care more about the “honest” part than the political impotence part. The new-India does not seem to hate political impotence, they just hate politicians making more money than them.

A month or two back, over a hundred thousand workers marched in Delhi in what was one of the biggest protest marches the national capital region has seen in recent years. Do you know what there demands were? I didn’t see it on TV. Did you? BBC and Reuters reported it though. Only the BBC and Reuters, whose propaganda it is to portray India as a poor country with no workers rights, social security, and with one of the highest food inflations in the world.   A week back, Medha Patkar’s fast entered it’s eighth day. Yeah right, eighth day. I didn’t see the TV channels exploding. Did you? Is there something we are missing or something missing in all of us. If the collective conscience of a nation does it’s reality check based on reality TV, when what is playing on TV determines our political priorities, it speaks a little tiny bit about ourselves.

I would like 10 Constitutional changes and  a mango lassi to go with that

Like Shanti Bhushan and Anna Hazare want the Lokpal panel discussions televised. Policy making should be like MTV Roadies, or so they say. And as a tax paying citizen who votes, I chose the government representatives, I wonder who chooses the “Civil Society” representatives. Then I wonder why the civil society representation has no women in it. So much for civil society. I am not nitpicking here, a policy making committee in our country now has men (only men, and all upper caste men) who made back door entry through a well televised protest, and my “well educated aam aadmi” friends are asking me not to trust people who I elected, and trust people I did not elect. This I find irrational. The incredible arrogance of that, as P.Sainath put it.

And then last week another random Baba ordered an ala-carte of ten constitutional changes he would like to have, and decided that unless the democratically elected government of the country gives it to him, like they did with the demands of another individual a few weeks back, he would go on a fast unto death. The democratically elected government of the country went overboard to prevent, and once it started, end, the peaceful, Gandhian protest by this Baba and over a thousand of his followers. Even after the government assured the Baba of the steps  it would take to meet his demands, this Baba reneged on his written promise to end his peaceful, Gandhian protest, thereby lying to his followers and rendering his protest non-Gandhian. Once the Baba cheated them, to be precise, within minutes of the Baba cheating them, the democratically elected government of the country suddenly realized it’s larger constitutional responsibility, and also the mammoth power entrusted in it (this includes nuclear weapons and one of the largest standing armies in the world), and ordered a local Superintendent of Police to go arrest the man.

The Baba had obtained permission to do Yoga at the historic Ramlila Maidan, and as per the government, this was the first time Yoga was creating a law and order situation. They were wrong – Bhagwan Rajneesh’s Yoga had set a historic precedent in Oregon state of the United States, and unless one is a strong supporter of communal riots and tearing down mosques, nothing good has ever come out of the ‘JaiSriRam’ crowd over the past thirty years. Also to note Sadhvi Ritambara (known for her incendiary anti-Muslim oration and implicated in the Babri Masjid terrorist strike) was with the Baba, dreaming and fasting for a corruption free India.

Back to the incident, as the police cordon tightened the Baba refused to be arrested, and over the mike (goes to show he is a political novice) asked his women followers to form a ring around him, and then, on live television, his followers started pelting bricks at the police rendering his protest violent. Now there is this adage in Kerala, where reportedly every child is a protester at birth, that when you deal with the police force in a volatile situation, you can try to bend them, but never break them.

What happened in Delhi after that was sheer brutality by the police force. Nothing new, the same brutality, workers and students protesting across India are subjected to on a daily basis, the same brutality Dalits complain about in the southern hemispheres of our national newspapers, the same brutality peasants and tribals stripped of their ancient lands go through as their protests get muted. To be precise, the police used only teargas and lathis, not even rubber bullets and water cannons, so it was much better. Like that other adage in Kerala, our police is much better than other states, they badmouth and once in a while beat us up, while in other states they rape and murder.

