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The state is divided into three regions— Travancore, Cochin
and Malabar—that emerged in the medieval period 'with their
cluster of castes, communities, segments and surnames.' Peasant
castes like Nayars, Izhavas, Nadars etc; coconut pluckers - for
instance, Vettuvans; fisherfolks including Mukkuvans (Hindus,
Christians and Muslims); Temple servers, viz., Marars and
Poduvals; artisans like Marassaris; other castes comprising
Arayavathis, Mannans etc; minorities such as Jews,
Anglo-Indians, Muslims and Christians; Tamil, Kannada and Telugu
speaking immigrants are part of the mosaic enriched by 225
communities in Kerala. This book avers, "It’s eclectic
traditions include the many sects of Hinduism, followers of
ancient Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Jainism and Sikhism".
Although Malayalam is the dominant language, as many as 15 other
languages are spoken in the state, resulting in a higher
incidence of bilingualism among the people.
Says V. N. Menon
in the foreword, "…Kerala has attracted all morphological
types, including the Negrito, immigrants from the adjoining
areas of the country and some from across the seas… Prehistory
of Kerala with its megalithic culture is well known but in-spite
of excellent path-breaking studies much work probably still
remains to be done to reconstruct a comprehensive social
history, covering the cluster of its castes and communities and
their relationships, the rise of classes and the large number of
religious groups, folk and classical systems and so on".
Rice, tapioca,
coconut oil, tur, urad, grams and moong
form the Malayalees' staple diet. In Kerala vegetarians are in
minority - only 12.44 per cent of the population! Another
interesting finding is that 32 per cent of the Keralites,
including Hindus are beef eaters. 68.89 per cent of the
population consumes alcohol - occasionally or regularly.
Interestingly, the varna system among Hindus is not very
deep rooted. Only 58 communities identify themselves as
Brahmins, Kshatriyas or Shudras; there are no indigenous
Vaishyas. 71 per cent of the Hindus are avarnas, i.e.,
untouchables, unseeables or unapproachables. However, social
reforms have brought the status of Namboodiri Brahmins down a
few pegs from its earlier exalted heights. Similarly, education
and legislation put an end to several social ills prevalent up
to the early twentieth century. Today, the upward socio-economic
mobility of the formerly oppressed communities is quite
perceptible.
The study points
out that opinion is divided regarding the origin of the
matrilineal system. One school of thought opines that this
practice prevailed among the Dravidian communities of the
Malabar Coast much before the Aryan immigrations; and the early
Aryan immigrants (the Payannur Nambuthiri) adopted the local
practice. Another school suggests that the sambandham
type of hypergamous marriage was introduced by Namboodiri
Brahmans resulting in the matrilineal system. "It was under
the influence of the tangible fact of maternity, that the
notions of a community, family and inheritance were elaborated
and developed". This system had several beneficial aspects,
not the least of which was the elevated status for women.
Positive effects
of matrilineal system in the form of emancipated women are quite
evident even today although nuclear families have become
predominant now. Higher levels of education, employment and
health among women and children can be attributed to this
tradition. Equal status for women is also reflected in the
favourable sex ratio and higher-than-the-national-average
equigeniture. Female literacy is more than 86 per cent, infant
mortality less than 17 per thousand births, and life expectancy
too is far better than the national average.
But not everything
is hunky dory in this beautiful state. It suffers from a strange
economic paradox. Remittances from abroad have boosted
consumerism, increased wage rates and have proved to be a boon
to local traders. Yet high wage rates have been a dampener to
private investments in agriculture and industry. Along with the
decline in public sector investments and government spending,
this has resulted in unemployment and "alienation of
tribals' land" leading to increased incidents of suicides.
Obviously, over-dependence on what the locals call as
"Gulf-money" has skewed the indigenous
industrial-commercial growth.
This study takes a
close look at the anthropological, historical, social, cultural
and economic aspects of the state of Kerala. It gives
community-wise details of the socio-cultural evolution. This
venture is part of a project, launched on October 2, 1985, by
the Anthropological Survey of India on the People of India. It
seeks to generate a brief, descriptive anthropological profile
of all the communities of India, the impact on them of change
and development processes and the links that bring them
together.
This three-part
research on Kerala is presented in a lucid style, with valuable
details that should interest scholars and laypersons alike.
Worth buying.
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HIGH
socio-political awareness, excellent health-care facilities, superb
literacy rates, elevated aesthetic sensibility, kaleidoscopic
ethno-religious mix and rich cultural traditions mingle with lush
landscapes, majestic Western Ghats, silvery shores, golden sunsets
and cerulean sea-waters. Welcome to God's Own Country.
