Imagine this: A flyover from one end of a city in our state to its other end, nearly 5 kilometers. And each kilometer will cost only Rs 100 crores, going by a quick, baseless, mental calculation! First reaction: Crazy! Afterthought: (elections approaching..hmmm) Brilliant..we will consider it..and make our city better than heaven. (clap, clap, clap!) Truly..imagine being able to ride above all the potholes, kudi-vellam padhathis, processions, bandhs, arches and stone throwing. But wait..isnt another flyover in the city still under construction, though it was started many, many years ago..and it was just under half a kilometer. People say it is touted to be the longest flyover in the world. Longest in terms of time taken to complete. Indeed. How long will we the people play donkeys for our netas?
Jokes apart, it is not the concept that is so absurd (vertical elevations, both for roads and buildings, and not horizontal widening and construction, is what our state needs given the density) but only the way in which our netas trivializing development. If they had 500 crores of the tax payers money to spare, there are many areas within the capital city itself that require smaller flyovers and subways. A friend was explaining how the Medical College-Ulloor road in the city, is one of the most congested areas in the city. Patients wanting to reach the Med Coll Hospital, RCC, SCT etc (all premier healthcare institutions treating lakhs of patients) are suffering more than anyone else, with traffic blocks and what not! Truly all this talk about development and lack of will or initiative to implement anything is the bane of our state. We have to criticize and isolate and highlight these issues. Otherwise, if we sit applauding and cherishing eveyrthing, these absurdities will continue forever! I am sure we dont want to end up like a bunch of fools standing in front of our netas while they get garlanded, even if not in Rs 1000 notes, for their stupidity.
Camera in the ladies' toilet..Priests abusing minors. We will look into the matter. But glad that frustrated Kerala is getting stung for a change. "Naadan bombu" inside a KF flight? Good Lord. I suppose we are making progress after all. "Quotation" walas are probably doing interstate contracts these days? We will look into the matter. Corruption in every ministry and department? Really? We will look into the matter.
To B or not to B? That was the question for Kerala Tourism. Finally it was not to B, all because of Modi. But the good news for Tourism was that the Golden Chariot express arrived in the state. Supposedly a wonderful experience, and something our state should also consider. And kudos to the tourism minister for promoting adventure beach sports, and that too by parasailing himself.
Finally, a Kerala IPL team! What a reason to be proud about! Congrats to all those who made this possible and now we have our own team to root for next year! That the team is "based in Kochi" was reason enough for ruffling the feathers of "Keralites" in another city - why are we not surprised eh? I wonder when our friends will realize that we will make progress only the day we trash our pettiness and arrogance, and also leave behind people who have only wily political motives rather than broadmindedness, will, initiative, and a real interest in the nation and our state. Are we going to look back at Vizhinjam, Expressways, Smart Cities and everything else, even decades later and still listen to our netas proclaim feasibility studies and consultancies? Hopefully not!
Excerpts from a discussion forum by progressive youth (PY) in our state:
PY1 from City1: "Thalle IPL kochikkaru kondu poyadeee." (Translation- Mother! Kochi folks have got the IPL team)
PY2 from City 2: "Poda, Kondupoyi PUZHUNGI thinnu." (Translation - Go man..Take it (the IPL team), steam it and eat it")
Ah..Another day in God's own paradiso.
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THE 'SAVE KERALA' INITIATIVE
Showing posts with label Kerala This Week. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kerala This Week. Show all posts
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Sunday, February 28, 2010
Kerala This Week Ver 5.03, 2010
Our state got 9 new trains, got itself included in several new train routes, and a sanction for a new coach factory. Yet, there was no stopping the usual protests, and crying for sympathy on being ignored. Wonder if we can really accommodate more trains? But no harm in asking for more and complaining, especially when we get everything for free. There were also complaints about Kerala being kept out of the Freight Corridor. Brings back memories of when we were left out of the Golden Quadrilateral, perhaps due to our own indecision and inabilities. But then, remember that we were offered central assistance for the estimated Rs.6400 crore North South corridor many years ago, but we are still deciding whether it should be called a "byepass" (if done by lefties) or an expressway (if the righties have their way). Having such an excellent roadline would have eased our rail demands certainly, as well as reduced the accidents on our existing highways. But then we are a state running on political mileage, and have no great consideration for economics or such logic.
The response was same for the nation's budget as well. Opposition political parties were united in talking down the budget and its allocations, but most non-political bodies realized that the budget was very equally based for all financial classes, and the policies were made for taking India to the future, rather than for temporary applause, as is the usual case. And considering the recessionary times, the PM and his team needs a good applause.
Somebody else needs applause. The women of Kerala for bearing the sun, heat, chain-snatchers, and eve-teasers, and turning out in lakhs to offer Pongala - here is an interesting read. A record estimated 3 lakhs women came out to pray for their families and a blessed married life. More power to our women! And kudos to the district administration for keeping the day relatively safe and peaceful, barring random incidents of hooliganism and theft. Lets hope some of our men also take a cue and do something more productive than getting drunk so often and being so happily unemployed.
Scientists from the state have discovered a plant extract which can mimick the effects of viagra, and the plant is relatively common across the state. Well, lets hope it is going to be on sale only on the basis of prescriptions when it finally comes out!
Talking about dysfunction, err..depletion..it has been identified that the state's ground water is getting rapidly depleted. This despite chasing out Coke.
There was also another kind of depletion evident from the ongoing spat between malayalam cinema industry professionals and the poet who appeared as an, allegedly uninvited, "interlocutor". That the interlocutor stooped so low on television to foul mouth the superstar Mohan Lal, that too by using filthy language linking the star with an actress, and the audience clapping and rejoicing the thought, was evident of the more alarming depletion in civil standards of our state.
Meanwhile, instead of pouncing on our beloved MP, Tharoor, at every given opportunity, it will be wiser if our leaders first went back and referred to what the word "interlocutor" really means. And no points to the mainstream media as well for conveniently misinterpreting his statements to simply create controversy. It is amply evident from the statements that he never meant or invited anyone to mediate bi-party talks, but simply meant to convey our demands to Pakistan, just as we have always wanted other nations to put pressure on our neighbour.
It is wonderful that the Indian team has won their first match at the Hockey World Cup today against Pakistan. The vicotry has fired up the campaign for giving our heart to hockey again. Many of us certainly did. And great to see that the goalkeeper from Kerala did his share (with the help of the crossbar, more than once!) to see that there was just one goal against India. Dhak Dhak, Go!
Read more!
The response was same for the nation's budget as well. Opposition political parties were united in talking down the budget and its allocations, but most non-political bodies realized that the budget was very equally based for all financial classes, and the policies were made for taking India to the future, rather than for temporary applause, as is the usual case. And considering the recessionary times, the PM and his team needs a good applause.
Somebody else needs applause. The women of Kerala for bearing the sun, heat, chain-snatchers, and eve-teasers, and turning out in lakhs to offer Pongala - here is an interesting read. A record estimated 3 lakhs women came out to pray for their families and a blessed married life. More power to our women! And kudos to the district administration for keeping the day relatively safe and peaceful, barring random incidents of hooliganism and theft. Lets hope some of our men also take a cue and do something more productive than getting drunk so often and being so happily unemployed.
Scientists from the state have discovered a plant extract which can mimick the effects of viagra, and the plant is relatively common across the state. Well, lets hope it is going to be on sale only on the basis of prescriptions when it finally comes out!
Talking about dysfunction, err..depletion..it has been identified that the state's ground water is getting rapidly depleted. This despite chasing out Coke.
There was also another kind of depletion evident from the ongoing spat between malayalam cinema industry professionals and the poet who appeared as an, allegedly uninvited, "interlocutor". That the interlocutor stooped so low on television to foul mouth the superstar Mohan Lal, that too by using filthy language linking the star with an actress, and the audience clapping and rejoicing the thought, was evident of the more alarming depletion in civil standards of our state.
Meanwhile, instead of pouncing on our beloved MP, Tharoor, at every given opportunity, it will be wiser if our leaders first went back and referred to what the word "interlocutor" really means. And no points to the mainstream media as well for conveniently misinterpreting his statements to simply create controversy. It is amply evident from the statements that he never meant or invited anyone to mediate bi-party talks, but simply meant to convey our demands to Pakistan, just as we have always wanted other nations to put pressure on our neighbour.
It is wonderful that the Indian team has won their first match at the Hockey World Cup today against Pakistan. The vicotry has fired up the campaign for giving our heart to hockey again. Many of us certainly did. And great to see that the goalkeeper from Kerala did his share (with the help of the crossbar, more than once!) to see that there was just one goal against India. Dhak Dhak, Go!
Read more!
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Kerala This Week Ver 5.02, 2010
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!
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!
Wednesday, February 03, 2010
Kerala This Week Ver 5.01, 2010
As always, the beginning of the year is an opportunity for us to think differently and make resolutions for a more happy, peaceful and progressive life. One would have got the same same feeling browsing through the events of the first few weeks of the year in Kerala. There was a pervasive sense of positivity creeping in slowly, even in governance and in the mindset. Whether this is in preparation for the elections happening in 2011 (all parties are now trying to project a progressive attitude and appear to be pro-development with the polls in mind - at least they started a bit early this time!) or a true understanding that only a progressive attitude can save our little "heaven" does not matter as long as it sustains.
It all began with the honorable Prime Minister of India visiting the Trivandrum to inaugurate the 97th Indian Science Congress. It was wonderful to see this great person in the city, delivering his speech filled with his vision and aspirations for the nation. What would we have done without a leader like him? Special attention to the code of conduct he has released for our minister babus! Thats a great start! Our CM also needs special appreciation for his speech delivered in good articulate English and good style, appropriate for such an international gathering of over 7000 people. The presence of the flamboyant MP of Trivandrum was additional inspiration for the gathering. Altogether there was so much positivity and a real feeling that we can build the nation together.
Well let us hope that the feeling and spirit does not go down, and we can really embrace change. There is a lot of dirt that has accumulated and there needs to be a lot of extra work to stem the rot, get ourselves out of the pit, wash away the stink and clean up, before we actually get on with real progress.
Talking of dirt and stink, I cannot fathom whats happening in our good old Bombay. To say Mumbai is only for Maharashtrians is anti-national and fanatic. And to think it is being done (and supported) for the sake of power and politics shows how dirty the system has become. Special kudos to Mukesh Ambani (not for his company's style of functioning), Shah Rukh Khan (not a fan of his general attitude or acting) and Sachin Tendulkar for being bold enough to speak out against these polarizations. It is obvious that if such voices are not heard and Maharashtra does go the regional way, the commercial and business establishments will soon pull out and move to other cosmopolitain cities. Jobs, money, and gains made over decades will go waste. But what do they care really?
Back in Kerala, the Battle for Munnar has started again and people are joining sides again to fight over government land. One cannot but wonder who answers for the crores of property so easily destroyed last time and what good use was done with the land "recovered" such ways? And if, as they now say, there are fresh encroachments and constructions, then what was the whole initiative about in the first place? Now that the elections are here, we can only sit back and say "Let the games begin".
During the Nishagandhi Festival held recently in the capital city, most of the people were parking their cars and SUVs on the interlocking tiled, footpaths, which the corporation apparently spent lakhs to develop. The policemen on duty were also actually giving directions for these cars to be parked properly so that more cars could be accommodated on the footpath! This is despite the fact that the location has the best parking facilities in the city in and around the palace area, and people need to walk just around 100 metres from these parking spots to the venue.
A recent report from a reputed research center says that the Central Government pumps in nearly Rs 275 crores to the school education sector in Kerala. But that nearly 3661 government schools in Kerala are unviable, and that more parents are opting to send their children to private schools for education. This is a no brainer considering that our politicians have let politics ruin even our schools in Kerala, allowing political party youth wings take over the school campuses, and adding to it is the stagnant, jurassic era syllabus, which does not prepare our kids for tomorrow. But instead, our "analysts" have painted this as Kerala's "Love for English" and also attributed "low fertility" as the underlying cause! Putting it like that ensures that nobody, particularly our rulers, understands anything and so "Aal is well". But every time one sees a school kid, there is an overpowering sense of hope for tomorrow and a genuine promise that at least they will be different. Let us make sure we do everything to ensure that.
Read more!
It all began with the honorable Prime Minister of India visiting the Trivandrum to inaugurate the 97th Indian Science Congress. It was wonderful to see this great person in the city, delivering his speech filled with his vision and aspirations for the nation. What would we have done without a leader like him? Special attention to the code of conduct he has released for our minister babus! Thats a great start! Our CM also needs special appreciation for his speech delivered in good articulate English and good style, appropriate for such an international gathering of over 7000 people. The presence of the flamboyant MP of Trivandrum was additional inspiration for the gathering. Altogether there was so much positivity and a real feeling that we can build the nation together.
Well let us hope that the feeling and spirit does not go down, and we can really embrace change. There is a lot of dirt that has accumulated and there needs to be a lot of extra work to stem the rot, get ourselves out of the pit, wash away the stink and clean up, before we actually get on with real progress.
Talking of dirt and stink, I cannot fathom whats happening in our good old Bombay. To say Mumbai is only for Maharashtrians is anti-national and fanatic. And to think it is being done (and supported) for the sake of power and politics shows how dirty the system has become. Special kudos to Mukesh Ambani (not for his company's style of functioning), Shah Rukh Khan (not a fan of his general attitude or acting) and Sachin Tendulkar for being bold enough to speak out against these polarizations. It is obvious that if such voices are not heard and Maharashtra does go the regional way, the commercial and business establishments will soon pull out and move to other cosmopolitain cities. Jobs, money, and gains made over decades will go waste. But what do they care really?
Back in Kerala, the Battle for Munnar has started again and people are joining sides again to fight over government land. One cannot but wonder who answers for the crores of property so easily destroyed last time and what good use was done with the land "recovered" such ways? And if, as they now say, there are fresh encroachments and constructions, then what was the whole initiative about in the first place? Now that the elections are here, we can only sit back and say "Let the games begin".
During the Nishagandhi Festival held recently in the capital city, most of the people were parking their cars and SUVs on the interlocking tiled, footpaths, which the corporation apparently spent lakhs to develop. The policemen on duty were also actually giving directions for these cars to be parked properly so that more cars could be accommodated on the footpath! This is despite the fact that the location has the best parking facilities in the city in and around the palace area, and people need to walk just around 100 metres from these parking spots to the venue.
A recent report from a reputed research center says that the Central Government pumps in nearly Rs 275 crores to the school education sector in Kerala. But that nearly 3661 government schools in Kerala are unviable, and that more parents are opting to send their children to private schools for education. This is a no brainer considering that our politicians have let politics ruin even our schools in Kerala, allowing political party youth wings take over the school campuses, and adding to it is the stagnant, jurassic era syllabus, which does not prepare our kids for tomorrow. But instead, our "analysts" have painted this as Kerala's "Love for English" and also attributed "low fertility" as the underlying cause! Putting it like that ensures that nobody, particularly our rulers, understands anything and so "Aal is well". But every time one sees a school kid, there is an overpowering sense of hope for tomorrow and a genuine promise that at least they will be different. Let us make sure we do everything to ensure that.
