Udayor Blog

She had left Trivandrum first, then now is leaving for Pune. Where
her son is living, never to return to Kerala as reports tell. I am
sorry, even apologetic, since I had written one of the most
devastating articles against her in Janmabhoomi. What she reacted to
with pain. What later tormented me personally.

Perhaps the Nayar blood in me did it, we are known to have beheaded
our women who went astray, and this woman going behind a Muslim
gentleman was far too hurting. More so as she made it a virtue, made it
a show and also said that her life as a Nayar was hell. Paraded the
Muslim dress and head gear which even Muslims in Kerala rarely wear.
Islam has great wisdom and virtue in it but this was a different parade.
A bad model in any case for others. How the reactions came.

But from another angle Madhavikutty was another of the victims,
as I later realised, this became a reason for me to start my Nayar
struggles, as this site, is also true. Yet another reason. Her famous
quote was this' I am liberated, (as a Muslim)it was oppresssion for me as
a Nayar women.' But later she was to repent. Her family, as I found out,
had severe problems. Clogged up beliefs are persecuting the Nayars
and this was a case of her rejecting the whole bagagge. But then spirituality
and religion are two different things, what Madhavikutti did not realise.

The last straw perhaps was her attempt to transfer the sacred grove
of Nalappat Tharavadu to the Sahitya Academy. What also failed. It
was a generaration of the fake values. This lady was perhapsthe last Nayar
empress from the breed, her sexual exploits were envied by many. But
somewhere she errred. Was far too naive. I loved her writings as an
youngster, but now I am sorry, despite all her faults. Wish she comes back,
takes up community work, among the Nayar women, as a daring Nayar woman.

PS: There was a group of youth in Thiruvananthapuram, as those people
themselves told this writer, who used to fool Madhavikutty, when she
stayed here. The modus operanti was simple, one of these boys will go in
to her house and start crying, saying that 'his grandfather is dead' or
the next time that 'he has no money to pay fees'. The others waited
outside and this went on for years. Every time the naive lady will go
inside and give the money, what had become their main income, to see
films. The tearful words of compassion after the money was paid was the
only occupational hazard, as one of them, now grown up, told.

(Anyone who reads this, who knows her, please pass it on to her at
Pune)

P R J Pradeep

Temples are the only institutions that retain the old practice of untouchability. It is socially sanctioned and not many are willing to question the statusquo. A man born in the Brahmin caste alone is permitted inside the sanctum sanctorum. What by default means all others, including Brahmin women are lesser human beings, sub-human. This is at the root of many social ills in society like oppressive caste prejudices against the low castes. Breeding of inferiority complex in others and the born priests and their lobbies are working over time to retain and spread this fossilized untouchability. Fear of the unknown is the tool, theatrics and dress rehearsals the gimmick. For a healthy Hindu society for the future this cannot continue and the caste Brahmin priests' monopoly has to cease in all Kerala temples. Alternatives built up and this unhealthy tradition discontinued immediately. It may even be necessary for the priests themselves who are in dire straights, majority of them poverty ridden and trapped in rituals and stagnation. They may be helped to enter better vocations in life.

Priesthood trying to subjugate people is seen repeating in history and many of the great men and prophets have tried to fight this menace. In Kerala it is time this is taken up in all earnest. The recent incidents in Kerala where the `holier than thou'
Tantris were caught indulging in evil practices failed to open the eyes of the people. Most of them unfortunately have made the temples places for all kinds of extortion and it is their greed rather than anything divine that happens in most places. Also the greed of those who ally with them for the money, power and some privileges. What the present Devaswom Boards are typical examples. Where the rot in the name of god has reached the limits. The clever priests and their bosses make use of the others for their own motives and share a part of the loot. Spirituality is their last priority. Where a cleansing is badly needed.

In Kerala the native temples were almost all originally from the Tantric stream, not the Vedic Brahmin stream and were owned by the various native communities. Often the temples were in the ownership of and protection of the Nayars, warriors and nobility of Kerala in the pre-caste period in history. Nayars were a Tantric people and the high status of women etc in the old matriarchial Nayar community point to this. Later
these were taken over by the Vedic Brahmins and a new model of Tantra, what the 'Tantris' now follow, enforced. What many consider fake Tantra. The British period saw the temples taken over from the original communities and the rituals altered, sadly the priests allied with the British as history shows. Where the situation remains till date, despite freedom from British rule. The Tantric stream
did not have subjugation of women, low castes or fake brahmacharya and vegetarianism. All of which are from the Vedic model and alien to majority Kerala Hindu society. What is now paraded as authentic Hinduism.

And with the fast spread of caste Brahmin controlled Hindutwa in the recent past, and the fan following for the Brahminised god-men and god-women, the Vedic Brahmin model is trying for an alarming come back and this, despite its few good sides, is going to be damaging to the larger Hindu society. More and more temples where non-Brahmins were priests are swallowed by the Brahmins and the rituals being altered. They use a clever arrangement by linking astrologers, doing 'Devaprasnams' and assorted crafts. What creates mayhem in Hindu society as concepts of fake brahmacharya, vegetarianism etc are being freely used. What leads to nerotic behaviour in the people as denial of natural urges in ordinary people are damaging. In this in Kerala, unfortunately the Nayar community is the most affected, but ironically they are also the facilitators. Perhaps because they are the most hypnotized by the propaganda of priesthood. They get used, but are not aware of this. The divided Hindu society disintegrates.

