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The Ugly Truth about Caste in Kerala

Many years ago, when I wrote this post on Kerala's caste system, I had not considered that people would start sending in abusive comments about one caste over the other. It baffles me that this is how Indians, all of us, continue to judge each other on account of caste differences. 


My question is - why do you ABUSE any caste or community? I suggest that you read about the lives of great Masters and their stories - none of them judged anyone on the basis of caste. 

You can read the life stories of Sri Adi Shankara Bhagawadpada, Tulsidas, Jnaneshwar, Namadev, Sri Aurobindo, Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Paramahansa Yogananda, Shirdi Sai Baba, and many more Gurus in Sanathana Dharma. NONE of them endorse these caste hierarchies in Bhakti Marga.

Assuming that Guru Sampradaya does not appeal to your sensibilities, do read this new book 'Ants among Elephants' written by Sujatha Gidla, who writes about herself as being born 'an untouchable in India' teaches you everything you probably want to know about caste. I don't agree with the writer glorifying the violent Maoist movement in Andhra Pradesh but I also understand that her life is different from mine, her situations have been more challenging.

But the reality of life is that we Indians always "judge'' others on the basis of caste.  

This is not about Hindus alone, every Indian is obsessed with judging another on the basis of caste. More non-Hindus ask me about my caste than Hindus. Read the matrimonial ads on Indian websites and even in newspapers confirm this shocking reality, not to mention how obsessed we Indians are with 'fair looking' brides. 

In the last few months, we have seen things turning worse in Kerala. Remember, the brutal murder of a Dalit named Madhu? His expression still haunts me. It is a mob that beat him to death! A mob that includes people of all religions probably! How dare we talk about God or spirituality when we do not know how to treat a fellow human beings? I wish I knew the answer but I don't know what makes us do these evil things. 

Kerala also witnessed an 'honour killing' of a 23 year old boy named Kevin, whose only 'mistake' is that he wanted to marry the girl he loved. News reports say that her family had a problem with Kevin being a 'Dalit Christian.'

In fact, Sujatha Gidla's book refers to how Kerala Christian girls whom she met shunned her though she herself is a Christian:

"We are Brahmin Christians," she was told.

Sujatha Gidla writes, "When I came to America, I met more Kerala Christians...they all told me the same story: they were Brahmins converted by Saint Thomas."

Then the writer asks a pertinent question that led to her own family's history, "So, what is the relation between religion and caste? Between caste and social status? Between social status and wealth? Between wealth and caste?"


Here is what I often face.

In Kerala, as a Malayali who returned from abroad, one of the first things I kept getting asked is, "What is your caste?" Even in North India, I am asked this question. So, as you understand, this is about we 'Indians'. We need to CHANGE! Our mindsets are archaic!

In real life, and this is my experience so far, being a Menon is like being denied every decent right that is available to everyone else in the country. But I have been receiving so much abuse for sharing my experience. My question, dear reader - what does this tell me about YOUR MINDSET if you are so intolerant about another person's views? 

My father topped and got entry for both medical and engineering way back when entrance exams were not yet the norm. As always, the seat for medical colleges were prone to manipulation and his merit seat was denied to him because he is a Menon. Not just him, a whole batch of Menon students who had cleared and should have got the medical admission were denied the same in the name of caste! Thankfully, my father filed a case in court and it is the famous lawyer Advocate Shiva Shankara Panicker who argued his case (his son is Justice K Radhakrishnan, SC Judge at present). He won the case and my father got his medical seat on merit. But he had lost an academic year during the litigation process and so did the others. Even now I don't know how much has changed for the Menons. 

This unfortunate social phenomenon called caste has further divided Kerala as a caste-ridden, materialistic society that places almost zero emphasis on nurturing human values like compassion and commitment to the unfortunate or vulnerable sections of the society. We have become a state that is obsessed with status symbols more than anything else. This shame is growing with us, destroying all that was good, pure and beautiful about Kerala.

Okay, I am not accusing anybody here, I am just telling you what an ordinary person feels.

Notably, the very last Rajah of Travancore passed a law which allowed those who were socially vilified as "Untouchables" to enter the temples in his realm. This was way back in 1936. Does anyone remember it today? We talk of other social reformers who have now earned the status of gods. I admire them but why is it that the last Rajah of Travancore is never given the same respect? Is it because he is unfortunately of royal birth and lineage? Let's at least start with a balanced view of how casteism is not supported by every Malayali out there. There are many who opposed it right from the start. 


Does any history book document the names of those who opposed the caste system in Kerala, way before Independence? I don't think so. And that's exactly why our colonial rulers exploited the faultlines to divide Indians on the lines of caste and community. The fact that we are still squabbling over it tells us one thing - the British succeeded in dividing us. 

What are your views on this? I'd be glad to know as long as the discussion is constructive.

Do feel free to read something positive here check out and subscribe to my WEEKLY NEWSLETTER.

Comments

KParthasarathi said…
It is a revelation.Frankly I cannot believe that such things are happening.While some forward castes are kept disadvantaged in education,jobs and in segments where governments have a say, this extreme intolerance is not found elswewhere in other states.
If this were the state of affairs with caste playing a divisive role even in a highly literate state like Kerala, I think it is tiime for good hearted people to join together to fight this menance.
Jzt4me said…
Gosh, A Xian lady asking for the caste...that was really the extreme...As for me, I had never encountered such atrocious behaviour...

But yes, I too really hate the Caste system...On the whole, I hate the Reservations due castes..Why not give reservations on the basis of their wealth...Being a Nair, myself had hated the system of giving priority to undeserving candidates just because they belonged to the lower caste...haa...

A cousin who got Bank Selection got a job in her hand after almost 2 years, just bcoz the vacancies were filled in the format of 1 Merit, 2 SC, 2 ST, 1OBC and then 1Merit...and so on...so to reach her Merit position of 11, it took 1 year...

I still remember what my aunt told me years back...She travelled in a busy bus and then walked long distance in the hot sun and reached the centre and bought an Application form for Entrance exam for some Rs500...when she stood there all tired and sweating...there came an expensive car and out came the owner all dressed in expensive clothes...Walked straight through and bought a form for Rs 100...He was from the reservation category...

This was told with sarcasm by my aunt...But then, the truth is devastating for many of us...
@KParthasarathu: It is getting worse and socially, the people of Kerala are being forced to adhere to the game of cultural clusters. This is not good for the people or the future generations of this highly literate state. What makes it worse is that politicians across all political parties encourage this to the maximum.
@Jzt4me: The story that your aunt told strikes a chord with thousands of Menons, Nairs and Nambiars. I can understand, having seen this happen over and over again. Politicians are encouraging this because they count on casteist vote bank to bring them the big win. We need action and reactions to counter this approach rather than be complacent, and that is why I wrote the blog post.
Anu said…
I am a Nair myself and am aware of the Nair/Menon preference in Trivandrum. But honestly I feel that the caste system is one of the few things that is keeping India from being a country full of people who pee and poo on the streets. The lower castes should not be given reservations or any form of undeserving privileges. The country as a whole is filthy dirty because of such poor lower class people. It is important to safeguard the upper, more educated and intelligent class of people. The caste system in India is a necessary evil.
Hi Anu, I understand your perspective but my thoughts are different. Reservations have helped the minorities or the nation's interests and therefore, I think it should be discontinued. However, I don't believe that the varna system and the caste system as practised today are one and the same thing.

Gandhiji is one of great people who made a bold attempt to differentiate the two. The Varna system didn't have the evils of the caste system, whereas the caste system is a real evil and a menace to a progressive India and a progressive people.

At the same time, I do respect the views of the Nair community as I belong to it too.
Anonymous said…
Dear Ms.Swapna,

I really thank you for speaking my heart out.My name is Soumya Subramaniam(Half iyer n half Nair)I personally have been going through this dilemma since the day i have moved to Cochin from Goa.I have travelled across india ,been to a lot of places due to my job and have noticed this kind of discrimination only in kerala.I have had some fall-backs in my personal life due to which we shifted to cochin,but unfortunately,the consequences was due to a Ezhawa family.My parents and my relatives are now so much into the caste thing that they have still not realised what i feel and that iam not against any caste.They have searching for an alliance for me but they are particularly searching the same community as we and its really getting hectic as no alliances wants to marry.My situation is such.I just seem to hate the culture here of caste,dowry,gold demands ,iam the only child to my parents but out kerala society does not seem to understand that.I would really like to connect with you.I have my profile in facebook as Soumya Raman Subramaniam,iam also a member of No dowry Society in Facebook.If you would like to join me,please do so.
Soumya, I am very sorry to hear about the bad experience you have undergone. It is indeed disturbing that caste is a reason for so much unhappiness and pain in a woman's life and continues to be so. Thank you for sharing your story with me. It means a lot to me that you trusted me to convey your feelings here.
Anonymous said…
I have to disagree with what "amma" said, "you are part of society so and so accept it", that is not the right words. So what of society had human sacrifices and child sacrifices? We accept it because we are "part of society" ??? We are called to civilize and enlighten society and combat caste system not blindly "accept" and "respect" what is there, then we end up respecting devils.
Anonymous said…
I'm a varma girl from kerala and i too hate caste system. once i went to a temple. it was about to close when the swami there said,"those belonging to the noble family may enter and see." everybody hated it and i was so ashamed to step out and go in because evryone was very upset of this.
@Anonymous: The problem of caste related inequality and social identity is getting worse by the day. In South India, the problem has been hushed up and suppressed. But the one thing we have to remember is that in many parts of the country those belonging to the lower caste are beaten, stripped and treated like slaves with no dignity so to speak. In the South I think the discrimination is definitely less but that doesn't make it a lesser problem.
cricketfreak said…
To be honest, Swapna, I am a Nair and I have never encountered any discrimination or bias in any way. I thought this never happened in Kerala. Obviously I am wrong.
cricketfreak said…
My God...do people like you still exist in today's world? How sad that you have come to such a conclusion. The lower class people need help, and education to slowly climb out of poverty. It is people like you who are hindering them and thereby hindering the whole country. The whole caste system will be abolished:it is the one great defect of Hinduism. Then, and only then, will the streets be clean again.
Horrible Blaker said…
hey dear friends,

I don't want to mention that I'm a such and such person from a caste . I'm a Keralite more over I believe that I'm a human being. Just forget about all the discrimination you have faced in your life, because , the future of kerala lies in our hands . As we the youngsters of kerala must understand that above all it must be LOVE that should be prevalent in our hearts . Please never ever discriminate anyone in your life based on anything , the only solution for these problems is to make our land a place without caste . I love kerala as a place where only humans live ...so please work towards that goal...I have a solution for these problems in my head ...Its the promotion of love marriages rather than forced community marriages..thus making it possible to have a place without a fixed caste.
that is a correct answer.
chitra raji said…
the customs ,practices and even the houses were built according to these needs.those who were wealthy were able to built bigger houses.these big houses built by the nairs have some specialty.the steps leading to the second floor starts right from the veranda.this was to help those visitors or sambandakars.they dont have to enter the house ,they can easily go to the second floor and enter their favourists room.these type of houses can be seen still in many parts of kerala.the namboothiri houses too have some peculiarity.that part where homas are done doesnot have second floor that was to avoid filling of smoke into the second floor.nairs where the main servants of the namboothiri families without them it was difficult for the bhrahmins to maintain their houses.
sunantha warrior said…
There are some popular beliefs in kerala .even historians are not free from these prejudices .one such prejudice is nairs were the sole warriors or soilders in kerala during the earlier period.can it be true by any means.actually answer is no.one european person who were in kerala during the middle of 1700s wrote that ,there were some 15 lakh soilders in kerala.he gives the army strength of each princely states eg 50000 regular army in travancore,another 1lakh using traditional weapons.samudhiri had some 50000 to 75000.kochi had 35000 and palakkad raja had 20000etc.this goes on and on.even that list was not complete.but we know even in the census taken in the last decades of 1800s ,the total savarna population was less than 10%.to sustain a 15lakh army is not easy.even india in 21st century find it too expensive.and population strength is one main concern.any country can rise a army which will be some 5% to 10% of its youths population.may be the kerala armies were not regular armies.still 15 lakh soilders is not so easy to be formed from a section of the society which forms only a minority of the society.but we shall better look at the records and make an understanding of the actual fact.

palace records does not use the word nair army.samudiri granda varikal never refer to nair army.the word used is lokar.why would they have not used the word nair pada,if it the usual usage or the pada was actually consists of nairs.they should have used it surely .but the reason is evedent the then army was not consists entirely of nairs.samudhiri letters have also been found.in it also he never used the word nair pada.there also he used the word lokar.the famous naval battles fought during that time was betteen portugeese and naval army of samudhiri led by marakkar .the naval army was mainly consists of mappilas.
sunantha warrior said…
there is one incidant,once a portugeese army group invaded calicut and marched upto samudiris palace.samudiri was not there ,nor his army.lokar or people around the place or in the city got alert and attacked the portugese.many portugeese were wounded and some killed ,portugese were forced to return to their ships,never again they dare to do such a thing.majority of people in calicut city are ezhavas or thiyyas,even now.if there is another major group its the muslims.(mukkuvar or deevara are also there.but lesser in beech area compared to more southern and norther parts.also muslims were converted from ezhava and deevara families for serving in navy. )the greatest lord (or family )in calicut that time was a ezhava having granded many titles and positions from samudiri.when haider attacked calicut this lord came to see haider ali and presented gifts before him and requested to spare the people of calicut.while samudhiri family and many brahmin familes fled to travancore.

