Beema Palli is a mosque in a coastal hamlet near Trivandrum. The mosque holds a powerful image of worship in the hearts of Muslims. But if you take a statistics of the visitors to Beema Palli, it will become clear quite easily that non-Muslims outnumber Muslims. It is not a symbol of secularism for which Kerala is supposed to be famous. But people from all types of community throng here to get fake electronics goods and pirated CDs. Beema Palli is also known for its underworld culture. Its inhabitants are natural ruffians, mainly belong to Muslim community, who are notorious to do anything if they feel offended.
At a time when Kerala Police has declared a red-alert war led by the IG Rishiraj Singh against CD piracy, I was curious to know how things are going in Beema Palli. Rishiraj Singh has acquired a reputation as a stern taskmaster in Kerala Police. (He might have been inspired by the police officers in Malalyalam movies about which he writes reviews in The Hindu regularly) So I decided to check out how Rishiraj Singh’s war against CD piracy fares in Beema Palli.
I reached Beema Palli around 2’o clock in the afternoon. Nothing appeared to have changed. The noisy crowd, narrow and dusty pathways, a never-ending procession of auto rickshaws and motor bikes, and the high-pitched chatter of the shop keepers welcomed me. As a silent witness to everything around it, stood the monument from which the place got its name, the mosque Beema Palli. I walked through the road, watching the shops that sell virtually everything that has an IC inside it.
After sometime, I approached a CD shop. As usual they have the latest from every composer: from Ilaiyaraaja to Himesh Reshamiya. Same in the case of movies too. CDs and DVDs of almost all recent releases in Malayalam, Hindi, Tamil and English are displayed prominently. It must be acknowledged that these guys have a great collection. In another part of the shop I saw a small crowd. Sensing something, I joined the gathering. There I saw a large collection of CDs and DVDs of blue films. Voluptuous naked ladies lustily look at you from the CD jackets. The accompanying captions make you laugh instantly. But I said no thanks. I asked the salesman whether Rishiraj Singh had come there for raids. He replied with a cool smile: “He comes occasionally, when he needs CDs”.
6 comments:
No hopes at all for God's Own country?
I am a Hindu and I stay close to Beemapalli. I have been to the mosque twice and there is something which makes one feel divine. Coming on the context of shops, those who cant afford to buy an original CD or DVD tend to go there and buy what they like. However, people get cheated when they go in for electronic stuffs. Everything sells cheap. e.g. a game CD just costs Rs. 15 while a game DVD costs 40. And its worth it too.
@kickass Do you know what is the cost of Playstation 3 game disks there?
You can get any game dvd there... just be aware that approximately 30% won't work. But calculate the cost of a real disk and the fake ones and your profit is a small treasure anyways.. But piracy is crime. So i don't support it :-D
there is no PS3 discs avilable here only PS2
99 percent of the shops are selling game dvds are not works properly. go to the shop(first floor) opposite of the second gate of the mosque. their deals are almost fare. warnig: I am not a supporter of pirated cds. be careful
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