Civilisational Cultures

In very simple terms, one’s culture is what one will think and do if one gets lost in an island with the full knowledge that there is no chance of being rescued. The true self in each one of us will come out only then and that is our true culture. Culture of civilizations follows the same pattern. Each of the civilizations has developed in isolation and is truly representative of the culture of people who constitute them. Many of the civilizations have died out and the few remaining continue to progress reflecting the core culture that makes them different. Whatever be the changes brought about by progress and development, the essential nature of our culture will always be reflected in whatever we do as a civilization and ultimately as a nation. In very broad terms, we can always categorise the world civilizations into three types based on their core activities during their formative periods viz. Agri-culture, Tradi-culture and Coloni-culture.

‘Agri’culture

Indian civilization is essentially an agricultural one and Indian culture is replete with the nature, symbols and characteristics of agriculture. Agriculture requires great insight, immense efforts and unlimited patience. The essential nature of Indian nation and Indian people still reflect these three unique characteristics. In terms of culture and civilization, India is the only continuing civilization that has survived uninterrupted for the entire recorded past. All others, be it Chinese, Japanese, Western, American or African, have undergone drastic changes (and revolutions) and are not the same that was one thousand years ago. Agricultural civilizations do not peak so much and will not die out completely. There will be ups and downs, but within a limited bandwidth. This is very evident in the case of India, whose civilization peaked during the vedic period and waned during the one thousand years of Mughals and British rule. But immense patience, tolerance and inherent truth and strength in its basic beliefs will ensure its continued presence till the end of time. We do not know when agriculture began, but we know it will never end. Similar is the case of agricultural civilizations. They have no beginning and no end (sanatana). So is the case with Hindu Sanatana Dharma (HSD) which is the core of Indian civilization.  

‘Tradi’culture

In sharp contrast to Agriculture, we have Trading cultures which do not produce or own anything by their own efforts. All they have is some money to buy and sell agricultural and other products. In the process they make profit which is used for further trading. The civilizations in West Asia fall under this category. Their lands are barren and not fit for agriculture. They never had settlements and used to spend their entire life as nomads buying goods from one place and selling it at another place. Their relationships were transient and there was never time enough for studies and producing literature for entertainment and enlightenment. Their approach to life was one of complete adhocism trying to sort out issues as they come by. Needless to say that such people had no concept of lasting relationships and never found time to introspect on the deepest mysteries of nature. It was easier to attribute everything to a creator and discipline the rogue crowd with fear. The few lasting contributions to world heritage by these West Asians are limited to those from settlements in the present day Iran and Iraq. Unexpected discovery of ‘black gold’ in the 1950s’ that brought in the present day filthy richness among these people have not touched the basic culture of these people one bit.     

‘Coloni’culture

Quite different from the other two, the culture of colonial people is always oriented towards the loot they can manage from their colonies. Unlike agriculturists and traders, the colonizers do not carry out any constructive work or make or produce anything at all. They are adept only in usurping the fruits of labour by others, just like what we do with the honey made by honeybees. The case of established colonial nations in Europe exemplifies this attitude in very clear terms. Europe is rich today only because of the toil and tears of civilizations in Asia and Africa during yesteryears and even now. Left to them, colonial cultures cannot sustain themselves on the food and wealth created by themselves. They would always need the efforts of others for their own benefit and have developed immense skills (now embedded in their DNAs) in management of others. Extra-ordinary adeptness of the colonizers in managing others by putting ‘friends and enemies’ among ‘enemies and friends’ is evident even today in West Asia, Latin America, Africa and South Asia. These people show an exemplary sense of fairness when dealing with disputes involving other cultures and that makes them the natural choice in world disputes. However, it is very difficult for the ‘coloni’culturists who are used to an easy lifestyle to come out of it.

It is very evident that the one and only truly sustainable culture in this planet is the one related to agriculture. No other way of living can provide the food for survival and food for thought together in a sustainable manner. In fact the unparalleled continuity of Sanatana Hindu civilization in India for the past ten thousand odd years without any major change can be explained only on the basis of its agricultural base. Immense hope, struggle, patience and truly secular behavior of a ‘Sanatani Hindu’ – Mahatma Gandhi claimed himself to be one – can be directly attributed to his or her cultural background in agriculture which requires all these attributes to succeed. Continued negligence of the agricultural sector in India by those in power will only weaken the cultural foundations of our civilization in the long run.   

