Behind every success is effort…
Behind every effort is passion…
Behind every passion is someone with the courage to try, and
Behind that person there’s someone who motivates to dream high!

Recently I happened to read the synopsis of the book “Unstoppable” by ace tennis player Maria Sharapova. The book dwells on the story of her rise from nowhere to stardom, her unrelenting fight to stay on top and, more importantly, the story of a father who taught his daughter to dream high and sacrificed every bit of his self to make that dream come true.

Today Maria is a queen of the tennis courts and an athlete with multi-million brand value, but her story didn’t begin in the glory of the tennis court. It began years ago in a small Russian town, where she played on rough courts with precautious concentration. It all began when her father Yuri Sharapov, convinced his daughter had a passion and aptitude, risked everything to get her to the Tennis Academy at Florida in USA, with only seven hundred dollars and few words of English that weren’t enough to make life easy. The fee to join the academy itself was $1,000. The ‘Unstoppable’ is a story of how Yuri begged around to get his daughter admittance to different tennis academies and how he had to sweat it out on the flower gardens and construction sites of rich Floridians to find the needed resources to bloom his daughter’s talent.

Maria was just four-years-old when Yuri noticed she had a knack for the game. Though in Russia tennis was a rich people’s game, Yuri was determined to do everything possible for his little girl. Though she was underage, Maria was given the chance to participate at ‘Junior National Clinic’, at which legendary Martina Navratilova was the chief guest. It was she who suggested Yuri that his little girl was good in the game and that she should be sent to Florida to be trained. Maria’s mother didn’t believe in tennis, but she believed in her husband, and he believed in his daughter.

Maria recounts the determination and hard work her father underwent to convert the simple village girl into one of the greatest athletes in the world. She had to face neglect, pity and partiality, but her father’s hard work, iron will and motivation kept her going. She narrates the story of how her father was kicked out of his job unfairly and also an occasion when he fell at the work site due to acute back ache and was left unattended for hours. He was bedridden for two weeks. There was no money to pay at the academy and the house rent. They were kicked out from both the places. Maria recollects a number of similar instances of ordeals her father and she had to live through as the price for pursuing a dream. There were also good people, who saw her talent and helped her, but the unforgettable saga of dedication and fortune of Maria Sharapova was rooted in Yuri, her coach, manager, father and most dedicated fan. The rest is history as we know it…

Reading through the synopsis I was reminded of my own parents, especially my father, whom I’d like to credit with all the success I’ve achieved in my life. The fruit of his hard work was the fund with which I laid the foundation of V-Guard. His belief in me and moral support kept me going. I’m sure many of you who read this article can correlate the intervention of persons in your life whose sacrifices and motivation became the fodder for your growth – be it your own parents, a teacher, or a well-wisher.
Better late than never, it’s rightful to pay tribute to each of them!

Dear friends,
Let me take this opportunity to thank all of you who follow me on Facebook and this Blog site. I do value your comments and suggestions for my posts and blogs, dealing with various socially relevant subjects.
Please be informed that I have recently started a YouTube channel, wherein I publish my views, interviews, programmes, etc. I request your support by way of comments and suggestions for this initiative too. Please SUBSCRIBE to my channel to get notifications on my latest videos.
Once again thanks and best wishes to each of you.

Yours truly,
Kochouseph Chittilappilly

And Kerala hits a century to claim the title spot!

The October 16th hartal was the 100th hartal in last 10 months in God’s Own Country. Sadly, this does not call for a celebration, rather an appraisal to find a way out of this social menace! This saga of hartals seems to be never ending, as various political parties befool common people saying they are doing it for ‘people’s welfare’. There is absolutely no doubt about the fact that, despite specific directions by the Supreme Court and the High Court, political parties are frequently calling hartal and strikes, seriously inconveniencing citizens.