Read more!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Kerala This Week, Ver 4.01, 2009
Imagine this. If you look at most of the project announcements in Kerala, you can see a pattern. First build a hype around a project (of course, most of them are genuine and much needed for the state to progress) and then assign a consultant to study the feasibility for a few hundred crores. Then form an governmental agency, which sounds like FINKLE, KINRA, TINKA, DINKA, KELTA, ALKEL, VIZ, BIZ, KRIPPLE, etc., to co-ordinate the project with the contracting companies. The agency in all likelihood is powered by a politician and includes his pals in the board, usually with a dummy to head it. The agency then issues a few press releases and ads on the project along with tenders.
A site of several hundred acres is identified for the project (despite the fact that there is not enough land in Kerala!!). What we dont know is that before the site is announced publicly, the friends and benamis buy the land in and around all these areas. Afterwards the project is announced and a company is awarded the contract, possibly after a few rounds of kickbacks. The prices of the land around the site gets inflated, but people think it is a lottery, and buy the land thinking that once the project materializes, the land will be an asset for them. The project then gets tangled in several legal, political, and environmental messes since nobody cares about it anymore.
Some years ago, it was announced with much hoohaa, with our ministers and local leaders rampaging to get in front of the camera, that the 35th national games will be held in Trivandrum. Hundreds of crores of rupees were announced as "funds" to prepare for the cities (mainly the capital city) and towns for the event. A few weeks ago, the consultants who came for evaluating the states preparedness got a taste of the state of our state. A consultant fell from the roof of the capital's prized indoor stadium and died instantly while inspecting it. As for the other stadiums, most of them are used for party meetings and sangams, which is the biggest activity in our state. But that doesnt stop our comedians from announcing bigger dreams and siphoning off more funds.
When our present rulers came into power, the first thing they did was release hundreds of friendly murderers, goons and thieves from jails all over the state. Now that they have done their job well and people are literally looted and beaten up, and the next elections are coming soon, the de-nerved (right from the spine) police has been asked to bring them back home, as if to show they have done such a wonderful job of it all. Little wonder then if the jails are saying "We are Full". But little do they know that we know who the real thieves are. Isnt that why our people coined the phrase "kallan kappalil" (translates almost into "thieves are in power in Kerala").
So let us not even get into the scams and prosecution imbroglios, fast spreading dengue/ chikungunya/ flu fevers in Kerala, and other such routine stuff. More interesting was to note that the monsoon has hit Kerala, and to coincide with it, the KSEB started maintenance work of its power generators in Idukki, the PWD and road authorities announced road repair and new road works, the inland waterway committee is meeting (not sure for what), the union leaders have agreed to let farmers use machines to reap whats left of the harvest, temporarily (until the floods pass and the next harvest) and someone said theres an airstrip being considered in munnar, kottayam, kollam, thrissur, wayanad, and tiruvalla. All international.
Let us see what happens after the rain.
Read more!
A site of several hundred acres is identified for the project (despite the fact that there is not enough land in Kerala!!). What we dont know is that before the site is announced publicly, the friends and benamis buy the land in and around all these areas. Afterwards the project is announced and a company is awarded the contract, possibly after a few rounds of kickbacks. The prices of the land around the site gets inflated, but people think it is a lottery, and buy the land thinking that once the project materializes, the land will be an asset for them. The project then gets tangled in several legal, political, and environmental messes since nobody cares about it anymore.
Some years ago, it was announced with much hoohaa, with our ministers and local leaders rampaging to get in front of the camera, that the 35th national games will be held in Trivandrum. Hundreds of crores of rupees were announced as "funds" to prepare for the cities (mainly the capital city) and towns for the event. A few weeks ago, the consultants who came for evaluating the states preparedness got a taste of the state of our state. A consultant fell from the roof of the capital's prized indoor stadium and died instantly while inspecting it. As for the other stadiums, most of them are used for party meetings and sangams, which is the biggest activity in our state. But that doesnt stop our comedians from announcing bigger dreams and siphoning off more funds.
When our present rulers came into power, the first thing they did was release hundreds of friendly murderers, goons and thieves from jails all over the state. Now that they have done their job well and people are literally looted and beaten up, and the next elections are coming soon, the de-nerved (right from the spine) police has been asked to bring them back home, as if to show they have done such a wonderful job of it all. Little wonder then if the jails are saying "We are Full". But little do they know that we know who the real thieves are. Isnt that why our people coined the phrase "kallan kappalil" (translates almost into "thieves are in power in Kerala").
So let us not even get into the scams and prosecution imbroglios, fast spreading dengue/ chikungunya/ flu fevers in Kerala, and other such routine stuff. More interesting was to note that the monsoon has hit Kerala, and to coincide with it, the KSEB started maintenance work of its power generators in Idukki, the PWD and road authorities announced road repair and new road works, the inland waterway committee is meeting (not sure for what), the union leaders have agreed to let farmers use machines to reap whats left of the harvest, temporarily (until the floods pass and the next harvest) and someone said theres an airstrip being considered in munnar, kottayam, kollam, thrissur, wayanad, and tiruvalla. All international.
Let us see what happens after the rain.
Read more!
Tuesday, February 03, 2009
Kerala This Week Ver 3.01, 2008
If you let it rot long enough, the stench will finally get to you. That is a lesson Kerala is learning, slowly, surely, and on a daily basis. The latest example is that - well, its actually today's example - a hardline, loyal party man had to finally call the spade from within his party, a spade, (and another spade, a monkey) giving the PB pre-poll jitters and sending the usually nagging lot to a huddle.
Whether it is due to his well-known rivalry against his arch rival within the party or a prelude to his almost certain exit with the image of a clean leader or actual respect for the constitution, the man stood up to refuse to politicize (and downplay) the charges of corruption levelled by the CBI against the communist party general secretary which includes siphoning off hundreds of crores of rupees in the pretext of getting us elecrticity and even a cancer therapy center. In any case, this single act requires appreciation, and kudos to the man for showing that he has a conscience (perhaps he discovered it a bit too late, or even searches for it selectively), but its something most of the other leaders, irrespective of the camp, appear to have lost forever.
While some of the party folks downplayed the corruption charges, most others childishly said its a conspiracy, blaming the central government and oppossition. Sadly, even some of the ministers criticized the CBI and said they will "deal with it politically", rather than legally. This is perhaps the saddest response any state can get, and even more painful is the fact that it reflects the state of Kerala today. If the people holding the highest positions of the government, supposed to uphold the constitution and ensure justice, respond this way, it is not suprising that the people of Kerala get no justice. It should not suprise us then why party workers rampage private and public property without second thought, party goons beat up police publicly, political leaders release criminals from jails by threatening cops. All this while the state rots.
If the UDF were in power today, and if these charges were against a member of the UDF or Congress, then all hell would have broken loose and the LDF party workers would have ensured that the government fell. But fortunately, or unfortunately, the UDF leaders appear to be less violent and are using the situation more as ammunition for the forthcoming elections. And rightfully so.
After hartal tourism and responsible tourism, now its the turn of paddy-field tourism. Students from Virginia, USA, landed in Kerala for a hands-on experience of traditional cultivation in the paddy fields of Kerala. May be a good idea, just in case we need people to work in our farms since all our hard working farmers are on the verge of suicide and the other lot are busy with party work. But if you are a party man and you have crores of money to invest, then we have better options such as entertainment parks, resorts, and even a "health and recreation center". The CPI-M, after "the successful launch of an amusement park in Kannur", under the banner of the Perinthalmanna Co-operative Health and Recreation Centre, is opening a Rs.40 crore center in 6.5 acres of land.
It also looks like the soothsayer's prediction of doomsday is finally nearing. It appears that the global economic crisis is forcing back Keralites from across the world back home, in hordes, even as the great professor is still working on the math, with some good help from the Planning Commission to make the numbers. While the people in Kerala are themselves struggling for even basics like water (the infamous Japan Bank for International Co-operation drinking water project has ensured that theres plenty of water on the roads from broken pipelines, but none for drinking still!), electricity (increasing power tarrifs and incessant power cuts and its not even summer), and making ends meet, wonder what is in store for us in the coming years.
Read more!
Whether it is due to his well-known rivalry against his arch rival within the party or a prelude to his almost certain exit with the image of a clean leader or actual respect for the constitution, the man stood up to refuse to politicize (and downplay) the charges of corruption levelled by the CBI against the communist party general secretary which includes siphoning off hundreds of crores of rupees in the pretext of getting us elecrticity and even a cancer therapy center. In any case, this single act requires appreciation, and kudos to the man for showing that he has a conscience (perhaps he discovered it a bit too late, or even searches for it selectively), but its something most of the other leaders, irrespective of the camp, appear to have lost forever.
While some of the party folks downplayed the corruption charges, most others childishly said its a conspiracy, blaming the central government and oppossition. Sadly, even some of the ministers criticized the CBI and said they will "deal with it politically", rather than legally. This is perhaps the saddest response any state can get, and even more painful is the fact that it reflects the state of Kerala today. If the people holding the highest positions of the government, supposed to uphold the constitution and ensure justice, respond this way, it is not suprising that the people of Kerala get no justice. It should not suprise us then why party workers rampage private and public property without second thought, party goons beat up police publicly, political leaders release criminals from jails by threatening cops. All this while the state rots.
If the UDF were in power today, and if these charges were against a member of the UDF or Congress, then all hell would have broken loose and the LDF party workers would have ensured that the government fell. But fortunately, or unfortunately, the UDF leaders appear to be less violent and are using the situation more as ammunition for the forthcoming elections. And rightfully so.
After hartal tourism and responsible tourism, now its the turn of paddy-field tourism. Students from Virginia, USA, landed in Kerala for a hands-on experience of traditional cultivation in the paddy fields of Kerala. May be a good idea, just in case we need people to work in our farms since all our hard working farmers are on the verge of suicide and the other lot are busy with party work. But if you are a party man and you have crores of money to invest, then we have better options such as entertainment parks, resorts, and even a "health and recreation center". The CPI-M, after "the successful launch of an amusement park in Kannur", under the banner of the Perinthalmanna Co-operative Health and Recreation Centre, is opening a Rs.40 crore center in 6.5 acres of land.
It also looks like the soothsayer's prediction of doomsday is finally nearing. It appears that the global economic crisis is forcing back Keralites from across the world back home, in hordes, even as the great professor is still working on the math, with some good help from the Planning Commission to make the numbers. While the people in Kerala are themselves struggling for even basics like water (the infamous Japan Bank for International Co-operation drinking water project has ensured that theres plenty of water on the roads from broken pipelines, but none for drinking still!), electricity (increasing power tarrifs and incessant power cuts and its not even summer), and making ends meet, wonder what is in store for us in the coming years.
Read more!
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Kerala This Week Ver 2.06, 2008
Kerala is rotting. Blind loyalists have tried to keep the stench within the state under torn rose colored blankets sold under the brand name, God's Own Country, and hypocrites always blew bubbles (you must surely remember at least the big ones - "we are the only 100% literate state, look at Bihar, haha!"; "our healthcare system, nothing to beat it!, we are all fit..what diabetes? obesity??"; "our roads are so good, who needs an expressway? highway tolls?! the ones we have now are well managed by our party men, we dont need anyone else looting our people"; "women's empowerment? our women dont need it, they are happy being slaves and locked-up housewives, and they are fine about the occasional groping and molesting") while pretending we are the best and all is well.
But the bubbles have all almost burst, and the blankets cannot cover the nakedness of bad governance and uncivilized living anymore. The foul smell has become unbearable and global. Its almost as if the state and its people have caught some dreaded infection.
They say politics stinks. Then Kerala politics must be the most septic and the foulest of it all. After the chief minister's "doggone" comments on national television, he suspended an IAS officer who came to air his own office, filled with the stink of infighting, insubordinate secretaries (allegedly), and gathering moss. The home ministry, after a busy period of shielding themselves over recent USA trips and its motives, is sighing in relief after Mumbai. Atleast nobody is worried about the thugs and criminals in Kerala who are looting, murdering, and beating up people on a daily basis in front of a muted police force (reminds me, hope you read about the fight between an inspector and a constable in the commando unit, doing nothing but protecting our "VIP" leaders, in Trivandrum - no they didnt have pistols or automatics with them, luckily, instead they bit eachother to settle scores! Why do we have such a title for this blog, anyway).
The sports ministry informed that the National Games, intially planned to be held in Trivandrum, will be spread over all the 14 districts. Ola-madal winners (Kerala's highest civilian honor) from all party units are being asked to form panchayat level sports councils. Electricity ministry surfaces occasionally to increase power rates and announce further power-cuts. The transport ministry must have been in for a rude shock when the recent stats revealed that Kerala was a topper for accidents, not to mention the tragedy in Kannur when children were mauled by a drunk driver. The transport ministry allegedly shrugged off all responsibility and said that they are not to blame since the surface transport affairs has been taken over by the inland water transport ministry officials, since almost all the roads have been filled with enough potholes to allow boats. Almost all the other ministries are quiet since our industries, agriculture, fisheries, IT, ports, etc are..are "not doing so well", to put it mildly.
Oh wait..Do we have an opposition party in our state? No activity there either.
At the other end, the "saadharanakaran", in whose name blood is shed and wars are fought (sob,sob!), now alleges that the buffoons you and I elected (mostly by not voting) are doing nothing but filling their own coffers (either directly or through their children and in-laws).
Read more!
But the bubbles have all almost burst, and the blankets cannot cover the nakedness of bad governance and uncivilized living anymore. The foul smell has become unbearable and global. Its almost as if the state and its people have caught some dreaded infection.
They say politics stinks. Then Kerala politics must be the most septic and the foulest of it all. After the chief minister's "doggone" comments on national television, he suspended an IAS officer who came to air his own office, filled with the stink of infighting, insubordinate secretaries (allegedly), and gathering moss. The home ministry, after a busy period of shielding themselves over recent USA trips and its motives, is sighing in relief after Mumbai. Atleast nobody is worried about the thugs and criminals in Kerala who are looting, murdering, and beating up people on a daily basis in front of a muted police force (reminds me, hope you read about the fight between an inspector and a constable in the commando unit, doing nothing but protecting our "VIP" leaders, in Trivandrum - no they didnt have pistols or automatics with them, luckily, instead they bit eachother to settle scores! Why do we have such a title for this blog, anyway).
The sports ministry informed that the National Games, intially planned to be held in Trivandrum, will be spread over all the 14 districts. Ola-madal winners (Kerala's highest civilian honor) from all party units are being asked to form panchayat level sports councils. Electricity ministry surfaces occasionally to increase power rates and announce further power-cuts. The transport ministry must have been in for a rude shock when the recent stats revealed that Kerala was a topper for accidents, not to mention the tragedy in Kannur when children were mauled by a drunk driver. The transport ministry allegedly shrugged off all responsibility and said that they are not to blame since the surface transport affairs has been taken over by the inland water transport ministry officials, since almost all the roads have been filled with enough potholes to allow boats. Almost all the other ministries are quiet since our industries, agriculture, fisheries, IT, ports, etc are..are "not doing so well", to put it mildly.
Oh wait..Do we have an opposition party in our state? No activity there either.
At the other end, the "saadharanakaran", in whose name blood is shed and wars are fought (sob,sob!), now alleges that the buffoons you and I elected (mostly by not voting) are doing nothing but filling their own coffers (either directly or through their children and in-laws).
