Mavelinaaduvaneedumkalam, manushyarellavarumonnu pole’. Now this is a popular Onam folk song basically stating that when Mahabali ruled Kerala (and most of India), all men were equal, there was no discrimination based on caste, and kin.
Basically Mahabali was a reformer king, and an amazing military strategist (which resulted in him conquering most of India); his sole weakness was that he always kept his promise, no matter the repercussions involved, as that was his Asura dharma. During his time, he abolished the caste system and brought in meritocracy — anyone could go to the many paatashalas established and could aim to be anyone, scholarly pursuits weren’t just for the Brahmins. We, perhaps, owe it to him if Kerala is 98 per cent literate today and puts a lot of emphasis on schooling.
These reforms had widespread impact and led to the golden age of Kerala.
After many a year, a certain Karl Marx published a book called the ‘Communist Manifesto’, which had one of its ideals as ‘All men are to be equal’. This was about abolishing the social system that was prevalent by then, with the huge divide among the haves and have nots.
Now, the good people of Kerala found this very similar to Mahabali’s ideology, and thought it would usher back the long-forgotten golden age again. This Onam, it’s time to reflect whether we are doing justice to this great warrior king of ours by depicting him as a fat and ebullient shopping icon?
Haven’t we reduced our Mahabali to an Eastern equivalent of Santa Claus?
St Nicholas, a Scandinavian icon, was appropriated by Coca Cola Company in the 1940s, and dressed up in the company colours of red and white as a shopping icon during Christmas, promoting consumerism.
Marketing strategists in Coke wanted him to be depicted as rotund and jolly — the science behind it being that a fat and jovial person as an icon promotes the urge to consume more. Thus Santa Claus became an icon that promoted consumerism from fast food chains to toys to high-end consumer durables.
We haven’t treated our beloved Mahabali, any differently. During Onam, the fat king adorns most shopping malls and clothing stores, encouraging you to spend more.
We are lucky that our trademark icon is not getting outsourced, or the good Malayalee might also send Mahabali to the Gulf once a year during the ‘Dubai Shopping Festival’. Happy Onam, friends.