My 8th speech at toastmasters Club (Objective: getting comfortable with visual aids) - KERALA: GOD’S OWN COUNTRY

KERALA: GOD’S OWN COUNTRY

On 1^st November I was staring at page 40 of my competent communication manual, project 8 ..Getting comfortable with visual aids…I was not able to decide as to what topic I should select…At that moment I got a call from my mom and she wished me happy Kerala Piravi..Then I remembered the fact that The state of Kerala was created on November 1, 1956 and Malayalees around the world celebrate November 1 as “the birthday of Kerala".

I thought why not speak about the state from which I belong “The Gods own country” Kerala, as there will be lot of beautiful visuals which I can show you through my visual aid… 

Good afternoon toastmaster and fellow orators…today I am going to let you know certain facts about Kerala and keralaites and being a keralite what are my views on kerala and keralaites…

Kerala is a state in south-west India. The National Geographic's Traveller magazine names Kerala as one of the "ten paradises of the world" and "50 must see destinations of a lifetime”.

Let me check whether you know some basic facts about Kerala:-

What is the state capital of Kerala?

Thiruvananthapuram.

The Britishers could not pronounce it properly and changed its name to Trivandrum. Governnent of Kerala changed it back to Thiruvananthapuram

Second question …….Which is the most widely spoken and official language of the state?

Malyalam. Infact keralites speak English and Hindi also in malyalam.((( I will show you how can they do so..

AM can  you please read out these words and I will repeat it after you in mallu accent.

Alarm kangaroo Queen Ohio Seattle twitter birthday garage pizza our  volume gulf ))) :D

 Every indian state has this MTI (mother tongue influence) but mallu accent is sadly more funny.

Among all Indian states Kerala has the highest literacy rate 93.19%, the highest life expectancy (Almost 77 years) and the highest sex ratio 1,084 women per 1000 men. It also has the highest Human Development Index (HDI) (0.790) in the country according to the Human Development Report 2011. 31,841,374 is the population  of kerala. one out of six employed Keralite now works overseas.  As of 2008, the Gulf countries altogether have a Keralite population of more than 2.5 million, who send home annually a sum of USD 9.25 billion.. The money they send back home forms the backbone of Kerala's economy.

Service industry dominates the Kerala economy. Agriculture and fishing are other important source of income. In 1986 the government of Kerala declared tourism as an industry and it was the first state in India to do so. In 2012, Kerala overtook Taj Mahal to be the number one travel destination in Google's search trends for India.

The culture of Kerala is very vibrant and unique. It is home to a number of performance arts. These include classical dance forms like Kathakali and  Mohiniyattam. This vibrancy is also there in Malayalam movies. I have heard people saying that actors from kerala are not good-looking, they are fat with big moustache. But what I feel is they are not models, they are actors and they are good at their job that is acting. Onam is a harvest festival celebrated by the people of Kerala, India. The festival marks the homecoming of the mythical King Mahabali who Malayalees consider as their King. 

Kerala cuisine has a multitude of both vegetarian and non-vegetarian dishes prepared using fish, poultry and meat. Sadhya is a vegetarian meal that is served on a banana leaf and followed with a cup of payasam. When I go to my native town the day starts with dosa or idli, in lunch Rice Sāmbhar. Dinner again rice and some type of fish curry. Many people would enjoy that sort of food but sadly I don’t like it. People don’t believe when I say I am vegetarian, they say you are from Kerala. How come you don’t eat fish…? Well there is no thumb rule that every keralaite has to eat fish.

Kerala is not doubt a paradise in earth but there must be some really solid reason for swami Vivekananda to call Kerala a mental asylum. Yes, in 1890 he had visited Kerala and was astonished to see how deep-rooted the caste system was in the state and he called the stae a mental hospital. It is true that the caste system got eroded from the society to some extent in the society but still the mind-set of people there has not changed much. Other major problem existing in Kerala is the strikes. Hartals – strikes – have clearly become a way of life in Kerala which has seen as many as 363 of them, called by different political parties, since 2005.   My small cousins there eagerly look forward to strike as if it is some sort of festival for which they get holiday.

Other major problem of kerala is their conservative attitude. I am not saying the whole Kerala avoids the cosmopolitan and modern culture. But yes majority of them do. During my visit to Kannur my native district I have seen only two girls wearing jeans in the entire city and Sadly it is me and my sister. You won’t see any girl outside her house after 7pm. Arranged marriages are a holy grail for the society and anything other than that is unwelcome. But yes the society is changing and hope that the day will come were being modern won’t be considered as disagreeable in Kerala.

Yes there are many things I don’t like about Kerala. I don’t know why sometimes I wish I was a maharashtrian..but then the malyalee in me reminds me the wonderful side of Kerala and makes me feel proud of the fact that I am a malayalee…and above that I am an Indian.