Who wants hartal?
The party that called for the 100th hartal claimed that ‘people wanted this hartal’, to protest against price rise of fuel, etc. Now that the hartal is over, has it had any positive effect? No. One of my facebook friends rightly quoted: “Nobody wants hartal; only the political fraternity wants it, which is for political gain only.” Truly, this has nothing to do with the welfare of the people and in fact is against the interest of the majority of people. It’s a matter of pity that the politicians neither understand what the people wants, nor the loss the people and the state incur due to a day of shutdown. Or, are they pretending they don’t understand? Probably yes, because, as I understand, from time to time these political parties are creating an opportunity for the criminal-minded followers to vent out their instincts on a legal platform; at the expense of the general public.
After every hartal the party that organises it would say, ‘it was great success’. Yes, it is, because it is fear-mongering that wins hartals in Kerala, and nothing else! People choose to ‘stay out of trouble’, rather than participate to make the hartal a success. This is a point that political parties conveniently choose not to understand!
The only ray of hope I see at the end of the dark tunnel is the intervention of the honourable Kerala High Court, who, while terming the hartal as illegal, directed that various departments should go hand in hand to ensure the safety of the public on the hartal day. Thanks to the HC for voicing the people’s concerns by directing the ruling government to dispel hartal fears, and that whenever a hartal or a strike is called, the government should take adequate measures to see normal life is not paralysed.
Certainly, protesting against injustice is a priceless democratic right. However, that shouldn’t be by invoking more inconvenience to people – through intimidation and vandalism. Hartal in its real terms is ‘satyagraha’, a peaceful means of protest. But what we have in the name of hartal today is ‘Bandh’, that has been abolished – old wine in new bottle!

A Ray of Hope:
This social menace shall never be repeated in God’s Own Country if various political party leaders decide not to do so. Time has encroached once again to hold on to the time-tested mantra of “satyagraha”, rather than ‘atyagraha’ (covetousness). However, we can’t be so optimistic that this menace can be wiped out instantly, knowing well how our democracy functions. However, a ray of hope is that many villages, irrespective of politic inclinations, have come forward to unitedly say ‘No to Hartal’. This is a good symptom for change that should be encouraged. Let’s hope that good sense prevails!

India has celebrated its 70 years of independence. Our predecessors fought hard and long against our common enemy, the British. Across the world there have been struggle for freedom from colonial forces, but what set our freedom struggle apart was that our weapon of protest was ‘non-violence’, championed by the father of the nation, Gandhiji. Thence, we’re on the road to development as a nation in the areas of education, health, infrastructure development, modernization, etc. However, sad as we must admit, the independent nation is slowly being torn apart in the name of political ideologies, religion, caste, region, language, etc.

To protest against injustice in itself is right. India gained independence through a saga of protests. But post-independence, protests or “bandhs” became a tool in the hands of political parties and party leaders to ‘use’ their followers to grind their own axe. The sacred philosophy of ‘non-violence’ gave way to rampant violence; destruction of public property and political murders became part and parcel of the legalized-hooliganism named ‘bandh’.

Here in God’s Own Country, the political parties stopped using the word “bandh” after the Kerala High Court banned it in the end of 1990s. The bandhs didn’t stop though. They were just replaced with the word “hartal”. Today Kerala is known as “Hartals’ Own State”, with the state coming to a complete standstill for over 300 days in the last 6-7 years. Though the true spirit of hartal is based on non-violence or sathyagraha, in actuality today political goondaism is being masqueraded as hartal. Incidents of violence are common when political parties enforce hartals. Such a trend gave rise to ‘political murders’. Often political
ideological differences are settled by shedding blood and settling the equation with a saga of bloodsheds. Despite being an assault on the fundamental rights, people stopped reacting against hartals because of these incidents of gruesome violence.

The tourism industry – the tourists and tour operators alike, are the worst hit during hartals. When a hartal is called, people including foreign visitors are stranded, being forced to spend the whole day in a public place or indoors, without having anything to do, anything to eat or drink. A traumatic experience, I’m sure, they won’t cherish. Those propagating this legalized vandalism, namely the political parties, won’t agree with you that it’s a social menace. Each of them would convince you that the hartal they observe are for public good and those protests called by other parties are against the public interest. Political murders are wedded to hartals here and the victims are always common people. Never have we seen a prominent political leader or their family becoming a victim of political violence.

