An epidemic of News Channels and TV Channels in Kerala 2011

Mangalam to start its own TV channel:Click Here

Reporter is another new channel that is set to take off soon.
Click Here

Manorama had been planning a GEC channel and for this purpose roped in R.Srikantan Nair who was previously with Asianet and is now running his own set up christened Magic Media. Jude Attipetty remains at the helm at Manorama's TV venture.
Click Here

Malayalam Film songs: Thumbayum Thulasiyum. Film: Megham

This song has a lilting tune given by Ousepachhan and some stunning lines by Girish Puthencherry.
The scenes are typical of Kerala and I loved it for all these reasons. The girl is Punjabi- Priya Gill and the actor is Mamooty. The movie is Megham.

Lawrie Baker, G.Shankar and the Habitat architects

A very interesting group of architects who are into low cost, environment friendly architecture. They are based in Trivandrum, Kerala.

http://www.habitattechnologygroup.org/

The way the Communist Cookie Crumbles- Kerala

 A picture of a house which was allegedly the Communist Party Secretary Pinarayi Vijayan's home, and  which appeared in the internet, has resulted in a controversy with the Party claiming that this a Trichur businessman's house and not his own. However, a lot of  people in Kerala believed otherwise, given the multi crore Lavlin scam case in which Pinarayi is the accused. The matter is now sub judice and therefore not being discussed here.
( Post writing this blog, we have been given photos of the said house, which indicate clearly that is  not Pinarayi Vijayan's. It is in fact, used for shooting tele-serials.)

However, the fact remains that such opulence would have been unthinkable decades ago, when the party that preached "to each according to his need, would wealth be distributed", came to power.This fact, was apparently raised by the rank and file of the Party in its internal sessions, as part of the "corrective measures", or "thetthu thiruthal nadapadi".

The Communist Party has a heritage, that is quite different from what its current leaders espouse. Men like AKG, EMS, Atchuta Menon, N.E. Balaram, KR Gowri had grown the movement in the teeth of oppression and in spite of a virtual witch hunt for them. They were genuine and made an example of their lives by practicing what they preached. Simple living, high thinking was the credo and they did a lot to reduce the polarity in the economy. Popular support too came their way. In fact, many rate the late Atchuta Menon's Government as one of the finest the land has seen, but for a black mark brought on by the  atrocities committed by the Police when  K Karunakaran, the Congress leader  was the Home Minister in the Cabinet .(A coalition partner).

All that seems to be history now. The Communist Party is getting drubbed in  election after election, their Ministers are seen as having an opulent lifestyle which matches those of film stars, their children's names crop up in sex scandals covered by media albeit in an oblique fashion, Mafia killings and the botched up investigations thereafter also seem to have some Minister's son having a possible connection with the accused , Universities and College Campuses report organised and institutionalised arm twisting that stifles any political activity  that opposes the SFI, most householders and shop owners seem to be paying protection money to party goons at every street corner in the guise of "attimari kooli" or "noku koolie"...(unloading charges for goods and household items and when any kind of work is done in one's property involving outside labour).. the list goes on.

Governance is absent.Health care, which maintained high standards has been mismanaged and now the common man cannot visit doctors because of a  draconian rule preventing private practice at home. Without adequate infrastructure and medicos, public hospitals  are witnessing near riots with too many patients and too little space. The winner seems to be expensive cut throat private hospitals! Strange, when private enterprise is officially seen as undesirable and the stated political stand is for public ownership of enterprises. Asianet News exposed a racket where scans were being ordered by a doctor for a commission and this was a multi-million rupee scam involving privately owned labs and doctors. The handling of various epidemics in the State has also left a lot to be desired, not to mention the standard of medical service provided and the fingers are pointing to a complete lack of ability on the part of the leadership, particularly the Health Minister.

The Police seems demoralised with convicts being released by party workers from police stations with scant regard for the law, if one were to go by media reports. The Asianet expose on how the Police tried to get a dagger made through a blacksmith and plant it in the house of a person to build a case against him,even though he allegedly was  totally unconnected with the killing of the Muthhoot scion, left many in the establishment red faced. The matter is now sub-judice.
What added fuel to the fire and made it an election issue, was that the actual culprits were dreaded mafia goons, some of who were CPM party members previously and allegedly had close ties with the Home Minister's son, though this was denied by both the Home Minister and his son.

