Gas Leak Scare Chokes Thalassery Town

Sucheth P R
28 March 2013

Lorry cleaner Dennis with the fire extinguisher that leaked

Thalassery:The town witnessed unusualpanicky scenes on Wednesday morning following rumours about a gas inferno. The incident occurred at 11.30 am whena damaged fire extinguisherof a truck carrying LPG cylinders leaked. The chemical powder burst out of it soon formed a white fumes inside the driver's cabin. Hearing the bursting sound and seeing smoke in the truck on A V K Nair Road at Narangappuram, panickedpeople including women and children started running towards seaside and many of them fell down and suffered minor injuries. Drivers left vehicles, policemen abandoned stations and officemen and schoolchildren joined them in the panicked race to save themselves. A few cops added to the chaos saying that they smelt leaked gas. Barbers left their customers and people started running with half-shaven faces and half-cut hair. Within minutes the entire town wore a strange deserted look with vehicles scattered on roads and opened shops without people. Meanwhile, the Ernakulam-Kannur Intercity Express was detained at Mahe Station for about 45 minutes and rumour spread in Mahe also. People calmed down only after the Sub-Collector, Tahasiladar and senior police officials reached the accident spot and informed that the situation was out of danger. By the time, a sea of people had formed near the pier, Sea View Park and Centenary Park near the District Courts about two km away from Narangappuram. The truck (KL-09 R 7093) which had left the scene in the meantime was later takEn into custody from Mahe. “We stopped near Mahe to wash the vehicle as it was difficult to travel with the thick layer of white chemical substance that filled the cabin. The police who first allowed us to leave the place, later took us into custody from there,” truck cleaner Dennis said. He addedthat the truck was returning from Kalliassery to Chelari in Malappuram with empty cooking gas cylinders. “Asone of the fire extinguishers was damaged, we had keptit in the cabin. The lid of it was accidentally pressed against the cabin box and that caused the chaos.A shiver ran down our spines as chemicals burst with big noise,” he added. The Fire and Rescue Services personnel could not reach the spot as people left vehicleson road causing traffic snarls. A case has been registered against truck driver Yeldo for reckless driving, Thalassery police said.

The New Indian Express

Re-reading of Paavangal can awaken a new political conscience'

By Sucheth P R | 

KOCHI 08th October 2012

As celebrations galore in Europe to mark the 150th anniversary of a renowned classic novel, before which the masters of the genre Leo Tolstoy and Dostoevsky bowed their heads, its reverberations are felt in Kerala as well. Yearlong events are being held in the state as part of the sesquicentennial celebrations of Victor Hugo’s Les Miserables (1862), a novel of profound humanism and genuine compassion which had enlightened the writers, political activists and literary enthusiasts around the world.  A committee comprising prominent writers and academicians, chaired by former Pro-Vice-Chancellor of Kerala University N A Karim, is spearheading the events in the state. While briefing on the relevance of the celebrations Karim said that a re-reading of the classic manifesting the great ideals of human dignity and justice can arouse a new political conscience in the state.

 Over the years the novel has got more than hundred and seventy film adaptations in different languages. The movie Neethipeedam released in Malayalam in 1977 is a free rendering of the novel in the Kerala context.

Veteran actor Madhu who essayed the lead role in the movie proudly remembered it as the most challenging and beautiful role in his career.

Madhu’s character Velayudhan in the movie was that of the novel’s protagonist Jean Valjean.  It was one of the most remarkable performances of the actor after his role in Chemmeen.

 Better known as Paavangal in Kerala after the epoch-making translation by Nalappat Narayana Menon in 1925 Hugo’s novel had a pivotal role in moulding  the socio-political sensibilities of erstwhile literary luminaries in Malayalam, including Basheer, Thakazhi and Kesavadev. Poet Vallathol’s remark that Paavangal should be read in front of ‘nilavilakku’ as if devouring a sacred text is a befitting testimony to the novel’s influence in the society then. “It was an astonishing factor that a man of an elite class had translated a novel on the poor, that too before the emergence of the progressive literature movement in the language,” said N A Karim.  New editions of the novel’s translation have hit the book stalls recently. Venu V Desam, a noted translator of classics in Malayalam, who recently rendered a fresh translation of the novel suiting the sensibilities of present day readers, said that the work was well received by the literary enthusiasts in the state.

