The ink is not dry yet on my previous post, but it looks like our Christian Brothers too will plump for more of the brandy (Christian Brothers aka CB being a popular IMFL brand in Kerala)
This IANS piece estimates Kerala liquor sales to hit an all-time high Rs 23 billion during Christmas, despite the Church call.
Showing posts with label Kerala. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kerala. Show all posts
Friday, December 21, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
DON'T DRINK, FOR CHRIST'S SAKE
God's Own Country is on a high, literally. Along with high literacy, Kerala has the highest per capita consumption of alcohol in the country. And come festival time, be it Onam or Christmas-New Year, the tipplers are in overdrive mode. Onam this year saw sales of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) flow past the Rs 100 crore mark (we haven't yet counted toddy consumption). As we approach Christmas and the dawn of 2008, further record-breaking feats are expected.
That's the climate in which Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Mar Varkey Vithayathil, exhorted his flock to desist from alcohol on Christmas. Vithayathil's Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese says they are sending letters to over one lakh Catholic families, besides awareness campaigns and Sunday sermons on the evils of booze.
It may be a small step, considering Christmas is just one day out of 365. And the Archbishop has not ventured into the other big booze-guzzling day - the dawn of the New Year. But it's still a laudable effort, in a state where the government's steps have been mostly restricted to heavy taxes. Only that increased taxes lead to greater revenue for a government which complains of being perennially cash-strapped. Hooch (illicit liquor) tragedies, ranging from Vypeen in the 1980s to Kalluvathukkal in 2000 have caused the occasional jolt, but tipplers continue to go strong.
There's religious tradition too backing alcohol, in parts of Kerala. The Malabar region has the Parassinikadavu Muthappan Temple near Kannur, where it is customary to offer toddy to the deity Muthappan (a form of Shiva)
Public figures haven't helped matters, failing to come to the forefront expressing concern. Some of them instead have gone to the other extreme, such as Mohanlal and this controversial ad campaign for a whisky brand.
Does a celebrity with mass appeal in Kerala like Mohanlal need an explicit liquor ad for some extra pocket money? Sadly this image of Mohanlal is very much in synergy with many of his recent 'male machismo' films.
The Archbishop's call for a 'dry' Christmas may just remain a cry in the wilderness in a state where his followers quote Jesus Christ turning water into wine to support their thirst for liquor. But the Syro-Malabar Church's concerted campaign is a good beginning, as long as it remains a campaign and not a diktat.
That's the climate in which Major Archbishop of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church, Mar Varkey Vithayathil, exhorted his flock to desist from alcohol on Christmas. Vithayathil's Ernakulam-Angamaly archdiocese says they are sending letters to over one lakh Catholic families, besides awareness campaigns and Sunday sermons on the evils of booze.
It may be a small step, considering Christmas is just one day out of 365. And the Archbishop has not ventured into the other big booze-guzzling day - the dawn of the New Year. But it's still a laudable effort, in a state where the government's steps have been mostly restricted to heavy taxes. Only that increased taxes lead to greater revenue for a government which complains of being perennially cash-strapped. Hooch (illicit liquor) tragedies, ranging from Vypeen in the 1980s to Kalluvathukkal in 2000 have caused the occasional jolt, but tipplers continue to go strong.
There's religious tradition too backing alcohol, in parts of Kerala. The Malabar region has the Parassinikadavu Muthappan Temple near Kannur, where it is customary to offer toddy to the deity Muthappan (a form of Shiva)
Public figures haven't helped matters, failing to come to the forefront expressing concern. Some of them instead have gone to the other extreme, such as Mohanlal and this controversial ad campaign for a whisky brand.
Does a celebrity with mass appeal in Kerala like Mohanlal need an explicit liquor ad for some extra pocket money? Sadly this image of Mohanlal is very much in synergy with many of his recent 'male machismo' films.
The Archbishop's call for a 'dry' Christmas may just remain a cry in the wilderness in a state where his followers quote Jesus Christ turning water into wine to support their thirst for liquor. But the Syro-Malabar Church's concerted campaign is a good beginning, as long as it remains a campaign and not a diktat.
