jan 3rd, 2011 CE
the real kerala model was when the farsighted kings attempted to bring in the best of education and research to travancore.
cp ramaswami iyer, dewan, invited einstein to be VC at travancore university as per the following article. i believe it, because travancore also attempted to get the tatas to set up TIFR or IISc in trivandrum but didn't quite succeed. this was in the early 1900s CE.
some chutzpah from a rather small, but highly forward looking, kingdom.
this is why kerala has been ahead in quality of life indicators: it had kings who were generally decent, unlike the debauched, self-indulgent kings in the north (think satyajit ray's 'shatranj ke khiladi').
actually this also reminds me of the court of krishnadeva raya at vijayanagar -- the glittering assembly of intellect there was the equivalent of the nine gems of vikramaditya more than a millennium prior.
travancore had its musician of royal blood -- swati tirunal, one of the greatest of the carnatic composers; it also had the painter of royal blood -- raja ravi varma, indubitably the most important artist in india in the 19th and 20th centuries CE, who single-handedly created what is now the indian school of painting.
this was the tradition that led to emancipation and progressiveness in india. also, let us not forget that the king of travancore issued the temple entry proclamation in 1936, opening up all temples to all hindus.
also let us not forget that travancore' marthanda varma defeated the dutch at colachel in 1741 CE, a signal and unmatched feat -- no other indian king defeated a white army so far as i know.
thus, the ingredients for progress were already there. kerala's indices have *nothing* to do with the communists. otherwise why is bengal so poor and backward, i ask you? what do bengal's human development indices look like? they are pathetic! in fact, basket-case bangladesh has better indices than west bengal! so much for the great accomplishments of the communists.
but a bunch of leftist economists, chief among them amartya sen-rothschild, have trumpeted the so-called kerala model. this is utter, unwashed drivel.
the reasons for kerala' progress are:
1. far-sighted, sensible kings
2. matriliny and matriarchal joint families, which meant women had economic power, which meant they were empowered, and educated themselves rapidly
3. the recognition of caste lunacies, and, thanks to sri narayana guru, the rise of the proletariat through self-help
4. and today, the enormous money-order-economy remittances (this also started because people began to ship themselves overseas to make their fortunes, first singapore, then the persian gulf and then the west)
it has absolutely bloody nothing to do with the communists or their lunatic-fringe ideas. the biggest achievement of these idiots has been the destruction of agriculture in kerala.
yes, kerala, which for millennia was famous for its spices and its bountiful rice harvests, now only produces 14% of its rice!
3 comments:
"also let us not forget that travancore' marthanda varma defeated the dutch at colachel in 1741 CE, a signal and unmatched feat -- no other indian king defeated a white army so far as i know."
Depends on what you mean, almost all European armies in the subcontinent had a native component but led by European officers.
Chimnaji Appa the younger brother of Baji Rao liberated what the Portuguese called their "northern province" in the famous bassein campaign.
Marathas acquired what Portuguese called their northern province about 22 leagues (122 km's from Versova to Daman) with their chief ports, 340 villages, and a revenue of 2.5 lakh rupees. Besides Vasai (Bassein) they gained 8 cities, 20 fortresses, 2 fortified walls, Salsette island with the city of the same name, and Arnala island. Daman, Diu and Chaul narrowly escaped falling into their hands.
Many of the Churches built over Hindu temples were destroyed and temples rebuilt, those Hindus who were forcibly converted by the Christians and who wanted to come back were reconverted.
http://ravilochanan.sulekha.com/blog/post/2009/06/hindus-careless-about-historic-temples-naroshankar.htm
Battle of Wadgaon in the first Anglo-Maratha war was a British defeat.
The flip side: Kerala also produces 90 per cent (or more) of all Christian missionaries, nuns, etc in India.
The flip side: Kerala also produces 90 per cent (or more) of all Christian missionaries, nuns, etc in India.
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