Read more!
Tuesday, November 04, 2008
Kerala This Week Ver 2.05, 2008
After a few relatively interference-free years, the much hyped-about IT growth in Kerala is all set to come to a halt. After resisting trade unions and veiled attempts from other looters for the last few years, just as things were beginning to look brighter for Kerala's IT exports, trouble has surfaced for IT companies who have invested in the state in the form of the much-dreaded labour politics. Latching onto the dismissal of a few employees (apparently for under-performance) from one of Kerala's largest IT companies and one that is based in Kerala as well (we would have thought such companies were our pride and should have been promoted and encouraged!), the cancerous political system in Kerala has successfully breached the protective layer that allowed a fair amount of growth and prosperity in the last few years.
Politicians and ministers jumped on to this obviously private matter of the company and issued enquiry orders and investigations, and call for action against private companies. On television, one notable personality, while spewing venom against private companies, stated "This is Kerala!". Yes, this is Kerala dear friends. Dont invest here or think you can work and earn your living comfortably here. We, the jobless, are here to loot from you, in the name of the poor and downtrodden. We dont differentiate between industries and sectors. If you work and prosper, we need a share of it. So much for Smart City, Technocity, and Technopark, and IT parks in all the districts. Now we can conduct party meetings in all these places.
A little further south of the capital, Trivandrum, another mega-project that was hyped and celebrated is gathering dust. After blaming everyone from USA to China, and the central ministry to the Tamil Nadu government initially for lack of clearances and approvals for the Vizhinjam International Port, now that we have the green signals from all quarters, we are faced with our biggest enemy: our own politicians. The tempo behind the project is slowly waning, and the project is being opposed by the local political outfits disguised as "protectors of the downtrodden", trying to fit in their own interests.
The lessons to learn are repeated almost every week. The politicians spoiled our own harvest and let crops worth crores get damaged while they played their cards in the name of the workers. Later, as the workers and the people of Kerala suffered, they went on a begging tour to the center asking for more support and to stop the negligence. Wonder when the people will ever wish that our own politicians stopped neglecting the state first. The irony didnt end there. Ending a week long protest against USA and after several rounds of "West-bashing", some of our top ministers are on an international trip to find investors willing to put their money in Kerala. And no points for guessing where. The West, ofcourse, and specifically, the United States of America.
While they are away, crime and violence continues unabated and Keralites were being hauled up from across the country for terror-connections. A section of the top police officials had more important things to attend to, and were reportedly gathering at party offices and meeting political godfathers to plan a strategy for the next elections, and how they can connive.
Read more!
Politicians and ministers jumped on to this obviously private matter of the company and issued enquiry orders and investigations, and call for action against private companies. On television, one notable personality, while spewing venom against private companies, stated "This is Kerala!". Yes, this is Kerala dear friends. Dont invest here or think you can work and earn your living comfortably here. We, the jobless, are here to loot from you, in the name of the poor and downtrodden. We dont differentiate between industries and sectors. If you work and prosper, we need a share of it. So much for Smart City, Technocity, and Technopark, and IT parks in all the districts. Now we can conduct party meetings in all these places.
A little further south of the capital, Trivandrum, another mega-project that was hyped and celebrated is gathering dust. After blaming everyone from USA to China, and the central ministry to the Tamil Nadu government initially for lack of clearances and approvals for the Vizhinjam International Port, now that we have the green signals from all quarters, we are faced with our biggest enemy: our own politicians. The tempo behind the project is slowly waning, and the project is being opposed by the local political outfits disguised as "protectors of the downtrodden", trying to fit in their own interests.
The lessons to learn are repeated almost every week. The politicians spoiled our own harvest and let crops worth crores get damaged while they played their cards in the name of the workers. Later, as the workers and the people of Kerala suffered, they went on a begging tour to the center asking for more support and to stop the negligence. Wonder when the people will ever wish that our own politicians stopped neglecting the state first. The irony didnt end there. Ending a week long protest against USA and after several rounds of "West-bashing", some of our top ministers are on an international trip to find investors willing to put their money in Kerala. And no points for guessing where. The West, ofcourse, and specifically, the United States of America.
While they are away, crime and violence continues unabated and Keralites were being hauled up from across the country for terror-connections. A section of the top police officials had more important things to attend to, and were reportedly gathering at party offices and meeting political godfathers to plan a strategy for the next elections, and how they can connive.
Read more!
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Kerala This Week Ver 2.04, 2008
A very ardent fan of this blog wished us all Onam in a very funny but really brilliant manner "sHAPPYl pONAM". But nothing could have been so close to the truth. Mallu brethren gulped down Rs.250 crores worth of alcohol during the week of fun, frolic, and celebration, before getting on with their routine eve-teasing, scuffles, pick-pocketing, and groping.
I personally was witness to the antics of the inebriated average malayali scum-bags. I ran into several drunk motorists creating havoc on the roads, bikers racing with their stands scraping the road to create sparks and scare other motorists, third-rate punks hurling abuse at women. The list is endless. Sadly, I could not the see the Onam spirit on the streets that I have seen as a child. I could barely see families enjoying themselves on the roads. Most people I talked to said it was not safe these days, and all of them preferred to stay indoors and "enjoy the peace".
Ironicaly, earlier this week, Kerala won the IBN channel sponsored Diamond State Awards title for infrastructure, womens' empowerment, health services and education system. Come to think of it, all the above are taking a big toll in Kerala and those are the very sectors worst affected in Kerala over the last decade or so. I guess the jury had very little to choose from, and were left between the devil and the deep sea.
After fighting for the Vizhinjam port for over 2 decades and trying to hog praises, now that the project is approved, the politicians are now trying to oppose the project saying that the land acquistion is illegal and will be resisted at all cost. I guess the uneducated scums thought that a port for ships would come up on the sea and will not need any land. Talk about 100% literacy!
There is so much more to report from little ol' Kerala. But I decided to cut it short since I have a very interesting question about Keralites for our readers. You can post your answer as a comment. Lets see how many of you know our land and people well enough to get it right.
Where is the only place in the world that a malayali will stand in a queue?
(Oops..since most malayalis will not know what a queue means - queue is a line of waiting people)
Read more!
I personally was witness to the antics of the inebriated average malayali scum-bags. I ran into several drunk motorists creating havoc on the roads, bikers racing with their stands scraping the road to create sparks and scare other motorists, third-rate punks hurling abuse at women. The list is endless. Sadly, I could not the see the Onam spirit on the streets that I have seen as a child. I could barely see families enjoying themselves on the roads. Most people I talked to said it was not safe these days, and all of them preferred to stay indoors and "enjoy the peace".
Ironicaly, earlier this week, Kerala won the IBN channel sponsored Diamond State Awards title for infrastructure, womens' empowerment, health services and education system. Come to think of it, all the above are taking a big toll in Kerala and those are the very sectors worst affected in Kerala over the last decade or so. I guess the jury had very little to choose from, and were left between the devil and the deep sea.
After fighting for the Vizhinjam port for over 2 decades and trying to hog praises, now that the project is approved, the politicians are now trying to oppose the project saying that the land acquistion is illegal and will be resisted at all cost. I guess the uneducated scums thought that a port for ships would come up on the sea and will not need any land. Talk about 100% literacy!
There is so much more to report from little ol' Kerala. But I decided to cut it short since I have a very interesting question about Keralites for our readers. You can post your answer as a comment. Lets see how many of you know our land and people well enough to get it right.
Where is the only place in the world that a malayali will stand in a queue?
(Oops..since most malayalis will not know what a queue means - queue is a line of waiting people)
Read more!
Monday, August 25, 2008
Kerala This Week, Ver 2.03, 2008
So last week we had the 82nd hartal in 2008 (remember we are only in August), thanks to "issues" such as inflation and other central government policies. On television, the hartal supporters from Kerala went on record to say that they were not sure what it was for. A few citizens guessed it must be against the "textbook", while expressing their ire against the frequent strikes disrupting their lives and livelihood.
The day after the strike, the media went on to report about how it paralyzed the state. Mind you, life in most of the other states went on just like any other day and hardly anyone even realized there was a hartal call in Delhi or Bangalore. Some of the media, while campaigning against hartals and strikes, do give adequate coverage to these political shows, giving them adequate publicity and mileage, and encouragement to continue with their gimmick. What with every political party running their own TV channel and newspaper/ magazine. And the average person here is jobless enough to view/read through the bull they air/write.
Most papers reported how some of the ministers from the state either "walked" or "rode on bikes" to reach their destination. They however forgot to mention that there were 2 police jeeps in front of the bike, and 3 behind, for "safety".
Most of the dailies also reported a particular story about how a mother whose child was admitted in the hospital could not travel to the child, and how the child died without the mother around. Pictures of the wailing mother were really heartbreaking, and so ironic when the papers carried pictures of politicians gleeing in joy since their hartal was a big "success".
Cornered, some of the politicians were asked what answer they have to give the grieving mother. One of them said that the mothers picture and "story" was just American Imperialism in action and that such people are out to undermine the "system". I have heard about heartless politicians, but these must be the cruellest and most venemous species ever.
Strike day also saw another regular but really worrisome feature in the state: Police becoming mute spectators. When the police tried to arrest a hartal mongerer who threw stones and damaged vehicles in the capital city, a bunch of protesters forcefully released the guy from the police jeep - that too in front of a larger number of cops. This is a regular thing in Kerala now, and I dont think anyone from any political party is in jail since they have all been released or acquitted by the government and their dutiful cops. For the amnesics, here is a recap of recent events (as reported by the press):
"The activists, who turned on the journalists covering their march to back the state government over a textbook row, were released last night after police pressed trivial charges against them"
"..Police and Student Federation activists clashed in front of the Armed Reserve Camp at Nandavanam on Wednesday evening. The violence occured ..when 32 activists, detained at the camp, attempted to escape from police custody. The trouble broke out when leaders led by the Mayor, and their district secretary, arrived at the camp gate and demanded that they be allowed to see the detained students." (The result? : the activists alleged that the police had `brutalised' the detained students and a police constable attached to the Nandavanam Armed Reserve camp, has been placed under suspension pending inquiry)
"The police have registered a case against district panchayat president, four others and 35 party workers for forcibly releasing a person who was taken into custody on charges of attacking a police personnel"
"Activists allegedly assaulted KSU state general secretary Ranjith Abraham in Kottayam. Ranjith, returning home after a KSU programme, was waylaid and hit on the head with an iron rod"
"During an party-sponsored agitation in Pathanamthitta recently, police took a district-level leader into custody. Activists stormed the police station and got their leader released."
"A leader of the ABVP, the student wing of the BJP, was attacked at Guruvayoor’s Sri Krishna College earlier this year after he defeated another party leader in the college union election. He was severely injured in one eye and had to be hospitalised."
I remember someone asking, why this blog was titled "Dog's Own Country"? Hope they are reading this post.
Onto something positive (on request!): Union Defence Minister and the State Industries Minister seem to be showing some success in rising about petty politics and bringing in investments to the state. After the Brahmos deal in Trivandrum, they worked together on another defence project in Kasargod. Kudos to them for whatever the deals are worth for the people of Kerala.
Kerala participated in the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, literally. The papers were replete with the news of the event at the "pakshi-koodu stay-d-yum". I couldnt help laughing at that. But my laughter turned to tears when I heard the title track of the hindi movie "God Tussi Great Ho" which goes " Gaaadu" "Gaadu". Quite sickening, even without seeing the movie and realizing how they have ruined 'Bruce Almighty'!
Read more!
The day after the strike, the media went on to report about how it paralyzed the state. Mind you, life in most of the other states went on just like any other day and hardly anyone even realized there was a hartal call in Delhi or Bangalore. Some of the media, while campaigning against hartals and strikes, do give adequate coverage to these political shows, giving them adequate publicity and mileage, and encouragement to continue with their gimmick. What with every political party running their own TV channel and newspaper/ magazine. And the average person here is jobless enough to view/read through the bull they air/write.
Most papers reported how some of the ministers from the state either "walked" or "rode on bikes" to reach their destination. They however forgot to mention that there were 2 police jeeps in front of the bike, and 3 behind, for "safety".
Most of the dailies also reported a particular story about how a mother whose child was admitted in the hospital could not travel to the child, and how the child died without the mother around. Pictures of the wailing mother were really heartbreaking, and so ironic when the papers carried pictures of politicians gleeing in joy since their hartal was a big "success".
Cornered, some of the politicians were asked what answer they have to give the grieving mother. One of them said that the mothers picture and "story" was just American Imperialism in action and that such people are out to undermine the "system". I have heard about heartless politicians, but these must be the cruellest and most venemous species ever.
Strike day also saw another regular but really worrisome feature in the state: Police becoming mute spectators. When the police tried to arrest a hartal mongerer who threw stones and damaged vehicles in the capital city, a bunch of protesters forcefully released the guy from the police jeep - that too in front of a larger number of cops. This is a regular thing in Kerala now, and I dont think anyone from any political party is in jail since they have all been released or acquitted by the government and their dutiful cops. For the amnesics, here is a recap of recent events (as reported by the press):
"The activists, who turned on the journalists covering their march to back the state government over a textbook row, were released last night after police pressed trivial charges against them"
"..Police and Student Federation activists clashed in front of the Armed Reserve Camp at Nandavanam on Wednesday evening. The violence occured ..when 32 activists, detained at the camp, attempted to escape from police custody. The trouble broke out when leaders led by the Mayor, and their district secretary, arrived at the camp gate and demanded that they be allowed to see the detained students." (The result? : the activists alleged that the police had `brutalised' the detained students and a police constable attached to the Nandavanam Armed Reserve camp, has been placed under suspension pending inquiry)
"The police have registered a case against district panchayat president, four others and 35 party workers for forcibly releasing a person who was taken into custody on charges of attacking a police personnel"
"Activists allegedly assaulted KSU state general secretary Ranjith Abraham in Kottayam. Ranjith, returning home after a KSU programme, was waylaid and hit on the head with an iron rod"
"During an party-sponsored agitation in Pathanamthitta recently, police took a district-level leader into custody. Activists stormed the police station and got their leader released."
"A leader of the ABVP, the student wing of the BJP, was attacked at Guruvayoor’s Sri Krishna College earlier this year after he defeated another party leader in the college union election. He was severely injured in one eye and had to be hospitalised."
I remember someone asking, why this blog was titled "Dog's Own Country"? Hope they are reading this post.
Onto something positive (on request!): Union Defence Minister and the State Industries Minister seem to be showing some success in rising about petty politics and bringing in investments to the state. After the Brahmos deal in Trivandrum, they worked together on another defence project in Kasargod. Kudos to them for whatever the deals are worth for the people of Kerala.
Kerala participated in the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, literally. The papers were replete with the news of the event at the "pakshi-koodu stay-d-yum". I couldnt help laughing at that. But my laughter turned to tears when I heard the title track of the hindi movie "God Tussi Great Ho" which goes " Gaaadu" "Gaadu". Quite sickening, even without seeing the movie and realizing how they have ruined 'Bruce Almighty'!
