sholto
Tuskers or no tuskers? Kochi loses it franchise. No tears shed.
Published September 19, 2011 | 
Keralites love elephants and revere more than any the greatest of all elephants nicknamed Tuskers. Well, it looks like Kerala will have to do without its IPL franchise the Kochi Tuskers after their contract was rescinded after the promoters had failed to pay their revenue share to the central board; a fact I might add that is strongly contested by the Gujarati promoters who claim that it is they who are actually owed money. New BCCI chairman Srinivasan looks an extremely unsafe pair of hands all round. He has also decided to promote Sourav Ganguly to the chairmanship of the Technical committee and announced the fact even though he has not contacted him yet. Let’s just hope that Ganguly does not reject the offer which, knowing Ganguly, is perfectly possible.
Meantime Kochiites won’t be shedding many tears over the rescinding of the Tuskers contract as the promoters had already tried to move the franchise to Gujarat and showed little interest in Kerala. If anything Kerala will be experiencing some schadenfreude. In fact, Indians are increasingly turned off by IPL especially since the demise of the Indian cricket team in England this summer. What started off as harmless and exciting fun has turned into a circus of corruption and the flaunting of wealth and is now being blamed for the summer whitewash. The Tuskers franchise was originally bought for 1550 crores – an astonishing sum in this still mainly poor country and these sums combined with heightened awareness of the country’s problems with widespread corruption are beginning to worry Indians. And then there is the 54 days of solid cricket: few are looking forward to so much cricket without break.
Kerala Supports Anna Hazare
Published August 16, 2011 | If we trace popular fury with the perceived corruption of the present Indian federal government, we might say it started with the Commonwealth Games. It did not really start then as there was a popular sense that corruption and graft were growing endemic among the powerful and monied, but it was the embarrassment and incompetence of the games organisation that drew international attention to India and its quavering infrastructure and the nepotism of its political classes and provided incontrovertible evidence to middle class India that something was seriously wrong in Delhi, Since that moment there have been a trail of cases that have displayed the invidious nexus of power and money that is stultifying development and success.
The arrest of Anna Hazare yesterday by the police recalls Indira Gandhi’s similar arrest of opponents in the 1970s and whilst the government claims it is to forestall any inconvenience from demonstrations in the capital poor Ambika Soni for being wheeled out as the representative of the government), for most Indians it is evidence of the arrogance of the present Congress government, mired as it is in allegations of corruption. It does not help the government cause that Hazare is described as “Gandhian” which stirs powerful feelings among Indian citizens.
Kerala citizens have been demonstrating in support of Hazare in typical Kerala style: student non-attendance at college classes and surely there will be a hartal or two. Keralites are painfully aware of how corruption and various black money schemes exist with the Apple a Day property scam that was written about previously on the blog.
New Cochin – The reality of the land
Published July 1, 2011 | Drive south from Cochin to Alappuzha and once you turn off the road to Puchakkal, an older Kerala is revealed of small homesteads and little towns. Once upon a time, it was anticipated that this road would lead to a new township called New Cochin that would rise from the paddies beside the backwaters and become a chic colony for Keralites tired of the noise and bustle of Cochin. That was the dream, but with the implosion of the company responsible and the arrest of its promoters on charges of fraud, the site is now a sad testimony to both high hopes and naivety on the part of the investors who often borrowed money to buy into the dream.
We have watched the story unfurl for some time as we actually own a property beside the Apple A Day plot.
Once upon a time, the land was quite cheap around here: it was just paddies, coconut groves and the occasional fish farm in a lagoon beside the lake. Apple changed that as they offered large sums for the otherwise largely worthless land. For a long time nothing actually happened, the slowly there were signs of impending construction and the erection of a sign and map that provided a glimmer of the future township.
Here was the map back in November 2009 when we drove past. Although it was new, there were already distressing signs of wear and tear. I took a panorama as well which shows the map in situ
You can see signs of a little activity, but not a lot. You can imagine how excited prospective owners were when they saw this glossy vision of a Miami on Backwaters. Today, the building materials have been either removed or stolen and the land is back to Paddy, except that now nobody knows who actually owns it as the documents are certainly moot and improperly recorded.
Although most signs of building have disappeared, there is one building completed, apparently by a frustrated owner who decided to take the matter into his own hands. There is something sad and ironic about its fate. Like the township which was to be built in the middle of nowhere, the house sits forlorn in the midst or water-logged paddy. Perhaps, like the township would have done, the building is beginning to tilt as it weight drops it into the mud. Without sufficient foundations and build over a canal the weight of the concrete is too much for the land and millimetre by millimetre, it is being swallowed by the wet land.
It is difficult to see it by eye, you need to roll a marble across the floor to realise that the building is not straight and that the rear of the building is slowly sinking into the ground.
When you see around the building, you see the rest of the land is simply undeveloped paddy field, largely uncared for.
Did you ever visit New Cochin? Is this what you expected? How do you feel now?
Being a woman in Kerala
Published June 17, 2011 | After the “shock” report of India being listed as the fourthworst place to be a woman, we reflected on Kerala’s place in the scheme of things. As we all know Kerala is not a typical indian state which is why Indians love to visit.