In his foreword to the latest edition of Paavangal writer M Mukundan has described the work as ‘the mother of all novels’. ‘Make youngsters, including students and emerging politicians, read Paavangal’ is the motto of the celebrations in the state. The organisers are of the view that it will cleanse their minds and enlighten their subjectivities. A slew of programmes, including talks by eminent writers, film shows, staging of plays, painting exhibitions and scriptwriting competition will be held across the nook and cranny of the state as part of the celebrations. 

The festivities have already been held with the vibrant participation of eminent writers and literary enthusiasts at Thiruvananthapuram, Thodupuzha, Angamaly, Kozhikode and Thalassery. Writer N Prabhakaran who inaugurated the gathering at Thalassery said that Paavangal is a ‘must read’ for politicians and a re-reading of the novel would make politics more humane and meaningful.

The New Indian Express

New Organisation in Kerala to Form Ward-level Committees to Fight Graft

 

by Sucheth P R

18 March 2013

Kannur: Anti-corruption People’s Movement, an organisation formed to energise Anna Hazare's  'India Against Corruption' movement, will set up committees in all wards of the state, its state vice-chairman John Joseph has said. He was addressing a gathering of the organisation's activists at the Jawahar Library Auditorium here on Sunday.
  “People can approach the groups to be formed in villages with complaints regarding corruption at any level. The groups will help them use the provisions of the law against corruption, including the Right to Information Act. The Corruption Solution Cell run by the state committee of the movement in Kochi aided by three Kerala High Court advocates will provide free legal assistance in all cases. About 400 advocates are also offering monetary assistance to the movement,” Joseph said.
    The committee can also initiate mediation talks in complicated issues concerning property and consumer products. The organisation also has plans to identify corruption-free bureaucrats and form a coordination of such officials in all government offices in the state. However, the representatives of the movement in Kannur said that it would be extremely difficult for ward-level groups to function in the district. The prevailing situation in the district is that any voice of opposition beyond the interests of main-stream political parties will be defeated and suppressed here, M V Mathew, Ranjith Sarkar and Pavithran Kotheri, the district coordinators of the organisation, said. “The people who come forward against illegal activities will be personally targeted. Because of this many social and cultural organisations faced premature death in the district. The political and social scenario in Kannur cannot be compared with other districts, so the direct intervention of the state committee would be necessary for the smooth functioning of the movement here,” they added.
   T R Sadananda Bhat, general convener of the Anti-corruption People’s Movement, said that a name different from that of Hazare’s movement was given to the organisation as it was concentrating more on corruption at the state level. Following the intervention of the movement, the State government had issued a circular making acknowledgement receipt mandatory for all applications and complaints submitted at government offices. “Chief Minister Oommen Chandy who attended the state meet of the organisation himself had taken the initiative for such a notification. However, most of the office heads are hesitating to implement that order,” Bhat said. He added that there was a joint effort from the part of political parties and bureaucrats to weaken the provisions of the Right to Information Act. Many services are exempted from the ambit of the much acclaimed Right to Services Act implemented in the state, whereas it has better teeth in many other states. Organised effort against corruption with better legal assistance is the motto of the movement, he added.
The New Indian Express