Read more!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Kerala This Week, Ver 2.02, 2008
I have heard that long ago, a Communist Government in Kerala, under the pretext of fighting feudalism and "muthalalis", declared that all paddy field should be owned by the workers, and went on to divide paddy fields. The result was that agriculture as an industry became very disorganized, failed to succeed in Kerala, and over the years many farmers have committed suicide and paddy fields have largely remained underutilized.
While the politicians continued to capture the heart of the workers by portraying that its all the fault of the rich and affluent farmers and ofcourse the opposition parties, decades later, the current rulers of Kerala are not far away from repeating the same kind of..shall we call it lack of sense? Or inability to govern intelligently? The current state of the farmers and the paddy fields is simplified for you very well here. But ofcourse, its all FOR the sake of the poor and needy people of Kerala.
More recently, our political leaders decided that their hard battles against the "rich and powerful" have yielded great results. Now that the poor are no more poor according to the communists, they have decided to take-over the Golf Club in Trivandrum - the rationale: its time that the sport is not limited to the affluent, and the poor and downtrodden should also get a chance to swing as well. But more importantly, the club will also be an ideal venue to host party meetings and a perfect party spot for district committee leaders and panchayat members to conduct their drinking binges. So why not?. Are we, their donkeys, ever going to protest?.
Well, I guess nobody would have protested, not even the impotent opposition parties, had it not been for the clumsy way in which the golf club take-over was attempted - once again displaying why our political leaders need to have minimum education, even if its just to do something really silly and atrocious.
The other "thing" thats keeping our leaders occupied and the people entertained is the "text-book issue". In their efforts to transform Kerala into a totally communist state, the leaders have decided to revise the state board textbooks and add chapters that highlight communist values, allegedly, so that the "next gen can grow up understanding the values better". But again, due to the lack of education, the guy in charge of executing the work didnt probably understand the difference between communism and communalism. That has set off a series of protests, hartals, battles, etc., between religious leaders, student leaders, and the political maestros of the state. Interestingly, nobody protested when our CM was, again allegedly, caricatured as a "father-figure", once again in a class V text book!
Picture Courtesy: Outlook India
Taking public-private partnership to a new low, the government has decided that we dont need Police in Kerala anymore. Instead the red brigade will administer their version of peace-keeping and ensure lawlessness. Even the commissioner will henceforth work according to their instructions, it seems. This applies to the press as well, while the "saadharankar" can watch and be entertained as usual.
Blaming the weatherman, once again, the electricity department and the KSEB have decided to re-introduce power-cuts in the state again. While the rest of the world has become educated enough to rely less on rains (including neighbours TN who harness even wind energy), 100% literate Kerala, along with its 100% illiterate political clan, are all set for darker days and nights. After all we dont have big factories or industries to run. In fact, the power-cuts will encourage our fastest growing industry - crime and theft.
Overall, we are in for the good times. Ofcourse, we asked for it, right?.
Read more!
While the politicians continued to capture the heart of the workers by portraying that its all the fault of the rich and affluent farmers and ofcourse the opposition parties, decades later, the current rulers of Kerala are not far away from repeating the same kind of..shall we call it lack of sense? Or inability to govern intelligently? The current state of the farmers and the paddy fields is simplified for you very well here. But ofcourse, its all FOR the sake of the poor and needy people of Kerala.
More recently, our political leaders decided that their hard battles against the "rich and powerful" have yielded great results. Now that the poor are no more poor according to the communists, they have decided to take-over the Golf Club in Trivandrum - the rationale: its time that the sport is not limited to the affluent, and the poor and downtrodden should also get a chance to swing as well. But more importantly, the club will also be an ideal venue to host party meetings and a perfect party spot for district committee leaders and panchayat members to conduct their drinking binges. So why not?. Are we, their donkeys, ever going to protest?.
Well, I guess nobody would have protested, not even the impotent opposition parties, had it not been for the clumsy way in which the golf club take-over was attempted - once again displaying why our political leaders need to have minimum education, even if its just to do something really silly and atrocious.
The other "thing" thats keeping our leaders occupied and the people entertained is the "text-book issue". In their efforts to transform Kerala into a totally communist state, the leaders have decided to revise the state board textbooks and add chapters that highlight communist values, allegedly, so that the "next gen can grow up understanding the values better". But again, due to the lack of education, the guy in charge of executing the work didnt probably understand the difference between communism and communalism. That has set off a series of protests, hartals, battles, etc., between religious leaders, student leaders, and the political maestros of the state. Interestingly, nobody protested when our CM was, again allegedly, caricatured as a "father-figure", once again in a class V text book!
Picture Courtesy: Outlook India
Taking public-private partnership to a new low, the government has decided that we dont need Police in Kerala anymore. Instead the red brigade will administer their version of peace-keeping and ensure lawlessness. Even the commissioner will henceforth work according to their instructions, it seems. This applies to the press as well, while the "saadharankar" can watch and be entertained as usual.
Blaming the weatherman, once again, the electricity department and the KSEB have decided to re-introduce power-cuts in the state again. While the rest of the world has become educated enough to rely less on rains (including neighbours TN who harness even wind energy), 100% literate Kerala, along with its 100% illiterate political clan, are all set for darker days and nights. After all we dont have big factories or industries to run. In fact, the power-cuts will encourage our fastest growing industry - crime and theft.
Overall, we are in for the good times. Ofcourse, we asked for it, right?.
Read more!
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Kerala This Week, Ver 2.01, 2008
Kerala has much to celebrate this season.
Summer rains are here, according to the Department of Meteorology and the guys there who always make predictions about the weather; and who have always got it wrong..Well, the summer rains are almost here, and will hopefully be a welcome end to the heat and humidity. Its also welcome since it will help the state clear the dumps of garbage on the streets as it floods the roads everywhere since we do not have a proper draingage system in Kerala, clear up piles of plastic in the canals and rivers, and also, with some help from the wind, bring down bad hoardings, old trees, and unsafe buildings. Of course, being the greedy malayali, we could wish the rain washes away all our scumbag politicians as well, but thats a bit too much to ask for, especially since you dont want them all accumulating in the sea, given our vast coastal line.
Rains will also be welcome by the Kerala Police. Based on my estimate (I swear I have done a proper physical verification when I travel), there are only 21 traffic policemen in Kerala (3 in Trivandrum, 5 in Kochi, 2 in Calicut, and one each in the remaining districts). But with the rain Gods arriving, the havoc on roads can be blamed on them. And the mad drivers of Kerala can continue to drive wrecklessly. The 21 cops can relax and take longer breaks in the nearby petty shop.
Talking about petty shops, Big Bazaar opened its second outlet amidst violence, protests, vandalism, and political victimization in Trivandrum - I happened to be unfortunate enough to be in the capital on opening night. The Corporation officials (a bunch who are around to fleece anyone residing in the city) raided Big Bazaar on its inaugural day, right after a party youth outfit goons rampaged the store, and sealed the store claiming that the store was selling "pappads" without license. The store however managed to "convince" the officials later that night, and also produced court orders in their favor. The people of Trivandrum appear to have welcome the freshness of the retail chains and all roads seem to lead to Big Bazaar.
Which kind of creates another problem. All roads, unfortunately, include the roads taken by "machoos"( a new breed of boys from famous localities in the state which have produced aristrocratic and ancient families of criminals, goondas, etc on stolen motorbikes) and "aliyans" (a brotherhood of eve-teasers, rapists, and gropers), and entertainment for them now begins around these new hubs.
Kerala can also entertain itself on the new craze of the its rulers. After years of collusion, sharing, partnerships, and joint ventures in crime, hawala, money laundering, political killings and ace manipulations, the political leaders have realized that the spiritual leaders are growing bigger than them. So finally the crackdown has begun from one end. Just like the Munnar-JCB-Demolition series, we will have to see how far they progress before the leaders from both sides kiss and make up, and call for a ceasefire. I just overheard someone saying that one of the christian businessmen dealing in spiritualism and mass-healing, currently under heat, is building a mansion worth 15 crores. Brother must be praying that the rains flood the entire state and people forget all these baseless allegations.
Theres a lot more happening in the state, but more in my next post..
But its also important not to miss the buds of change appearing across the state. Hopefully the blossom will not be far away. This hope and quest for change and struggle to break free is aptly evidenced by Avial and their music. The first malayalam rock band is, by all measures, superb. They are bold, chose to take the plunge, they told the critics to buzz-off, and have brought a welcome change for Keralites across the world.
Read more!
Summer rains are here, according to the Department of Meteorology and the guys there who always make predictions about the weather; and who have always got it wrong..Well, the summer rains are almost here, and will hopefully be a welcome end to the heat and humidity. Its also welcome since it will help the state clear the dumps of garbage on the streets as it floods the roads everywhere since we do not have a proper draingage system in Kerala, clear up piles of plastic in the canals and rivers, and also, with some help from the wind, bring down bad hoardings, old trees, and unsafe buildings. Of course, being the greedy malayali, we could wish the rain washes away all our scumbag politicians as well, but thats a bit too much to ask for, especially since you dont want them all accumulating in the sea, given our vast coastal line.
Rains will also be welcome by the Kerala Police. Based on my estimate (I swear I have done a proper physical verification when I travel), there are only 21 traffic policemen in Kerala (3 in Trivandrum, 5 in Kochi, 2 in Calicut, and one each in the remaining districts). But with the rain Gods arriving, the havoc on roads can be blamed on them. And the mad drivers of Kerala can continue to drive wrecklessly. The 21 cops can relax and take longer breaks in the nearby petty shop.
Talking about petty shops, Big Bazaar opened its second outlet amidst violence, protests, vandalism, and political victimization in Trivandrum - I happened to be unfortunate enough to be in the capital on opening night. The Corporation officials (a bunch who are around to fleece anyone residing in the city) raided Big Bazaar on its inaugural day, right after a party youth outfit goons rampaged the store, and sealed the store claiming that the store was selling "pappads" without license. The store however managed to "convince" the officials later that night, and also produced court orders in their favor. The people of Trivandrum appear to have welcome the freshness of the retail chains and all roads seem to lead to Big Bazaar.
Which kind of creates another problem. All roads, unfortunately, include the roads taken by "machoos"( a new breed of boys from famous localities in the state which have produced aristrocratic and ancient families of criminals, goondas, etc on stolen motorbikes) and "aliyans" (a brotherhood of eve-teasers, rapists, and gropers), and entertainment for them now begins around these new hubs.
Kerala can also entertain itself on the new craze of the its rulers. After years of collusion, sharing, partnerships, and joint ventures in crime, hawala, money laundering, political killings and ace manipulations, the political leaders have realized that the spiritual leaders are growing bigger than them. So finally the crackdown has begun from one end. Just like the Munnar-JCB-Demolition series, we will have to see how far they progress before the leaders from both sides kiss and make up, and call for a ceasefire. I just overheard someone saying that one of the christian businessmen dealing in spiritualism and mass-healing, currently under heat, is building a mansion worth 15 crores. Brother must be praying that the rains flood the entire state and people forget all these baseless allegations.
Theres a lot more happening in the state, but more in my next post..
But its also important not to miss the buds of change appearing across the state. Hopefully the blossom will not be far away. This hope and quest for change and struggle to break free is aptly evidenced by Avial and their music. The first malayalam rock band is, by all measures, superb. They are bold, chose to take the plunge, they told the critics to buzz-off, and have brought a welcome change for Keralites across the world.
Read more!
Sunday, March 23, 2008
Doggoning, Doggone, Doggoned
If you notice the small poll on the right side-bar of this blog, you will notice that 10% of the voters feel that Kerala has made good progress in comparison to TN, AP, and Karnataka. I am trying to understand where the difference is. If its just a positive hope that Kerala will catch up, the mindset will change, etc, then yes, I am an optimist too. But if there are any hard facts, then lets examine whats available.
First there is this big discussion (hullabaloo, if you prefer) about how violence, robbery, and goondaism has suddenly become common-place in God's Own Country. In fact, this blog had carried a post called Goon's Own Country on the same issue last year. Now it appears that the title is more acceptable, at least compared to DOC, and even the "chinthakans" aka the thought-leaders of the state are calling the state by that name. Now thats a definite change in the mind-set, and a sign of acceptability and willingness to accept our "few" faults and inadequacies. Ok, theres some progress.
Talking about Goondaism, I am not sure how many of us remember that when the current Government came into power, one of the first things the Home Minister did was to release 100s of criminals and thieves (who were apparently party workers - uh oh - who could not make it to the legislative assembly) from the jails across Kerala. I guess they have all effectively taken up "jobs", unlike their lesser malayali counterparts, who still prefer to remain unemployed, smoking beedis and leching at their women. So theres some more progress identified.
The farmers of Kuttanad meanwhile realized that neither the LDF nor the UDF can save them. Goondaism struck in the form of unionism, and prevented harvest using machines. But early summer showers, as they call it, ensured that the political pains were washed away, leaving only the poor farmers to suffer. Of course, we can celebrate Easter with grain and vegetables "imported" from AP and TN, and chicken flown in from TN and Karnataka. And after easing the hunger, we can complain that there is a food-mafia and chicken-mafia, besides the infamous (and invisible) land-mafia, sex-mafia, film-mafia, retail-mafia (yawn..), beggar-mafia, beautyparlor-mafia.. The Italian mafia appear to be far behind compared to the progress we have made. Kudos to ourselves.
So what happened to all the "progress" and "development" made in Munnar and other "specified locations" across the state? Rubbles worth crores of money were "created" some time last year, but what is the end result? Except for the fact that the ministers and a few other top ministry officials were implicated in land-scams (alleged) subsequently, we have no idea what has happened after the much hyped and celebrated demolitions of the JCB era. Did the ministers divide all the newly-acquired land among themselves? Are they waiting for another buyer like ISRO to come in so that they can make their deals? Oh ofcourse, we now have a set of politicians with business knack despite the lack of education. Progress, of course.
Millions of malayalees across Kerala now scuttle and hamper scamper to get in front of the TV by around 8pm, irrespective of what they were preoccupied with. Star Singer, Ta Ka Di Mi, Super Star Global... groan..the list is endless. But this is one progress I wholeheartedly accept as positive. These programs are much superior to the pathetic mental torture fed to the malayalees earlier in the form of "serials". Atleast our children will feel encouraged to become precocious, and possibly inducted earlier into various party youth wings, while our pitiful neighbours settle for IIM, IIT, AIIMS etc.
So what if the multi-crore, celebrated, Smart City project, the mother-of-all-projects Vizhinjam port, the Keralas-liftoff-to-space ISRO project etc are all stuck behind political inadequacies and inefficiencies? Progress can be so subtle.. We will have the last laugh always I guess. At least we will pretend to do so, with true malayali false-prestige.
Read more!
First there is this big discussion (hullabaloo, if you prefer) about how violence, robbery, and goondaism has suddenly become common-place in God's Own Country. In fact, this blog had carried a post called Goon's Own Country on the same issue last year. Now it appears that the title is more acceptable, at least compared to DOC, and even the "chinthakans" aka the thought-leaders of the state are calling the state by that name. Now thats a definite change in the mind-set, and a sign of acceptability and willingness to accept our "few" faults and inadequacies. Ok, theres some progress.