The inhuman and prejudiced attitudes towards the Dalits and low castes have no place in the modern era, it is also highly damaging to the larger Hindu society
which is on the run in Kerala. But the fossilized priestly practices are trying to bring this back with a vengeance. The islands were the old Tantric models
survived, many old temples, are also giving in to the Vedic Brahmin models. Many Dalit owned and tribal owned places of worship are being captured by the
forces of new Hindutwa, where new Brahmin priests and rituals are enforced. Hence there is no other way except discontinuing the custom of caste Brahmin male priests, if that is not voluntarily happening, daring initiatives like ousting the Brahmin
priests from all the temples may be necessary. It will also help them themselves. Everyone who respects the beliefs and has the spiritual competence should be permitted inside sanctums. New priesthood and rituals cultivated with the guidance of those with the vision. While various communities who share common subcultures and values, what became caste later, may retain these, there should not be any hierarchy and prejudices between man and man. What is man made, neither is there a need for middlemen between man and god. What the priests claim to be.

Part I

P R J Pradeep

The word ‘Vedic’ arouses mystique in the minds, of at
least the Hindus. It is a loaded word and swearing by
the ‘Vedas’ is an obsession with many. Particularly
with the priestly castes who also chant the Sanskrit
words of the Vedas in various rituals. Since the
language is not known to the majority they take it as
magical, codes to reach god by short cuts. The caste
Brahmins have a tradition of making the lines by
heart, not very keen about the meanings, and it is
often seen that they chant the words meant to
propitiate Indra, chief god of the Vedic pastoral
people, at every temple and ritual. That is,
irrespective of whatever the deity there, whatever the
purpose there. The practice of learning Vedas by heart
no doubt helped in their preservation through
centuries is true, but there are also other problems
involved. There are many who believe that everything
started from the Vedas, that the Vedas have the answer
to all the problems of the world. On closer scrutiny
it is usual to find such people as absolutely ignorant
of what is there in the Vedas. Or they turn out to be
having vested interests. Perhaps the denial of the
Vedas to a majority had this as another reason,
keeping the mystique alive.

Interestingly it is not the ‘Vedas’ per se that people
commonly refer to, it is the later interpretations.
The real text of the ‘Vedas’ narrate the hopes, fears
and apprehensions of an ancient pastoral people.
Asking Indra to give them more cattle, avenge the
enemies and protect them is what is commonly seen in
the Vedas. But the later interpretations, like the
‘Sutras’, ‘Brahmanas’, ‘Smruthis’ etc. goes far in
explaining the Vedas. Obviously these reflect on the
prevailing social needs of those who interpreted
these, their genuine and vested interests. What
through time was passed over by the new generations,
making it loaded words. Not only that, these
interpretations later came to become social customs
and values. What is today paraded as ‘Bharateeya
Sanskriti’ is immensely influenced by these value
systems rooted in the Vedas. Since the aura created
through time gives it the necessary protection not
many are willing to question these. And of late there
is a new breed of psedo-scientists who try to hood
wink the naïve by giving fancy explanations to
everything ‘Vedic’. It also has a hidden agenda as
they aim at restoring the priestly hegemony in Hindu
society, what is on the wane. The unfortunate part is
that the new Hinditwa revival in post-colonial India
has inadvertently given them the necessary space.

As the Hindu society in India is facing severe
challenges, with its inner crisis, caste divisions and
priestly hold there is a felt need to reform the Hindu
society from within. The challenges thrown by the
commercial and pan-national faiths that eat in to the
Hindu core is reason enough to look for alternatives.
Why it becomes important that the ‘Vedic’ debate is
demystified. For, there lies the root cause of many
social ills, especially in the later interpretations,
including that of Sankara himself. Whom Swami
Vivekananda himself called ‘narrow minded’ for his
justifying caste and monopoly of knowledge by specific
castes. Sankara, who is believed to be the main
architect of what is called modern Hinduism, had
talked about ‘Advaitha’, about this world as being an
illusion, ‘Maya’ but the same Sankara had also
insisted about caste divisions. It is a paradox but it
stood the ground for several centuries, thanks to the
logic and the social systems that were put in place to
safe guard these. Sankara, born in a Brahmin family in
South India, Kerala to be precise, traveled all the
way to the Himalayas and effectively challenged the
new universal religions of the day like Budhism and
Jainism.

It was a clever ploy of interpreting the ancient texts
explaining the Vedas, like the ‘Sutras’, ‘Smruthis’
etc. together with what are called the ‘Vedangas’ or
the limbs of the body of the ‘Vedas’. ‘Manu- Smruthi’,
perhaps an earlier version, was able to enforce many
of these skewed interpretations on Hindu society.
These had their positive attributes is true, like
structuring the society with codes of conduct for
people, daily regimen and seasonal discipline. But
eventually these became tools of oppression and the
caste, by birth, privileges became perilous to
society. Perhaps how the Hindu society later bowed
down before colonial forces, new alien faiths. But the
decadent faith and its hold on people continued to
hold sway. It had by now become the only means of
survival for the priestly castes. The degradation of
women, half of the Hindu population, is the most
damaging result of this. Second is the degradation of
the majority called ‘Sudras’ who according to the
‘Vedic Scholars’ are not even human, not ‘manushya’.
Only the twice born, Brahmin, Kashatriya and Vaisya,
are ‘manushya’. Calls to kill those ‘Sudras’who hear
the ‘Vedas’, by pouring molten lead in to their ears
(Gauthama dharma Sutra), and similar calls against
women became lethal. ‘Pumasavana’, one agenda of the
‘shodasa samskara’, is a ritual to beget male progeny
(after Atharava 6.11). Women became pollutants (after
Taittiriya Samhita and Gautama Dharma Sutra), it was
mothers polluting children, for women give birth to
man and women. Simple postulates in the Vedas and
their interpretations eventually started becoming
menacing, these came to be social customs. What
continues to this day.

