Gandhism and Kerala

Gandhism and Kerala

Mahathma Gandhi the father of Indian union had clear vision about the future of his native land that is India. Education being the most important tool in shaping the prospects of the future generation Gandhiji(as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was popularly known) has not left it unattended. Gandiji was well aware of the ill effects of alcohol and he has several times spoke and written to persuade people to avoid booze. Gandhiji was incarnation of simplicity whether it was in building homes, dressing, or celebrating festivals. He has proved from his own actions that work is worship and any work done sincerely needs appreciation.

Whatever the aspects we take in to account, it is surprising to see that the things taking place in Kerala is just the reverse! The ideal vision of Gandhiji was that a student should be independent, and not burden to the society. This stand is not taken in to account by the successive governments. They find it a great pleasure in meddling with the educational institutions day to day affairs. Independent institutions which do not poke a hole in the nation’s kitty are harassed. The service of imparting education is looked down as job worse than pick pocketing. Education has become a political commodity.

“Those who want self reliance in can go else where, this is not the place for them” seems to be the attitude. In fact most of the payment seats in universities else where in India are crowded by students from Kerala. Those states enrich themselves and subsidize their students from the money spend by these students.

The other thing Gandhiji hated most is the consumption of alcoholic drinks. Kerala is the fore runner in this category. It guzzles about three times the quantity than the national average. The successive Governments have made half hearted attempts to check the problem with no positive effects. The long queue before the vendors selling alcohol are standing testimony to the depth to which this malady has rooted in..

Kerala where a statue of Mahathma Gandhi can be seen every nook and cranny most of them ill maintained and turned out to be resting place for stray birds. Prior to Gandhi Jayanthi (birth day of Mahathma Gandhi-October 2) some of them get a cleaning. This is done to make it up for the customary garlanding to be done by some political bosses on the next day morning. Gandhiji’s birthday being a holiday, the government offices and educational institutions remain closed.

Holidays are dime a dozen in this land. What relevance a day has if it is not a holiday is the general perception. A democratic government has to prove its quality by granting more and more holidays! These policies have made the government employees a lazy lot. A holiday is celebrated by young men with a bottle and cheers. Gandhi jayanti is no exception to this rule.

Unemployed young men (“un employed young men” constitute a sizable portion of the population- thanks to the revolutionary policies of the successive governments). It would be interesting to have a look in to the following facts. There exists absolute scarcity for a number of jobs. Some of them may be mentioned below. As both spouses become employed they are in urgent requirement of domestic helping hands. The rapid infrastructure growth needs hard working laborers. In both of these fields no body is available. This vacancy is being filled by workers from neighboring state Tamilnadu. The agricultural fields are left barren for want of laborers.

The present laborers are not willing to send their children to manual work. Manual work is hated in the land which adores Gandhiji( who even cleaned public toilets),The good words of the saint about the greatness of labor is irrelevant to this state! However Kerala can boast of a status as “The capital of unemployment”. The unemployment that persists in Kerala is not real, it is perceived. The doles paid out as “un employment allowance” from Government’s kitty is sheer waste which makes people lazy, and undermines the dignity of labor.

Governments those discourage self reliance in higher education, a curriculum with no relevance that churn out graduates year after year, and a public which hates manual labor, these all collectively form a wonderful concoction, the state of Kerala. It is no wonder that Kerala tops in suicide rate, Alcoholism, unemployment. The mainstream higher education award Bachelor and Master Degrees in science of all disciplines commerce art and history. It is a heavily subsidized zone. The students who enroll for these disciplines are not having much expectation about their future prospects. As they fear of their joining the unemployed main stream after the course.

But students’ unions sponsored by the political parties offer placement to some of them. The present ministers who had their debut as student union leaders aspire them to be somebody, or even future ministers. This scenario has vicious effects. The leaders in the quest for getting followers do anything but attending their classes. The political system that watches the drama is only happy to be god fathers of these enfant terribles.

The violence in the campus is the expression of the frustration of young men who have lost hopes of a normal life in future. Efforts to eradicate the violence without rekindling sparks of hope in these young men are futile. The changing of the out dated syllabus with some relevant ones and substituting these useless main steam courses with job oriented ones alone can make a student hopeful of his future.

The wise men who formulate syllabus need not have to be too wise, Instead a little bit of Gandhi should have done the trick. Make a student pay for the services he receives in the form of education. Let the student select a course which is of some use for him as well as the society. Substituting the blanket cover of subsidy in higher education with liberal award of scholarships alone would be enough to stop this flock of aspirants without aptitude to the benches of higher education.

“It is said that costliest thing in life is that which is given free” The higher education is at present a freely available thing that is turning out to be costly. Extremely costly! Because, that cost incurred is the future of our youth.

Author: Sasi Kumar

Source: Naturemagics.com - website on Kerala Tourism

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