Talking about Goondaism, I am not sure how many of us remember that when the current Government came into power, one of the first things the Home Minister did was to release 100s of criminals and thieves (who were apparently party workers - uh oh - who could not make it to the legislative assembly) from the jails across Kerala. I guess they have all effectively taken up "jobs", unlike their lesser malayali counterparts, who still prefer to remain unemployed, smoking beedis and leching at their women. So theres some more progress identified.
The farmers of Kuttanad meanwhile realized that neither the LDF nor the UDF can save them. Goondaism struck in the form of unionism, and prevented harvest using machines. But early summer showers, as they call it, ensured that the political pains were washed away, leaving only the poor farmers to suffer. Of course, we can celebrate Easter with grain and vegetables "imported" from AP and TN, and chicken flown in from TN and Karnataka. And after easing the hunger, we can complain that there is a food-mafia and chicken-mafia, besides the infamous (and invisible) land-mafia, sex-mafia, film-mafia, retail-mafia (yawn..), beggar-mafia, beautyparlor-mafia.. The Italian mafia appear to be far behind compared to the progress we have made. Kudos to ourselves.
So what happened to all the "progress" and "development" made in Munnar and other "specified locations" across the state? Rubbles worth crores of money were "created" some time last year, but what is the end result? Except for the fact that the ministers and a few other top ministry officials were implicated in land-scams (alleged) subsequently, we have no idea what has happened after the much hyped and celebrated demolitions of the JCB era. Did the ministers divide all the newly-acquired land among themselves? Are they waiting for another buyer like ISRO to come in so that they can make their deals? Oh ofcourse, we now have a set of politicians with business knack despite the lack of education. Progress, of course.
Millions of malayalees across Kerala now scuttle and hamper scamper to get in front of the TV by around 8pm, irrespective of what they were preoccupied with. Star Singer, Ta Ka Di Mi, Super Star Global... groan..the list is endless. But this is one progress I wholeheartedly accept as positive. These programs are much superior to the pathetic mental torture fed to the malayalees earlier in the form of "serials". Atleast our children will feel encouraged to become precocious, and possibly inducted earlier into various party youth wings, while our pitiful neighbours settle for IIM, IIT, AIIMS etc.
So what if the multi-crore, celebrated, Smart City project, the mother-of-all-projects Vizhinjam port, the Keralas-liftoff-to-space ISRO project etc are all stuck behind political inadequacies and inefficiencies? Progress can be so subtle.. We will have the last laugh always I guess. At least we will pretend to do so, with true malayali false-prestige.
Read more!
Thursday, December 27, 2007
Kerala, Fast Forward - Kerala This Week, Vol 6, December 2007
The Christmas season seems to have changed the ruling communist government's luck drastically, and looks like the red brigade is all set to fly the good times (No, this has nothing to do with Kingfisher or Mallya). The maestros of the present ruling party seem to be hitting brainwaves after brainwaves. Now isnt that breaking news?
Until very recently the pack has been suffering repeated humiliation by trying to do things that really didnt match their qualifications or intelligence levels. ISRO land to Smart City (Smart! how ironic..), and National Highways to important industrial projects, humiliation has come in many forms to the current government. Unspent "development" grants, absurd project reports, unimplemented plans, depleting funds..and add to it the very slowly but steadily increasing number of unemployed party workers trying to find a job for themselves due to peer pressure from the "foreign" aka the Gulf and Bangalore aka the new America ("God, what has this world come to!, why are all these able-bodied men trying to employ themselves..how can they be so disloyal to the party" - this was overheard at a recent party high-command meeting).
The only good thing for the government has been a totally sleepy and ineffective opposition, just making whimpers and whines occasionally. But all that changed over the last couple of weeks. Here are the brainwaves that topped the list:
Brainwave number 1: "Adopt Santa Claus as the official mascot of the red-brigade"
While there are many guesses as to why nobody thought of this idea until now (or did they?), it is almost certain that none of the present political leaders could think of something so intelligent. Large Santa cut-outs were seen outside a lot of communist party offices, merging with the Achuthanandan and Pinarayi cut-outs and the red flags.
Brainwave number 2: "Train Keralites to climb coconut trees and create an industrial revolution and economic boom"
Terming the UDF Government's decision to train monkeys to climb coconut trees as an attack on the common-man's right to livelihood, the government scrapped the policy since it unilaterally favored the monkeys and the bourgeois apes. Instead, the Government decided to set up a school to train malayalis to climb trees and pluck coconuts. In the wake of the economic boom riding on technology revolution and industrialization that requires education and soft-skills, the thought-leaders of the current government saw this as a perfect answer. Perfect reply rather.
This new policy will ensure that the party workers can climb trees during their free time (which is a lot since its their own party ruling the state and there is no real need for daily hartals), and come down immediately in the event of a sudden post-noon or evening hartal or strike call. The party also welcomed the decision and expected students from other states also to join this prestigious institution once it is open.
The school is expected to begin early in 2008, and initially two part-time (to suit the timings of busy party-workers) courses will be offered - a Post Graduate Diploma in Coconut Plucking (PGDCP) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Maram Keral (PGDMK). The prospectus says that the admissions will be purely on merit, and the candidates should have at least dropped out by Grade 10. Attendance below 50% in school, party work, destruction of public property, previous experience in related fields will be a plus. Trusted sources said the seats have been filled until 2009 already, and there is a proposal to grant the school a deemed university status.
Whats more heartening is that companies like the CPeye, INCee, CPeeM, DeyeC (K), RSPee, BJPee, IyouML and most other leading political business outfits have agreed to conduct campus-selection right from the first batch. And since the school will not require an actual campus, there is much cheer in the parties.
Brainwave number 3: "Make Monopoly the official game of Kerala"
This idea was kept highly confidential until very recently, although the present set of ministers and their associates were trained and made to practise the game every day before they assumed office. The results are evident from the Munnar and ISRO deals (or "debacles" as some folks with anti-common-man sentiments term them!). The government is fully into tearing down houses and hotels and taking over property (Munnar) and selling it elsewhere. This brainwave is the result of the sudden belief that all the land in Kerala belongs to the government. Its almost like one of the players in the game decided to become the bank and make his own rules.
Brainwave number 4: "Make alcohol the official drink of Kerala"
At a whopping 8.3 litres of alcohol per person a year (as per the latest stats), Keralites are the biggest drunkards in the country. And it shows.. in da house, in da street, in da work (what work?), in da movies..everywhere. And what better time to prove this than Christmas and New Years. The alcohol sales (minus the more commonly used illicit liquor) in Kerala just on Christmas eve supposedly crossed Rs 18.6 crore this year.
Brainwave number 5: "'Common-man' can make pirated CDs and use pirated software"
This idea was brought to the fore after officials from Microsoft, along with police officials, raided locations across the state and captured pirated versions of Windows software. In protest, the poor "common-man" organized hartals to protest against such actions that curb their right to earn illegally. After all its the government of the poor "windows-loving common-man" ruling the state, and the rest of the state needs to run only on Linux.
Brainwave number 6: "Keep all major projects in the 'feasibility study' and 'consultation' phase for as long as possible"
Be it Smart City project or the Vizhinjam Port, the government stumbled upon this wonderful brainwave by chance. They have now discovered the beauty of keeping all big developmental and employment-generating projects in a literal state of suspended animation. This is done by releasing press notes every couple of weeks on some such big project, and then doing nothing about it. A "6-lane road is going to developed in Kuttipuram", "1001 bridges and flyovers coming very soon", "Vizhinjam port will become a reality", "all districts will have tech-parks".. the list is endless. These occasional outbursts of publicity seem to be enough to fool the literate-but-literally-uneducated Keralite public and keep them dreaming of a better tomorrow, and to fool the common-man into thinking that participating in a hartal today will win their children bread tomorrow.
But reality is far from it. Vizhinjam port has been in the form of a tender for many years now, Kerala was thrown out of the highway projects (but apparently got back in with some sense prevailing somewhere), Smart City is yet to take off despite the deal being signed, and crores of rupees received as funds from various organizations for development and health care remain under-utilized or non-utilized due to the exceptional inefficiency of the state government (or their inability to understand logic or take educated and intelligent decisions).
Looks like we have lots to look forward to the next 3.5 years or so of this government. Can somebody please Fast Forward?.
Read more!
Until very recently the pack has been suffering repeated humiliation by trying to do things that really didnt match their qualifications or intelligence levels. ISRO land to Smart City (Smart! how ironic..), and National Highways to important industrial projects, humiliation has come in many forms to the current government. Unspent "development" grants, absurd project reports, unimplemented plans, depleting funds..and add to it the very slowly but steadily increasing number of unemployed party workers trying to find a job for themselves due to peer pressure from the "foreign" aka the Gulf and Bangalore aka the new America ("God, what has this world come to!, why are all these able-bodied men trying to employ themselves..how can they be so disloyal to the party" - this was overheard at a recent party high-command meeting).
The only good thing for the government has been a totally sleepy and ineffective opposition, just making whimpers and whines occasionally. But all that changed over the last couple of weeks. Here are the brainwaves that topped the list:
Brainwave number 1: "Adopt Santa Claus as the official mascot of the red-brigade"
While there are many guesses as to why nobody thought of this idea until now (or did they?), it is almost certain that none of the present political leaders could think of something so intelligent. Large Santa cut-outs were seen outside a lot of communist party offices, merging with the Achuthanandan and Pinarayi cut-outs and the red flags.
Brainwave number 2: "Train Keralites to climb coconut trees and create an industrial revolution and economic boom"
Terming the UDF Government's decision to train monkeys to climb coconut trees as an attack on the common-man's right to livelihood, the government scrapped the policy since it unilaterally favored the monkeys and the bourgeois apes. Instead, the Government decided to set up a school to train malayalis to climb trees and pluck coconuts. In the wake of the economic boom riding on technology revolution and industrialization that requires education and soft-skills, the thought-leaders of the current government saw this as a perfect answer. Perfect reply rather.
This new policy will ensure that the party workers can climb trees during their free time (which is a lot since its their own party ruling the state and there is no real need for daily hartals), and come down immediately in the event of a sudden post-noon or evening hartal or strike call. The party also welcomed the decision and expected students from other states also to join this prestigious institution once it is open.
The school is expected to begin early in 2008, and initially two part-time (to suit the timings of busy party-workers) courses will be offered - a Post Graduate Diploma in Coconut Plucking (PGDCP) and a Post Graduate Diploma in Maram Keral (PGDMK). The prospectus says that the admissions will be purely on merit, and the candidates should have at least dropped out by Grade 10. Attendance below 50% in school, party work, destruction of public property, previous experience in related fields will be a plus. Trusted sources said the seats have been filled until 2009 already, and there is a proposal to grant the school a deemed university status.
Whats more heartening is that companies like the CPeye, INCee, CPeeM, DeyeC (K), RSPee, BJPee, IyouML and most other leading political business outfits have agreed to conduct campus-selection right from the first batch. And since the school will not require an actual campus, there is much cheer in the parties.
Brainwave number 3: "Make Monopoly the official game of Kerala"
This idea was kept highly confidential until very recently, although the present set of ministers and their associates were trained and made to practise the game every day before they assumed office. The results are evident from the Munnar and ISRO deals (or "debacles" as some folks with anti-common-man sentiments term them!). The government is fully into tearing down houses and hotels and taking over property (Munnar) and selling it elsewhere. This brainwave is the result of the sudden belief that all the land in Kerala belongs to the government. Its almost like one of the players in the game decided to become the bank and make his own rules.
Brainwave number 4: "Make alcohol the official drink of Kerala"
At a whopping 8.3 litres of alcohol per person a year (as per the latest stats), Keralites are the biggest drunkards in the country. And it shows.. in da house, in da street, in da work (what work?), in da movies..everywhere. And what better time to prove this than Christmas and New Years. The alcohol sales (minus the more commonly used illicit liquor) in Kerala just on Christmas eve supposedly crossed Rs 18.6 crore this year.
Brainwave number 5: "'Common-man' can make pirated CDs and use pirated software"
This idea was brought to the fore after officials from Microsoft, along with police officials, raided locations across the state and captured pirated versions of Windows software. In protest, the poor "common-man" organized hartals to protest against such actions that curb their right to earn illegally. After all its the government of the poor "windows-loving common-man" ruling the state, and the rest of the state needs to run only on Linux.
Brainwave number 6: "Keep all major projects in the 'feasibility study' and 'consultation' phase for as long as possible"
Be it Smart City project or the Vizhinjam Port, the government stumbled upon this wonderful brainwave by chance. They have now discovered the beauty of keeping all big developmental and employment-generating projects in a literal state of suspended animation. This is done by releasing press notes every couple of weeks on some such big project, and then doing nothing about it. A "6-lane road is going to developed in Kuttipuram", "1001 bridges and flyovers coming very soon", "Vizhinjam port will become a reality", "all districts will have tech-parks".. the list is endless. These occasional outbursts of publicity seem to be enough to fool the literate-but-literally-uneducated Keralite public and keep them dreaming of a better tomorrow, and to fool the common-man into thinking that participating in a hartal today will win their children bread tomorrow.
But reality is far from it. Vizhinjam port has been in the form of a tender for many years now, Kerala was thrown out of the highway projects (but apparently got back in with some sense prevailing somewhere), Smart City is yet to take off despite the deal being signed, and crores of rupees received as funds from various organizations for development and health care remain under-utilized or non-utilized due to the exceptional inefficiency of the state government (or their inability to understand logic or take educated and intelligent decisions).
Looks like we have lots to look forward to the next 3.5 years or so of this government. Can somebody please Fast Forward?.
Read more!
Sunday, August 26, 2007
Kerala This Week, Vol 5, August 2007
On behalf of the Save Kerala Initiative team and its supporters (or our "buddies who hang around and support each other blindly" as someone recently said), I would like to wish all of you a very happy and prosperous Onam.
The image of the week (on the top right) is from Trivandrum, near the Kanakakunnu Palace, where the famed illuminations occur every year. I was lucky enough to pass the road and catch a glimpse of the "lights" as they are known. Pretty much all of Kerala seems to be shopping for Onam and every road and shop is literally packed. So let me start with saying this: Kudos to the spirit in which Onam is celebrated by Keralites. Its nice to see that every family makes a sincere effort to celebrate this festival, irrespective of religion, caste or politics.
Now onto the less heartening stuff. On the same road, a little further I saw two girls on a kinetic honda casually overtake a maruti zen with 3 mallu youngsters in it. The car must have been moving at 40kmph until the girls overtook them. But as soon as they saw 2 "girls daring to overtake" them, their manhood literally got challenged I suppose. And then the youth were transformed into mad men. They almost ran down a few others and overtook the girls, and cornered their kinetic! Crazy! But this is a sight I have seen too commonly in Kerala.
I also observed another "usual thing". Men letching at anything female. It really irks you if you observe how some of the mallu men burn a hole through these women, and passing slimy comments. This is one of the most horrible and disgusting habits in malayali men in my opinion. I wonder how women survive in Kerala. I mean the average woman who does not have a car to escape these dogs, but has to travel in a bus and walk on the crowded roads. So my second kudos go to the women in Kerala. I also hope each one of you does what it takes to condemn such acts and behavior when you see it.