there is a place in malappuram near the boarder to kozhikode where kadalundi puzha joins the sea.its name is kottayil.there is a hill near by and a fort.also a palace or kovilakam and a devi temple ,kottayil devi shetram.at the top of the hill a smaller temple also is there.monkeys dominate there.a very large number.the main temple walls are painted with ramayana stories.samduris family members liv...ed in the palace till 1921.at that time samudiris sister was living there.during the mappila lehala ,the mappilas came ,surrounded the palace,closed all the doors from outside,shuting all inside-mainly ladies and set fire to the house.then they left.the people inside cannot find a way to escape nor a way to open the doors.they prayed to kottayil devi.suddenly with trembleing sound,the doors opened and everyone ran outside,thanking to devi.thus they all survived.because of these incidents people have great faith in this temple.
this is a strategical place in terms of military.there is a family named karippara near this place.during samudhiri rule,they were the most trusted family of samudhiri.the military and the administrative responsiblity was entrusted them.the fort cheif was from this family.when army moves to malappuram or to bharatha puzha during mamangam or when samudhiri forces move towards palakkad or kochi,the logistics was controlled from here.ship movemnts can be watched from the near by hill.another family named dharmoth was also held key roles in military in these area.even now karippara family have some privilages in the temple now understaken by samudhiri and malabar devasom.these two families are thiyyas.
many of the thiyya families held key roles in military in samudhiris reign.kolathiri or chiraykyal swaroopam was ruling in kannur and many if not all of their military commanders were ezhava or thiyya.still now ezhava are the majority in kannur.please also note that chaver pada is not a nair army.it could never be.it was a offensive group formed amoung the army ,to fight against the chola rule.

sunantha warrior said…
marthanda varma is very famous kerala king ,for he defeated the dutch forces at kulachal in 1744.c.v.raman pillai has written a novel named marthanda varma.in it a hero like character is there.it is ananda padmanabhan valia padathalavan.in the novel he is made a nair ,son of thiru mukattu pilla.but actually he is a historical figure.he was not a nair,he was from a channar family.he was the marthanda varmas very trusted person,was his body guard,his army chief and his closest friend.history books usually try to conceal him.only reference of him will like this---after the death of army cheif ananda padmanabhan,aiyyappan (pillai or nair )was made cheif.---.ananda padmanabhan was treacherously killed.his tomb is till in kanya kumari district.he was actually the strength and brain of modern travancore.without him marthanda varma would have been killed by pillamar in his twenties. also mankoikkal family which is refered in the novel also existed.they too is a channar family.never and not a nair or kuprupp family.this two families exists in kanyakumari district.

marthandavarma trusted ezhava soilders.its wrong that he as a whole distrusted nairs.actually all pillais were not nairs.it was not a caste name but a title position granded by king. Pillai was a lord postion or title given by the king after a ceremony called thirumukkam pidikkuka .the selected person sits on an elephant and is taken around the city ,followed by other lords and important officers.when this procession reaches the palace ,king receives him and the title of pillai is bestowed to him.he can build a big house in that particular place where his lord ship is given.he shall be known with the title of that place with sufixed with pillai eg kazhakutton pillai,chempazhanthi pillai etc.there is a doubt that ramanamadom pillai is a brahmin.in 1830s even during the british rule a brahmin was given the title of pillai,he was the then devan in travancore. its like a lord or prabhu.bhrahimin,muslims and christian pillais were also given pillai position.similar to pillai the title given in kochin was menon and in kannur it is nambyar. menon title were held by ezhava familes and other castes.as it is now belived as a caste name ,they now dont use it nowadays.these were more an administrative postion than a military position.they were entrusted with the duty to collect the tax from land in that locality.for that a small army was allowed to be kept under them.
sunantha warrior said…
in north its likely that entire army of kolathiri and majority of zamorins was thiyyas.there is no nair pada mentioned in the records of these kings.actually the word nair and nair pada was repeatedly used by portugese.due to many reasons our earlier historians studied and may be only read their writings ,records,letters etc.thus the wide spread concept of nair pada imprinted in the minds of us.to be frank i never came across a firm evidenace of nair pada ever existed.only one was a battalion in madras regiment.and remember it was one of the first units disbanded or renamed just after independance.by then it was not actually a nair pada as many non nairs were in it.

During the time of velu thampi naval supreme commander of travancore was a ezhava.he was a friend of veluthampi and fought against british.he is also considered as one of the bravest warriors in kerala.when veluthampi began preparations for a war against british ,a rival group formed which opposed the velutampi.they asked kuthira pakshi ,a famous warrior then ,who was also a good fighter well trained in weapons ,to go and meet naval commander,who was in support of velu thampi.if commander does not joins with the rival group he shall be killed by kuthira pakshi.commander was then in his 50s but was a master in arms.kuthira pakshi asked him to meet in a paddy field .when he came he was asked to leave tampi and join the rival group.but he declined.at last kuthira pakshi drawed sword and attacked the commander.but the older commander slipped aside and cut down the kuthira pakshi.kuthira pakshis death stired a general fear amoung the rivals of thampi.which helped him to organose a fight against british.
the naval commander during velu thampi's time was and is a great warrior and brave personalites of kerala.he was the one who made the plan to attack manrove thuruth.after the defeat of velu thampi ,the commander was taken prisoner and brought before manrove.manrove himself conducted the trial at sankumukkam beach.the prisoner was brought before him and was burried upto neck.the british cheif sat before him in a chair.he asked the prisoner "did u fought agianst british" answer was yes.again "did u killed british men" the middle aged naval commander replied "yes i have killed british men.if possible i shall do it again.they are the invaders."monrove was suprised to hear this reply.he did't expected such a reply.he understood the spirit and braveness of the commander ,understood he fought for his mother country and for freedom.so he pardoned the commander and released him.he eventually went back to his house.
one of the stories about sakthan tampuran ,a reference about the vadakkum nadan guarding brigade is said.it was a ezhava army ,its head was also an ezhava.
An said…
I am totally against the caste system in Kerala. The question which I hate most is "what is your caste?".But I have to encounter this question a tons of times in my life since my school days(to be precise from my 2nd standard).I hate it when people add caste name as their second name.Its not at all a good practice.Its a kind of telling indirectly that I am superior than you.My opinion is to remove your caste name from your name If U don't have the superiority complex. At least remove your caste surname your Facebook profile name as a first attempt. I am also against caste based reservations.In my opinion we have to stop the caste based reservation and we still need reservation to uplift the backwards from all castes(i hate that word !).I knew a lot of people from so called backward caste in a good financial situation still enjoying the benefits from government.The Government Jobs has became a dream for those from upper caste.The irony is that you might be wondering what my caste is?!
Anonymous said…
my dear friend am a nair but actually i dont like caste system.but all else in my family believes in it.but they dont usually have hate or discrimination to other caste.particularly a ezhava family is near our house.they are like familiy members to us.when one girl in our family reached the age of marriage everyone in our house was anxious as she may be in love with a boy in near by house.but even though they know and liked each other they were not in love.and all were so relived as her marriage occured smoothly.i too married a nair girl.am now in government service.to be frank i dont think caste reservation is actually maintained nor the obc caste and sc gets real benefits.only recently caste certificates were used to scrutinize. at office my caste was noted immediately and was made part of a secret team mainly organized on caste.they interfere in all matters related to money and funds.obc and sc persons in our office are generally kept away from these meetings eventhough they are competent and some times were officers. now i slipped away from that office .
rajeev kumar said…
it have been shown earlier that the army commander of marthanda varma was anantha pathmanabhan who was a channan or nadar and not a nair.he was also the commander of the personal body guard battalion of the king.it consists of 36 warriors selected by the king personnaly.they were all channars.in many victorious battles conducted by marthanda varma the commander was ramayyan who was not a nair.his caste is not known clearly.he was born in tamilnadu and came into the serice of the travancore king at a very young age.for many years he was considered as a bhrahmin,but some have pointed out that he belonged to the maravar community of tamilnadu.what it is clear is that he is not a nair .kanakku ,pillai,chempaka raman etc were given as titles to the courters or to those who were in service or to those who have done service to the king. it was not given on community basis nor to a particular caste.it cant be competetant persons are to be taken to service and it cannot be found from a particular caste,not always from upper caste .

in kerala the largest about one third population is ezhavars another caste.many ezhavars were in military service in olden days.not only they were soilders but also were commanders and officers in the armies.varnapalli family was the army chiefs and ministers of kayamkulam kingdom, so was ambanattu panikkar in service of ambalapuzha kingdom,ambantttu family of kollam was another ezhava family in service of kollam or desinganadu principality.Akathayyadi panicker was the cheif army commander of elaidatthu soroopam or kottarakkara kingdom.(Ref: Pathonmpatham noottandile keralam by Bhaskaranunni),Renakeerthy and dharmakeerthi chekavars - Commandor of Marthandavarma. (Ref: Travancore state manual.).ezhavars were largely in the service of cochin kingdom ,sankthan thampuran specialy appointed a ezhava military betallion in the guard of vadakkum nathan temple , commanded by a ezhava officer.in malabar area ezhavar were largely addressed by the name thiyyar and chekavar.chevam means military service in malayalam.those who were soldiers were known as chekavar.as thiyyars were so much in military service that ,it became another caste name of ezhavars.the word chaver pada or suicidal squad was actually derived from the word chekavar.whether it actually existed a question still not answered.
santhosh kumar said…
During last decade of 19th century ie during 1890's a man called C.V.raman pillai who was living kerala wrote a novel,a historical romance.it was one of the first novels in Malayalam.the novels name is marthanda varma-the famous king of travancore who enlarged travancore to a bigger country and made it strong with new revenue administration .he also weakened the feudal system there which was slowly emerged and formed from 14th century.C.V.Raman was very high caste spirited person (as was like many at the time.even now its said that nairs are the most caste spirited persons in kerala ).so he named all the important characters of the novel with surname pillai, some of the characters were real historical figures .they too were christian-ed with pillai surname.this novel was very popular and was taught in schools and colleges(even now) .many thought foolishly that it was the real history.but actually many characters were his creation which he thought needed for a love story.he knew many folk songs and from that he formed his own story.some parts of these songs are including at the start of each chapter.

Many after reading this novel tried to read the history accordingly ,doing so they corrupted the real history.as all know kerala people is very caste spirited specially the upper castes and christians.the caste organizations of kerala also tried to make profit from this novel.and thus when the real social history surfaces many people find it difficult to believe and accept.

 The author C.V.Raman was a learned man .but at his time travancore state government jobs were mainly given to tamil bhrahmins.new educated malayalees wanted to have jobs in government and they organised and started demanding this need.a memorandum was submitted to king which was signed by thousands demanding appointment of malayalees in administrative jobs of travancore.but it was rejected.later some relaxation was given.many ezhavars awere also signed in that memorandum including Doctor Pulpu ,one of the great reformation personalities of kerala,along with the nairs and others.when government began to accept malayalee youngsters to service,ezhavar and other castes were denied this right.it was like a 100% reservation for the upper class,mainly benefited by nairs.it aroused a new hate and separation between nairs and ezhavars who were now in obc list and were untouchables at the time. but ezhavars were already organised and actively taking part with the reform movements of sndp .nairs and bhrahmins lagged back and were clinging tight to the old customs.many learned persons from upper class including nairs and bhrahmins were actually part of the reform movements and were working even with sndp .eventually removements started in upper class and new organisations were formed.nairs were so few in number.so many small castes , sects and groups joined together and took the umbrella name nairs and formed the organistion named nair service society(nss).after the formation of nss many sects were included in it.eventhough it was a organization meant for the modernization or civilizisation as explained by its leaders at that time ,it eventually became involved in politics after independance and is the most benefited caste organization in kerala.

rajeev kumar said…
Ananadha padmanabhan is the central or hero of the novel mathanda varma written by C.V.Ramana.this character again appears in another novel by the same author.the marthanda varma novel is also love story between anadha padmanabhn and a nair girl.anantha padmanabhan is a trusted friend and companion of marthanda varma.he is very good in arms and is a good warrior.he saves the king many times from the hands of ettuveetil pillamar.another family is also comes into importance in the novel .it is the mangoikkal family.marthanda varma was saved by that family and in that act the family house was burned down.they helped marthanda varma escape from the enimies and he stays in their family.but the enemies suspecting this attacked the house ,but they were stopped by the paraya (another caste now in scheduled list) soldiers and others of the mankoyikkal family.enemies tried to kill marthanda varma by setting fire to the house but bharathan channan or anantha padmanabhan saves the marthanda varma.in the novel ananthapadmanabhan is made nair by making him the son a thirumukkathu pillai.mankoyikkal family is also made nair by using the word kurup and pillai surnames to its family members some of whom also appears in his another novel dharma rajah.
santhosh kumar said…
in reality the anantha padmanabhan is a historic figure and belonged to channar community.his house still exists in kanyakumari district which was constructed by him during the period of marthanda varma king.he was the caprtain of the body guard battallion which included 36 warriors who were all channars selected personnaly by marthanda varma.he was a great friend of marthanda varma and served the king as his minister and army commander.actually he helped marthanda varma is securing the support of channar and nadar community to fight against the madampis of travancore who helped the thampis in their claim to thrown.these powerful feudal lords were trying to kill the marthanda varma.anantha padmanabhan died in the year 1953 after the establishment of travancore kingdom.

the mankoyikkal family also existed and their house too is in kanyakumari district of tamilnadu.kanyakumari was part of the travancore kingdom till 1956.they belonged to channar caste.now the channar caste name is not used.the channar caste and nadar caste combined together in 1925 and is now a single caste.they too held high posts in the period of marthanda varma and rama varma.its likely that they were given the title kurup as they trained soldiers.king marthanda varma also formed a title called chempaka raman pillai which was given to the most eminent personnalities who helped in the government.this title was given to these two families.

the word ettuveetil pillamar too was coined by C.V.Raman pillai and got popular in such a way that all, even historians use the same word.but they were not all pillais or anyone of them belonged to caste vellala pillai who now use the surname pillai.these eight houses were very powerful feudal lords and they held influencial posts .ramana madam and pallichal were ministers of attingal soverign of which ramana madom was a bhrahmin family.kulathoor and chempazhanthi were ezhava families.the arms trainer or kalarippayattu teacher of kazhakuttom was an ezhava man named kesava panikker.later he left from kazhakuttom with his diety whom he worshiped to another place called thozhuvancode where he established a temple now known as thozhvancode devi temple.its priests are even today members of his family and those families related to him and also they belonged to ezhava family.there is no bhrahmin priests in that temple.the word used in the old documents for mentioning these people are ettuveetil madampimar and not ettuveetil pillamar.in the document which mention the punishment of these madampis only 4 houses are stated.the reason is that all were not supporters for the eliminations of marthanda varma.because of the popularity of the word ettuveetil pillamar ,through the novel many people thought that all the pillais or nairs were against marthanda varma and it was a fight against nairs and the ruling family and in the fight nairs lost.
padmakumar said…
the novel was so influencing that many not only historians but also the intellectuals of communist party too were misguided so much that in the books written by them , they mention this as the mass or people revolt against the ruling class or marthanda varma.it also made people to think that nairs were the controlling the state affairs and all the powerful land lords or atleast all the powerful lords were nairs who used to keep a sur name as pillai.this also created a new story that nairs of travncore were against marthanda varma and as ruler he crushed them.this was really not the actual case.nor the nairs were anywhere near to be called powerful for they were so few in number in kerala and travncore.only after the formation nss many castes which were not actually considered nairs were included and thus the number of nairs have increased.earlier these castes were having (still now) seperate caste names and considered nairs to be so much lower to them that even touching them was not allowed.but they used to appoint nairs for their house hold works,but still they were kept aside.the water touched by a nair was not considered good to drink by them (because of the untouchablity practised at the time) doing so was punishable with bhrasht meaning throwing out from their caste and denying all the rights,which included social out casting.even today many castes which joined with nss(nair service society) consider themselves higher than nairs and dont like to got together with so called nairs, eventhough many times they dont use their old sub caste title but generally considered as nairs by others.marriages are not encouraged amoung them or they dont prefer to make an aliance from the nairs.pillais of trivandrum also are part of the nss ,they too are considered as nairs generally.but they use the surname as pillai and not nair.the caste name is vellala pillai.marriages doesnot occur between these castes.in southern districts nairs castes itself is considered as two types.one higher and other lower.generally speaking higher traditionally possess more lands.they generally distance away from the lower nairs.higher nairs generally doesnot support rss or hindu fundalmentalist organisations and movements.

