Once upon a time in CPM land, everyone decried America's gluttony for goods. But Kerala is now turning into a consumer paradise with a voracious appetite for everything from big burgers to the latest gadgets.

When Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez lost his battle against cancer, apart from the Americas, the one 'continent' where the event dominated front pages with banner headlines was Kerala. Proud Malayalis even regurgitated the legend that it was a Catholic Malayali priest who sheltered Chavez during the putsch in Venezuela, and paved the way for his second coming. That's how much the Malayali hates the Yankee.

Or, so goes the common perception. Astute observers have always described Kerala as a consumerist state, and not without reason. The state has a long tradition of trade with the outside world so new ways of selling and buying should not have logically been a subject for angst. But an insular brand of Marxism post-1950 s besieged the Malayali and made him tilt at the windmills of capitalism.

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