The RSS was seen as a saviour during the excesses of the Left Governments in the past and was possibly the only organisation which stood up to the muscle of the Left Mafia. The killing fields of Tellicherry and Trivandrum as well as elsewhere seem to evidence that. It also explains their popularity and clout in the Northern and Southern parts of the State where the Left has its strongholds. However, their political wing,  the BJP, is completely clueless and seems to be a bunch of inept self seekers and opportunists who were ejected from motley political parties. Till date; they have shown no political acumen, nor a sense of clear cut policy, nor ethical standards, which would indicate that they are any different from the rest.

The Congress is another bunch of self seekers, goons, clowns and the usual suspects with criminal records and does not seem to offer a credible alternative.The one MP from Trivandrum is another "twit"  whose main hobby is to tweet with his foot in his mouth and who seems to be interested only in following cricket, particularly Indo- Pak cricket, and writing books about it rather than do something worthwhile. like getting a High Court Bench in Trivandrum which was the main election demand.

Caste based organisations like the SNDP, the  NSS and groups affiliated to the various Diocese and the Muslim Leagues, seem to be increasing their hold over the population and seem to be dictating voting patterns. It is a well known fact that privatised education is a cash cow for these organisations. While things are not as bad as it is elsewhere, in a State where literacy is near 100% education needs to be accessible to all and standards need to be better maintained to avoid the exodus to other States and Australia. It is also the only saving grace for a State which has educated, intelligent human resources as its main export item and revenue generator.

In fact, the Left seems to be actively encouraging religious organisations with suspected links to terrorist activities as evidenced  in the case of the  PDP  leader Madani. It is to be noted that within the front itself many had opposed this and spoken against communal organisations. In spite of this, it  had actively supported his case  and got him to Kerala, after he was imprisoned in the Coimbatore Bomb Blasts case. The political logic was possibly that PDP would do an "MNS" on the Muslim League the way it was played out on the ShivSena  in Maharashtra. 
However this seems to have backfired badly. Recently, an accused in one of the bomb blasts was reported in the media to have been Madani's close aide. Media reports on TV and print, mention the Vagamon forests being used to train terrorists and links have been reported with terrorists in Kashmir coming from this State. Many in the Left Front  including the CPI and the Chief Minister had avoided sharing a dais with them during the Parliamentary elections.  Many believe that the loss of BJP vote share and the Congress vote gain was the Hindu voters response to ensure the loss of the Left candidates and a phobia of the PDP gaining ground.

The corruption charges recently leveled in the Lavlin case against Pinarayi Vijayan  has resulted in cases being filed against Pinarayi for corruption with the blessings of the Chief Minister himself. However, the Communist Marxist Party prevailed on him and sacked him from the Polit Bureau and demoted him. No, not the accused Party Secretary,  but the honourable Chief Minister himself who brought in the charges. LOL!!!

It is now the Devil's own Country and survives on NRI remittances and the Devil alone knows for how long.!

Affordable Housing and Eco friendly Architecture in Kerala

click here to read.
വീടിലെക് ഉള്ള വഴി .  ജി ശങ്കറിനെ കുറിച്ചുള്ള ഒരു നല്ല ലേഖനം
ശങ്കറിന്  ബേക്കര്‍ പുരസ്‌കാരം ലഭിച്ചു . ശങ്കറിന്റെ സഹോദരന്‍  ജി സത്യാ എന്റെ സഹാപടിയും സുഹൃത്തും കൂടി ആണ്

FESTIVALS IN INDIA : VISHU, BAISAKHI, BIHU, PUTHIYANDU, NEW YEAR

Greetings on this auspicious day of Vishu, Bihu, Baisakhi and Puthiyandu. Wishing you a great year ahead.
And for those in Gods own country...
Kodimundum, Kaineetavum,
Pinne orupidi konna poovum
Manasil nirachu orupadu snehavumayi
Oru vishu koodi varavayi
orayiram vishu ashamsakal

