No man's land?

Story of a mother

2010-07-26T14:52:00.000+01:00

Mothers are the most wonderful creation of all...They're the embodiment of unselfish commitment and love. The story of most mothers fall in the same category, but some are like Nebulae in a Galaxy of stars. They stand out.

One such mother is below, the resilient tale of P.A. Ushakumari.

Story and images courtesy Rasika; posting with permission from Trivandrum Life.

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Kannan Sharma was born on Oct.27, 1990 at the Benzigar Hospital, Kollam. He had red globes for eyes. He was blind. He was named Kannan, with fervent prayers to show him the light. The light of sight.

As time passed, his mental disability began to show. He couldn’t understand, nor could he recognise. He couldn’t walk. He couldn’t form the word “Amma” to call the only woman in his life. His mother, P.A. Usha Kumari.

At 60 days, Kannan was taken to the Aravind Eye Hospital, Madurai, in the hope of restoring his eyesight. “Kannan ine kaazhcha kudukaamengil, ee lokathil andhar undavilla (If we could give sight to Kannan, then there would be no blind people in the world),” said the doctors. Kannan was doomed to a life in the dark.

His father was a temple priest. As the boy’s illness became more obvious, he took to drinking. He divorced his wife, and tore the family to ruins in the process. No one has heard of him since.

When Kannan was 10, the family moved to Trivandrum. Helped by neighbours and relatives, Usha sought treatment at the Sree Chithra Thirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology (SCTIMST) for her son. She also enrolled him at the Blind School, Vazhuthacaud, hoping it would help in bringing her son a step towards betterment. He carried on till grade 4. But he couldn’t study. He couldn’t retain what he was taught. He couldn’t interact with other students. He couldn’t form words. He couldn’t communicate. He needed someone at his beck and call at every instant. He had to be led. He had to be fed. He couldn’t take care of his basic necessities. He was silent, and in his own world indiscernible to us.

On recommendation from doctors at SCTIMST, he was admitted for six months at the Institute of Communicative and Cognitive Neurosciences (ICCONS), in Shoranur. They helped him with his speech, and he learnt to call out “Amma”. He learnt a few words to indicate basic bodily functions. After six months, treatment was no longer affordable. And he was brought back home.

Home, for Usha, is rented. With no money and no house, and larger hospital bills, Usha decided it was time to make some money. She started working as an ayah at the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan (BVB). Doing all that was necessary for him in the morning, she kept the fan and radio running, and she locked the house and went for work. At noon, relatives fed the boy, and spent some time with him. In the evening, she came back, to Kannan resting where she left him in the morning.

He is not violent. He cannot understand food, unless it is in his mouth. He doesn’t know water unless it is poured into his mouth to drink. He does not ask for food and water. If you feed him, he will eat. He does not move. He can hear, and understand some sounds. He can understand music. He needs the radio on all the time. His only light.

He forms words, after years of hearing them. He does not know what they mean.

The City Corporation sends Rs 250 a month. The Muthoot Bank sends Rs 200 a month. The application for government aid (which is availed by BPL families) was rejected because Usha did not have a ration card in her own name at the time. Once in a while, TV channels take up the cause, and generate some money. But these funds are intermittent, while the need for money is a persistent.

“Nothing can be done. But if he can at least understand what I tell him, and if there is any chance he can be mentally developed to communicate basic needs, that is enough. But it takes too much money,” says Usha Kumari. She cannot any more carry Kannan, who is 19 now, as she used to do before. Each trip to the hospital burns a hole in her purse.

Once a year, Usha and her sister take a trip to Guruvayoor, with Kannan. She cries to the lord to show a way, to give them hope.

“I want to take him outside, to the beach. But he cannot see. But I want him to listen to the waves. But he can’t walk. And he is too heavy for me to carry him. Auto ile pogan kaash illa (I have no money to take the auto rickshaw),” explains Usha.

The real mother. An example of undying courage and strength. Not once did she cry when I visited. Not once did her voice catch or falter. But I know she was bleeding inside. I know she was crying inside. I know she was hoping against hope, that by sharing her story, by allowing me to click a picture, the window she prayed for appears.

She wants your help, and support. Not your charity. She doesn’t want sympathy, but a means to pay her bills as long as the boy survives.

If you want to help her, you can donate in the form of money orders, cheques or drafts, addressed to:

The Manager
HDFC Bank
East Fort
Trivandrum – 695023.

You may also transfer money directly to her Savings Bank Account Number 15061000020989, at HDFC.

The residential address is:

Kannan Sharma
S/O PA Usha Kumari
TC 37/1413
Sasthan Koil Street
Vazhapally Junction
Fort, Trivandrum 23.