Additions and method of changing caste of characters,and alloting caste historical person done by C.V.Raman was later criticized by many others later.but generally that critics literature is not popular among the masses.any way many persons before and after C.V.Raman had done the same thing .alloting castes to 18 siddhars of tamilnadu is one such example ,done by those who transilated their works to malyalayam.this has happened in recent past ,from 70's to till date.many who reads these works only were easily fall to belive that they belonged to that caste or at time of these historic perosns caste system existed and was strong as in later years.even now some new papers knowingly or unknowingly put caste names to persons when they write a feature about historic events.examples can be seen even now in 2012.
santhosh kumar said…
there are some works such as kerala mahathmyam,kerala charitham,kerala pazhama etc which claim to be history books.but actually these were written by bhrahmins of kerala during the second half of 19th century or after 1850s.in it many forged stories were written with characters taken from puranas ,ramayana and mahabharatha.the stories of parasurama one purana character throwing axe to sea,story of mahabali and vamana etc are wrtten in these books.no facts or actual history is dealt in these works.but it was claimed that it was written very very early.but it contains reference of british rule,cannons,rifles etc which shows that ,it was written after 19th century.the aim and claim of these works is that kerala is for bhrahmins or bhrahmins are only rigthful owners of kerala.for that parasurama story was forged ,donating of kerala by him to bhrahmins etc were written.ofcourse it was written by bhrahmins of kerala who were leading lasy or easy living in kerala during that period.so in that books they claimed kerala was for them only.
padmakumar said…
saint sri chatampi swamikal during the first half of 20th century wrote a book named prachena malayalam.in that he claims that he had found some reference in tamil books about nair caste orgin.but that books were not mentioned by him.he goes at length claiming that nairs were desecenders of snake worshipers or naga aradhars lived in kerala long ago.he also argued that these people were called nagas because of their method of worshiping snakes.the main claim of the book is that nairs were there in kerala from time immorial and from the date on which earth was formed and that the nairs were the only authorised owners of kerala or kerala belongs to nairs.its so sad thing that a person who was revered as an acomplished saint could't even rise from the caste thoughts accumulated in him from his childhood.

but snake worshiping exists in many parts of india and tamilnadu.the people who do this does have relation to nairs nor do they belong to same caste status.many adivasis and aborgins worship snakes ,so do many other people in india.it have no relation a particular caste.moreover snake worship in kerala have some unique features.rituals ,songs,other performance arts associated with this worship was done some particular caste called pulluvar and not nairs.in any part of the worships of snakes at temples or outside nairs had (and have) no role.in some temples bhrahmins do the worship other rituals being done by other castes such as pulluvars,velans ,parayas etc.but this book had great influence and many persons tried hard to put forward a false theory, that nagas ruled india and the nagas of nagaland are related nairs.but nagas of nagaland are people or mangol orgin came there and settled during the 16th century after the fall of mongol empire in china.they dont even have snake worshiping culture. the reality is that there is no race called nagas who had their mainly worshipers of snake.snake worship has many explainations and is a common feature which can be seen in different parts of india.the snake worship is not every where done with same intention or meaning.in kerala it is related rahu and ketu two imaginary planets included in the hindu solar system.it said that rahu eats moon and when it happens solar eclipse occur.to avoid the evil effects of rahu people in kerala perform snake worship.only out of fear and to eliminate bad or difficult experiences in life that people do snake worship and because of any love and respect to snakes.
rajeev kumar said…
that book stired confidence in nairs and helped to feel pride.the reasons are many.nairs were called as malayala sudras or the most downward caste in the varna system ,by the bhrahmins of kerala .ealier it was like a pride for the nairs as they were considered in side the varna system and some what part of hindus as they were allowed to enter the temple eventhough with some restrictions.these restriction include denial of ringing bell which was considered sacred,were never allowed to touch or come near the priest,nor were allowed to touch the offerings ,not allowed to enter the place were cooking of dishes meant for offerings.they were also had to move away when the priest come with things for worship.still it was considered as good as many other castes who forms now the majority of hindu religion now were not allowed even to enter the temple.also the bhrahims considered nairs as their servents who were obliged work for them sometimes even without wages.anything given to them were mere the great kindness of the bhrahmins.nair womens were the main maid servents doing house hold works in bhrahmin familes.the nair women were also had to submit to bhrahmins for sex if he desired so.if a bhrahmin comes to a nair house ,he can mate with any women he desires.it was the custom and considered as sacred and blessing.nairs also practiced polygamy ie having more number of husbands(i dont know the correct word in english .the word used popularly with somewhat nicely is sumbandakar meaning men in relation).anyone from bhrahims to nairs can have relation with a nair woman if he desires so.even an order of proclaimation from a travancore king declairing that those nair women who does not submit to wishes (sextual) of men from bharahmins to nairs shall be considered leading an unholy life which is punishable.it is difficult for a nair lady to live alone or with her lover or single husband.if an influencial person desires ,there is nothing she can do.out of the childrens born ladies will get more importance as the children of that girls shall be the next rightful heir of the family.this was because with this system no nair man can declaire strongly that he is the father of a kid for the kids mother had many men mating with her.but the mother of a kid can be identified much more easily as she delivers a kid which have witnesses and there by proof .because of this practise ,which was practiced mainly by nairs,the childrens doesnot know who their father was.it was not a problem till the 20th century.but after that due to reform movements and spread of education this custome began considering to be a shame to them.many great reformers fought against this system .this system does not exists now and is even unlawful.

the customs ,practices and even the houses were built according to these needs.those who were wealthy were able to built bigger houses.these big houses built by the nairs have some specialty.the steps leading to the second floor starts right from the veranda.this was to help those visitors or sambandakars.they dont have to enter the house ,they can easily go to the second floor and enter their favourite woman's room.these type of houses can be seen still in many parts of kerala.the namboothiri houses too have some peculiarity.that part where homas are done doesnot have second floor that was to avoid filling of smoke into the second floor.nairs where the main servants of the namboothiri families without them it was difficult for the bhrahmins to maintain their houses.namoothiris called nairs valyakkar(servents),adiyars(slaved like servants) ,sudras(lowest in varna system) etc.this was also considered by the nairs as a great thing they have pride in telling others that they were the adiyars of that or this mana(house of naboothiri).
padmakumar said…
further the customs followed by the namboothiri families were so ridiculus and now it seems unbelivable and nowadays they too feel shame to tell all that.but it is the true past and nothing to gain from concealing and covering it.reformation movements which started in india has changed the most degraded society of india and also it has helped to better the lives of all ,also the indian independence too was the result of such movements.that all movements helped people to come together ,meet and discuss the problems in the society.open talking was the base thing for the progress.but there were practices of untouchability.if a bhrahmin touches a nair it was taught he gets poluted and have to do penance and bathing .there were others such as ezhavar,thiyyar,pulayas etc whom if the namboothiri come closer beyond some limit then the namboothiri had to bath before he enter his house or temple.these namboothiris were commonly the priests of the temples belonging to the ruling family and other savarnas.there were worshiping systems and places for the ezhavars and thiyyas ,it was some sort of small temples ,but there all the poojas and worships were conducted by the persons from amoung them.pulayar and parayar were also had some form of worshiping .their main worshipping figure was goddess nowadays considered as kali(kali was a common name amoung them from very early period).they too perfomed poojas themselves.it may be interesting to point out here that kali was the cheif goddess worshipped by the warriors of india.eventhough pulayar and parayar were considered to the most downward caste earlier,actually they had a golden past.the words pulayar and parayar were in use in early times of sangam age when these were the names associated people who were the main men nearer to the then kings.sangam literature depicts of pictures of possessions of kings accompanied by pulayar and parayar.also modern researches shows that many places in kerala had kingsor rulers belonging to this caste.even today in second decade of 21st century they are the ones who raise the pride of kerala by winning medals in athletics and other strenious sports.
Anonymous said…
Alamak u indians are a disgrace.u all have same blood running in your damn veins.why u think higher caste is physically clean? i had high caste indian dr living in my flat who kept the toilet in total filth!shame on u indians! drop ur stupid caste mentality... n realise tat character is higher than caste which is man made.from a south east asian non- indian
Unknown said…
Keralites are proud to be the most enlightened among Indians, but the truth is that they are the greatest Hypocrites and people with most double standards,than the others!
Anonymous said…
even the wealth basis will not work in filthy india, because while Jayalalita earns a rupee /month and conduct 500 crore marriage for her step son?

Raj
Anonymous said…
the comment by the Ezhava chauvinist is not correct and most of his claims are hoaxs...
few Ezhavas practiced kalari and some of them served some petty Nair Chiefs and lords but that doesn't make them warriors...

Ettuveetil Pillamrar were nairs same as Mankoyikkal Kurup ( late Singer Kamukara Purushothaman belongs to that family)
Samuthiris hereditary lords were Mangattachan, Dharmothu Panikkar (Thimme Pannikkar) Para nampi, Tinayecheri Elayathu ,Kozikodu Thalachenna Nair, Eranadu Menon etc none of them Ezhavas...lyrist Bhaskarn mash comes from Dharmothu panikkar family ...because of religious things Nairs never participated naval activities so Mappilas were the chief naval force of Samurin... all most all Kerala Kings/lords comes from Nair clan..
Nairs are the first native warriors defeated a European colonial power (Kulachil war against Dutch)....

Kuthrapakshi the hero of war against Tippu was a nair from Vaikkaom....
Ravivarman Thampi said…
caste discrimination is a bad thing but pride about our own past is not a bad thing....
we can say that all humans are same but in reality it is not..each racial group/castes got their own identity through generation of life style and natural evaluation...it is a fact..Keniyans are great in long distance race..blacks are kings of boxing rings...Japaneses life expectancy more comparing others and they are great in nano technologies...Sherpas are kings of high altitude....Pathans are highly aggressive same in the case of Rajputs and Nairs but the social changes and the collapse of caste based duties that aggressiveness and attitude changed a lot but still visible same like all the dfogs are not same..Alstaion are best in security dogs..bull dogs are very agressive...labradors are excellent swimmers ...Pomerians gud for nothing...our "nadan" dogs are adaptive to any environment...same in the case of humans also....
Anonymous said…
good personal account on caste system....at the same time it would be worth if the writer and all other replied people just imagine about the mental and psychological torture faced by millions of people....i am feel pity to see u people again and again underlining the fact of being upper caste...who are u to declare yourself upper of lower?..please remove this from your mind set...

caste system is part of hindu religious established by vested interests to create division and thereby cement their place in society. it was during under hindu kingdoms it got acceptance...now we are in democratic system where natural resources shall be given equally to all citizens..religion, community, etc. should not play now.

i request all members (so called upper caste) to check your population in kerala. they are just 15 % of population. how can government give all jobs and benefits to these 15% only deny basic human rights to others because they were born as lower caste (again it is not their fault)

what i read from many replies is most of U fantasy about your so called upper caste birth..i feel pity to say, u become upper caste not because u born from mars. this is because the kings and local royal preferred your forefathers to do their menial work. and gradually they got separated from the stratum population...the lower castes...

so u r fighting against ur brothers my dear upper castes. lower castes are about 70% of kerala population, so all u want them to work under 15% backyard in a democratic system.

caste system will be eliminated only if u people (upper castes) co-operate with lower castes and give them a helping hand...not by nursing hatred and venom...

if u just remove ur menon, nair, pillai, kurup, nambiar titles perhaps u can help a egalitarian society based on human values of compassion and caring.

but if u want to still carry upper caste tag (definitely u will get acceptance in private corporate houses) u all perish under the emergence of lower caste people.
roshan varghese said…
i had recently heard a story told by a very old lady.she is from a bharhmin family.met her in Bangalore where she lives.she told that her uncle had 4 daughters.first child was married to a bhrahmin.he was not so wealthy.so he married the last three girls to ezhava youths.it was a common practice at that time as among bhrahmins only the first male is allowed to marry from the same caste.besides marrying away of girls is very expensive affair among bhrahmins.girls were used to marry to ezhavar families,not to nair families as bhrahmins considered nairs are their servants and ezhavars as Buddhist.
all her 3 cousins were living in bangalore.orginally they were from thrissur
Dr.savithri devi said…
i too heard that story.marrying bhrahmin girls to ezhavar families.i found many incidents in alapuzha,kannur,palakkad and thrissur.even found one case in trivandrum where a temple was installed by the bhrahmin lady who was married to a ezhava family.its near attingal
Seby said…
Liked your reply... I think you are an educated and cultured person... Many of the comments here shows their real caste discriminating mind...
Dear friends,

When I wrote this post, I let my thoughts and experiences flow. The purpose is neither to support a caste or ridicule a caste. I believe that there is only one caste - the caste of humanity. Nothing is more important than practicing humanity and compassion to all beings, irrespective of which religion, caste or community they belong to. I also believe that I cannot change my caste but I can change my vision and my behavior by treating people with the love and respect they deserve and not by judging them on the basis of caste.