(To be continued)

Apart from the voyeuristic pleasures of seeing people celebrate Onam on television screens, what is now understood as the right way of doing it, the only place where I saw a semblance of authenticity was a dalit colony in the city. A place where the so-called low caste 'Pulaya' community stays in Thiruvananthapuram. Here the people were all in jubilation, young and old. The shocking observation to this writer was that the 'Ona pookkalam' is part of faith and ritual, not a secular show of fancy interest. As the older generation told, it is nothing but the 'Siva Lingam' that is set up with clay at the centre. The flowers depict the goddess and once the Pookkalam is ready it is the abode of the god and goddess. That for ten days starting Atham. Where worship is regularly done. Till the day of Thiruvonam. Many of you may know it, I did not, and frankly the last day of discontinuing the Pookkalam was a mystical scene, the boy who did it after several days of penace reaching a state of possession. The whole community dancing in ecstacy.

There are historic accounts that tell about Thiruvonam, some scholars have done original research on this. One of them, Dr. Padmanabhan based in Kanyakumari, tells that Onam was a festival across the southern peninsula. That from Tiruppati to cape and for the wider Tamil country it was a national festival. That few centuries back when Tirupati was originally a Siva temple. Perhaps the contending Vaishnava and Saiva streams were competing at the time for space. Today Tirupati is all out Vaishnava and the Hinduism of the day is an assimilation of the two streams. But the recorded festivities of Onam across the Tamil country had elephant fights and feasts as some documents narrate. In huge arenas made of stone boulders elephants were made to fight and people watched the show like in bull fights. There are engravings of the show in ancient Madurai. Perhaps it was an ancient Saivaite festival later taken over by Vaishnavism, for Onathan is Vishnu, according to Dr. Padmanabhan.

When did the celebrations of Onam in its present form begin is best left to history, hoary past cannot be deciphered beyond a point. Now the Pulayas who were seen celebrating are also known to be related to the Nayars of Kerala. Folk history talks about their having been people judged as lower in status after refusing to accept 'Pula' or ritual pollution, when those who accepted these became Nayars. This was obviosuly at the instance of the priestly religion that came to be powerful and one does not know who benefitted and at whose cost. For physical affluence and social position alone are not the ultimate variables in life, spirituality is as important. How Jesus Christ calls the poor and under privilaged as children of god. However the Onam celebrations of the dalits were certainly better than that of the television viewers. At least there was individual participation, joy and exhilaration.

What was remarkable was that the upper castes nearby, from Nayars down, did not come out of their homes to see the gaiety, leave alone join the celebration. They were all rivetted to the TV screens inside, those who peeped out from inside the walls were afraid that the shall be polluted if they joined the show. For the people here had also arranged several exotic sports items like climbing an arecanut tree pole smeared with oil and eggs white. Those trying to climb kept on falling down as the amused crowd jeered. There were also other events like 'Tumpi thullal' and other items, with a lot of cheering accompanying. It was literally a people's celebration. Is it that these are the real Saivite people who refused to accept the priestly Vaishnavism. Who knows. Obviously it is a more vibrant faith that they have, than the one where paying the greedy priests and bowing before idols alone is called religion. Dependency on priesthood stealing any trace of self respect, also self confidence in matters of faith, they becoming blind believers. Hard options before the Hindu faithful.

It is said that they compulsorily eat non-vegetarian food on Onam day in Malabar, when it is a no no in Travancore. Obviously the land Sree Padmanabha was far more Vaishnavite than Saivite than Malabar and continued to be with the Tamil country till the British left. Historians have recorded how the goddess of the Cheras, fore-runners of the true Nayars, was 'Kottavai'. And do you know what was her favourit dish, our modern beef Biriyani. Yes, the preparation was a mix of meat of oxen with boiled rice, see books of Ilankulam Kunjan Pillai on the ancient Kerala. Why even the Vedic people were meat eaters and the Rg Veda has far too many references to this. Thus Onam as a celebration of the defeat of a noble king Mahabali is also a metamorphosed festival. As history shows the goddess Kottavai later gets amalgamated in to the modern Hindu pantheon. The Onam Pookkalam, where we now have the small 'Thrikkakkara Appan' at the centre may be the left over from a past. A past where every one could do pooja, what eventually became a privilage of the caste Brahmins. Time the other Hindus asserted their rights, dumped the concocted fictions that go as sastram.

Once passing through Kuriathy, a suburb of Thiruvananthapuram, I was surprised to see all the people standing in a junction fleeing with out any reason. That was couple of years back and I was new to the city. It was a frantic scene where people jumped walls, climbed on to the top of vehicles parked and ran skelter shelter. Amused I watched in anticipation of some calamity, then saw a police jeep. That was it, respectable people driven to dehumanising terror. As I later found out it was forbidden for people to loiter around in this stretch of the city where, as they claimed, crime rates are on the higher side. But what if the people stand their ground, instead of running away, I asked. Some of them atleast may be wanted in some cases and the rest will not take a chance to be taken in to custody. Once in there can be inhuman treatment awaiting. They knew from experience.

