The quintessential "mallu"

"Malayalees are sex-starved or perverts", says Paul Zacharia, noted writer and social activist. Newslink

"The journalists don't look at my face but at my breasts", the reason given by Arundhathi Roy for refusing to attend a press conference in Kerala.


What does the tailpiece read?

Haven't we had enough of this gelling together of the apparently all-too-global nature of the 'malayalees' or rather should I use the term "mallu" when I speak about forbidden impulses and rot behaviour?  Some people suddenly seem to grow a tongue encircling their throat when they speak about the 'mallu' sexuality and perversion. Now why is that?

Is it because of the seemingly endemic character of the mallu-men to ogle and drool at women, whichever part of the world they are?

Is it because of the stereotypical paradigm created by the old Malayalam movies, which were too bold and 'un-natural' for the rest of the nation?

Or is it because of these women, perhaps? Especially the one with that thunder thighs who rejuvenated and reinforced the above mentioned mallu prototype.

Or may be it is because of the omnipresent nature of the mallu to investigate what's brewing hot in his neighbour's backyard and bedroom?

Whatever, the search engines display an all too obvious caricature of the quintessential 'mallu', a comfy aperçu for the 'malayalee' or rather for the Keralite. This is what Google exhibits on Page #1 if you look for  'mallu'.

I had a frisk at some similar shortys like 'gujju', 'bhojpuri' etc but the results were pretty much bland... I mean, no spice or steam even when classical contemptible stereotypes are in place about them all. Wanna read this article, from Big Fish magazine?  if you feel urged to know more about them stereotypes.

So why just mallu? Because 'sex' sells my mate... The most searched word on the www is 'free porn', 'sex' and the likes. And the mallu-word got an embryonic attachment to the obscenity due to many reasons. 

Let me reel-off a personal experience while working in Mangalore a few years back. I shared the apartment with a couple of folks from Orissa and another from Bihar. During a regular weekend booze, the chit-chat on women and sex was initiated and one of the Oriya men had a bizarre doubt. He wanted to know why most Kerala men preferred 'women on top position' while making love. Since we all (the 3-4 mallus in the group) looked bewildered, he rephrased the querry with a rationale that "women are more educated and forward in Kerala, so they like to be on top of men while doing sex." (!!!) Take it, we were not scholars on how people behaved and positioned themselves in copulation but found the reasoning obviously ridiculous.  But the Oriya and Bihari fellas were as sure as sun that it was a gospel truth and everyone in their states knew the 'fact'. Ahem!

Ah, since we were all genuine bachelors at the time our opinions had no face value, and we were taken to the cleaners. They just laughed off as if we were arguing that 'sun rises in the North-west'. Not done, our friends were also of the opinion that Malayalee women were too easy to get laid but they refrained from enlightening us with the reason then. We found out why a tad later....Hold on...

"South Indian men are all ugly and skinny and so the Kerala women feel magnetized by the men from the outside". Outside in the sense, not within the four linguistic states... Well, the idea seemingly was pregnant from the movies, especially Tamil films of the times were 'handsomeness' was not a requisite for the heroes. The voluptuous and gorgeous female actresses raving for the dark-skinned, short-statured heroes must've send out the signal to the peanuts of the err....macho men from the North.

True, the local movies at the times prominently featured real-life heroes and never had a 6 feet he-man like Amitabh Bacchan or chocolate heroes like Rajesh Khanna.

Movies are pretty powerful medium and see how it has created a stereotype. And the objectification got naturally displaced to the mallus.

The Malayalam films of the 70s and 80s, which depicted sexuality and womanhood in a palpable and artistic angle did create build the stereotype. But very often these Malayalam movies ended up as soft porn in big cities, like the movie 'Thamburatti' (Princess) a bold mallu movie of the late 70s was released as "Thamburattiyude Aadyarathri" (First night of  the Princess) in Mumbai. Even now a good number of the ultramasculine Northies associate Malayalam film world to erotica. Many believe that Kerala produces just 2 kinds of movies: the award category Adoor types and second, the raunchy and ticklish Shakeela types.

The indulgence of the ordinary Kerala women in choosing professions like Nursing, Teaching or other service oriented jobs poured more into the stereotype as they further feathered classical male sexual fantasies. This help build the stereotype and it transferred onto any mallu girl. Wishful thinking... :big grin:

Recalling that argument in Mangalore, almost 6 years after it occurred, it isn't too tough to see how horrendously wrong people could be. There is no magic cure for ignorance, especially for something as sheer as the above, but also left me wondering. F**k matters, is there a rule-of-the-bed that woman should scream only under you, always???

