Vast and powerful Empires are founded on a religion.  This is because dominion can only be secured by victory, and victory goes to the side which shows solidarity and unity of purpose.  Now men’s hearts are united and co-ordinated, with the help of God, by participation in a common religion.     [Ibn Khaldun (1332-1406)]

Religions are not merely social organs meant to promote spirituality.  The rituals and traditions they establish may have deep political motives; they are often meant to protect and promote the interests of a group of people at the expense of other groups.  The history of the Namboothiri Brahmins in Kerala is an example from history how a group of people entered Kerala at some time long ago and established themselves as the lords of the earth with the help of their gods and scriptures.

At the outset I must say that the entire history and other details in this blog are based on P K Balakrishnan’s book, The Caste System and the History of Kerala [available only in Malayalam so far]. 

The Roman Empire had trade relations with Kerala during the period from BCE 1^st century to 3^rd century CE.  Pepper was the most exported item from Kerala in those days.  Pepper grew abundantly in the forests inhabited by the tribal people of Kerala.  Land was not a private property in Kerala until the Namboothiris came much later and took possession, in the name of god, of all the land wherever they settled down.  In the tribal culture land did not belong to any particular persons.  It belonged to everybody.  The tribal people’s was a food-gathering economy.  They gathered food from nature wherever it was available without cultivating anything.  The tribal people were not friendly in the least to outsiders.  Inter-tribal wars were common affairs.  Hence the Roman traders wouldn’t dare to enter the forests.  They worked through certain intermediaries. 

The Namboothiris must have entered Kerala through the Karnataka coast some time in the 7^th or 8^th century CE.  They did not establish any relationships with the Tamil Brahmins or the Tulu Brahmins who also lived in certain regions of Kerala.  The Namboothiris did not even follow the traditions of the other Brahmins.  They made a set of rules for themselves some of which went against the grain of the Brahmin tradition itself.

For example, while the other Brahmins tied up their hair at the back of the head, the Namboothiris ruled that their hair should be tied in the front.  The sacred thread of the other Brahmins had two strands, while that of the Namboothiris had only one.  Being totally nude while taking bath was taboo for the other Brahmins, while the Namboothiris stipulated absolute nudity while bathing.  Unlike the other Brahmins who had to recite certain mantras while bathing, the Namboothiris had to bathe themselves without letting any god enter their minds.  While white dress was forbidden to all women except widows among other Brahmins, the Namboothiris insisted on all of their women to wear white dress only. 

The list of such distinctions is pretty long.  What the Namboothiris aimed at was to establish themselves as a distinct set of people specially chosen by the gods to occupy and control the land. 

And occupy the land, they did.  For about 1000 years, the Namboothiris who comprised less than one percent of the state’s population were the proprietors of most of the land in the state.  They succeeded in taking possession of the land with the help of gods.  Some god or the other appeared to some Namboothiri or the other with the order to take hold of some land and build a temple there.  Scriptures, rituals and magic [curse, magic healing, etc, apart from astrology and other pseudo shastra] came in handy in the process.  The tribals could be easily controlled with the help of these supernatural entities.  Moreover, according to the Namboothiri legend, Kerala was created by Parasuram just for their sake.

There was a caste system among the indigenous people already.  The Namboothiris exploited the system to the hilt.  They put themselves at the top of the hierarchy.  Everybody else was declared ‘untouchable.’  Even the Nairs on whom the Namboothiris depended for most of their work including the cooking of their food were untouchable.  The Nair women, however, became the sexual partners of the Namboothiris who did not allow any male member except the eldest son of the family to marry.  The Nairs were happy to offer their women to the Namboothiris as the latter were perceived as the earthly incarnations of the gods.  The Nairs, for all practical purposes, were raising their social status by letting their otherwise untouchable women share their bodies with the Namboothiris.

The Namboothiris did not allow any other community to build proper houses.  Every community existed only for one purpose: the service of the Namboothiris.  It is that blatant selfishness that made them enact such rules as the one that denies them even the right to marry and love their spouse and offspring.  They wanted to keep their population small so that the entire system would be under absolute control.  In the process, not only did the Namboothiris go about spilling their lust wherever else they wished to, but also imposed absolute chastity on their own women. 

