The migration gene, if there is one, is strong, very strong in the Malayali. The joke goes that wherever you go, the ubiquitous Malayali will be there, whether it's the Swiss Alps or the moon. So, that there are 5,000 plus Keralites in tiny Switzerland, shouldn't be a surprise to you. And they are not content, just eking out a living. ‘The roots' beckon, and the cultural aspect and social responsibility follow.
Three associations
The Malayalis there have grouped together under three umbrellas, Be Friends, World Malayali Council and Keli Switzerland, says Babu Kattupalam, ex-president of Keli, based in Zurich, who is here on holiday and for a bigger purpose too: He and a few other office bearers of the organisation are gifting a 17-seater van to Snehanilayam, a school for special children in Kakkanad.
“It's a gift from the second generation of Indians there, which means our children. The project is called kinder-to-kinder and it was visualised so that they feel connected to their land of origin,” he adds. Keli has as members a sprinkling of North Indians and Kannadigas too, so the pan Indian colour creeps in during all the celebrations.
Speaking in chaste Malayalam, Babu, from Erumeli, says there are weekend schools in Switzerland, where children learn how to read and write Malayalam.
“We conduct the biggest youth festival among Malayalis outside Kerala,” he says proudly. Anyone up to 36-year- old can participate in the festival, where the contests are all very Keralite, like bharathanatyam, Kalaripayattu, Malayalam recitation, Mohiniyattam. Last year, there were 350 participants. They come from all over Europe.
“We have a tie up with the Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademi to hold programmes there and also Soorya holds regular shows under the aegis of Keli, Babu says.
Most of the Malayalis work in the health sector and also IT, of late. Slowdown? “No, it has not affected us at all,” Babu stresses. “We have the best standard of living in Europe and the crime rate is very low.”
That rules are strict and they are followed is one big reason for the comparatively peaceful life there, he agrees.
Strange as it may seem to us, Babu says since the Swiss have no national language, everyone, including the Malayalis can speak Italian, French and German according to which country's border they live. “It hardly takes an hour to go from one side of the border to the other,” he says, laughing. Apart from watches, clocks, chocolates and dairy products that Switzerland exports, everything else is imported. “You may not get good tapioca here, every day like we do, because if we don't get it from India, we get it from Brazil,” he puts it simply.
And what about cinema? Don't they get nostalgic about not seeing the latest Malayalam movie?
“I saw ‘Swapnasanchari' back in Switzerland in a theatre, not on the net and when we came here, my cousins had yet to see it,” he guffaws. The cinemas there have a Malayalam movie every Sunday.
So, is everything milk and honey in Switzerland? The freedom there is sometimes counterproductive, Babu feels.
Close knit
If a child says it is being abused by its parents just because she/he got a scolding for not studying, the child can make its parents life hell by reporting the matter to the police. There have been several such instances, says Babu. Also, there is hardly any begging. "But you see groups of people smoking pot, with a few dogs in tow, at railway stations. Recently, a Malayali girl was found among them, but her mother could do nothing, sadly,” he disclosed.
Generally, Keralites in Switzerland have formed a ‘kutti Kerala' buttressed by the strength of the organisations to hold themselves together in a community mode.
The Malayali ethos is alive and kicking in every Malayali across the seas, but in Switzerland, they make an attempt to consciously keep themselves very Malayali!