It is preferred that the donations be sent directly to the bank manager or to the SB account because Usha leaves for work during the day. Kannan cannot walk to the door and receive the intended post, or sign in acceptance.

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Usha Kumari's story may not be a rare tale among the millions of mothers we have in this country who struggle to find food and shelter for their kids. We cannot help every one of them. But surely we can give a helping hand to those who we can!

Thanks to Srijith. V for allowing me to repost the story from Trivandrum Life. Kindly use the Re-tweet button on top or use mail-forwards to get the appeal across to more. It surely helps... Thank you!

Incomplete odysseys

2010-07-04T00:11:00.002+01:00

Almost half of Kerala would have started celebrating. #ARG winning. The other half consists of the #BRA fans. 4:51 PM Jun 12th via dabr Retweeted by 5 people

- Nikhil Narayanan on Twitter (after Argentina's WC'2010 opening win vs Nigeria)

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And with this game, Kerala is out of the #worldcup .

- InstantMusings on Twitter (after Argentine annihilation by Germany)

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image courtesy www.goal.com

And at the end of another heart-breaking sojourn Argentina leaves the African shores, close on the heels of neighbouring heavy-weights Brazil. Dejected, disappointed, desolate, humiliated...Another frustrating end to a hugely promising enterprise for millions of Argentine football fans of Kerala.

Argentina and Brazil may lie on the other hemisphere, wrong side of equator and are culturally, linguistically and racially like chalk and cheese compared to Kerala. Still, football crazy Keralaites carry the two nations in their hearts just like Lal Jose's Cuba Mukundan adored China and err, Cuba.

Ever wondered what makes these remote South American countries so close to Keralites?

Oh yes, if you want to explore political connections then Che Guvera was Argentine. hmm...commie-commie, bhai-bhai? Not the reason why I had a severe crush on Argentine tennis-beauty Gabriela Sabatini in my early teenage though she lost to that German blondie Graf more times than I could count then.

Oh there! Another German... hmmfff. :-(

Italia 1990 was the first time I probably heard about this country called Argentina, or should I say I saw and heard about this magic-man called Maradona and then linked him to Argentina. 10 years old at the time, football became synonymous with Maradona and Argentina to me. I stayed awake with my football-fan dad to watch the '90 World Cup matches but would eventually fall asleep someway through the match. Mostly it was the morning newspaper which broke the news of my favourite team's progress until resulting in the heart-break loss to West Germany in the final.

Maradona, Pele, vintage football, Che, Communism, coffee, samba... you can decide why, but Kerala's fondness of the Latin American footballing nations underlines the ability of sport to erase boundaries and cross barriers, to create legends which circumnavigate the globe irrespective of race, language and religion.

And the beauty of erstwhile Latin American football is just legendary...

Argentina has been giving Keralaites regular doses of World Cup anguish ever since 1990. The presence of Argentina was the major reason why I followed Soccer World Cup closely ever since I learned the game. I remember walking back dejected from the TV kiosk in John Balan Park in Bartonhill, Trivandrum after watching Romania knocking them out in 1994. Holland repeated the honours in 1998. Argentina struck an unbelievable low when they exited the 2002 edition in the first round itslef. They bowed out to hosts Germany in shootout in 2006 and history repeats against the nemesis yet again, but today it has been calamitous!

The likes of Pele, Maradonna, Ronaldo, Batistuta and co and the visceral, agricultural football played by those geniuses naturally struck a chord with football-loving Keralites. Malabar is almost a battlefield when the World Cup goes on. Its a celebration, have a look...

It still continues. Nikhil said it right, a savage chunk of Kerala football fans have their loyalty to either Argentina or Brazil. With the disastrous results in the past 2 days of this World Cup, its shutters down for football frenzy in Kerala in a big way. Brazil knocked out, Argentina butchered, another popular team and European holy-boys England is already back, tail between their legs.

You may come across some bald-heads dudes and peculiar figures with half-mustaches and beards in Vanchiyoor in the next 2-3 days. Sure, they're Brazil fans or Argentina fans. I hope none of my old pals are among them. :D

South Africa 2010 has failed to produce those magic memories consistantly; its all merely statistical. Great goals have been miserably few and far in between, big names turned mere bubbles overnight, branded minnows gave the bigwigs run for their money and the football 'experts' left guessing after all predictions and calculations went astray.

Have we seen Kaka, Messi, Rooney or Ronaldo the way we wanted to see them? We've also seen Maradona and Dunga leaving the field humiliated. Last years finalists packed their bags home after Round 1. The whole world laughed at the English hype-stars and French disgrace-figures.

