No discussion of Kerala culture is complete without the Gulf Mala (Scars of the Gulf). For four decades, the economic backbone of Kerala has been the remittances sent home by workers in the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar. This has created a unique cultural pathology: the "Gulf husband" who is a stranger to his children, or the "Gulf return" who flaunts gold and luxury cars.
pioneered a "new wave" of art-house cinema that gained international acclaim, focusing on the psychological depth and the socio-political shifts of the Kerala middle class. 3. The "Big M" Era and Everyman Heroes
