From Makkah to Macau

When A P Abdulla Kutty went to Makkah the Marxists condemned him. But when Comrade Arun Kumar, son of Comrade Achuthanandan, went to Macau, not even a whisper arose from the Red Camp. This is the Marxist standard of morality.

Life after Vishu

Malayalis all over the world celebrated Vishu. May God shower prosperity upon one and all!

There was heart-breaking news from Dubai when Chithra lost her little one. “Those whom the Gods love die young.” May god give the parents the strength to bear the loss of their only child.

A Call for Ceasefire

I would like to say to the LDF: Let us make a deal. If you stop telling lies about us, we will stop telling the truth about you.

The Climax of Electioneering

“Never associate with someone whom you cannot be proud of – whether you work for him or he works for you.”

A train of events occurred on the penultimate day of the election campaign – some were dramatic, some were absurd, some were violent, some were amusing. The acts of violence were beautifully timed – the UDF leaders would not be in a position to address public meetings or give statements to the Press after 5 p.m. on 11th April and the media would not be allowed to report the happenings until after 13th April…

Here is a sample. Read on…

1.The Jamat-e-Islami formally announced its support to 124 out of the 140 LDF candidates, thereby bringing its illicit relationship with the CPM out in the open.

2.The JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav, a BJP ally, announced that the party was withdrawing its candidate at Malampuzha in favour of VS Achuthanandan. Barely an hour later he announced rather sheepishly that Sushma Swaraj had talked him out of it! The BJP probably had an ulterior motive in giving the seat to the JD(U) in the first place. The JD(U) perhaps had a pre-planned agenda to ditch its own candidate at the last minute. And what was the pay-off? Cash or votes? God Only Knows. In northern Kerala the RSS and the CPM are still at each other’s throats. Was the deal made down South? Who was responsible for the kiss-and-make-up drama that was abruptly withdrawn? Was it designed to send an unmistakeable message to the pro-BJP voters that they should cast their votes in favour of VS???

3. Now the proof of the CPM’s illegitimate dalliance with those it once called ‘anti-national’ and ‘extremist’ is there for every citizen to see. Is it an act of desperation by a dying Party? Or is there more to it, something more sinister….?

4. In Aryanad, Thiruvananthapuram, LDF miscreants attacked Congressmen who were campaigning for former Minister, G Karthikeyan. Four leaders ended up in hospital and two vehicles were destroyed.

5. At Venjaramoodu, on the outskirts of Thiruvanthapuram, the followers of Marxist veteran Koliacode Krishnan Nair, pelted stones and rotten eggs on Sindhu Joy who was campaigning for the UDF candidate. She was injured and is in the ICU at Thiruvanthapuram Medical College with a concussion on her head.

6. At Kalliasseri in Kannur (birthplace of late CM, E K Nayanar) the Leftists attempted to manhandle the Congress candidate Advocate Indira.

7. In the meantime, VS Achuthandanan is going around talking about protecting the chastity of all our women and girls! What about safety, my dear friend?

8. In Poonjar, Kottayam, P C George of the Kerala Congress (M) was pelted with rotten eggs, and his son was manhandled. Who did it? Please don’t ask!

9.At Ponnani, Malappuram the election office of the UDF was attacked and one person was seriously injured.

10.At Udumbanchola, Idukki, a UDF meeting was attacked by CPM activists and four Congress men were injured.

11. Achuthanandan referred to Rahul Gandhi as “Amul Baby.” It comes as no surprise that VS envies Rahul’s youth and good looks. (Most people would.) Someone gave him a Malayalam poem to read, thinking it would be a tit-for-tat reply to Rahul’s reference to Achuthanandan’s age. But VS did not read it properly. In his hands, the poem actually lost its flavour. (Kurangante kayyile poomaala pole…)

12.Advocate P Sreedharan Pillai of the BJP remarked that Achuthandan’s style resembles that of Josef Stalin.

And the show goes on…..

The Television – Our Election Symbol

My election symbol is the TELEVISION. It suits me well as I am an actor in Malayalam films and TV serials. I consider myself fortunate to have survived in the film industry for over 25 years. The Election Commission obviously has a sense of humour, for they have allotted to my Party the most appropriate symbol I could have hoped for.

From the point of view of the voters, the television is not an ordinary gadget. It is the most precious object in every household. (Television addiction is perhaps stronger than all the other addictions put together!)

Our Party, the Kerala Congress (B) is contesting two seats, viz. Kottarakara and Pathanapuram. We are part of the Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF). Dr. N N Murali, a well known surgeon, is our candidate from Kottarakkara. He is a competent professional, and enjoys the confidence of our Party Chairman and my father, R Balakrishna Pillai.

I anticipate that the voters of Kottarakkara and Pathanapuram will turn out in large numbers to cast their votes for the TELEVISION symbol. It was also heart-warming to receive messages from Non-Resident Keralites saying that they would come to Kerala to vote for us. We feel blessed.

