Onam Musings

Now Onam is no longer about the celebration of nature; it symbolizes the malaise that is afflicting the Kerala society

Once again, the Onam season is here. TV channels announcedthe dates of the coming 10-day Onam festival, with a big bang.

I decidedly felt a lack of enthusiasm towards it. I tried telling myself that it could be my advancing age. Old people always remember the past with nostalgia and often romanticize past events. Or else, that it could be that I live at a considerable distance from Kerala, out of touch with the happenings in the state. Even after discounting those factors, I still felt detached and disenchanted with the way Onam is celebrated today in the state.

About Onam

There is always an interesting story behind every festival in India. The legend says that Onam is the occasion when Mahabali, the great demon-king who ruled the state once, and was banished from his kingdom by Vamana (incarnation of Lord Vishnu), returns, once a year, to visit his beloved people. Mahabalihad ensured equality and justice to the people, during his rule.

Onam is also a harvest festival celebrated in the interlude between two monsoons -South—West and North-East. After facing the havoc caused by the first, and while preparing for the next onslaught, people make the best use of this period in between. The air is fresh, the sky blue, rivers full of clear water, the night-sky studded withmillions of stars, and,everywhere you look, is imbued in green.

Not long ago, Onam was announced, not by TV channels, but by the appearance of native Balsam (Onam flower) flowers here and there, in white, pink and pale violet colors. During Onam days, nature is bountiful, presenting fresh cucumbers, ash gourds, pumpkins, string beans, egg plants, Okra- all that go into the Onam feast called “Sadya”.Flowers like Hibiscus, Yellow trumpets, Oleander, Periwinkle, blue peas, coral flowers are in abundance- ready to be made into “Pookalams’ (flower decorations).

Onam is not confined to a particular religion. People of different religions take part in itenthusiastically.Onam is a community festival too.Community meals, community sports,traditional group dances by women, folk music and folk dances-facets of the unique arts and culture of Kerala- are performed during Onam.Boat races are organized in the backwaters. It is also an occasion for family re-union, marriages and other family functions.This is an opportunity for the NRI Malayalees to visit their state.

Changing society

InKerala,at the time of Independence, majority of people lived a hand to mouth existence. Conditions were then ripe for communism to take deep roots. The first government formed by the Communist party invested in education and healthcare. Land reforms were soon implemented, making a sizable section of people owners of atleast a small piece of land. Successive governments continued welfare measures, including public distribution of food grains. The endeavor was to build an egalitarian society.

The Kerala society has always been guided by enlightened individuals from every walk of life, including religious reformers, political leaders, writers, critics, poets, film makers, leaders of various communities, academicians, teachers, and the like. Newspapers were read by the majority of people in a highly literate state.Movies had a tremendous influence in shaping the views and opinion of people. Many noted women came into prominence, in different fields. Keralites learned the mantra of care and share.

The unique culture and natural beauty of the state attracted (still do) large numbers of tourists to the state.The only issue was lack of industries to employ the youth. Educated unemployment was very acute. Although migration to other states in India and countries like Malasia, Singapore was common earlier, there started an exodus to the Gulf states. The more educated ones migrated to the U.S.

Today when a person living outside Kerala for a long time returns to the state, he/she shall be shocked by what he/she sees. We know that change is inevitable in life. Changes could be for better or worse. Unfortunately, they areperhaps for the worse in Kerala’s case.

Large remittances from abroad changed the outlook of the unchangeable Keralite. Society became aspirational- from the basic- to luxury- to sheer greed.

Everyone wanted a large house built for himself, although he or she never intended to stay there. Gone are the green paddy fields. Instead, monstrous high- rise buildings have come up everywhere, without a thought to the environment. Many homes, so built, are empty. Illegal mining leads to landslides killing people and destroying homes.