Bollocks (word of Anglo-Saxon origin, refers to testicles)

The reason the government gave for chucking Baba Ramdev out of Delhi can be called Bollocks. Rather very childish bollocks. A democratic nation needs the safety valve of protests in the interim of elections to lobby and influence the legislative process. It is a basic human right, and in our eternal struggle to catch up with China, India should give breaking up peaceful protests a miss. The Hindu fanatic mobilisation and the Baba’s squeamish immorality notwithstanding, armed police action against a public protest is deeply condemnable, and it displayed the Indian state’s rampant tendency to bark at public protests of it’s choice and bite at certain protests. The biting part usually reserved for worker’s strikes and peasant protests, was in this particular case oddly pointed at televised air-conditioned protests of the new-India with islands in Scotland and Wales. Surprising.

But what is important here is the government’s official response after the crackdown. We as citizens didn’t know who was in charge. To a nation waiting for answers, there wasn’t any. The government could have easily pointed out the political reason behind the crackdown, and that reason is justifiable. One of the largest groups supporting the Baba was a group called Youth Against Corruption also known as ABVP (was formed just in time by BJP’s student wing), VHP was shipping it’s cadre to Jantar Mantar for a new kar-seva, RSS had openly started mobilising cadre for the protests – all signs of a farcical hindu fundamentalist attempt at the central government. And in search of the real political reason, one needs to look no further than the heartland. No further than UP.

With Jagan Reddy’s by-election sending clear signals of where Andhra is heading come 2014, the Congress needs either a good showing or a powerful alliance in UP, and INC’s ability to dictate terms in UP is all dependent on it’s showing in the assembly elections. As for the BJP, surely there will be no Delhi without UP. These are real numbers, not bollocks. In UP, Mayawati had announced her intentions to advance the UP elections to possibly end of this year, and then Rahul Gandhi joined the famer’s protest in UP, Congress announced the Kisan Manch mobilization, BJP announced Ram Rajya as it’s poll plank for UP, and  then all of a sudden Ramdev happens, taking the wind out of the violent farmer protests in UP. The day after his arrest Ramdev asks for permission to continue his strike in UP. Not Mumbai, not BJP cities like Ahmadabad or Bhopal, but UP. And Mayawati knowing the Baba is a black sheep and a trojan horse, said “Bollocks!”.

A new 7 Race Course and a Prime Minister to go with

See the reason can be political, but you need a leader to take responsibility, and be able to explain to the polity where we are headed. This is where I miss the Nehrus, and Vajpayees, and the Vishwanath Prataps of yester years. UPA government faces a vacuum when it comes to leadership. Digvijay Singh is the only person speaking the politics of matters, in a party that vacillates between soft-Hindutva and it’s secular constitutional obligations. I am a pseudo-secular citizen(isn’t that what they call people who want Narendra Modi in jail), and I expect the government to crush any right wing misadventures because I cannot have another Babri Masjid like terror attack or another Punjab or another Gujarat. Corruption when compared to right wing fundamentalism is a lower priority issue for me, because the India where I live 20 years from now could be a Pakistan or a Rajapaske Lanka  or a Gujarat if right wing forces are not defeated every single time they seem to have an upper hand. Because my India is a Sufi, and I would like to have it that way.

But I need a Prime Minister who can explain this to the nation. Manmohan Singh over the past years has alarmingly proved his impotence as a leader, and while we are at it an honest impotent leader. The new-India seem to care more about the “honest” part than the political impotence part. The new-India does not seem to hate political impotence, they just hate politicians making more money than them.

I am not saying I need another Prime Minister, all I am saying is it would be great if Manmohan Singh could just step down, and someone, my first choice being Rahul Gandhi step into seven Race Course. Rahul Gandhi will never be able to say “it’s these arseholes around me who are corrupt, I am a nice guy, but I have no power”. Vajpayee and V.P.Singh who managed crazy coalitions never shirked responsibility. When his own party man Narendra Modi killed thousands of Muslims in Gujarat, Vajpayee didn’t do much. But he said “what face will I show to other nations now”. Yeah, that’s how you lead a nation, that exactly how we felt those days, each and every pseudo-secular Indian, and that’s why leadership is called the face of a nation. We haven’t had that spirit here since 2004. Manmohan is a failure, Manmohan must go. And as someone put it, need someone in 7 Race Course who can call out the dancing Sushma Swaraj in Rajghat saying Rajghat wouldn’t have been built in 1948 if the essential philosophy of hate her party subscribes to wasn’t there in the first place.