Any system that is built up entirely on the selfish motives of a group of people cannot last for ever.  No wonder, the Namboothiris became an impoverished lot [in every way – morally, materially and intellectually] by the turn of the 20^th  century.   

The Namboothiri history is quite an exception in many ways. Yet it is a fascinating study of how religion can be misused for selfish purposes but with terrifying consequences. 

Yet the Namboothiri history is not an exception entirely.  Many religions were created for political as well as material purposes, spirituality being a necessary facade.  I wrote earlier on the genesis of Islam and its roots in politics and commerce.  [http://matheikal.wordpress.com/2011/09/07/the-tribal-mentality-in-islam/]

The growth of Christianity also has much to do with the Roman Empire.  Emperor Constantine’s conversion to Christianity and the subsequent slogan that was heard loud and clear in Rome, “One god, one emperor, one empire, one church, one faith,” are eloquent proofs about the integral relationship between religion and politics. 

It is pertinent that today the reformist moves made in many religions including Hinduism in India are made by political leaders rather than religious persons.  It is always easy to hide human selfishness behind sacred idols.

Because all fundamentalisms are alike.  They are meant to protect the interests of a particular community [no, not even community, but just a select group in that community].  And all the fundamentalists understand that and support one another on that issue.  That’s the only reason why the Sangh Parivar did not raise the banner against the Rushdie affair in Jaipur.

Rushdie questioned the basic tenets of Islam.  No religious Muslim will tolerate that.  No religious Hindu will tolerate anyone questioning the basic tenets of Hinduism (if ever there is something that can yet be called Hinduism – as a monolithic religion). 

When Rushdie’s novel was published, which is banned in India ever since it was published, I read  it, thanks to a friend whose name cannot be mentioned here for legal reasons.  I know that 99.9999 percent of the Indians (and almost 100 percent of the Muslims in India) have not read that novel or have not understood it if ever they have read it.  Otherwise there wouldn’t be so much clamour in its name.  Rushdie questioned the roots of Islam.  “You are lucky to have invented a god who dances to your tunes” [quoted from memory,] says Prophet Mohamed’s youngest wife in the novel, Satanic Verses.  What’s wrong in that? 

Prophet Mohamed invented a god who danced to his tunes.  The Prophet made his own rules in the name of that god.  [Please understand why I use capital P and small g.]  The ignorant, superstitious, and belligerent Arab tribes wanted some kind of regulation when they got tired of all the inter-tribal wars and killings and wanted a better life.  The Prophet came with that regulation.  That regulation became a scripture.  That scripture became a religion. 

That is how religions are born.

I can give you [and am going to give it in the next blog] a historic example how the Namboothiri Brahmins created caste system in Kerala simply by introducing gods which were alien to the people of the place.  Yes, even one Thomas [disciple of Jesus] could bring Christianity to Kerala in the same way [by introducing an alien god] much before the Namboothiris brought Parasuram [creator of Kerala, according to the Namboothiri legends] to Kerala.

Today, the people who oppose Rushdie are the people who want to establish a new religion.  They want to kill the modern civilisation.  Because they don’t possess the knowledge or skills required to live in this civilisation.  They belong to the age of the bow and the arrow which are translated today as bombs and machine guns. 

They use science to kill science.

They use ignorance to kill knowledge.

That is religion.

Killing knowledge.

Killing us, the people.

Every fundamentalist does that.

They kill us.

But who are us?

Do think about that.  Do think about before supporting groups including pseudo-corruption-fighters.

An unexamined life may be a worthless life.  The Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has decided to do away with examinations altogether in class X from 2013.  The schools will conduct an internal examination.  In other words, almost all the students will be promoted to class XI. 

We have already created a pampered generation of youngsters today.  They wield mobile phones worth tens of thousands of rupees, chat on the internet using the phones, watch movies and listen to songs, and interact with peers in the virtual world. 

