Contrarian or Plain Stupid?

“Something is wrong with you” has been the usual refrain in the house. More charitably, with my brain or my thinking. The worry is, even I have started feeling so. The manifestation of the problem has been there for some time but became more pronounced during the last few months. I don’t want to beat about the bush. It is about my inability to see what is so apparent to the vast majority of learned friends, people whom I hold in awe (that includes politicians , retired bureaucrats, the facebookers, the judiciary) , the print and television media . I shall narrate my shortcomings one by one.

To start with, it was the scams, widely reported and discussed threadbare in all the august forums…..the press, the parliament and the revered courts. My problem…I just can’t believe the size of the scam, be it notional or real.  The lady of the house says it’s my inability to comprehend the figure involved, used as I am to not more than the thousand! I tried to write down the figure but gave up half way.  I need to do something about my math….

The second was my inability to pronounce that ex- minister Raja’s letter to the Prime Minister was intemperate. The Honorable Judge of the Supreme Court has decreed so. Only I and the Prime Minister seem to think other wise. I read the letter and the related correspondence between the PM and Mr. Raja in full and found nothing offensive.  Either I have poor etiquette, thick skin or meager grasp of the language.  I can’t, now, do anything about my hide. So I feel I should start afresh at grammar school or be sent to reform school. Not too late, the lady of the house says.

The third charge is I have become insensitive to issues affecting the country or the society. Corruption in public life, Environmental debates, Political mud slinging (Ice cream, golf club etc) no longer affect me. I seem to be more concerned about mundane matters….for example, the cremation ground issue of Aivor Madom.  Where is my idealism and social conscientiousness? Why am I not able to see the larger picture?  Well, I have no solution to this, except to reverse the time machine and go back to my college days!

The final provocation is the Wikileaks in the Indian Press. As I scribble this, it is the fourth day of the leak in the Hindu. I went through all the reports with a fine comb and didn’t find anything which I don’t know already. Do we need the American word to finally open our eyes to the maladies that we know exist in our system?  I know money is spent by politicians to sway votes. What’s wrong? Isn’t it better than doling it out from the public exchequer? A few ‘saries’, a little pocket money? 

We all know that President and the Prime Minister need not see eye to eye on all matters, that we can play real politic when it comes to our relations with neighboring countries (Iran, Burma, Sri Lanka) , we conduct secret dialogues with countries (Israel, Pakistan) so on and so forth. It is common knowledge, or so they would want us to believe, that the so called super powers try to arm-twist smaller countries and their Ambassador’s send exaggerated reports and claims back home. Should we consider these pompous reports as Gospel truth and waste our time and news print? In international relations aren’t Ambassador’s expected to liaise, spy and if nothing works at least sex up their reports? In a democratic country like ours is there a secret?  Some looks like a cut and paste job, straight from some magazine …..the one about Rahul Gandhi’s vision!

Who doesn’t know of the strong presence of Malayali Civil Servants (Mafia is the most uncharitable remark) in the Capital? Perhaps the Ambassador hasn’t heard of the earlier description of the Malayali presence, more specifically of the Menons who held important positions, euphemistically referred to as “Menongitis”.  They wouldn’t be allowed to be pushed; they would rather jump before it came to a shove. 

Outrageous, Outrageous!  Do I hear?   Am I becoming unfashionable when the whole world seems to be hooked on to Assange and his leaked cables!  Or am I just a spoil sport?

A Bridge to Somewhere

View From Ottapalam

View from Mayannur

In an earlier post I had mentioned about the new bridge across Bharata Puzha (River Nila to poets and environmentalists).  This brought me great many memories of the times when there was no bridge to Mayannur.  Though separated by the river into two districts; rather two states, before the formation of the integrated state of Kerala, this natural boundary never separated the people on the two sides. There was a symbiotic relationship between the two villages of Ottapalam and Mayannur. Ottapalam depended on Mayannur for its daily supply of vegetables, milk and workmen while Mayannur depended on Ottapalam for higher education, medical facilities, travel and wholesale groceries. The ‘aadhan pradhaan’ continued uninterruptedly with the help of country boats even when the river swelled.  Now with the new bridge, there will be more traffic of men and materials.

Mayannur was part of Travancore Cochin which merged with Malabar to form ‘Aikya Keralam’ in 1957.  It was ruled by the Cochin Maharaja pre-independence. Ottapalam, in the district of Malabar was part of the then Madras state. Culturally and linguistically the two villages could not be separated. But the geography in the form of the river separated the two villages which came to be administered by two political entities. Though this separation inconvenienced the locals it offered criminals from both sides a lot of leeway. It was a practice for offenders to escape into the other state to get away from the long arm of the State. This was a big head ache for the police force of the two states and continues even now in a milder form.

This bridge is not the only bridge across the river Nila.  I can count at least 4 others, the one in Lakkidi, one in Shoranur (Kochi Palam), one in Pattambi and the latest in Chamravattom in a few days from now. As I write this the local MLA has announced one more to come within a few kilo meters off the Ottapalam Bridge.  Ottapalam literally means Single Bridge in Malayalam but this seems to be an anachronism.  And an oxymoron too, as Ottapalam town is bordered by two small creeks with bridges across.

Bridges have spawned many a book universally. They are not just physical but symbolic of human bondage and the desire to transcend their limitations. Some of these stories have been filmed. Most notable is the David Lean film ‘The bridge on the river Kwai’.  The other books are “A bridge too far” and Richard Bach’s “The Bridge across forever”.  Closer home we have the KG George directed ‘Panchavadipalam’, a spoof on the petty village politics. The story ends in the tragic death of the character played by Sreenivasan when the new bridge collapses on its inaugural day!

Not so for the Ottapalam Bridge. It had a grand inaugural but not without minor controversies.  The only casualty of the Bridge seems to be the boatman who used to make a small kill during the five/six months of rainy season. He should have seen the writing on the wall but hoped it was ‘a bridge too far’. But it is reality now, after many years of waiting. The schools and colleges have a good number of students who use the boat service and now they can make it to Ottapalam without the worry of getting themselves and their books wet during monsoon. The boatman would be cursing his fate though he is not an innocent victim of progress.

I particularly remember one incident in which I had a small role to play. I had some official work in Mayannur while I was working in Thrissur.  After the work I thought I could visit my in-laws in Ottapalam. So I disposed off the car and used the boat service to cross over. I was carrying some important documents (loan revival papers) obtained after much efforts. There were a few youngsters on the boat and as is their wont started making some comments about the rowing. Mid way through the river the boatman stopped the boat. “Who among you is unhappy with my rowing? Will he please come forward and teach me?”…asked the boatman.  I immediately sensed danger, though not to my life, but to the papers I was carrying. A hush descended in the boat and along with it, the belligerence of the boatman. I would have kept quite and allowed the situation to evolve, which is my normal style. But here I could not do that and soon stepped in to douse the small spark with all my persuasive skills and with a liberal appreciation of the selfless   good work of the boatman.  Fortunately, the noisy boys also kept quiet and my task was made easy. An embarrassing situation was averted. Descendant of Guhan or Charon? None of those for our man!