Kerala Politics - My Views

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I never understood the politics of Kerala in my childhood owing to the fact that I was living in TN and because I never felt the influence inspite of my close proximity to the state and also frequent travel there. In TN there was this typical two party system with either one party coming to power while the other becomes opposition. Same was the situation in centre. But being wholly Malayalam and hailing from a community whose members are spread wide across the stretch of Kerala, I often happened to hear of such terms like Hartal, LDF, UDF, strike, etc. I wondered during those times that it would be fantastic to study in Kerala since we happen to get a lot of holidays! Later days I realised that there is no such fantasized euphoria with my perceptions. The media, both newspaper and TV,was my main source to know about the affairs of the state and many a times I had to postpone my trips through Kerala or stuck up in the middle because of this state of affair.

The statistics says Kerala to be a highly literate state - more than the average of India as a whole,with good transport and roads. And the development wise, I would view it as zero for all the steps taken by the systematically rotating state government. Kerala has a huge number of migrant population to different parts of the world thanks to the Political Scenario. I'm not critical about any particular party or politician since I don't know much about these things. But reading about the politics and the leaders of Kerala and viewing others opinion is itself a pleasure. For I get a comic feel especially while discussing the state of affairs there. It all started with the phoning programme of Late CM Nayanar which was hugely popular and so was the mimicry troupe that imitated this episodes with ease!! This was supposed to be the first of the kind in India and an example for other states for governance with people's opinion. But none tried to follow it ever again!! An episode is available in youtube as far as I know in this link below http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdGDguEh4ps&feature=related

AK Antony and K Karunakaran's political sustenance is a well known issue which ended up in a split in UDF. Karunakaran's floating of a new party, supporting his son and later his crashing out and again going back to the old party with a U turn are all regarded as worst phase of politics. VS was a saint then and their political statements and standings were remade as popular comedy episodes during that term. Byelections, split in party, sub-party, split in that sub-party were all taking place. Then came the much awaited change in government but not in governance!! Almost the same situation existed and this time with the LDF, lol! VS's fame with dogs and the duel with CPI leader PV were all leading again to situations of the previous government. Simply put whoever rules there is only internal stunts and almost no development for the state. Issues apart VS' involvement in controversies especially with the Major's family and then with the election results could have been avoided. I saw another interesting video in you tube again and the link is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqLnutYc8QU&feature=channel .

And they say it as "God's Own Country"!!!!!

Mahabharata - My Views

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My acquaintance with the Mahabharata started at a young age with my Grand Mother narrating interesting stories to the ever observing little minds of mine and my cousins'. I used to fantasize myself as the main characters coming in those stories with magic surrounding all around me. Yeah, those were the days when I used to admire Krishna and liked to imitate his mischievious acts that are annoying and contrastingly admirable at that age. But I actually followed credulously when DD-1 broadcast these stories in series every Sunday. The five Pandavas, the Kauravas, Krishna - all of them became real and imitable. May be many a kid's imagination was captured at that time by this series. My later days saw a twist in thought with me reading some works by Collins, Wodehouse and Dickens that had real life biographies and kind of things that can happen at present. And of course some commentary work of B.G.Tilak in English about "The Gita". I realised that Gods were made in earth by the admirers and followers. My grandmother's version of a small kid dancing on the hoods of a 10 headed serpent now seemed ridiculous and perverse. Also it may be a premonition to be different from others in family who are all austere believers and followers of age old tradition and dogmas. But then I wanted to know why this epic is so great and revered even after so much bloodshed and war for worldly pleasures and wealth.And one day I happened to read an article that one of my cousins send me online the link of which I provide below. It had small articles about understanding old stories and their relevance in modern times. It was simple to read and gave ideas about why Mahabhrata is still cited as references and why people try to follow it after so long a time.
The Mahabharata teaches all of us an important lesson and this is about circumstances that make a man to take decisions. For instance Arjuna is at first not interested in war with kith and kin for power and wealth but changes mind hearing Krishna's advice. He justifies the war for dharma or virtuousness. The abridged version of the story will indeed give a plain idea of a tit for tat ideology but the broader reading would allow us to get insights into the culture and customs of the people of that times. The gambling by the heros and their suffering in exile and finally when they got their kingdom back they had to lose thier 100 cousins and dear ones. The illustrious and chivalrous Karna who was losing every time and killed treacherously in war and the ever cunning Krishna winning every time. Do this mean that good deeds always loses out in this world? No the Mahabharata serves or tries to explain that only the circumstance is the villain and what one does at one instant of time will turn against him at the other instant. Here lies the subtle clue to why this epic is much celebrated even after centuries. It gives us a cause and effect reasoning for all the things that happen with us and for good things to happen we have to be good ourselves. In this way Mahabharata really denounces the real life heros and tries to interpret that being God and devil lies in one's own thoughts and acts.
Does that mean that I'm an atheist? No I still really do not know the meaning of atheist and I'm an ardent follower of traditions and beliefs so naive and incredible in this century.
http://www.devdutt.com/category/mahabharata