Tale of Two Tongues

Languages (tongues) are the most visible symbols of regional civilizations and religious culture. No civilization in any part of the world can be considered significant unless it has generated some outstanding literary works at some point of time during its existence. Many of the glorious civilizations are no more, but the differences between Inca and Greek civilizations provide a striking example about the importance of language and literature. While the former exists only in the books of History students, the latter is still a matter of delight merely because of Iliad and Odyssey. Whatever be their achievements in terms of monuments and territorial vastness, the literary content of a civilization far outweighs everything else when it comes to counting its greatness. In the eternal comparison of significance between physical and mental achievements, it is always the mental achievements that matters. The meaning of Akshara (letters) in Sanskrit is ‘that which does not perish’ and literature is its popular form. People of letters are far more respected than those who build monuments.

Language and literature are activities of the mind and it calls for far greater knowledge and capabilities to excel in them than in physical activities like annexing territories and building monuments. A casual comparison between two individuals trying to build up their body and brain respectively in a gym and library is enough to prove this point at micro level. Within an year or two the whole body can be built up to competitive levels, whereas it will take years and years of effort for anyone to reach the level of even attempting a literary work. And if such works are to be of outstanding nature, the amount of calibre and hard work required can be easily guessed. It will take generations of accumulated knowledge, skills and environmental encouragement to generate classical literary works. Perhaps no other civilization till date in the face of earth has produced more such outstanding classical literary works than Hindu Sanatana Dharma (HSD) and its associated Sanskrit literature. An update about its present condition vis-à-vis some richer tongues reveals a shocking picture for the entire human civilization.

Arabic Ascent

Arabic is the language of Arabs and their population is not significant. But Arabic language has become so much identified with Islam because of the simple reason that Koran, the Islamic holy book, is in that language. Muslim population in the world has increased significantly in the last few centuries and the importance of Arabic language is also increasing. Their disciplined uniformity throughout the world makes it obligatory on the part of all Muslims to learn Arabic in order to practice the religion properly. Without a significant knowledge of Arabic language it is almost impossible to offer the daily prayers, refer the holy book and perform their other rituals. Though spoken dialects vary from country to country the written Arabic language remains uniform. Classical literary works in Arabic language are few, but its religious association makes it one of the most prominent languages in today’s world.

The new found richness of Arabs has also raised the importance of their language. Millions of dollars are spent on its propagation and development. Muslim children are memorizing the entire holy book in their young age and the level of encouragement offered for such efforts is unprecedented. Just like the religion, the language has also become a convenient tool for realization of Arabian dreams for international domination. The British and their English provide a very good example of what a language can achieve for imperial dreams. Original speakers of any language remain the ultimate authorities in any language and such an eternal domination provides the psychological upper hand to rule over the new speakers. The goal posts for correctness in the language can always be shifted by its original owners. And it becomes inevitable and unquestioned, if the language owners happen to be rich, powerful and ambitious.

Sinking Sanskrit

In stark contrast to the continuing victory lap of Arabic language, the story of Sanskrit presents one of awful degeneration. The number of classic literature works in Sanskrit language far outweighs all other languages put together, both in terms of quantity and quality. If Islam is cent percent identified with Arabic language, the association of Sanskrit with Hindu Sanatana Dharma is also of very high significance. Almost all its original religious scriptures are in Sanskrit language, though commentaries and interpretations (which are freely allowed in HSD, unlike Islam) are available in many other languages. Sanskrit is considered the mother of almost all Indian languages, yet the efforts for its encouragement and development continues to be abysmally low. India is rich and millions of Indians are more than rich. But the condition of India’s most significant cultural symbol is pathetic with no turn around in sight.

One of the surprising reasons for the current state of Sanskrit language in India is the skewed secularism of Indian state. When India got partitioned in 1947 into a religious Pakistan and secular India, the ruling elite in India took extra efforts in segregating religions from state affairs. In this laudable attempt, they made the fatal error of associating Sanskrit language entirely with Hindu religion. The neglect has now gone to the extent of hatred for the language. Schemers and anti-nationals in the Indian state also used this opportunity to whip up caste feelings among the Hindus by their false propagation about Sanskrit being the language of only high caste Brahmins. The clever among them knew very well that killing Sanskrit language will be best way to conquer India again.