Some social thinkers have opined that the criminal and the police are both from the same stock, they both have the same mindset and have an object-mirror image relationship. Possible as they are both in close contact and move about in the same social terrain. For a post-colonial society like India the western colour of Khakhi is in itself alien and arouses the fear of the slave to the master. Perhaps some deep rooted fears in the collective unconscious. It is not just in Kerala that this happens, across India this is the case. But in some places liek Tamilnadu the name is changed, they call the police 'Kaval' in Tamil. That is a big change as the name atleast does not threaten. Though the colonial hang over of Indian police remains western countries have changed a lot, the image of a friendly policeman escorting a child across the road is a live image of British police that appears off and on.

In Thiruvananthapuram it is forbidden to walk on the streets after it is dark, what has killed all night life in the city. An young painter friend who just got out of his studio in Palayam for a cup of tea at 11 pm in the night was picked up by the patrolling police. Taken to the station they misbehaved with him and put him behind the bars. The trauma he underwent was so intense he was on the verge of becoming a murderer, collected all the details of the policemen who misbehaved and started planning for their murder. Eventually good sense prevailed and he left Kerala for a long time, just to cool off. The power that the police force is given is certainly necessary for maintaining a civil society. But when it exceeds the limits, hardened officers and men in the force becoming menacing, the tolerance limits are reached. It is a tragedy that the political activists who face the tragedy later become champions of the same forces and enjoy the fear they generate, the same police jeeps escorting them with loud shrieks.

The drama of state craft in a post-colonial society has its magnetism. Thus a Minister once sworn in behaves differently and starts hallucinating. Democracy is a haloed word but the imperial governance mechanisms left over by the British now in practice in India, particularly in Kerala, is different. At best it is a blind repetition of the rituals, at its worst it is a swinging pendulam of oligarchies, interest groups pulling that side and this. Those who have the most colective strength wins in this game. The high talk of justice and participatory administration is theory. So it is not just the police who areto be blamed, it starts with the arrogant ministers down, who live in a make believe. It is after all a slave society just liberated, unable to decipher why institutions of governmnet are there, why statutes are there. They just follow in ceremony, sadly it is the least suitable people who come to rule, to whom it is just power and privilages. Administration is no where in focus.

With the new twists and turns in the commerce driven education sector in Kerala the student wing of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), called SFI, got nasty. It was perhaps a spontaneous reaction towards what is seen as gross injustice. Though the anger has been officially disowned by the organisation, senior most leaders expressing their views against it, the fact remains. Without legitimate venues of redressal things may go out of hand. That is a message no one can miss.

The labyrinths of legality cannot hide the truth. That the education sector in Kerala has been monopolised by the affluent minority communities, especially the Christian segment, that in the name of their being a minority. It is every one's knowledge that they are not minorities in Kerala, going by the international standards that a group can be called minority only when they are less than 10 percent of the population, neither are they weak. The Christian community in Kerala happen to be economically and politically very powerful.

It is only because of the disorganisation in the Hindu community that the Christian segment is able to have their way. With the Christian segment controlling the mass media in Kerala all eforts to organise the Hindu community ends up in failure. It is a double bind and it is in this situation that the CPI(M) lead LDF governmnet has come forward with a new piece of legislation. What was seemingly aimed at bringing in a semblance of justice. But the Christian priests have come out crying wolf. How they are interested in commercial education, instead of spirituality is a question no one asks. Things are well understood.

To ordinary people it is like the Malayalam saying 'Asarichiye Kadichathum Pora, Ari Thinnathum Pora, Pinnem Pattikka Murumuruppu'. For the Christian educational institutions, lions share of Kerala education sector, have all along been getting money from the public exchequer, public money, for running their institutions. They sell the jobs, getting the salaries in advance, what the governmnet later pays in installments. They post their kith and kin and make money. Also brainwash the Hindu students making them slaves. It went on and on, now they want more.

The implications of the present trend are visible to all, with majority of those able to access higher education and professional education belonging to the minority communities soon there shall be a Kerala where the upper echelons of society will only have minority community members. What is already visible, though now in limits. The have nots and the proleteriate shall all be the Hindus. The weaker sections of the minority communities themselves shall find this a tragedy as they too shall be out from the scene. Economic might is becoming right and it is no wonder that physical might comes as answer.

What predicts disaster for what is now a peaceful society in Kerala. The travails of economically poor but smart students have been studied by many agencies and the children of the stinking rich dictate terms in the educational institutions. To them education is no need, they are rich and secure anyway. The others from poor families fail to remain with dignity and the peer group pressure on children to behave like the richer ones cause turmoil in many families. These are young people who come to harbour hatred and sooner than later it is to explode. Time everyone took note of the fuming vulcano.

Managers of the abodes of the god, the Devaswom Board in Kerala, are caught in controversies and as the latest reports tell the judges, people of the British heritage of judiciary, are being asked to give the final word. Tantris are coming for Press Meets. What was to be the domain of the Hindu faithful, ascetics and tantriks has been drawn in to the market place, legalities. Perhaps the first to be indicted for this predicament is the tantri, who now lords over the rituals, making a camouflage of tantrums. Next are the politicians who move in here as administrators with an aye on the enormous amounts of money. Sabarimala, the abode of the hill god in the rain forests, is indeed caught up in a double bind. The forest hills that once belonged to the native communities and freely used by the ascetics and the temple, called Poonkavanam, were taken over, reserved, during the British and the hill temple is now required to pay money for the land in so called free India.