My advice: refer Kamasutra; but even Vatsyayana appear an undergraduate about sexual positions when considering the in-depth research and analysis our Orissa and Bihar dudes have done.

 Depiction of sexual positions in Kamasutra

There is one right fact about all stereotypes... They are all wrong.

Saying that, there is one glaring fact and I don't intend to be in a denial mode about that. The way some of our men conduct themselves around, especially outside the state borders, has earned the state some pretty stinking reputation. A joke around Mangalore was that mallu men may go to bed even with a stick wrapped in a salwar. Many a times than not, our own men are too eager to brand a woman as 'easy', or as a 'whore' if she appear social and companion-esque. In cities like Bangalore, the Kerala men goes on with their ogling habits and naturally people feel that we are desperate to stick the dick into any wayside hole.

True, a fair number of Kerala men act like Casanovas and feel and behave like 'kaamadeva'. No excuse from my part, this form of eve-teasing should be chained. Many roadside Romeos firmly believe its a kind of masculinity to drool and ooze at females, even to poke and feel some sensitive parts. Its fun, they think, until their sister or mother gets to the receiving end.

Kerala society, as per Paul Zacharia, suffer from the disease called 'moral policing' while being extremely hypocritical about own selves. The recent Rajmohan Unnithan saga forced his tongue but to any novice observer it would appear that there is a dark sinful cloud over the Kerala social-scapes. Our society is still conservative; too orthodox, rigid and maligned as per people like Zacharia. But my question is: has this trait just evolved exclusively for Kerala, or fine tuned by mallu men?

Zacharia carries on: "I have lived in Delhi, I have lived in Mysore, I have lived in Chennai but I have not seen such starvation anywhere and I have not seen people peeping into another person's affairs, especially the affairs of a man and a woman, at this level anywhere." 

Well, isn't it in Tamil Nadu that all kinds of  issues broke out on the 'condom issue' which landed Khushbu and the likes in trouble? I find it comical that Zacharia has mentioned New Delhi, where men barging into the ribcage of women, groping incidents and other forms of sexual misconducts are the order of the day. Every other day we hear issues r/t rape and assault in Goa, and even kids are not safe with even a Minister going on to say that Goa is the rape capital of India. How safe is our cosmopolitan douche-bag Mumbai?  How many shocking and shameless incidents of mass groping/ public assault on women has occurred in Bihar and its neighbours? I don't see any reason to single out mallu-men when the issue w.r.t disrespect and disregard to the fairer sex seems to be a pan-India problem.

What did a newschannel in Bangalore do in the name of Moral policing? They broke into the house of a prostitute, and exposed her to the whole world. Excerpts, courtesy Bombay Dosti

News9 made a sting operation and found that a service apartment in Bengalooru was being used for prostitution by a Russian lady. The channel team member posing as a prospective customer discovered this fact. After confirming that she was indeed in the business of selling sex, the team returned with a camera. They broke open the apartment and started recording. Apparently she was with a customer. What gives these journalists the right, to violate the rights of a woman, even if she were a sex worker. She was wearing a two piece suit, when they broke open and the channel had the audacity to force her to reveal her body. She was trying to cover her breasts and her face with her hands. Two men pulled open her hands to reveal her body and face on camera. WTF!!!!!

No, Kerala society hasn't degraded that much. Oh God, NO! Wonder why Zacharia failed to notice all these...

We've had Sooryanelli, Vithura, Kilirur and it IS upsetting and excruciating, but as serious social crimes such cases have to be seen in a different perspective. If one society can raise more voice against eve-teasing, molestation and crimes against women then I believe it is Kerala. Except for the Metros, Indian women still live in a shell. The mallu-women may harbour the same orthodox character, is subjected to injustice and may not be socially-liberated like widely believed, but they're far more free and empowered. (I repeat, I'm not talking about the Metros)

Strolling on a deserted street at 12am, having a sip at a pub or wearing micro-mini isn't exactly what I mean by free and empowered women... Kerala has to acquire more cosmopolitan attributes if you wanna see that. 

image courtesy The Hindu

But a lack of cosmopolitan culture, proportionately higher no: of wannabe skirt-chasers and playboys imitating the silver-screen chocolate heroes doesn't mean the whole state is a pervert-house. No denying the fact that our social behaviour could be more refined ,but sex-starved and frustrated? Too overboard.

