Red Salute aka Lal Salaam

This post is part of the Chennai Bloggers Club's CBC VIBGYOR BLOG TAG 2 where some of us will write a post on the colours of VIBGYOR each day starting 1st of May to the 7th of May, 2020.

The colour theme for today's post is RED. 

Red brings to my mind, the Left and the pioneers who have led the movement upholding the rights of people, especially the marginalised and the voiceless (read as the ones being silenced!). It is but the vibrant red which has the place of being attached to a cause - that too a most pressing and vocal one that! The fiery attitude, the hot words, the bloody slogans - all worthy of the colour and the movement. Yes! I am talking about the Leftist movement also known as CPI and popular in the states of Bengal and Kerala.




I was introduced to this greetings Lal Salaam while in college. Many of the fellow Malayalees and Bengalis who were passionate about the country and equality, used to greet each other with a chirpy Lal Salaam and many of us who were slowly getting initiated into this whole history of Marxism and Leftist ideology were fascinated with the greeting. But then we weren't members of either of the states, hence we upheld our Dravidian greeting of Vanakkam which was a safe greeting devoid of any ideology or colour. Bland, apolitical and neutral yet a beautiful three-syllable greeting. I'm digressing here.

But when I say people from Kerala and Bengal, don't be mistaken that everyone is so. NO. Only a fraction of the citizens who passionately believe in the cause of the oppressed and the marginalised greeted so. Some people who didn't support the Communist party were also keen to the causes of the people and saw themselves as part of the ongoing struggle. It wasn't a fashion statement for it was loaded with energy, zeal, mission and urgency. You knew that if one uttered the words, they were aware that they were privileged by education, money and a certain standing in the society, yet knew that they were in the battle of the masses.

It has been proven that the red state of Kerala is in the forefront of the present day Covid-19 battle. With the plans, press meets and the immediate actions undertaken by the present government led by Shri. Pinarayi Vijayan, the state has been cohesive in bringing together many brains and ideas to redeem the situation. While naysayers and critics continue harping on the loopholes of the Red party, it is for everyone to see how Kerala has flattened the curve against the virus, having previous experience of tackling the Nipah virus which shook the state in 2018.

Red also denotes the struggles of the Dalits, transgenders, adivasis, and number of voiceless people/communities, where blood has been shed for mere survival in a democratic country. Red unites the people all over the world in spite of numerous internal factions and diverse mindsets.

Red says STOP. The red party also says STOP to the aforementioned struggles.

Stop closing your eyes.
Stop pretending that you are the heir of privilege.
Stop saying, "We don't need reservation."

Lal Salaam.

Image courtesy: 1. Shutterstock 2. Brainpickings.org

Today marks the last day of the #CBCVIBGYORBLOGTAG2. Please do visit the blogs of Kaushik, Clement, Kumutha and Pratip who are also participants of the #CBCVIBGYORBLOGTAG2.

Sharing and caring - The internet caring of the Walayar minor sisters' tragedy

An incident that happened in 2017 was but known only to the people in Kerala and it was passed as another incident that routinely makes to the news. This is what our news channels have done to us - number our minds to the sensitive issues and rendered us immune to the atrocities that happen to 'others.'

October-November 2019:

The Walayar minor sisters' rape and subsequent death in 2017 has been risen from the ashes when the court acquitted the suspects. The judgement left the people of Kerala and others quite sullen and angry and this disdain for the judicial system has found many creative expressions. One such is the musical tribute to the girls who were subjected to torture and pain.

The description and lyrics below are sourced from one such music video from Youtube.