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
THE AUTUMN OF THE PATRIARCH
An aggressive bunch armed with sticks throwing chairs all over the place. After the mayhem they make good their escape, save one. And the one aggressor who was unlucky enough to be caught is beaten black and blue, as news channels have a field day. The women shown in the images are no less active, using their chappals to devastating effect, as the former aggressor takes blows all over.
These are not visuals of mob violence from Bihar or the Hindi heartland. Instead they come straight from urban Kochi in Kerala. The protagonists being two marginalised political groups - one being the supporters of an ageing father past his prime and the initial aggressors apparently supporters of his 'estranged' son.
K Karunakaran and son K Muraleedharan have been at daggers drawn in public the past few days. The father talking of a return to the Congress, while the son rejected the idea. The Kochi melee merely added violence to the war of words.
It's still difficult to believe that the 89-year old politician who's striving desperately to come out of political irrelevance, and his son, who he's tried desperately to prop up all these years, are at loggerheads. It's not the first time they've spoken in different voices, publicly at least, only to come together. Net result of the violence, Karunakaran's got some attention while some foot soldiers got a few hefty blows.
It's sad that the 'Leader', who once reigned supreme in the state Congress, is reduced to such a pitiable state that he has to invite himself back to the parent party. And the Congress is not exactly welcoming him with open arms.
And son Muraleedharan, whose advances in politics coincided with the decline of his father's influence, has been pushed to a corner. His last few electoral attempts have left him red-faced and he seems condemned to the fringes as no more than a bit player in either the UDF or the LDF. Unless of course the father manages to get him back to the parent party. For inspiration, Karunakaran just needs to look up on an India map. He'll find a certain H D Deve Gowda right above his state.
These are not visuals of mob violence from Bihar or the Hindi heartland. Instead they come straight from urban Kochi in Kerala. The protagonists being two marginalised political groups - one being the supporters of an ageing father past his prime and the initial aggressors apparently supporters of his 'estranged' son.
K Karunakaran and son K Muraleedharan have been at daggers drawn in public the past few days. The father talking of a return to the Congress, while the son rejected the idea. The Kochi melee merely added violence to the war of words.
It's still difficult to believe that the 89-year old politician who's striving desperately to come out of political irrelevance, and his son, who he's tried desperately to prop up all these years, are at loggerheads. It's not the first time they've spoken in different voices, publicly at least, only to come together. Net result of the violence, Karunakaran's got some attention while some foot soldiers got a few hefty blows.
It's sad that the 'Leader', who once reigned supreme in the state Congress, is reduced to such a pitiable state that he has to invite himself back to the parent party. And the Congress is not exactly welcoming him with open arms.
And son Muraleedharan, whose advances in politics coincided with the decline of his father's influence, has been pushed to a corner. His last few electoral attempts have left him red-faced and he seems condemned to the fringes as no more than a bit player in either the UDF or the LDF. Unless of course the father manages to get him back to the parent party. For inspiration, Karunakaran just needs to look up on an India map. He'll find a certain H D Deve Gowda right above his state.
Monday, November 19, 2007
KERALA AND CRICKET
Sreekumar Nair scoring a triple hundred in a Ranji Trophy match last Friday. An obscure footnote on sports pages.
But not if you are a Malayalam newspaper. There it's another 'Sree', another 'Shobha'. A milestone for a state not known traditionally for its cricketing prowess. A marathon achievement for a team whose batsmen struggle to get hundreds on a consistent basis.
As it is, Kerala's had too few batsmen to boast of. Balan Pandit in the 1950s and 60s whose record of 262 not out Sreekumar Nair broke. And K Jayaram in the 1980s, who struck a purple patch in the 1986-87 season, with four centuries out of five matches. That season 'minnow' Kerala did not lose a single zonal match, grinding out draws against bigwigs Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for the first time ever. There's also Kerala's all-time top rungetter, Sunil Oasis from the 1990s and 2000s
Kerala's had better luck with its bowlers, especially in the last few years. Tinu Yohannan began his test career in style against England in 2001, with a wicket in his very first over. But two more tests and he found himself out in the cold. Tinu may never get a national call-up again, but he will forever remain the one who opened the floodgates. The first-ever test cricketer straight from Kerala (Abey Kuruvilla from Mumbai does not count)
And Tinu's emergence also had a sense of transition from Kerala's sports strengths like atheletics and football. Tinu being the son of the legendary T C Yohannan, Asian Games long jump gold medallist in 1974, Asian record holder for more than a decade and national record holder for three decades. (For more on T C Yohannan read this article)
Nearly a year after Tinu played his last test match (December 2002) two raw seamers were tired out in a practice match against the touring New Zealanders. Those days, Munaf Patel was billed the fastest bowler in the country and the hype around him overshdowed Sreesanth, who showed promise in that match. It didn't take too long for Sreesanth to make that leap into the big league.
