Saturday, April 11, 2009

God,Grant me a wish - Take everything away !!


I guess a week is over since I have been languishing in the bountiful lap of nature in Kerala and as I say it is one place that is disturbingly peaceful. You start so much of introspection that it gets to you after a certain point of time. Such is the peace here. The other day I was travelling in the bus when this thought of the ever clichéd unemployment aspect of the state stuck me. Kerala is notoriously famous for its high literacy rate (that is a farce anyways) and the unemployment despite the literacy. Gazing through all the natural bountifulness of the state one thing struck me, when I saw a couple of young guys sitting under a tree and smoking away their beedis.

It is said that necessity is the mother of all invention(there is something about all these adages, they might be clichéd but carry a certain level of truth).So that translates into the fact that if there is no necessity there will not be any forward thinking because one is comfortable in his/her own cocoon. Three things that stand out about Kerala any day would be the fish, rain and rice. If there is ever a word association exercise with Kerala these three would be the front runners I guess along with Strikes, communism and coconut probably. Now let’s look at the ideal Kerala family setting and I am not talking about the Kerala in cities(if there is any) where people haven’t seen a well. I am talking about the agrarian Kerala. Each home will have a comfortable number of coconut trees, banana trees, a well and rice would be their staple food any day along with fish. Even if they don’t work they can sell the coconuts, use coir, get coconut oil for normal chores, bananas for nutrition, rain is plenty in Kerala and hence the constant availability of water added with not that depleted water table. The land is fertile and hence there will be enough demand for land based factor work .Hence there is never a scarcity. Everything is readily available.

Everyone knows the story of Japanese resurgence after the world war when it was battling a tattered economy and lack of any natural resources. Let’s think of Indian states itself .Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Punjab etc .None of them are as blessed as Kerala, but then that constraint has allowed them to utilize each and every resource very well and utilize their human capital which harvests the natural resources than simply pluck the natural resources .Constraints are needed to perform at optimal level, the absence of which leads to under-utilization and below average capacity performance as there is no initiative to perform or let’s say perform that extra bit, same holds true for any aspect of life. Constraints have to be used not avoided.                                                                                                                 

Your environment makes you and hence when you have a tailor made environment, you never are motivated enough to look beyond the regular sources because the regular sources are a plenty. The peaceful environment makes one timid all the more and un- rebellious. The problem or the paradox is not that they are not using resources but using it all too often and at a pretty sustainable rate and to top all of that a communist ruled state .Ideal settings for the lackadaisical. It is not the problem of scarcity of resources but a paradox of a complete set of resources that curbs the man’s nomadic tendency to explore further. The irony of being blessed by all means and not having to struggle. Same goes for its twin sister West Bengal. Absolutely same microcosm .This my friends is the paradox of abundance .Survival might be guaranteed by natural resources but not prosperity, prosperity can be guaranteed only if there is proper human capital and technology involved with or without nature .When you stop resisting a major factor you tend to get shaped by that factor .So it’s not a surprising fact that people in Kerala have become complacent, comforting, unproductive, undemanding and over and above idle. If an idle mind is a devils workshop then it’s the ultimate parody that this place be called gods own country.

8 comments:

Viyoma said...

You have poured your heart out via this post..
it describes exactly every moment, every thought, every second that you have experienced...

Wonderful articulate entry..kept me hooked till the end.

ArUn raFi said...

hey
good if u found it articulate..but something tells me u havnt properly read it..or else this wouldnt have the nature of the comment..
please people if u hate the post tell it..no problems..but dont fill in empty words..
@vijyoma
i myt be at fault probably of not understandng the comment properly but hey,i havent experienced anythin f tht sort..and god or whatever forbid,tht shudnt happen :)
thanks

ArUn raFi said...

and and and..this is not a well researched post..infact not researched at all..just put in my random opinion..
does not mean tht i hate kerala..i am a proud mallu!!
this comment is specifically written because i had a good friend of mine who put up this comment on facebook
"I guess u hav seen only ur perception of the state...... grow up man......"
I thought tht qualifies as a comment and have put it here..Cos it was clearly evident tht it was a genuine comment..

Vivek Menon said...

Hey arun..Thanks for visiting and adding my blog to yours...Cool post and as a mallu i like your idea...heres another one...How about we declare Kerala a Gulf state under the Emir of Dubai(on a lease). Then you will see everyone working their asses off.And we can collect taxes from the Emir??
do keep visting mate. Have a good easter sunday..

ArUn raFi said...

hey i think we are already leased out in a way..
more than 25 % of the state output is from the gulf remittances..the average pay remains at close to 1 dollar an hour..we make our living because of the whims and hedonistic pleasures of the capitalist middle east and cry on maintaining a left rule or communist rule..

cutestangel said...

I visited kovalium and trivundrum some 4 years back and seriously I loved the place it was like paradise.

A New Beginning said...

Fish rain and rice...thats a nice way of describing Kerela..a beautiful city, peaceful...when we get fed up with the city chaos..a beautiful place like Kerela gives a refreshing break to life.
Thats quite an interesting post!! Keep up!
http://aspaceofonesown.blogspot.com

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