Just today I watched class XII students getting their project works written with the help of junior students.  They don’t have the patience to write their own work.  They won’t in all probability bother to read what the juniors have copied from the books for them.  They will go for the practical examination armed with the project work copied by somebody else and get through too because of the influence their school wields over the external examiner who comes for the practical exam. 

Teachers cannot scold or punish this pampered generation.  If any teacher dares to do any such thing he/she runs the risk of being arrested by the police and thrown in prison thereby losing his job.  Nobody who has spent a day in the prison can continue to be a teacher in this country.  So it’s good bye to admonitions and impositions as far as the teacher is concerned.  It’s a damn easy life as far as the student is concerned.

“Textbooks too heavy for children,” screams a 5-column headline in today’s Hindu newspaper [19 Jan].  The report opens thus: “Embarrassed over bad performance of Indian students, both nationally and internationally, Union Human Development Minister Kapil Sibal on Wednesday blamed it on ‘age-inappropriate’ textbooks in school curriculum.”  In other words, Sibal is all for making the curriculum lighter still. 

I agree that some schools introduce textbooks which are not at all suitable for students merely for the sake of projecting a certain high standard as revealed by the textbooks prescribed.  Sibal’s remarks may apply to such schools which are a minority.  As a solution, if Sibal decides to make the curriculum uniform all over the country and introduce the same textbooks I will not hesitate to support him.  Regional differences and needs can be taken care of in the language textbooks which can vary from region to region.

But the young generation should not be pampered too much.  There must be examinations.  I wonder why Sibal and CBSE are so keen on doing away with the external exam for class ten.  Observations made by teachers reveal that by making the exam optional in class ten last year we have got a set of students who do not deserve to sit in class XI at all.

Exam is a strong motivating factor for youngsters.  In the words of Elizabeth Hurlock, psychologist, “Achievements bring personal satisfaction as well as social recognition (to adolescents).  That is why achievements, whether in sports, school work, or social activities, become such a strong interest as adolescence progresses.” [Developmental Psychology]

Exam is a means of testing and proving one’s achievement.  Why take away that pleasure from the adolescents?  Why ruin their future by diverting their attention from academic achievement to other things where they will try to prove their worth in order to get recognition?

Internal exams don’t serve much purpose.  Teachers often work under many restrictions, restrictions imposed by the institution, parents and the students.  Internal exams are often a farce.

“Adolescents tend to aspire unrealistically high,” says Hurlock.  Exams sometimes may have devastating effect on them because of that.  But the solution is certainly not discarding exams altogether.  It is making exams more meaningful and relevant.

Delhi has a lot of stories to tell.  M Mukundan, a Malayalam novelist, has written two novels set in Delhi.  His latest novel published a few months ago is Delhi Gathakal (Delhi Ballads).   It tells the story of Delhi from 1962 (the Chinese aggression) to more or less the present time. 

Sreedharanunni dies of a heart attack when China invades India in 1962.  The invasion is a kind of betrayal by China, according to Sreedharanunni who is a Communist.  If Pakistan had attacked India, Sreedharanunni would not have suffered a heart attack. 

Sreedharanunni’s wife, Devi, gets a job as a grade four employee in the Parliament where her late husband worked.  She struggles to bring up her two children, Satyanathan and Vidya.  Eventually Vidya will also vanish without a trace from Devi’s life when a rich Delhi boy falls in love with her.  Rahul Sharma’s father does not punish Vidya before warning her. 

Satyanathan becomes a victim of Sanjay Gandhi’s excesses with vasectomy during the Emergency.  He was a student in the University when sterilisation was imposed on him along with numerous others who were driven like cattle into various operation theatres in Delhi.  Satyanathan overcomes his initial depression and goes on to become a typical Delhiite who hankers after affluence and the superficial life that goes with affluence.  A job with the Economic Times affords him such a life.

Most characters in the novel resemble Vidya and Satyanathan in one way or the other.  Jaswinder, for example, is the daughter of a poor carpenter, Uttam Singh, who cannot afford to pay any dowry to his daughter.  Joginder who marries her out of love belongs to a comparatively rich family.  The family will take revenge on Jaswinder later when the anti-Sikh riots break out in Delhi following the assassination of Indira Gandhi.  The family will escape leaving Jaswinder locked up in their house which will soon be burnt down by the rioters.  Jaswinder vanishes from the face of the earth.

