Communism In Kerala

On a recent visit to the state of Kerala in southern India I was surprised by the prominence of soviet style communist icons painted on the streets throughout the state. It turns out it was the first communist party in the world to be voted in by ballot back in 1957.

The extent to which a communist state government works within the social, religious and political framework of India appears to be very complex however, along with West Bengal and Tripura the state of Kerala seems to operate with a specific Indian version of communism that despite often looking like Cuba at times possibly has few other similarities !

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Chupacabra

Perhaps stemming from the current vampire mania the Chupacabra is a legendary creature that roams latin america feeding on the blood of lifestock, the name translates from Spanish to literally mean goat sucker. There have been 'reported' sighting also in USA and as far as Russia. While I don't for a second believe such a creature exists I do I like the concept of contemporary myths like these, this one I had only heard of recently.

The myth appears to have started in Puerto Rico in mid 90's where numerous lifestock were said to be found dead and drained of blood. The Chupacabraand is most often described as having scales or spikes on its back and hops around like a kangaroo and when alarmed gives of a sulphuric stench !