Tuesday, December 05, 2006

Kerala - The Site for Modern Day Armageddon

What makes a place God’s own country? If it’s the resources and natural beauty that the Almighty has generously bestowed on it, then I guess, Kerala qualifies to be called that. But how long it’ll remain God’s own country is anybody’s guess. The Almighty’s arch rival has taken the battle right into the enemy camp. It appears as if in this oldest of all battles, Lucifer is gaining substantial victories in this coastal state and the Almighty will , before long, have to surrender his country to the prince of evil – unless of course He has some new rabbit in the hat like the lethal one he pulled out millenniums ago to devastate the army of fallen angels.

A laboured metaphor, I know. But it has its uses. the strain of laboriously yoking together the various images of the figure of speech, checks the spontaneous overflow of powerful emotions. and when the emotion is helpless rage, the language might cross the line of decency - - -. rather a bad metaphor than allowing words to run away with you!

Just got back from kerala after a brief stay. The dominant emotion during the four day stay was anger with frustration as the constant companion.

Day 1. I was going down a one way pocket road in an auto. Half way thru, we got stuck in a traffic jam. Craning my neck, I looked out to see what caused the trouble. A hand cart, coming against the traffic flowing in the one way direction, blocked the narrow space between a parked lorry minus the driver and the open drainage gutter. A blue shirted worker stood there leaning against the cart, smoking a beedi nonchalantly. There were no vehicles behind him. The road was clear. Just a few steps back with his cart and the traffic would have passed smoothly. But, of course, he wouldn’t take those steps which distiguish a human from a beast!. The driver of the car whose path was blocked by this cart knew better than to plead or fight with the blue shirt wallah. He knew fully well the political and muscle clout of that shirt. Instead he came out, pleaded with the last of the long row of motorists behind his car. The other motorists cooperated. They had no choice. They knew it. And the long line of cars and autos reversed, adjusted and made way for the blue shirt to royally push the empty cart up the road. The whole exercise took more than twenty minutes!!

That road, I believe, is the domain of the likes of that blue shirt. They can get away with murder there. They are outside the jurisdiction of the law of the land, by virtue of their membership in a recognized union. Kerala has many such islands of organized groups who lie outside the law of the land. And this realtiy intrudes brutally into routine existence with an unfailing regularity,

Day 2. I had to - - - - - -- oh. forget it. am always cribbing. what good does it do?

9 comments:

  1. In any other part of India, the blue shirt would have been beaten up by either the public or the police. I am not sure if either extreme is preferable. It's going to be a while before we see responsible labour unions in Kerala.

    Vinod Joseph

    ReplyDelete
  2. i was eager to read the rest.why did you stop mid way?
    i am one of those who share your views on kerala.
    unless we do something about this kind of lawlessness and callous indifference to civilized behaviour we are doomed to become Lucifers own land very soon.
    who will save Kerala?
    iam writing this from a small dist HQ town in Maharashtra.
    the people here are not as educated as my brotheren back in Kerala.but the civility and civic sense!you have got to see it to believe it.
    i think God almighty has a losing battle with his rival in his own country!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. i was eager to read the rest.why did you stop mid way?
    i am one of those who share your views on kerala.
    unless we do something about this kind of lawlessness and callous indifference to civilized behaviour we are doomed to become Lucifers own land very soon.
    who will save Kerala?
    iam writing this from a small dist HQ town in Maharashtra.
    the people here are not as educated as my brotheren back in Kerala.but the civility and civic sense!you have got to see it to believe it.
    i think God almighty has a losing battle with his rival in his own country!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. @ vinod
    it's going to be a while--- The trouble with us keralites is- we are willing to wait for ever!

    @ anon
    unless we do something - - - -what? how? any suggestions? change starts small. this is a space for sharing ideas to redeem our land.

    ReplyDelete
  5. I will blame the voters. By electing the Marxist thugs, Kerala will go 5 years back the path of development. These marxists destroyed the education sector, agriculture and employment in kerala that unless overseas money reaches the state, there will be mass suicide.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Blue shirt worker = Kerala Gov't attitude-wise, at present. GOD's own country, or DOG's own country?

    I am surprised at the cribbing happenning about poor characters(from various blogs) from what I am told is the most educated land in India:-)
    -kajan

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kochuresiamma,
    Hmmm...on hindsight, I take back my rant. Banning myself from the savekerala website from now:-) But to be frank, it's depressing to know such things. I wish someone had just beat up that guy, as I saw done in a similar circumstance in a film today. It will teach a lesson. What if someone had a life or death situation...
    -kajan

    ReplyDelete
  8. complaints, complaints, complaints,

    and more complaints.

    Do you have any remedy? You don't do you?

    ReplyDelete
  9. @ kaipally
    yes. it's complaints all the way. just cant help it. in fact i'm about to do another whining blog:)
    am in Kerala at the moment.how can i not complain??
    remedy? no. I have none. there was a time i believed something could be done. those days are gone.
    yes. u r right.i have nothing to suggest.
    gues i am what they call a worthless prophet of doom.

    ReplyDelete

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