The future of Sanskrit is not at all bright, except for the knowledge explosion taking place over the electronic media and internet. Stray efforts are ongoing in different parts of the world for digitization of all the Sanskrit manuscripts available. There are also attempts to promote learning of the language in various pockets of the world, some of which unbelievably astonishing. Indian efforts in this direction continue to be apathetic, thanks to the overdose of vote bank politics and political correctness in the ‘clanocracy’ of India. Greatest symbol of Indian civilization is being destroyed by planned negligence and official antipathy in a systematic manner. But we should always bear in mind that a Dharmic Republic of India can become a world leader only on the strength of its own Sanatana Dharma and Sanskrit. There is absolutely no other way to reach the top by becoming a Ramarajya once again.

Half-Converted Kerala

Kerala, the most ‘progressive’ state in the Indian union, is more than half converted and religious conversion was unbecoming an issue in Kerala these days. But the recent demise of Kamala Suraiyya (Madhavikutty or Kamala Das) has highlighted the issue once again. The story goes that she was lured into Islam by the tricks and nuptial promises of a much married, learned and cunning lawmaker belonging to an overtly communal party. Madhavikutty’s literary works represent some of the finest aspects of uninhibited and immaculate Hindu culture that had once prevailed in most parts of Kerala. She could easily differentiate between the quintessence of pristine love of ‘gopikas’ for Krishna vis-à-vis the cheap commonplace lust, by deft handling of both in her stories and poetry. The fact that even such a tall literary figure could fall an easy victim shows the reach of proselytization forces in a region of India with the highest literacy rate. What is happening in Kerala today is bound to be repeated in all other parts of India as our skewed version of secular education is spreading everywhere. Like in Kerala today, Hindus are bound to reduce themselves to a minority community in their own nation one day.

The unfortunate saga of conversion in Kerala begins from around 1500 AD when the first European colonizers landed at one of those beautiful beaches of Kerala. Though we had traders, fugitives and tourists landing at Kerala’s long seashore from time immemorial, damages by them remained limited to their excreta in the coastal belts. The highly structured Kerala society then was impenetrable to foreigners who were much below in terms of social and economic evolution. Cooked-up stories about adventures of one Saint Thomas who could convert the forward castes are nothing but mythology invented as afterthoughts. Kerala’s decadence started much later when the naturally symbiotic caste system became rigid and triggered internal revolts. Foreign religions were waiting at the sea and seacoasts for such an internal upheaval for easy penetration into the much coveted God’s Own Country. In 500 years they could convert more than 50% of the population is no mean achievement for the proponents of the two major religions in the world today.

Silent Terrorism

What happened in the last five centuries and what is happening in Kerala today is nothing but silent terrorism in the form of organized and externally fuelled religious conversion. It was Christianity which started first with the intention of conditioning the ground ready for European colonization. In every colony of ‘ours’, we need quite a few of our ‘own’ people. In distant lands the only way to get ‘our own’ people is by way of aggressive and accelerated cultural conversion. Religion is an integral part of culture and religious conversion is the best tool available for easy conditioning of the target population. Increasing rigidity of the caste system provided a golden opportunity for the European missionaries to penetrate into the Indian society. Enemies of India had budgeted big sums for the project and India’s toiling masses could be easily made disgruntled and aggrieved. As most of them were lacking any formal education, tricking them into a new religious system was easy with the help of material inducements in terms of milk powder and rice.

The next predator in Kerala started their work in terms of organized conversion much later. Though we had sizeable number of Muslim population in the coastal areas, especially in the north Malabar region, their intrusion into the interiors of Kerala as an organized religion is only about one century old. The Mapillah Rebellion in 1921 was perhaps the first organized assault aimed at religious conversion under the guise of so many other objectives. Though North India was under Muslim rule for several centuries, its influence in the southern regions of the country was minimal. Also their enmity with the European colonial powers was not helpful in increasing their numerical strength by targeting Hindus. But the situation has changed drastically in the 20th century when millions of Oil money started flowing into Kerala. Increasing their number by all means and capturing power by organized might is high on the agenda of the Muslim mind of Kerala.

