Some time back, one of the posts here queried the readers "Where is the only place in the world that a malayali will stand in a queue?" and there was a resounding flurry of correct answers - the state run alcohol shoppes! So this time we are asking a slightly tougher question. Where is the only place in the world that a malayali will show discipline as well as follow traffic rules? Ahh..This time we are giving you the answer as well instead of testing your 100% literacy yet again! The alcohol shoppe again!! Yes, most of the people in the line at the "beverages" outlet wear their helmets! What if it is for a certain level of anonymity. Yet, we refuse to wear it on the road..all because it is a law? What a shame it will be to fall in line, to obey, and all that silly stuff. Those are not for us greater beings, they say; those are just means to impose and restrict the "freedom" of the "common man".
So what if we overtake from the left, or park in front of a No Parking sign, cut through a one way lane? Is it not this attitude and arrogance that converts into road rage and sheer disregard for traffic sense that makes our state one of the toppers when it comes to road accidents and related deaths? Last week there was a report that a 75 kilometer stretch of highway down south kills nearly 150 people every year and injures others several fold. The state police needs to be commended for initiating several awareness programs as well as enforcement plans. However, it is important that we the people cooperate with these great initiatives. If you get caught by a cop, dont bribe him, dont say your dad is a politician, and dont make excuses - just pay the fine, get the receipt and remember the rule. Thats progress and the educated response which will take us forward.
According to an official report given in the news, Kerala has nearly 55,167 people infected by HIV. This information dissemination was a prelude to the arrival of the Red Ribbon Express, a wonderful awareness initiative against the spread of HIV, in the state later this week. Wonder if some people are perhaps misinterpreting the color red. As the saying goes, spread love and peace, not the virus!
Taking the piracy-walas head on, cops have initiated a strong campaign. According to reports, nearly 2,500 raids were made in a single month which fetched over 18,000 fake CDs! And apparently, repeated offenders will be booked under the Goonda act! Looks like someone is showing guts, and it is no wonder the cell is headed by a woman. Lets hope they also show the same mettle and turn on the heat against organized crime and the goons as well.
Talking about heat, the weatherman from our little state says that the sun is already blazing and the temperatures are rocketing along with the prices. There is no instruction yet on what we are allowed to drink this summer. Colas are banned, milk is short, and someone told me water is yet to come from Japan. No wonder theres a long line in front of the "beverages" outlet. Alright, let me get my helmet and go stand in line.
Read more!
THE 'SAVE KERALA' INITIATIVE
Showing posts with label Attitude. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Attitude. Show all posts
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Saturday, January 17, 2009
In Kerala, its Better Jobless Than Ever!
A guy friend told me something very interesting recently. If you live in Kerala, its better to be one of the following, if not all: fat, dark, ugly faced or wearing a permanent scowl, shabbily dressed (or in a mundu folded up above your knees), have a criminal look, or most preferably, be jobless. Although I found it funny at that moment, over a period of time, I realized what made him come up with such a harshly truthful statement.
A couple of months ago, while I was waiting at a traffic signal, which clearly had the red light on it, two guys approached my car from behind and started honking and asking me to go (probably since there was not much traffic at the junction in any case). When I refused and pointed to the red light on the signal, the guys started abusing me. Although I didnt bother and instead told them to buzz off, it was clear how the goonda looking guys with their blonde-streaked hair, with golden bracelets along with saffron and black ties on their wrists, who apparently form the "poor and downtrodden" of Kerala, would have intimidated most of the rich and selfish people (since they own cars) in Kerala.
Around a month ago, a KSRTC bus rushing towards my car from behind, with no intention of slowing down despite it being a junction, scraped a good portion of my car's right doors. And when he had no intention of stopping, I overtook and made him stop very close to the junction. The cop who was standing there and witnessing the whole scene came and shouted at me for obstructing traffic and asked me to "take my car and go". The seemingly inebriated driver (I could sense the stink of alcohol around him, but wait, he is the poor common man of Kerala, lets salute him first) just looked at me below from his seat in the bus, with an evil look and a bit of pity. The passengers and the people who joined around started murmuring "onnum patteellello" "kondu poda" and other expressions of mallu concern, hinting at me to get lost. Probably they would have been a little more sensitive had I died or had a broken arm and was bleeding profusely, I hope.
