In the land of Marxists, faith is the new fashion.

In December 1999, Kerala's most famous poetess Madhavikutty, alias Kamala Das, turned a Muslim. Nearly four months after she became Kamala Sorayya, changing religion has become a habit among intellectuals, religious leaders, writers and even the commoners of this literate state.

In January, one of Sorayya's admirers, Balachandran Chullikkad, a well-known young Malayalam poet, embraced Buddhism. Recently six Muslim leaders led by an upcoming writer, Palakkode K Hassan, took up Hinduism in the company of two Christians.

The neo-converts claim they have found love, hope and fulfilment in their new religions. Church leaders claim the spate of conversions in a highly literate state like Kerala has been a severe blow to the anti-conversion campaign by Hindu groups like the Vishwa Hindu Parishad.

Critics say changing faith is a novel method to grab headlines by the 'so-called creative writers'. And social analysts point out that it is a new trend that needs to be closely monitored.

Associate Editor George Iype spoke to a cross section of intellectuals, religious leaders, politicians and common people to find out why conversion has become a craze in Kerala. A three-part series.

ON TO PART 1
'Hindu gods never forgive. They only punish'

Design: Dominic Xavier