Collection of Studies on Folklore and Literature to be Published Soon

 by Sucheth P R

12 March 2013

Kannur: Kerala Folklore Akademi is all set to bring out a collection of studies on literature and folklore, the first-of-its-kind in Malayalam. The presentations and discussions held as part of the national seminar on ‘Folklore and Literature’ which concluded here on Friday would be the base of the novel initiative, Akademi chairman B Mohammed Ahammed has said.
  Writers N Prabhakaran, C V Balakrishnan, Khadeeja Mumthas, Subhash Chandran, Soman Katalur, S Joseph, U K Kumaran, P Geetha, K Shyamala, Shamsad Hussain, Suma, K V Sreeja, T M Abraham, Manjulan and Manoj Kana spoke on various topics connecting folklore and different genres of literature. N Prabhakaran in his speech stressed the need to evolve a definite system and methodology for the study and analysis of the functions of folklorist elements in literature. Mere descriptive studies will be repetitive in character and the result will be shallow, he added. Soman Katalur argued that unless we leave aside foreign theories and models and develop an indigenous methodology for the analysis of folklore, the subject will not get rooted in Indian context. He added that our academic folklorists have done much harm to the subject as their attitude was always anti-creative.
   Playwright and director Manoj Kana narrated his experiences of making plays on Adivasi life with tribesmen and women as actors who have been crushed by gruesome living conditions. He said all our institutions fail to address their problems faithfully. Manoj also pointed out the triviality and ridiculousness of the attitude and approach of our researchers who study tribal life and arts without any concern for their struggle to sustain life. In his valedictory address, noted short story writer T Padmanabhan said our young writers need not search for models in Western literature as India is the land that produced ‘Kathasaritsagaram’.
   “All speakers approached the subject with extreme humility and sincerity. We had a serious audience comprising common men and academicians alike and this gave the Akademi the confidence to bring out an authentic collection on the subject ‘Literature and Folklore’ which we hope would be accepted by the academic community as a reliable source book,” Mohammed Ahammed said. In addition to the speeches made in the seminar, additional articles and relevant data would be incorporated in the book. “What influence folklore has in the life of new generation, whether the creative expression of writers turned more meaningful and powerful in works where the formation of plot was based on myths and folk songs, the enquiries on such areas would be the crux of the new collection of studies. The organic presence of folklore in all genres of literature and the need to study its role in giving deeper layers of meaning to creative works will be thoroughly investigated in the book,” he added.
The New Indian Express

GLOBALISATION NURTURES SANSKRIT: BALADEVANANDA

by SUCHETH P R
Kannur: Baladevananda Sagara, the name synonymous with Sanskrit news in the All India Radio (AIR), is eloquently optimistic about the progress of the language in the age of globalisation. “Sanskrit with its mathematical structure is the language most adaptable to computer and hence anyone with a passion for the Net can learn this language quite easily,” Baladevananda, who was here on Sunday to address the 35th state
conference of the Kerala Sanskrit Teachers’ Federation, told Express.
  Sanskrit is no more a language restricted to any class or caste. It is accessible to all. The modern technology has accelerated its spread among large sections of people, he said. “We have simplified some of the strict grammatical rules yet maintaining its perfection and scientific structure, and made it suitable for the new generation through the audio- visual aids developed for the study of language.
  The computer and the internet have helped us a lot in popularising the language,” he said, while deliberating
on the efforts to expand the reach of Sanskrit. Baladevananda says that Sanskrit is spoken by people of many villages spread across the country and there are many families who use Sanskrit alone for their
household communication, and so it cannot be termed a dead language. “Muthur in Shimoga district of Karnataka and Jhirri in Rajgarh district of Madhya Pradesh are the best instances where the entire village folk communicate with each other in Sanskrit,” he said.
  Baladevananda was proud to say that St James Junior Independent School in London has made Sanskrit
a compulsory subject for all students as the school believes that mastery in Sanskrit helps them learn all subjects easily. Many institutes and universities across the world are engaged in the researches about the immense potential of the language, he said. “Thousands of years of history of the nation and its rich heritage, including contributions in all spheres of knowledge, are recorded in Sanskrit. And every Indian can identify Sanskrit as an integral element of his identity,” he added. Baladevananda added that globalisation is a welcome change, the concept of which was imagined as Vasudhaiva Kudumbakam by Sanskrit scholars thousands of years ago.
  Baladevananda Sagara who has served over three decades in AIR was also fortunate to be the first reader
when Doordarshan started Sanskrit news bulletin in 1994. “News reading is often an extempore activity. While reading a bulletin we often get flash news or breaking news and on several occasions news written
in English was directly handed over to me without translating them. The confidence and skill of the reader are put to test on such occasions,” he said. Contemporary Sanskrit literature is portraying today’s life authentically, he further said. “Novels, poetry and stories are produced in Sanskrit as in any other language. Sanskrit Sahityotsavam will be held from February 22 to 24 at Ujjayin. ‘Be Modern and Learn Sanskrit’ is our motto.”
   Baladevanda who has written the first book on journalism in Sanskrit ‘Samskritha Patrakaritha’ is still active in media field as a freelancer. A skilled actor, he has performed in hundreds of Sanskrit plays also.
The New Indian Express

