Friday, November 1, 2013

The Kerala day.

57 years back, on this day, when the states of India were redrawn on linguistic lines, Kerala was one of the states that had come about in its present form. And today, the Malayalees seemed to be all too eager to celebrate the day - most women sported the state's traditional two piece attire, affectionately called the 'mundum neryathum' and I must confess to my sneaky preference to the attire because it's a class of its own. There seems to be a sudden spurt in enthusiasm to being a Keralite - a phenomenon brought about by the media and the numerous FM channels, I reckon.

It's a welcome turn around because there was a time, not long ago, when Malayalees staying outside the state, were found to be parsimonious in befriending another of their ilk due to some strange reason. The use of Malayalam was confined to the four walls of the homes and in public, the use of English, Hindi or the local language was resorted to, much to the consternation of the listener what with the typical 'pronunciations' - which had become fodder for the others to come out with a whole lot of jokes!

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By kick starting the process of the mass distribution of land entitlement documents to 11,108 beneficiaries of the district, Kannur has become the first 'zero landless' district in the country. An auspicious happening on the birthday of the state. The government promises to continue with the efforts to make Kerala,the first 'zero landless' state in due course.

It's a great boon for the unfortunate and the poor to acquire a tract of land to call it their own. It's my fond hope that houses would also be built on the newly acquired property by voluntary agencies at affordable/low costs!

Was reminded of the time when 'Ezhome' became the first village in Kannur district to become 100% literate in '85 thanks to the concerted efforts of the late PN Panicker and his dedicated team! And when will India become a 'zero landless' country?

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The Sensex had climbed to an all time high of 21,293/88 against the previous record of 21,206/77 reached on 10 Jan 2008. Vigorous foreign fund flows into Indian markets coupled with a renewed optimism regarding the economy seems to be the catalyst as per my limited 'economic' knowledge! Hope the trend continues!!


Tailpiece.

1. I'd like to quote the immortal lines of the renowned poet, Vallathol at this juncture,

  "Bharatham ennu kettaal, abhimaana poorothamaakanam antharangam
   Keralamennu kettaal, thilakkanam chora sirakalil!"

2. But after having cited those wonderful lines, a doubt creeps in, 'Is this the reason why most of us don't think like an Indian and in the process, miss out on the nationalism?'

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