In a nutshell, all I want to say is that I don't believe in any caste system. It's as simple as that.
In private companies in Kerala, the caste based office politics is in its worst level. Employee's skills are assessed based on caste.
If the management or the training department of a company belongs to Ezhava, then the Nair employees are outcaste or untouchables there.
Thus the Ezhavas will try to suppress the Nair's skill and let them be like the slaves in the company without any promotion or appraisal.
Malini Lakshmi said…
Swagatham to everyone here, my name is Malini Lakshmi and I'm proud to say I'm a Malaysian Malayalee. I myself belong to the Menon caste but to be honest, I don't have a depth full knowledge in Malayalam as my mom and I was brought up in Malaysia except for my dad who was raised in Kerala n migrated to Malaysia with his parents when he was 2. Basically, caste by nature is something very differently analyzed in both Kerala and Malaysia among the Malayalees. I've read various journals and articles on Keralites and their mad mindset on caste. It wasn't a surpise for me to hear that swami vivekananda has once said "Kerala the madhouse of cast " . Numerous differences could be spotted among Malaysian malayalees. Most of them do not even knew to speak fluent malayalam and surprisingly they carry their cast ( common ones are Nair, Menon ) behind their name . Generally, they can speak Tamil better than their mother language as the Indian community here speaks Tamil mostly. Besides, malaysian malayalees are much more versatile in their language and many desires English and same goes to me who came from a English educated family. Being a BA (Hons) English Language undergraduate , it tooks me time and lengthy period to acquire my mother tongue from number of friends who I've found via Facebook. I was seriously astonished when one of my friend who is a Keralite from Azhapulla questioned my caste before we build a friendship between us. Though it was quite depressing me, but I manage to secure a healthy friendship with him and I asked him what has made him to question on my cast....Hence he replied, " You know cast is something very important in Kerala and can't simply mingle with everyone generally without knowing their cast". I had real shock after reading his message and I told him back ..."whats the difference between the loqwr cast of Keralites and people like me? I'm a menon but I'm not fluent in my mother language at all...isn't that a shame compared to a lower cast man who is able to verse in Malayalam? " . Final reply from him was " No! Cast is cast and it can't be simply changed! Dear menonkutty, Kerala welcomes you even though you are not fluent in our mother language because be proud that you are a Menonkutty " . His words has made me glad but a little sad aside.....What's wrong with this social classes and the people in Kerala when the great bhagvan Sri Vishnu has only introduced 4 main castes which are Brahmin, Ksyatria, Vaisya and Sudra/Parian. It's sad to see the greenish God's own country been expoited by some irrational idiot's mentality. Manifestation of cast is ain't gonna drive you to heaven or receive Moksha in our lives if everyone is lost in the world full of pride, ego, racism, sexual desires and also jealousy against one another. I'm a malayalee and I would certainly lend my hands to those who need without discriminating their cast because Menons are crowned with perfect knowledge and they are believed to be expwrt learners too.....What's wrong of sharing those useful knowledge with the one who needs it when at the end of the day, we as a Menon gains some credibility among the public and they would be proud ans happy to learn from us instead of fearing the NAIRS AND we, MENONS. Last but not least, CAST IS A MANIFESTATION BY HUMANS AND NOT BY GOD. STOP ONCE AND THINK WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPEN TO WORLD IF GODS WERE TO START DISCRIMINATING ALL OF US BY CAST . LOL
Malini Lakshmi said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Malini Lakshmi said…
I guess the movie, " J.C. Danial " directed by Kamal is a good explanation for cast system in Kerala and how cast discrimination ruins the entire community peace and economical growth in one's country.
Anonymous said…
What is god. Does animals, plants believe in god.
Belief in God is the tool for running the caste system.

If you people are really wants to come out of caste system, then first remove your sur name from usage. Do not marry in same caste.

Inter caste marriages can help to remove the caste system slowly.

Honestly if you want to get government job for your generations, then marry in lower caste and brand your children as lower caste people (of course you may not get government job, as you are part age old caste system)


Still if you look for same caste marriage then caste system will continue for some more time.
Anonymous said…
I belong to ezhava community and had been in love with a nair boy after he proposed me before 5 years. He was afraid to tell home about the affair and had insisted not to call when he is at home. After a lot of compulsion he told his mom about this as i was getting many proposals. His mom was shocked and cried and told him they ll never let him marry an ezhava girl. She dint even tell his dad,called me and asked me to make him understand. About what? She told me to hide my tears and act happy so that he ll think m alright and he may cope up soon. She said she would resign her job and his dad would leave home if it happens. At last he himself came to me, said sorry for loving me and explained how important caste is for them. I was being used all these years?
Hello Mailini,
Remove wrong beliefs from you mind. The fours caste like Brahmin, Ksyatria, Vaisya and Sudra are not introduced by Lord Vishnu.
Lord Vishnu created Man.
Man created Caste System.



Anonymous said…
Facebook casteists are the worst! Even young guys calling themselves as Biju Nair and Bijoy Nambiar although their passport names are Biju Kalliath or Bijoy Puthenpurakkal (names are assumed and not real).
No hope.
Mr . PANICKER said…

Hi ,

I would like to tell you one thing.

MENON is not at all a caste name it is a job title (meaning is HEAD CLERK), their were many ezhavas who were given with MENON title by the rulers, but their families were not using it now. Only the nair caste using this tail now a days.

Ratheesh jitendra Panicker
lekshmikutty said…
some thing to say about the caste in kerala. nairs consists of the majority of savarna castes. but they are just 7% of kerala population. all the savarna consists of only 10%. but this is generally not accepted publicly by newspapers and even some organisations. after 2014 loksabha elections , it was noted that bjp got some 12% votes. and it actually annoyed all other political parties as it showed that , even mathrubhumi wrote that , earlier the maximum bjp could gain was 7% as it got votes about 12% it showed that other castes such as ezhavars voted to bjp.
shalini said…
to generalize, i had felt that a strong hate is building heights in kerala again nairs. every where youngsters talk hatefully about nairs. nayans as they used to call. among age group of 15-22 this hate is seen so strong. what i feel is this hate was really what nairs earned by their own disgraced activities after for some last decades.
rahul said…
i was born and brought up in delhi.my parents were from kerala and belongs to nair caste. but they dont mention anything about caste and asked me and my sister to be free from caste thoughts and identity. they said we belong to no caste and we have no caste. now my sister and me have married and i still live in delhi,sister have home in delhi and us. my parents were not even interested in taking us to kerala. they live with me and sister in delhi. but i went to kerala , tried to contact some relatives. but i did't like my relatives , for i felt they are too uncultured and uninformed. but i like kerala people generally. i have many friends in delhi who is from kerala. many of our family friends living in delhi for decades too doesnot want to go to kerala , nor they carry the caste identity. the marring off bhrahmin ladies to other castes mainly the buddhist ezhavars as one or two people posted here is a common thing happened and u can see many families and stories in delhi.
jisha k m said…
trivandrum is the most caste dreaded place in kerala. nairs boost and pretend to be higher or possess some specialty. they are being hated to the core by all others. nairs being more in government service, they try to cheat, bypass rules do lobbying , try to surpass others in promotions by creating vigilance cases , frame police cases using members in police, and helps escapes police cases by influencing nair police persons.in places where other caste people live , police try to make problems , rss is known as a gunda or criminal gang of nss in trivandrum. even police persosn are members in it and may be crime is planned with the help of them. but the rss draws the cader from harigens for this crimes. may be by all these means nairs now gained to earn the hate of people
Akhil said…
Hi Swapna, kudos for speaking out your mind.
I came across this article while searching about the caste system prevalent in Kerala.Although you posted this more than 3 years ago, a lot of what you said still holds true and I agree with most of it, except the part about Chitra Tirunnal. He had made the temple entry proclamation out of compulsion and not of benevolence;
The backward caste were feeling so opressed that that a huge population had threatened to convert to other religion en masse.It has nothing to do with his caste because. I say this because EMS was a namboodiri, yet highly celebrated for his social reforms.
Hello, I dont know you and you dont know me, however i happen to have read your article today while looking for something else, I also read most of the comments.

In short religion still fires its gun, its still relevant and still very strong, I feel it will be so.

A simple question did God create man/women OR DID WE CREATE GOD ?

Well look at it this this way by God creating us, I am not sure if we served any purpose to him, but if man had created God and then caste system, it did serve him well.

God the unreachable - yet in us and with us every second, yet we look forward to meeting God, we pray to God, and we look for God at times of problems ? all when we know God is in us, with us !!! IRONIC ?

I feel its a complex multi dimensional equation.

Maybe on of the greatest creation by man, look at it this way no man can now create anything above God, any invention or discovery is all under Gods blessings - means he knew it before, we wish to meet God and look for his blessings for this we travel the length and breadth of the country performing rituals all to satisfy God - all this when we know, we wont be meeting him, yet no disappointment ? a wounder to human psychology.

The best part we all live as per the words of this creation or God.

Now getting back to your point - Maybe caste system had a specific reason to perform and when performed will help the system function properly.

Also caste system is universal, romans had it so did the civilization in peru, cuba, south east asia and many more, so do check on the caste system and maybe you will figure out something.

Anyway i think caste system did not permit job changes .....


Good day to you.

Innocent Day
Anonymous said…
Its Humbug.
I am a Keralite based in Mumbai.
All mallus are partial to each other irrespective of religion or caste.
The only question that they ask is nadu evideya.
REAL HISTORY said…
Mr Anonymous, stop praising Nains (Nairs). They do not have any pride to announce. They are servant class people of Nanboothiris. Everyone knows it. So stop saying U belong to higher class. Menon, Pilla, etc are all job titles. Many people not belonging to the servant class nair's also got these titles, but are not using because they are ashamed of it.
REAL HISTORY said…
How dare Xtians asking caste. Almost all of them belong to scheduled caste ony a few from Ezhavas and Nairs.
REAL HISTORY said…
Plz dont make this blog a place to praise the untrue history of nairs. Plz ... Its shamefull..
Anonymous said…
heights of hypocrisy - reveals the true face of malayalis especially younger generation who are so obsessed with caste. Only those who havent achieved anything in their life are proud with their inherited glory.try to be a good human first and try to make a name for yourself based on what you have achieved in life personally and professionally
Anonymous said…
I am a ezhava by birth..we are the top most caste in Kerala..nair/nambiar/Menon etc etc were servants of rulers...
Anonymous said…
High time we stopped fighting over castes. these castes were originally imported into India by the devas (brahmins) from persia, who were thrown out from there by Zorathushtra. there were no caste discriminations in persia, which was incorporated in India by the brahmins.
Anonymous said…
why does mallus when they grow up change their surnames with caste names ? does it give you any special recoginition that your education and profession didnt give you . why this social segregation is practiced by so called progressive people? I can understand socially underdeveloped north indian states doing this but not inkerala with cent percent literacy? can some one who changed their surname clarify this....
Anonymous said…
No affirmative action will ever be bestowed upon you if you are a Nair. Therefore, no harm will ever come to you if you proudly present your glorified Nair surname. That is the only thing we can do now to make ourselves feel comfortable at mind, that we are the descendants of the most powerful people of the state. Those who are talking against casteism are in fact reaping the merits of reservation and are venting out their frustration for not being born as a Nair. Let them live in frustration forever, because one becomes a Nair only by birth.
human said…
"we are the descendants of the most powerful people of the state"..........LOL, CAN YOU PLS SUBSTANTIATE THE BASIS FOR YOUR SELF-PROCLAIMED POWERFULLNESS.......your generation of nairs feel you are powerful because your forefathers had the privilege to attend school and get into good jobs compared to so called lower caste who were deprived of all these basic rights. Now its their turn to rise up in the society and gain atleast some respect and status leave alone the power.I havent heard of cent percent reservation for any jobs or college admission .Getting a job or admission based on reservation may be cakewalk for lower caste but they wont excel in their field if they dont the potential so whats the issue. Recently in jharkand the so called upper caste even defeated a schedule caste candidate from a reserved constituency by opting the "NONE OF THE ABOVE" because they felt the candidate isnt fit for the job but they wont mind electing upper caste candidates no matter how corrupted he is and cases are in his name. this is hypocrisy.Reservation system to uplift socially backward lower caste isnt an execuse for adding nair as your surname.according to me those who have their caste as surname are those who havent achieved anything in life and want to live with their inherited glory.shame on you guys.
Rajeev said…
Well said @Human,government shouldnt stop the reservation system until powerfull (LOL)upper caste stoping adding caste as their surname:-) sorry guys i am not adding fuel to the fire but comments above make me laugh and make me feel how narrow minded we are when it comes to caste and religion.For muslims,religion takes priority over country and for hindus,caste takes the priority over religion and country .
Jokes apart, i was told by my grandma that i belong to OBC but my dad or i never tried to get a caste certificate as we never required it to reach our goals in life and career,oops btw i am a geophysicist with an oil major based in london and my dad retired as GM @ reliance industries. we never tried for a govt. job to enjoy the benefits of my caste.Me and dad studied in a govt school and higher studies in pvt colleges so never ever had to use our caste name for rise up in society.so all these castes are relevant only if you are after it otherwise it has no significane and am a good example for the same.
Anonymous said…
"because one becomes a Nair only by birth".....really ?best joke
Anonymous said…
@swapna anand...could you please delete this post . your hypocrisy is evdient from your post on July 29, 2011 at 10:12 AM . i cant believe people like @anu exist in this world.
kalidas said…
I havent seen anyone openly discriminate on caste basis. However I have heard some people talk about other castes with disgust or sarcasm. I dont think castes can be eliminated easily simply because each caste has its own values, traditions, rituals, etc. But there should be no ranking system. All castes have to be thought of as parallel, no caste is up or down. Also we need to remember NOT to teach our children about castes. Maybe in 50 years all this upper and lower caste nonsense will be forgotten.
Anonymous said…
Well said kalidas , I dont think caste will be irrelevant and be forgotten in 50years time as caste organisations like NSS,SNDP wont let that happen for their survival. fingers crossed
Anonymous said…
Rules of reservation in kerala :
The unit of appointment for the purpose of this rule shall be 20, of which two shall be reserved for scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and 8 shall be reserved for the other Backward classes and remaining 10 shall be filled on the basis of merit:

Provided that out of every five posts reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, one shall go to Scheduled Tribe candidate and remaining four shall go to Scheduled Caste candidates and in the absence of candidate to fill up the post reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates, it shall go to a Scheduled Caste candidate and vice-versa.
Now lets look at caste% in kerala
Ezhavas - 22.9%
Nairs - 14.00%[29]
Pulaya - 4.27%[30]
Brahmins - 1.59%[29]
Hindu Tribals - 1.07%[31]
Cheruman - 0.99%[30]
Kuravar - 0.84%[30]
Other SC - 4.71%[30]
Vishwakarmas - 1.3%[29]
Ambalavasi - 0.2%[29]
vanikavaisya - 0.2%[29]
Dheevaras - 5.00%

Is 10 seats not enough for so Forward caste (hate using the word upper) who constitute only circa 15% of total population in kerala? Looking at breakup above i feel ezhavas(23%) should demand for more reservation in govt jobs and seats,kidding.