A friend who runs a hotel (dont worry, not a star hotel, but just an ordinary restaurant serving "meals") was complaining about how he was harassed every day by different authorities (all affiliated to the mighty poor-man's group), right from the corporation health inspectors, to pollution board, and water authority, who would not go away unless they were bribed. Interestingly, bang opposite him was a petty shop serving food who flouted every law and was even obstructing the traffic, but was not bothered by any officer. He also mentioned that the petty shopwala was also a strong political supporter of a certain party, whereas he had no particular political affiliation, but started this hotel from the money he saved as a worker, along with a bank loan.
I have heard mallu men, and even some women, openly proclaim that women should not walk around in anything other than clothing that covers their entire body (probably would have been better off with a burkah). Otherwise dont blame the men if they get groped or molested or raped, since those women "asked for it". Women on the other hand are scared to dress up or wear clothes that they like, lest they displease the malayali macho man with stinking armpits and folded lungis (from the mighty, powerful common-man's group), waiting for them. I wonder if our women are pushed to the extreme of even overeating and slothing with an intention of getting ugly and fat thinking that they will be safer. Ofcourse, they are mistaken.
If you are dressed properly and step outside, you are looked down upon, usually by another mallu who probably earns more than you, but purely out of jealousy. At the clubs and so called social gatherings, if you are a christian, the trick is to incite the people around by dividing them as hindus and muslims, and to pass snideful comments. If you are a so-called ezhava, then its the nair and varma tag that is played to isolate you. Yes, this is also done so that the common man's rights and privileges can be protected!
But most importantly, if you have a job and work hard to earn your living, you will likely be isolated by the unemployed and jobless complaining that you snatched their opportunity (no matter that there is still plenty of opportunity, but they prefer to remain jobless and take the privileges that come with it). The thieves and criminals will rob you and harass you. The politicians and their party workers will fleece and threaten you till you contribute to their "fight for the poor". The government will definitely make sure all the rules are laid down (only for you) to make you suffer unless you "oil the system" generously, to the extent that you end up running away from the state when you realize its not worth risking your life and health.
Alright, lets not discuss all this publicly, but instead call for investments and talk about mega projects, and ofcourse, hold up our 100% literacy tag. Shhh..lets hide that god-darn report that says Pondichery overtook us on the education index (but not on 100% literacy, haha!!). Lets join the powerful and mighty group of the poor and downtrodden of Kerala, and then we also wont have to worry about our work and livelihood.
Read more!
A couple of months ago, while I was waiting at a traffic signal, which clearly had the red light on it, two guys approached my car from behind and started honking and asking me to go (probably since there was not much traffic at the junction in any case). When I refused and pointed to the red light on the signal, the guys started abusing me. Although I didnt bother and instead told them to buzz off, it was clear how the goonda looking guys with their blonde-streaked hair, with golden bracelets along with saffron and black ties on their wrists, who apparently form the "poor and downtrodden" of Kerala, would have intimidated most of the rich and selfish people (since they own cars) in Kerala.
Around a month ago, a KSRTC bus rushing towards my car from behind, with no intention of slowing down despite it being a junction, scraped a good portion of my car's right doors. And when he had no intention of stopping, I overtook and made him stop very close to the junction. The cop who was standing there and witnessing the whole scene came and shouted at me for obstructing traffic and asked me to "take my car and go". The seemingly inebriated driver (I could sense the stink of alcohol around him, but wait, he is the poor common man of Kerala, lets salute him first) just looked at me below from his seat in the bus, with an evil look and a bit of pity. The passengers and the people who joined around started murmuring "onnum patteellello" "kondu poda" and other expressions of mallu concern, hinting at me to get lost. Probably they would have been a little more sensitive had I died or had a broken arm and was bleeding profusely, I hope.
A friend who runs a hotel (dont worry, not a star hotel, but just an ordinary restaurant serving "meals") was complaining about how he was harassed every day by different authorities (all affiliated to the mighty poor-man's group), right from the corporation health inspectors, to pollution board, and water authority, who would not go away unless they were bribed. Interestingly, bang opposite him was a petty shop serving food who flouted every law and was even obstructing the traffic, but was not bothered by any officer. He also mentioned that the petty shopwala was also a strong political supporter of a certain party, whereas he had no particular political affiliation, but started this hotel from the money he saved as a worker, along with a bank loan.