The latest ‘Deva Prasnam’, throwing out a plethora of ‘revelations’ and the later cinematic disclosure by the Kannada actress Jayamala that she had a real life scene enacted there have become head line news. Self claimed guardians of Hindutwa have come out with cries of blood. That Jayamala be punished as the woman touched the idol. What is a male Brahmin bastion. This can only be touched, by tradition, only by those born Nampoothiris, Kerala Brahmins. The Tantri is also a Kerala Brahmin who has the final word in such matters. Leave alone non-Brahmins, other Brahmins are also not permitted to be here. What applies to most of the Kerala temples where the ‘thread’ is essential to enter the sanctum sanctorum, whoever the man, so long as the ‘thread’ is there they have the green card. The definition of a ‘Brahmin’ according to sastras is different but these self seekers have their monopolies.

Sabarimala word means the ‘hill of Sabari’, who as legends tell was a low caste woman. There is also a temple for Sabari, apart from Ayyappan, here. But it is forbidden for woman to enter here, only girls and post-menopause women are permitted. The hard climb through the forests perhaps made this necessary once upon a time. Not only that, the Sabarimala pilgrims are supposed to be strictly adhering to the principle of celibacy and even a touch from a women is frowned upon by the pious. Womanhood is condemned as sin. Thus in most nuclear families it becomes a period of oppression for the woman when the Ayyappa season begins. The kind of trauma a woman undergoes due to this primitive and distorted belief is not yet being debated. It is a silent scream.

Sabarimala also has major tantrums kept alive by the tantris and the Devaswom Board. What is aimed at bringing more and more people to the hill shrine. It is in effect a distortion of the basic tenets of Hinduism, Sanatana Dharma, that happens here. The flow of money keeps the lid on. By all possibilities this is am abode of some pre-historic tapasa, called Sidhas in the South. Later brought under the caste Brahmin poojaris, priests, and their making it a means of minting money. For not many tantris in Kerala are known to be initiated to the true tantric ways. What is the domain of the unassuming Sidhas, ascetics and their paramparas. It was perhaps the Vedic Brahmins penetrating the native tantric idiom and later shutting out the others. How the caste oppression also began.

But the priesthood has cleverly entrenched itself here and made a battery of rituals that make the people dazzled. Since these are areas tabooed for the common man not many raise questions. Where the tantri and his clout is held in great mystic. That almost every decision in Sabarimala is based on ulterior motives, most of these facilitating institutionalized corruption, is known to people. But the faith in the rain forest god and goddess makes them remain silent. That these forests of the southern western ghats were once sought after locations for the ascetics is known. There are also many Samadhis of great souls within the forests. Sabarimala is not the only hill god temple in the western ghats. But perhaps the most famous. These are the guardian gods of the rich nature here and the hills, repositories of water, are important from that angle.

What Sabarimala needs is a cleansing, both of the tantris and the Devaswom Board, the Sidha tradition alone has the right to decide what is best for Sabarimala. The administration and the priests can only be assisting them. The unnatural denial of womanhood in the Sabarimala cult ought to be addressed with maturity and wisdom. Spirituality in the south is not based on denials, Sidha tradition is affirmative. Imposed celibacy is not an ideal here. Idol worship in the resent form is itself not in tune with these traditions. In Sabarimala while health and hygiene are important some of the blind traditions that are rigorously enforced needs to change. The hill shrine has to be over seen by the saints, who have the capacity and insight to do that, not every politician or the caste Brahmins. A bit of cleansing is required in Sabarimala is certain. By cleansing Sabarimala the four southern states, who keep Ayyappa dear, shall stand cleansed as well.

The ground swell of enthusiasm for a Hindu unity in Kerala, what was a reaction to the decades of power misuse by the minority communities in Kerala, stands paralysed. The heroic efforts by the leadership of the SNDP Yogam, lead by the dynamic Vellappilly Natesan, and the Kerala Kaumudi group, played major roles in that. Which was whole heartedly supported by all Hindu communities in the state, though the NSS played a bit of spoil sport, resulting in a historic process in Kerala. Giving great hopes to the people. But with no viable mechanisms to tap the new enthusiasmm, formation of a political front failed and the BJP front in internal crisis, the elections saw the fruits of this wave of Hindu unity going to the Communist lead Left Democratic Front. Who saw record win in the last elections. Though wearing the old mask of secularism it is everyone's knowledge that they too go by community loyalties in every decision. If the Muslim League or Kerala Congress does it without hiding, the comrades do it with a bit of camouflage is the only difference.

But once the LDF ministry took over there was a clever effort to sabotage the process. Leadership of the second senior partner CPI, Veliyam Bhargavan himself, attributing the win to the new support they gathered from the minorities. Many other decisions of the new ministry were aimed at damaging the Hindu unity principle. Perhaps a Hindu unity move will see the Communists disappear in Kerala, they may be using the government mechanism to save themselves, their political careers. And the trends are for a relapse to the old pattern, where the various Hindu communities are to align once again with the shrewd minority groups. What is to spell tragedy for Kerala in the days to come. There is celebration in the Ezhava community with V S Achuthanandan in the Chief Minister's chair, many others from the community in ministerial births. As if the game is won. Forget that the Hindu community including the Ezhava sector is cornered in Kerala, also that the territories captured by the minorities remains where it was. Personally it was a clever game plan of V S Achuthanandan that worked, he presented himself as the caste hero. Where the clever minority community newspapers and politicians gave the necessary leverages. While acknowledging the good traits of VS, like his championing the cause of the forests, there are also visible lacunas.

