We Malayalees are simply great because we do nothing or do wrong things and are capable of sweetly justifying everything. If anyone is in Kerala now and god forbid, that that person has to get something done from a government office - say, like getting an innocuous thing like a birth/death certificate for example - the most likely reply that would be received would be one among the following and that too, accompanied with a disarming smile from the fellow who's gonna give the answer:-
(a) "Oh! You seem to be new out here. Come after Onam and the certificate shall be your's". And when
you remind them that Onam is still quite far away, you'll receive that sympathetic look stamping you
as an ignoramus and a babe in the woods!
(b) If you're persistent and insist on meeting with the concerned officer, the answer is ready, "He's out in
the field to directly oversee(?) the preparations for the Onam celebrations", leaving you to wonder
as to why an official must be doing such things when it should be the responsibility of the social/cultural
organisations!
(c) And after the Onam week, the refrain would be, "It was a busy schedule organising the various
functions and we need to have a break. I'm sure you'd understand(You'd like to shout from the
rooftop saying that you don't!), you can come after a week when everything will be normal, saar".
(d) And if a Malayalee good Samaritan were to intervene saying that the outsider must not be put
through unnecessary difficulty, he' d be firmly told to "go, take a walk".
And now, consider the present impasse:-
(a) The work on the segment of the Kochi Metro - from Kaloor to Ernakulam south - has come to
a standstill for the past four days due to labour trouble. I shudder to think of the occasion when
E Sreedharan is gonna pull himself out of the entire project saying that he's had enough!
(b) The truck drivers, helpers and cleaners who deliver domestic gas cylinders to the households have
struck work demanding revision of their remuneration and if they're to persist with their agitation,
the womenfolk of the southern districts are gonna have a tough time. The remedy is in place, if you
please... refills are available at err..enhanced rates in the black market and housewives succumb
to the blackmail because it's Onam!
Why do these things happen, I've always tried to find a reason. Is it anyone of these or a deadly combination of all of them:-
(a) Playing politics to show the ruling dispensation in poor light?
(b) We like to play it this way because we can never be satisfied.
(c) Ask for the moon during important occasions and you'll achieve the impossible!
(d) The state be damned, it's I, me and myself! Don't you mess with me!!
Tailpiece.
No wonder that Swami Vivekananda had, years ago, dubbed this part of the country as a 'lunatic asylum'. We continue to live up to that reputation!
(a) "Oh! You seem to be new out here. Come after Onam and the certificate shall be your's". And when
you remind them that Onam is still quite far away, you'll receive that sympathetic look stamping you
as an ignoramus and a babe in the woods!
(b) If you're persistent and insist on meeting with the concerned officer, the answer is ready, "He's out in
the field to directly oversee(?) the preparations for the Onam celebrations", leaving you to wonder
as to why an official must be doing such things when it should be the responsibility of the social/cultural
organisations!
(c) And after the Onam week, the refrain would be, "It was a busy schedule organising the various
functions and we need to have a break. I'm sure you'd understand(You'd like to shout from the
rooftop saying that you don't!), you can come after a week when everything will be normal, saar".
(d) And if a Malayalee good Samaritan were to intervene saying that the outsider must not be put
through unnecessary difficulty, he' d be firmly told to "go, take a walk".
And now, consider the present impasse:-
(a) The work on the segment of the Kochi Metro - from Kaloor to Ernakulam south - has come to
a standstill for the past four days due to labour trouble. I shudder to think of the occasion when
E Sreedharan is gonna pull himself out of the entire project saying that he's had enough!
(b) The truck drivers, helpers and cleaners who deliver domestic gas cylinders to the households have
struck work demanding revision of their remuneration and if they're to persist with their agitation,
the womenfolk of the southern districts are gonna have a tough time. The remedy is in place, if you
please... refills are available at err..enhanced rates in the black market and housewives succumb
to the blackmail because it's Onam!
Why do these things happen, I've always tried to find a reason. Is it anyone of these or a deadly combination of all of them:-
(a) Playing politics to show the ruling dispensation in poor light?
(b) We like to play it this way because we can never be satisfied.
(c) Ask for the moon during important occasions and you'll achieve the impossible!
(d) The state be damned, it's I, me and myself! Don't you mess with me!!
Tailpiece.
No wonder that Swami Vivekananda had, years ago, dubbed this part of the country as a 'lunatic asylum'. We continue to live up to that reputation!
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