I am back in Kerala, after 22 years of absence. I left Kerala after my graduation in 1986 to join Indian Institute of Technology. I returned to Kerala in July 2008 to spend more time with my family.
Though my absence has been long, it was not continuous. I used to come at least once a year to Kerala. Nor was my absence emotional. I used to keep my ears to ground on what is going on in Kerala on social, economical and political spheres. I always knew that Kerala is indeed the only place which I would ever be able to call home and there is no point in fighting it. No point in changing my same to Mike (as IT helpdesk guys do) or start to imitate American accent when they speak (as students who go abroad often do) or start speaking German (as many of the nurses husbands do) or start watching baseball (as many Indian migrants to America try to do) or try to get a residence or citizenship in another county (as many people do and lot more people try to do). From early days I knew that I will be not comfortable as Mike speaking American English watching baseball. I would rather be Muralee speaking Indian English watching cricket.
As an aside let me tell you my take on English. I still speak English with HEAVY malayalee accent. I use the caricature words such as “symBly” exactly as caricatures do. Many of my friends, most of them genuine, try to correct me saying, perhaps I should start to speak more like the way British do. But I don’t.
Due to the nature of my work, I have interacted with colleagues from more countries than most of my friends. English is the primary link language in most of such meetings. I hear English being spoken with dozens of accent. Even in England, I hear differences in pronunciation which are so vast that they could be from two continents.
Yet, we manage to get the message across. We argue, we fight, we negotiate and we joke. All in our own versions of English.
In order to succeed in international arena, what you need is NOT ability to speak English as an American or a Brit. What you need is the intelligence to have a point and the confidence to present it. Good language is useful as a starting point, but will not take you anywhere without the fundamentals. Taxi drivers in London speak good English, but that does not take them anywhere. In fact they will take you anywhere for a price.
I am not berating who spends time doing accent neutralization. I think it certainly helps in the initial meetings. In many countries, Arab countries in particular, if you don’t speak English as an American, your IQ is considered below 100. So ability to speak as an American gives you a headstart. But you shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking good prnounciation is the key to success. It is not. Language certainly is, but language is lot more than “correct” pronunciation
Well, that was an aside. My articile is not about how to speak English with or without Indian accent. It is about how I returned to kerala 22 years after I left it, speaking English with the same malayalee accent as I had when I left. I speak somewhat slowly though.
Since my return, I have been looking around to see how life has changed in Kerala from the time I left. I am not one of those who believe things are necessarily getting worse. So, I proactively look for positive signs.
Such signs are everywhere. The first sign was in front of the bus from Aluva to Perumbavoor.
Hum, Hein and other start up troubles with Hindi
In Kerala, private sector plays a big role in public transport. Buses don’t have numbers or routes, but have names and route boards. So if you need to go from place A to B, you must either know the name of the Bus which will take you to B from A or you should look at the board on the bus. The boards were always written in Malayalam. That was the case in the first 22 years of my life. It has been the case for next 20 years.
But this time around, suddenly, buses have nameboards written in Hindi !
No, we have not become more nationally integrated. We are just reacting to market realities.
There are tens of thousands of Hindi speaking immigrant labourers who have come to kerala for work. They are everywhere, city, town and village. They are doing everything construction, supervision and farm work. They earn well and spend part of it in Kerala. They need transport and private bus operators are more than happy to be of assistance to migrant laborers. So if putting a Hindi board will help, a Hindi board will be put. That is how market works. I saw the same transformation in ordinary shops in Perumbavoor. Everybody is speaking or trying to speak Hindi. Shop assistants who can speak Hindi get premium wages. Market forces are bringing to Kerala what Hindi Prachar Sabha and Door Darshan could not do in 50 years.
I had watched this same phenomenon in another country. I was in Kuwait in 2000. We went to a fish market and there were some Iranians who called out, in Malaylalam, “chetta, meeninte thala undu” (brother, we have fish head here). Well it is not that the Iranians thought Malayalam is a great language to learn. Actually they don’t think so. Iranians are very proud of their language and has gone to war to protect their Parsi identity. It is just that most of the clientele in the market were Malayalees and unless theyspoke that language, they get no business. So they let their pride behind and learnt the language of the market.
Signs of proposerity is there on the roads too. There is possibly ten times vehicles in Perumbavoor compared to the time I left. And they are not just Ambassodor cars and Tata Buses. You get the world right here, Suzuki, Toyota, Nissan, Ford, you name it, we have it right here.
Chitra Studio and the uneven steps
Some of the things has not changed. I went to Chitra Studio, where I first went in 1979 to take a photograph to make an identity card. The studio is in the heart of the town, on the first floor of a non descript building. What I remember was that the steps were steep and uneven and I have seen a most families with young children struggling to walk upto the studio. I have occasionally seen people falling down on those stairs.