I have heard mallu men, and even some women, openly proclaim that women should not walk around in anything other than clothing that covers their entire body (probably would have been better off with a burkah). Otherwise dont blame the men if they get groped or molested or raped, since those women "asked for it". Women on the other hand are scared to dress up or wear clothes that they like, lest they displease the malayali macho man with stinking armpits and folded lungis (from the mighty, powerful common-man's group), waiting for them. I wonder if our women are pushed to the extreme of even overeating and slothing with an intention of getting ugly and fat thinking that they will be safer. Ofcourse, they are mistaken.
If you are dressed properly and step outside, you are looked down upon, usually by another mallu who probably earns more than you, but purely out of jealousy. At the clubs and so called social gatherings, if you are a christian, the trick is to incite the people around by dividing them as hindus and muslims, and to pass snideful comments. If you are a so-called ezhava, then its the nair and varma tag that is played to isolate you. Yes, this is also done so that the common man's rights and privileges can be protected!
But most importantly, if you have a job and work hard to earn your living, you will likely be isolated by the unemployed and jobless complaining that you snatched their opportunity (no matter that there is still plenty of opportunity, but they prefer to remain jobless and take the privileges that come with it). The thieves and criminals will rob you and harass you. The politicians and their party workers will fleece and threaten you till you contribute to their "fight for the poor". The government will definitely make sure all the rules are laid down (only for you) to make you suffer unless you "oil the system" generously, to the extent that you end up running away from the state when you realize its not worth risking your life and health.
Alright, lets not discuss all this publicly, but instead call for investments and talk about mega projects, and ofcourse, hold up our 100% literacy tag. Shhh..lets hide that god-darn report that says Pondichery overtook us on the education index (but not on 100% literacy, haha!!). Lets join the powerful and mighty group of the poor and downtrodden of Kerala, and then we also wont have to worry about our work and livelihood.
Read more!
Saturday, November 01, 2008
Wag the Dog?
Many readers have asked here, why we have such a name for the blog? I ask them, why not? What do they understand from this title? When we rave about Kerala saying its "God's Own Country", do we really think we, the people, are Gods? Hopefully not. Similarly, it is not to call anyone a dog, but its rather a phrase to depict the negative aspects that are really horrifying and unbearable, especially the unruly behaviour and attitude of some malayalis, that not only ruin our progress and development, but bring shame to us as a community. I think the latter kind of people are our worst enemies and need to be isolated if they are not willing to change.
This blog is only a small initiative against the shackles that are holding us back from making advances as a community, state, and therefore, the nation. But I also want to clarify that this is only a blog (atleast as of now) that wishes to expose these lackings and issues, and discuss and debate them in a constructive way, so that it creates awareness, and hopefully inspires people to change or act proactively to foster change. So for people who ask, what is this blog doing besides "talking" about change and the negative issues, I have only one thing to say: I sincerely hope this blog and our collective efforts will make us ask the question, "what can WE do?" some day very soon.
But for now, as long as people are reading and thinking about whats written here, I consider this blog is a success. What this blog will lead to, and how we can collectively make changes, is the next step. But before we draw action plans and try to influence policies more vehemently, we need to unite and make sure that the majority of the people have a common vision and inspiration for our state. We need to ensure that our mindsets change. Development and progress is not just about industries and infrastructure, but its about civility and character too. You and I still may not be able to influence the entire state. But we can influence our neighbours, our relatives, our co-workers, our local rickshaw driver, or the local shopkeeper. Thats something we can do.
One of our biggest challenge and the main factor that hampers the progress of the state is our political interference and polarization. I dont know how long it will take for our "100% literate" people to understand this basic fact. It is evident in our day to day life how deeply and adversely this has affected us and ruined ourselves. Whether its the criminal who gets away with the crime from the police or its one of us wriggling out of a traffic offence, or the dispute between students getting settled in a group clash, the political influece and the wielding (and misuse) of power backed by politicians is very clear.
Ofcourse, we need politics and politicians for running the state and governance. But thats where it should end. We should eliminate politics and political interference in areas such as religion, education, judiciary, and in particular our own civility and conduct. I think in general we, especially the youth, are disillusioned by baseless ideologies fuelled by too much politicization. If that ends, things will begin to look much greener again.
