Golden Jubilee Gas

A lot of hot air on the occasion of the 50^th anniversary of the formation of KeralaState.

J. Chacko

1^st November 2006 marked the 50^th anniversary of the formation of KeralaState.

For days on,  the media in Kerala was busy preparing the people to usher in this date as newspapers were full of features, comments, articles etc. and the electronic media, not to be left behind, was full of discussions, debates etc.. 

The state of the State on this momentous (?) day is worth mentioning.  Kerala is in the grip of a killer disease which is as yet to be correctly identified.  The heaps of waste, both domestic and industrial, degenerating into filth, suspected to be breeding ground for various deadly bacteria, getting accumulated all over the State, was assuming scandalous proportions, with no solution in sight.  In Kochi, one of the dump yards near the Southern Naval Command has become a deadly danger to it so much so they had to issue an ultimatum to the civic authorities to get it cleared and shifted out.  The civic authorities, finding that they have no place to shift it, had sent an SOS to the Defence Minister A.K. Antony who, over-ruling, Navy objections, has allowed time till 30th November to get the muck removed.

Sex related crimes, known in Kerala as Shree Peedhanam , roughly translated meaning ‘female torture’  continues unabated and the latest victim is a young girl who committed suicide after being betrayed and abused by a fake lover.  This particular nomenclature, with a profound anti-male bias, is however not befitting as in most cases, women have played active roles in luring unsuspecting victims into sex rackets.

Industrial and investment climate remain as gloomy as ever with hardly any worthwhile proposals from anywhere.  Agricultural scene is no better.  Kerala continues to depend on neighbouring States for all essentials including fresh vegetables, eggs, meat etc...

Roads in the State are in a pathetic condition.  Way behind other States in building modern, wide roads, the condition of what roads are there in Kerala is the nightmare of a motorist. 

As if all these were not enough, the Lorry and Bus owners went on an indefinite strike on the eve of the great day, making life miserable for all its inhabitants. The auto rickwshaws of Kochi went on a days’ strike on 1^st November to protest against the murder of a fellow driver.

Against this back-drop, all the discussions, features and all went on in the usual track.  Any discussion on Kerala would centre on canonisation of CPM leader EMS Namboothiripad and CPI leader C Achuta Menon.  This will be followed by the clap-trap on Human Development Index, Literacy etc… Malayala Manorama, the most widely circulated Kerala daily and a self-styled anti-Communist one, declared EMS as the greatest influence on Keralites.  What a great injustice to EMS!

EMS was simplicity epitomised.  Though born with a silver spoon in the mouth, he gave up all his immense wealth for the Communist movement and a led a spartan life till the end.  For him, no ostentation, no conspicuous consumption and no show offs.  The average Keralite of today is just the opposite, as very often lamented - an ostentatious showman.  Where is EMS in this scheme of things?  Life styles of CPM Comrades are embarrassing to the Party itself.

T J S George, the self-styled expert on everything under the Sun, lamented in the Indian Express about the decline in the political class, as if all other classes of people have shown remarkable improvement in standards. Decline from Chalapathi Rao, Pothen Joseph et al to the present crop of journalists is as precipitous as the fall in political class.

The crowning glory was the anniversary function itself, held in the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram and attended by the Prime Minister.  Prior to his visit, there was an email threat to the life of the PM.  While the Police went about it with great competence, the media went berserk with the story, as if a “Jackal” was on the prowl.  The Police solved the case in record time and a mentally upset youth was arrested who had carried out the whole operation to take “revenge” on his so called lover who had spurned his overtures.

The kudos earned by the Police in cracking the email threat was short lived and on the day of arrival of the PM, they ended up with a lot of muck on their face. There was a very serious security lapse when his motorcade from the airport to Raj Bhawan lost its way and he was held up for about 10 minutes in a vulnerable spot.

The function, shabbily organised and poorly attended, had the usual amount of platitudes showered on the State and its people.  It would be remembered only for its biggest faux pas- the national anthem was not sung!

The show goes on.  The State would continue to be the “money order economy” which it is.  There would be similar functions in future also- if there is no occasion, we would invent one so that EMS and Achuta Menon can again be canonised, trite phrases can be showered on the State and so on.  The average Keralite, fed up with all these, is waiting for a little girl to stand up and exclaim “The Emperor has no clothes”.