Before them there was the promising seamer V Hariharan in the 1970s and 80s, who's now Kerala coach.
The 1990s was dominated by the unlucky Ananthapadmanabhan, who kept scalping wickets with his legspin season after season, and ended up with a tally of over 300. But he didn't have that big match at the zonal level, and in the era of Anil Kumble fell short of the big leap to the national side.
It was in the 1990s that Kerala broke the glass ceiling for the first time, qualifying for the knockout stage from South Zone. Kerala's never sizzled yet in the later stages, but after topping South Zone the team realised they can hold their own at the highest level.
But not if you are a Malayalam newspaper. There it's another 'Sree', another 'Shobha'. A milestone for a state not known traditionally for its cricketing prowess. A marathon achievement for a team whose batsmen struggle to get hundreds on a consistent basis.
As it is, Kerala's had too few batsmen to boast of. Balan Pandit in the 1950s and 60s whose record of 262 not out Sreekumar Nair broke. And K Jayaram in the 1980s, who struck a purple patch in the 1986-87 season, with four centuries out of five matches. That season 'minnow' Kerala did not lose a single zonal match, grinding out draws against bigwigs Hyderabad, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for the first time ever. There's also Kerala's all-time top rungetter, Sunil Oasis from the 1990s and 2000s
Kerala's had better luck with its bowlers, especially in the last few years. Tinu Yohannan began his test career in style against England in 2001, with a wicket in his very first over. But two more tests and he found himself out in the cold. Tinu may never get a national call-up again, but he will forever remain the one who opened the floodgates. The first-ever test cricketer straight from Kerala (Abey Kuruvilla from Mumbai does not count)
And Tinu's emergence also had a sense of transition from Kerala's sports strengths like atheletics and football. Tinu being the son of the legendary T C Yohannan, Asian Games long jump gold medallist in 1974, Asian record holder for more than a decade and national record holder for three decades. (For more on T C Yohannan read this article)
Nearly a year after Tinu played his last test match (December 2002) two raw seamers were tired out in a practice match against the touring New Zealanders. Those days, Munaf Patel was billed the fastest bowler in the country and the hype around him overshdowed Sreesanth, who showed promise in that match. It didn't take too long for Sreesanth to make that leap into the big league.
Before them there was the promising seamer V Hariharan in the 1970s and 80s, who's now Kerala coach.
The 1990s was dominated by the unlucky Ananthapadmanabhan, who kept scalping wickets with his legspin season after season, and ended up with a tally of over 300. But he didn't have that big match at the zonal level, and in the era of Anil Kumble fell short of the big leap to the national side.
It was in the 1990s that Kerala broke the glass ceiling for the first time, qualifying for the knockout stage from South Zone. Kerala's never sizzled yet in the later stages, but after topping South Zone the team realised they can hold their own at the highest level.
As for now, the bowling attack has bite, but Kerala still awaits the batsman extraordinaire who will go all the way to Team India.
Let's not count Robin Uthappa from Karnataka, who was given three lakh rupees by the Kerala government after the Twenty20 triumph, while Sreesanth got five lakh. Well, Uthappa is half-Malayali, which seems to be why the reward is half of Sreesanth's.
Here's an earlier piece by Ramachandra Guha on Keralites turning the corner in cricket.
Friday, October 05, 2007
CAPITALISING ON DEATH
Leftist intellectual M N Vijayan is dead. Front page news on Malayala Manorama Thursday morning. There are four pictures splashed across the page. The first shows Vijayan feeling uneasy while holding a press conference in Thrissur. The second - Vijayan is drinking water. the third - Vijayan is back to the mike, all smiles. And the fourth and final picture - Vijayan is collapsing - eyes and mouth wide open as he helplessly slips into death.