In looking for a solution, all of us should have the basic humility displayed by one of the one hundred thousand workers who marched in Delhi, Akhil Samantray who had come from Orissa to take part in the march said “We have come here so that our voices reverberate inside the house (parliament) and they can see what pain the common man is going through”. Yeah voices should reverberate inside the house of democracy where each and every individual of this country is represented, and if my MP does not act on the burning issues the workers, the marginalized, and the middle-class of this country faces, I will press my forefinger on the voting machine and set the Republic straight. And for the time being I would like to my government to ward off Babas, Swamys, Lawyers, Nobel Prize Winners, Film fare winners, pimps, and other lowlifes who try to hijack this democracy.

And for an immediate solution, we need a new Prime Minister, and if possible someone elected to the Lok Sabha. I’ll tell you why. I think this nation is in trouble and we have been rudderless for long, we have GDP’s growth numbers but no direction estimates. India is marching forward, but we are unsure about where we are marching. Because we have the highest number of poor people in the world, and one third of our kids are malnourished. Because right wing politics all across the world including the Nazis and even the BJP have come to power raising a hailstorm around corruption. So I need a leader who can explain that corruption is just a symptom and the bigger infection is somewhere else. I need a coalition which ensures there is social control over the leader, like the left did in UPA-I years. This is all politics, and this opportunity to set things right is the beauty of politics. And I think we need a leader who can set things right. And if you want to call him a politician, you can call him a politician.

When one looks at Shashi Tharoor’s candidature, these are the questions that pop-up

Is he the better candidate?

Why should he win?

What do I need from my MP?

Can he win?

I have a feeling that this one is going to be long.

I was in Picador the other day reading reviews of Naomi Klein’s new book. Curiously, a very balanced review in Washington Post was written by the man who could be our new MP. Just another reason to so adore this man who was one of my favourite authors of fiction and non-fiction when I was in school. Then again I have graduated from school and politics is another game altogether.

The Trivandrum Lok Sabha constituency has returned bigger guns to Lok Sabha (including M N Govindan Nair, PK Vasudevan Nair and K Karunakaran), but Shashi Tharoor has an international repute and a spectacular resume that comes a close second to our one time MP and Defense Minister who delivered the longest speech in the United Nations. Then again, resumes don’t explain the political aftermath (or the math) because Trivandrum defeated ONV Kurup when he contested against the ‘universally accepted useless’ A Charles.

Is Tharoor the better candidate?

I am not sure. But he is a different kind of candidate who comes very rarely. His personal achievements are things which an average Malayali politician cannot even start to imagine. But is he a better candidate compared to Ramachandran Nair who has spent the last thirty years involved in local issues and participated in people’s movements while personally achieving nothing. Tharoor’s intellect is more than enough to impress me as a netizen and a blogger, but Tharoor’s understanding of local issues I suspect may be influenced a little too far by the internet and the vocal upper middle-class opinion thats pasted around it.

This could be Tharoor’s advantage too. Ramachandran Nair, the CPI candidate, while outlining his vision, seemed to be tied down by the reality that development will only happen in incremental steps (he talked about setting up a night time resting place for homeless and vagabonds as his urgent priority). May be it is his years of bad experiences that prevents Ramachandran Nair from dreaming big, but Tharoor talked about Trivandrum’s growth into a metropolis of global reckoning. His detailed vision is here (I have seen this before, in several other places, Tharoor has compiled it well)

At a personal level, I felt that Tharoor is struggling to connect. But this could be an initial hiccup, and for all he is worth – thats ok. But lovability and approachability of the candidate is important for the real voter (often mentioned incorrectly as ‘average voter’). If by April 16th, the feeling is that ‘hey! I have touched that thing! It speaks in a curious tongue!’ it could mean a few ten thousand votes lost.

Why Tharoor should win?

If Tharoor is serious about this whole thing, if this is not a short-cut for him to the South Delhi Club or the Indian Cabinet, which I am severely suspicious it is, and if he wants to make Trivandrum home and see it move forward – Then I guess he should be given that chance. But a similar choice was made by Trivandrumites when K Karunakaran was returned to Lok Sabha. The argument was the development brought to Mala (his pet constituency), but K Karunakaran proved to be an apathetic representative. (Though Keralalites thanked Trivandrumites for sending Kannoth Karu far away from the state).