You see why I don't feel intimidated by Ms. Roy but has taken serious offense of Mr. Zacharia?

Image courtesy: DU Beat.com ,Wikipedia, The Hindu


*Comment moderation enabled*

read more...

Crickey, the worldz all bigoted

The recent turmoil and melodrama about the racial abuse and attacks on Indian nationals in Australia is making a lot of unwanted noise. Its all a hoopla state for politicians on both sides with our desi leaders 'enraged'  and 'appalled'  at the vicious crimes being committed on our citizens abroad. Even the least figure you could imagine, the sinistral and senile Thackarey man launched his prophecy the other day, warning the Oz to tackle the issue or pay the penalty. Yo man, you rock!

Encroaching on the absolute limits of shameless hypocrisy, this last one by Thackarey, by far the most sectarian leader we have ever managed to produce in our country, who has no soul-prick in murdering Indians in the name of language, region and caste. And how he has come out all guns blazing for our countrymen...Makes me swell with pride.

Racism exists everywhere, even in Australia.  Yes, even in Australia, but at least a megaton less than that in India. Not forgetting the fact that the Australian continent is yet to catch up with their first cousins, the US/Canada and Europe in negating the race issue. Its been long since Australia officially abolished the infamous  White Australia Policy and the old  Stolen Generations , which put the nation in very bad light. But mindsets don't change radically and perhaps the per-capita no: of Xenophobic individuals could be marginally higher Down Under. Just guessing...


Incredible as it may seem, Australia is one of the most multi-cultural regions of the world. Put aside Times Square, NYC, you'd come across almost as many ethnicities of the human species on the whereabouts of  Opera House, wondering how quickly the country has moved forward to shed its tag. So why hasn't it, yet?

The answer could be multi-prong. This assault- racism arguments have much more to it. Its about the times we live in...

Nobody denies the blunt fact that racism exists in Australia, as it does everywhere. The isle may still be carrying forward a few malicious traits as old British convict land. That could be hard to erode, especially when you talk about Aussie culture and that pot of yogurt, as the joke goes. Many arrogant young minds think its fun to go 'curry bashing'  because Indians are easy targets. Australia knows perfectly that its image has been dented outside and will be only too keen to get things patched up.

Talking about Indian community in Australia, they belong to two broad groups, just two groups... Too bloody easy for us to understand as back home we're used to categorizing people on the basis of caste, colour, creed, language, profession, region, sexual orientation and what not. In Australia the Indian contingent consists of  the Working class consisting of the professionals in the medical, engineering or IT fields and the Student Community, who gets the short end of the stick now-a-days. It is important to note that this student class doesn't include the children of the professional Indians, who're well integrated and naturalized with the local community.

And these two groups are like chalk and cheese...They seldom mix. In fact most of the former class, nearly 2.5 lakh of them, looks to avoid the above mentioned student group for pretty apparent reasons. Isn't there an obviousness when you see that its predominantly the student community (96,000 in  number) who make news for wrong reasons?

Indian Students protest in Melbourne pic courtesy theage.com.au

When squarely pointing a finger at the Aussie authorities it may be prudent to be aware of the other 3 fingers pointing back at ourselves. A small chunk of this student community behaves as if they're in their grand-dad's backyard carrying on with the same ignorant behaviour unacceptable to the community they're living in. Being rude and ignorant towards natives, being loud, filthy and scant disrespect for the culture of the country they're in, these students naturally invite trouble. To add on,  many of these student groups live in shanty suburbs, work unsocial hours and end up soft targets for the criminals.

There has been no definite evidence that all the recent attacks down under are racially motivated, though some definitely appear so. Its also crucial to note that many of the perpetrators belonged to other ethnic groups like the Lebanese. Australia is facing a crisis in their coal-mining sector and many people working in those areas are relocating to the cities. Jobless mass-migrants alien to a city is a recipe for trouble. The situation gets ugly when these youngsters rub shoulders with the immigrated folks from the sub-continent who're hardly modest in their attitude.

It's this social problem which need to be addressed immediately, and internally. The focus is now on the evil R-word and it will only help to flare things up, feels many Aussie Indians. Look back at history...

A small group of ignorant Lebanese youth triggered the 2005 Cronulla riots. If the situation gets out of hand then it will be the innocent and decently living people who may have to pay the price for the stupidity of a few lost souls. With more help from the likes of the outspoken Mr. Thackarey and actions like burning the effigy of Kevin Rudd, we're creating a toxiferous potpourri for our own countrymen in Australia.

