Social transformation has a curious
history in Kerala. The state had practised some of the meanest and most
barbaric traditions in the form of untouchability which quickly degenerated
into unapproachability, where people of lower castes were grouped into
hierarchical levels according to the distance they had had to keep themselves
away from people of upper castes. Any breach of the rule resulted in ceremonial
impurity, so the lower castes were not even allowed to walk on public roads for
fear of polluting people of higher status. The rules were so elaborate and so
brutally enforced that Swami Vivekananda once remarked that Kerala resembled a
lunatic asylum. The darkest hour was probably early 19th century,
and it was the moment at which a switchover from feudal economy founded on
barter system began to give way to a financial system founded on money
introduced by the British. This helped a few lower caste people to amass a
fortune by diligent use of the means of production at their disposal. When that
century was drawing to a close, we find social reformers, most notably Sree
Narayana Guru, emerging from the depressed classes, supported by the numerical
strength of the poor majority and financial muscle of the affluent minority of
those communities. The uprising came at the right moment since all parts of
Kerala were under British dominance for at least a half-century before. Malabar
directly under them after Tipu’s defeat in 1799, with Travancore and Cochin
under their sphere of influence soon after.
The demands of the downtrodden were
just, timely and pragmatic. No enlightened individual could have ignored them.
So we find most of their requests being met with surprisingly little
opposition. They were given representation in legislative assemblies,
reservation in government jobs and the right to temple entry. However
imperfect, land reform measures redistributed surplus land among the landless.
The backward castes undoubtedly benefited the most from this reform. With the
rapid spread of education and socialist ideals emulated from the erstwhile
Soviet Union, interdining made a quick entry in the social milieu.
Intermarriage was the only thing not practised, which continues still.
Perhaps because of the ease and
peace with which revolutionary transformations such as the above materialized
with so little effort must have caused a sense of complacency among the lower
castes and a feeling of resignation to the inevitable in the upper castes. The
reform process lost steam around the middle of 20th century, after
running full throttle for about five decades. After a cooling off period of
20-25 years, we find retrograde practises raising their ugly heads again in
society. By 1980, almost all sections of society eagerly sought astrologers for
fixing such innocuous moments like the time of marriage, house-warming and
other auspicious times. Horoscopes began to be cast as soon as a child is born.
In extreme cases, child birth was delayed or preponed by medical means so that
it is born at the most propitious instant. Such practises which were common
among the higher castes were imitated slavishly by the lower castes in a vain
bid to upward social mobility. Offerings to temples and costly symbols of
belonging to the temple multiplied many times among the backward communities.
Often they cheerfully sunk to the depths of ridiculousness in proclaiming their
devotion to Hindu deities, in a curious case of being more loyal than the king.
Kerala relapsed into a great slumber
as far as social reforms were concerned. Muslims and Christians didn’t lag
behind at all – with introduction of purdah with a vengeance, charismatic
renewals and meditational healing. The state seemed to be limping back to be
worthy of Swami Vivekananda’s depreciatory epithet again.
Enter Shri. G Sukumaran Nair,
General Secretary of the Nair Service Society (NSS) with his proclamation that
people of his own caste will be employed as officiating priests in temples run
by their own organisation. In fact, there was nothing fundamentally new in this
– the temples instituted by SNDP Yogam, the leading lower caste organisation
had routinely employed people of all castes as priests right from the
beginning. But the idea hadn’t gained momentum since Nairs, the most populous
and influential upper caste didn’t support it and stoutly held on to the age
old custom of availing the services of Brahmin priests only. It is the last
ramparts of orthodoxy that is cracking under the thunderous declaration by
Sukumaran Nair. Though sure to be opposed with tooth and nail by Brahmin
sympathisers, the move is assured of wholehearted support from the lower
castes. The only thing we eagerly look forward to is whether Shri. Nair would
hold fast or buckle under pressure from regressive circles in his own society
and from the uppermost castes like Brahmins. We also hope that Sukumaran Nair
would not renege on his historic opportunity to resuscitate Kerala’s reform
movement which is in limbo and is bringing out laboured breaths as the first
symptoms of imminent death.
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