This is the beauty of sport. It can be philosophical at times, teaches you some of the most important lessons in life...

Great students never make great teachers. Same way great players seldom make great coaches.

Also how the line has blurred between a hero and a villain... Suarez, Gyan, Ghana and that last-gasp moment may just become the lasting legend of this edition.

You may be the best in the world but that does not necessarily mean that you will be the winner.How many times have we been taught that the best do not always win? (Don't assume that I'm trying to find an excuse for my pet-team's miserable performance)

PS: With Spain just filling the last semi-final slot we may well see a new winner this time in South Africa. I'd back Holland and Spain to go and win it from here just because they have played beautiful football all through without tasting much success historically. But this young German side appear more and more threatening, with each passing match.

PPS: Almost forgot Uruguay, the other Semi-finalist. A country of 3.5 million people, yes, almost the same no of people in Trivandrum district. Not going on to useless whining, but anyone here has any high hopes of hearing the Indian national anthem in a Football World Cup before the end of our lifespan?

Claim-game lolz

2010-06-20T16:24:00.001+01:00

Story: Bakery Junction flyover inaugurated in Trivandrum early this week.

The ubiquitous no of street-smart cyber-journos in Trivandrum makes sure that the event is covered well and published like instant coffee! Full set of pictures at Ajay's Trivandrum Rising as usual.

Credits: This one belongs to whom? The picture below may help, courtesy @jlusujith. The flexboard on the left heralds the Right stalwarts as the 'architects' of the Capital Road Improvement Project in 2003 and the board on right featuring the happy Left CM claims credits for 'finishing' the job. Confused?

Dedication: To all people of Kerala, especially the people of Trivandrum. this one also claims that Kerala and Trivandrum are in a development-dash. Ok, thanks! :-)

image courtesy Sujith. T. John

Factfile: Half a kilometer long, 2 laned flyover. 5 years in making.

Juxtapose: Bangalore and Hyderabad completed nearly 2 dozen flyovers and underpasses in the last decade. Not bringing in Chennai or Delhi here for comparison because it'll be an insult. Apart from the Bakery Flyover only two similar projects were fructified in Kerala, one being the Palayam underpass, an extended appendage of the Bakery flyover and the other, the Arayidathupalam Flyover in Calicut.

Background: The TRDCL project was initiated by the Antony Govt in 2003 after public pressure against the zero-development in infrastructure in Trivandrum. A total of 42 km of roads were to be developed including one underpass and 2 flyovers.

Total project cost: 250 crore (including cost of land acquisition)
Time frame: 3 years (was to be completed in Nov 2006)

The idea was that the total project amount will be dispensed in 3 installments through allocations in the state budget. Punj Lloyd won the bid, commenced the work. But the global conglomerate had to fill hours scrapping the rust off their heavyweight machinery because the authorities failed to acquire and handover the land required for road works. So they packed up and left North.

Enter the LDF Govt. Minister Vijayakumar took interest, most of the land issues were sorted out. Work recommenced and hurray! We can fly-over Bakery at last!! :-)

Hold on...This is not the end of it all. There is another one proposed over the MG Road connecting Power House Road to Thakarapparambu Road. The Minister joked that the works will be over by 2011 October, ya, in another year! lolz, this one involves relocation of scores of big businesses including the Big Bazzar shopping center and major shifting of utilities. The 3-year Capital Development Project is going to spill over into the hands of the 3rd successive Government! Given the 5-year plan we saw with Bakery Jn project, there is no guarantee that a motorcycle would cross over the Powerhouse Road flyover in 2016, unless its equipped with jetwings.

A lot of good works have been done, we have to appreciate that. Even though there have been ZERO new projects to develop any new roads within the rapidly developing cities. Even though Mr. Vijayakumar is heralded as the patron-saint for Trivandrum the other road development works outside TRDCL are still stuck exactly where he took over in 2006.

Did he think that there was nothing else to look after apart from the 42km stretches included in CRIP?

In 2001, Trivandrum had 3000 souls working at Technopark. 10 years down it is touching 30,000. The NH Bypass which was a dream track for race-freaks, now see bumper-to-bumper traffic at peak hours. The Ulloor- Sreekaryam Road is just unbelievable! Still a modest 2 lane road holding 6 lane traffic, this is the lone way to reach the Medical College for ambulances and emergency vehicles. Widening of a 5km road connecting Ulloor- Akkulam with NH Bypass, which commenced in 1999, still hasn't gone one step further. Everyone forgot the MC Road works until Nalanchira for 4 years but suddenly some people got a brainwave from nowhere.