രണ്ടു പെൺ കുഞ്ഞുങ്ങളെ കെട്ടിത്തൂക്കിയതിൽ മനംനൊന്തു കുറെ പെൺകുട്ടികൾ അഴക് കാട്ടി പ്രതിഷേധിച്ചു. മാനത്തു അമ്പിളിക്കലയിൽ ഒരു കയർ താഴത്തു ചെളിക്കുണ്ടിൽ ഇരപിടിയൻ ചെടിയിൽ പൂവും. (U.A. Manoj) Few children displayed their beauty to express their distress over the two young sisters who were hung. Up in the sky a rope tied t the crescent Down in the marsh the carnivorous plant has bloomed. Credits: "Walayarile Penkuttikalkku" Lyrics: U. A. Manoj Music and Orchestration: Rayson K. Alex and Joel Fernando Vocals: Rayson K. Alex Flute and Mixing: Joel Fernando Video Editing: Jitesh and Vel Kumar Art: Mangesh Concept, Visual Direction and Camera: Abraham N. James Production Controller: Reeja Rajan Thanks to Ajesh and S. Susan Deborah Some reports on this brutal incident and acquittal of the accused that is shaking Kerala: https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/... https://english.mathrubhumi.com/news/... https://www.livelaw.in/news-updates/p... http://www.newindianexpress.com/state... https://www.ndtv.com/kerala-news/wala... https://www.indiatoday.in/india/story...

Vacation conversations in Kerala - Mostly

Hello, when did you come?

How long you are here?

When are you leaving?

How did you travel?

Did you travel alone?

- - - - - - - -


Hello, how long are you here?

When did you arrive?

Is it raining there in Goa?

How did you travel?

When are you leaving?

- - - - - - - -

Hello, how are you?

When did you come?

When did your college close?

How long are you here?

How will you travel to Goa?

When is your college reopening?

- - - - - - - -

Hello, hope you are well.

When did your college close?

Will you travel with your husband to Goa?

Did you travel alone?

How long will you be in Kerala?

- - - - - - - -

Repeat mode for all the days when I meet people.

FeAr.inc

Fear is something that manifests itself in different ways for various individuals. All of us, I reckon have some fear that is ever present, throbbing and threaten to rise any moment. It might be a fear of spotting a spider unawares or bad toilets or simply safety of a loved one. And, for that matter, most of it is psychological.

 

My parents-in-law have come to stay with us for a fortnight and through them we are experiencing the play of fear. They have come here from god's own country and it would not be an exaggeration if it was said that fear covers Kerala like a shroud. Open doors and windows after 7 pm make my parents-in-law quite tense. The freedom of having doors kept open even at 10: 30 pm gives them a shiver. My father-in-law especially gets restless and time-to-time asks us, "Shall I lock the door?" to which we casually mention, "No papa, it's fine." He cannot sit still and finally when we are not looking, he quickly closes the door, latches all the three locks and goes around to find other doors to close and latch. Well, my husband and I find this quite amusing but we also recognise the force of habit and the fear that is so etched in their minds. The same quality can be extended to many areas of our lives - Children fearing doing something because the parents have threatened them with dire consequences. Sometimes the fear never leaves even when the children are no longer children. Women who do not change some patterns of living long after they have divorced their abusive husband. Senior citizens who have long lived with certain ideas and routines and so on.

 

Fear is not entirely a negative emotion. Sometimes fear does help - for e. g. butterflies in the stomach before a speech or a class helps in better performance; a small fear before embarking on something big is generally positive and keeps us grounded and gives us a counter emotion to perform better and turn the fear into a motivating force.

 

But the kind of fear that has gripped my parents-in-law is not quite positive because it creates a tension of danger which is an impediment for them to feel safe and sound. The fear prevents them from enjoying the beauty of the calm night's breeze or the sighting of the moon through open windows. I still cannot blame them but hold the state of Kerala responsible for not providing the necessary policies and system to keep the place free of crime and robbery. Inspite of a police station located right in the adjacent street, my parents-in-law are scared of robbers who usually use different gimmicks to steal from houses.

 

Some fears don't go away - nor time nor god nor anything can enable a complete removal of the fear. I pray that such fears never grip us at any point of our life.

