Caste Discrimination

What can be the punishment for marrying for love, in ‘progressive’, urban Kerala? A 31-year-long rickety career and 70 court cases. In 1965, K. Ravindranath, a clerk in the government, wanted to marry schoolteacher K.R. Radhabai. Ravi’s family—of the backward Ezhava community—was against him marrying a Nair girl. But Ravi and Radha went ahead. The family lobbied to get Ravi transferred seven times in eight months to distant locations. Then things got worse: the collector suspended him for insubordination. The court ordered his reinstatement in 1980, but officialdom pressed further charges. When exonerated in 1986, a part of his emoluments was withheld. The harassment continued till 1995 when he retired without pension. Finally after another spell of litigation he was awarded Rs 1 crore. "But the government has not paid up," says Ravi.