Tharoor can dream big, he can give the city a much needed marketing break, doors that will remain closed to Ramachandran Nair or P K Krishnadas will be open to Tharoor. In simpler terms Tharoor can be a mascot, Tharoor can be an effective lobbyist, and Tharoor has the intellect to be bipartisan.

But the suspicion remains that if Tharoor makes it to the real game in Delhi, will he ever come back? May be its just the tiny insecurity of a small town blogger.

What do I need from my MP?

One rare occasion where I loved L K Advani was when he admonished a person in his electoral rally saying that he was running for Lok Sabha and not for local corporation, and it is not his duty to make sure that GandhiNagar had better roads and better sewage. There were other representatives who were responsible for that. A classic case which is often forgotten. An MP is not about Bijli, Sadak and Pani.

India has a Westminster form of Government where the expectation from an MP is that he legislates effectively and raises concerns at a national level about very important (only very important) issues from his constituency.

In that way Shashi Tharoor will be an effective contributor given his grasp of issues and exceptional diplomatic style. But I would also like to know his stands on Disinvestment, private sector reservation (Congress poll plank), Narendra Modi, India’s relationship with Iran, his stand on Palestine, his stand on Special Economic Zones, and most importantly I want to know if he will go on an indefinite hunger strike if the ASEAN trade pact, which will break the backbone of Kerala, goes through.

And then, the toughest of questions.

Can Shashi Tharoor lose?

Candidates are: Ramachandran Nair (CPI), Shashi Tharoor (Congress), PK Krishnadas (BJP – State President), Neelalohitadasan Nadar (BSP), Vijayan Thomas (Congress Rebel) and MP Gangadharan (NCP – former minister)

Trivandrum constituency is spread across 7 assembly divisions and is as Ajay pointed out, Kerala’s only constituency with a clearly urban bias. Yet another factor that favours Tharoor is the floating vote between the Left and Anti-Left divide which O Rajagopal of BJP used to capitalize on. These along with a very high probability of Congress returning to power and strong anti-incumbency in the state should have delivered Trivandrum in a platter to Tharoor. But things are not so rosy as it seems and this is why -

1. The anti-incumbency was expected to give a landslide to the UDF. But there is no wave on the surface, and anti-incumbency does not seem to be strong enough. There might be actually no landslide, and the CPM led front may romp home with something like 10-12 seats. Then again, even in 2001, there was supposedly no visibly strong anti-left wave, but UDF came home with 100 seats. Plus Lok Sabha elections has historically been a pro-Congress affair in the state.

2. Vijayan Thomas & V S Shivakumar factor: Vijayan Thomas (the Congress rebel) has created ripples within the Congress party’s electoral machine with his candidature. His money machine may not actually divide many Congress votes but it can dampen and slowdown Tharoor’s campaign. The Church which has its own flock in the coastal regions has not taken kindly to Vijayan Thomas being denied the Congress ticket.

V S Shivakumar, ex-MP and DCC president, can hurt Tharoor’s chances with his non-involvement (another ticket loser). He can also ruin Tharoor’s chances in his homeground and critical assembly segment of Neyyattinkara. This along with the perception that Tharoor is the High Command’s Candidate who landed here on a balloon, could keep the average congress worker off the campaign trail. If the campaign posters across the city are anything to go by, Tharoor trails Ramachandran Nair, Neelan and Krishnadas by a large extent.

3. Mayawati’s Neelan: BSP’s Neelalohitadasan Nadar could end up grabbing a sizable chunk of the Nadar-Dalit vote, a critical segment for the Congress. There is a strong undercurrent in favour of Neelan and with a six way split, he could even be a close third or even finish second. The rhetoric of Mayawati for PM (BSP’s national campaign was launched in Trivandrum), and Neelan for a plump Cabinet berth may sink well with the dalits, nadars and Muslims. The Kovalam belt can hurt the CPI, and Neelan’s impact on Kazhakuttam and Parassala could ruin the Congress.

