Skip to main content

What makes Kerala different

Malankara Dam's reservoir [in Kerala, a few km from my house]


Kerala is quite different from the other states in India. The difference is not just about literacy or economic development or health infrastructure. There is much else that marks out Kerala as unique.

Kerala’s religious demography comes to mind first. According to the 2011 census, 55% of people in Kerala are Hindus, 27% are Muslims and 18% are Christians. Yet Kerala is seen by a lot of Indians as a Christian state if only because the state consistently opposed the kind of communal politics played by the BJP. Even Mr Modi’s histrionics failed to move the Malayali hearts.

Mr Modi took his own revenge on the state too. Kerala was hit by severe floods in 2018 and 2019. The Modi government pretended not to see the devastation. Even the state government’s pleas for deserved assistance in a federal system fell on deaf ears. Let alone that, Mr Modi went to the extent of denying the help that came from foreign nations. He was right to say that India does not accept foreign aid as a policy. But he was immensely wrong in refusing to extend the required assistance to the state in the direst times. And Malayalis don’t forget; after all, the elephant is the state’s official animal.

When Mr Modi’s party and its thugs ravaged North India with the vehemence of savage invaders in the name of the holy cow and its excreta, the Malayalis filled the social media with trolls that carried the aroma of beef roast. When Mr Modi and his party tried to impose Hindi and its culture on the whole of India, the Malayalis learnt English and took up jobs abroad. Today the economy of the state is held up largely by the money sent from abroad by Malayalis.

One look at the government hospitals in Kerala alone will convince anyone from outside the state about the state’s difference from the rest of the country. The government hospitals in the state are run with meticulous efficiency and hygiene and they can compete with any private hospital. And they provide absolutely free treatment to every patient irrespective of their economic status.

Kerala leads in many ways without making much fuss about it. We don’t spend millions of rupees advertising our achievements. We spend our money to do something good for the people, especially the backward classes. You won’t find any slum in Kerala. You won’t find visible poverty. The government cares for the people. I don’t think there is any other state in the country which spends a good bit of its revenue on migrant labourers, for their education as well as physical welfare. There are about 35 lakh migrant workers in the state.

When COVID-19 hit the country, it was Kerala that showed the way. The state imposed restrictions on people’s movement even before the country did. The state told the people what to do and what not to. The state followed every person who came from outside and quarantined everyone who was suspected of infection. The state made free food available to all the people irrespective of their economic status much before the country thought of doing the same.


That’s how Kerala is different. There’s a lot more to say. But I don’t want to sound boastful. I wrote this in response to fellow blogger Anita’s prompt for this week’s Indispire: What is that one thing you would like to share about your village, city or state that many are not aware? Do you try to create awareness? #StateInfo

Comments

  1. Rupam GoswamiMarch 28, 2020 at 6:15 PM

    Very true, Sir. I had an opportunity of visiting Kerala in 2016, and I was mesmerized by everything there, from people to cleanliness. It is truly God's own country, and I like the points you have put up here, including the self-sustainable concepts of the state! Great write.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 28, 2020 at 7:30 PM

      I have lived in many parts of India. I returned to kerala only in my old age. I'm happy I did.

      Delete
  2. The Moon's BOYFRIEND March 28, 2020 at 7:11 PM

    Proud to be a Keralite,

    ReplyDelete
  3. Rajeev MoothedathMarch 29, 2020 at 10:57 AM

    Key aspects that sets the state apart underscored in the article ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 29, 2020 at 11:24 AM

      Kerala shows how everyone can be taken care of. If only the others learnt!

      Delete
  4. KikzbeeMarch 30, 2020 at 9:38 AM

    Same here sir. I've lived in different parts of country just came back to Kerala to settle down and I appreciate the Government of the state, its way of doing things differently. Proud to be a Keralite! Still there are many things I have to learn about the state. It's good to learn and appreciate this place in the eyes of a beginner !

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tomichan MatheikalMarch 30, 2020 at 10:27 AM

      I'm sure you'll like it in Kerala. The state has certain well-oiled systems and vigilant media, above all a politically aware people.