Government schools are now bereft of children. Students who study in the state are generally unfit to be employed elsewhere.Those students who are able to study in other states or countries, migrate. They seek admissions in educational institutions even in far -away countries like Russia, China Ukraine whichare not very sought for. Barring a few, the youth who remain in Kerala shun physical work. They need quick money for instant gratification. Therefore,the compulsion to earn it by hook or crook.

Private healthcare grew at the expense of public healthcare, thereby, enhancing out of pocket expenses manyfold.

The habit of walking long distances has vanished, both due to the force of circumstances, and better and quicker transport facilities or else due to newly acquired habits.Diabetes is,consequently,common among people. The quiet roads are now filled with streaming vehicles round the clock.Road accidents are common,exacerbated by fast vehicles and drunkenness.

The state promotes drinking alcoholic beverages to earn more and more revenue, regardless of concerns about people’s health or safety. To compound it, drug trafficking and drug use among the youth have become common.

The crime graph of the state has gone up. Crimes against women, children are reported in graphic details by the TV channels. Today crimes are committed for no reason at all or for very trivial reasons. Growing number of suicides among the youth is a cause of concern.Intolerance and violence mark the mood of the people. Gandhi’s call to Ahimsa is a cry in the wilderness.

Technology is two sided. On one side it can be used to enhance knowledge, skills and productivity. On the other hand, it can be misused as an aid to commit crimes, especially against women and children. It can aid drug trafficking and smuggling of gold and contraband items.

Today the old masters and great women who guided the people have disappeared one by one. The vacuum created by their departure remains unfilled. No more Sugatha Kumaries to speak for women, children and nature. No one cares about social justice anymore. Communal harmony, for which Kerala is famed,too is tottering.

The principled politics of earlier days has been replaced by a new acrimonious and aggressive kind, and is ridden with corruption. In fact, corruption has permeated the entire fabric of the society.

The institutions and movements which fared so well earlier have now degenerated and often became defunct.

Movies are no longer about social issues; they mostly depict sexual gratification, crimes and violence. Melodious film music is getting replaced by the cacophony of ultra-modern instruments.There are very few takers for classical dance and music.

The sad reality is that people are indifferent to what is happening around them.

The old ideals inspired by the earlier version of communism have all but disappeared from the state.

Onam-What it means today?

What kind of Onam can one expect to be celebrated in the state today? Money and instant gratification are the reigning gods.Kerala society,especially,is crazy about gold;people will do anything to acquire a piece of gold, come what may.

Mahabali’s message of equality and justice is long forgotten and replaced by grand shows of opulenceand mass hysteria.Onam has become highly commercialized and is a kind of consumer festival now. It is advertised one month ahead,forenticing people to buy products which they donot need,nor can afford. People live beyond their means, and liberally spend borrowed money. Crowds of people are seen moving around in towns in a frenzy,during Onam, to buy more and more. Liquor sale boosts up to the level of Rs.300-400 crore in these 10 days alone,not to speak of drug consumption.

Gandhi had spoken about ‘Pleasure without conscience”. That seems to be true to describe the festival today. Onam has lost its sanctity; people have thereby lost the harmony between their inner and outer selves. It has moved away from celebration of nature and its benevolence,to a celebration of grand shows and quick money.

Do you wish to be a part of this new kind of Onam? Not me, anymore!!

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HONDURAS

I visited Honduras in 1980 i.e., more than four decades ago. I was then undergoing the Professional Training in Agriculture (PTAD) organized by the FAO (Food & Agricultural Organization) in Rome.At the close of the training, FAO wanted each of us trainees to suggest the name of a country of their choice for visiting rural development projects.

Being a student of Genetics, I was eager to visit Mexico, wherein CYMMIT, famous as the seat of the green revolution, was located. The FAO also permitted me to visit an additional country nearby, without any extra cost. Thus, the name of Honduras was added.

