Kerala, Gods own country

Published on: 2006-7-28

Home | Archive

Kerala, God's own country

2006-07-28T20:17:00

It's high time that we start saying `Kerala, Goonda's own country'. Today's Malayalam newspaper reports two daylight robberies - one in which money was stolen from a locked car and another in which a woman was robbed of the Rs.10000 which she had withdrawn from a bank. In both cases, the "thieves" had closely followed the victims and carried out the `operation' in broad daylight. For the past one or two months, we have been hearing stories of such `robberies' every day. The Malayali's mental image of a `thief', cultivated by watching endless `kallanum-policum' (robber-police) masala movies, has underwent a radical change. The stereotype of a `thief' as one who indulges in his trade with extreme caution right after midnight, ready to take to his heels at the slightest hint of trouble, has literally `gone with the wind'. The modern mallu `kallan' is much smarter and daring - and he follows flexi-timing. He co-ordinates his operations with hi-tech gadgets like mobile phones and plays a no-holds-barred game - ready to barge into homes under broad daylight and split the heads of poor victims with heavy weapons. He has even started using the net! Yes, Kerala at the moment is a very *unsafe* place to live in - things which you believed were possible only in dark-age Bihar are happening in God's (sorry, Goonda's) own country. So hurry, if you have planned a `Monsoon magic' vacation to Kerala, go and cancel your tickets - you will enjoy Bihar better.