Politics

The state of Kerala in India may be run by communists, but they must be doing something right. In the capital city of Thiruvanathapuram (Trivandrum) I did not see one single beggar. I even saw people who certainly looked like they should have been begging, but they weren't. Interesting. Just so you know, though, all of Kerala was not beggar free.

Having grown up on the tail end of an age where communism was the "one global threat", it was a bit odd to see the hammer and sickle, the symbol of communism, everywhere. Political party posters carried images of the communist trinity- Marx, Lenin, and Stalin. One poster had a regular panoply of communist characters. I recognized the faces of a few, but there were at least five or more I didn't know. Castro was there, though.

Trivandrum was more of a stopover than a destination. Maybe I have said this before, but I don't like taking bus rides of over 5 hours (unless it is a night bus and then only if it arrives at a decent time, not 3:00 AM). Even though it was just a stopover, I did take an extra day to wander around the city and visit the zoo. That is where most of these pictures are from.

Have a look.