VINU aka VINOD NATESAN

For those who wish to learn about this festival, I would recommend
http://manojsangani.blogspot.com/2008/04/vishu-wishesvishu-smsvishu.html
The flower shown in Casia Fistula(botanical name) and is the State Flower of Kerala. It blossoms in summer during the month of April and the presence of this flower is regarded a harbinger of a healthy monsoon to come and prosperity during the harvest season to come which is during Onam (September).
Baisakhi too is an agrarian festival and denotes the end of the winter crop(rabi) and start of the summer crop(kharif) for the year ahead.Baisakhi is of major importance for the people following Sikh faith. As it was on a Baisakhi Day, in the year 1699 that the Tenth Guru of Sikhs, Guru Gobind Singh founded Khalsa Panth or the Order of Pure Ones and gave a unique identity to Sikhs. "Langars" or community lunches are organised this day.
The day of Baisakhi is of significance for the Hindus as it was on this day in 1875 that Swami Dayanand Saraswati founded the Arya Samaj - a reformed sect of Hindus who are devoted to the Vedas for spiritual guidance and have discarded idol worship. Besides, Baisakhi day is of relevance for the Buddhists as Gautama Buddha attained enlightenment and Nirvana on this auspicious day.

For those of you who want to see a video with the famous song "kanni kanum neram, kamala nethrante, niramekum manja tukil charti,kanaka kingini valakal mothirum, aninju kannenam bhagawane...
The video is not great visually but I guess the audio and emotions overrule all that

KANAI KUNHIRAMAN -Splendour in Stone

Splendour in Stone

Kanai Kunhiraman is one of the celebrated sculptors in Kerala, India. I had the good fortune to receive an award for “creative writing” from him in the late 70’s. This was when Kanai was a Professor at the Fine Arts College for a while.
Kanai's Oeuvre:
“Yakshi” ( a fairy, or a female extra terrestrial being) : Done in 1969, it was made of concrete. It depicts a woman in a seated posture,her legs spread leaving her womb exposed, almost as if she is giving birth. The statue is gigantic in proportions and is placed in the Malampuzha gardens near the famous dam. Behind the sculpture, the peaks of the Western Ghats rise in quiet majesty carpeted by lush green forests. The river that has been harnessed by man with the dam, completes the backdrop. It is nature at its majestic best and the sculpture captures the beauty and the power of nature to provide life and nurture it. Given that the female form in all its voluptuousness was in the nude, it became a controversy. However, wiser counsel prevailed and the statue was not clothed!! Kanai mentioned that nature had to be shown it in natural form and he like many, conceive it as a female life giving form.

“Kadal Kanyaka” (Mermaid): Done subsequently and placed at Shanghumugham beach in Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram), this depicts the sea and therefore the female form is shown as reclining. Kanai explains that the Mermaid was postured as horizontal,in harmony with the Ocean, unlike the “Yakshi” ,which was vertical, since the backdrop there was the mountains.

“Shanghu" (The Conch):is at the Tourist Village in Veli near Trivandrum (Thiruvananthapuram). It denotes wealth from the natural elements, which is what the tourism effort is all about. Once again, the setting is natural with the "conch" being placed between water and land.

Kanai holds that nature is the mother of man and that all ‘art’ in turn, is created by man. To signify the connection therefore, his sculptures are kept unfettered in the open, where man can access it without any barriers. He does not want his sculptures to be "caged like animals in a zoo" within the confines of museums.

He has done may bronze sculptures, including the famed one of EMS Namputhiripad (The first elected Communist Chief Minister in a democratic India). He mentions "Mookola Perumal" as a favourite. Here he used three pillars to denote the three stages of time and a globe to represent earth(If I am right). On another occasion, he used “fertility” as a symbol while designing the frontal landscaping for a building belonging to a fertilizer company(details not available currently).

Kanai mentions his visits to Europe as extremely educative and counts Professor Butler and Henry Moore as great influences. He also rates Raja Ravi Varma, the painter very highly. He believes that art has to reflect the culture and nature around us and should be simple. He does not follow any “movements” like post- modernism, etc for the sake of it.

Those of you who follow Malayalam can click on the link below to view a very interesting interview with the man himself.

http://video.webindia123.com/interviews/sculptors/kanaikunchiraman/index.htm