Welcome to Kerala, but not on a Bandh day!
Published September 7, 2010 | Much has been said and written about hartals and bandhs, the two most popular forms of strike that hits normal life in Kerala on and off. So let’s not dwell more on the topic. Rather let these pictures speak up. Yesterday it was a ‘Bharath Bandh’, a nationwide general strike that was announced much much earlier by certain parties and trade organisations. Issues of course sounded genuine though it’s wise to keep mum on the genuineness of intentions. The strike didn’t affect normal life in most parts of the country. But in Kerala the ‘bandh’ was near total and life was almost paralysed. Here we go, with a couple of pics that vouch for Kerala attaining the status of ‘Bandh’s own country’ (Remember, this happens in a state where the court has already banned bandhs!):
Signing off, at Karmakerala, for the weekend…with a ?
Published July 2, 2010 | Hey ho! It’s almost time for us at Karmakerala to sign off for the weekend; but this time we sign off with a big ‘?’. Those of us who are going to our native towns this weekend have bought two return tickets each, one for Monday and one for Tuesday. Can’t say when the office will open up after the weekend- Monday or Tuesday. It all depends on the politicians, the scheming politicians (I mean the politicians who have lots of ‘schemes’ for our welfare and well-being).
It was just last Saturday that we had a hartal against fuel price hike. That was just for Kerala. This time, it’s going national. National parties have decided to join forces and force us to remain indoors for one whole day, on Monday, the 5th of July. It’s called by them the ‘Bharath Bandh’, a quite popular word already all over India. Since ‘Bandh’ is banned in Kerala, our heroes (I mean the politicians) dish it out, yeah the very same dish, with a different name- ‘Hartal’. Well, we have got some of the most enlightened of people in Politics here and they can very well come up with explanations, taking us round and round for quite some time and pointing out that a ‘Hartal’ is much much different from a ‘Bandh’ and hence there’s no violation of court order. All that we get to grasp out of all that verbosity is that ‘Bandh’ or ‘Hartal’, we’ve got to stay indoors and if at all we want to stray outdoors it would be at our own risks.
Well, there are lots of talks going around. Some say it may be put off, as the ‘selfless’ politicians don’t want to burden us with another ‘hartal’ in just ten days. Some say that it won’t be put off, as it’s a fight for justice, a noble crusade against injustice.
Well, all that we know now is we got to watch the television news on Sunday and then, as per the updates, cancel one of the tickets and make it back to Kochi on Monday or Tuesday, or whenever our leaders please, and then, without ever daring to ask a question or a doubt, let the oil companies sell petrol, diesel and LPG to us at whatever price they want. (Mathew, our accountant, has informed us all in clear words, in a group chat…
“OFFICE WILL REMAIN CLOSED ON 05.07.2010 due to hartal…please ensure attendance in case of cancellation/postponement of hartal”
Thanks Mathew!!
Nice thoughts indeed…a real different way to sign off the weekend….
So, see you all on ….well, I donno, maybe Monday, maybe Tuesday…..
Hartals- Do they do any good?
Published April 28, 2010 | Another day of hartal has passed, as usual hitting the normal life of the Indian Citizens especially the people of Kerala. It was a dawn to dusk hartal called by the Left parties and its allies against the Centre’s economic policies. This time the hartal activists turned out to block trains at major places of Kerala, which badly hit the rail traffic adding more disruption to the normal life. Here the Court orders and rules has no value and, the Kerala Govt. which supported the Hartal gained nothing from it. It is only the people of the state who suffered and who will continue to suffer if the hartal activists continue to be like this. 
It was in 2004 may 29th, The High Court full bench ordered the Govt to make sure that Hartals should not hit the normal life and, if necessary the Govt. can seek the assistance of army to ensure this. What people saw yesterday was a complete negligence of these orders. The hartal activists stopped private vehicles, stoned a few and attacked even Ambulances and people who came to work at banks and post offices. This time hartal activists concentrated more at stopping rail traffic, and they supplied food for the supporters in front of the travellers who were hungry and thirsty inside the blocked trains.
