Kerala- God’s own country; devils’ own people!

The famous catchphrase of Kerala Tourism Department to promote this State” God’s own country” has won bouquets and brickbats all at once! While it has grabbed a few eyeballs of the curious travelers and tourists from far and wide, this catchphrase has spawned an unexpected axiom of “devils own people” tagged along with this famous one liner. If we delve deeper, it could be seen that it’s not without valid reasons and is definitely not a misnomer either. 

Kerala holds the envious repute of a 100% literate state with a substantial English speaking populace. A big chunk of its native populace lives abroad and earns handsome pay packets or run successful business enterprises. There is a casual joke that even if you go to space, you are likely to bump into a Keralite! Millions of Keralites live in various Indian cities and work in distinguished services like civil services, engineering, medicine, nursing and more. However all is not rosy as far as their image is concerned among fellow Indians. Many find them too stubborn and quacks who go to any extend to attain their personal goals. There is a conception that Keralites abhor hard work and they carry false vanity and pompousness tagged into the white collar jobs!  It is a bit hypocritical that they would stoop to any level outside their country to make a living and almost always have an innate tendency to bluff. 

Having said all these, it does not mean that all people belong to this infamous clan who talk big and act big. There are many enterprising and helpful people out here who have made indelible imprints in Sports, politics, arts, and literature among others. However, the bottom line reads that something has to be done to cast off this stigma and to move ahead with heads held high!