KOCHI: Russia, with different time zones, is the largest country in the world. Similarly, India is also a vast country with different human development indices. Correct comparison? No. Still, it is worth perturbing an Indian Sociologist. Culturally, socially, educationally, economically and in a slew of other fields, India has torn apart and the country does not have a monolith standard or a uniform pattern. Everything varies from region to region., from literacy level to food habit to dress code to language to development to cultural ethos to climate.
Despite all these diversities across the country, the State of Kerala stands out as a test case for a different cup of tea. Kerala has a population of approx.3.0 crores out of India’s 130 crores. Spread over 38, 853 sq.KM, out of 3,287,263 Sq.KM of India’s geographical area, Kerala has a coastline of approx. 580 KM.
Kerala State has many firsts to boast of over the other Indian States like;
1)Highest Human Development Index
2)High literacy
3)High technology
4)Health care
5)Social awareness (equivalent to the erstwhile East European countries),
6)Highest life expectancy
7)Infant mortality rate (equivalent to the US).
Though one can point out some aberrations like the political killings or the industrial backwardness or the lynching of an Adivasi youth that took place recently or its highly politicized social life, the People prefer their State to be known as “God’s Own Country” to other adjectives.
The teachings of Aadi Shankara and Sri Narayana Guru who advocated “One-caste, One Religion-One God” theory and later the “dictatorship of the proletariat”, a la, the victory of Communist Movement under the stewardship of EMS Namboodiripad might have shaped the Malayali psyche. The town, Alleppy, in Kerala, had trade relations with ancient Greece and Rome during the Middle Ages which shows the people here were ready to explore beyond their borders for economic advancement.
Muslim and Christian minorities constitute almost 45% of the population of Kerala and the State is always praised for its communal harmony, unlike the Hind speaking North. Good or bad, True or false, flexible or rigid sophisticated or naive, an average Malayali takes pride in all these along with his evening dose of 3 Ks., Kallu ( toddy), Kappa (tapioca) and Karimeen (pearl spot).
A Khap Panchayat of Haryana or lynching of a person for converting to another religion or burning of a bride for dowry or screening of Fire or S Durga, or carrying beef may not be of much relevance in Kerala though it can create waves of protests and avalanches of mistrust, hatred, tensions and unending communal/caste flare-ups in the Hindi heartland. There may be various historical, cultural, religious and hereditary reasons including the inter mixing of Hinduism and Jainism and the divergent Aryan and Dravidian genetic factors for these diametrically opposite cultural moorings between the native Hindi and non-Hindi speakers.
The furore created by antagonists of the Hindi film Padmavat /i is actually confined to certain pockets of Rajasthan and a few regions in the adjoining States. In what way the rest of the country is affected by screening Padmavat /i ? Viewed from South, it was a storm in the tea-cup. It is always the case of a microscopic minority silencing the vast majority. Isn’t it unfair? As someone said, one size does not fit all as far as India is concerned due to its different intra-inter region socio-cultural, educational and economic levels.
Here, I am of the view that Kerala, due to the factors mentioned above, deserves a special socio-cultural package or status compared to the rest of the country. For example, Kerala should have its own policies on various fields including education, culture, health care, art and literature, cinema. Or, alternatively, barring subjects like Defence, External Affairs, Printing of Currency Notes, Inter-State River Disputes etc. the State may be allowed to frame its own rules. Consequent to this, the colonial hangover of the Post of Governor as State Head can be done away with.
In India, we can have unity but not uniformity in all subjects. It is next to impossible. Arguably all regions within India, need their own socio-cultural status with legal backing depending upon the various development indices. Let all regions compete with each other for the betterment of its own people.
If we agree to this, India as a whole will be a better place to live in. Let’s Change. Let’s re-invent India.Let Kerala take the lead for a new vibrant and strong India.
(The views expressed by the author are his own)