So all forward castes fanatics dont feel you are ignored by the government as you are getting fair share as weel.

Anonymous said…
ezhavas are the most richest hindu community we own all the big companies of india and kerla be it infosys manapuram finance manapuram nirapara elite group empee group medimix chandrika cholayil rajdhani group jyothi laboratories ktc group etc etc etc and many many many many more i don't have time to mention all this this post is just bullshit in kerala i have stayed it one of the most remotest villages there is nothing acalled caste discrimiantion(although there is discrimination on terms of money .i.e class discrimination) this i a big lie and she has studied in ernakulam and she says she went to a christain house or some house and thius happened this is impossible to believe i have also studied in GOVT LAW COLLEGE ERNAKULAM it is impossible in that college to caste based discrimination this lady is trying to say a false fact in kerala it is impossible for these things to happen and another thing i would like to mention is about ezhavas/thiyyas of today are community of millionaires and billionaires! ....this lady is trying to say that she is a menon and no one cares today that she is menon or nair or or ezhava or namboothiri or a dalit!..... the one thing that people care is wheteher is u have mo0ney or political poiwere or education so this lady is trying to get preference on her caste although she has nothing niether money nor political power so this lady is saying i am menon although i am usless i don't have money or political power or education but still i am a menon and about rajas of the travacnore that stupid rajah did the temple entry proclamatinon due compulsion nothing else if he didn't have done the people and kerala communist would have killed him he did it due compulson that useless rajah!..... this menons are nothing but a clerk breed they niether have entrpreneurship quality nor political power only thing they are good at is being clerks and peons and karyasthan!...........ezhavas are the top most hinduy community of kerala who have made it a habit of making billion dollars!....and this community is the saviour of hinduism in kerala or else this kerala state would have lonmg been a chriustain or muslim state due to ezhavas hindus are still safe .... my suggestion to all other hindu comunity learn to become industrious learn to do business be entrepreneurs or else be ready to be clerks or idotic employees! learn from ezhavas and nadars of kerala and tamil nadu respectively! learn how they become billionaires and millionaires and stoip talikng about caste and bullshit these nairs will destroy the hindu unity although they today newither have money nor decent political power they are just idiotic lot with big mouth god for nothing!
Anonymous said…
good for nothing!
Anonymous said…
delete this stupid post!
Anonymous said…
do not dare to insult ezhava/thiyya community we are the saviours of hinduism we are the billionaire and millionaire machine of kerala hindu community! if we were not there the kerala would have become a chriustain or islamic state by now!......... we have the saviours of kerala economy bcoz of our entrepreneurship capabilities kerala is still able to manitain its economy and christains and muslims have also contributed to the economy of kerala i have to accept that ! but then i have to mention this that these christains and muslims are nothing but the pasat adivasis and dalits converts of kerala ....they got upward mobiliy after converting from adivasi tribes to christainity especially after they experienced upward mobility after independence! most of the christains are converts from adivasis and dalits (99.99%) very few are converts from ezhavas and nairs!
Anonymous said…
most of the christains are converts from adivasis and dalits ................. onl very few are converts from ezhavas/thiyyas and nairs!(the same applies for muslims!)
Anonymous said…
ezhavas/thiyyas are a proud community of millionaires and billionaires! we are the most educated hindu community of kerala!
Anonymous said…
in kerala no one asks ur caste this is just a f**king lie i have never seen anyone asking or actng upon caste only place caste might have relevance is in arranged marriage u r a big liar i know that no one ever asks and acts in terms of caste in majority [places in south and in kerala it is the minimal even in politics it is minimal although it is still there in kierala based politics i kmean the religion based politics is still there but it is still very minimal! accept in politics and marriage caste is a complete irrelevant factor in kerala!................................................................................. and now about amma swamy this is a big lie amma swamy will never say like that i go and meet her every day when she comes to my place i have also interviwed her once she will never say bull shit like u have mentioned !...................in kerala there is class based discrimination (i.e. in terems of money or in terms of education or in terms of political power) but never in terms of caste!......in kerala there is ofcourse monry based discrimination(which can be seen but that too is minimal) bhut caste based is not there not even 0.1% aacept in arranged marriages and to some extent in politics that too due to SNDP NSS IUML KERALA CONGRESS who are spreading this kind of hatred!
Anonymous said…
do not insult amma swamy amma swamy will never say like that u don't make fake sentences made by ur imagination she would say like she is not a loser bull shit like you u better remove this post or i would put a defamation case on you!..... and i agree to you that rajah of travacnore did that due to compulsion or he would have got killed by sndp and communist and by peple of kerala!............. and i also agree with that ezhavas/thiyyas today are a filthy rich community and also saviours of kerala hinduism!....but it is alsio true that ezhavas/thiyyas!....even in the forbes richest topp 200 list in india there are around 20 ezhavas richest being SD SHIBULAL WITH 7500 CRORES FOLLOWED BY MP RAMACHANDRAN VP NANDAKUMAR MP PURUSHTHOMAN ETC and lots of other ezhavas are also there like cholayil group medimix people dr anirudhan and many other ezhavas are also there whose names i can't remember rite now!
Anonymous said…
menons and nairs are good nothing they niether have entreprenurship qualities nor decent intellectual capabilities all they are good at is being great clerks and peons!..... and u bbloody swapn or whatever ur name u just remove this post or i am gonna put a defamation case on you u r a bloody hypocrite!
mithun said…
@Anonymous - Ezhava/Thiyya? Do you mean they are same. Get your facts correct buddy...they are two different castes though SNDP claim they are one.Thiyyas are the most progressive both socially and economically in malabar. Check thiyyamahasaba for more info.I am sure this comment would make ezhavas and SNDP furious but accept the fact and dont presume they are same.
Unknown said…
Ezhavas of malabar (northern have money nor political power they are useless shit of people) tell me a billionaire from it community or tell me a millionaire from or community I will tell u billionaire from ezhavas of Travancore SD shibulal mp ramachandran VP nanda Kumar etc. Ezhavas of malabar(also called as thiyyas) are good for nothing ! Ezhavas of malabar have northern political power bor money idiots and some fools are trying to divide the community we have great leaders from malabar although from malabar like gokulam goal an aryakandi Santos etc etc all are proud to be ezhavas!
Unknown said…
Although my mother from kannur and father from thrishur still I had to make this comment ...I know a lot about kannur and calicut and the stupid recently formed thiyya mahasabha which is a organization to divide the community(ezhavas/thiyyas) stupid people the stupid kannur people (also known as biharis of Kerala) where most of them just labourers ..... And a pure communist area where these people RSS congress and communist kill each other!I hate this kannur Ihave stayed tthere for a long time! This new thiyya stupid mahasabha is nothing but a organization to divide the sndp yogam and ezhava/thiyya community!(and I am 100% sure these organizations are funded by the Christians and Muslims and these thiyya mahasabha idiots are not understanding what is the real purpose of those Christian and Muslim bastards)
Unknown said…
This thiyya mahasabha would be having assets even less than 5000rs which would have also been provided by the stupid Muslims and Christians! Learn from ezhavas of Travancore take help from them I know most of them are taking help and money from the sndp and ezhavas but my message to the stupid thiyya mahasabha people ....do not divide the ezhavas/thiiya community ..... Take help from them to become billion Aires and millionaires like them learn how to become like them(this is only for stupid thiyya mahasabha people)...most of the malabar ezhavas(thiyyas) are proud to be part of the ezhavva community ....many people are prominent sndp leaders from Malabar area.....famous examples are gokulam goapalan from calicutwho is soon gonna become the head of sndp other example is aryakandi Santos from kannur and many many more like mp purusthoman(from kannur) whose daughter is daughter in law of vayalar ravi and also many other people from palakad calicut kannur kasargod (yucks i hate to take the name of this place)areas! .....I also remember other example of ktc group PV gangadharan who are also member of sndp and also sreenivasan(actor). All are proud and says proudly that they are ezhavas of Kerala!.......
true thiyya said…
@rackseth..first of all mind your language in a blog like this. this shows your culture and background you are from...no true thiyya(forget about ezhavas from south who came to work in malabar) would like to call himself or herself ezhavas as they are two different and only common among them is sree narayana guru as thiyyas workship for what he was and what he did for other backward castes in kerala. so get your facts right before our ink.
Anonymous said…
Malabar ezhava? so funny...i have never heard of that caste.Could exist bcos thousands of ezhavas moved to malabr to work in hilly terrains of malabar especially in plantations . they are locally called state people in malabar.Thiyya was a forward caste under british madras presidency and is still forward caste in tamil nadu. As someone mentioned earlier the only common thing between ezhava and thiyya is sree narayana guru and nothing else. so please dont make false claim and call thiyyas as malabar ezhavas but its true that there are several ezhavas from south settled in north who are flag bearers of SNDP.
Unknown said…
Ezhavas of malabar(also called as thiyyas ) neither have money nor political power most of them are labourers except some exception! Hahahaha some idiot don't u know u idiot many of medical colleges and engineering colleges are owned by the ezhavas in malabar eg gokulam medical college of gokulam gopalan our proud sndp leader!
Unknown said…
Ezhavas of southern Kerala are community of billionaires and ezhavas of malabar ( are good for nothing(also called as thiyyas)....and u want to know my background u idiot I come from family who owns elemec group heard abtno no no ass holes idiots beggars like u will never hear abt the billion dollar company go to Google and type elemec group we own hospitals we own elemec wedding castles ....... So now u might have got idea of my billion dollar background although my mom from poothedath tharvad of kannur( a ezhava or thiyya tharavad in kannur). .....so I know this stupid place in kannur........ This kannur kasargod calicut .......although calicut is much better then the yucky kannur and kasargod. and kasargod yuckkkkks. Almost all of them are labourers and poor beggars! ...... Although we have many sndp leaders from malabar area like pallakad calicut kannur etc ...... One of the founding members of sndp is also from calicut mithavadi c Krishnan. And even today after 150 years we have many prominent leaders from calicut kannur pallakad etc...... ..........
Unknown said…
Edo learn from ezhavas of southern kerala to become billionaires and millionaires and learn to become like them or else most of ezhavas of malabar(also called as thiyyas) will get converted to Christianity or islam......... They are waiting to have control over malabar and try to destroy the sndp and nss and destroy Hinduism ...... Edo idiots do not try to divide ezhava/thiyya community it will never happen !!!! Almost 95% of thiyyas(ezhavas of malabar) are proud of sndp and we have many members in sndp from malabar area aryakandi santosh gokulam GOP Alan etc. Our sndp members owns many firms and colleges we are billionaires and millionaires our sndp leader gokulam GOPalan owns gokulam medical college gokulam engineering college ......... And the ktc group founder and chairman also members of sndp from malabar and also actor sreenivasan and also many other prominent leaders(u must have noticed all are billionaires!).......... Do not dare to divide the ezhava/thiyya community! .......... Didn't u see the recently held sndp ezhava/thiyya malabar mahasangam where billions ezhavas/thiyyas people gathered from malabar and the size and the population was even more than the southern Kerala!!
Unknown said…
Edo pannam power iliyange shut ur mouth .I.e
If u don't have money or political power do not dare to open or mouth!
Unknown said…
All the proud ezhavas/thiyyas ignore these stupid people some stupid people are trying to divide the community(these people are nothing but people funded by the Christians and Muslims)! ..... Some fools cannot drivide the proud ezhava/ thiyya community!
true chekavar said…
Yes u r rite!
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Unknown said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
RAGHAVAN POOTHUKADI(CALICUT) said…
some fools cannot divide the famous sndp and the famous ezhavar/thiyyar communities...........99% of the ezhavas/thiyyas of malabar are proud of sndp and proud to be member of the keralas most powerful AND RICHEST ezhava/thiyya community!it is some fools with vested interests who have no base and power in the community are trying to divide the the ezhava/thiyya community .... my dear this IS never gonna happen no one in the world can divide the ezhava/thiyya community.......i know i am from vadakara and i have many relatives in kannur as well as thrishur and kollam ........so i know what is happenbing in kannur......... and i have never heard about this thiyya mahasabha more than once and the one time i heard about it was from someone who told me that it is a thattikutti mahasabha whose vested interessts are to gather political power by dividing the ezhava/thiyya community in the Name of location in which they are located.and yes racketh sant u r rite they have been probably getting funding from muslims or christains who have a huge vested interest behind this!.i am a proud ezhava(thiyya) from vadakara and also proud of gokulam gopalan our proud SNDP leader from vadakara!....actually i am studying in gokulam medical college!
true thiyya said…
@rackseth...as a true thiyya of malabar request you to stop your false propaganda about thiyyas and also we dont want you or blind followers of SNDP to be our spokesperson . ...i reitrate that we thiyyas are a unique caste dont like to be known as ezhavas of malabar. if you want to know our history check the link below
https://hari008.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/the-thiyyas-of-north-malabar/

for you info gopalan and pv gangadharan are all thiyyas and not ezhavas.we true thiyyas dont care about these guys who join SNDP to help flourish their business.we dont care if we are rich or not but we are proud to call ourselves the most progressive community in kerala .
anu said…
@rackseth...you have degraded yourself and your caste ezhava by posting silly comments on this blog. I can understand your persepctive but try to present it well and prove your claim that ezhava and thiyya are same.

