Kerala Case Study
Of all the countries I have ever visited, I find India one of the hardest to understand.
You may say that this is obvious, considering the sheer size and variety of India’s ‘terroir’. With around nine climate zones, the range of landscapes is enormous: ‘polar’ Karakorum in the north to tropical Kerala in the south.
But, as you all know, ‘Terroir’ is about human, cultural and economic geography as well as latitude and longitude, and the one thing India excels in is economic inequality.
“As per the 'World Inequality Report 2022', India is among the most unequal countries in the world, with rising poverty and an 'affluent elite.'” [That last phrase could apply to the UK]
https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/india-amongst-the-most-unequal-countries-in-the-world-report/articleshow/88141807.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Or
“While India is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, it is also one of the most unequal countries.
“What is particularly worrying in India’s case is that economic inequality is being added to a society that is already fractured along the lines of caste, religion, region and gender.” Professor Himanshu, Jawaharlal Nehru University
https://www.oxfam.org/en/india-extreme-inequality-numbers
[That looks familiar too.]
In January, we were invited to visit Kerala. Our host and driver was Muslim. Kerala, with a heritage influenced by Portugese and French, as well as Dutch and British, has a small but significant Christian (mainly Roman Catholic) population. The Kochin Jews settled in Kerala as traders, although the community is now tiny. Over half the state of Kerala is Hindu.
Compared with national statistics, Kerala has a lower than average birth rate, a higher than average literacy rate and, for India, an usual gender balance - more females than males. The state government is currently led by the Communist Party of India. Make of that what you will. Could we have divined any of this from our visit?
Politics is a big deal in India and elections are due in May. There is certainly a lively debate and we saw marches and flags and banners relating to the Communist Party, Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Indian National Congress Party and the Indian Union Muslim League. DYFI by the way is not a Welsh county but the Democratic Youth Federation of India.
We understand that the DYFI’s somewhat negative references to ‘Sanghi’ (see photographs below, left and centre), relate to their distaste for the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family") which includes the BJP. Kerala, it seems, still remembers the poor handling of the 2018 flooding by Modi’s administration (see Blog 125).
While religion is obviously a factor for some in their selection of political affiliation, we neither saw nor heard any sign of intolerance during our visit, and our Muslim host was a keen supporter of the ruling Communist party. He rated education very highly and was proud of Kerala’s literacy levels.
The poster (illustrated left), was, however, the only reference we saw to any political/relgious situation beyond India’s boundaries.
Townscape reflects the variety in religious affiliation in the usual higgledy-piggledy fashion of Keralan urban development.
Above:
left: a mosque in a typical south Indian landscape of palm trees and advertising hoardings
centre: a temple in Guravayoor - a significant Krishna (Hindu) shrine and pilgrimage site
right: a church with its foundations in colonialism but still a living place of worship for Kerala’s Christian population.
Remembering the poverty implied by Delhi’s streetscape (ie a multitude of beggars) we were curious about the low level of both beggars and pestering in Kerala. Did the state forcibly remove them or was abject poverty just not a thing? A very partial internet trawl revealed two contrasting websites – The Government of Kerala’s ‘Economic Review Volume 1’ (https://spb.kerala.gov.in/sites/default/files/2024-02/ER_English_Vol_1_2023.pdf) and a Wikipedia post on ‘The Economy of Kerala’ (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Kerala). One was written in a dense bureaucratic style, the other was clear and to the point. They seemed to be saying roughly the same thing, so we’ll continue with the Wiki article. We think the information below relates to 2020 or 2021.
Kerala’s economy is the 9th largest in India (the Kerala Phenomenon)
It is the 2nd most urbanised state in India
2.8% of the Indian population living on 1.2% of its land area, contribute 4% of India’s GDP (don’t be fooled by thinking this is all down to Bangalore’s digital outsourcing successes; that city is in the neighbouring state of Karnataka).
Lots of other stats illustrate low poverty, low unemployment and a strong service sector. No wonder they keep voting in the same political master (the Communist Party of India). Incoming workers support the smaller industrial and agricultural sectors of the economy while many Keralans go elsewhere in search of higher wages.
No prizes for guessing or knowing where many of them go for this perk – the Middle East. Remittances from Keralans in the Arab world make up a very significant proportion of the economy. Our Keralan friend makes annual visits to Qatar to boost his family’s income. To quote the WIKI article: ‘Kerala's economy is based on a social democratic welfare state. Some, such as Financial Express, use the term "Money Order Economy” ’.
One fascinating heritage hangover and exemplar of Keralan aspiration is the Dhobi Khana laundry in Fort Kochi. Established here in colonial times to wash uniforms (accounts differ as to whether the first clients were Dutch or British) the technology is distinctly old-fashioned and physical. Unsurprisingly it is likely to close soon as the workers aspire to the better paid jobs in Kerala and elsewhere.
As probably many readers have already been to Kerala, you will know that tourism and hospitality is also a significant element of the state’s economy. Heritage forts, ports and museums, cultural performances and chic eateries make for an enjoyable experience.
Above - Fort Cochin sea and riverscapes. The anchor (left) is from a 20th century dredger which helped to transform Fort Cochin’s port.
Centre and right - 15th century technology in the form of Chinese fishing nets.
Above: ancient and modern - St Francis Church in Fort Kochin. Left - complete with colonial fabric punkha fan (the poor wallah had to operate it remotely in the heat outside) and right - a post-colonial hymn board.
Above left: historic Jew Town in Fort Cochin (they are trying to change the name) and, above right, the beautifully adorned synagogue which now operates simply as a tourist attraction
Above left: so that’s what a palenquin looks like (Fort Cohin Museum); centre - boats near Alappuzha (Alleppey), and right - Fort St Angelo in Kannur (weddings and school parties a speciality).
Left: preparing for and, centre, performing a significantly shortened Kathakali dance/drama. Right a demonstration of dance skill outside the Krishna Temple
Tourism contributes about 10% of Kerala’s GDP and is a significant employer. Agriculture makes a similar or perhaps slightly smaller contribution to GDP but employment statistics seem to vary wildly from say less than 8% to ‘most of the population’. According to Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Kerala) cash crops are the most important and produce a significant proportion of India’s total output. Production of black pepper is, apparently, enormous, but if we did see pepper (or nutmeg, vanilla and cinnamon) we didn’t recognise it.
We did, however, see coffee, tea, coconut, rubber, cashew nuts, and cardamom, often growing as mixed plantations or multi-layered under light tree cover. The image, right, is the Keralan version of an allotment, a succulent mix of trees, shrubs and ground crops in a (literally) pick and mix tapestry of plant life.
In contrast, the whole rice thing seems very complex – issues such as conversion of paddy to other uses, soil health, productivity/double cropping, water management etc etc, abound. All we can say is that we were struck by the apparent lack of mechanisation (this applied to many of the other crops we saw too), the scary size of some enormous paddy fields – acres and acres all devoted to just one plant - and the fact that they were often below the level of the neighbouring water course. The words safety and sustainability instantly came to mind.
The two photographs (above) were both taken looking down from the banks of a substantial river. Gravity must make flooding the paddy fields much easier, but it must be disastrous during other types of floods.
But some things are universal. This poster calls for a mass sit-in by rail drivers. You can probably read their demands for yourself. We sense a rail replacement bus service coming on.