The Country I had, till then, never heard the name of Honduras, nor knew where it was located. I learned that Honduras is a country situated in Central America, consisting mainly of mountains, with narrow plains along the coasts. It encompasses La Mosquitia (lowland jungles)enfolding the world-heritage site of Río Plátano Biosphere Reserve in the northeast, and the thickly populated lowland Sula valley in the northwest. The region is considered a bio-diversity hotspot because of the many plant and animal species found nowhere else.I was told that it was perhaps the poorest country in Latin America.

Honduras gained independence from Spain in 1821 and was a part of the First Mexican Empire until 1823, when it became a part of the United Provinces of Central America. It has been an independent republic and has held regular elections since 1838.

Travel to Honduras : My air-ticket indeed was a thick document showing connections to various places to be visited- Rome to Colombia- Colombia to Panama, Panama to Mexico, Mexico to Honduras, Honduras back to Panama, (private visit) -Panama to Chicago- Chicago toOmaha, Omaha to Grand Island. On the way back the same route up to Chicago, Chicago to New York and,finally, New York to New Delhi! In fact, the staff at the checking counters were breathless reading the ticket and often expressed their surprise at the long list of names.

I have already written a blog on my sojourn in Mexico. From Mexico I flew to Tegucigalpa(locally known as "hills of silver/ homes of the sharp stones”), the capital city of Honduras, since 1880. It is the largest and most populous city in Honduras. It has a twin city called Comayagua (earlier capital); together they form the Central District.

 I reached Tegucigalpa late in the evening. The airport was very much like the ones in North-eastern India- small and unremarkable.I went outside and searched for a taxi.Luckily for me, an English-speaking driver turned up.  He knew something about India and spoke highly of Mother Theresa. I requested him to take me to a modest hotel. But I found it not up to the mark. Thereafter, he took me to a modern place, which was indeed clean.

To my dismay I found that all the staff in the hotel spoke only Spanish. I communicated with them in broken Italian, which I had learned while in Rome. I remember going to the bar and asking for a glass of milk and a cheese sandwich, because I knew only those names in Italian!

 Next morning, I had breakfast (same items). Armed with a city map supplied by the hotel I started moving in the direction of FAO (The local people call it “Faao”not F.A.O). Teguchigalpa was wooded, green and peaceful at that time, no busy roads or vehicles plying up and down all the time, unlike many other cities.It was indeed a pleasure to walk around the city.

That part of the city was dotted all over by Mayan ruins---faces, small monuments, artefacts. I remembered that Honduras was home to several important Meso-American cultures, most notably the Maya, before the Spanish colonization in the sixteenth century.

 I finally reached a somewhat busy square. All of a sudden, a hybrid between a jeep and auto rickshaw stopped in front of me. The contrivance was over- full, with men sitting in front with the driver, and women and children at the back.On the top were large baskets full of vegetables or chicken and sundry articles. “Get in”-cried the driver. “How to? “I wanted to ask. Somehow, I squeezed myself in. When the vehicle started moving, I got placed on the lap of a fat woman.Luckily, she didn’t object. Perhaps,being small and thin, I was like a mosquito on her! The scene reminded me of the tempo rides back in Patna in India, though not so adventurous!

Ms. French: The vehicle at last stopped before a tall concrete and glass building. The girl at the reception took me to the office of the FAO Representative. When the door was opened a pleasant middle-aged woman-the lady representative- stretched her hand with a smile and asked me to be seated. “My name is French, but I am Greek”-this was how she introduced herself to me (her name was Mary French). She asked me where I was staying.When she heard the name of the hotel she wasn’t impressed.She sent her own car, collected my bags and shifted me to the hotel next door. Although expensive, I felt safe.

She explained to me the arrangements for my visits to the Oil Palm plantations. Next day I was to fly to a distant area, accompanied by an officer Mr. K(Kagao?) and learn about rural poverty in Honduras.

During the day I had lunch with the family of a person of Dutch nationality (I forget his name) working in FAO. I being a total vegetarian, he and his wife had taken special care. Besides bean soup, bread and salad, I had cheese and milk imported from Holland. I found the food delicious.I thanked them profusely.