4. The other ‘N’ and the ‘I’ group: While Neelan makes a considerable impact on the Nadar vote, BJPs PK Krishnadas and NCP’s M P Gangadharan could split the anti-left Nair vote. BJP has fielded its state president in this prestige fight and chances of RSS selling votes to Congress seems unlikely because of that. But at the same time, CPM’s new sleeping partner Maudhany could provoke a severe backlash amongst Nairs in favour of Tharoor and Krishnadas. Trivandrum is a K Karunakaran stronghold and a segment of the Nair vote has been with his group for long. The indifference of the ‘I’ group voter towards the so-called ‘Ommen Congress’ may end up helping MP Gangadharan, the NCP candidate. There is also a feeling that Muraleedharan is being victimised for a little too long. For Murali, Tharoor’s defeat will be a proving a point.

To sum it up, Tharoor’s campaign has not gathered steam, and the Congress party machinery seems to be failing him. But even at this juncture, Tharoor remains a front-runner and a candidate who holds some promise. There are people who vote based on a candidate’s qualities, people who vote for a candidate’s utility, people who vote for special interests, and those who vote for ideology. Whatever be their way of voting, I hope the voters in Trivandrum are given a chance to make an informed decision by the campaign teams. This election result will be a pointer towards which way we are headed.

Update 3/29:

Vijayan Thomas INC (Rebel) withdraws from contesting, decides to fully support Tharoor. Ramachandran Nair still leads Tharoor almost two to one in terms of campaign reach.

Ramachandran Nair’s vision is here

New Pastoral letter read across Churches on Sunday calls for defeating atheists and people who promote atheism [Now that they were successful in making Hybi Eden candidate for Ernakulam]

Update 3/30:

The day’s ‘Samakalika Malayalam’ talks about a big split in the BJP vote in Trivandrum which could favour Tharoor, an understanding between K Karunakaran and the CPI to return Ramachandran Nair from Trivandrum and Karunakaran’s own Peethambara Kurup from Kollam, a heavy Janata Dal play to split left votes in Trivandrum to help Neelan which in turn could help Tharoor, and about a seemingly dangerous resentment among Congress workers towards Tharoor, which will help Nair. I wish I had attended the Permutations & Combinations lesson in School instead of cutting class and going for Mohanlal’s Ayal Kadhayezhuthukayanu

Update 5/16:
Tharoor wins by a landslide. BJP is pushed to the 4th place with Neelan creating a record of sorts for the BSP by coming in 3rd.

“If anyone raises a finger towards Hindus or if someone thinks that Hindus are weak and leaderless, if someone thinks that these leaders lick our boots for votes, if anyone raises a finger towards Hindus, then I swear on Gita that I will cut that hand.”  – Times

‘Gau hatya rukwana hai, Varun Gandhi ko jitana hai’ (Cow slaughter must stop, Varun Gandhi must win) and “Varun nahin yeh aandhi hai, doosra Sanjay Gandhi hai (Varun Gandhi is like a storm, he is another Sanjay Gandhi)”. – HT

Says Varun Gandhi of BJP on his campaign trail to make L K Advani the next Prime Minister of India. He is 29. Can you take this? Another nakli Gandhi for like another five decades.

But if there is anyone out there who believes what Varun Gandhi says, like the BJP which might be having gleeful visions of a Saffron Gandhi, they’ll most probably be proven wrong before the 2009 political season ends. Because there is none other more Secular than a Gandhi. It doesn’t matter to a Gandhi if you slaughter a cow, a muslim or a sikh. It doesn’t matter to a Gandhi if you do shilanyas or destroy a mosque or you forcibly castrate a thousand. It doesn’t matter to a Gandhi if you are a tamil terrorist or an Akali radical. Capitalism, socialism or public or private banks don’t matter. Nuclear deal or no deal does not matter. Forcible evictions for a car factory or a Kalawati doesn’t matter. Democracy or Article 356 or Emergency does not matter. All that matters to a Gandhi is the Gandhi’s right to power. In every possible way, a Gandhi is truly secular. Only arguable exception is Mohandas Karamchand asli Gandhi. Then again, even Varun wouldn’t dream of being a doosra Sanjay Gandhi. One reason is India has changed.  But a more persuasive reason is that Sanjay Gandhi’s mother’s name meant ‘India’ at one point in time.

