‘New’ Kerala: From Hortus Malabaricus to the Gadgil Report
K.M. Seethi
‘Dutch treat’ and ‘Dutch courage’ are (often informal and sometimes carrying a pejorative connotation) referred to the two specific instances of how people find themselves ‘comfortable’ in social encounters. The first one brings in the lessons of how we should share the ‘burden’ of expenses (be it in feast or in fasting). The second one is related to the ‘spirit-generated’ confidence and courage people may sustain, however temporarily. In both ways, Kerala is now compelled to be the ‘busiest’ and the ‘booziest’ state in India. We are ‘busy’ in rebuilding Kerala with lessons both ‘learnt and unlearnt.’ We were ‘booziest’ because even in the midst of disaster, we proved that we couldn’t but spend as much as $100 million in just 10 days for this ‘courage.’ Flood of both ‘courage and conviction,’ indeed. It’s good that the State has imposed additional taxes on ‘booziest’ trade.
From the period of Dutch colonialism in the 17th century—which touched Kollam, Kochi and Malabar in different ways—we have travelled significantly with the Dutch inherited ‘insights,’ experiences and practices (leave alone the significant insights generated by Hortus Malabaricus which Madhav Gadgil would have read). The Dutch fortresses and palaces in Kerala, however, continued to remind the memories of a colonial past. For the scholars of International law and international relations, the two Hague Conferences represent a significant milestone in setting the norms and principles of political exchange relations though they couldn’t prevent the cataclysmic destruction caused by the two world wars (the second one began on 1 September). Yet, the Dutch traditions and experiences continued to generate diverse thoughts.
In the 1960s, the Netherlands experienced what the economists called ” the Dutch disease” when the high revenue generated by its natural gas discovery led to an unexpected fall in the competitiveness of its other, non-booming tradable sector. Though there was a revenue surge with the discovery of natural gas, the Dutch economy went through a process of fall in economic growth. This phenomenon was recognized as a complex situation in which a booming sector impacted the other sectors of an economy. Ever since there was a proliferation of literature on the “Dutch disease” which went on investigating the commodity booms experienced by some countries. For instance, the Gulf oil boom in the 1970s brought forth significant consequences. Curiously, even Kerala became a testable site of this phenomenon.
In the 1980s, some scholars speculated if the state of Kerala had been undergoing the same experience of ‘Dutch disease’ with the foreign remittance becoming the driving force of ‘boom-in-spending’, undermining the local economy with its attendant implications for wage structure, manufacturing and production. Though the Netherlands had overcome its ‘disease’ (not a surprise that a country having half the size of the population of Kerala has become the world’s second largest exporter of agricultural commodities!), Kerala has never made any serious attempt to move away from its ‘remittance-dependence’ and hence remained stagnant, over years, with high level dependence. One wonders if there is any other state in India with such ‘over-dependence.’ The return of ‘Gulf migrants’ in thousands and thousands—with a new migration policy regime put in place in GCC countries—and the dwindling foreign remittance naturally became a cause of concern for all in recent times. Kerala was literally in the midst of a sort of ‘rehabilitation.’ ‘Rehabilitation’ of ‘return migrants’!
Naturally, the disaster that hit Kerala has caused much deeper worries insofar as the problems inherited from the past got multiplied in less than two weeks. Ironically, we are again compelled to ask the same migrant-community across the world that ‘we need your help.’ The Chief Minister of Kerala, today, categorically stated that we cannot expect the Union Government to come to our help in a big way. A scenario of ‘Dutch treat’ reminds that we must find resources for our expenses! It also logically fits into the neoliberal dictum that we can only ‘facilitate’ not necessarily ‘provide’ everything.
Is this crisis becoming a golden ‘opportunity’? Many believe so. Are we to take further lessons from other countries? Many think so. The Netherlands having such experiences of handling natural disasters like flood (with about one-third of the land being situated below sea level), it is natural that there are pointers from the erstwhile ‘Dutch masters.’
Our friend Venu Rajamony, who is currently the Indian Ambassador in the Hague, wrote that “ Having struggled with water throughout their lives, and built significant expertise, the Dutch see themselves as having an important role in helping others deal with similar problems. The Dutch Government sends Surge Support Teams in response to calls for relief during crisis around the globe and supplies experts on water and water-related disasters to countries and humanitarian organization.” He also writes: “The devastating floods in Kerala have occupied centre stage in the media of the Netherlands with an outpouring of sympathy and support from Dutch nationals as well as the Indian diaspora. The Dutch Government has indicated that they would be happy to make available their knowledge and skills to the Indian government if such a request is made. The Dutch Minister for Infrastructure and Water Management has personally written expressing grief over the tragedy and readiness to explore with India how to move forward, including through the exchange of technical expertise.”
What Venu wrote could be explored with all seriousness. This should not, however, be linked unnecessarily with the controversies that got underway in the late 1990s regarding the Dutch-funded ‘local level development’ projects. There can be any number of arguments if such funded projects would lead to ‘mitigation of class conflicts’ and that imperialism would make further inroads into the state. The process of ‘mitigation of class conflicts’ has been underway on a grand scale across the country since independence and Kerala could not remain immune to this process albeit the Communist parties in Kerala seized political power.
Now that the State has gone through unprecedented cataclysmic flood-related issues, one wonders if this sort of ‘ideological debate’ would carry any conviction even as the victims of the disaster are reeling under existential pressure. A major point of debate, of course, would be the nature of ‘rebuilding’ Kerala given its environmental implications for the flora and fauna which both Hortus Malabaricus and Gadgil Report catalogued in detail. In any case, there are pointers that the people are now under compulsion to reduce ‘Dutch courage’ and look upon the future more imaginatively.