The same evening Ms. French had invited me for dinner.She ordered a huge platter of fruits for us that contained locally grown bananas, pine apple, watermelons and Cantaloupe (Musk melon), as also apples and grapes. Both of us couldn’t do any justice to it. Over coffee Ms. French spoke at length about the glory of both Greek and Indian Civilizations. Her husband, a Nobel laurate on two subjects (perhaps Chemistry and Economics), had worked in India.

Next day morning in her office, she presented me a monograph on Goats written by her husband. In it he had argued that the goat is the best domesticated animal suited to poor people in developing countries, as they could be maintained without any expenditure and readily supplied much needed milk to the children. He had also dealt with the aspect of destruction of vegetation by goats. Ms. French requested me to sign a memorandum addressed to the government for protection and promotion of goats. I readily obliged.

Oil Plantation: Next day morning we flew to a distant destination to visit the oil palm plantations. We stayed in a small hotel. By way of introduction Mr. K told us that he was married four times. He said” I don’t know where my first child is now”.  I said in India people rarely have more than one spouse. When I expressed my surprise at Mr. K having four wives, he retorted “I wonder how people can have only one husband or wife in India.”

Honduran society is predominantly Mestizo (mixed race); however, there are also significant Indigenous Americans, black and white communities in Honduras.I was told that the Spanish introduced Catholicism as well as the  Spanish language, along with numerous customs that became mixed with the indigenous culture.

We went around the plantations which stretched for miles together, saw the oil-extraction process, interacted with the workers and had lunch with them. I ate rice and beans, which is the staple diet of the local people. All of them spoke only Spanish.

Economy: The Honduras economy is mostly based on agriculture. It is primarily a ‘banana economy’. The name ‘banana republic ‘is said to have originated while referring to Honduras. Fruit companies from the United States set up large plantations and came ‘to exert extraordinary influence over the politics of Honduras and its neighbours’.

I learned that well- to- do Americans have invested in oil palm plantations too. As the oil from the palms is not only consumed by the population as a food item, it was also used in cosmetics and other industries on a commercial scale.The local people were desperately poor and were only left with their wages.Rest of the funds were taken out of the country by the American investors. But the other way of looking at this was that the plantations provided the locals much needed employment.The lands were infertile and locals had no means to cultivate it.No proper irrigation systems were available. No investments were forthcoming from the country’s government. After spending two full days there, we returned to the headquarters.

Before leaving I met Ms. French to thank her. I was indeed happy that I met her. She was a formidable woman and she made such an impression on me with her knowledge, compassion and generosity that I had not forgotten her, even after forty long years. I soon bid fare-well to Teguchigalpa.

Honduras today: Back in India I often wondered about Honduras and its people. Like in other countries Teguchigalpa and other cities have grown.However, infrastructure has not kept up with their population growth. 

I read that the economy of Honduras is  still significantlybased on agriculture, which accounts for 14% of its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2013. Coffee is one of the chief items exported. Banana cultivation was virtually wiped out by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and could recover in 2000 only up to 57% of pre-Mitch levels. Cultivated shrimp is another item exported, which is also especially vulnerable to natural disasters.

The  people of Honduras are still among the poorest in Latin America; gross national income per capita (2007) is US$1,649; the average for Central America is $6,736. Honduras is the fourth poorest country in the Western Hemisphere; In 2010 50% of the population were below the poverty line; in 2016 it was more than 66%.

What I learnt: A brief visit like mine can provide only a glimpse of the country visited and its people. Nevertheless, it changes your vision forever. Although people differ in their culture, customs, costumes and languages, after a visit to a distant land, however brief it might be, one finds that the people are no longer ‘they’ but ‘us’. It strikes you that people’s lives areessentially the same everywhere, and they are all connected by the invisible thread of humanity, in all its shades.

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