 

Dear reader, what is your fear that paralyses your living.

With or Without?

When you happen to go to God's own country, you would hear people placing an order for tea/coffee add a word to the waiter - 'Without.' To someone unfamiliar, the 'without' might sound strange but those who have been living there for a while or have relatives there know that the word, 'without' stands for 'without sugar' and extending the without to a metaphorical level - devoid of the sweetness that has left their lives some time ago. It is a well known fact that Kerala has often been cited at the Diabetes capital of India and having been there, I have seen the great mutualism that exists between sugar and people in Kerala. They are either having tea "without" sugar or talking about their history of sugarless lives.

Recently while participating in a programme organised by Malayalees in Goa, I was quite amused that while serving tea, there were two trays of teas - With and Without. The two W words (I'll call them W Words to add an extra zing to the state of having or not having sugar) are somehow like code-words that bear special reference to those who know the connotation. Now to hear words such as With or Without outside of Kerala was definitely sounding a bit out of context for me but needless to say, where there are Keralites, the W words always hold good.

But what surprises me is the fact that Kerala does not have many sweet dishes, which I think may lead to diabetes but I would be naive to come to that conclusion, I reckon. There are studies which say that one can get diabetes by virtue of being born in Kerala. Well, I'm not here to discuss the disease per say but the various quirky aspects of the D disease. By now you would've realised my penchant for code words ;)

One can start a conversation based on the sugarless state in God's own country. I find it pretty amusing that a state can be called a country. Whoever christened Kerala as 'God's own country' should have been on a high sloshing in local toddy and hence mistook a state for a country, me thinks. If only people in Kerala had struck to drinking local toddy instead of the great coloniser tea, then perhaps the W word syndrome could've been possibly averted. You know one should always stick to local brews instead of exotic ones.

And the W words hold good not only for tea but for juices as well. And, in every meeting/gathering, the serving tray will have at least two or three 'without' glasses which are for people with the D disease. And, no matter what, no food item can be taken out of a person's food habits. He/she will continue having that glass of tea/juice/milk/coffee albeit without sugar. Why not leave the habit of having tea altogether - That is never possible. You can take the sugar out of the Malayalee's tea but not the Tea!

Thus the saga of With or Without continues . . .

Image 1: Internet
Image 2: Internet

Sojourning in god's own country and other things

It has been a long time since I ventured here. Among the many things that I did during this long break, one was getting married. Getting married has landed me for the time being in a state in South India known as Kerala, which is called as "God's own country." The slogan that has been used by almost everyone to describe this state is not without reason. The whole state seems to be one grand village such that one cannot actually draw a boundary between the rural and the urban. Covered with coconut trees and rubber plantations, this place is a perfect getaway for the urban citizen. I am not here to describe the state of Kerala. Google can do that for you. I am here to describe my sojourn in the place.

Getting married also gives one a passport to many luncheons and dinners hosted by kind relatives. Since I am relatively new to the place, I am given many smiles accompanied by hugs and wet kisses. I'm not complaining. Getting married in India is after all marrying large families. A repetition of food items has now become my greatest nightmare.

The abundance of green cover and sweet water makes the place a sought after one by tourists. The houses are palatial with lovely wood furniture and door frames but they are empty of people. The houses have spaces but the sound of chatter is not there as the children and grand children are away in foreign shores. They come down once a year. Most of the houses we visited had only aged parents with children living ten thousand miles away.

A thousand thoughts mated and spawned a trillion blogposts in the crevices of my mind. I did not write them down as I believe that the thoughts which remain will be written as a post. Since the place was new, my mind was teeming with ideas and observations. I hope to share some of them here in the forthcoming days.

All said and done, I MISSED interacting with you. I should have written a note of absence but I did not. My apologies. I look forward to catching up with your recent posts and bang! commenting also shall begin. Hope you have been well and happy.

Joy always :)

Image: Internet