The only other project which appear promising is the 6-laning of the Karamana- Kaliyikkavila stretch of NH47. Here again, the onus of land acquisition falls on the State Govt. One of the busiest and congested stretches of highways in Kerala; its anyone's guess when the actual road-works would commence.

The reason I hear is that 'we are special'. Special in what sense? Be it highway development, city roads development, flyovers and underpasses, IT Parks or SEZs, the excuse is that 'Kerala is a special case'.

Special in population density, they say. A mere glance at figures from elsewhere cripples that argument.

Bangalore planned and built a 4 lane 9.5km Electronics City Flyover in 4 years. The 11.6km P.V.Narasimha Roa Expressway in Hyderabad passes over the most congested parts of the huge metropolis. Chennai and Delhi puts us to shame with the no of flyovers, underpasses and roads they build every year. Bangalore's population density is twice as that of any Kerala city, so that's not where the shoe pinches us.

Bangalore Elevated Tollway

When you look at the rehabilitation packages for evictees things become clear. People are sent packing by paying them a small fraction of the existing market rates and this embroils down to agitations, political foulplays, court litigation and so on. How many times have we seen this happen.

Look at the Trivandrum International Airport and things become more clear. The landmark terminal is ready for commissioning, but the land needed for the next phases of development is yet to be acquired. There appears to be no honest efforts to get the land in Govt's possession and hand it over to AAI. This is extremely crucial for furthur expansion of the Airport and also for the crucial Cargo Complex. But our leaders appear to act napping whenever someone mentions it.

Vote bank...cold feet.

The same reason why we see 'all-party delegations' leave for New Delhi to bring in collateral damage.

Perhaps we must look back at history to see how the volatile issues related to land acquisition of VSSC in Thumba were sorted out diplomatically, including St. Martin's Church on the 600 acre grounds. A few tombstones are in the way of Airport Road in Pattoor for a Jupiter-year now, and the living souls pay the price. We know what we lack: a clever futuristic leader with a straight spine who genuinely cares for the future of our state.

In 2020 Chandigarh, Pune, Mangalore, Surat and Mysore would've had their infrastructure issues sorted out in a big way. Trivandrum, Cochin, Calicut and Trichur will still be crawling its way through, consuming decades building half-mile bridges.

Kerala is a 'special' case, so be it.

Bakery Flyover image courtesy www.yentha.com
BETL image courtesy skyscrapercity

About me

2007-12-14T00:01:00.003Z

Hello there!

WELCOME TO THE ABODE OF SCORPIOGENIUS!

Wanna know about me?

Simples...

Mallu-man
Scorpio
far from a genius...a bit too far
full-time day dreamer and absent minded
urban enthusiast
travel buff
trying hard to see only the full portion of a half-empty glass
love politics, hate politicians
can't stand hypocrisy and mediocrity
and now learning to become a family man!

You're here, thanks to Google and Blogger. This is a personal webpage, for strictly personal views, and absolutely no intentions to hurt your feelings. If you disagree strongly about something, be open minded to let me know. We'll sit around and sort things out, shall we? :)

And one small request: If you wanna tell me something just bear at least the name of your neighbour's pet. I'm not very impressed by Anonymous human beings, you know...

Thanks again, and see you!

Oh, if you have any suggestions, complaints, criticisms or advice to me then here is your platform. In addition you may also refer the Legal Disclaimer at the bottom of this page before you proceed to read this blog. Go on, fill this up and let me know your thoughts. I promise you a reply as soon as I get your ping. :)

Granites galore!

2010-06-13T11:05:00.002+01:00

Attention Keralaites! The year of the 'stone' has begun in Kerala. Just after the celebration of an unprecedented 4 years in office, Chief Minister Comrade Achuthanandan and collegues have kick started a nomadic state-trotting with a spree of inaugurations and foundation stone laying pan-Kerala. Yakkooo...At this rate the busybody ministers will be totally exasperated and the sculptors will have blisters on their palms by early 2011.

Not funny, but the CM's driver is on a well-deserved sickness leave, courtesy H1N1.

Comrade Achuthanandan and his PR Dept surely must've had a real hard time formatting the media ads to herald the 'achievements' of the Govt. Apart from the CM's smiling face, the artifact commie symbol and the corresponding Minister-in-charge, there was nothing significant to fill the page for many portfolios.

Minister Vijayakumar laid the second foundation stone (on top of the one he laid in 2001) for the development of Kesavadasapuram- Nalanchira Road in the capital just the other day. This was just after taking a breath from Technocity foundation stone, Infopark Phase II foundation stone (remember, the Smart City stone which VS laid in 2006 is still somewhere around hidden beneath bushes), Vytilla Mobility hub stone, Cyberpark stone, and a plethora of other tactics fabricated to fool the public. I won't be surprised if a fresh granite is carved for Smart City, guessing by some of the recent statements from the CM. And as TRDCL works in the Capital near completion, the city may well be choked with a plethora of inaugurations very soon.