@swapna...i can understand your feelings that forward communities are discriminated to some extent in jobs but this is happening only since independence say circa 65 years.whereas the so called backward casate people have gone thru this discrimination for ages.I presume you are an educated woman but hard to believe that people like you still believe in caste system though yours was intercastae marriage . do you really need a caste certificate to find a job so how does caste really matter?
anukul said…
@swapna....if atrocities by forward caste against backward must be forgotten then we should also forget what british did to us and stop celebrating independence and republic day.Unfortunatley forward caste happend to be fellow indians so the kind backward people were kind enoguh that they didnt kick them out of india.Indirectly you are criticising sre narayana guru and trying to say that rajah of travancore should be regarded at par with guru. Unlike guru the raja abolished untoucability out of compulsion and pressure and not his own will.
I do agree that unfortunately Caste is a reality in kerala but is a malice to our society and country. Instead of criticisng it people like you are trying to glorifiy it .From my perspective youth should disregard caste and should stop discussing about it and eventually will become irrelevant. We criticise our politicians but are we perfect to do that. Growth of AAP is an good example that elections could be won purely based on parties ideology, credentials and wihtout exploiting caste ,religion sentiments.so for god sake please think beyond religion,caste and make a better world for next generation.
@swapna...i am sorry to say this but reading your article i feel that you are a hyprocrite and true caste fanatic.I wonder how you married a thiyya.you are one of those pseudo secular progreeisve people like barkha dutt who say they are progressive but add caste to their names. God save this country.
Anonymous said…
those who think they are superior by birth are mentally ill
Dear @Anu You presume I believe in the caste system - you can presume anything about anyone. That's the freedom we Indians have. I have never used a caste certificate because I don't adhere to the caste system and so I don't know what your comment was about.

To me, caste does not matter and never has. And I don't need to prove it to anyone but myself.
Dear @Anonymous: I agree with you.
Dear @Ankul, You should visit my home to see my collection of Sree Narayana Guru's teachings that I read every day. Lets not insult great yogis like him by comparing him to anyone else. Because mere mortals like us can never fathom their greatness or their divinity.

The Rajah of Travancore had qualities that other Rajas of that time probably didn't show. By saying a good word about the Rajah, why do you presume I criticised Guruji? Wrong.

But that can not and should not be regarded at being on par with a great guru like Sree Narayana Guru. There is no comparison between the two.

Not in my mind.
Dear @Ankul, You should visit my home to see my collection of Sree Narayana Guru's teachings that I read every day. Lets not insult great yogis like him by comparing him to anyone else. Because mere mortals like us can never fathom their greatness or their divinity.

The Rajah of Travancore had qualities that other Rajas of that time probably didn't show.

But that can not and should not be regarded at being on par with a great guru like Sree Narayana Guru. There is no comparison between the two.

Not in my mind.
Dear @Ankul, You should visit my home to see my collection of Sree Narayana Guru's teachings that I read every day. Lets not insult great yogis like him by comparing him to anyone else. Because mere mortals like us can never fathom their greatness or their divinity.

The Rajah of Travancore had qualities that other Rajas of that time probably didn't show.

But that can not and should not be regarded at being on par with a great guru like Sree Narayana Guru. There is no comparison between the two.

Not in my mind.
Dear @RealHistory: There is nothing shameful about any community in this world. It is our words and our thoughts that make it so.
Anonymous said…
Dig into history. All your caste pride will vanish. E.g. Menon was not a caste but a title (like Nambiar, Pillai) and most of the title earners were ezhavas! Another example, Dr.Ravindran last year wrote quoting Kodungalloor Kunhikuttan Thampuran's history book that Moose were Ayurvedic vaidyas brahmanised from ezhava caste. Read Kanippayur Namboothiri's history book and you will get a different picture of nairs. So cast aside the caste and live as good human beings.
Anonymous said…
This is far from lie. I am not a south Indian but have first hand experience with Malayalees. They are the worst racists on planet earth. I am not surprised at this article at all.
Anonymous said…
Menon is a trade name who does clerical work by profession. It is not a caste name ,later the men belonging to Nair caste adopted this tail . Their is no speciality for such people but a shameful history . So don't try to say that Nair's have big status.
Anonymous said…
See these people were very keen to open their bedroom doors for namboori men to do asambandham. And now from where they have this mentality. Nair's are the lowest cast people in terms of their tradition. They need to do 1000 rituals to get an Ezhava marriage relationship . No ezhava parents would allow their daughters to marry a nair . if it happens it is because of their love to their daughter.
Anonymous said…
Yes those who did shamefull act need to be shameful. They did the most shamefull act in all human history. They need to pay for it . Pretending ........ Everyone knows..
Unknown said…
@Anu
If u were born in a poor family...what the hell u suposse to say in the public??
Anonymous said…
I just stumbled upon this page and can honestly say I'm horrified at this blog and the comments. I'm a Keralite born and raised abroad and am proud to say I have no clue what caste I am! Its shameful to perpetuate such archaic beliefs in this day and age.

Where I live, I come across many people who make fun of Indians because they think we are "backward". I argue with these people and like to re-educate them on the greatness of India. But when I come across comments like this, I'm really saddened to see that this is still a conversation!

Which caste you are does NOT define who you are as a person. And the caste of others does not define them. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise!!!
anu said…
@Jibeesh...sorry didn't get you,come again
anu
praveen said…
caste will not be vanished by dicussing again and again about caste. it can be vanished only by replacing our minds with nobler thoughts. one who discusses again and again about caste is keeping caste in their mind
Anonymous said…
I agree with you totally
Unknown said…
Well swami Vivekananda rightly said Kerala a "MAD HOUSE OF CASTE" here the people who posted Blog right from the Beginning...in some way or the other projected which caste they belong....Why such kind of people Blog or comment on caste system or say anything about their caste For Example ( I don't believe in caste system then in very next sentence says i belong to Nair or Menon. etc..etc)what are they trying to prove that they are from so called upper caste trying to support so called lower caste..helerious. C'on guys....first remove that caste system from our own blood only then this state or country will become caste free.....Hahhaha now those people are trying to find out my caste...log on to my face book.

Regards
Vivek Vasudevan
anu said…
well said vivek :-)
Unknown said…
Still the nairs and menons are dreaming of their past glory to be reinstated in the society and remain in the upper strata.Infact the nairs in kerala are the most ugliest community you can ever come across in your life as they presented their daughters and wifes before naboothirs for free sex inorder to be rich and privileged. Actually this is a spineless community which accepted the sexual slavery of the namboothiris.Even today their real character can be seen in the form of sarita nair, latha nair, salu menon etc doing their traditional occupation of sex for money yet they claim that they are the most superior race ...hahahaha.Iam proud that I belongs to ezhava community which never accepted the sexual slavery of namboothiris and gave birth to genious people such as sri narayan guru, kumaran asan, SK pottakkad,sukumar azikode etc.

Unknown said…
Still the nairs and menons are dreaming of their past glory to be reinstated in the society and remain in the upper strata.Infact the nairs in kerala are the most ugliest community you can ever come across in your life as they presented their daughters and wifes before naboothirs for free sex inorder to be rich and privileged. Actually this is a spineless community which accepted the sexual slavery of the namboothiris.Even today their real character can be seen in the form of sarita nair, latha nair, salu menon etc doing their traditional occupation of sex for money yet they claim that they are the most superior race ...hahahaha.Iam proud that I belongs to ezhava community which never accepted the sexual slavery of namboothiris and gave birth to genious people such as sri narayan guru, kumaran asan, SK pottakkad,sukumar azikode etc.

Unknown said…
Still the nairs and menons are dreaming of their past glory to be reinstated in the society and remain in the upper strata.Infact the nairs in kerala are the most ugliest community you can ever come across in your life as they presented their daughters and wifes before naboothirs for free sex inorder to be rich and privileged. Actually this is a spineless community which accepted the sexual slavery of the namboothiris.Even today their real character can be seen in the form of sarita nair, latha nair, salu menon etc doing their traditional occupation of sex for money yet they claim that they are the most superior race ...hahahaha.Iam proud that I belongs to ezhava community which never accepted the sexual slavery of namboothiris and gave birth to genious people such as sri narayan guru, kumaran asan, SK pottakkad,sukumar azikode etc.

Anonymous said…
Thiyyas and Ezhavas are two different communities which is scientifically proven. If the thiyyas were poor and good for nothing as compared to ezhavas like some people have said, why are the ezhavas so hell-bent on ezhavanisation of the thiyyas. On the other hand, the thiyyas don't want to identify themselves with the ezhavas. The only reason the ezhavas are doing this is to bask in the glory and the stature of the great thiyya community of North Malabar. Historians and ethnographers have described the thiyya community in their works as one the most progressive communities in the country during the pre-independence era. Ezhavas can now boast of millionaires but don't forget the past. When thiyyas held high positions pre-independence during the Madras Presidency, they was not even a single peon from the ezhava community in government service. Moreover, keeping the thiyyas in the loop is a way of showing off to the Nair community of Travancore that they also had highly educated and progressive people in their community who are called as thiyyas in North Kerala. The ezhavas have started claiming that Kavu, theyyam, etc. are all part of their culture as well. One thing you should understand is that money cannot buy class. Tharavadithum comes only from lineage and upbringing. The words used by certain people in this blog clearly reflect on their background trying desperately to get some hold in society through their riches. Money must be a criteria to move up socially in South Kerala, but for the thiyyas of North Malabar who don't offer or accept dowry care two hoots about it.
Anonymous said…
I feel pity on u bcoz u don't know anything about ezhavas/thiyyas of southern kerala!Ezhavas from the ancient past was very highly knowledgeble and educated community with high knowledge in sanskrit ayurveda philosophy high medical knowledge etc ..............itty achuthan vaidyar was the one who publshed the world famous horticus malabaricus in way back in 17th century he was from afamous ezhava family who were specialised in ayurveda and sanskrit............. the trivandrum medical college was founded by ezhavas it was the first medical college of travancore which was founded by CO KARUNAKARAN THE FAMOUS DOCTOR from the ezhava community.............. a major part of ezhava community were very wealthy and were engagged in trading bussiness there were also many landlords in the distant past feudal era in the community! the first person to own a car in travancore was from ezhava family of travancore called the alummotil channars and panicker and chekavars! he made his fortune through liquor trade and was the first person intravancore to won a car after the maharaja of travancore![even the current sndp general secretary vellapaly nateshan his ancestors were one of the richest people in the travancore area unlike his rival SNDP LEADER gokulam gopalan from vadakara malabar area who is a newly rich personality although he is now more wealthy then vellapaly nateshan..........(. He hails from Kanichukulangara, Alappuzha district of Kerala.