The Gandhis contesting on the Congress ticket at least seem to have come to terms with their mortal nature, given the pre-poll alliances they are building. But some people back home in Kerala seem to be so keenly out of touch with reality (like  nakli Iron Man of India’s website) that they are indeed as Varun nakli Gandhi says ‘raising their middle fingers’ at Hindus.

Like Archbishop Daniel Acharuparambil of the Latin Catholic Church.

The powerful Latin Catholic Church in Kerala has written to Congress president Sonia Gandhi urging the party to consider Hybi Eden, chief of the Congress’ student wing, as party candidate for the Ernakulam Lok Sabha seat. – The Hindu

‘Powerful‘ as in,

Ironically, whenever the church sponsored a Congress candidate, with public statements and pastoral letters, he lost. Edezhath, a close confidant of the high priests, lost by over 70,000 votes to an LDF independent in 2004. – DNA

Here, as I am located, in the heart of the Ernakulam constituency, this stupid letter which claims even the number of votes Acharuparambil has will do no good to the candidate, the Congress party or the larger Catholic interests but will only help consolidate Hindu and Muslim votes in favour of CPM’s arguably weakest candidate in the state – Sindhu Joy. If Hybi is indeed the candidate and if Sindhu defeats him, Acharuparambil Archbishop will have to wear a uniquely malayali ‘thorthu mundu’ over his head while he ventures out of his den in Varapuzha.

Perhaps what Acharuparambil Archbishop should have done was to take a leaf out of Nair Service Society’s (NSS) Narayana Panicker’s Book of Strategics. This is how it goes – tell the media that you’ll defeat 10 candidates (across 20 constituencies), and tell them that the names are secret. After the election, minimum 20 candidates will be defeated, and then, THEN tell the media how effective you were in defeating 10 people and claim how powerful Samsthakerala Nairs are.

P.S: The two parties, CPM and Congress who fight for the torch of Indian Secularism, could may be go through this very simple test to prove their secularism (at least in the next 20 years) – A Christian Candidate in Malappuram or Ponnani; A Hindu Candidate in Eranakulam and a A Muslim Candidate in Kottayam.(how about next 50 years?)

We write poems, short stories, essays and blogposts to interrupt the programme. We sign online petitions – I just did one for saving the tiger. We did the same when Iraq was about to be invaded. One hundred and fifty thousand Iraqis have died since then. The problem is we don’t have a strike force.

How sad were we when
110 stories fell to the ground on Sept 11, 2001
How concerned are we about the
110 stories before and after Sept 11, 2001
Which were never told and
Which perhaps
Will never be told

What happens in Mumbai spreads to Nasik

September 11 is a metaphor for silence, a reminder about times when we are comfortably silent and uncomfortably so. I remember the heated argument we had in the much dreaded Electrical Lab on Wednesday – the day after. I realized that religion was not a defining theme there. A few of us argued that killing people, that too in thousands will corrupt both the victim and the invader for generations. Another group argued that this was the only language the nihilistic west and the United States of America understand. I repeat there were no religious lines in the arguments, there were Muslims, Christians and Hindus on both sides of the table. Kerala is that diverse. The fact was, both the points of view were equally safe and to be matter of fact we really didn’t care. So it was with Mumbai when Raj Thackeray did his uncle.

CNN-IBN’s coverage of FOBJP (Friends of BJP) meet in USA threw up an interesting irony. The gathering was celebrating Narendra Modi’s sweep in Gujarat. The man they supported just won. Gujarat was in safe hands. Then CNN-IBN asked a few of them about their overwhelming support for Democrats in the 2008 Presidential Elections. The reply was more than an American diamond, it was a gem. An elderly friend of BJP told the reporter that the Republicans with their extreme right wing stands and religious propaganda did not suit the progressive values of the United States of America, and so they’ll vote Hillary or Obama. I wondered whether we who live in India were born of blow jobs. Swear words apart, there is a Friend of BJP in every one of us.