In the movie Rang De Basanti, there is a character Laxman Pandey (played by Atul Kulkarni) who blindly believes in the political ideologies of the party, and unknowingly becomes their best tool for selfish and communal activities. It took a great awakening for him to realize how flawed the politicians are and how empty and hollow the ideologies he was made to believe in were compared to reality. We need such an awakening in Kerala.
We actually need politicians and leaders who are educated and qualified for this perception against politicians to change, and politics to become a mainstream and dignified path that people who are truly dedicated can take. It may be oft-repeated, but in a world where we insist on minimum educational qualifications even for posts such as peons and aids, how can we allow uneducated people with dubious backgrounds rule our state(s) and imagine that they will ever take us forward? This is a very important thing that each of us need to consider and work towards collectively. Do we really need politicians who get selected on the basis of their crime records, wiliness, and past atrocities.
What is the sense in being so proud about (falling) social development indices if we cannot respect eachother, and we forget basic human values in our day to day life? How can we claim to be cultured and refined if we cannot respect our women and treat them as equals? Why do we call ourselves 100% literate when we still cannot resist selfishly motivated political and religious influences?
Would we prefer to continue to wag the dog?
Read more!
This blog is only a small initiative against the shackles that are holding us back from making advances as a community, state, and therefore, the nation. But I also want to clarify that this is only a blog (atleast as of now) that wishes to expose these lackings and issues, and discuss and debate them in a constructive way, so that it creates awareness, and hopefully inspires people to change or act proactively to foster change. So for people who ask, what is this blog doing besides "talking" about change and the negative issues, I have only one thing to say: I sincerely hope this blog and our collective efforts will make us ask the question, "what can WE do?" some day very soon.
But for now, as long as people are reading and thinking about whats written here, I consider this blog is a success. What this blog will lead to, and how we can collectively make changes, is the next step. But before we draw action plans and try to influence policies more vehemently, we need to unite and make sure that the majority of the people have a common vision and inspiration for our state. We need to ensure that our mindsets change. Development and progress is not just about industries and infrastructure, but its about civility and character too. You and I still may not be able to influence the entire state. But we can influence our neighbours, our relatives, our co-workers, our local rickshaw driver, or the local shopkeeper. Thats something we can do.
One of our biggest challenge and the main factor that hampers the progress of the state is our political interference and polarization. I dont know how long it will take for our "100% literate" people to understand this basic fact. It is evident in our day to day life how deeply and adversely this has affected us and ruined ourselves. Whether its the criminal who gets away with the crime from the police or its one of us wriggling out of a traffic offence, or the dispute between students getting settled in a group clash, the political influece and the wielding (and misuse) of power backed by politicians is very clear.
Ofcourse, we need politics and politicians for running the state and governance. But thats where it should end. We should eliminate politics and political interference in areas such as religion, education, judiciary, and in particular our own civility and conduct. I think in general we, especially the youth, are disillusioned by baseless ideologies fuelled by too much politicization. If that ends, things will begin to look much greener again.
In the movie Rang De Basanti, there is a character Laxman Pandey (played by Atul Kulkarni) who blindly believes in the political ideologies of the party, and unknowingly becomes their best tool for selfish and communal activities. It took a great awakening for him to realize how flawed the politicians are and how empty and hollow the ideologies he was made to believe in were compared to reality. We need such an awakening in Kerala.
We actually need politicians and leaders who are educated and qualified for this perception against politicians to change, and politics to become a mainstream and dignified path that people who are truly dedicated can take. It may be oft-repeated, but in a world where we insist on minimum educational qualifications even for posts such as peons and aids, how can we allow uneducated people with dubious backgrounds rule our state(s) and imagine that they will ever take us forward? This is a very important thing that each of us need to consider and work towards collectively. Do we really need politicians who get selected on the basis of their crime records, wiliness, and past atrocities.
What is the sense in being so proud about (falling) social development indices if we cannot respect eachother, and we forget basic human values in our day to day life? How can we claim to be cultured and refined if we cannot respect our women and treat them as equals? Why do we call ourselves 100% literate when we still cannot resist selfishly motivated political and religious influences?