For a comparison V S Achuthanandan is not loved by the Hindus in Kerala the way Vellappilly Natesan is and this comrade did not mince words in dumping Vellappilly himself in the early days. The approaches of both, though from the same community, differ. But seeing the new upswing of community consolidation V S Achuthanandan could use it to his advantage is true. Not only that, the first interviews he gave made no mistake, that he is the saviour of the so called 'avarnas', low castes of Kerala. That hiding the fact that there is hardly any difference between the Nairs and Ezhavas in the state right now, both are as bad or as good. And the dalits and tribals cannot be equated with them. The old rhetoric whipped up by the British missionaries to neutralise the warring communities of Kerala, also divide the Hindus, driving the warring people to turmoil who stopped their attempts to subdue this land, is back again. Punishing the supposed sins committed a century back, what if Kerala is now under minority feudalism. That is no issue. V S Achuthanandan could do it with great perfection and get his pound of meat. The divide within the Hindu community is once again deepening, wrong myths being used to widen it. he present indications are that VS, possibly supported by some of the most paranoic intellectuals in the community, may end up fathering a new era of turmoil for the Hindus, divided they are to sink again further.

It makes little difference who runs the state now, that is, who is in the chair. The post-colonial governance mechanism is rotten and the options for the incumbents are not much. Dated British ceremonies and procedures is what governance means and only a strong Hindu consolidation shall be able to change this. But the career politicians are looking at the rewards is no doubt, like a comfortable life, some pittances thrown to their wards and accomplices. The fundamental questions affecting Kerala shall remain out of focus. It is known that the politicians have their own ways of riding the waves of popular movements for their own advantage. What happened here again. Most of them are not intelligenet enough to see through the smoke screen, the larger frame of Kerala society, where the state is heading for. They also lack the vision to take in the options before the government, illequipped and inadequately exposed as they are. Thus the cosmetic approaches are to be used again, adhoc interventions made in all sectors. All of this to be sabotaged by one group or other as the seemingly biased approaches bring negative responses. With a better leadership in the LDF scene would have been different, what the Party perhaps knew beforehand, how both VS Achuthanandan and Pinarayi Vijayan were asked to stay away from elections.

But VS Achuthanandan used a lobby to capture the chair, obviously there were many waiting who wanted that to happen, what became visible when the Party Secretariat later pointed to the remote control of media syndicates in the game plan. If V S Achuthanandan won, it can easily be portrayed as a win for the Ezhava community, what is presently happening. And the Chief Minister is flaunting that card with a degree of arrogance. Especially so with the CPI leader Veliyam Bhargavan who has thrown all sense of fair play and is now as chauvinistic, or more, as the old minority groups. Causing irrepairable damage to Hindu unity moves and other communities in Kerala. Obviously, left to itself, Kerala's Hindu unity move is heading for collapse. Who enjoys the scene can be easily guessed, also who must be silently plotting from behind to create the scene. VS Achuthanandan is not known to be an astute strategist, is a simple rural leader, easily swayed. And the LDF is as much vulnerable as the UDF to minority vote banks and strategems. It is time the mature leadership of the Hindu community comes forward to restore sanity. That the great dream of a Hindu consolidation is not lost for ever. If that happens it will be a tragedy for Kerala, for whether Nair, Ezhava or Pulaya it is the native idiom of this land. If that is lost, what is now almost lost, it will lead to doom. VS or no VS Hindu unity in Kerala cannot be compromised.

A plot of land with a Kavu, Sacred Grove, belonging to the Nalappat tharavadu in Punnayoorkulam is in the news. Presumably belonging to one individual, Kamala Suraiya alias Madhvaikutty of the family, what is not normally possible in Nair tharavadus where this remains common property of the family. Kamala, now a Muslim, donated this to the state Sahitya Academy. The plethora of beliefs associated with the Kavu must have forced Kamala cleverly pass it on to the government body. And she, now converted and a Muslim, seemingly lied and maintained that it is only a plot of land. She had earlier demolished the ancestral house and sold the land in the area. The 'Sahitya Academy' as the name itself suggests is another decadent outfit, as the part English and part Malayalam name suggests, set up by the state. Many other properties handed over to them remains uncared for but that did not prevent them from taking over the new ‘plot of land’ measuring 17 cents.

Kamala despite her change of faith is insisting that a tree there be protected. This is not to find fault with her on why she acts in certain ways, there must have been reasons. Those who know the inner family history of Kamala Suraiya, also several Nair families in similar circumstances, must know the turmoil of the oppressive faith that the Nairs are carrying. More so the oppressed women which need changes. So there is no point in finding fault with her, she has taken what she found to be the best alternative. Whether breaking the fake morality of an earlier era as a writer or changing faith she did what many others may not dare to do. One gets hurt only because she took flight, she could well have remained a Nair and fought the problems. Now about the Sacred Grove in question it does not seem to be a miniature forest anyway. Her own father, as she writes, having destroyed it long back, leaving couple of trees and idols. If the faithful attribute all her travails to that they cannot be faulted. But the family continues to worship there, so also some of the local people. Now what business has the Sahitya Academy in all this is a curious issue. What are they going to do with this is another question.

Sacred Groves, patches of rain forests preserved in human habitations, form part of the native culture in Kerala. It is beyond what is called religion, the stand taken by the Academy Chairman is a graceful aceptance of that. It is rooted in nature worship and also as prakriti as woman, ‘Kavu’ word also means woman. Though several Hindu communities maintain Sacred Groves this way of worship is predominantly found in Nair tharavadus. This practice is found in many other states in India and also in some other countries. It is a hoary history that these concepts have and the Groves are attributed to various deities. Main among them is the serpent principle, with mystical meanings of divine energy only known to Sidhas. These are popularly called Naga Raja and Naga Yakshi. The Yakshan Yakshi concepts as deities perhaps predates modern Hinduism and this is widely reported from the Jain period. Later Yakshis depicted as evil forces. Jainism was prevalent in Kerala, so also Budhism, where the Groves were places of worship and meditation. Perhaps it was during the caste Brahmin phase that the rigourous practices of idol worship got enforced. Status of ascetics on one hand and women on the other goes down here. Soon, more than faith it became a source of fear, without which it would have been a beautiful faith.