Kerala is the only state in India where women outnumber men and b a substantial margin. Keralites put this down to a more relaxed attitude to gender than is sometimes found elsewhere and the absence of infanticide. If this is the case, then it implies that other states need to address gender issues more aggressively. Kerala is also actively seeking to increase the contribution of women in politics and to ensure that women are evenly represented. As we sit in the office with a large group of women, mostly married and many with children, all of whom are able to come to work safely and travel without fear, who are actively pursuing a career with children, it is clear that while there may still be glass ceilings to break through, it is not by any chalk the fourth worst place in the world to live!
India 4th Worst Country to be a Woman?
Published June 15, 2011 | The Thomson Reuters foundation recently listed the worst places to be a woman in the world. Heading the list unsurprisingly was Afghanistan which was presumably right out there in the lead. Second was the Congo (rape capital of the world), but most surprising was the inclusion of India in fourth place. It provoked some soul searching here in the Karma Kerala office in Cochin. We are over fifty percent women in the office which immediately shows the difference between India and Afghanistan. In Kabul we would have been bombed, for sure.
What makes India such a bad place to be a woman? Sexual violence and abuse are the key criteria with India home to prostitute population of overe 3 mprostitute with maybe 40% underage and the continued existence of female infanticide as parents seek male children rather than female.
From the perspective of Kerala, these challenges are relatively remote as the state prides itself on the absence of female infanticide and compared to North India fewer prostitutes. Unlike Mumbai, Cochin has no big red light district.
The survey reported India’s central bureau of investigation estimated that in 2009 about 90% of trafficking took place within the country and that there were some 3 million prostitutes, of which about 40% were children. In the past century some 50 million female babies have gone missing.
The last is a historical statistic, but the problem is only barely contained. Certainly, the indian and state government is determined to provide support to lift families out of poverty which most affects women and children. Poverty drives much of the problem. It is not uncommon for a man to withhold 75% of the salary from wife for drinking and the dreaded lottery. Living on 1000 rupees requires a woman to work to make up a living wage. The indian government is well aware of the problem, but itbwould seem there isnstill more work to be done!
Tasting Toddy
Published March 14, 2011 | Keralites (and Sri Lankans) venerate their traditional coconut derived alcohol drink: toddy, even if contemporary keralites seem to prefer whisky or Kingfisher. A recent article in the UK’s Guardian newspaper had a peculiarly apt description for Toddy which might ring a chord with readers.
For me it tastes like a delicious homemade lemonade that was inadvertently left overnight in a pair of your grandfather’s underpants.
Agree, or disagree?
Kerala Tourism on the iPad
Published September 26, 2010 | Playing a game of solitaire on my iPad, I suddenly noticed an advert at the bottom for Kerala promoting the tourism department’s lastest ad campaign. Wow! The only problem is that as soon as I clicked through I was informed that the video was not available which negated the idea. So 8/10 for idea and 2/10 for execution.
Kerala Tourism has developed a marketing and branding strategy for Kerala which has won awards and has positioned Kerala as both a cultural and ecological haven but also a site for personal freedom and calm. Over five years they have produced a series of beautiful adverts that foreground what Kerala has to offer in a dreamy Ortenesque style.
Using iPad advertising demonstrates how up to date they are although the real issues facing Kerala’s tourism trade will need to be addressed: notably how much cheaper and popular is their neighbour Sri Lanka.
See the video below:
Your Moment is Waiting (Kerala) from Sholto Ramsay on Vimeo.
Off on our Travels
Published August 3, 2010 | The Karmakerala team doesn’t leave the office often, but when we get out we certainly cover the ground venturing all the way into Tamil Nadu and enjoying team time.
Kerala Strikes as America Recesses
Published July 5, 2010 | From my perspective halfway between the USA and Kerala, you get a real feeling of how the world is changing. The US economy is in dire straits with a mere 58% of the working population in work. Last month unemployment grew by 600,000, the largest monthly growth recorded. Americans are facing the possibility of a douple dip recession. American workers are buckling down to it, accepting that wages must be cut and workers released. India with its growing economy and its real hope for the future is on strike today instead. What a difference a few years make.
Not so long ago, it was the US where workers could strike or at least demand better health care benefits. Today, it is Indian workers who are demanding better wages and standards. In their case, it is the cost of petrol which is worrying the Indian worker. National and state wide strikes are still popular and common even if the Indian worker is becoming more and more disenchanted with this approach to economic management.
The question for Indian economists is whether the Indian market is sufficiently large and independent of the world to continue growing whilst the rest of the world stutters to a second recession. Can India compete on the world stage with its haphazard economic modus operandi.
Over the past 15 years American companies have been investing more and more abroad to enjoy cheaper manufacturing and research. In Kerala the same process has been operating in reverse: companies move away and Indians as a whole view Kerala as a holiday paradise where nobody knows how to work. Kerala has been sustained by its leading product: exporting natives to the Gulf or the rest of India. What will happen to Kerala is anybody’s idea. Perhaps Indians will trust that Kerala will be a place to do business in future but that is not yet.
Kerala on the London South Bank
Published June 10, 2010 | Kerala Carnival 2010 visits Coin Street on London’s South Bank near the National Theatre. Festivities open at midday on the 7th July 2010 and finally close at 6pm on the 8th July.
The festival features ayurveda, Kerala cuisine, dance and music and is an opportunity for visitors to experience something of Kerala without leaving Britain. According to the organisers, “The carnival riverfront will be lined with stalls of Keralite food, handicrafts, massage oils, ayurveda packs and much more. Festival goers will also be treated to a spectacular showcase of Keralite music and dance on stage.”