Dr Nair, Director of the Child Development Centre, is extremely critical of the social climate prevailing in Kerala today. For all the progress which we have made in our human index factors, we are poorer in many ways for our lack of honesty in our emotional lives. The psychological violence is subtle and seething, and is leading to many cases of suicide. Dr Nair is seated in his office at the Trivandrum Medical College Campus. His description of the current situation is not very bright, but in fact, it is a script for change.
Ideas are rigid and patriarchal.
Everything is spelled out in black and white. The girls take the brunt of it, with most of them being more educated than their husbands. With suppression all around, marriage often means the end of their creative lives. And as far as sex is concerned, it almost becomes synonymous with guilt. The cumulative effect is a heavy weight on the adolescent.