And another sight I observed today was even more shocking! Malayalis standing in a queue! God! That's one of the rarest sights you will ever see. I havent seen them stand in a line in banks, or cinema halls, or shops or..anywhere there is supposed to be a queue. Even in church they have to do a stampede, as though God will run away if they dont rush. But today, I saw almost over 50 malayali men stand in one long line, disciplined, quiet and looking very earnest. No points for guessing where: Kerala State Beverages Corporation Limited - Indian Made Foreign Liquor outlet. The queues were seen almost at every outlet they have - which is almost at every 1000 meters. Apparently the sales just during the Onam days is set to cross a record 80 crores this time!! And no wonder the roads were filled with drunken maniacs today, despite heavy presence of policemen. So once again I salute the women in Kerala. For working hard and looking after themselves, for caring and bring up their children, for earning enough so that their husbands can drink, and for doing all this despite the abuse and torture.
Since I do not want to go on about these things and spoil our Onam (will save the Kurivillas, Achuthanandans, mosquitoes, fever, antinuclear bandhs, and all such things for next week), heres once again wishing all of you a very special Onam. Let us all unite and work towards a better Kerala. Like they say, it has to begin at home.
Read more!
The image of the week (on the top right) is from Trivandrum, near the Kanakakunnu Palace, where the famed illuminations occur every year. I was lucky enough to pass the road and catch a glimpse of the "lights" as they are known. Pretty much all of Kerala seems to be shopping for Onam and every road and shop is literally packed. So let me start with saying this: Kudos to the spirit in which Onam is celebrated by Keralites. Its nice to see that every family makes a sincere effort to celebrate this festival, irrespective of religion, caste or politics.
Now onto the less heartening stuff. On the same road, a little further I saw two girls on a kinetic honda casually overtake a maruti zen with 3 mallu youngsters in it. The car must have been moving at 40kmph until the girls overtook them. But as soon as they saw 2 "girls daring to overtake" them, their manhood literally got challenged I suppose. And then the youth were transformed into mad men. They almost ran down a few others and overtook the girls, and cornered their kinetic! Crazy! But this is a sight I have seen too commonly in Kerala.
I also observed another "usual thing". Men letching at anything female. It really irks you if you observe how some of the mallu men burn a hole through these women, and passing slimy comments. This is one of the most horrible and disgusting habits in malayali men in my opinion. I wonder how women survive in Kerala. I mean the average woman who does not have a car to escape these dogs, but has to travel in a bus and walk on the crowded roads. So my second kudos go to the women in Kerala. I also hope each one of you does what it takes to condemn such acts and behavior when you see it.
And another sight I observed today was even more shocking! Malayalis standing in a queue! God! That's one of the rarest sights you will ever see. I havent seen them stand in a line in banks, or cinema halls, or shops or..anywhere there is supposed to be a queue. Even in church they have to do a stampede, as though God will run away if they dont rush. But today, I saw almost over 50 malayali men stand in one long line, disciplined, quiet and looking very earnest. No points for guessing where: Kerala State Beverages Corporation Limited - Indian Made Foreign Liquor outlet. The queues were seen almost at every outlet they have - which is almost at every 1000 meters. Apparently the sales just during the Onam days is set to cross a record 80 crores this time!! And no wonder the roads were filled with drunken maniacs today, despite heavy presence of policemen. So once again I salute the women in Kerala. For working hard and looking after themselves, for caring and bring up their children, for earning enough so that their husbands can drink, and for doing all this despite the abuse and torture.
Since I do not want to go on about these things and spoil our Onam (will save the Kurivillas, Achuthanandans, mosquitoes, fever, antinuclear bandhs, and all such things for next week), heres once again wishing all of you a very special Onam. Let us all unite and work towards a better Kerala. Like they say, it has to begin at home.
Read more!
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Kerala This Week, Vol 4, August 2007
The last few weeks have been rife with examples of illiterate leaders ruling over a supposedly literate Kerala, a state full of people who are ever willing to be donkeys for the sake of politicians and the all powerful, invisble, super power, called the society.
Topping the list, and creating headlines (pushing aside the Munnar rampage and the demolition squad which fizzled out in front of the AKG center and "party offices") was the release of a Madani. Charged on some 23 accounts related to the Coimbatore blasts some years ago, the beloved leader is now back directly from jail to front page politics, as though he fought for India's independence. And the state politicians have been wooing him with utmost devotion. His "rally" in Trivandrum was "emotional" and "fiery", and was chaired by two ministers. I have nothing against or for Madani, but the ministry "rallying" with him is a bit shameful in my opinion. And the government is sponsoring his "treatment", that too in a private hospital.
This is the same government thats "helpless" when its people are dying because of some fever which they are yet debating and referring textbooks for, the same set of leaders that blame the central government while doing nothing for its flood ravaged people. So where does all that concern they have for Madani disappear when it comes to the people of Kerala?
The other most interesting show happening now is the "fight against retail chains". We have had hartals, demonstrations, threats, stone-throwing, etc against Reliance, Walmart and other retail chains entering Kerala. While on one hand we gloat that we have Spencer's (since decades) and Margin Frees', in the same breath we also oppose these new companies (just like we opposed Coca Cola and Pepsi while drowning ourselves in alcohol and smoking beedis). The reason? That we still need to be mistreated by the local shopkeeper, and his total lack of interest in us as customers (or even your existence in his shop when you go to buy something!), and that we still need to be forced to take only what the Vyapari Vyepasaris dictate.
There was a debate on "Nammal Thammil" on Asianet last night. One educated (not literate, mind you) professor argued that over Rs. 100,000 crore worth produce is wasted ever year in India due to lack of proper distribution, sales or exports, and that these retail chains will only boost sales and reduce this wastage. The men from the VV samithi, dressed in the evil khader uniform, as usual responded with their snideful retort, saying "we all know" that Reliance and the likes have paid money to educated people to speak like this and argue on their behalf in public forums. You can never argue and win a point with such people, forget making them understand. Like they say, never argue with idiots, because they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
It is the same "experience" that wins accolades for leaders in Kerala for being irresponsible. Take for example, how our minister shirked responsibility and said he will picket the PMs house if the central government doesnt help the flood hit state. He pretended he had nothing to do with the state, he said its all the center's fault, and we, the people, clapped. It is also the same experience that sent Special Task Forces to demolish buildings across the state, ruining crores of rupees, instead of acquiring them and running them as government buildings. (The STF is now without its two poster boys; both have been sent on extended leaves for "treatment")
Some from the VV samithi say, only at Narayanan's shop do we get the local feel and homely atmosphere, but not at any retail chain. But not everyone wants to hear Narayanan or Keshavan or George or whoever gossip anymore, or waste our money on substandard stuff, or even sniff the stink of local politics anymore. And for those who do, Narayanan will surely be there. He doesnt survive on sales of Kellogs or Dove. It is the same irrational fear that was instilled when Telecom and the airlines were privatised. Today majority of the people use mobile phones, and that includes the likes of Narayanan. Indian Airlines has become cheaper and at least tries to offer better service.
Its time literate Kerala went back to school and realized that our illiterate leaders are simply taking us for a ride. There are scores of promises and projects that are "proposed" and "planned". But what has happened in reality? Nothing! Except for all the investments the private companies make. Smart City (which was claimed as a victory), Vizhinjam Port, Technocity, Road projects..all are still being planned and destroyed. Planned for maximum benefit for the leaders? What change did the new government bring? Did the farmers benefit? No. Did the fisherfolks benefit? No. Only the party and the political goons and criminals benefitted and continue to benefit. And if we dont realize and change, its not that change is not going to happen. It will. Its just that we will be the losers. And the politicians will be the only people who gain.
The Central Government took over the Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology in Trivandrum couple of days ago, and saved it from the politicians in Kerala, who have not even completed school but desperately fought to become its Chairman (for what??). Wonder why these people want to infiltrate all domains and positions. Havent they messed up enough? Its similar to Pawarji who cant even walk straight being the president of the cricket council, and ensuring that Indian cricket is a mess.
Read more!
Topping the list, and creating headlines (pushing aside the Munnar rampage and the demolition squad which fizzled out in front of the AKG center and "party offices") was the release of a Madani. Charged on some 23 accounts related to the Coimbatore blasts some years ago, the beloved leader is now back directly from jail to front page politics, as though he fought for India's independence. And the state politicians have been wooing him with utmost devotion. His "rally" in Trivandrum was "emotional" and "fiery", and was chaired by two ministers. I have nothing against or for Madani, but the ministry "rallying" with him is a bit shameful in my opinion. And the government is sponsoring his "treatment", that too in a private hospital.
This is the same government thats "helpless" when its people are dying because of some fever which they are yet debating and referring textbooks for, the same set of leaders that blame the central government while doing nothing for its flood ravaged people. So where does all that concern they have for Madani disappear when it comes to the people of Kerala?
The other most interesting show happening now is the "fight against retail chains". We have had hartals, demonstrations, threats, stone-throwing, etc against Reliance, Walmart and other retail chains entering Kerala. While on one hand we gloat that we have Spencer's (since decades) and Margin Frees', in the same breath we also oppose these new companies (just like we opposed Coca Cola and Pepsi while drowning ourselves in alcohol and smoking beedis). The reason? That we still need to be mistreated by the local shopkeeper, and his total lack of interest in us as customers (or even your existence in his shop when you go to buy something!), and that we still need to be forced to take only what the Vyapari Vyepasaris dictate.
There was a debate on "Nammal Thammil" on Asianet last night. One educated (not literate, mind you) professor argued that over Rs. 100,000 crore worth produce is wasted ever year in India due to lack of proper distribution, sales or exports, and that these retail chains will only boost sales and reduce this wastage. The men from the VV samithi, dressed in the evil khader uniform, as usual responded with their snideful retort, saying "we all know" that Reliance and the likes have paid money to educated people to speak like this and argue on their behalf in public forums. You can never argue and win a point with such people, forget making them understand. Like they say, never argue with idiots, because they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
It is the same "experience" that wins accolades for leaders in Kerala for being irresponsible. Take for example, how our minister shirked responsibility and said he will picket the PMs house if the central government doesnt help the flood hit state. He pretended he had nothing to do with the state, he said its all the center's fault, and we, the people, clapped. It is also the same experience that sent Special Task Forces to demolish buildings across the state, ruining crores of rupees, instead of acquiring them and running them as government buildings. (The STF is now without its two poster boys; both have been sent on extended leaves for "treatment")
Some from the VV samithi say, only at Narayanan's shop do we get the local feel and homely atmosphere, but not at any retail chain. But not everyone wants to hear Narayanan or Keshavan or George or whoever gossip anymore, or waste our money on substandard stuff, or even sniff the stink of local politics anymore. And for those who do, Narayanan will surely be there. He doesnt survive on sales of Kellogs or Dove. It is the same irrational fear that was instilled when Telecom and the airlines were privatised. Today majority of the people use mobile phones, and that includes the likes of Narayanan. Indian Airlines has become cheaper and at least tries to offer better service.
Its time literate Kerala went back to school and realized that our illiterate leaders are simply taking us for a ride. There are scores of promises and projects that are "proposed" and "planned". But what has happened in reality? Nothing! Except for all the investments the private companies make. Smart City (which was claimed as a victory), Vizhinjam Port, Technocity, Road projects..all are still being planned and destroyed. Planned for maximum benefit for the leaders? What change did the new government bring? Did the farmers benefit? No. Did the fisherfolks benefit? No. Only the party and the political goons and criminals benefitted and continue to benefit. And if we dont realize and change, its not that change is not going to happen. It will. Its just that we will be the losers. And the politicians will be the only people who gain.
The Central Government took over the Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology in Trivandrum couple of days ago, and saved it from the politicians in Kerala, who have not even completed school but desperately fought to become its Chairman (for what??). Wonder why these people want to infiltrate all domains and positions. Havent they messed up enough? Its similar to Pawarji who cant even walk straight being the president of the cricket council, and ensuring that Indian cricket is a mess.
Read more!
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Kerala This Week, Vol 3, June 2007
We are back at work after a short break due to some personal reasons. During the break we received so many comments and compliments from readers we never knew existed. One fan requires special mention here for his undying support to this initiative. He was sweet enough to wish "may this blog blow up into oblivion". Please rest assured that we are trying hard.
Talking about blowing up, destruction and such things, "demolition" has been the word thats been reverberating across Kerala the last few weeks. First it was huts, then resorts, followed by boundary walls, shops and then a few houses. As the demolition got nearer to the bigger and real thugs in the business, aka the politicians and the political parties, the much hyped and advertised "clean-up" drive of our dear CM gathered enough moss. So much so that he issued a grand order to exempt political parties who have encroached land to be exempt from action. He went on to declare that some of the documents of land owners where his own rampaging Special Task Force invaded, may have been legal and they may have made a mistake.
Tearing down property worth crores now seems more ridiculous than ever, and the whole motive of the demolition drive now seems shady. How can political parties be exempted? How can there be different sets of rules for different groups? Is this all just a part of a grand plan to fool the people? Or was it just an extension of the Pinarayi versus Achuthanandan tussle? Anyway, apart from the joy the sights of the now infamous "JCB" at work brought to the gossippy unemployed malayali crowds, the only outcome of the drive so far has been tonnes of rubble lying across Kerala. Literate Kerala making progress?
The one good thing that happened as a result of the "attempt" to retrieve the land encroached by the CPI was that Keralites got to see our own "hep" MP from Trivandrum, who had disappeared to Delhi some time last year, back in action. An outraged Mr Tvm MP, with gelled slick hairstyle, surfaced at an undisclosed location in Kerala and screamed on TV that the party buildings are made from the blood of the party workers and "nobody dare touch 'em". Nobody messes with him. Not even the STF. And there ended the great demolition drive.
Monsoon finally arrived in Kerala. And as usual, it was much later than what the Met department predicted. At last count, over 20 people were killed. While the Government is busy preparing to welcome tourists in the name of 'Monsoon Tourism', which is a very good thing, it would have been great if they could spend some money to ensure that people and property can be better protected from heavy rains.
I guess rain is a problem that political parties cant blame eachother for. Imagine a leftie minister saying "Chandy is responsible for this heavy rain that has resulted in so many deaths" or "the previous UDF government is responsible for this loss". But I guess thats also possible since we have heard worse.
Another round of the dreadful "pakarcha pani" (fever that spreads) has hit Kerala, creating tremors and faults across the much acclaimed and textbook-worthy healthcare system of Kerala. As usual a central team visited Kerala to assess the situation when the numbers crossed beyond what the state government could handle. After getting back safely to Delhi the team declared that it was not Chikungunya. Meanwhile, the ministry pulled off a good one by saying the "Chikungunya-related deaths were worse during the UDF regime". May the departed rest in peace.
Not wanting to be left behind, Home Ministry played their part and lifted a ban on smoking in jails in Kerala, which was imposed in 2003 following a high court order. They failed to provide any rationale for this act, possibly because there was none, but media cited it was a case of "buckling under political pressure". This comes in a year during which the WHO celebrated "smoke free environment" as their theme and declared passive smoke as a great threat to healthy living. Yet another case of literate Kerala making progress.
Helmets were once again made compulsory in Kerala. This is after the high court reprimanded the authorities for not enforcing the rule despite its orders a few years ago. The home ministry issued strict orders to the police to "not harrass the public in the name of helmets". There are other ways to do it surely. Or we have plenty of goons in our state to do that.