A shocker of a picture to start the morning. Was the fourth picture necessary? Is the market the newspaper believes it is pandering to completely insensitive? I am told Malayalam news channels were careful with the visuals but India TV, a Hindi news channel which normally doesn't give too hoots for a story from Kerala in the distant south, played up the visuals over and over again. The entire sequence of Vijayan's collapse was played out, with an 'exclusive' tag to boot. A lesson in how to grab eyeballs out of a tragic death.
This was pure shock value and not even about social outrage, which is invoked by visuals of somebody being lynched to death or mob fury. In such cases too it's about getting there first and creating the maximum impact, with hardly a thought about what images could be disturbing.
And when it comes to breaking news of a bomb blast (Delhi 2005, Mumbai 2006 or Hyderabad 2007) things go haywire. The pressure to show visuals as soon as possible ensures caution is thrown to the winds more often than not. Contrast this with the extra-careful way the American media covered 9/11.
It's no justification but TV news is still evolving in India and there is no maturity or consolidation yet, with so many players competing for their slice in the pie (as well as expanding the pie). But what about pillars of the print media who've been around for ages? Are they falling prey to the sensationalism and shock value encouraged by TV? The market may be king but we could do with a little more sensitivity.
A shocker of a picture to start the morning. Was the fourth picture necessary? Is the market the newspaper believes it is pandering to completely insensitive? I am told Malayalam news channels were careful with the visuals but India TV, a Hindi news channel which normally doesn't give too hoots for a story from Kerala in the distant south, played up the visuals over and over again. The entire sequence of Vijayan's collapse was played out, with an 'exclusive' tag to boot. A lesson in how to grab eyeballs out of a tragic death.
This was pure shock value and not even about social outrage, which is invoked by visuals of somebody being lynched to death or mob fury. In such cases too it's about getting there first and creating the maximum impact, with hardly a thought about what images could be disturbing.
And when it comes to breaking news of a bomb blast (Delhi 2005, Mumbai 2006 or Hyderabad 2007) things go haywire. The pressure to show visuals as soon as possible ensures caution is thrown to the winds more often than not. Contrast this with the extra-careful way the American media covered 9/11.
It's no justification but TV news is still evolving in India and there is no maturity or consolidation yet, with so many players competing for their slice in the pie (as well as expanding the pie). But what about pillars of the print media who've been around for ages? Are they falling prey to the sensationalism and shock value encouraged by TV? The market may be king but we could do with a little more sensitivity.
Friday, September 28, 2007
MORE THAN AN ARABIAN TALE
Tightfisted ideological purity confronted with the reality of slogging it out for a living outside home soil. In a nutshell, that's the tale of Malayalam film Arabikatha (An Arabian Tale)
'Cuba' Mukundan's travails seemed to have struck a chord in a Sunday morning show at Delhi's Sangam, as I watched the film in a full house, along with hordes of expatriate Malayalis.
Sreenivasan's Cuba Mukundan is the dyed-in-the-wool communist who would break Coca Cola bottles from George Bush's America, organise agitations against computerisation because it means less people will get jobs and destroy structures built on what was once farmland, in the name of a return to peasant farming (A pet theme of Kerala Planning Board vice-chairman Prabhat Patnaik).
At the same time Mukundan idolises Cuba and China. Wonder how he would have responded to 'Made in China' toys with way too much lead for comfort.
Mukundan in his zeal even ensures that his father 'Society' Gopalan (Nedumudi Venu) is suspended from the party, after allegations of embezzling funds. Gopalan dies, after which Mukundan takes it upon himself the responsibility of returning the money.
Off he goes to the Gulf in search of some quick money, armed with a notebook too, to study how labourers are being exploited over there!
The penny drops before too long. Confronted with the reality of serving Coca Cola in a restaurant and made fun of because he has no clue about computers, Cuba Mukundan realises the futility of rhetoric. It takes a while, but in the end he figures out that his father had been framed by another power-hungry comrade.
And then there is the China connection, which was the one reason the film was a headline on a few national news channels much before its release (Chinese heroine for the first time in an Indian film). Mukundan falls for a Chinese girl and the wide-eyed communist asks all sorts of questions to her about his land of milk and honey, China. It's chastening for him to realise that she is a victim of the Communist regime.