At the same time there were single protests against hartal saying the hartals creates bad reputation to the country. For the past years the hartals did nothing good to the people of country, but helped the vested interests of the major political parties and they gained nothing for the people if they say it is all for people.
Have your say about hartals. Do hartals do any good to the people?
Photo Courtesy: The Hindu
Believe it or not- A Kerala village that defies hartal !
Published April 26, 2010 | 
Koolimadu in the Chathamangalam grama panchayat in Kozhikode is a small village with over 150 houses and over 500 voters. Life goes by in a laid back pace with people going about their daily business. It is a prototype of a typical Kerala village but the startling difference that sets it apart from the rest of Kerala is that it holds the rare credit of being a village that dares to show a thumbs down for hartals.
Koolimadu has not just defied hartals but many other social evils like smoking and has always been a pioneer in promoting social causes. It is the first tobacco-free village in India where smoking is completely banned since 1996. While Keralites are infamous for flouting the rules and breaking the bans this tiny village has set up a perfect example where people run the risk of being excommunicated for a day if they dare to break the smoking ban!
Kerala will grind to a halt yet again on April 27th when the left front sponsored strike against price rise gets underway at dawn. This time too , this nondescript village has chosen to defy the strike call and the interesting thing is that no political party has dared to impose their strike call in this tiny village all these years! Though people love to discuss politics and social and contemporary issues at their free time, they feel that shunning their daily business is not the right way to express their solidarity to any cause!
Koolimadu ticks along even as the next junction of Cheruvadi, which is only an earshot away comes to a stand still on hartal days. There are only a few shops in Koolimadu village including a sawmill, a barber shop and a library, which will remain open all day without the fear of stone pelting political workers while the villagers drive along the village roads without any fear for their life or limb. The older generation doesn’t remember a hartal being observed in the last three decades.
Three cheers to this tiny village that has shown the grit to defy the call to strike work at the drop of the hat. As we have lost the count of the loss of man hours due to hartals, this tiny hamlet has come out a a true champion. If we have the perseverance to repeat this story elsewhere, Kerala would be a better place to live!
Hartal the complementing factor of Kerala
Published February 22, 2008 | 
Kochi, February 22
Well if you are a Keralite or are frequently in touch with Kerala, or your relative or friends live in Kerala then you may have heard many a times the word Hartal (Strike) from them. This term has been a prime element of Kerala, and sooner or later has some how been in news at least once in every two months. With so much of such hartals Kerala is also gaining a new name, the land of hartals.
The situation has become so grim that the lives of the normal man have been put to unrest every time such strikes get going. The so called government which is said to be the law body elected by people, who are liable to help out and guide general public from all situations, themselves are the heroes who gives air to these hartals for one or the other reason. The story does not end here, even during these unofficial strikes public property are damaged and general public faces stiff challenge.
It seems the hartal saga will remain with this state always and this time it’s the small and big traders in Kerala who have planned to not to open their shops on Saturday 23rd February, to protest against the entry of retail giants. This protest has been called on by the Kerala Vyapari Vyvasayi Ekopana Samithi (KVVES) and the Kerala State Vyapari Vyvasayi Samithi (KSVVS). They are demanding the ruling government to pass a law to stop the entry of these retail giants in the state.
It is learnt that as per the present rule any of the retail giant can open up their retail trade here without any barriers. This will affect the state retail sector and will make them to bear huge loses. Even the price of commodities has jumped a lot due to the entry of such retail giants. In recent years the scenario of retail industry in the state has changed a lot hampering the business of the local retailers.
To voice against this growing problem the shops through out Kerala will remain closed on 23rd February. Where else can one witness the frequent spectacle of silent cities? Hope now you may know the answer.
Harsh Fact: Kerala has to bear a loss of 650 crores on a single hartal day.