Kunhikrishnan is a journalist who disappears during the Emergency.  However, he reappears later only to live depending totally on his wife, Lalita, because the police had beaten both his arms dead so that he wouldn’t use them for writing any more.  But Lalita becomes his amanuensis.  Eventually the couple becomes rich by writing books and then by establishing themselves successfully in the publication industry itself. 

Rosily is a call girl who got into the profession in order to earn money for her starving family members as well as for earning her dowry.  Years later, she is united with her fiancé who waited all through for her.  Even after marriage they are condemned to live apart as he works in Dubai. 

Vasu is a hippy artist.  He does not bother about anything.  But one Hari Lal Shukla becomes his promoter.  Shukla sells Vasu’s paintings which slowly become highly valued.  When the hippy is set on fire, mistaken as a Sikh, during  the anti-Sikh riots, Hari Lal Shukla watches it from a distance with a secret glee within his heart.  After Vasu’s death Shukla becomes the owner of all Vasu’s paintings worth crores of rupees.

Sahadevan is the protagonist-narrator of the novel.  It was Sahadevan’s ambition to write a novel about Delhi from the time he set foot in Delhi in 1959.  He lives his entire life for others, for his family members who are in Kerala, and for other poor people in Delhi.  He is there to help anyone in need.  His own business, small as it is, is bulldozed by Sanjay Gandhi’s men during the Emergency.  But he manages to survive. 

In the appendix of the novel we meet Sahadevan visiting M Mukundan with a request to publish his novel in Mukundan’s name.  Delhi Gathakal is published.  Sahadevan’s self-sacrifice is complete. 

The final twist in the novel is a brilliant ploy used by the novelist.  Where does fiction end and fact begin?  Can we separate the two, in fact?  Is the writer any different from Hari Lal Shukla? 

Mukundan takes a dig at himself in order to ask the question: Is the writer’s responsibility over with the task of writing?  Is it enough to be an economically successful journalist like Satyanathan?  Is the writer thriving on the poverty and injustice around him? 

The novel that runs into 500-odd pages has many more characters and incidents that may perturb a discerning reader with many a question.

I am quite used to being addressed as “uncle” by a wide variety of people.  The abundance of grey hairs on my head has entitled me to that avuncular status.  But never did I imagine that somebody would think me 81 years old.

Recently when I was holidaying in Kerala my teeth sprang a problem.  Every holiday in Kerala gifts me a dental problem.  The reason, as my dentist in Kerala once told me, is the non-vegetarian diet.  In God’s own country, no lunch or dinner is complete without at least one non-veg dish. 

The receptionist of the dentist asked me such details as my name, surname and age.  I couldn’t see what she was writing.  As I reclined in the dentist’s chair a little later with my mouth wide open, the doc said, “This is not a serious problem at your age.  It’s just the normal wear and tear that comes with age.”  He went on to repair “the slight abrasion” as I sat wondering whether my age of 51 was the threshold of senility.

Later on, as I sat in a bus to my village, I took out the registration card given by the receptionist just to have a look at it because I had nothing else to do.  Then I understood why the doctor had referred to my age.  My age in the card was 81!

At home, when I told my wife about the age given me by the young girl at the reception, she said with a hearty laugh, “I’ll file for divorce.  I didn’t know I had married such an old man.”

Two days later, when I met the same receptionist at the dentist’s I asked her with a sweet smile, “Do I look 81 years old?”

“Why? Well…”  She fumbled, but without losing her nerve a bit.

“That’s the age you gave me,” I pointed at what she had written.  “I’m 51.”

She smiled much more sweetly than I had.  “Sorry, it’s a mistake.”

We had spoken all through in Malayalam.  In Malayalam the words for 51 and 81 differ only by a single vowel sound.  Her mistake was understandable.

Couldn’t the doc guess the age of a person better?  I wondered.  But dentists are a busy lot in Kerala.