Suicidal Indifference

Any nation or people in decay will ultimately have only themselves to blame. The current status of Hindus in Kerala is at a highly critical juncture in this regard. Three or four prominent Hindu sections are totally indifferent about the overall status of the Hindu religion and society in Kerala today. The leaders of these sections are forgetting one of the most important rules of science and history – any culture can survive only if there is the minimum quantity. Most of these sub-sections of the Hindu society namely Nairs, Ezhavas, Brahmins and OBCS are fighting more among themselves than for their combined rights. They have left their weakest brothers (Adivasis) at the complete mercy of the two predators vying for numbers and real estate. Almost the entire five lakh Adivasis of Kerala will either die off or get converted, and their entire property will ultimately lie with one of the predating groups.

Much has been said and written about the suicidal indifference of Hindus in Kerala and the catastrophe impending their community a few generations from now. None of the Hindu community leaders of any significance have shown the courage to speak up for consolidation and caution. It will be only at their extreme peril that the entire spectrum of Hindu society in Kerala can feign ignorance to the following basic FACTS:-

• Hinduism is no more the dominant religion in Kerala. As half of those born as Hindus are genuine communists, Hinduism is only at par with Islam and Christianity in Kerala. And uninhibited religious conversion is still rampant in many parts of Kerala.
• Kerala has the highest (family) suicidal rate in the world and at least 75% of them are Hindus.
• Hindu temples are the only one in government custody. All income from temples (which are only from Hindus) flow into the common government coffers.
• Kerala politics is overwhelmingly dominated by leaders belonging to the two dominant communities and parties which are overtly communal (Muslim League and Kerala Congress).
• There is almost complete monopoly of the two dominant communities in the print and electronic media in Kerala.
• Almost all Hindu families in the current generation have only two children. But one can invariably find three children in all Christian families and four children in most Muslim families. This trend is almost confirmed if they are more educated and richer. This clearly shows a determined and deliberate effort to increase the numbers.
• Christian clergy and Muslim religious leaders are freely indulging in politics in Kerala which is a part of the so-called secular republic of India. Many times they openly challenge the authority of democratically elected governments and the rule of law, with no impunity.
• Ownership of land (especially high valued), number of professionals (doctors, IAS officers etc) and untaxed (and unaccounted) income from abroad are disproportionately high in favour of the two dominant communities in Kerala.

The few critical aspects listed above point to a determined and calculated move by the foreign religious ideologies to establish their superiority over Kerala within one or two decades. Both are now equally organized, resourceful and determined to achieve their ultimate aim. The apparent discordant notes among subsidiary factions within these religious forces are designed and serve as deceptive distracters for those who are opposing the move. In Kerala (also India) today, anything Hindu or Hindutva is condemnably communal, Muslim or Islamic is secularly acceptable and Christian or Christianity is laudably broad-minded. Any one who talks anything about Hinduism or Hindus are ostracized in public life and politically unacceptable. Barring unforeseen developments, Kerala’s Hindu goose will be cooked and eaten with full satisfaction as precisely planned. And once that is digested, the harvest of entire South India is only one decade away and Indian nation a few more. Only organized reforms and determined positive action can save Hinduism from the combined onslaught of its three known enemies.

AGENDA FOR NAIRS

Example is better than precept. For Malayalees, there is no one who has demonstrated it more convincingly than one of our own ex-Chief Ministers viz C. Achuta Menon. Days after relinquishing office as the Chief Minister of Kerala there were many who could see him circling Trichur round as one among us. He was one of the longest serving Chief Ministers of Kerala and he happened to be in power during the dubious Emergency era. Yet there is no one who hates him and bears any grudge against him. What was the reason for this uniqueness, especially in a politically volatile state like Kerala? Was it because he was erudite and an institution-builder who initiated the Centre for Development Studies, Centre for Earth Sciences and Sree Chitra Medical Institute? Yes, partly. But his greatest contribution to the public life of Kerala was definitely not that. It was his unique ability to call it a day from active politics when he knew it is time. Prof. Sanu is yet another exemplary example of this unique quality in public life. It is really unfortunate that these icons could not become role models for many others of our present generation.

