70 years of the Kerala story
As Keralam enters its 70th year, a look at how several of the ideas that shaped its society decades ago continue to hold sway even today; its transformation over the years into a largely middle-class, consumerist society; the recent push to shed perceptions of its unfavourable industrial climate; the political and cultural identities that have made it a ‘model State’ for many; and the immediate challenges it faces
Keralam celebrates its 70th year of formation on November 1, 2026.
Much before Keralam came into official existence 70 years ago on November 1, 1956 as a State unifying Malayalam-speaking regions, the idea had been in existence in the minds of many who lived in the three fragments — two princely States and part of a British-ruled State — that would later coalesce to form the homeland of Malayalis. The idea of this imaginary State was shaped by the several social reform movements as well as political and cultural interventions that transformed a feudalistic, oppressive, and casteist society over the course of a few decades into a more equitable one and even one that would be called a model.
Many of these ideas are so deep-rooted in the Malayali collective memory that they survive to this day, with traces of them visible in government programmes, in the public spiritedness of large sections of the society in crisis periods, in the awareness of rights of its citizenry and in the strong secular bent of mind, despite stiff challenges to the same in recent years.
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