I’ve been reading Hope, Human and Wild by Bill McKibben. Its not too bad. But I wanted to write about my thoughs on Kerala…often brought up by environmentalists (including McKibben) as the golden standard to aspire to.

I’ve been in a very pessimistic mood lately, so this post is going to reflect that pessimism. This post is also poorly written. So please put your grammer rules aside for now.

I am very familiar with Kerala - a state in India. For one, I was born there. I’ve also lived in a small town in Kerala for a while. But I hated the place. Yes the food was lovely, the resource consumption is as low as everyone says it is. The weather was tolerable despite the heat and humidity, mainly because of all the trees that make the place liveable. And the water is delicious! But the people…well its what makes a place. And for the most part its the people that made me despise the place.

While I realize that the norms and customs of a community is what makes up a community I dislike the notion that an outsider or someone who deviates from those norms and customs can be ostracized, burned at the stake, etc, etc. While I’ve only become mildly obnoxious in the last few years, in general I am not a rebel. I like to follow the rules and overall am an all round do-gooder.

One of the reasons I like the U.S. is because people in general tend to leave you alone. This is coming from my experience of living in a city, suburb and the country.They chalk up your eccentricities as eccentricities. But there isn’t an overall pervasive negative vibe following you everywhere you go if you’re slightly odd. If you speak English with a slightly different accent you aren’t mocked. You’re just asked to repeat yourself (and occasionally treated like a special exhibit at the zoo). You can wear almost type of clothing anything and not be bothered about it for the most part. Your neighbors won’t come over and call you a slut for wearing shorts in 100 degree weather (and you are wearing shorts in your own house…not walking around town with it). 

I am not quite sure how to put this. But, everytime a white person walks around in India they are treated as a god (one reason my husband is quite eager to visit India). White skin is prized. So I can’t imagine a white person having a terribly negative experience in a place like Kerala.  Maybe they might wind up as victims of theft or pickpocketeers…but their attitude and behaviour won’t be mocked. But if those same attitudes were somehow part of someone’s personality (say…me)…then life will be hell. Speaking the native language with a slightly different accent will get giggles and mockery every single time. Wearing jeans will be seen as a huge act of rebellion that will need to be curbed.

I can’t remember what else made my life a living hell seeing as I have a terrible memory. But I wonder if its worth it to live in a community with a very low rate of resource consumption and give up any semblance of a personality in order to fit in.