      Delete
  5. Nisha AntonyMarch 31, 2020 at 12:27 PM

    I m a traveler such blogs really inspire me to explore more places . I also have to mention the way you have described every little thing is very informative and clear. thank you so much for writing such blogs. i recently visited Chennai and check into great resort check out Green Meadows resort http://www.greenmeadowsresort.com/ waiting for more such blogs about Chennai

    ReplyDelete
  6. rifle range boyMarch 31, 2020 at 8:15 PM

    one day i shall come

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Adventures of Toto as a comic strip

  'The Adventures of Toto' is an amusing story by Ruskin Bond. It is prescribed as a lesson in CBSE's English course for class 9. Maggie asked her students to do a project on some of the lessons and Femi George's work is what I would like to present here. Femi converted the story into a beautiful comic strip. Her work will speak for itself and let me present it below.  Femi George Student of Carmel Public School, Vazhakulam, Kerala Similar post: The Little Girl
41 comments
Read more

The Little Girl

The Little Girl is a short story by Katherine Mansfield given in the class 9 English course of NCERT. Maggie gave an assignment to her students based on the story and one of her students, Athena Baby Sabu, presented a brilliant job. She converted the story into a delightful comic strip. Mansfield tells the story of Kezia who is the eponymous little girl. Kezia is scared of her father who wields a lot of control on the entire family. She is punished severely for an unwitting mistake which makes her even more scared of her father. Her grandmother is fond of her and is her emotional succour. The grandmother is away from home one day with Kezia's mother who is hospitalised. Kezia gets her usual nightmare and is terrified. There is no one at home to console her except her father from whom she does not expect any consolation. But the father rises to the occasion and lets the little girl sleep beside him that night. She rests her head on her father's chest and can feel his heart
14 comments
Read more

A Priest Chooses Death

AI-generated illustration The parish priest of my neighbourhood committed suicide this morning. His body was found hanging from the ceiling. Just a week back a Catholic nun chose to end her life in the same manner at a place about 20 km from my home. In a country where about 500 persons choose death every day, the suicide of two individuals may not create ripples, let alone waves. But, non-believer as I am, I was shaken by these deaths. Christianity is a religion that accepts suffering as a virtue. In fact, the more the suffering in your life, the better a Christian you can be. Follow the path shown by Jesus, that’s what every priest preaches from the pulpit day after day. Jesus’ path is the way of the cross. I grew up in an extremely conservative Catholic family in an equally conservative village in Kerala. I had a rather wretched childhood. But I was taught to find consolation in the sufferings of Jesus. The Passion of Jesus, that’s what it is called in Catholic theology. Tha
10 comments
Read more

Romancing with Nature

  Kingini and Plato have no aesthetic sense. They are killers by instinct, I think. Sadistic too. They catch the prey and play with it until it is rendered lifeless. Once the prey is dead, Kingini and Plato will abandon it and go in search of another victim.  Kingini and Plato are my cats. Mother and son, both together have driven quite a few creatures here to extinction, I think. Lizards and chameleons are their usual victims. The cicadas have fallen silent in the bushes. Once in a while Kingini and Plato discover a small snake too to play with. Highly venomous ones! What worries me these days is their newfound fondness for butterflies. They have become experts in catching butterflies. They just sit and watch a butterfly for a while and then one jump - the butterrfly will be in their mouth. By the time I rush to save the little creature, it is usually too late. Most of the time I don't see these hunts. I see only the dead remains of the tiny beauties.  Nature is full of such cruel
12 comments
Read more

Generation Gap

AI-generated illustration I always believed that generation gap wouldn’t be a problem for me because I had failed to grow up psychologically. My hairs greyed and my skin has begun to show some wrinkles. But I can climb up the stairs with greater ease than a teenager of today. I can challenge my young students to go on a trek in the mountains and I’m sure I’ll conquer greater heights than them with much ease. More importantly, I can smile more sweetly than them. I am more open to new ideas, my blood boils at injustices unlike theirs, I have dreams, ideals and principles… I was condemned to go back to the classroom. It’s for a short while, of course. I’m substituting someone. Initially I was excited. I thought I was getting an opportunity to be young once again. But the actual classrooms have all been terrible disappointments. The teenagers in front of me look so senile, behave like grumpy octogenarians who yawn all the way from morning to evening unable to understand or appreciate a
8 comments
Read more