We hope to win both seats with a thumping majority – with the support of the voters and the blessings of the Almighty. And we have no doubt that the people of Kerala will vote according to their conscience and choose in every constituency the right man or woman to represent them. The UDF has worthy candidates in all the constituencies, and national leaders like Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, AK Anthony, Vayalar Ravi, and several others have come to Kerala to lead a spirited campaign for their victory.

May the UDF gain an unpredecented victory in the Kerala Election 2011. God bless Kerala! Jai Hind!

Laptops for the Leftists

The Marxists opposed computers in the sixties and seventies because they feared that their introduction would cause widespread unemployment. And what happened? The IT boom created millions of jobs and brought prosperity to virtually very household. Today our children need not migrate to the Gulf in order to earn a decent livelihood. They can work in their own home State. And of course, the Leftists are carrying laptops! Recently, the LEFT Government distributed laptops to all the 140 MLAs. It took them over 4 decades to realize the worth of computers.

The Left even opposed tractors on similar grounds. Today Kerala has neither tractors nor agriculture. They opposed the entry of self-financing private institutions in the higher education sector. Today Kerala is far behind the other South Indian states in the field of education. People send their children to other States to study medicine, nursing, engineering, hotel management and other courses. Non-resident Keralites send their children to the U.K., U.S.A. and Australia. This is what the Marxists have done for Kerala.

The same people who once made snide remarks against those who travelled in air-conditioned cars and worked in A.C. rooms, are now going around in fancy cars, sleeping in A.C. rooms and travelling by air even from Trivandrum to Kochi. Now, all of a sudden, they are finding helicopters unacceptable. Even in the days of the Ramayana, we had Ravana flying past in his ‘Pushpaka Vimana’. And our Marxist friends in the 21st century are objecting to the use of helicopters in the election campaign. The moment the Marxist Party buys a pair of helicopters the perception of the Red Brigade will change. Just wait and see what they do in 2016!

All is Fair in Love, Poetry, Finance and Politics

Is it true that all is fair in love and war? Of course not! Even in love and war you have to play by certain unwritten rules. There are people who cheat, people who are unscrupulous, and people who make their own rules. But the majority does play fair. And what about politics, ‘the last resort of the scoundrel’? Well, here also we had better follow some rules, otherwise we run the risk of getting wiped out.

What would happen if every candidate in the Assembly election behaved and spoke like V S Achuthanandan?

At election time, Minister G Sudhakaran is selling his poetic CD through Consumerfed outlets. Minister Thomas Isaac reportedly received 17 crores from abroad through banking channels in violation of so many rules.

An LIC employee, Sunilraj, (of Kottayam Chingavanam) complained to Pinarayi Vijayan of sexual harassment of his wife by the CPM Local Committee Secretary, Advocate Vijayan. Very soon the lifeless body of Sunilraj was found on a railway track. Both Pinarayi and Achuthanandan were too busy to comment.

The Marxists surreptitiously joined hands with the Jamat-e-Islami, which they once described as extremist and anti-national. Perhaps they are trying to fill the vacuum left by the PDP and Abdul Nasser Madhani. They also made seat adjustments with the BJP, which hitherto was their sworn enemy. We have a peculiar phenomenon in Malampuzha, where there is no BJP candidate to trouble Achuthanandan.

I guess for some people, all is fair in love, poetry, finance and politics.

Why Lathika Subhash will soon be famous

Surely he who is worthy to receive his days and his nights is worthy of all else from you. And he who has deserved to drink from the ocean of life deserves to fill his cup from your little stream. (Kahlil Gibran in The Prophet)

Achuthanandan made a big mistake by asking the media to ‘investigate’ how Lathika Subhash gained fame. Firstly, he exposed himself as a chauvinist with distinct prejudices against women in general. Secondly, he made the mistake of indulging in character assassination without even an iota of evidence. In order to tarnish the image of a woman political opponent, he ruthlessly resorted to defamation, mud-slinging and blatant sexism. And he chose the diabolical method of planting the seeds of suspicion in the minds of the electorate.

I don’t have a legal mind and I don’t know whether this crude act on the part of the CM violates the Election Code of Conduct or the Indian Penal Code. But I do know that this is despicable and immoral. It is up to the women voters of Malampuzha to avenge this gross insult to all womankind. On behalf of their sisters in the other 139 constituencies, they should teach him a lesson he will never forget. When Achuthanandan could not protect even Sindhu Joy, whom the CPM once described as the Jhansi Rani of Kerala, when he could not dispense justice to the deceased Shari and her surviving girl child, when he could not do justice to the CPM women members who had raised sexual harassment charges against P Sasi, when he cannot even show basic courtesy to the women of this State, how can such a man expect any decent person (whether male or female) to vote for him?

