Palai - A Rare Social Model

A Rare Social Model

Although Palai is very much associated with rubber cultivation, the widespread cultivation of rubber started here only around the middle of 20th century. But Palai was into agriculture decades - or even centuries - before that. Until rubber came, farming in Palai was of the composite type, i.e. all crops were inter-planted in all fields by everyone. Typically, all fields had several tiers of plants. Big trees like Coconut, Jackfruit, Mango etc. were there at the upper-most level, followed by other plants of medium height that supported pepper vines. Then the banana plants were there, followed by tubers like tapioca, yam, sweet potato etc. These were staple items then. Further, there were the home-grown vegetables like lady's fingers, egg plant, different varieties of gourd etc. Finally, at the ground level, there were the shrub-like plants like ginger, turmeric etc. This form of composite cultivation, though required hard work throughout the year, was a self-supporting one.

Another feature of Palai is that the place was colonized centuries ago by people migrating from the plains in search of land, and with the hope of making a living - if not a fortune - by 'taming' the land. It was a sort of "wild west". Many among the new migrants perished in the hostile environment, but those who survived became well off. Also, there were no "landless labor" that was common in other parts of Kerala. There was a practice called "Kilachupaathy" (ploughed half) - also called "Vechupaathy" (kept half) - in which owners of large tracts of undeveloped land gave land to those willing to develop it, who in turn are allowed to keep half the land as their own after developing it, and only the other half need to be returned to the original owner. As a result of this novel practice, everyone was the owner of a small parcel of land that he cultivated himself. On the one hand, the cultivation of tapioca and other tuber crops saved the people from poverty and famines that affected other places, while on the other, the dispersed land holding helped to reduce disparities in income levels. A unique type of egalitarian social set up therefore emerged. This also prevented extremist ideologies from making inroads into Palai.

Even now Palai is one of the few places where the rich are not addressed as "Muthalali" (rich man). Instead, the common form of addressing is "Chettan" (elder brother). Those younger than you are simply called by their names, irrespective of their position, wealth or social standing. Only those in the bureaucracy or the professions are addressed by a polite "sir". One is reminded of the practice in Gujarat where all the elderly are addressed by even kids as simply "bhai" (elder brother) even if he happens to be the prime minister. The dominant presence of Syrian Malabar Nasrani Christians here also would have played a role in bringing about this unique social set up in Palai.

Social change which swept the rest of Kerala naturally affected Palai also. In the second half the 20th century, as income from land got divided among the many children in each family, the more enterprising among them started the second wave of migration - this time to the high ranges in Idukki district and to the northern Malabar region of Kerala. Many of today's residents in those regions confirm that their ancestors came from places in and around Palai. The 1960s saw another development. As education became common, many young boys and girls from even middle-class families started going to Europe, USA, UK, Australia and New Zealand to work as Registered Nurses and other medical support staff. This brought great prosperity to a section of population. This was followed by the so-called "Gulf Boom" in which, though late, even many from Palai also joined. As the price of rubber became erratic there was massive influx into government jobs too. The 1990s saw children from every family trying to get a job, preferably an overseas job. The advent of the Information Technology boom made the dreams of many come true.