Mallu medley

Looking charges

A soldier wanted to build a house. That’s fine. Everyone wants to own a home. This jawan started construction in his home district of Alleppey one and a half years back. He would not have anticipated any problem.

Trouble started when he and his brother unloaded some building materials that had been brought to the site.

Enter members of the Marxist-led workers union. They had no objection to the brothers handling the unloading. They only wanted to be paid for the job which they did not do. It is known as ‘nokkukooli’, which means looking charges.

Eighteen months passed and more construction material arrived. Again, the brothers and their men did the unloading. The Comrades were back, demanding Rs.4000/- as ‘nokkukooli’ including their unmet demand on the earlier occasion.

The soldier refused to pay. The union men beat up the brothers and their men, and threatened the womenfolk.

This is not an isolated incident. ‘Nokkukooli” is quite prevalent in Kerala, particularly in Alleppey district. The Marxists leaders preach against the practice, but turn a Nelson’s eye when such instances happen.

There used to be a law that permitted citizens to unload domestic items and construction materials for their own use, either themselves or with their employees. The police could interfere if there was any obstruction by outsiders. Likewise, a farmer could handle his produce himself or with his men.

The present Communist-led government changed the law. Now the police cannot interfere. They can watch if they want, but won’t charge anything for that.

Rupees 4,617.5 crore (46,175 million)

Five Year Plan expenditure? A major industrial venture? Some scheme to help the poor? Money set apart for a worthwhile project?

No.

It is the sales turnover for liquor by the Kerala State Beverages Corporation for the year ended March 31, 2009. It shows an increase of Rs.948 crores over the previous year. The figure does not, I believe, include toddy, illegally sold spirits, and liquor directly imported by luxury hotels.

Not a bad performance for a small state!

Related post:

Merry Mallus and mosquitoes

Down the river of no return

A bewildering SMS received yesterday reads:

‘I am leaving forever, never to return. I don’t know how you feel about me. Hope you carry fond memories of our time together. Goodbye.’

Before revealing the sender’s name, let me tell you briefly about my trip to Cochin. I was planning to stay there till the 4^th of Jan but had to return to Chennai earlier on some urgent matter. That was a pity because the weather is pleasant in Kerala and there are so many weddings and functions on these days which I would have loved to attend.

First I tried to get an air ticket on the 30^th, but the price quoted ranged from Rs.4,700+ to nearly Rs.10,000. I decide that it was too much and asked for a ‘tatkal’ train ticket. A couple of hours later when I switched on the TV there was a news flash saying the some airlines were cutting fares by 35% to 82%. That is how it goes!

Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise when the travel agent came back with a regular 2AC ticket, senior citizen concession and all. Saved Rs.4000 by not buying the air ticket!

I suppose that people do not like to spend New Year eve on a train. Or was it a fear of terror attack? There was a warning about an assault on our aircraft carrier Virat, but the Alleppey Express, I felt, was too insignificant a target. I reached back safely.

In my ‘Merry Christmas’ post on 25^th December I mentioned that liquor sales for the festival was reportedly low. Well, Blogger Nebu has pointed out that the same evening the Kerala Beverages Corporation announced an all time high sales of Rs.41 crores (410 million) worth of spirits on Christmas Day!

Apparently, I had spoken too early. I should have known my Keralite brethren better.

By the way, ‘River of no return’ was the title song of a popular movie of the 1950s starring Marilyn Monroe.

Now about the SMS. The sender’s name was given as ‘2008’ !

A HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR to all of you.