While at the dentist...

"Is it paining Sunil? "

As I lay flat on the dentist's seat with my mouth wide open and a wide tissue paper ( I am sure it has another proper name in dentist science) hung around my neck like an ornament, I shook my head in an effort to say "No, not at all". A small smile appeared on the dentist's face. I knew I was faking it - my hands were clutched together and the sweat glands on my palms were hard at work; my ankles were kissing each other and my heart was beating so strong that the dental instruments placed on my chest were jumping up and down.(The last part was exaggerated, but you get the point). I looked up at the Styrofoam roof (it's not like you've got many other options to lock in your gaze while you are at the mercy of your dentist), and it seemed as if the song coming from the speakers was a message from up above. It was the song from Police - "Every smile you fake, I will be watching you.."

And then, all of a sudden, I felt the feeling of calm. The pain killer had taken effect. I closed my eyes and thought - "How could I be such a hypocrite? I just denied having pain to a doctor who expects not to be lied to; someone who is working hard for my best health interests (hopefully). And that's when it got me thinking - maybe, just maybe, I picked up the trait from my home state of Kerala.

Before you throw up your arms in revolt, allow me to explain what prompted me to think so. Kerala has the highest literacy rate in the country (of India, stupid!), has the highest life expectancy, lowest birth rate and lowest infant mortality. Don't take my word for it, look it up here. So why is it that Kerala is dogged with high unemployment, lack of skilled workers and an undying urge of its native population to get out of the state? Kerala is known as the "middle east" of India to people of other states - in other words, thats where you go to make money. Still, there's an undying opinion of "ee naadu nannavilla" (translation: this state will not get better) from malayalis. Kerala movie audiences reject any sexual innuendo in malayalam movies, but flock to movies of other languages that have the same in abundance. While hard work and exemplary behavior are strictly out of bounds for them within the state borders, those are the same qualities that they use to make themselves extraordinary citizens outside their state. In a tourism perspective, it is "God's own country", but the devil is hard at work slowly eating out all the natural beauty of it from within. Is there really a kerala model that's playing out here?

Although all of the above assertions are generalized, I believe that generalizing the characterisitics of a state and its natives is not much of a far fetched idea. There is some truth to it and yes, there is also a lot of room for debate.

"Ok, I think the root canal is done - your numbness will come off in a bit. Hopefully it was not too painful", the doctor said, smiling. I did not waste time in gesturing that I did not even feel a thing - true in this case since I was engaged in an engaging thought process (in case you asked, yes, I do put myself in a pedestal once in a while)! Slowly, my pain killer started to wear off and so was my ability to think about stuff that does not affect my daily life. Maybe I should visit the dentist more often to get the creative brain juice flowing :-)

Aah, the pain killer is all gone now. Hello there - my native, naive self.