Has any of those responsible from our country made any open remarks against the inhuman treatment meted out to Indians in the Middle East? Indians, including millions of Keralaites are officially second or third class citizens and are subjected to racial vilification, abuse and injustice in the oil fields, docks and even on streets in UAE, Saudi Arabia and the likes. The Air-India stow-away Habib's tale is a testimony to the sufferings of our countrymen in the Arabian desert. Thousands of desperate man work under scorching sun, shut away in labour-campesque living conditions, their passports frisked away and paid paltry salaries. Modern day slavery,  but I don't hear any concerned voices. Not even NRI Minister Vayalar Ravi who was very vocal about Australia.


We have Embassies, we have High Commissions, we have exclusive Ministries and Ministers but they keep their trap shut. We can't rub the Arabs the wrong way because they'll close their doors to us, damn sure. The West is multitude times more civilized, more moderate, more fair. Vayalar Ravi knows the fact only too well. 

The knee-jerk reactions in relation to the Australian situation raises more uncomfortable questions. India has the right to raise voice when their citizens are under danger overseas but the way the media reacted has been pretty much depressing. The latest ku-klux-klan cartoon was a sick sick joke and it has done no good for the two nations than sparking more unrest and enemity. The kkk word is considered more offensive in the West than our own Congress Party officially and openly branding Speaker Meira Kumar as a 'Chamar'.

The pompous media who panted with breathlessness 'racism', 'racism' every time a student gets attacked in Oz made matters worse through their unmediated, unprofessional and inaccurate reporting. The one good thing the media managed to do is to force the Aussie authorities come out from their denial mode, and accept the all-too-clear fact that strands of racism still infest their society. But even seasoned observers, bloggers or politicians now look down on Australia as an evil land-of-bigots where everyone with  pigmented skin is under serious threat. How we comfortably forget the above mentioned Middle East reality or rather how handsome we look in the mirror.

Shashi Tharoor appears to be the lone person who has taken note of the current. Tharoor praised Australian efforts to end the violence but said he could not say with certainty that Indians were no longer being singled out for assault in Australia. The enigmatic leader identified the problem as that of law and order, " one that Australia is dealing with and needs to deal with internally. But it cannot but affect us when our citizens are reported to be suffering", he said.

"For an Indian mother to hear that her son has been assaulted in Australia, it little matters to her whether he was assaulted because of his race, or because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or because he was the wrong colour or the wrong height, or was carrying an iPod. She doesn't want her son to be assaulted," Tharoor said, appealing to the media-folks on both sides to show restraint while attributing colours and adjectives while reporting such events.

Read Tharoor's full statements here. 

Remains to be seen how clearly the Indian and Aussie press folks take his words.

Comment moderation enabled for the post.

read more...

One for the cowboys

I'm a great fan of the wildwest movies, they always capture my imagination: the legendary American railroad, the steam engines, eerie wooden stations, cowboys, horse carriages, guns...its a quivering feeling. And there is one place in our own Kerala which pretty much mimics those wild-west attributes in all aspects:  the Kochuveli Satellite Railway Station.

Before I start, let me clarify one thing. It is grossly unfair to compare Kochuveli with the similar small-town railway stations in Kerala like Kayamkulam, Kasargode or Mavelikkara. Kochuveli is a place where at least a dozen trains originate/terminate. In the longrun it will share the spoils with Trivandrum Central (TVC) which is fully saturated and is space constrained. In a nutshell, according to the plan the Kochuveli Satellite Station will be as important as TVC.

Kochuveli Map click to enlarge

Well, that was the hope when the station was inaugurated by the then CM Oomen Chandy in 2005, after Minister O. Rajagopal, the man behind many of the Rail developments in Kerala, proposed the idea for the satellite terminal.

5 years down, and Kochuveli has turned into something like a nightmare for the passengers and authorities alike.

Plans

Oh the plans are so grandiose that your eyes will pop out.

Kochuveli is planned to be the largest railhead in Kerala. Once finished it would consist of 11 platforms and 11 pitlines, almost double the size of the current Trivandrum Central station. Kochuveli also features in the idea of a rail-head along with Nemom and TVC. To add on a 1.5 million sq ft, 9 storied ultra modern station building is also planned.