Arabikatha's wonderful first half laced with biting satire makes the film a must-watch. The second half though did not live up to the first, with a few contrived situations (like Indrajith's character one fine day taking off to the interiors and who does he bump into on the way - the long-lost Mukundan).
Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan did see the film. But his saga of flip-flops and holier-than-thou statements continue, be it Munnar or Ponmudi. Like Cuba Mukundan, the lack of experience in a responsible position (other than in the party) is glaringly evident. After all, VS has never even led a Panchayat, forget about being a minister. All sound and fury without a remedy to offer.
What Kerala needs is more pragmatism and less rhetoric. Not an administration which trumpets a state ban on the evil multinational monopoly Coca Cola as one of its biggest achievements. And greedily accept funds from the diaspora to sustain its economic model (Kerala model of development).
'Cuba' Mukundan's travails seemed to have struck a chord in a Sunday morning show at Delhi's Sangam, as I watched the film in a full house, along with hordes of expatriate Malayalis.
Sreenivasan's Cuba Mukundan is the dyed-in-the-wool communist who would break Coca Cola bottles from George Bush's America, organise agitations against computerisation because it means less people will get jobs and destroy structures built on what was once farmland, in the name of a return to peasant farming (A pet theme of Kerala Planning Board vice-chairman Prabhat Patnaik).
At the same time Mukundan idolises Cuba and China. Wonder how he would have responded to 'Made in China' toys with way too much lead for comfort.
Mukundan in his zeal even ensures that his father 'Society' Gopalan (Nedumudi Venu) is suspended from the party, after allegations of embezzling funds. Gopalan dies, after which Mukundan takes it upon himself the responsibility of returning the money.
Off he goes to the Gulf in search of some quick money, armed with a notebook too, to study how labourers are being exploited over there!
The penny drops before too long. Confronted with the reality of serving Coca Cola in a restaurant and made fun of because he has no clue about computers, Cuba Mukundan realises the futility of rhetoric. It takes a while, but in the end he figures out that his father had been framed by another power-hungry comrade.
And then there is the China connection, which was the one reason the film was a headline on a few national news channels much before its release (Chinese heroine for the first time in an Indian film). Mukundan falls for a Chinese girl and the wide-eyed communist asks all sorts of questions to her about his land of milk and honey, China. It's chastening for him to realise that she is a victim of the Communist regime.
Arabikatha's wonderful first half laced with biting satire makes the film a must-watch. The second half though did not live up to the first, with a few contrived situations (like Indrajith's character one fine day taking off to the interiors and who does he bump into on the way - the long-lost Mukundan).
Kerala Chief Minister VS Achuthanandan did see the film. But his saga of flip-flops and holier-than-thou statements continue, be it Munnar or Ponmudi. Like Cuba Mukundan, the lack of experience in a responsible position (other than in the party) is glaringly evident. After all, VS has never even led a Panchayat, forget about being a minister. All sound and fury without a remedy to offer.
What Kerala needs is more pragmatism and less rhetoric. Not an administration which trumpets a state ban on the evil multinational monopoly Coca Cola as one of its biggest achievements. And greedily accept funds from the diaspora to sustain its economic model (Kerala model of development).
Thursday, August 02, 2007
RED'S THE COLOUR OF MONEY
A demolition drive gone awry(what else do you expect when the hunter becomes the prey), the Chief Minister and the state CPM secretary bad-mouthing each other in public, a professional college education policy which is an almighty mess, all this while Kerala is reeling under the monsoon, chikungunya et al and its commercial capital Kochi is a stinking mess with mounds and mounds of garbage.
What does the CPM have to offer? More grandiose words. CM VS now wants to fast outside the Prime Minister's residence. The only thing you can say is that it is " good television" visually and makes for a great headline. And you can count on VS to give expressive and long-winded soundbytes. On the flip side it's a nightmare editing his soundbytes as he takes his own time while uttering each word.
To sum it up, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.
But there are reasons for us to be grateful to him because of his "shooting from the hip" style. Would the revelations about CPM and CPI offices in Munnar being on encroached land have come to light? Not that he spilled the beans but at least his actions set the ball rolling for the media.