This was how many Nair tharavadus in the immediate past have given up these. The safest means of abandoning these came to be facilitated by some Nampoothiri families themselves, who also maintain Sacred Groves, like Pampummekattu Mana. The concept here is to take out the deities and take them to these Manas and transform the land to other purposes. Building concrete temples became rampant. Large number of Nair families have done this, which costs an amount of money as priestly fee and rituals. There are various views about the Sacred Groves but these patches of rain forests were and are at the head end of paddy fields and were ecologically significant cannot be denied. It remains a traesure house of pristine local biodiversity as well. The Nairs, the old Dravidian nobility, came to protect this is possible. Some say that these are places where spiritually enlightened ancestors and Sidhas, sanyasis, must have been laid to rest. But of late these became sources of fear is certain. Where in most Nair families only the caste Brahmin priest is permitted to enter. Even though these are owned by the Nairs.

That the clever stratagems of priestly slavery played a role is possible, what is visible in many other areas of Hindu life. But the fact that these are pristine forests, wherever these are well protected, point to a great wisdom about the processes of nature. In this sense these need to be protected is beyond debate. Now, regarding the beliefs associated with the Sacred Groves there have been efforts by many saints, like Sree Narayana Gurudevan, who removed the feared idols perhaps because they reinforced a wrong model of spirituality and deep rooted fear. Idol worship as the end in Hinduism is a deviation in the near past where the priestly dictum became supreme. Hinduism is primarily a belief aimed at self-realization. Kundalini sakti, serpent power, is goddess worship here. The saintly orders, like Sidha paramparas, are as important as the idol worship, meant for beginners. But when it is riveted on to idol worship alone the community suffers. Where the reformers were instrumental in changing this. While many others could accept such saintly teachings the Nairs remained glued to the old model.

That the Sacred Groves present a model of nature worship, communion with nature, is very important. Which worships the sacred life giving nature. What is lost in this era of all round eco-degradation. In that sense the Sacred Grove in mention, that of Kamala Suraiya, may not mean much. For the trees were cut down long back as she writes, by her ‘progressive’ father. With only few idols and couple of trees remaining. This is not a Kavu in the conventional sense. But if the family members are worshipping there still it assumes significance. What the same family members ought to have done was to purchase it from the daughter of the family who converted and left. In normal Nair families this remains common property but here it became private is curious. But this did not seem to have happened how the local Hindu youth, fearing that the converted Muslim lady will damage it, took over it and it became a conflict in the area. Kamala Suraiya, with out telling that it is a controversial Kavu, donating it to the Academy. With her womanly intelligence she wanted to win the game. But Nalappattu is not just a family but an old feudal household, local ruling house. Why others too have a stake in it.

That Kamala, a good writer, was brought up outside Kerala and failed to imbibe the nuances of local belief and culture is her tragedy. It is a kind of arrogance that reflects in her writings and postures, not humility as to the limitations of the human intelligence. Even her conversion to Islam did not seem to have saved her. By lofty Hindu values she is a victim of ‘ajnana’, darkness, and may need many births to redeem herself as the Hindu belief goes. Unfortunately for her she could not access the great traditions of Kerala and India and had to face the travails. Perhaps a simple meeting with a great soul would have changed her but she was not humble to receive that benevolence. Caught up as she is in the consumerist values of the day. Where even an ordinary woman may be better off than her. Now looking at the problem as a common issue facing a huge population in Kerala, for she represents a community owning large number of groves, what are the options. One is to go for the path of the native saintly orders, where the fear psychosis will vanish. That of the native Sidhas, who seldom abhor woman or sex, neither family life. They don’t wear uniforms and are happy in being invisible to others.

Regarding the future course of action, there are two major options available. One is for the family members of Nalappattu tharavadu to purchase and maintain it, if necessary with their own modifications. The other is for the Academy to maintain it as a better Sacred Grove, they can purchase some more land and make it a live museum of Kerala culture. Allowing a sprouting of trees rather than the idols. What has to be accepted is that these are beliefs that cannot be bracketed within the definitions of modern religions and form the root culture of Kerala. Islam itself has similar root beliefs at many places, though with different approaches. Regarding the responses from ‘wage writers’, and ‘wage speakers’ in Kerala, what they try to do is to get some money and name in this name and they can be looked at with due sympathy. The over populated periodical sector also needs some hot stories to sell. Their illeducated views can be ignored as noise pollution. But for the people to whom this is no newspaper story, who have been protecting this nature endowed land, these are their guardian gods and the matter is thus very important to them.

There are thousands of Kavus spread over Kerala which support the natural balance and micro-climate of the regions where they are located. People with alien minds, trapped in alien beliefs may not understand the inner meanings of the local beliefs and they can be ignored. Without government subsidies few communities are struggling to maintain the natural balance of the Kerala ecosystem, the Kavu at Nalappattu is one. These are relics from an old era where there were no forest departments and environmentalists. Each ‘thara’, unit of administration, was looked after by a Tharavadu. Kavu was the abode of their guardian deity. Later with the priestly and British colonization these little rulers, who once had their own armies and Kalaris, were neutralized. The multiple layers of colonization are difficult to decipher here and the revolt by Kamala is at another level a weak woman’s struggle for liberation. It is a dilemma of a huge population and what is needed is preserving the network of Sacred Groves all over Kerala but without so much of fear. God cannot be taken as a terrorist, let the miniature forests remain as places of greenery and peace, where Mother Nature is left alone.

Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) also called voluntary organizations are increasingly becoming a part of implementing government programmes. The rural uplift schemes of the central government like the Swarnjayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY) that replaced the old IRDP during the tenure of the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government has a major role for NGOs in its implementation. What was also adopted, though with lacunas, by the government of Kerala. The People’s Plan model had made a serious attempt to incorporate the people at the grass roots in to the development process. The local Panchayats and NGOs came to have a major role. But due to inexperienced people handling the scheme there were major failures but the idea behind it was commendable. At the state and central government levels the Social Welfare sector also has a major role for NGOs, apart from development.

Now with a new Left Front government in power and the question of re-launching the People’ Plan process in the cards there are new possibilities emerging. It is time to correct the mistakes committed so far, also correct the deliberate attempts by the vested interests to siphon off state resources as monopolies. In this the most glaring instance was the role of voluntary organizations, NGOs. Due to historic and other reasons the legitimate NGOs in Kerala are almost all run by the Christian church. Thus it became a paradox of those with international sources of funds getting the meager state resources as well. The others left out or becoming beneficiaries of the Church. That when these are state funds that are pooled in to the society, but through the church outfits. Creating a kind of subtle slavery. The welfare and development inputs of the state bypassed the others was the result. How there is a sprouting of old age homes, orphanages etc under the Christian segment where there is none in the Hindu community.

Thus the NGO sector in Kerala, who take state funds, are almost all Christian and of late a few Muslim organizations also have started getting in to this. But the majority Hindu community, whether Nayar, Ezhava, Pulaya or others, could not evolve systems that can pool in state funds and remained in their own community work. Since it requires an amount of exposure to the various state run schemes also the modalities of accessing these the tradition bound communities failed in addressing the problem. How the very same communities with external sources of incomes came to tap the state resources as well. Leading to a skewed society of the minority haves and majority have nots. There is a network of well run Christian NGOs across Kerala and priests frequent the state departments to access these funds. The ministers are also normally from the minorities who ensure the smooth flow of funds to their own communities. This when the others starve of capital.

Now there are institutions that cater to the needs of the other Hindu communities which remain in obsolete approaches and traditions. There is also a stigma attached to these organizations when there is none about the Christian church sponsored organizations. If a white paper is issued about the quantum of money siphoned out by these organizations over time, also the community wise profile of the NGOs receiving state funds shocking details shall be known. What has remained hidden from public notice so far. The native communities with the least exposure to the modalities of the government schemes remain ignorant about these and the ramifications. Large amounts of government funds are also getting wasted or reaching the wrong hands due to this anomaly. The tradition bound NGOs from the Hindu community, untouchables in government schemes, are the biggest losers in this.

So to correct the deviance through years it is only proper that these communities and their community organizations be brought under the implementation schemes of the government. Thus the leading organizations like the Nair Service Society (NSS), Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP) Pulaya Mahasabha, Yogakshema Sabha, similar organizations of other communities need to be brought under the armpit of the delivery mechanisms of government. Since it is due to the rampant corruption and incompetence of government departments, that lead to the failure of translating the macro-level programmes on the ground, the NGOs came to have a role cannot be denied. Here, if only one community takes the benefits it is not justice. What has been happening so far where the church sponsored organizations are having the kill for so long. Since the others did not know the implications it remained hidden from public view, these monopolies cleverly kept it hidden.

What can be done is to advice these bodies to restructure themselves with proper value addition and management inputs and then based on set criteria allow them roles in implementation of programmes. Each community organization in a locality can be incorporated and based on their inner strengths entrusted with implementation of programmes for the locality cutting across all sections of people. A consensus evolved based on merits of administering the schemes. Specific criteria for accessing various schemes based on the capacities can be set up and the organizations graded according to these. Already the SNDP is running micro-credit programmes successfully and there is no reason why they cannot do well in implementing state programmes. The progress so far is reportedly very promising. These organizational units have major strengths and the chances of funds getting wasted are very less.

Same is the case with others, some of whom may need short term training programmes to enable them implement these. It will help simultaneously meet the problem of unemployment in these communities and also inject capital in to the capital starved sectors. The stigma attached to community organizations need to go, there is no reason why the Christian organizations, say the YMCAs, are not having any stigma but the NSS or SNDP has it. It is a wrong approach and needs immediate correction. The large network of the NSS, to take an instance, is 6000 units strong, spread over the state and most of them having buildings and infrastructure but presently idling. The various community leaders ought to take it up as a serious issue and demand that this be implemented by the new state government.

It is a tragedy that the amount allotted for SC/ST welfare keeps getting lapse as the government mechanisms fail to use it. Reportedly up to Rs. 200 crores in this head from the central government was lost during the tenure of the previous ministry. In Rural Development, as the union Minister of Rural Development himself told a Press Conference in Thiruvananthapuram, as much as Rs. 125 crores lapsed. This due to irresponsible behaviour of the previous government who did not use it, a big sin as the needy millions are ignorant of what happened. Thus it is only proper that the state government gets out from the old stigma of community organizations, except Christian and now Muslim organizations, and incorporate them in to the implementation schemes. The modalities of this can be worked out in consultation with the concerned organizations, who may need to make appropriate changes from within.