Here are some excerpts from the press: The Hindu, 25 Dec, 2006

Elevated platforms to avoid congestion, nine-storey station building with waiting hall, big concourse and 11 platforms are the highlights of the master plan worked out for the development of the Kochuveli Railway terminal.

Eleven platforms, 11 pit lines and 11 or 12 stabling lines to cater to the needs of maintenance of the rakes have been proposed.  The proposed station building will have a big waiting hall, reservation centre and a host of passenger amenities.

Three platforms would be built at more elevation to cater to incoming trains. Three platforms will be at a lower level to cater to passengers of outgoing trains.

The eight-metre elevated platforms, first of its kind in the State, will help avoid the rush of passengers. The platforms would 10-metre in width and 630-metre long. This would help accommodate 26 bogies and 5,000 passengers.

The existing road from near the `English India Clays' to Kazhakuttom-Inchivila NH 47 bypass would be widened straightened. The Railways will construct a road over bridge later to replace the existing level cross near the `English India Clays' to ensure the smooth flow of vehicular traffic. 

The Railways will be able to handle 25 trains from the terminal when it is fully developed at a cost of Rs.80 crore.

K, essentially we're promised something similar to an Airport when this is complete, fingers crossed, but at present this is something very similar to the 1895 outback stations in Arizona.

Present

The pictures tells the whole story, so I'm not taking pain to elaborate more..Here goes the present in full bloom.

Current Station Building and the "green" pathway leading to the station.

Way to Platform #1

Approach Road to the station.

 

As I said, nothing much to showcase. You'd imagine 5 years is long enough to put up decent services for the paying public but it seems not.

 Future

As mentioned, the plans are all in the air. Construction of  Platform #2 has commenced in Kochuveli but it wouldn't solve the current travails.

The Railways feel that once a passenger is out of the terminal their responsibility end. The Corporation behaves as if its not their problem that the passengers to/from Kochuveli is all abandoned in the middle of nowhere once they alight from the train. The location of the station is a classical wildwest location; ill-lit, creepy, outbackish and dangerous. I'm not sure about the technicalities, but connecting the current platforms and station to the old station on the Veli side appear a feasible option.

The road connecting the old Kochuveli station (All Saint's College- Veli Road) has good road frontage and is served quite frequently by City bus services to important city points. It baffles me as to why for the past 5 years this was not done in-spite of repeated solicitations by media and the public alike. Currently, passengers including women and children illegaly and precariously negotiate the dozen-odd tracks and stationed wagons to reach the old station on the Veli side to connect to the city.

Old station building facing the Veli Road

The state of the NH Bypass is another factor that creates spillover problems for Kochuveli. The Bypass Road is largely unlit even when the traffic along the road is bursting at its seams. And the Corporation, as ever, is fast asleep.

KSRTC has issues with scheduling their services to Kochuveli given the punctuality of Indian Railways. Earlier this week one Minister had a pragmatic idea about informing the KSRTC when a train reaches Kollam Jn, so that they can be ready with the bus in time. 

The hapless passengers arriving at the station in the wee hours of the day or at night have just the autowallahs for their recue, even if they're ruthless when it comes to the greenbucks. No Police outpost or even a Polieman in sight at most times, it's not a place you want your sister or wife to set down. It's incredible that those concerned choose to take a blind eye to the issues raised here. Or are they waiting for the blood to spill and then jump out with shock from under their sheets? That's always been our style.

 TRIDA and the Corporation are talking about planned urban development of the Kochuveli area which surely will revolve around the Satellite station. So far nothing concrete has transpired, and the travails of the general public continues with the lack of basic amenities.

New Station building at Kochuveli photo courtesy Sudheesh Nair

Kochuveli provides a golden opportunity to show the world that meticulous town planning is not Greek to us. Apart from the prospects of a large rail head, the terminal could well be developed into a new transportation hub for Trivandrum with an intergrated City Bus Terminal or a satellite terminal for long distance buses. It wouldn't be a bad idea to relocate that Clay factory polluting the environment to the outskirts and the land pooled for the sation development. If ever a Railway Zone is alloted to Kerala, we needn't run frantically in search for a suitable spot. Moreover there is the mesmerising Veli lake and TS Canal frontage for this stretch of land which further opens up more possibilities.

But what we need as of today, is an option for a rookie backpacker or a mother with a child or a North-Indian techie coming to Technopark to reach their den safely without being subjected to tachycardiac experiences.

read more...