Vellappally Natesan born as one of the 13 children of Late Vellappally Kesavan Muthalaly, of rich Vellappally family who were land-lords of the locality. The family were owning a school and a devi temple at Kanichukulngara. Now Vellappally Natesan is General Secretary of the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana (SNDP) Yogam and SN Trust) ....the major part of ezhavas in travancore were extremely knowledgeble but this is also true tat some another portion of the ezhava community were poor which is a minor part of it (in the past)!but even many of the poor people from the ezhava community in the past were also highly knowledgeble many had huge sanskrit knowledge in the feudal era there wre many chekavars panickers thandans/channars in the ezhava community in the past and i would like to comment about the educaton and wealth in the modern era in the modern education we provided the first malayali IIT topper dr gagan prathap who was vice chancellor of CUSAT we provided the women IAS officer we provided the first WOMAN minister of kerala and also the second one gowri amma and susheela gopalan we almost provided the first woman chief minister of kerala GOWRI AMMA but the post was cheatingly given to the illiterate uneducated EK NAYYANAR(although i must admit he was a good chief minister) ! the only reason the ezhavas in the past were tagged as lower caste was bcoz they never accepted the supeority of the nambudiris(now the nambudiris are one of the most poorest community of kerala) the ezhavas considered themselves superior to them they were proud of themselves unlike the nairs who were slaves of namboothiri and as mentioned above by some people this is a spineless community which accepted the sexual slavery of the namboothiris.Even today their real character can be seen in the form of sarita nair, latha nair, salu menon etc doing their traditional occupation of sex for money ....we are proud belongs to ezhava/thiyya community which never accepted the sexual slavery of namboothiris and gave birth to genious people such as sri narayan guru, kumaran asan, SK pottakkad,sukumar azikode OV VIJAYAN co karunakaran etc.
Anonymous said…
.....................................not only this we made one of the biggest companies in KERALA and INDIA be it MANAPURAM FINANCE OR BE IT JYOTHI LABORATORIES(IF ANY IDIOTS OVER HERE DON'T KNOW WHAT JYOTHI LABORATORIES is it is the company which produces henko ujala exo prill mr white MAXO fa MARGO etc ) OR BE IT INFOSYS or be it EMPEE GROUP or be it NaNdilath or be it nirapara or be it the rajdhani group or be it CHOLAYIL GROUP medimix or be it the chandrika group OR BE IT THE MOHANDAS GROUP OR BE IT THE sfc group of dubai or the elemec group of dubai OR BE IT THE KIMS HOSPITAL ezhavas HAVE AROUND 50% SHARE IN THE KIMS hospital OR BE IT THE ERNAKULAM MEDICAL CENTRE OR BE IT ELITE GROUP OR BE IT polakulam group or be it NEW RAJASTHAN MARBLES OR BE IT THE GOKULAM GROUP OR BE IT THE KTC GROUP AND MANY MANY MORE ..........S.D.Shibulal, Executive Director, Infosys (Richest Ezhava in the world)
Anonymous said…
and now i would like to move to the new topic which has been started inorder to divide the ezhava/thiyya commmunity and destroy the unity of it ! we all know it is a vested interest of the muslims and christains to divide and destroy the SNDP yogam AND ITS POLITICAL POWER ANDS SOME foolish EZHAVA/thiyya people have fallen for this i feel pity on those people they are trying to divide the community on the basis of location in which they are located u r a big idiot ! u can never destroy the ezhava/thiyya community be it of southern kerala or of northern kerala!...................... i know it vested interest of some fools in the ezhava/thiyya community of malabar who are trying to destroy the SNDP yogam ofcourse they are being funded by muslims and christains! ................................... AND KNOW THIS PLACE KANNUR although my ancestral house is in thrishur and i have many relatives there in both northern kerala or southern kerala ................ and i know this place kannur very well except a very few people ....... this place is nothing but a place were bombs are prepared it is the bomb making area of kerala the POLITICAL leaders they have provided from this kannur area are all all goondas unhumanic criminals pinnarai kodiyeri ep jayarajan etc etc ..................... KANNUR IS ALSO KNOWN AS BIHAR OF KERALA......... U THINK WE ALL ARE FOOLS SITTING OVER HERE WE ALL KNOW WHAT KANNUR IS KNOWN FOR AND I KNOW VERY WELL BCOZ I HAVE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES OVER THERE!most of them uneducated non developed area ..living in the 1950's era!..................................if u want to see the 1950's era again go to kannur and see it! if u want to see bihar in kerala go and see it ...... KANNUR IS THE HELL OF KERALA IT HAS DESTROYED THE NAME OF KERALA!(although there are very few educated people there).................ezhavas/thiyyas have made their mark in every field possible be it politics bussiness glamour cinema science literature etc etc
Anonymous said…
and now i would like to move to the new topic which has been started inorder to divide the ezhava/thiyya commmunity and destroy the unity of it ! we all know it is a vested interest of the muslims and christains to divide and destroy the SNDP yogam AND ITS POLITICAL POWER ANDS SOME foolish EZHAVA/thiyya people have fallen for this i feel pity on those people they are trying to divide the community on the basis of location in which they are located u r a big idiot ! u can never destroy the ezhava/thiyya community be it of southern kerala or of northern kerala!...................... i know it vested interest of some fools in the ezhava/thiyya community of malabar who are trying to destroy the SNDP yogam ofcourse they are being funded by muslims and christains! ................................... AND KNOW THIS PLACE KANNUR although my ancestral house is in thrishur and i have many relatives there in both northern kerala or southern kerala ................ and i know this place kannur very well except a very few people ....... this place is nothing but a place were bombs are prepared it is the bomb making area of kerala the POLITICAL leaders they have provided from this kannur area are all all goondas unhumanic criminals pinnarai kodiyeri ep jayarajan etc etc ..................... KANNUR IS ALSO KNOWN AS BIHAR OF KERALA......... U THINK WE ALL ARE FOOLS SITTING OVER HERE WE ALL KNOW WHAT KANNUR IS KNOWN FOR AND I KNOW VERY WELL BCOZ I HAVE FRIENDS AND RELATIVES OVER THERE!most of them uneducated non developed area ..living in the 1950's era!..................................if u want to see the 1950's era again go to kannur and see it! if u want to see bihar in kerala go and see it ...... KANNUR IS THE HELL OF KERALA IT HAS DESTROYED THE NAME OF KERALA!(although there are very few educated people there).................ezhavas/thiyyas have made their mark in every field possible be it politics bussiness glamour cinema science literature etc etc
Anonymous said…
and I ALSO WOULD LIKE TO MENTION ONE MORE THING there is no use of talking about the past i only mentioned it bcoz some of them questioned it............ the present is the truth the past is of no use only thing is we can learn some mistakes from the past only thing that matters is the present and future The UNITED STATES OF AMERICA THE PEOPLE OVER THERE WERE SLAVES OF ENGLAND(GREAT BRITAIN) IN THE PAST BUT WHAT IS UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TODAY! CAN ENGLAND COMPETE WITH THEM CAN ENGLAND COMPETE WITH THIER TECHNOLOGY INTELLECTUAL CAPACITY OR THEIR KNOWLEDGE OR THEIR MILITARY POWER OR THEIR WEALTH TODAY!................... THE ANSWER IS BIG NO! ..................... there were many more examples but i think this was best one suitable!................ and to the blogger i have read all ur post u r nothing but a big liar a psuedo secular person who has wrote this article to just show the pride of ur so called community! don't try to fool peple over here u r nothing but big hypocrite! ..................................
Anonymous said…
it is only the few stupid people in the ezhava/thiyya community of malabar especially in kannur trying to divide the community! most of the ezhavas of malabar(also called as thiyyas ) are proud of SNDP and all of them a proudly say that they are ezhavas or belong to ezhava/thiyya community! i am personally from kannur and i have relatives all over in northern kerala! it is only some fools who are trying to create this thiyya stupid mahasabha(and it is also those stupid opportunistic hypocrite ezhava/thiyya)! .ezhavas/thiyyas/chekavar/channar/panicker(also there in nairs)/etc are all part of the famous ezhava community!............
vijayan puthukkadi said…
and who the hell is this stupid anonymous(way above) to say about gokulam gopalan or pv gangadharan!.................when these people are themselves proudly saying that they are ezhavas from vadakara! who the hell are u to say they are not ? they are 10 times more knowledgeble than u!...............we all are proud to be part of the ezhava/thiyya community! ..................ezhavas or thiyyas are not two different communities they are different names used for the community in particular areas!....ezhavas/thiyyas/chekavar/channar/panicker(also there in nair community) are nothing but part of the famous ezhava community!
SANDEEP said…
i can't believe what i am seeing! people of kerala in the 21st century are fighting on the basis of caste! hahahahahah i feel pity on u people! ..... don't u people feel pity on urself to fight on basis of caste religion etc ....... my god am i staying in some other area of kerala i have never seen people talking in any part of india like this especially in a highly literate and educated state like kerala! i have stayed in many other places like mumbai delhi etc and also in many parts of kerala i have never seen people talking on the caste or religion lines if at all it would be a JOKE! KERALA is a highly litereate place comeon guys I can understand if BIHARI'S OR SOME REMOTE AREA ILLITERATE PEOPLE TALK LIKE THIS BUT malu's comeon guys grow up!
Anonymous said…
Its Because You were Born AS Menon, If You were Born as Human, This Problem will not exits
Anonymous said…
Grow up guys.. Pity on u..N y why most of the Christians n Muslims admires upper caste is just because they themselves were converted from lower caste to get rid of this caste system once..check history.. n about cleanliness I know lot of upper caste people spitting n urinating in streets n its not bcoz of caste its just bcoz of our systems, our rules.. This same people when reach foreign countries will not do this bcz the rules n systems there are that much perfect..
Rajiv said…
I'm a Menon who was born and brought up in Mumbai. This morning while browsing thru the internet to find reasons as to why a lot of Malayalees don't prefer to keep their surnames I chanced upon this article. I'm apalled to learn how a surname can be a potent poison in ones life. I must say I have been lucky to never have faced such discrimination or been offered preferential treatement for being a Menon, or rather I would never know if I was treated differently ever for being a Menon. I guess its a different world back home in Kerala. I'll never want to live in a place where I would be discriminated because of my surname.
Anonymous said…
This article is 100% nonsense..Being an ezhava, born and bought up in kerala i never had or even heard about such kind of experiences. I' blongs to a hindu ezhava panicker family.i have lot of friends from nair community.They never treated me or any of our ezhava/thiyya or any other friends like described in the article.she herself glorifying the word menon again and again....

yes we have a cast system..thats true but not as BIG as it is in northern part of india.
Anonymous said…
Dear Humans
One thing comes out very clear, in a society or market(corporate) an identity, logo, assurance, breed, clan will come in new forms and there is no escape. Whether you don't like to get attached today with Menon, Ezhava you will be know as engineer, doctor, lawyer, IAS families! the best example I come across are the parsis who have surnames like Pistolwala, Dharuwala, contractor, god knows what not. End of the day you want to stand tall in the society. Remembering an old story title of Bhasheer 'My grandfather had an elephant'! All the best. so the surname is Aanakaran




To all my Anonymous friends and fellow bloggers,

Some of you called this an article full of nonsense, others used this as an opportunity to call names, abuse others etc. Very few people listened to what is being conveyed.

A question: Why can't we discuss caste without flaring up, calling each other names?

That is the problem we need to solve - you, I and we, the whole nation, we need to do this together.

A discussion on caste is impossible unless you are willing to:

1. Listen to what is being conveyed
2. Revisit your own thoughts, beliefs and prejudices (if any) about caste
3. Change your mindset.

I am ready to listen to your experiences and views but not to abuse.

I reiterate: Love and humanity is all that matters. No one is superior to another in the name of caste, religion, gender or anything else for that matter. I have not said so anywhere in my article because I do not personally believe so.

I am a Menon, a Hindu and a woman - I cannot change any of this but I can change my mindset and choose to be a good human being.

That's all I talked about - Love and humanity.

What did you choose to understand?
VILMEENKODI said…
Kerala was ruled by Tulu-Nepalese people from Ahichatra in the Uttarkhand Nepal for the past six hundred years.

All the indigenous Dravdian people were subjugated by the Ahichatra migrants ie Nairs and Nambuthiris.

Prior to Malik Kafurs invasion Kerala was ruled by Tamil Villavar people ie Chera Dynasty, Pandyan Dynasty and Chera-Ai kingdom of Venad.

After 1310 Kerala was given to the Tulu Bunt subgroups such as Nayara Menava, Kuruba and Samantha by Malik Kafur.

Samantha a subgroup of Tulunadus Bunt community became the rulers of Kerala.

Samanthas had the support of Arabs as well as the opportunistic Europeans who came to Kerala. Portuguese used Nair soldiers to promote themselves. Because of the European support the Primitive Naga Samantha rulers and their Nepalese culture survived in Kerala for five hundred years. Otherwise the Samantha would have become history.

The Samantha rulers of Travancore used the Delhi Sulthanate given title Shamsher Jung. Travancore kings were called Mannai Sulthan also. The support of Delhi Sulthanate and European colonial power kept a primitive Nepalese tribe for more than six hundred years.

The Samanthan Nair rulers did not wear dress and barred the indigenous people from covering their upper part of the body too. Most of the Dravidian people were not allowed to walk in the roads by the Northern Aryan-Naga people. Sanskrit and Tulu words were integrated into Malayalam language. The Tamil writing system hitherto used to write Malayalam was replaced by Tigalari script (Tulu Script) of Nairs and Nambuthiris.

Nairs descend from Bunts and not from ancient Tamils. Bunt or Buntary were brought as hereditary slave warriors by Kadamba King Mayura Varma. Bunt subcastes Nayara Menava Kuruba and Samantha became rulers of Kerala but in the earlier period they had been Slaves brought from Ahichatra.

Kerala was given to them by Malik Kafur and not from sage Parasuraman.
Keralas Villavar Tamil rulers of Chera dynasty never mention the legend of Parasuraman. Villavar were indigenous to Kerala.

Ancient Dravidian Villavar culture was destroyed while the Villavar were enslaved.
Nadar Panickar and Channar all descend from the Villavars. Panickar armies supported Chera and Pandyan kingdoms from time immemorial.
The Martial art Kalari Payattu is still practised by Villavar people (It was not brought by Nairs from Ahichatra).
Anonymous said…
Hi swapna....I would like to make one thing very clear to everyone over here although it has nothing to do with the topic but many people over here are very much conused with the fact...so I am just putting light to the fact that "Menon" is not a separate caste by itself & is just a sub-caste of nair community or rather an honourific title given by the rulers in the Malabar & Cochin Kingdoms to the nairs who used to look after the accounts in the state administration....& it is equivalent to the "Pillai" title given in Travancore kingdom to the nairs...I do not know about you swapna but many younger of Menon families [particularly the expatriates ] & even others whom I personally know are of the notion that Menons are a separate community distinct from Nairs which is not true....Menon is just like any other sub-caste/title like[Panicker,Kurup,Menon,Pillai,Kartha,Kaimal,Valiathan,Nambiar etc...]..although Nair is the generic title held by the members of the community as a whole......
ChandranMethil said…
Dear Menon Kutti,You have disturbed a hornets nest with this blog. Nothing works in India without caste coming into the picture,...whether it's reservations,admissions to colleges,promotions,elections etc,etc,etc,.The only places where caste is being eroded are in Metropolitan cities where people of different religions and castes are closely intertwined and the traditional joint family systems are breaking down.The only way this pernicious system can be removed is by economic development and when all our citizens become "wealthy".At the present rate of progress,it will perhaps take a little more than half a century. Perhaps our grand children will be able to breathe a little freer and caste becomes a historical memory.I had a fun time reading your blog and all the comments.
Anonymous said…
I am a north indian brahmin, my kerala friends who are namboothiris told that "Nai" means dog and that is how Nair caste name came it seems. Nairs had to show a dog's loyalty and work as dogs for Namboothiri(brahmins). Nairs were considered as Shudras by namboothiri.If anybody could explain whether what my kerala namboothiri friends told is true or false?
J said…
I came across this article today. I'm a keralite brought up abroad. I am from the ezhava caste, and I'm mentioning this just so that people understand what I'm trying to say. I do not believe in caste, but I do agree with this article. Caste system is a curse and it is racism. I did not know what caste I belonged to until I was 15 years old as I had to put it in my SSLC book. I was shocked and appalled. Reservation was created to uplift the backward classes and it was w good idea when we got independence. It was supposed to be a temporary solution. But it stuck on as caste politics took root. Now the jats and patels and various other affluent castes want reservation. India is no longer a country of meritocracy. I feel for what Seapna's father had to go through. It is the truth. Many upper caste students and candidates don't get what they deserve. It's about time reservation is cancelled. Further more majority of the keralites love to leave kerala and go abroad. Reservation is not going to help them land a job outside of India.

