The Fallacy of Central Indian Thought

Why does Kerala have so many Christians?
Why did so many Mallus convert to Christianity?

These were the questions that besieged me last night amongst a barrage of ill informed and ignorant rhetoric . When the obvious answer of the first missionaries landing in Kerala and thereby finding followers did not sate their scavenging minds, I did some research. According to the powers that be (read wikipedia), it is believed that St.Thomas the Apostle landed in Kerala in the 1st century AD. The oldest Church in India is in Kerala. All these are definite proofs of missionary works in Kerala early in the 1st millenium. Furthermore the Chera kingdoms were heavily dependent on trade with the europeans, and middle eastern Asia. So mixing of cultures was bound to happen. So if I belong to a place with a religious demographic that is highly skewed from the national average, am I to be blamed? My God, what kind of a person sees that as a negative thing? The four years I spent there showed me how religiously tolerant the place is. I dont think I have ever heard of communal riots in the south of India.

I am someone who believes that there was once a dark cowherd who slayed the King of Mathura and that there was a real Prince of Hastinapur who was just the bomb with the Bow & Arrows. Call it blind faith but its not so blinding as to turn to hatred for apostates. I believe my religion preaches tolerance.I am against any religious conversion that is not the voluntary end result of a curious mind's search for what it deems to be the right means to spiritual salvation. There is a belief in India that people who converted are those who gave into outside pressures, cowered and these guys who by virtue of holding steadfast to their faiths are superior. A part of me feels the same way. But tell me how can you claim bragging rights to something that you did nothing to achieve. You were born into your religion. You did not prove yourself in the face of murderous mobs or the tempting nets (if I may) of a proselyte. It screams of hypocrisy.

Why Central Indian Thought?? I am generalising instead of directly addressing the culprits. People who act as if they have never come across someone from the north of the Vindhyas. You should realise that "baari" is an accepted usage in the north, having been derived from the punjabi "Vaari" . Please , what right do you have to look down upon this when you yourself translate every sentence from Marathi? And someone who gets so touchy at the slightest generalization of Biharis should have a better sense of respect for all cultures within our country. I miss Delhi. I really do. If only for the better mixing of cultures.

I am also a fool for spending so much time writing this. Useful time that could have been spent watching "tonty phour"