But he's still been an isolated voice, while the CPM's busy making itself a corporate giant. Kairali TV has three channels already, with a slew of promoters and shareholders including Mohanlal and Mammooty. No problem with making money, but what if responsible people in the party mouthpiece Deshabhimani take one crore rupees to help out a chit fund company facing a probe? And hobnob with lottery kings, while gobbling up two crore from him. And if this comes out in the open all the party secretary comes up with is "I'll fix you" to the Mathrubhumi (who exposed the story) editor. The Chinese approach to guided democracy, one supposes.
Now there are reports of their state headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, AKG Centre, having encroached on Kerala University land.
The ironic thing though is that disribution of wealth is considered far more uneven in the CPM than in the Congress when it comes to Kerala. Bribes apparently go straight to the very top unlike in the Congress where every level has to be placated.
Here's a scathing open letter to CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat published on ibnlive
http://www.ibnlive.com/blogs/rajeshkumar/388/2211/any-jobs-in-cpm.html
What does the CPM have to offer? More grandiose words. CM VS now wants to fast outside the Prime Minister's residence. The only thing you can say is that it is " good television" visually and makes for a great headline. And you can count on VS to give expressive and long-winded soundbytes. On the flip side it's a nightmare editing his soundbytes as he takes his own time while uttering each word.
To sum it up, full of sound and fury signifying nothing.
But there are reasons for us to be grateful to him because of his "shooting from the hip" style. Would the revelations about CPM and CPI offices in Munnar being on encroached land have come to light? Not that he spilled the beans but at least his actions set the ball rolling for the media.
But he's still been an isolated voice, while the CPM's busy making itself a corporate giant. Kairali TV has three channels already, with a slew of promoters and shareholders including Mohanlal and Mammooty. No problem with making money, but what if responsible people in the party mouthpiece Deshabhimani take one crore rupees to help out a chit fund company facing a probe? And hobnob with lottery kings, while gobbling up two crore from him. And if this comes out in the open all the party secretary comes up with is "I'll fix you" to the Mathrubhumi (who exposed the story) editor. The Chinese approach to guided democracy, one supposes.
Now there are reports of their state headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, AKG Centre, having encroached on Kerala University land.
The ironic thing though is that disribution of wealth is considered far more uneven in the CPM than in the Congress when it comes to Kerala. Bribes apparently go straight to the very top unlike in the Congress where every level has to be placated.
Here's a scathing open letter to CPM General Secretary Prakash Karat published on ibnlive
http://www.ibnlive.com/blogs/rajeshkumar/388/2211/any-jobs-in-cpm.html
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
GOD'S OWN CHAOS-II
For once, sense or rather a sense of shame has prevailed. The Congress-led UDF has put off its call for a hartal tomorrow (Wednesday) in protest against the LDF government's `failure' to tackle the chikungunya and viral fever outbreak across the state.
First time in my memory such a thing is happening in hartal-happy Kerala. But this time the hartal announcers went way too far. Announcing it just when the state needs its entire infrastructure in running condition to help people battered by fever. Add to it heavy rain. Public and media distaste was too overpowering.
But will the hartal culture ever come to an end? The ruling Left has to change it spots for that. A mentality which goes ahead with a complete shutdown and acts of vandalism just because Saddam Hussein was executed in faraway Iraq does not help at all. The act may be worthy of condemnation, but not at the cost of the functioning of the people and the economy.
First time in my memory such a thing is happening in hartal-happy Kerala. But this time the hartal announcers went way too far. Announcing it just when the state needs its entire infrastructure in running condition to help people battered by fever. Add to it heavy rain. Public and media distaste was too overpowering.
But will the hartal culture ever come to an end? The ruling Left has to change it spots for that. A mentality which goes ahead with a complete shutdown and acts of vandalism just because Saddam Hussein was executed in faraway Iraq does not help at all. The act may be worthy of condemnation, but not at the cost of the functioning of the people and the economy.
Monday, July 16, 2007
GOD'S OWN CHAOS
Kerala or rather its politicians have an insatiable appetite for bandhs and hartals. But the latest hartal announcement takes the disease to ridiculous levels. The opposition UDF has called for a bandh tomorrow (Tuesday), to raise its voice against the LDF government's failure in containing the mass outbreak of chikungunya and viral fever across the state.