Th most important thing here is to be good human beings. We all bleed red ( not the communist red ;) ) we should all work towards a future where the next generation do not have to think about caste and such nonsense.
PS Swapna: Sree Chithira thirunal is held in high esteem and the temple entry proclamation is to this day considered a very important step in the right direction in our history. Also let me add that it wasn't a decision that came about easily as he had a lot of agitating communities that made it impossible for him not to do it. Not in any way diminishing hat he did.
sarathchandran said…
In a nutshell, we as Menons and Nairs, are deprived of opportunities in education, government jobs and government promotion lists (but we have the right to die out of frustrations arising out of govt discrimination). Fact is that Menons in Kerala are denied jobs, education and promotions at every point. So what? We have social respectability, as if that can pay our bills! This is a Converted Shudra or Shudra Upper caste(NAIR OR MENON) person's observation.In reality nairs or menon are the shudras in kerala and they just converted in to upper caste by serving brahmins. Second thing is that, who told you that these shudras are denied jobs? and who denied jobs?.In fact they are the one who enjoys almost all the higher posts in kerala. I think she do not know about these things.If you married to a thiyya it is not a big deal.these people are still following caste ism and thinking Dalits are untouchables.They have their own schools ,colleges.They have lands from land reforms and these lands were denied to Dalits and Lowe caste people in Kerala.So,dear girl your observations are entirely wrong and have to read more about malayali memorial and ezhava memorials.Try to do a deep study about nairs and other people in Kerala.If you need any help you can mail me. Discrimination is not facing by you rather you are enjoying the privilege of caste colour and money.Malayalm movies are always related to brahmins and particularly about Nairs and still it continues.You are the creature of Caste in Kerla Not the Hindus and Muslims,even though they are also practicing it.
Unknown said…
Viswakarma or viswabrahmins are the most superior caste..even higher than Brahman..they r born engineers..Architects and vedic scholars..
Unknown said…
Viswakarma or viswabrahmins are the most superior caste..even higher than Brahman..they r born engineers..Architects and vedic scholars..
Anonymous said…
Prejudice based on caste tile still exists in Kerala.Nearly 44% of Keralites have become either Muslims or Christians because of the rigid caste system. Both these communities have swollen in number mainly due to conversion from the Ezhavas,Arayas and Dalits.A sprinkling of Nairs and Nambudiris,when they broke the rigid caste rules had to join either of these communities.
vijesh nair said…
I am a nair and i am proud to say it i belong to a warrior family and i serve nation as a army officer in Indian army and i am not ashamed to put my surname along with my name as a student of history i know what all my forefathers sacrificed specially during the time tipu sulthan invention in kerala north Indians are not as stupid as keralets they keep there surname if you find that you are not fit as nair please do change your caste itself and be a Communist Whis is available only in one state Kerala but dont post all rubbish in web it all happened just because of that horrible Nambodhari (EMS), Practice it dont publish it
vijesh nair said…
hello north indian brahman the nairs were superior than nambotheri in terms of land Power and money and to degrade nairs they use such dirty practices infect original nair system namboodaris are not even called to for performing pooja for marriage and other riths and one brahman was responsible for attacking Hinduism in kerala EMS Nambhodari
Anonymous said…
The caste system is terrible. My parents are against me as I'm willing to marry a ezhava person. M a nair girl .
shyam said…
my opinion about caste system there was caste system in india. caste system was a creation of british government to destroy genetic purity of Indian tribes( vamsham ). most of today's caste acrries their old tribal backround. there is nothing to claim that one tribe is good other is bad all depents time

My suggestion is whoever marry form other tribe (caste) track mother linage as as per hindu believes genetic of the kid to mother relation will be remain and the relation with father will be reduce for each generation after 7th generation no need pitrukaram. father is visitor
Unknown said…
If economic conditions are good u Will have good social conditions in earlier day's obc sc and st theirs economic conditions wer bad and theirs social conditions sc st people's were considered as untouchables imagine urself in such a condition at least u haven't felt it ri8 ...some rich guy getting form car 100rupee form bla..blah..bla
The govt they keep on playing the game try to understand that don't try to take us rage on low caste....k think
Unknown said…
@anu fuck u bitchy girl
Prad said…
I could really relate to your post on casteism in Kerala. I have felt the same way (except that I am way younger than you). I felt really sad when I couldn't get to a reputed college (because I am a Nambiar) whereas my other friends got in the name of OBC. I am not against positive discrimination. But I felt like it was a curse to people like me. I used to live in Sharjah and the society was so fine there - I had no idea what my caste was and I even thought "Nair" was a family name. It was when I came to Kerala that I started learning about this ugly truth of caste. I was a bit angry about this that I was desperate to introduce "Nambiar" to my name. But my father also made me realise just the way your father did.

But this frustration still lingers within me. Glad that I could open up my feelings here.
Anonymous said…
Only a small number of families who were Identified as Nairs were in privileged positions before the independence. The waste majority of Nairs were ordinary servants or doing similar service without any specific trade skills. Also they treated by Brahmins as Shudras and were never allowed to study Vedas. Ordinary Nairs should have been included in the OBC category (excluding then privileged nairs like kartha,kaimal,nayanar,thampi etc) It was a mistake from then NSS leaders to group all into one for political reasons.

Muslims also had privileged families like thangals and keyis, but Mappilas who formed the majority were included in the Obc category for reservation by Muslim leaders.
Anonymous said…
Caste system is so ridiculous and very much offending. Were we all tagged with it while we were born or was it written in our DNA?
Why don't we think about the disgrace done to the people in name of lower castes. When we don't have rights to discriminate any living being which we didn't create, then how can a person discriminate another person?
The reservations given to them has wiped only a bit of disgrace done to them and their ancestors. We should have stood in their shoes in order to understand their troubles they had underwent in their past.
We speak so much about their reservations but fail to see the tortures laid on their ancestors by our ancestors centuries together. In what way we will pay back?

It is a shame if we can't understand this.
VSN said…
Having gone through all the comments ,one really gets a bullseye view of how much havoc post truth is wrecking .......Atleast all those who have wanted to be generous in the name of humanity and love(such an overloaded word) can realise how futile it was to believe in equality when it is so apparent that the tables shall be reversed given the slightest opportunity. And that is the secret behind the enduring significance and power of caste . And yes DNA is very much apparent in responses .
Anonymous said…
Menon is actually an occupational name. Its nothing but "CLERK" or "Head Clerk". Who ever does this job are entitled with the surname MENON. So it doses not only belong to nair caste. Nair caste is a dependent- servant class to Kerala Namboothirees. That is how they earned the social status "Foreward Caste".
Prakash P said…
There is caste system in the minds of Muslims and Christians too...

It is well understood...

I am a Vaniya by caste from Kannur. I am educated at Kottayam and after that a Padre who was a friend of me there tried a job for me in a company making rubber based products of our daily usage and automobile related product.

He was with good intention to help me as he was knowing me very well. But the next day he came and asked me my caste saying their management is very particular about caste, they will take a specific group of christians and Brahmins and Muslims. At least a candidate should be a nair and they need school certificates to see before selecting for interview..

I was feeling very much insulted and outrageous... I am not belonging to any of these groups they prefer..what will happen to their bloody hell business if all the other castes decided not to buy their products...
Anonymous said…
Hi
I am from Hyderabad.I just read your article just wanted to share what I had observed being a upper caste I am a Nambiar and yeah my family belongs to well known Nambiars in payyanur. I remember my grandfather had friends of other caste being from Nambiar family we never had a different view on other caste I have seen Muslims and Christians having lunch at my home and we at there place and u mentioned dowry to be frank I never heard about dowry in our place I just clarified when u criticised our part of place never takes dowry and we never appreciate it.I don't no much about kerala or the caste just i said what i had seen on my vacations to kerala and am proud to say after reading all the above comments my family members are are way better there thoughts and all equal.I am really sorry If I have said anything wrong.
Anonymous said…
After the land reforms act,1969 passed by the Communist Govt in Kerala, the tenants(Ezhavas) in Palakkad became the new Savarnas(Upper castes) while the previous land owners (Nairs and Brahmins) became poor and landless. None of the Nairs hold any lands while all the lands are with the OBC groups, who enjoy the land and also the reservation benefits for the OBCs.I know one Army fellow having 30 acres of land and his son got an officer job in a Bank with a false claim of having an annual income of Rs.3,000/- .I will not be surprised if in the coming years, some terrorist arises from these deprived people who lost their land, wealth and have no social benefits.
Anonymous said…
Someone in the a hove blog said that he being a caste of thiyya is superior to all.nambiar nairn all were servants of mambo dirigible. Let me remind him that don't put such comments in this blog and at least try to think that all are same. During mys childhood in my taravadu I have seen all our servants working were from thiyya community and they used to call us kaikkoru which during that time was a new word for me.all human are equal and castism spoked Hindu culture in kerala and others taken advantage..at least don't boost such such ill feelings about others.
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Anonymous said…
First and foremost laughable article.the author seems to enjoy calling herself a Menon and seems to almost glorify it..yeah the poor upper caste girl!!really r you serious? A disguised Bigot that's what you are. You true Color pops up in many places.shame on you...
Dear Anonymous friend who seems so upset and calls my personal blog post 'laughable',

1. Please read English as it is meant to be read and understood. If you have any difficulty, don't hesitate to ask questions. I can help you with that but the problem is your mindset and your frustration. Frankly, from your laughable statements, it is clear that you either don't understand simple English as expressed on this blog post or you have triggered your own personal biases to label me a bigot. Your frustrations are best rested with you.

2. Define a bigot and have the courage to name yourself. It is easy to shoot at other people in the dark and hide. There is a name for it, you know. I haven't hidden my name or experience - you don't even have the guts to reveal who you are when you criticise me.

3. Sorry to disappoint you again BUT I am not a poor upper caste girl - I am an Indian who is fighting the caste system. READ THIS IN PLAIN ENGLISH AGAIN. You also seem to have a racist problem - I wouldn't use the word ''color'' as carelessly as you do, not in a country like India where we are people of every color and shade. Be more responsible, will you? Park your biases elsewhere.
For all those who shared a lot of information on the history of Marthanda Varma and CV Raman Pillai and others, I have read through it but I do not know enough about their personal history to be able to comment on it right now. Please kindly remember, I wrote this blog post as a young girl trying to grapple with caste based biases and NOT TO TRIGGER A CASTE RIOT.

@VSN, I completely agree with you:)

@Tarun, I get your point. I do not intend to trigger caste sentiments at all.

@PRakash P, I understand how you must have felt. We have all, in different ways, experienced being discriminated on the basis of caste. I feel the pain that you do. I wish it would end.

@Shyam, I do not believe in purity being preserved through the caste system - what truly matters is the goodness of hearts and our actions.

@Shine, It is sad and disturbing that caste based discrimination happens at the workplace. Any form of caste based discrimination is illegal and you should find a way to report it to the concerned authorities if you are unable to tackle it directly.
@Appu, I am so glad that you believe in an equal society where love triumphs. I support your view.

@CricketFreak - Do you even know what you have understood? Please read again. It should help. I am AGAINST CASTE. If this is difficult to understand, I rest my case.
MOHAN SUNDARAM said…
@ Mrs.Swapna & others :
T. Nadu UPPER CASTE NON- BRAHMINS are "wiser" than the Menons,Nairs & Nambiars.TN upper caste Non-Brahms take advantage of common surnames like Mudaliar, Chettiar,etc., & produce bogus certificates & enjoy reservation benefits.
MOHAN SUNDARAM said…
Continued from previous post: For example, Naattukkottai Chettiars (like P.Chidambaram) r "bhayankara" forward caste. Before freedom (1947), a quarter of d wealth of undivided India (which included Pakistan & Bangladesh) were with the N.K.Chettiars.Contd.
MOHAN SUNDARAM said…
Contd: NK Chettiars produce bogus certificates claiming 2 be OBC Kasukara or VeNNai kara Chettys. FC VELLALA Mudaliars claim 2 be OBC Agamudaya Mudalis. Most TN Forwd Non-Brahmins enjoy OBC reservation benefits.The ONLY PEOPLE WHO SUFFER R THE BRAHMINS.
MOHAN SUNDARAM said…
Asatyameva jayate (IN TAMIL NADU)
FALSEHOOD alone triumphs IN TAMIL NADU.
Backward Castes' Reservation Benefits are cornered by FORWARD CASTE NON-BRAHMINS by taking advantage of common surnames like Mudaliar, Chettiar, etc & producing bogus certificates.
MOHAN SUNDARAM said…
The Nair clan of Kerala can learn a lesson from the forward Non-Brahmins of T.Nadu. The Nairs should not publicise their castes & stop adding their caste names to their first names. They can then produce bogus OBC certificates.Of course it'd be immoral.
MOHAN SUNDARAM said…
@ Malini & SHINE Pathanapuram : Probably Malini's view is based on the Bhagavad Gita lines "CHAATURVARNYAM MAYA SRISHTAM".Some one else may that Brahma or Shiva created humans. Jews/Christians may say Jehovah or Jesus created. Muslims may say it is Allah.
MOHAN SUNDARAM said…
Not only humans but birds, animals, aquatics, venomous reptiles & trees are all equal bcoz God resides in all of them as ATMA. Even Krishna in GITA says, "I am d ATMA wiich resides in all living beings. I am d beginning, middle & end of all beings".
MOHAN SUNDARAM said…
@ SWAPNAJI, The very fact that you are a Menon but have married a Thiyya gentleman shows that you are NOT casteist. It is unfortunate that some of your own Malayalis have not understood u. Being a non-Malayali, I think that I should not say anything more.
M.K. said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
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Rajan said…
In Kerala everything of greatness is related to fair complexion: personal, social, family related and professional; that is the road-map to higher pedigree, social ascendancy, greater respect and upward mobility. Even parents are biased towards fair children and against darker children. The great social reformer Ayyankali of Kerala commented that dark colour was the reason for all social subjugation and changing the colour was the anti-dote: not through fair and lovely cream, but through intermixing with fair complexioned communities. Nairs practised this to the hilt, through hypergamy, even at the cost of immorality. The Nair man (see Edgar Thurstan's comments) would allow a Namboodiri brahmin man (high caste and fair complexioned) to sleep with his own wife to beget children who will be considered as his own (Nair)children; just to make sure that the children are fair complexioned besides having brahmin connections. This has even a ritual wherein the Nair household at the threshold will have a Kindi (vessel to hold water) and the stud bull Namboodiri will wash his feet ceremoniously before entering the household and having sex with the married Nair woman, while the Nair husband will make himself scarce. Hence then nickname 'Kindi Vellam (water)' as Nairs are derisively called by other communities. If you read 'Ivory Throne- A chronicle of the house of Travancore' by Manu Nair you can read about the Nair immorality to achieve hypergamy through illegal brahmin sexual connections. Unbelievable but true! to white wash your gene even if it meant immorality of the highest order.
MOHAN SUNDARAM said…
Nasrani Syrian Christians are JEWS, not brahmins. According to Vatican, St.Thomas NEVER came to Kerala & he might have visited Pakistan. Nambuthiris were not there in Kerala in 52 CE. So there is no possibility of Nambuthiri conversion to Christianity.
Kiran Manu said…
Now Nairs are against caste system.Just look at the comment of one mrs sunantha warrior.This is the real evil now going on in kerala.A fake ID disguised as Warrior glorifying Ezhava community by defaiming Nair.Be gentle and dont be a fake.The said Darmoth family,chavers of mamankam is still practising Nair traditions.Check for interviews on youtube.

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