Nostalgic Homecoming for Gundert’s Descendents

Herman Gundert statue inThalassery

by SUCHETH  P R

Thalassery: For German  scholar and pastor Albrecht Frenz and wife Gertraud Frenz, Thalassery is like a  home away from home. They have been drawn to this heritage town again and again  for several years, where their great great grandfather Hermann Gundert spent years and contributed immensely for the growth of Malayalam lexicography and journalism. The Vedic Sanskrit scholar Albrecht Frenz, who has compiled books on Jewish Malayalam songs, wall paintings of North Kerala, Madhubani art and historic documents on Malabar says: “My life is for India. I have been engaged in activities for fostering cultural bonds between Germany and India.” Scaria Zachariah, Barbara John and K K Marar have extended their assistance to Frenz in different ventures.

    Frenz, Gertraud and other two members of the Gundert family - Herman Shaber and Mary, who were here on Monday to take part in the 199th birth anniversary of Gundert, were in an exalted mood enjoying how the younger generation of the town was honouring their great great grandfather. “Gundert is not a prominent figure in Germany as in Kerala. He is known there as the grandfather of Nobel laureate Hermann Hesse, the most widely read writer in Germany,” says Gertraud, great great granddaughter of Gundert. They are a bit concerned that the studies in language and literature occupy only a second place in Germany today, compared to subjects like computer science or business studies. “Even our attempts to form a Honorary Chair for Gundert in Tuebingen University turned futile owing to fund crunch as government is focusing more on science,” says Frenz. Daughter of Frenz couple Margret Frenz, who is heading the Hermann Gundert Society in their hometown Stuttgart, however, tries to strengthen the historic bond with Malabar with her research on Pazhassi Raja.

   Frenz said that Indology, which was once a major branch of study in all German universities, has now been

concentrated to South Asia Institute, Heidelberg, alone. Albercht Frenz, who is also a keen observer of the state of political affairs in Germany and India, said that the ideology of sectarianism has no place in contemporary Germany. Hitler and the theory of Aryan hegemony have few followers among the new generation. “There are a few pockets of neo-Nazis who are trouble makers. They are only small groups

of unemployed rural folk who are always engaged in antisocial activities. However, media give them undue importance and their activities are getting sensationalised,” Frenz says. Frenz and wife are proud as people from about 175 countries are living harmoniously in Stuttgart. The art forms of all these nations will be performed during the ‘Summer Festival’ held every July. This unity of diverse cultures is the message that Germany tries to convey to the world, Frenz said. 

    Marxism has almost been uprooted in the land of Karl Marx. “No philosophy or political ideology has any influence on the new generation. Mere individualism and the drive for comfort and money rule the people. Right or Left wing politics do not exist and a coalition of different parties comparable to Indian scenario holds the administration. If the Marxists could gain five per cent of vote share, they could have a say in the Parliament. However, their vote share is limited to below two per cent now,” Franz said.