Here is a state where even though health facilities are better off, the infrastructure is struggling to cope with the sheer scale of the diseases. Consider the statistics, around 25000-30000 cases reported every day and around two lakh people affected since January. Not to forget a battered economy, with major money-spinners like rubber cultivation suffering because the tappers are too sick.
At a time when people need their basics and infrastructure functioning properly, all the opposition can come up with is a hartal. Denying them the very access they badly need. The UDF could easily have been more pro-active in the state assembly. But then everybody was busy with Munnar and whether Tata's board should be removed. Talk about missing the wood for the trees.
The ruling LDF is predictably crying foul and mocking the UDF, but the fact remains that if the UDF had been in power, the Left would have made life miserable with their cadre gleefully going on a hartal trip. And the Left has always been far more vocal.
And what have VS Achuthanandan and company been up to? A demolition drive which looked more like a one-upmanship bid within the CPI-M. While Munnar and the Deshabhimani bribe scandal dominated the headlines, fever got pushed down. The LDF was too busy attending to its internal troubles to wake up to the mess.
Even with the chikungunya threat such a potent one, Kerala's commercial capital Kochi was struggling to find a place to dispose off its garbage. The perfect recipe for mosquitos to breath (breed) easier.
God's Own Country has turned into God's Own Chaos.
Here is a state where even though health facilities are better off, the infrastructure is struggling to cope with the sheer scale of the diseases. Consider the statistics, around 25000-30000 cases reported every day and around two lakh people affected since January. Not to forget a battered economy, with major money-spinners like rubber cultivation suffering because the tappers are too sick.
At a time when people need their basics and infrastructure functioning properly, all the opposition can come up with is a hartal. Denying them the very access they badly need. The UDF could easily have been more pro-active in the state assembly. But then everybody was busy with Munnar and whether Tata's board should be removed. Talk about missing the wood for the trees.
The ruling LDF is predictably crying foul and mocking the UDF, but the fact remains that if the UDF had been in power, the Left would have made life miserable with their cadre gleefully going on a hartal trip. And the Left has always been far more vocal.
And what have VS Achuthanandan and company been up to? A demolition drive which looked more like a one-upmanship bid within the CPI-M. While Munnar and the Deshabhimani bribe scandal dominated the headlines, fever got pushed down. The LDF was too busy attending to its internal troubles to wake up to the mess.
Even with the chikungunya threat such a potent one, Kerala's commercial capital Kochi was struggling to find a place to dispose off its garbage. The perfect recipe for mosquitos to breath (breed) easier.
God's Own Country has turned into God's Own Chaos.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
SMART CITY STINKS
Kerala's commercial capital. Tourist hotspots in and around. Where you find all the latest car models zipping past. And the venue of the proposed Smart City project.
But at the same time a traffic nightmare. Last December, a trip from one end of MG Road to another took me around 40 minutes. I have similar memories from seven years back. With Smart City and hordes of cars to join the traffic in the not-too-distant future, where's the city headed? Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan waxed eloquent about bringing the metro to the city, after a trip on the Delhi Metro, but is it feasible for a small place like Kochi? As it is, the Left government is only about rhetoric.
But the bigger crisis now is that the city stinks, literally. The city does not have a proper dumping area for its tonnes of garbage. Kochi has tried to palm it off on neighbouring villages, but in a densely-populated state like Kerala with settlements all around, the villagers were bound to react. Finally, the authorities had to change their tune, after residents of Brahmapuram protested against dumping waste there. A solid waste treatment plant is coming up at the same place but then this should have been operating years ago.
An irate High Court too is a victim of the stink, pointing out recently that its functioning was paralysed for an hour because of the stench from the garbage lying on the nearby road
The administration, be it officials or politicians have been slow, but can't help feeling that the residents too should have woken up much earlier. Too much easy money and rampant consumerism and these issues are simply swept under the carpet.
Breeding spaces for mosquitos and chikungunya, tonnes of garbage is a scary prospect.
A photo I saw in a Malayalam newspaper last December said it all. A poster for the Suresh Gopi starrer "Smart City" pasted on a wall, while the area was strewn with garbage.
The wake-up call has been sounded, but Kochi simply cannot afford any let-up.
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