Achuthanandan made an even bigger mistake of equating media attention with greatness. In his pomposity and arrogance he assumes he is greater than Lathika Subhash, simply because gets more media coverage. But visibility alone is not the mark of an individual’s value to the community or the world. For example, a person who acts in a television serial is more visible than a cardiac surgeon. There are millions of men and women in our State who do ‘invisible’ but infinitely valuable work – the farmer who tills the land, the planter who cultivates cash crops, the fisherman who braves the waves and the winds, the masons and carpenters and plumbers who build and maintain our homes, the nurses who care for the sick, the teachers who mould the hearts and minds of our children, the housewives (or home-makers as they are now called) who make the home a heaven, the housemaids who do all the domestic chores – the list is endless. Only a fortunate few are able to do visible work – politicians, actors, singers, dancers and media persons are among them. But the invisible work is perhaps more valuable.

In any case, by denigrating Lathika Subhash, VS has unwittingly launched her on the path to fame. Kaathirunnu kaanuka suhurthukkale!

Is Kerala Moving Backward?

11 out of 12 constituencies in Kollam District had LDF MLAs from 2006 to 2011. Five of them were Ministers. And yet, Kollam District ranked 11th among the 14 districts of Kerala on the basis of per capita income (at current prices). Only 3 districts, namely Kasargod, Wayanad and Malappuram lagged behind Kollam. (Source: Economic Review 2010) It is time to classify Kollam as a backward district. This is the contribution of the LDF Ministers and MLAs in a nutshell. Kollam kandaal illam venda ennu pandokke parayumaayirunnu. Ippol athu parayaan vayya.

Kerala’s Cashew production (000’s MT) declined from 57.60 in 2005-2006 to 36.45 in 2009-2010. The area under cashew cultivation (000’s Ha.) was 80.70 in 2005-2006, whereas in 2009-2010 it was only 48.97. (However, the country as a whole showed marginal increase in production.) There was a time when ‘cashew was king’, but we are allowing this sector to die a natural death. Today, we have virtually stopped growing cashew and the industry is resorting to packaging nuts imported from West Africa. Kollam was once a centre of the thriving cashew industry, but today only a handful of companies in the private sector are surviving. Nobody can deny that the industry has tremendous potential, and yet…

Plantation Crops are either export oriented or import substituting and therefore have great importance. Kerala accounts for 91% of the country’s rubber production, that is, roughly 7.3% of the world’s output. This is the only sector that is flourishing. Kerala’s share in the national production of cardamom was 75%, coffee 22% and tea 5% in 2008-2009. Only 5% of the cardamom is exported today, whereas Malabar was once world renowned for the Spice trade. We are unable to face competition from Guatemala, although our cardamom is of superior quality. Tea grown in Vietnam and elsewhere is available at lower prices. So what is the future of our plantation sector? I would say GOK (God Only Knows).

When Lottery becomes LOOT-ERY

“If you can see only what light reveals and hear only what sound announces, then in truth you do not see nor do you hear.” (Kahlil Gibran)

Who buys lottery tickets? Who consumes illicit liquor? Mostly the poor. Who benefits by the sale of liquor and lottery tickets? The sellers, of course! The Government makes money by way of taxes, government officials by way of bribes, and businessmen and middlemen in different ways. The poor consumers and their dependents end up as losers.

So what should the Government do? Ban lotteries and liquor altogether or try and regulate the trade? Obviously, only the latter is feasible.

Smoking, consumption of alcohol, drug abuse, gambling and lotteries are different forms of addiction. The degree of addiction varies according to the nature of the activity and the involvement of the individual. Instead of spending crores of rupees on the eve of the elections to advertise its achievements, the Government could have launched an awareness campaign and made some attempt to let the people know the truth about lotteries. Fake lotteries are like fake currency notes – none of us can tell the difference. It is not that there are no winners, but for every winner there are thousands and thousands of losers.

It has been said that the Bhutan lottery alone (please note that this is not another State lottery but that of another country) sold tickets worth Rs.40 crores daily for 30 months during the LDF rule – a mind boggling figure of 36,000 crores. Megha Distributors (owned by Santiago Martin) claimed to be the sole agent, but the Government of Bhutan stated otherwise.

The CM himself estimated the lottery industry’s earnings at 80,000 crores. If this is the amount that the poor misguided people of Kerala had lost by purchasing lottery tickets during the LDF rule, how much was won by the winners (if any), how much went to the 2.5 lakh lottery ticket sellers who depend on this industry for their livelihood, how much came into the coffers of the Government, and how much went into the hands of Santiago Martin and other kingpins is anybody’s guess. As the LDF Government has been dilly-dallying instead of ordering an investigation, the truth still remains under wraps.

Online lottery is another grey area. The daughter in law of the CM was reported to be the joint owner of an online lottery company. Does that sound fishy? Well, what can an ordinary person like me say?

How Megha sold Bhutan lottery tickets, asks Chandy (Oct.2010)

Case to be filed against Santiago Martin & John Kennedy’ (Nov.2010)