As BD, pointed out, in Mumbai we are comfortably silent when the Shiv Sainiks take on the valentines or muslims or the touring Pakistan cricket team or M.F Hussein. They are like that, we know they are crazy. But when the Sena turns to North Indians, there is news value, and perceivable outrage because there is a vague feeling within us that we are all Indians wherever we are born. Because when the NewYork flight lifts off from Mumbai, we have a vague feeling that we are leaving something very important behind.

Then again, it is a very vague irritant. It hit close to home when the MNS started destroying shops in Nasik which had boards in Malayalam, Tamil or English. When the malayali gets hit for being a malayali, it hits somewhere near home. But then I should have known that what happens in Mumbai, spreads to Nasik. That the Shiv Sena is not an anti-muslim or anti-art or pro-marathi organization, though its roots lie in the violent retributions organized against South Indians in Mumbai in the 70s and 80s. Shiv Sena is not a hindutva party, they took up hindutva in the 90s because in the 90s hindutva fetched votes. Shiv Sena essentially is an organization that wants to come to power, so it is with the MNS. Now how wrong is that?

The same day, the violence erupted in Mumbai, two more north Indians where killed in Assam for being north Indians. Now explain that to me, a person who thinks anything above Bangalore is North India. Explain that to a Sri Lankan who is afraid of his big neighbour, whose residents are called Indians. Only if we could tell him, that off the cricket ground, there as such is no India they need to be afraid of.

Who is condemning Raj Thackeray? Is it the Namma Kannadiga who once and for all destroyed the fabric of Bangalore when Rajkumar died, who destroyed shops in Brigade and MG Road which didn’t have hoardings in Kannada. Remember Bangalore is just 36% Kannadiga. Is it the Tamilian who blocked buses and trains from Kerala in the “National” Highway on a petty Railway Zone issue. Is it the Assamese who is about to kill a couple of Biharis who are building roads in their state. I hear it when Raj Thackeray asks why Bengal needs to erupt when Saurav Ganguly is dropped from the team. Do they gather around their televisions and condemn Raj Thackeray?

There are two hypocrisies that come into play here. First and less important is the state’s hypocrisy. I mean the Indian state’s. When India condemns 9/11 and decries all forms of terrorism, what we mean is Kashmir. When India says it will not accept a divided Sri Lanka, we mean Kashmir. When India votes against Iran, perhaps the only muslim country that sided with us after the 1998 nuclear tests, we mean a nuclear deal with the west and in the end we mean Kashmir. A state supposedly based on a destiny to pursue the truth ends up as a hypocrite state. Children in India grow up seeing this hypocrisy of the Indian state and if they learn from the Indian state that it is OK to be hypocrites if there is a tangible benefit in that, you cannot possibly blame them. These children grow up to be marathis, tamilians, gujaratis and kannadigas.

The second hypocrisy, the one of comfortable and uncomfortable silences, is a little more innocent. Language is a simpler, more basic emotion in comparison with religion. When we argue that our fellow hindu or fellow muslim is being ill treated, like say the Fiji hindus or the Hindraf in Malaysia or the muslims of the Balkans, we are aware of a pointlessness within us. Because we have nothing in common or no stake in their welfare, and it really doesn’t hit home.Language presents a different picture, and that is why Tamil Nadu reacts to the situation of Tamils in Malaysia, Gujarat reacts to Kenyan crisis or the communists sweep elections in Kerala on the back of a crisis in the middle-east which directly affects malayalis.

Our silence moves from comfortable to uncomfortable when the discrimination moves from religion to language. Maybe because religion is abstract enough to easily distance yourself from it, but there is no denying your language.The fact that language is a motivation potent enough to make people uneasy, like the attack on malayalis in Nasik by MNS makes me sit up, should give us a better idea about the tower of Babel that is India.

A silent majority of marathi speaking people who see a point in what Raj Thackeray says today or what Shivsena has been saying for decades, is the quintessential cross section of vernacular India. It is only a matter of time before Chennai explodes with similar sentiments, and so will be the case in all the knowledge economy hubs across the country attracting a high inflow of migrants like Bhubaneswar, Ahmadabad, and Calcutta.

