Aaaah kerala, why I go away from you.... Cuz I love coming back to you.
We, north Indians or the rest of Indians other than southern peninsula have a stereotypical image of Kerala .
Before coming here I too had a typical image like a normal mumbaiite. The name kerala or a 'malayali ' would by default make me visualize rows and rows of coconut trees by a river and potbellied, moustached, bulky man who is ready to fold his lungi at a drop of a 'drop'.
My dear non-Malayali friends Kerala in fact defies all stereo types. Seeing Kerala as a visitor by the kayals in the boats houses and devouring dosas and savouring Allepy fish curry are different from observing the real malayalis and from living and breathing the real Kerala.
My shattered stereotypes go like this :
There is UNIFORMITY. Yes there is so much of uniformity that binds this region beyond religion. A Hindu cooks another Hindu serves beef in the mess without even giving a thought to what it may mean to rest of the country. Most of malayalis will argue that in Kerala beef is not just food. Yes, firstly, it's food for them. This matters more to some and does not matter to Malayalis. Yes paradoxical!!!
Yes, I was talking about uniformity. It happened to me. I interacted with an elderly lady for almost a week on daily basis. Neither I could guess her religion not did she bother to ask because religion does not seem to be the deciding factor here. And the remarkable thing is that Hindus, Muslims and Christians dress alike, eat similar food and speak the same language in a tone that resonates their place or district identity rather than their religion.
In Mumbai the moment we board a local just by the silent glance we may confidently mark if the guy by the door in denims and checkerd shirt is from South Bombay, Town, kalyan or from Mumbra. Most of our guesses are bang on. And we feel victorious about our ability to judge or guess (yes, these words have a whole lot of difference).
We can't guess it like this here in Kerala.
The next observation is about language. In Maharashtra Marathi is used officially but people still are inquisitive if a Muslims speaks Marathi impromptu. What I saw is the scenario is different in Kerala. Here bayaan in Masjid or sermon in church or pravachan in temple sabha are all in Malayalam.
The most striking and for me more intriguing observation was about austerity and subtlety in the richness . Just think of multi millionaire north walas. They are loud and clear about what they have. You may hear them boast off in weddings and school's PTA meetings . Malayalis, even billionaires can easily be spotted in mundu (off-white lungi for us) in social gatherings. No one will blink an eyelid as we may assume.
Mostly people choose subtle pastel colours. Here the cloths do not speak assets as Delhi women/'s do.
Yes most malayalis are super rich, at times filthy rich. And yes they build palatial houses made with taste that's rich yet austre.
One more observation-Malayalis are not part of melodrama. Even the politics they may play is subtle.
Iam no pro-malayali but I feel that the rest world outside Kerala should break the stereo type.
Yes in this time of calamity Malayalis did lift and fold their lungis to reach out to the troubled without concerning about the religion. For us it may be new but for them it's an everyday thing to keep religion at bay.
Jahaan Shaikh
A mumbaiite breathing Kerala
We, north Indians or the rest of Indians other than southern peninsula have a stereotypical image of Kerala .
Before coming here I too had a typical image like a normal mumbaiite. The name kerala or a 'malayali ' would by default make me visualize rows and rows of coconut trees by a river and potbellied, moustached, bulky man who is ready to fold his lungi at a drop of a 'drop'.
My dear non-Malayali friends Kerala in fact defies all stereo types. Seeing Kerala as a visitor by the kayals in the boats houses and devouring dosas and savouring Allepy fish curry are different from observing the real malayalis and from living and breathing the real Kerala.
My shattered stereotypes go like this :
There is UNIFORMITY. Yes there is so much of uniformity that binds this region beyond religion. A Hindu cooks another Hindu serves beef in the mess without even giving a thought to what it may mean to rest of the country. Most of malayalis will argue that in Kerala beef is not just food. Yes, firstly, it's food for them. This matters more to some and does not matter to Malayalis. Yes paradoxical!!!
Yes, I was talking about uniformity. It happened to me. I interacted with an elderly lady for almost a week on daily basis. Neither I could guess her religion not did she bother to ask because religion does not seem to be the deciding factor here. And the remarkable thing is that Hindus, Muslims and Christians dress alike, eat similar food and speak the same language in a tone that resonates their place or district identity rather than their religion.
In Mumbai the moment we board a local just by the silent glance we may confidently mark if the guy by the door in denims and checkerd shirt is from South Bombay, Town, kalyan or from Mumbra. Most of our guesses are bang on. And we feel victorious about our ability to judge or guess (yes, these words have a whole lot of difference).
We can't guess it like this here in Kerala.
The next observation is about language. In Maharashtra Marathi is used officially but people still are inquisitive if a Muslims speaks Marathi impromptu. What I saw is the scenario is different in Kerala. Here bayaan in Masjid or sermon in church or pravachan in temple sabha are all in Malayalam.
The most striking and for me more intriguing observation was about austerity and subtlety in the richness . Just think of multi millionaire north walas. They are loud and clear about what they have. You may hear them boast off in weddings and school's PTA meetings . Malayalis, even billionaires can easily be spotted in mundu (off-white lungi for us) in social gatherings. No one will blink an eyelid as we may assume.
Mostly people choose subtle pastel colours. Here the cloths do not speak assets as Delhi women/'s do.
Yes most malayalis are super rich, at times filthy rich. And yes they build palatial houses made with taste that's rich yet austre.
One more observation-Malayalis are not part of melodrama. Even the politics they may play is subtle.
Iam no pro-malayali but I feel that the rest world outside Kerala should break the stereo type.
Yes in this time of calamity Malayalis did lift and fold their lungis to reach out to the troubled without concerning about the religion. For us it may be new but for them it's an everyday thing to keep religion at bay.
Jahaan Shaikh
A mumbaiite breathing Kerala
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