All the frenzy about development projects like the Smart City and Vizhinjam Port finally seem to have died down. Nothing more is heard. People are just happy listening to trash news and seem ready to enjoy the "bliss" for the next few years. The media is also happy filling their front pages and headlines with stories of the government-management negotiations on the professional seat sharing, how the party youth (leaders tomorrow) went on a rampage destroying property against the management and ridiculous other stuff. The other hot topic is the "who-can-enter-the-temple" saga. Some chap named Easwar sporting the Dhoni hairstyle (now a hit among Keralite youth) made most of the situation, attempted some puja in front of the Government Secretariat and got himself arrested. Next thing you know, he will be contesting elections. Oh yes, literate Kerala making more progress. But when will it be forward progress?
Read more!
Talking about blowing up, destruction and such things, "demolition" has been the word thats been reverberating across Kerala the last few weeks. First it was huts, then resorts, followed by boundary walls, shops and then a few houses. As the demolition got nearer to the bigger and real thugs in the business, aka the politicians and the political parties, the much hyped and advertised "clean-up" drive of our dear CM gathered enough moss. So much so that he issued a grand order to exempt political parties who have encroached land to be exempt from action. He went on to declare that some of the documents of land owners where his own rampaging Special Task Force invaded, may have been legal and they may have made a mistake.
Tearing down property worth crores now seems more ridiculous than ever, and the whole motive of the demolition drive now seems shady. How can political parties be exempted? How can there be different sets of rules for different groups? Is this all just a part of a grand plan to fool the people? Or was it just an extension of the Pinarayi versus Achuthanandan tussle? Anyway, apart from the joy the sights of the now infamous "JCB" at work brought to the gossippy unemployed malayali crowds, the only outcome of the drive so far has been tonnes of rubble lying across Kerala. Literate Kerala making progress?
The one good thing that happened as a result of the "attempt" to retrieve the land encroached by the CPI was that Keralites got to see our own "hep" MP from Trivandrum, who had disappeared to Delhi some time last year, back in action. An outraged Mr Tvm MP, with gelled slick hairstyle, surfaced at an undisclosed location in Kerala and screamed on TV that the party buildings are made from the blood of the party workers and "nobody dare touch 'em". Nobody messes with him. Not even the STF. And there ended the great demolition drive.
Monsoon finally arrived in Kerala. And as usual, it was much later than what the Met department predicted. At last count, over 20 people were killed. While the Government is busy preparing to welcome tourists in the name of 'Monsoon Tourism', which is a very good thing, it would have been great if they could spend some money to ensure that people and property can be better protected from heavy rains.
I guess rain is a problem that political parties cant blame eachother for. Imagine a leftie minister saying "Chandy is responsible for this heavy rain that has resulted in so many deaths" or "the previous UDF government is responsible for this loss". But I guess thats also possible since we have heard worse.
Another round of the dreadful "pakarcha pani" (fever that spreads) has hit Kerala, creating tremors and faults across the much acclaimed and textbook-worthy healthcare system of Kerala. As usual a central team visited Kerala to assess the situation when the numbers crossed beyond what the state government could handle. After getting back safely to Delhi the team declared that it was not Chikungunya. Meanwhile, the ministry pulled off a good one by saying the "Chikungunya-related deaths were worse during the UDF regime". May the departed rest in peace.
Not wanting to be left behind, Home Ministry played their part and lifted a ban on smoking in jails in Kerala, which was imposed in 2003 following a high court order. They failed to provide any rationale for this act, possibly because there was none, but media cited it was a case of "buckling under political pressure". This comes in a year during which the WHO celebrated "smoke free environment" as their theme and declared passive smoke as a great threat to healthy living. Yet another case of literate Kerala making progress.
Helmets were once again made compulsory in Kerala. This is after the high court reprimanded the authorities for not enforcing the rule despite its orders a few years ago. The home ministry issued strict orders to the police to "not harrass the public in the name of helmets". There are other ways to do it surely. Or we have plenty of goons in our state to do that.
All the frenzy about development projects like the Smart City and Vizhinjam Port finally seem to have died down. Nothing more is heard. People are just happy listening to trash news and seem ready to enjoy the "bliss" for the next few years. The media is also happy filling their front pages and headlines with stories of the government-management negotiations on the professional seat sharing, how the party youth (leaders tomorrow) went on a rampage destroying property against the management and ridiculous other stuff. The other hot topic is the "who-can-enter-the-temple" saga. Some chap named Easwar sporting the Dhoni hairstyle (now a hit among Keralite youth) made most of the situation, attempted some puja in front of the Government Secretariat and got himself arrested. Next thing you know, he will be contesting elections. Oh yes, literate Kerala making more progress. But when will it be forward progress?
Read more!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Kerala This Week, Vol 2, March 2007
Update: 18 March, 2007
After drawing immense flak from readers for concentrating only on the funny and negative side of things in these updates on Kerala, I looked around hard for some of the good and positive things that happened around Kerala the last few days. I tried so hard in fact, Sunday morning during the F1 race, I almost saw a malayali driving a Renault. Kovalain! How did our own Gopalan aka Kovalain get there! Amazing. Later I looked closer and found that it was Kovalainen from Finland! Sigh..
Jokes apart, like I said, it was kind of a quiet week in Kerala. But I guess more companies like Muthoot Group and JB Group entering the "race" (which began a few years ago) for the Smart City Project is something to cheer about. Hopefully soon we will have a result!
Kerala continued to shine on the health front. Health minister Sreemathi Teacher announced plans to set up state-of-the-art trauma care centers at all the 5 government medical colleges, and also launched a telehealth project connecting the health network. The minister also announced some funds for primary health centers. Much needed!
And last but not the least, I dont think there were any hartals or bandhs in Kerala in the last few days! Yayy!!
17 March, 2007
Ever since the current government came to power, there has been a heated debate on the qualifications needed for one to rule the state, a supposedly "fully" literate state (The debate on Kerala's total literacy began much earlier, and still goes on.). The first month of this government was very quiet and newspapers started reporting that the various ministry officials were getting frustrated trying to teach the ministers what their respective portfolios were all about.
Nonetheless, there was a lot of hope in the eyes of the people of Kerala - farmers who thought they will not have to commit suicide any more, expats who dreamt of coming back to Kerala for a decent job, women who thought they will have safer streets, children who prayed for better quality education, laborers who ran pillar-to-post for better employment.. The list is endless. But then, so is hope. And all of them continue to dream and hope for a better Kerala.
Recently I chanced upon a the Government of Kerala's official website for the Chief Minister, which had profiles of all our honorable ministers. While majority of our ministers were not even graduates, I was really happy to know a lot of them "completed" degrees and one of them even a PhD! I also saw heated exchanges on some blogs about whether education was needed at all for being a minister, and found a lot of educated (people who completed and passed exams to receive degrees) youth supporting the theory that education was NOT necessary for ruling a state. Personally I differ, and I feel the ministers, or for that matter, all children and individuals, definitely need to be educated!
Anyway, from the above website I also noted a few interesting facts on what it takes to become a minister. Although you dont need to be educated, you still needed to do a lot of hard work. I found that most of the accomplishments listed under each minister's profile centered on imprisonment, surviving police brutality, and organising agitations and succesful uprisings. And almost all of the ministers were either ex-trade union leaders or party youth outfit leaders. All this sounded boring when compared two unique listings:
One minister was bold enough to say "playing cards" was his hobby. Playing cards is considered a big sin in Kerala. He is apparently writing an autobiography with details on his experiences as a minister titled "While I was playing cards".
But even better was another minister's, special skill - Magic. Recently in a very daring attempt, he tried to fool the opposition using his magical abilities. This came as a response to a leader from the Congress, an ex-student leader himself who successfully completed college to become a minister, who claimed that the sex-education program for adolescents was too graphical and not fit for "our culture". The minister responded that “there was no temple without the sculptures depicting scenes from Kamasutra”. This seeming revelation strangely made the Opposition walk out.
Another day, the finance minister said he planned on about 29 crores of additional expenditure from the already bankrupt Kerala Government kitty, taking the budget deficit to Rs.551 crores. The Opposition walked out that day too.
When asked about the recent Nandigram protests and police firing at farmers in West Bengal, our chief, who himself led protests in the name of farmers a few decades ago, and who himself ignores the plight of farmers as CM currently, and the party sec, dismissed the incidents as "media hype". On another occasion, there was this controversy regarding CM saying that the media in Kerala is on the payrolls of the CIA. Whether he said it or not became a bigger controversy than the statement itself.
Most of you would have heard about the omnipresence of the Malayali and the story of his "thattukada" (small shop) in moon, and how he greeted the Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins. Almost 39 years later, the first malayali tourist will be heading space-wards paying $200,000 and is currently making the news.
Altogether a "dry" week one would say.. But not in Kerala.
The newly formed All Kerala Drinkers' Welfare Association, registered over 6000 members in under 2 weeks! The association plans to "protect" the interests of the states "alcohol lovers", who apparently consume over 8.3 liters per capita. Among the 15-point demands raised by these gentlemen, exercising their democratic rights ofcourse:
1. Assurance that one can drink in peace
2. A place to drink (since "we cant take bottles home and drink" & "we have to hide and drink")
3. Allow distribution of alcohol via ration shops
Myyy Dogggg!
Read more!
After drawing immense flak from readers for concentrating only on the funny and negative side of things in these updates on Kerala, I looked around hard for some of the good and positive things that happened around Kerala the last few days. I tried so hard in fact, Sunday morning during the F1 race, I almost saw a malayali driving a Renault. Kovalain! How did our own Gopalan aka Kovalain get there! Amazing. Later I looked closer and found that it was Kovalainen from Finland! Sigh..
Jokes apart, like I said, it was kind of a quiet week in Kerala. But I guess more companies like Muthoot Group and JB Group entering the "race" (which began a few years ago) for the Smart City Project is something to cheer about. Hopefully soon we will have a result!
Kerala continued to shine on the health front. Health minister Sreemathi Teacher announced plans to set up state-of-the-art trauma care centers at all the 5 government medical colleges, and also launched a telehealth project connecting the health network. The minister also announced some funds for primary health centers. Much needed!
And last but not the least, I dont think there were any hartals or bandhs in Kerala in the last few days! Yayy!!
17 March, 2007
Ever since the current government came to power, there has been a heated debate on the qualifications needed for one to rule the state, a supposedly "fully" literate state (The debate on Kerala's total literacy began much earlier, and still goes on.). The first month of this government was very quiet and newspapers started reporting that the various ministry officials were getting frustrated trying to teach the ministers what their respective portfolios were all about.
Nonetheless, there was a lot of hope in the eyes of the people of Kerala - farmers who thought they will not have to commit suicide any more, expats who dreamt of coming back to Kerala for a decent job, women who thought they will have safer streets, children who prayed for better quality education, laborers who ran pillar-to-post for better employment.. The list is endless. But then, so is hope. And all of them continue to dream and hope for a better Kerala.
Recently I chanced upon a the Government of Kerala's official website for the Chief Minister, which had profiles of all our honorable ministers. While majority of our ministers were not even graduates, I was really happy to know a lot of them "completed" degrees and one of them even a PhD! I also saw heated exchanges on some blogs about whether education was needed at all for being a minister, and found a lot of educated (people who completed and passed exams to receive degrees) youth supporting the theory that education was NOT necessary for ruling a state. Personally I differ, and I feel the ministers, or for that matter, all children and individuals, definitely need to be educated!
Anyway, from the above website I also noted a few interesting facts on what it takes to become a minister. Although you dont need to be educated, you still needed to do a lot of hard work. I found that most of the accomplishments listed under each minister's profile centered on imprisonment, surviving police brutality, and organising agitations and succesful uprisings. And almost all of the ministers were either ex-trade union leaders or party youth outfit leaders. All this sounded boring when compared two unique listings:
One minister was bold enough to say "playing cards" was his hobby. Playing cards is considered a big sin in Kerala. He is apparently writing an autobiography with details on his experiences as a minister titled "While I was playing cards".
But even better was another minister's, special skill - Magic. Recently in a very daring attempt, he tried to fool the opposition using his magical abilities. This came as a response to a leader from the Congress, an ex-student leader himself who successfully completed college to become a minister, who claimed that the sex-education program for adolescents was too graphical and not fit for "our culture". The minister responded that “there was no temple without the sculptures depicting scenes from Kamasutra”. This seeming revelation strangely made the Opposition walk out.
Another day, the finance minister said he planned on about 29 crores of additional expenditure from the already bankrupt Kerala Government kitty, taking the budget deficit to Rs.551 crores. The Opposition walked out that day too.
When asked about the recent Nandigram protests and police firing at farmers in West Bengal, our chief, who himself led protests in the name of farmers a few decades ago, and who himself ignores the plight of farmers as CM currently, and the party sec, dismissed the incidents as "media hype". On another occasion, there was this controversy regarding CM saying that the media in Kerala is on the payrolls of the CIA. Whether he said it or not became a bigger controversy than the statement itself.
Most of you would have heard about the omnipresence of the Malayali and the story of his "thattukada" (small shop) in moon, and how he greeted the Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins. Almost 39 years later, the first malayali tourist will be heading space-wards paying $200,000 and is currently making the news.
Altogether a "dry" week one would say.. But not in Kerala.
The newly formed All Kerala Drinkers' Welfare Association, registered over 6000 members in under 2 weeks! The association plans to "protect" the interests of the states "alcohol lovers", who apparently consume over 8.3 liters per capita. Among the 15-point demands raised by these gentlemen, exercising their democratic rights ofcourse:
1. Assurance that one can drink in peace
2. A place to drink (since "we cant take bottles home and drink" & "we have to hide and drink")
3. Allow distribution of alcohol via ration shops
Myyy Dogggg!
Read more!
Saturday, March 03, 2007
Kerala This Week, Vol 1, March 2007
Every few weeks I get overwhelmed by the events that occur in Kerala, and cannot contain my literary emotions. So I sit and put together a quick-list of important, excellent, crazy, stupid, disappointing, outrageous, and really funny events that occur in Kerala and among the Malayalis. Be warned that this is purely subjective, and most often I have found that what I feel is really stupid is excellent for a lot of other people.
The event of the week has been the country's budget, and more importantly, the reactions. While personally I feel the budget has been good, because for the first time it seemed to speak of the less hyped-up and often ignored sections - farmers and pensioners, a lot of others called it "boring". Of course, we can always keep wanting more.
But in Kerala, we not only keep wanting more, but also make sure we do nothing about it. CM Achuthanandan said that the union budget ignored the state's farmers and agriculture industry! I found this very hilarious considering that the CM of Kerala himself is not doing anything about it but he's blaming the union government - the same union government whos being criticized by everyone else for a budget that focused only on farming! While Mr.CM himself dismissed, and ignored, farmer suicides and financial crises like the days weather conditions, he does not lose any chance to slap the union ministry.
Meanwhile, his ministry wasted no more time in accepting the Rs.14 billion ADB loan for Kerala. After all, the communist ideology is to accept everything free and resist anything that involves work. This is the same loan that the entire leftist parties created ruckus about while the previous government initiated steps to convince the ADB. Hopefully, it will be the time of the next ministry by the time CM and co spend all this 14 billion and the ADB asks them to repay the money.
