Kerala - Is it really God’s own country ?

My trip to Kerela was breath taking but one thing I am not sure though – is it really God’s own country?

Ten days of driving on a road trip around Kerala has ensured that I am in love with that part of the world. Having lived in Bangalore for ten years I am repenting as to why it took me so long to visit this heaven on earth. People say that it is the land of Red – to me it is land that is Green. God has been kind to that part of geography and not only do you have the rolling mountains covered with Tea gardens but also the blue jumping waves of Kovallam and the laziness of Ashtmundi backwaters. The place is a sight to sore eyes and tranquility to the heart.

However coming back to my question – is it really God’s own country? What credit can God take to the well manicured Tea gardens that are reaping Gold to the economy or the back breaking work on the rubber plantations or the patience that the crop of spices need over many generations. The general well being of Kerala has its own people to credit for – to leave a paradise like Kerala and go to work in the harsh desert of Arab world does not sound like a great idea. To the credit of the locals here not only have they gone to far flung places but also built a reputation for themselves, reputation of hard working and consistent performers. It is no more the nurses or the stenos who come from Kerala but you will find the Malayali’s excelling in every walk of life.

Kerala is a breeding ground for a positive spiral. Literacy has not only ensured that they are able to export workforce across the world but also ensured a clean and green Kerala. Imagine what 90% literacy can do for a state. Any village that you drive through the state is a well maintained one (not that you don’t see poverty or filth). The village is not only clean but well equipped and reflective of well being and healthiness. The roads are well maintained and people industrious. The locals have really geared over this period towards tourism and you see the service oriented approach reflective on food – no more is the cooking done only in Coconut oil but to lure the ‘outsiders’ you actually have food being cooked to all tastes (even Jain food is available!) The people here are not only employed but more importantly are self sufficient and self employed.

There is NRI income, there is tourism income, there is export, there is medical tourism, there is a fledgling industry (wonder why it is fledgling) but most importantly there is a roaring agriculture industry. There is Tea, there is coffee, there is cardamom, there is clove, there is pepper, there is coconut and there is spice…. You name it and all the cash crops are there to see. It is an environmentally sustainable economy. You can actually see the rural India become urban. As you drive you enjoy the good roads, you enjoy the sight but you also see that Kerala is one big village (for the ones who have visited and driven in the state will realize that the village never ends…it only changes names and you keep going from one village to the other). To me Kerala has only one city – Kochi or Cochin – the rest are villages of different sizes! All the villages are well off and the people literate. The best thing is the gender equity (M:F is 100:106!!) I am sure with more women the state is not only clean but better managed. There is business in the air and cleanliness in the corners. If India wants to become a super power then all Indian villages need to learn from Kerala. (The one thing that they need to not learn though is the love for toddy!)

To me Kerala is the most evolved state – though the politics there talks of ‘no religion’ but to me it is more of ‘all religion’. Whether it is Islam or Christianity or Hinduism or Judism all have entered (or re-entered) from Kerala. St Thomas is said to have visited in 52 AD – the Arabs in their dhows came in 7th century (bringing Islam and Judaism) – the first Jews landed in those dhows and Hinduism dates back 5000 BC! (Who can discount that Adi Shankaracharya was born a Nambudiri in Kerala)

With all this early evolution and melting of various religions I am sure God (of all kinds) has been kind to Kerala but I still feel that current state of affairs in Kerala – its well being – its weather – its sustainable economy – its gender equity – high literacy - $ income and all those good things have nothing to do with God. To me for the Mallu’s and the Malayali’s – Kerala is truly “People’s own country”

(and this has nothing to do with any colour - RED or GREEN!!!)