The Frugal God's temple.

[sajith]

Manicauvu Shiva temple in Wayanad is not very far from our erstwhile home. Legend is that the Lord wishes the temple construction has to be completed in a single day if it ever happens, for reasons I can't recall. The devotees being simple folks of limited means, has to be content with a simple contsruct like this. (The temple was said to be surrounded by a hectors of thick forest, before I could remember - now all there is the remnants of the forest surrounded by mostly bare hillocks. Deforested, because of the monkey threat to crops. The remaining small population of monkeys looks pitiable.)



The picture was taken in February and I didn't see any particular reason to post it - till an article in The Hindu by P. Sainath mentioned Wayanad once again (Six on ten sounds right for this Government):

A Kisan Sabha survey of just 26 households in Wayanad that had seen suicides shows a total debt of over Rs.2 million. Or about Rs.82,000 per household. The average size of these farms is less than 1.4 acres. And a good chunk of that debt is owed to private lenders. Nothing has happened in the UPA's year in office that will alter this course of events.

Now, this is my second year of living in this city - I'm one of those software engineer village boys that is new to all cities, big and small. But I suspect the roots are being forgotten, all too fast.

This city of expensive malls, shops, coffee houses and movie halls. Of endless bumper to bumper traffic of expensive cars and BPO and software company vehicles. Of glass and steel buildings that houses the said companies. Flyovers that spring up oh-so-fast. Fast and furious construction work. Large influx of people like me.

And you see how corporate media desensitizes the middle class (and the fringes that aspire to belong to that class) to the real issues about governance, and the general notions of fairness and justice. And how effectively the said population is conditioned for the markets, to be good adorable citizens of the shining new world. Another quotable quote hits hard right on the media:

The Prime Minister, though, can take heart from the fact that his report card reads better than that of the media. Take writers in a leading business daily on the lowest third of society. "The bottom 400 million," says one, with a heavy heart, "is a disappointment and a social responsibility, and while it harbours value (maybe not a fortune), it is a difficult market to tap." (ET, March 26, 2005). Shame on you guys down there in the 400 million. That's enough distress and despair. Time to pull up your socks and be better buyers. (And whaddya mean, what socks?) What are the malls for, anyway?

Malls. Yeah. Speaking of which, what it'd be like, to drop Abhi straight in The Forum mall?

That is Abhilash, my classmate of school, who became a farmer. I had this sudden urge for scoring marks in the tenth standard, and that latter decided the direction life moved in general. Else I'd have been doing pretty much the same thing. But don't ask me who is having a better life...



Ok, I read The Times of India and gape at its semi nudes and page three crap every morning. I do go those malls and shops and coffee houses. Those shining new cars on display impress me. I want to own stuff, I want to do things. Consumerist things. And I won't do a thing that is outside this self indulgence. I won't move a finger about the agrarian and ecological crisis in Wayanad or just about anywhere in the world. I'd never raise my puny voice against sheer greed and injustice.

Yet, something inside is disturbed a bit. A little bit. Maybe the yuppie transformation is still incomplete.

The frugal God's water lily, close to the temple, is all alone in that little pond.



PS. My English teacher of school called today morning from Wayanad - she's sick, homebound and suddenly remembered me.

Dear teacher, someday, I'll be able to express all this in a better way...

Comments

Have patience Sajith

[mat-attack.livejournal.com]

And one day the yuppy in you will bloom.

Nice piece, makes you think.

[cognoscenti85.livejournal.com]

Oh great post man.
I am also thinking in the same lines sometimes..I havnt heard about the existance of English medium schools till 7th and ICSE/CBSE schools till going for +2 admissions after tenth...and now!!
but i cant speak english as any other public school/NRI kid;-)cuz I studied English reading,and not by speaking!!

[taryncuzco.livejournal.com]

Sajith... your post brought tears to my eyes. You know how i feel about this subject. Everyday of my life i feel like such a hypocrite for not living up to my own, more natural standards, as opposed to those being created for me. I don't want to become a yuppie, yet this is what i do . I don' t want coffeehouses to be my temple, or credit card companies as gods/ rulers. I want to use my body and do more than operate a four wheel machine that takes me places, by polluting our house. And suicide, is this how we pay for our bills? My heart aches right now. I look at your classmate and the idea of him committing suicide invades my relative tranquility... My mind comes up with every possible scheme: where do i go, what do i do, how can i survive and not be part of this madness? Thanks, though.

This yuppie is here to stay

[catchshyam.livejournal.com]

I think I am thru with this. Call me a hypocrite, but for me the best way to lead an idyllic life (at least as of now) is to feel detached from the world. How do you expect me to react when I find one of my classmates (infact a good friend back in school, my captain in school cricket team) working as a labour in my dad's farm. Thats OK, he does it for his leaving, but he wouldn't call me by name but refers with something that a labour calls his landlord (oh god what an irony). But the feeling has already waned in me, I have come in terms with things around me (call it reality or much hyped thing called "indian culture" where a daily labour can not afford the same self respect as an engineer). Wasn't I right when I called myself a hypocrite?

[yo-id.livejournal.com]

I Love the way you write .2 GOOD

[maxaud.livejournal.com]

howd i miss this post??

I won't move a finger about the agrarian and ecological crisis in Wayanad or just about anywhere in the world. I'd never raise my puny voice against sheer greed and injustice.

what happened to the revolution?dude..i dunno.. u just went and spoiled an already spoilt night for me. the conditions were fertile for moodiness to set in...

[indumol.livejournal.com]

Very nice post.

[indumol.livejournal.com]

This post didn't show up in my friend's list, wonder why?