I’ve been controlling that itch in my fingers to type this for some time now. But I need to sleep peacefully at least tonight. So here goes..

As a Malayali, there is an impression about a vast majority of fellow Malayalis that I have had in my mind for quite a long time. And going through social media the past two days has kind of cemented it. What I am talking about is the fact that we, and by that, I mean a huge number of our people, are a group who badly, desperately needs to learn the importance of humility. (From now on I am going to call that section of our population “they” instead of “we” because I just can’t take equal responsibility in this pathetic display of arrogance.)

The post-poll result antics that our people exhibit on social media is the latest and by far, the best reason that we can use to substantiate that fact. They have been trying to prove to the rest of the country that misplaced humour, senseless philosophy, huge (big is an understatement) fancy words that mean nothing in this context, snobbishness and above all smug arrogance are (in)effective tools to cope with grief – in this case, the grief that came with the win of a political party and a political leader they hate. Humility and grace in accepting a mandate that was personally not favoured by them, introspecting what their own problems were that brought out a conflicting mandate – these should have been the things they focused on instead of calling the rest of the country a bunch of idiots. I am ashamed to say that except for a handful of sensible ones, the rest of them from my State chose to do exactly that.

What they used the most to support their nauseating sense of superiority, as always, was ‘the highest literacy rate’. There have been innumerable memes and posts from ‘proud Malayalis’ who are lauding themselves for proving to be the most intelligent group of people in the country for the way they kept “terrorizing communal fascist forces” out of their land. It could have been ignored as a case of sour grapes considering how the very same “terrorizing communal fascist forces” had a landslide win across India and is back in power, yet again. But what can’t be ignored is the way they went ahead and chose to call the rest of India, in their words “the illiterate and mindless” people outside Kerala, a bunch of fools for electing this party and leader back to power. In this country of close to 1.3 billion people, the way these ‘intellectual representatives’ of a State of 35 million people have talked down about the rest of the population of this country is sickening to say the least. According to them the majority of close to 1.27 billion people from States outside our “God’s own Country” are incapable of seeing the truth, misled and shepherded by anti-social elements and all in all, stupid for choosing whoever they chose to be their leader. I have included even the other Southern States, where BJP did not win big, in this number too because in the bigger picture for these Malayalis, all of them come in the same herd of brainless sheep. They are the mighty ones, no one else and that is how they present themselves in all these ‘viral’ social media posts.

1.27 billion!! Let that number sink in! That is the population they are calling stupid only because their political priorities and preferences were different. And they say that this 1.27 billion killed democracy by bringing back to power someone less than 35 million of them hated. “How dare they do this to us, the most literate people in the country?” “They do not have the brains to choose correctly because they are all illiterate and dumb.” “The only ones who had any idea what the right path to choose were us and that makes us would-have-been-saviours of democracy as opposed to 1.27 billion who chose differently and killed democracy.”

That should tell you the level of arrogance of these Messiahs of democracy. These are the very same people who do not think twice before abusing and bullying celebrities for being snapped with the PM or congratulating him on his win. Because that, for them, is part and parcel of being intellectually superior to others. And they forget that hardly a year ago when the entire State was drowning, these ‘mindless illiterates’ did their part in helping us up. But when we count only what came from abroad as relief fund, it is pretty difficult to be grateful for the help that we found from those closer home, isn’t it?

But I must say that I am not entirely surprised by what they are doing now. This is a group of people who have proudly been immigrants across the world, in multiple professions. But the scorn, contempt in their tone when they talk about immigrant workers from other States speaks volumes of their hypocrisy and I repeat, the nauseating sense of superiority. The fact that these immigrant workers came to our State in the first place because a lot of our own people were too lazy to do things right or were too preoccupied with Trade Unions and perks seems to escape them. So does the fact that these immigrant workers are doing a hell of a job in whatever they take up and that is why they are preferred, but still looked at as untouchables. These are the very same people talking about divisiveness by ‘fascist leaders’ and the need to ensure inclusivity of every section of the society. And it is exactly this rigid attitude of “we know it all” and “we are always right” that has stood in the way of our State attaining greater heights despite the resources and education we boast of. Mark my words – it is this attitude which will one day lead to the downfall of an otherwise amazing State.

They keep gloating about ‘the highest literacy rate’ without realizing that they are perfect examples of the naked truth that literacy and education do not necessarily bring in common sense or class. And if this snobbishness is what they have to show for their literacy and education, then they are pushing more people to opt out of education altogether for fear of becoming like them.

It is too late for redemption for these people. But I hope someone will teach at least the next generation how to handle defeat with grace and learn from their mistakes if they wish to rise again.

P.S. Dear intellectually superior beings, even NDTV is doing a better job than you at dealing with this. That should tell you guys something.