Cochin backwaters: a photoblog

Welcome abroad folks, and it is January 01, 2010! The festival season is over and we are all back to real life...and don't tell it s***s, its new year day. I thought I'll just compile a filler-post from a few shots I took from my mobile while in Kerala a couple of months back.

Had a chance to ride the pristine backwaters of Cochin last time I was in Kerala.  The experience, needless to say was quite charming. Less talk and more shots, scroll down...

All shots taken from my mobile cam Sony Ericcson K770i.


The Rainbow Bridge which caught the attention of travellers and kicked off the Marine Drive brand. All too familiar for malayalees, the artistic pedestrian bridge has featured on countless movie scenes.

Waterfront apartments standing proudly overlooking the magnificent waters. A single sq. ft land has the value of solid gold in these parts.

This island is all set to change the face of the Queen, once and for all. The Vallarpadom Container Terminal approaching commissioning date.

A couple of tiny islands dotting the backwaters. They appeared to be havens for the birds and a good few of them were following our boat for a good period of time. The man told us they were hunting fishes on our boat trails.

 

 

This oil tanker and the associated infra looks like some facility for the Cochin Refineries.

 

And yo, how I managed to catch this giant in one single frame!

 

The passage to riches... The reason behind the prosperity of Cochin dating back to pre-independence era. The mouth of the harbour. Vembanad Lake joining the Arabian Sea leaving enough space for the big vessels to come ashore.

 

New and a more boisterous skyline taking shape on the Marine Drive Extension, new 1.5 km long waterfront stretch reclaimed from the lake during construction of the Goshree Bridges.

 

A closer look at the elite homes for the lucky whales. Most of these harbour-view apartments have an 8-digit price tag. Interested? ;)

The Bolghatty Island named after the Bolghatty Palace. Now KTDC runs an upmarket resort here on the island, the Bolgatty Island Resort

 

The folks at KTDC sure got ideas... A unique looking cottage on the island. Our man told the rates could be as much as Rs. 5000/night, not so exorbitant for such a pristine setting.

A couple of older ones on the other side of the island

Boat jetty on the front side of the Palace

 

There is some activity taking place on Bharat Seema, operating between Cochin and the Lakshadweep Islands. You can travel to Minicoy for as low as Rs.150 a direction or get a cabin for Rs. 390.

Earning a few dollars for the nation.

Aha, Indian Navy Vessels! SALUTE!!

On way back, reaching the docks again. This shot was taken from my brother-in-law's new mobile, the HTC Diamond and see the difference in the picture quality... I should've used it from start, well may be next time. WISHING YOU A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR mates..take care! :-)

Obviously you've noticed the new look No Man's Land?. I loved the old one all right, but thought I'll give you something fresh for the new decade. Just for a change...do share your thoughts on it. Thank you. :-)

read more...

Floccinaucinihilipilification

...that's what I feel about this annual ritual of updating myself and you folks on the progress of the most important or much hyped up infrastructural/ industrial investments in Kerala.

We did it for a start in 2007, (A Happening Year, Dec '07) and got a carbon copy of it in the '08 sum-up.(Turning the void page, Dec '08). To be honest things don't appear any rosy in comparison to 2008, well that's what I feel when I look up at status of our development projects, or rather should I say 'paper tigers'? Let's take a different route this time and see if we could spot some light out of all this soot-black sky. Optimism, for a change...Well, I hope the light, if any, is not from a comet crashing down on us.

Now, the 'big' picture...Excuse the oxymoron.

Vallarpadam Container Terminal: We'll start on a positive note here. The rail-road links are well on way to completion and the terminal construction is on schedule.This one project is all set to rewrite the history of Kerala, and Cochin in particular. The image below is that of the 4.62km long Vallarpadam Rail bridge over Vembanad, which will be longest in India. pic courtesy: www.indiamike.com

LNG Terminal: Potentially a torchbearer for a second industrial revolution of Kerala, (though the first was a meekly affair) the terminal is well u/c.The 2000 Crore project rising up on 100 acres of land in Puthuvypeen is expected to be a shot in the arm for many industrial units in the Aluva belt as well as for new manufacturing industries.

Kerala Expressway: Still appears only on PWD maps, 8 years into fertilization. Labour signs still a bit far than Andromeda Galaxy. But then there is a streak of light on this front: Govt of India has actually proposed  an Expressway from South Tamil Nadu via Punalur-Trichur through the less densely populated regions of the state. The bad news is that the land acquisition will be the responsibility of our Kerala rulers. Is this the start of  another everlasting pregnancy tale?