The spike in investments, fast growth and the accompanying congestion and further migration will be a continuing story. In these cities people wake up everyday, more and more strangers to the place they once called home. Bangalore, a retirement paradise with fresh air, wide roads, clean water, and a lot of flowers and dogs, is a smoggy city today. If the erstwhile Bangalorean wants some order restored, and supports the right-wing Kannada groups which promise this, can we blame him or her. Do we explain to them, that we are all Indians? Try explaining that to yourself when you lose your city.

It is inevitable that the idiocy of village life be replaced, scattered populations be agglomerated into cities and towns, centralize means of production and concentrate property in very few hands. This will in turn remove all separate interests like religion and language, and integrate everyone into one colossal system of production. We will all work for one trans-national corporation. But end of history is still far out in the horizon. We need some immediate patch up solutions before Chennai starts smouldering like Bangalore and Mumbai.

How about legislating?

Rising above language is theoretically not possible. But what is theoretically not possible is politically possible. Like George Bush did in Iraq – every theory of war and geopolitics advised against it. When you have political will power, anything is possible. Because political action needs only 75% proof (any random percentage between 0-100).

But what do we legislate? I don’t know, neither do you. Thats why we spend 1500 crores on general elections.

One question is, for how many more years will we dodge the need to make Hindi our official language?

But political action needs martrys. Without bloodshed, the state wont wake up and take notice, the state won’t touch something like language. Otherwise politicians will evade the issue like Maharashtra CM Deshmukh did. Cities across the country will have to shut down with rioters on both sides speaking different tounges, the programme needs to be interrupted for the couch potatoes to legislate. This is taking the solution a bit too far. But Indians need to have Civil Rights in India. The hundreds of North Indians who fled Nasik in the past two weeks will agree to this.

Interrupting the programme

The root cause of migration into Mumbai is the investments being done in the city. The capital inflow and the surge in development in the city are triggering the need for migrant labor. Rather than asking the north Indian migrants to leave the city, Raj Thackeray could have asked the investors not to invest in Mumbai or Nasik. Raj could have easily stopped the handful of investors, compared to the pain that he took in terrorizing the hundreds of thousands of laborers. I wonder why Raj didn’t do that. I still wonder why Kannada Rakshana Vedike didn’t do that in Bangalore.

Maybe because if the wall is not there, you can’t write on it.

We write poems, short stories, essays and blogposts to interrupt the programme. We sign online petitions – I just did one for saving the tiger. We did the same when Iraq was about to be invaded. One hundred and fifty thousand Iraqis have died since then.The problem is we don’t have a strike force.

When construction workers were chased out of Mumbai and Nasik in the past few weeks, CNN-IBN, true to its nature, asked Sharukh Khan what he felt about the situation. But the problem is King Khan is not a strike force. If construction workers across the nation went on strike to protest the violence and discrimination, the programme would have been interrupted, the Biharis wouldn’t have fled to their hometowns. That is a strike force. The state which badly needs a double digit growth would have made amends.

When IT and ITES employees in Bangalore spend days hiding from rioters in the Bangalore streets after Rajkumar died a natural death. The state didn’t even think of banning the organisations involved. Banning an organisation is important. That sends out a signal that working or affiliating with that organisation is illegal. These organisations lie awake in Bangalore, for another trigger. If IT and ITES workers, the motors of Bangalore’s growth quit work till the state acted, they would have been a strike force. They wouldn’t be afraid of negotiating with an autorickshaw driver just because he is a Kannadiga.

The point is, we are different in collar colours – white or blue, we are the same in existence – unorganized and helpless.It is not the malayali or tamil or kannada or marathi culture or language that keeps the engine running. When the motors of this nation realize their true potential, we will rise above irritants like language and religion, and make ourselves and our lives comfortable. It will take time.

Because it is easier to sleep than to wake up. It is easier to be enslaved than to be free, which is a responsibility. Because it’s easier to believe that you are a Muslim or a Marathi than to believe you keep this world going. But when the breaking point comes, we wake up. And when we wake up, we won’t be watching it on television. Nobody will, this programme will be interrupted.