On Kerala campus,comrades mutilate a ‘vulgar’ shrub

Accordingly,the beautifully sheared mermaid-shrub — which has adorned the Kochi campus of the deemed varsity for the last 20 years — lost its breasts yesterday,and is now awaiting the garden scissors of the curator to get transformed into a man.

The vandalism has triggered outrage. Education Minister and CPM central committee member M A Baby said he would look into the matter. Dr K S Radhakrishnan,former V-C of Kerala Sanskrit University,said CUSAT’s action was “tantamount to the demolition of Buddha idols in Afghanistan by the Taliban. What is vulgar about a shrub shaped like a woman?”

CUSAT registrar Dr N Chandramohan Kumar said,“Many women complained that they felt embarrassed while passing the green mermaid,which was pruned exactly like the sexy figure of a woman. Although the mermaid has been there for the last two decades,the women’s organisation felt ugly about it only recently.” Kumar said the organisation had quoted a Supreme Court directive of 2002,ordering the removal of vulgar pictures and artifacts from the campuses of educational institutions. The university wanted the issue settled before the organisation moved court,Kumar said.

Varghese,the gardener who created the green mermaid,said,“I drew inspiration from the mermaids shaped in concrete by the noted sculptor Kanai Kunjiraman elsewhere in Kerala. Many academics and vice-chancellors have complimented me for it.”