Those who destroy public property, those who justify such hooliganism and those who support and protect the culprits are all committing unforgivable crime against society. Isn’t it a crime to forcefully house arrest people on the hartal day? Forcefully shutting shops, denying access to medical treatment, stopping students from writing examinations, destroying public property worth crores of rupees – aren’t these all heinous crimes, crime against fundamental rights? Isn’t it a war against the common man?

The anger and frustration against this menace is dormant in the minds of the majority, but rarely do we see anyone reacting against it. A few years back, during the Cliff House Protest called by a political party, the mother of a school-going child voiced her protest against blocking her way to her house. I, for one, was surprised and enthused by the courage shown by a common woman to voice her protest against the powerful protesters – something, I believe, each of us feel like doing, but won’t have the courage. I took the opportunity to recognize that woman’s courage by giving an award, so that many others may take note of this incident and respond likewise. Similarly, I do support initiatives like ‘Say No To Hartal’.

The lone voices against hartals have not been strong enough to influence the policy makers. And, feeble attempts by certain political factions, too, have been torpedoed. It’s high time that the political parties and others adopt alternative methods of protest and say NO to violent hartals. As I said, to protest against injustice is everyone’s right, but we should remember that your quest for justice shouldn’t be at the cost of denying the rights of others.

Nowhere else in the world but God’s Own Country you can see people being tormented in the name of ‘Nokkukooli’, which literally means wages for looking on, and doing nothing. In simple terms, the idea is to enjoy without sweat! With the support of certain political factions, whose only objective is to tap the vote bank, the trade unions in Kerala have kept this practice of goondaism alive for decades.

When I condemned this evil trend and shared my views on facebook, a lot of people commented and expressed their anger and frustration on the subject. Here is what some of them said – and I hope the Trade Union members and political leaders who promote ‘nokkukooli’ will note what people in general think of them:

“It is an irony that even after the Judiciary has banned it and everybody hates these ‘Nokkukooli’ workers, still the govt is pretending to be helpless to take action against these parasites.
There is nothing to be gained by passing new laws. There are enough laws already. What’s needed is to enforce it. The government lacks the will and guts to do it. Political parties encourage these street goondas, because they can’t survive without them. They are day-light robbers, sponsored by a democratic government!
If the govt shows their will and courage to lock these folks who demand money without doing work – under dacoity laws, this phenomenon will stop.
Well, these are some of the comments from people that clearly express their frustration and anger…

Now, as early as in July 2012, the Kerala High Court had demanded pre-emptive steps against Nokkukooli. It called for slapping preventive detention on persons demanding ‘Nokkukooli’ while observing that the practice was thwarting developmental activities in the state. The division bench had ordered that booking a case against persons demanding ‘Nokkukooli’ is not enough but police should also consider using provisions for preventive detention, using the section of preventive criminal laws, including provisions under Criminal Procedure Code and Kerala Police Act, which contain sufficient teeth. What is required is the will to execute without any political interference, from anyone who may command political influence capable of blessing those demanding ‘Nokkukooli’, the court had said.

It is a non-debatable fact that the discouraging policies of various governments and evils such as ‘nokkukooli’ are the reasons why companies are reluctant to invest in Kerala and for the slow infrastructure development in the state. Interestingly, the court also compared the actions of those demanding ‘Nokkukooli’ to that of leeches, in observing that “If the government cannot suppress such demand for ‘Nokkukooli’, it would be a matter of constitutional shame since providing labour to people who are able bodied is also conceived in the Constitution and nobody is permitted in terms of the Constitution to be leeches on others be it society at large or the state for that matter. They amount to offences punishable in law. They are ‘anti-social activities’ as defined in Kerala Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 2007 (KAAPA),” the bench had observed.

Yes indeed, the claim of ‘nokkukooly’ is not only an affront to the Constitution, but also an unauthorised and illegal extraction of money by creating a state of threat and deprivation of property. Considering the kind of political set up we have, we all know that the trend of ‘nokkukooli’ is not going to end anytime soon. The only choice left with the people is to react to situations and isolate these goondas. As one of my fb friends commented, ‘if people are afraid about these tadpoles, society will be ruled by frogs that reside in well, who claims himself to be the Emperor of the world!!!’