Cut to 2008, Chithra studio is still there and the uneven and steep steps has not changed !. I suspect their family also runs the local orthopedic hospital (just kidding, but a thought).
We are connected to the world
Revolutionary changes are in communication. In 1986, we had to submit a medical certificate regarding our fathers health condition to get a telephone issued for 6 months, that too because our cousin was in charge. It took us 10 or more years before we actually had a permanent fixed line.
Cut to 2008, getting a fixed line is not even in my priority list. The whole city is full of mobile phone providers. There are at least 6 service providers for telephony services. It takes one signature, one photograph, one identity paper and about 3 minutes before you have a live telephone in your hand !!
In 1986, to make a telephone call to Trivandrum, you had to book a trunk call and wait for indefinite time. It cost about 30 rupees when a creeky line eventually materialized. In 2008, you call anywhere in India and it costs you Rs 1. Thank you Sam Pitroda.
We are all millionaires
It has been said for many decade that land is at a premium in Kerala. There are lot more people per square kilometer in Kerala than any other part of India. Consequently, land has always been limited.
In the past three years, land prices have gone up by 10 times or even more. Consequently, peoples net worth has grown dramatically. Everybody who had access to 10 cent of land, and these are plenty in Kerala, is a millionaire now. At least of them are booking the profit and converting that into conspicuous consumption. Good for the economy.
The premium on land is also manifesting as proliferation of apartments. People are no more able to afford individual houses. Instead, apartment blocks, 10 storeys upward is coming right across the state, including in Perumbavoor, which is a place where progress generally reach about 20 years behind everywhere else.
More the merrier and changing cultural habits
Twenty two years back, we mostly had arranged marriages in Kerala.
In 2008, we still have mostly arranged marriages.
In 1986, families, relatives, professional brokers and sparingly news paper ads did the searching for you.
In 2008, shaadi.com does most of the search. News paper ads and sparingly families do the searching for you. (I think the increasing number of divorces, a topic I shall return, is one of the reason why relatives are not any more getting involved. Nobody want to be associated with a failed marriage).
In 1986, the betrothal ceremony was a high gravity affair with only the senior relatives of the male members went to the girls house. In the presence of the astrologer, they agreed on date and time (and in some cases dowry) for the wedding. The boy was nowhere to be seen. There were no video cameras either. Generally enough people to fit in one Ambassodor car went (which means anything from 6-10, depending on the driver). The function was invariably done at the girls house.
Well, in 2008, betrothal ceremony is bigger than what marriages used to be in 1986. More than 400 guests are invited. Function is held in a public hall, the girl, in her glittering jewelry is present, so is the boy. A ring is exchanged, videos taken. Girls family is poorer by 50-100,000 rupees. Well, with land prices this high, I probably should not bother.
Survival of the fittest
In 1986, when you went for a wedding, there were strict protocols on the lunch.
When the lunch was served, first the dishes, except rice, was served into a banana leaf.
Elders in girls family then invited the guests from the boys family to come and have the meals. Only when every member of the boys family was served, the children from the girls family were invited, followed by women and then followed by elders of the girls family.
I remember going to the wedding of my ammayis sister and being not served lunch even by 3 PM. It was a tough lesson on protocol.
Well, all that has changed now.
Once the marriage ceremony is over, it is feeding frenzy. Even average marriages have 1000 + guests. There is no order, protocol or etiquette. There is pushing and shoving all around. Often you have to go and stand behind somebody who is about to start their meals so that you could have their chair when they finish their meal. As soon as they got up, you jumped into their seats, while the waste plates and dishes are still being cleared.
The generation which brought me up and taught me the protocol would have turned in their graves if they heard of this. Luckily we don’t have graves.
I don’t go for weddings any more. Even when I go, I carefully try to evade the meal sessions.
Can’t we do something honorable here ?
Efficiency All Around
We are much more market friendly these days. In 1986, there were probably 5 textiles and 5 medical shops in Perumbavoor. Now probably the number is close to 25.
So is the case for every other set of goods.
I wanted to buy some office furniture. I went to few places. In all places, I was met by salesmen who were curteous and prompt, gently pushing their wares.
At least in one location, they had more demand than what they could handle. No I could not have the office table I wanted because that is the last piece and is only for display. I need to place an order and can have it in 4 weeks (déjà vu of Swiss experience). Luckily, the next shop had the stuff I wanted and within hours it was delivered to my house.
Same was the case with computer, printer, television, washing machine and everything else. There are professional salesmen delivering stuff to you within hours of an order being placed. Having been conditioned by the Swiss system where the salesmen spared no time for you and the goods arrived only after 6 weeks of you giving an order, this was welcome change.
To be continued..