One of the biggest and greatest institutions in Kerala that has been badly affected by the absence of Achuta Menons is the Nair Service Society (NSS). If there is any one institution that has stagnated so badly for the last 25 years, it is the NSS. The greatness of this institution is well known to almost all Malayalees, whether he or she is a Nair or not. It is perhaps the only community organisation in the whole world whose founding fathers swore that their efforts to uplift their own community shall not affect the well-being of any other community in any manner whatsoever, in the inaugural oath itself. It makes all the Nairs (whether member of NSS or not) proud about the greatness of their tallest leader viz. Mannathu Padmanabhan. NSS has contributed so many leaders to Kerala’s public life in later years. But now the society is moribund and its future looks challenging for even the most optimistic of its members. To make matters worse, most of the trumpeted activities of its leaders are aimed at destroying the reservation benefits being enjoyed (legitimately or not) by brethren communities.

Reservations are the bone of contention in almost all parts and spheres of India. It is foolhardy to expect everyone to realise and acknowledge the advantage and legitimacy of reservations on the basis of economic status in such a situation. It would take another 50 years for the ‘reserved’ communities to realise their mistake and the poorest of poor among them will see to it that it happens. But the paramount question for the leaders of ‘unreserved’ communities is to ask themselves whether it is worth wasting time fighting the communal basis of reservations. Instead, organisations like NSS can do quite a lot of positive work to better the conditions of poorest among their own community. Those who need direct help in the community must be identified and necessary help (not in terms of cash alone) must reach the deserving within a reasonable time. In this twenty first century, the identification process must be IT enabled and the skill development part shall definitely have an element of Agriculture, which is our traditional trade. To make this happen, the powers-that-be in NSS must constitute two task forces viz. NairsIT and NairsAgri without any further delay.

NairsIT

There are hundreds from the community who have made it big in the IT Industry and many are willing to help out in this. What we need is the infrastructure and manpower to constitute and maintain a database of almost all the members of the community. If possible it should be a world-wide one. A brilliant model for this exercise is the social security database in Belgium called CIMIRE (Compte Individuel Multisectoriel – www.cimire.be ). Millions of records are maintained in an Oracle database pertaining to millions of people in a very cost effective manner. There should be a similar setup at the NSS HO in Perunna at the earliest. The extent of details can be unobtrusive and minimal but the coverage must be maximum possible. Advantage of such a database at HO is priceless and is well understood. News and views can be broadcast to those who should know it in no time and help can be channelled from where it is available to where it is required. I am cent percent sure that a Mannam Memorial Medical College would have come up at Pandalam if only we had such a database and the authorities had utilised it to collect $2000 each from just 25000 Nairs world-wide. The power of a live website and database for a community is simply beyond words.

NairsAgri

Agriculture is essentially the culture of all Malayalees and it is more so with Nairs. Whatever be the advancements we may make in any other fields it is absolutely essential to maintain the ground if we are to survive as a community in Kerala. The pressure on Real Estate Kerala is unprecedented and nefarious designs are already in force to capture the lands. The only way to encourage current owners of land to retain it is to make agriculture remunerative. NSS must take the lead in this by providing information, technology and financial aid, if needed, to diversify and make a living out of agriculture. More and more retired employees from other fields can return to agriculture and keep our agricultural culture alive. It must become remunerative and fashionable again to own agricultural land. Only a community effort can achieve this. Many other communities are proving it in Kerala right in front of our eyes. We should open our eyes at least now.

Lastly, it is of utmost importance for NSS leadership (and all others of Hindu fold) to remind themselves repeatedly that Nair community is NOTHING, if it is not an integral part of the Hindu society in Kerala. And Hindu society in Kerala is one of the most endangered now. The signs in Kerala society (be it politics or education or health or industry or administration or social) are very obvious and ominous now. Until and unless the dividing issues are kept aside and there is a united attempt to counter the onslaught from various local and foreign quarters, there will be only insignificant number left in the community within Kerala by 2050AD. Kerala Hindu Society is like a wall on which all of us can read the various writings. But if the wall itself is destroyed, we may not even get a chance to read the writings on the wall. Consequences of inaction and indifference will be unexpectedly devastating.