The Governor of Kerala today read out what the CM handed over to him as the "policies of the government for 2007-2008". He said the government has declared the year as the "year of the agriculture and farmers" aka "harithavarsham". How this is going to help the farmer or his agriculture is obscure. The government also plans to set up an "IT park" in all districts. This decision comes from the very encouraging fact that the Smart City project is still under negotiations even after three years. It is our way of outsmarting others I guess.
The government also proposed to continue its hugely successful "Responsible Tourism" project, under which recently a Swiss lady lost her eye, and a whole boat of school-kids drowned near Kochi. Insiders say that the Responsible Tourism program is similar to earlier programs such as the Responsible Hartal, Responsible Trade Union Militancy, Responsible Goondaism etc, all of which are hugely successful according to the political leaders.
The Governor ended his speech by saying that the current government (2007) will model its future policies based on the government of EMS (1957). And we all know this is a big reality already, and Kerala is now somewhere around 1967 in terms of development, so its just a matter of another decade, which I am sure will be possible in the next 3-4 years of this ministry.
Jokes apart, I hope all the progressive policies of the government will materialize and we see some actual progress in the state!
Pongala is on at Trivandrum today with apparently a record turn-out of women this year. After all, their husbands leave them wanting plenty, so its no big surprise. Last year, post-Pongala, the streets saw unruly groups of youth forcefully stopping women and traffic in the pretext of "providing water to the tired women (their sisters)". Call it Responsible Chivalry - Kerala ishtyle.
Taking responsibility a step further, Shri.Pinarayi Vijayan carried live cartridges in his laptop bag and was caught in the act at the Chennai Airport. The whole thing erupted into a big saga that fed the political industry for a few days. Shri Vijayan himself dismissed the event and said " ohh...i didn't realise". Of course! Achuthanandan meanwhile requested for increased security cover immediately after the incident.
I wonder if somebody is going to tell me about Responsible Blogging now.
Read more!
The event of the week has been the country's budget, and more importantly, the reactions. While personally I feel the budget has been good, because for the first time it seemed to speak of the less hyped-up and often ignored sections - farmers and pensioners, a lot of others called it "boring". Of course, we can always keep wanting more.
But in Kerala, we not only keep wanting more, but also make sure we do nothing about it. CM Achuthanandan said that the union budget ignored the state's farmers and agriculture industry! I found this very hilarious considering that the CM of Kerala himself is not doing anything about it but he's blaming the union government - the same union government whos being criticized by everyone else for a budget that focused only on farming! While Mr.CM himself dismissed, and ignored, farmer suicides and financial crises like the days weather conditions, he does not lose any chance to slap the union ministry.
Meanwhile, his ministry wasted no more time in accepting the Rs.14 billion ADB loan for Kerala. After all, the communist ideology is to accept everything free and resist anything that involves work. This is the same loan that the entire leftist parties created ruckus about while the previous government initiated steps to convince the ADB. Hopefully, it will be the time of the next ministry by the time CM and co spend all this 14 billion and the ADB asks them to repay the money.
The Governor of Kerala today read out what the CM handed over to him as the "policies of the government for 2007-2008". He said the government has declared the year as the "year of the agriculture and farmers" aka "harithavarsham". How this is going to help the farmer or his agriculture is obscure. The government also plans to set up an "IT park" in all districts. This decision comes from the very encouraging fact that the Smart City project is still under negotiations even after three years. It is our way of outsmarting others I guess.
The government also proposed to continue its hugely successful "Responsible Tourism" project, under which recently a Swiss lady lost her eye, and a whole boat of school-kids drowned near Kochi. Insiders say that the Responsible Tourism program is similar to earlier programs such as the Responsible Hartal, Responsible Trade Union Militancy, Responsible Goondaism etc, all of which are hugely successful according to the political leaders.
The Governor ended his speech by saying that the current government (2007) will model its future policies based on the government of EMS (1957). And we all know this is a big reality already, and Kerala is now somewhere around 1967 in terms of development, so its just a matter of another decade, which I am sure will be possible in the next 3-4 years of this ministry.
Jokes apart, I hope all the progressive policies of the government will materialize and we see some actual progress in the state!
Pongala is on at Trivandrum today with apparently a record turn-out of women this year. After all, their husbands leave them wanting plenty, so its no big surprise. Last year, post-Pongala, the streets saw unruly groups of youth forcefully stopping women and traffic in the pretext of "providing water to the tired women (their sisters)". Call it Responsible Chivalry - Kerala ishtyle.
Taking responsibility a step further, Shri.Pinarayi Vijayan carried live cartridges in his laptop bag and was caught in the act at the Chennai Airport. The whole thing erupted into a big saga that fed the political industry for a few days. Shri Vijayan himself dismissed the event and said " ohh...i didn't realise". Of course! Achuthanandan meanwhile requested for increased security cover immediately after the incident.
I wonder if somebody is going to tell me about Responsible Blogging now.
Read more!
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Kerala This Week, Vol 3, 2006
First things first.. Happy Kerala Day!
Kerala celebrates its 50th year of formation. And I guess most Keralites, like me, hope it will also be an year of transformation. I can already sense some kind of effort, atleast mental, gaining momentum among the new generation, an effort stemming from years of political slavery and unfavorable social circumstances. I hope the efforts collectively translate into something worthwhile, so we dont have to wait another 50 years.
P.M. Manmohan Singh has arrived in Kerala to join the rest of us in the celebrations. As always, the people expect some "sops" and "announcements" from the PM, and this time in terms of clearance for Vizhinjam Port, more financial assistance for the farmers (wonder who "ate" the previous assistances), the much-debated IIT in Kerala (time to restart the Kochi versus Trivandrum bout!!), upgradation of Trivandrum International Airport ( a plan thats been planned since 1990's, meanwhile there have been demands to have airports at Kottayam, Tiruvalla, Kannur, Wayanad and almost one in every other district! Also I hear that the design currently approved for the airport will not be enough to handle the traffic and volume by the time the airport is finally completed!) and more PSUs in the state (so we can have more unions and strikes), among other declarations.
In return, the people of Kerala (actually just one gentleman did the honor) offered an email threat to the P.M.. The gentleman also remembered President Kalam just in case he also decided to pop by at the party. Later the cops found out that the threat was actually all for the sake of his love lost, and in return he found that all is not fair in love and war.
But security continued to be at an unprecendented level, mainly to ensure that the P.M and other dignitaries dont get bitten by mosquitoes. After all we are still not sure why people in Kerala are dying : Chikungunya? Dengue? Viral disease? Malaria? Liver cirrhossis? Endosulfan? Coke? Pepsi? Possibilities are too many!
The honorable PM is joined in celebration, which apparently is going to be a month-long event, by none other than the newly appointed Defence Minister A.K. Antony ( Yes, defence minister of India! surprise surprise! so much that someone quipped online he is the best defence minister as he is very good in self-defense) and also the great M.P from Trivandrum, "the Anniyan", who decided to gift the people of Trivandrum his presence and sight on this great day ( One funny thing about Mr.Pan is that every time he visits Trivandrum, which is once every 3 months, he gives a speech warning the central government for its anti-Kerala and anti-Trivandrum policies.. but then he disappears for a couple of months to Delhi and hangs out with the very central government there doing nothing..Apparently the Delhi weather is good for his hair) and ofcourse, the enitre coterie of the state government machinery.
Our Chief is undecided whether to smile or not, especially since he will be sharing the stage with "bourgeois"! Another minister has decided he will just sleep through the function. Other ministers are not sure about attending the function as they are still learning about their assigned portfolios from the respective secretaries. Ex Minister Joseph is reportedly unhappy about the seating arrangement, as they have seated him away from all things..you know. And also kept all microphones away from him, just in case he decides to sing instead of ..you know.
The press continued to play spoilsport with all sorts of messed-up reports continuing as headlines.. A leading City edition of an English daily reported in front page on how Condoms are choking the drainage pipes of leading IT companies (wonder why media is always hellbent on such propoganda..I wonder if there is any truth in such crappy reports, and it sounds more of a sales pitch than anything else. I am sure there is nothing new going on in IT companies. And if at all its true, it must be that more people have begun to use condoms, unlike yesteryears when the same things happened in any other office or neighbourhood without condoms. Anyway I am sure it was thrilling news for the majority of the jobless in the state). And on the same day another Malayalam daily applauded the IT gains of the state with the headline "Technoparkil Adambara karukalude melam" (which translates into : IT guys are just freaking out in posh cars, what the hell are all non-IT people doing?). Meanwhile another paper reported on how CPM who continuously opposed the Smart City project is now in discussion with the promoters for a stake in the project! (blimey!) Yet another report brought out the dismal presence of Brand IT-Kerala in the just concluded BangaloreIT.in. So much for IT friendliness and IT promotion!!
Meanwhile, bus and lorry operators denounced the governments decision to curb their rights to mow down smaller cars, motorcyclists and pedestrians. They termed the decision of the government to implement mandatory "speed-governors" on their vehicles as a direct threat to their fundamental right to overspeed and kill. The All-Kerala-Heavy Vehicles-Employees-Union Secretary in a statement pounced on the state government and said the state already has a governor. They have begun an "indefinite strike" and with public transport already crippled, the state is in a grave situation. With half the state flooded with incessant rains, publich transport was the only mode of transport safe to get across from one point to another. Now thats also gone.. The government quickly decided to give more thrust to the Inland Waterways project, considering that most of the state is perpetually under water nowadays. And luckily enough, the tourism department conducted the Kerala Boat Show at the appropriate time. They are even planning an exchange offer: "exchange your Maruti for a boat".
Meanwhile, the official website of the Kerala Government now displays this message:
"November 1st is the 'Keralappiravi day'. Kerala State came into existence on 1st November 1956. In this regard the State Government has organised 50day's celebrations. The Ministry of Kerala is trying to reach new heights with novel ways of administration. Peoples' grievances are being sorted out by the sincere efforts of the Government. "
Good grief!! As much as I would like to write more on the above, I will save it for another day, another post..Lets all save ourselves for now.. Save Kerala! Let me go wish her a wonderful birthday and a great future!
Read more!
Kerala celebrates its 50th year of formation. And I guess most Keralites, like me, hope it will also be an year of transformation. I can already sense some kind of effort, atleast mental, gaining momentum among the new generation, an effort stemming from years of political slavery and unfavorable social circumstances. I hope the efforts collectively translate into something worthwhile, so we dont have to wait another 50 years.
P.M. Manmohan Singh has arrived in Kerala to join the rest of us in the celebrations. As always, the people expect some "sops" and "announcements" from the PM, and this time in terms of clearance for Vizhinjam Port, more financial assistance for the farmers (wonder who "ate" the previous assistances), the much-debated IIT in Kerala (time to restart the Kochi versus Trivandrum bout!!), upgradation of Trivandrum International Airport ( a plan thats been planned since 1990's, meanwhile there have been demands to have airports at Kottayam, Tiruvalla, Kannur, Wayanad and almost one in every other district! Also I hear that the design currently approved for the airport will not be enough to handle the traffic and volume by the time the airport is finally completed!) and more PSUs in the state (so we can have more unions and strikes), among other declarations.
In return, the people of Kerala (actually just one gentleman did the honor) offered an email threat to the P.M.. The gentleman also remembered President Kalam just in case he also decided to pop by at the party. Later the cops found out that the threat was actually all for the sake of his love lost, and in return he found that all is not fair in love and war.
But security continued to be at an unprecendented level, mainly to ensure that the P.M and other dignitaries dont get bitten by mosquitoes. After all we are still not sure why people in Kerala are dying : Chikungunya? Dengue? Viral disease? Malaria? Liver cirrhossis? Endosulfan? Coke? Pepsi? Possibilities are too many!
The honorable PM is joined in celebration, which apparently is going to be a month-long event, by none other than the newly appointed Defence Minister A.K. Antony ( Yes, defence minister of India! surprise surprise! so much that someone quipped online he is the best defence minister as he is very good in self-defense) and also the great M.P from Trivandrum, "the Anniyan", who decided to gift the people of Trivandrum his presence and sight on this great day ( One funny thing about Mr.Pan is that every time he visits Trivandrum, which is once every 3 months, he gives a speech warning the central government for its anti-Kerala and anti-Trivandrum policies.. but then he disappears for a couple of months to Delhi and hangs out with the very central government there doing nothing..Apparently the Delhi weather is good for his hair) and ofcourse, the enitre coterie of the state government machinery.
Our Chief is undecided whether to smile or not, especially since he will be sharing the stage with "bourgeois"! Another minister has decided he will just sleep through the function. Other ministers are not sure about attending the function as they are still learning about their assigned portfolios from the respective secretaries. Ex Minister Joseph is reportedly unhappy about the seating arrangement, as they have seated him away from all things..you know. And also kept all microphones away from him, just in case he decides to sing instead of ..you know.
The press continued to play spoilsport with all sorts of messed-up reports continuing as headlines.. A leading City edition of an English daily reported in front page on how Condoms are choking the drainage pipes of leading IT companies (wonder why media is always hellbent on such propoganda..I wonder if there is any truth in such crappy reports, and it sounds more of a sales pitch than anything else. I am sure there is nothing new going on in IT companies. And if at all its true, it must be that more people have begun to use condoms, unlike yesteryears when the same things happened in any other office or neighbourhood without condoms. Anyway I am sure it was thrilling news for the majority of the jobless in the state). And on the same day another Malayalam daily applauded the IT gains of the state with the headline "Technoparkil Adambara karukalude melam" (which translates into : IT guys are just freaking out in posh cars, what the hell are all non-IT people doing?). Meanwhile another paper reported on how CPM who continuously opposed the Smart City project is now in discussion with the promoters for a stake in the project! (blimey!) Yet another report brought out the dismal presence of Brand IT-Kerala in the just concluded BangaloreIT.in. So much for IT friendliness and IT promotion!!
Meanwhile, bus and lorry operators denounced the governments decision to curb their rights to mow down smaller cars, motorcyclists and pedestrians. They termed the decision of the government to implement mandatory "speed-governors" on their vehicles as a direct threat to their fundamental right to overspeed and kill. The All-Kerala-Heavy Vehicles-Employees-Union Secretary in a statement pounced on the state government and said the state already has a governor. They have begun an "indefinite strike" and with public transport already crippled, the state is in a grave situation. With half the state flooded with incessant rains, publich transport was the only mode of transport safe to get across from one point to another. Now thats also gone.. The government quickly decided to give more thrust to the Inland Waterways project, considering that most of the state is perpetually under water nowadays. And luckily enough, the tourism department conducted the Kerala Boat Show at the appropriate time. They are even planning an exchange offer: "exchange your Maruti for a boat".
Meanwhile, the official website of the Kerala Government now displays this message:
"November 1st is the 'Keralappiravi day'. Kerala State came into existence on 1st November 1956. In this regard the State Government has organised 50day's celebrations. The Ministry of Kerala is trying to reach new heights with novel ways of administration. Peoples' grievances are being sorted out by the sincere efforts of the Government. "
Good grief!! As much as I would like to write more on the above, I will save it for another day, another post..Lets all save ourselves for now.. Save Kerala! Let me go wish her a wonderful birthday and a great future!
Read more!
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