What Tiny Kerala can teach rest of India?

I love a lot of things about Kerala and Keralites/Malayalis. They are entrepreneurial, energetic, hyper.clean, can find them around the globe from Hawaii to Haifa.

Some of my best friends from school days till date are Malayalis. And for a thousands of years Tamil nadu and Kerala had same kings and common culture under Pallavas, Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas.

There are many things, the Tiny state of Kerala can teach rest of India.

The thing I admire most is religious diversity tolerance. The state has roughly 55% Hindus 25% Muslims and 20% Christians.

The state is perhaps the best model for all other states of India and perhaps even the world on religious tolerance. 

Kerala has religious diversity antiquity and tolerance like no other place.

Let me explain antiquity part.

. For Hindus. Legend says the fifth avatar of lord Vishnu, aka Vamana, descended from heavens to meet and eventually give moksha to King Bali who was the ruler of Kerala. Vamana precedes the avatars of Lord RAM, Krishna and Buddha. Hence Kerala is older in hindu texts vs Ayodhya Mathura etc. This is circa 8000 BC. Vs Krishna 4000 BC and Buddha 600 BC.

. Adi Sankara the great Hindu philosopher and saint is from Kerala who established mutts in 4 corners of India from Badrinath in north to Dwarakanath in west  to Puri Jaganath in east  and Sringeri in South and unified Vedic literature for Hindus across India.

. FOR Buddhists, Bodhidharma who is a Pallava period Prince, went all the way from Kerala to China and established Chan Buddhism, which eventually became Zen Buddhism in Japan. Chan is nothing but Sanskrit word Dhyan or meditation. Bodhidharma was called Damo by the Chinese. He established the first Shaolin temple in China and taught Kalaripayattu an ancient martial art of Kerala which then got morphed to kung fu or gong fu. 

. For Christians, the direct disciple of Jesus Christ, St.Thomas visited Kerala around 50 AD and hence Christianity is as old as Christ here. 

. For Islam, just two decades after prophet Mohammed death, Islam arrived in kerala by Arab Traders.

Despite the best efforts of vested interests to divide them along religious lines the Keralites have remained United and tolerant.

Perhaps the best state for human development in India. 100% literacy, zero infanticide, good public infrastructure and healthcare.

They put Humanity and Kerala Culture above religion. Few examples..

. Christians celebrating Onam festival which is nothing but celebrating King Bali returning to see his citizens from heaven

. Hindus serving Iftaar for Muslim brothers. See below. Or Hindus eating Beef (which is not common anywhere else in India)

. Muslims practicing Yoga and making payasam for Onam 

If every part of India can learn this aspect alone from what is one of the smallest states of India we would benefit a lot.


See below 
Pookolam (flower arrangement)


Kalari martial arts
Kerala map


Kathakali dance drama 
Mohiniattam dance
Kerala boathouse in backwaters 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Amazing Japan

Image
Amazing Japan. Was fortunate to see the Sakura - Cherry blossom tree bloom with flowers this month in Japan. It symbolizes beauty and hope of spring after a harsh winter.  My first visit to Tokyo Japan was in 2003, almost 21 years back. Must have been to Japan, half a dozen times in my APJ roles. Japan the country, and Japanese people, never cease to amaze me.  My first impression of Japan as a foreigner in 2003, still remains fresh in my memory. The electric trains, the busy and energetic crowd, the clean surroundings, a sense of calm amidst chaos, the deep culture behind modern city, somehow reminded me of my hometown Madras (now Chennai). I felt instantly at home, even though I could not understand the language. The energy of the city was different from more laid back cities of Bangalore, Muscat and Singapore where I lived. Tokyo with over 25 million population is perhaps the biggest urban cluster in the world. In Tokyo I had seen many nice places. The Imperial palace, Tokyo tower,
Read more

Brand story - Mercedes Benz

Image
As a marketer I'm fascinated by stories told by brands about thier heritage.  MERCEDES BENZ   Do you know How Mercedes Benz got its name? How they got thier 3 pointed star logo? And how the man who invented the automobile (Karl Benz) is their founder? And how it took a gutsy woman (Bertha Benz), to promote the automobile to the masses? And do you know Mercedes, is named after the daughter of entrepreneur called Emil Jellineck? Karl Benz is widely regarded as "the father of the car", as well as the "father of the automobile industry". His Benz Patent-Motorwagen from 1885 is considered the first practical modern automobile and first car put into series production. He received a patent for the motorcar in 1886, the same year he first publicly drove the Benz Patent-Motorwagen. He was a prolific inventor. While designing what would become the production standard for his two-stroke engine, Benz patented the speed regulation system, the ignition using sparks with batte
Read more