Would we prefer to continue to wag the dog?
Read more!
Thursday, October 02, 2008
The Greatly Inflated Mallu Ego
Today i saw an ad on a malayalam television channel about a vegetarian curry powder from an apparently well-known company in Kerala. The theme of the ad was about how other companies are mixing "non-vegetarian" extracts to make their vegetarian products more tastier, and how only this company's products are pure and tasty.
The concept brought to my mind a very infamous characteristic of us malayalis, one that we cannot really be proud of. Many people have related the "crabs in the can" theme to malayalis. And in some aspects its strikingly true. We have this nasty habit of trying to "look" better by putting others down. Instead of focusing on our own deficiencies (at least the ones that are correctable) and trying to improve ourselves, we always expose the flaws of other people, and then try to look relatively better of (or probably console ourselves).
While our politicians are the biggest trendsetters for this sort of trashy attitude, it seems to have caught on with the people in general as well. It is this same false prestige that leads to so many of our woes, including the deeply instilled sense of casteism, communal divisions, and gender inequalities.
Some of the comments to posts on this blog also point towards this characteristic. You can see scores of comments about how Kerala is better than Bihar and UP in many aspects. When we talk about how malayalis mistreat women, we dismiss it by talking about Delhi. If its about hartals, we see comments about the farmers strike in France. If we talk about personal freedom, we get comments comparing ourselves to Iraq and how better off we are. We try to focus on all the ills and troubles of everyone else, and try to cover up our defects, while we, as a state, sink further down.
I remember a forum on development in Trivandrum, where almost for a year people celebrated the widening and beautification of a half-a-kilometer stretch of road in the city, and termed it as the "model road". Every day there would be pictures of that stretch from various angles. And alongside that there would be bitter comments about how Kochi roads are congested and pathetic, which made for greater celebration.
I think this is a very laughable way to look at ourselves, while we gloat ourselves claiming to be 100% literate (which itself is a very silly claim in my opinion!) and the malayali culture being so superior to everybody else. I think this false sense of pride and inflated ego really holds us back from progress, and is one of the biggest reasons why we get stuck in time.
Agreed we have a great culture and tradition, but it should not be something we hold on to obsessively and bring ourselves down by disallowing change and fresher perspectives.
Thanks to Silverine for this link. Absolutely classical malluism.
Read more!
The concept brought to my mind a very infamous characteristic of us malayalis, one that we cannot really be proud of. Many people have related the "crabs in the can" theme to malayalis. And in some aspects its strikingly true. We have this nasty habit of trying to "look" better by putting others down. Instead of focusing on our own deficiencies (at least the ones that are correctable) and trying to improve ourselves, we always expose the flaws of other people, and then try to look relatively better of (or probably console ourselves).
While our politicians are the biggest trendsetters for this sort of trashy attitude, it seems to have caught on with the people in general as well. It is this same false prestige that leads to so many of our woes, including the deeply instilled sense of casteism, communal divisions, and gender inequalities.
Some of the comments to posts on this blog also point towards this characteristic. You can see scores of comments about how Kerala is better than Bihar and UP in many aspects. When we talk about how malayalis mistreat women, we dismiss it by talking about Delhi. If its about hartals, we see comments about the farmers strike in France. If we talk about personal freedom, we get comments comparing ourselves to Iraq and how better off we are. We try to focus on all the ills and troubles of everyone else, and try to cover up our defects, while we, as a state, sink further down.
I remember a forum on development in Trivandrum, where almost for a year people celebrated the widening and beautification of a half-a-kilometer stretch of road in the city, and termed it as the "model road". Every day there would be pictures of that stretch from various angles. And alongside that there would be bitter comments about how Kochi roads are congested and pathetic, which made for greater celebration.
I think this is a very laughable way to look at ourselves, while we gloat ourselves claiming to be 100% literate (which itself is a very silly claim in my opinion!) and the malayali culture being so superior to everybody else. I think this false sense of pride and inflated ego really holds us back from progress, and is one of the biggest reasons why we get stuck in time.
Agreed we have a great culture and tradition, but it should not be something we hold on to obsessively and bring ourselves down by disallowing change and fresher perspectives.
Thanks to Silverine for this link. Absolutely classical malluism.
Read more!
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