The New Indian Express  

Doing a Blindfolded Tightrope Walk

 

by SUCHETH P R
Thalassery: The Circus Academy launched with much fanfare at the birth place of Indian circus two years ago is on the verge of closure. No student from the state has shown interest in joining the institution and the employees, including trainers and cooks, have not received their salary for the past one year.
    The academy itself, housed in an old cinema house gifted by the Rajkamal Circus company, has been reduced to a practising floor for artistes from Nepal and north-eastern states of India. Governed by a management council chaired by the District Collector, the organisation is yet to be provided with the structure and status of other cultural academies in the state like that of fine arts or theatre. M P Velayudhan, CEO of the academy, told Express that the government has serious reservations about proceeding
with the activities of the institution which has a handful of non-Malayali children as students. “The Sports Ministry is considering converting it into a training centre for other games,” he says. Earlier, there was a proposal to club the activities of  Sports Authority of India (SAI) Gymnastics Centre here and the Circus Academy, but the project never took off. “The academy holds immense prospects, but it has been launched without a proper vision,” says Sreedharan Champad, a renowned trapeze artist and author of An Album of Indian Big Tops, a work chronicling the history of Indian circus.
    He feels that the academy in its present form will only help circus companies to bypass the norms and get kids trained at government expense.“Unless there is timely intervention of artistes and visionaries, the academy would soon meet with premature death,” he says. “If arrangements are made for circus show and exhibitions, the academy could act as a major tourism attraction,” says Gemini Sankaran, owner of Jumbo and Gemini Circus companies.
   If properly planned, the Circus Academy could function on the lines of world renowned academies like Kyiv Municipal Academy of Circus and Variety Arts, Ukraine; National Institute of Circus Arts, Melbourne; and The Circus Space, London.
The New Indian Express

Pandit to add might to Thalassery biryani

A Star Biriyani Corner at Old Bustand in Thalassery | Syam

by SUCHETH P R
Thalassery: Does your favourite restaurant mock palates by serving pitiable quantities of biryani, that tries to compete with in-flight mini meals? Time to switch over to ‘A Star’, a corner stall that sells ‘dum biryani’ by weight and is hoping to bank on the ‘size zero’ look of their rib-tickling brand ambassador Santosh Pandit.
  A venture of three brothers - Assis, Manaf and Noushad - ‘A Star Biryani Corner’ is now flocked by biryani-loving crowd of this North Malabar town who vouch for the lip-smacking-quotient of the dishes served. ‘A Star’ is known for the variety of biryanis they serve - chicken, fish, beef and vegetable - and Thalassery’s unique ‘irachichoru’.
   The choice of Santosh Pandit as their brand ambassador was not without a reason, if Assis can be believed.“Health conscious people are a bit concerned when they savour delicacies like biriyani. But we ensure our customers that they can remain as lean as Santosh,” quips Assis.  But unlike the biryani, the choice of Santosh Pandit as the brand ambassador has not gone down well with the locals. “I met Santosh when he visited Thalassery recently and invited him to the stall, but some locals vehemently opposed it. So I’ve decided to ensure police security before his visit to our stall soon,” he said. “We must honour the talent of anyone, a lesson I Iearnt while working with my cousin’s wayside eatery in Mumbai,” Assis adds with a tinge of sadness.
  Manaf who does not hide his leftist sympathies says he would like to satisfy the poorest among the poor. “In January we are planning to launch low-priced mid-day meals. Lunch consisting of rice, chicken parts, vegetable curry, salad and pappad will be sold for `15 only,” says Manaf. “Every week we prepare biriyani using different kinds of oil except dalda, so every week food buffs can enjoy a distinct taste,” Noushad, who is the main cook, said.
  The rush one can witnesses here at lunch hour proves that their experiment is a grand success. The friendly query of Santosh Pandit in Thalassery dialect “Alla, ingalu njammala biriyani kayichinaa” (“hello, have you tasted our biriyani,”) may spread a smile even among passers-by.
The New Indian Express