Smart City:  I observed some movement in the premises at last...The official Opposition Party (have we ever got one?) conducted some drama at the site the other day in the name of  'protest against neglect'. Some people say that there is an ambiguity of role when it comes to the ruling and opposition parties in the Smart City affair. I wonder... Into the 3rd year of laying the foundation stone, the Dubai Sheikhs and the Kerala CM are playing Hide n Seek, making fool of the 3.5 crore Keralaites. The talk is that TECOM is very much like our own KSRTC, having to beg and borrow for even their daily chores as evident by the state of affairs in Malta, the 'other' over-smart city. The grass has grown tall n brown to cover the foundation stone, at least the cattle in the area ought to be allowed to roam the premises.


Technocity: Land acquisition well into year 4. This is one menace we face in Kerala; the pestilential protests and legal complications viz land acquisition and procedures. Nobody knows when the concrete will be poured into the ground but Technocity has remained another one with an elongated gestation period. The good news is that we have nearly 200 acres in hand for Phase I and the paperworks are going on. Will 2010 see the steel rise from the earth? Waiting sweetheart, waiting...

Vizhinjam Container Transhipment Terminal: After raising hopes to sky high level Lanco deserted the project, crashing down to crush the hearts of millions of Keralaites, especially South Keralaites who were gearing up to cash in on the port. The biggest disappointment of the year, if you ask me, but still GoK has been proactive in lifting the spirits up again. Works on road-rail connectivity, water and power facilities and associated infrastructure development are being vigorously planned. From a stock election manifesto, the name 'Vizhinjam' managed to cross oceans and generate investor interest and confidence from the likes of Singapore, Rotterdam et al. But we still have to wait a few more years to see the breakwater courtesy politics, regionalism and chauvinism.

Cyberpark, Calicut: Announced 2 years back. Land acquisition in progress. First envisaged as a 300 acre project, it is now a meekly 70-odd acre affair.And the Govt tells us that this will be a ' hub' as envisaged by the think-tanks of the IT Dept. May be the future plans are big, but doesn't Calicut deserve something better than this when we are speaking about a pivot to develop IT in the whole of Malabar?

Trivandrum Airport Developments: What did I say? The swanky new terminal which was supposed to open this month is still u/c. Now the authorities say that 2010 March is the holy date, third time the opening date is being deferred courtesy lorry strikes, militant trade unionism, red tapes and what not?. The 6 lane approach flyover is also stuck up behind the deadline. Anyway I expect to walk out of T3 this summer, anything else would be a huge disappointment. 

image courtesy Sudheesh Nair

Cochin Metro: Status quo. Files flying between Trivandrum and New Delhi, that's all. No decision taken upto date on how the project will be implemented and when. There has been no dearth of statements from the ministers that the project will begin tomorrow, next week, this moment and so on. Cochin-ites are damned to travel on the roads manifold times their capacity.And worst, the planners are too fixated on the glitz and glamour of Metro that other feasible and feeder projects like a BRTS are not even considered seriously.

Railway development: The general rail development is satisfactory compared to previous years. A handful of new trains, upgradation of major stations to International standards, surveys for new lines, all going on with a pro-active minister at the helm. Nevertheless, travel woes of Malabar still continues. The appalling connectivity of Malabar to IT hubs of Bangalore in particular, and also to Chennai and Hyderabad hasn't been addressed as it should have been. Incredibly everyone seems to have forgotten about the MEMU which was announced a few years back.

National Highway Development: After finally deciding to move on with the 'toll' , Kerala has now reached the sticky wicket: the land acquisition. That just means we wont be seeing the works kick start anytime soon.The main highways, NH47 and NH17 are getting more congested by the day. (image courtesy www.virtualkerala.com)

Kannur Airport: eh? Isn't this another project exclusively for the real estate merchants? Some associated road developments are planned which may work in favour of the North Malabar city. This could well be an example of one becoming manure to another. This Airport, if ever materialize, will surely eat into the revenue and figures of Calicut International airport which has shown very impressive growth chart after opening its apron for Int'l flights. So we may well end up with two kids with growth retardation in one house.

Bingo, what do you see? Red or Green? The results are all for you to see but as they say, its history. The new decade can only be better, what you think?

There is the silver-lining when we look back at the noughties though! The words 'investment' and 'business' have started to appear less evil in Kerala. Also the state did make it into many 'preferred investment destinations' list, that's one major positive outcome I see from the past decade.

