I'm sure the religious among those at home in Kerala and from other states wonder, why really is the majority irreverent! Why the at best nonchalance to religion, though it's one of the crowd pullers to the state? You only have to go back a 100 years for the answers..
Swami Vivekananda was aghast at what he saw: The land of Adi Sankaracharya seeped in the worst form lower caste exploitation.
Narayana Guru stepped in and brought in social reform. But even he didn't assume or wanted it to go as far as it has now. Social reform has now become the end, and stopped being the means of something higher. Progress has been limited, restricted only to the then culpable Hindu followers. There has been no questioning or meddling with the Muslim or Christian customs. But the Hindu's pendulum definitely swung, and way far the other way...
Economic and Spiritual progress halted, and even declined. Philosophy is replaced by endless attempts to rationalize the Communist way of life, despite the evidence otherwise. The effects have been devastating with those in power being in self-denial: The state lives is a net consumer. Those bringing in revenue are those Malayalees slogging in the Middle East and other parts of Bharat. People are willing to shirk and strike than work! Per capita alcoholism is the highest in the country!! Is any social reform worth all this??
I'm a little surprised the Communists let the moniker "God's own Country" stay, I guess it was a to not hurt the last source of self-revenue, Tourism. With no industrialization and being the first to receive the South-West Monsoons, the greenery has survived. Ayurveda is another attraction, although again the Communists forget conveniently that it's religion-based..
A healthy corollary worth mention is how the Keralite, cutting across religious barriers, celebrates Onam together. I still feel proud to see that! I just hope, that some day, the country with its rich religious and philosophical culture, thrives once more in the field of Spirituality, sans the extremes of orthodoxy that have rightly been clip-winged.
Swami Vivekananda was aghast at what he saw: The land of Adi Sankaracharya seeped in the worst form lower caste exploitation.
Narayana Guru stepped in and brought in social reform. But even he didn't assume or wanted it to go as far as it has now. Social reform has now become the end, and stopped being the means of something higher. Progress has been limited, restricted only to the then culpable Hindu followers. There has been no questioning or meddling with the Muslim or Christian customs. But the Hindu's pendulum definitely swung, and way far the other way...
Economic and Spiritual progress halted, and even declined. Philosophy is replaced by endless attempts to rationalize the Communist way of life, despite the evidence otherwise. The effects have been devastating with those in power being in self-denial: The state lives is a net consumer. Those bringing in revenue are those Malayalees slogging in the Middle East and other parts of Bharat. People are willing to shirk and strike than work! Per capita alcoholism is the highest in the country!! Is any social reform worth all this??
I'm a little surprised the Communists let the moniker "God's own Country" stay, I guess it was a to not hurt the last source of self-revenue, Tourism. With no industrialization and being the first to receive the South-West Monsoons, the greenery has survived. Ayurveda is another attraction, although again the Communists forget conveniently that it's religion-based..
A healthy corollary worth mention is how the Keralite, cutting across religious barriers, celebrates Onam together. I still feel proud to see that! I just hope, that some day, the country with its rich religious and philosophical culture, thrives once more in the field of Spirituality, sans the extremes of orthodoxy that have rightly been clip-winged.
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