1st November, 1956 - On
that day, India was divided into a number of states based on the language
spoken by people of the area and so Kerala state was born.
I was in 7th standard
and was not sure if I had understood why the linguistic states were formed. Apparently it was done to make
administration easy. At that time we did not know what administration was and
whatever it was, why it should have been so difficult, to start with. In fact,
some senior students were even talking, that from then on we would have to
learn on only Malayalam and can say bye-bye to English and Hindi.
Nevertheless, all the students
from the primary school of the village participated in a procession hailing the
birth of Kerala. At the village library there was a meeting where some of the
prominent members of the society made speeches explaining in detail, how all of
us were so blessed to be born in this beautiful land adorned with the greenery
of thick woods, scintillating small streams and sparkling clear water rivers, waving coconut trees, the elegant Sahyadri reaching to the skies and so on and so forth.
Thiruvananthapuram was made the
capital of Kerala (It still is, of course). Four of us friends discussed among
ourselves how that would make the administration easier. Logically it should
have been somewhere in the middle of the state.
One said, ‘See, Capital in
Malayalam is Thalasthanam, that is, where the head is. (In Malayalam,Thala means head.) Head is not in the
middle. So, Thiruvananthapuram is right. And it is our head that rules the
body. Not the middle.’
Another retorted, ‘there will be
no rule if the middle didn’t get its due. If you don’t get food into your
stomach, there is nothing the head can do.’
Through the five decades plus, Kerala
had progressed and had progressed well. Keralites or Malayalees as they are
known, can be seen in every country in the world today. Pravasi Malayalees had grown true their traditions and culture and had kept up the spirit of Kerala by celebrating festivals like Onam, Vishu etc. Kerala now is the state
with the highest literacy rate – almost 100 percent. Of course there are
setbacks, there are problems – but is there any place that doesn’t have?
Greetings to Kerala, God’s Own
Country, as known to the world now.
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