On a possibly related note, still no shore in sight for Mr. K. Muraleedharan as the decade comes to an end, dad Karunakaranji  managed to send Yamaraj and his water buffalo packing yet again, Abdul Nasser Madani and his marriage with the Reds have reached where it was headed: dead-end and Mr. Rajmohan Unnithan learned that this is a round round world, and what goes around comes around.

Whatever, may the new year and the new decade usher in prosperity and happiness to you all, your families, our state and country... HAPPY NEW YEAR folks :-)

image courtesy istockphoto

read more...

Accountability, sir

News from The Hindu, 20 Dec, 2009.

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  The Museum-Nanthancode road was closed to traffic on Saturday evening after a boundary wall of the nearby zoo collapsed under the weight of sodden mud heaped against it. Much of the silt, removed from a pond inside the zoo, flooded the arterial road. A van parked on the road was buried under the mud. Residents in the area found it difficult to reach their homes.


A local resident said the mud removed from the pond was heaped against the decades-old compound wall of the zoo.

The previous day’s rain increased the weight of the silt heap. The Museum authorities had contracted a government agency for cleaning and deepening the pond.

The silt inundated the road. Local residents managed to remove two motorcycles, which were in the path of the heavy silt outflow. The Fire and Rescue Services personnel were engaged in removing the slush to a place inside the zoo compound.

And see all the mess for yourself, credits to the photographers from the respectives sites.

pic courtesy The Hindu

pic courtesy Keralakaumudi

 

 pic courtesy Keralakaumudi

 

pic coutesy Sujith John

Fortunately enough, nobody was injured in this 'accident'. Incredible, as this could well have ended up as a  Page 1 news.

This road, the Museum- Nanthencode Road is a frequent channel to Ministerial residences incluing that of the CM. Such a perilous situation has been allowed to develop putting into jeopardy the lives and property of many innocent citizens. This has disrupted traffic through this main road and incessanntly cut off many a families. And on top of that, this sludge, years of accumulated animal waste pose a serious health hazard to the residents.

Surely someone has acted in a gross irresponsible manner on a job they're paid for. About time such incidents are taken with enough seriousness and someone held responsible for this even though it passed off as a shake-your-head-and-carry-on incident.

I would like to share my experience re a similar occurrence here in the Republic of Eire. There was a makeshift smoker's den attatched to the administrative block of my hospital, which incidentally had the controls and set-up for the gas, oil connections to the kitchen. Nobody noticed the potential danger but it didn't evade the eyes of the Health & Safety Officer during the annual inspection. She immediately locked and sealed the den and severely reprimanded the Safety Representative and two floor managers for this serious oversight. Two of the managers were suspended and charged with unwillful neglect of duty. The smoker's den was moved to a safe distance, detached from the main building.

That Health & safety Officer didn't wait for a carelessly discarded cigarette butt to light up a gas leak and blow up the entire hospital. Sticthed right in time...

Unfortunately back home the word 'accountability'  has a less significant meaning. It is something which hasn't yet been embedded into our work culture and ethics. Someone allowed a mountain of mud to be deposited against this old, dilapidated wall creating an opportunity for it to cave in. The contractor or the Govt agency who did the work is direclty in line.

Then cometh the Zoo authorities who failed to plan a way to dispose off the sludge safely, after they had decided to clean up the lake. Afterall it is their territory, there is no handwash.

It also poses a question mark on the system and the way in which civil works are boing done in our state. It shouldn't be the unskilled workers but their supervisors who've to take the blame.

What if the lives were lost? The news would've made it to the front page and on more editions of our media, a few tears dropped, some emotional editorials written, an enquiry is ordered as a hogwash, the incident forgotten and the chores fall back to old ways.

Square One!

The result? Perumon, Kadalundy, Thekkady et al. Safety takes the backseat or the boot in our daily life may be becuase India is 'full of life', 1.17 billion to be exact. We take things for granted, we consider life to be cheap, we still wait until there is enough blood, we won't budge unless it is one of ours who pays the price...

Be it anywhere in the progressed societies, the Zoo authorities, concerned Govt Dept heads, the contractor, the Ministers and even the city Mayor would have been taken to a Court of Law and made to sweat it out. Nobody is/should be allowed to escpae from their responsibilities.

This incident in Trivandrum is a triviality all right, may be nothing to whinge about here. So read,chuckle  and move on because it didn't wash a school boy down the drain, but how easily it could've!

read more...