What has this Govt given the young and unemployed ever since V.S. over-ceremoniously took over from Chandy?

It's and easy, single-word: n-o-t-h-i-n-g!

A mere look back at the promises V.S made just after assuming the power now is all set to bite the man back. From naming the V.I.P in Kilirur case, locking up all criminals and goondas within 2 months, to claiming the Govt land back from land-grabbers, anything which V.S touched scalded his own hands and burned the butt of his party, be it the Munnar fiasco which he himself admitted as a flop, the Smart City or any other project which he initiated. VS must be a modern day Midas because anything he himself involved in, as well as the other ministers touched also seem to freeze instantaneously. Look at Shobha Hi-Tech City, Salarpuria Knowledge City, HDIL Cyber City, Kinaloor and whatever, they're all dead ducks.

Four years have gone by and the Govt is still at sea with the socially crucial Private Professional College issue. Every year we hear some announcements and statements from the minister-in-charge which turn out to be mere lines drawn on water.

Lately, the Centrally-sponsored multi-million project of developing the TS Canal and connecting it to the National Waterway in Kollam has lapsed because those concerned never bothered to do their work. I don't see any minister or official worried about it, a project which could have hugely beneficial to thousands of ordinary people, apart from giving a major boost to the economy of the state. The national and local media reported the incessant lapse of funds many times, and in the end 2000 crores went unutilised. Who is responsible?

The less we speak about the Highway Development saga unfolding, the better. We have lost 4 years purely due to the tomfoolery of V.S and his party ideologies, and it is almost certain that the ongoing 30m-45m dilly-dally will see the crucial project won't begin this year. And if the Congress Govt assumes power next time, the Commies are sure to let out the goons and gangs loose against land acquisition. I'd bet my house on that.

3.75 crore Keralites will lose out but why bother? Everyday 7 precious lives are lost on our highway alters, 2 dozens mutilated or handicapped but who cares? The rotten teeter-board politics we practice in this state will take us to the dooms.

CPM's backpedal on the ADB loan, Coca-cola, Expressway project, Smart City, Professional College issue etc has underlined one fact. The Communist parties infest Kerala only to fudge out their slow poison into this land. Nobody at AKG Center or AKG Bhavan is genuinely bothered about the development or future of the state, they're ready to play any dirty games in the name of pseudo-socialism, just to gain political mileage.

Industrial development has almost come to a standstill in the state. That's not surprising at all. The Govt still speaks about PSUs and traditional industries like coir, fisheries and co as saviours. Oh c'mon, you want all the graduated, unemployed youth out of those colleges go out to open sea and start fishing? The only other viable option I see (apart from escaping to Bangalore or Gelf) is joining the 'Quotation Gangs' which have expanded into thriving livelihood options even in small towns and villages. May be this is what Darwin meant by 'survival of the fittest'.

The major initiatives like the Brahmos, BEML etc have purely been Central Govt initiatives. Same with the case of premier institutions like IIST, National Maritime University or IISER. Other major projects like Vallarpadom Container Terminal and the LNG Terminal are heading towards commissioning, also nothing for the LDF Govt to lay hands on. Achuthanandan Govt has little to claim when it comes to new initiatives in any front in the state. Though the regime has been working honest and hard to get Vizhinjam Port off the mark, it is still some time away from realization. But I'd bet again that the granite will be up vertical in Vizhinjam with all the names on it.

And in the coming few months we will see more and more heavyweight 'stones' being laid, my strong guesses lie with International Airports of Kannur, Aranmula, Kottayam and Idukki. Also spare a few granites for the IT Parks planned in all 200 taluks of the state, also please don't forget to put one for Cochin Metro before you leave. Shall I also suggest some stones and ribbon-cutting for some bridges, roads, parks, sulabh toilets, health centers, bus shelters, traffic signals and fish markets. Anyone with a knows that it will be all like stones in the water. The ship will go down.

How strikingly different has been the CM Achutanandan from the robust and revolting Opposition Leader we all knew! Pinarayi and team managed to tame the wild lion into a pussycat. But V.S has managed to hang on, we should give him that. He has manged what he always yearned for: to sit in that reverent chair on the III floor, North Block, Secretariat. But the important question is how did it benefit us Keralites?

Our politicians may not realize, or may not want to accept that the sand is slowly draining from under our feet. With virtually no sources of income being found for day-to-day chores, how long can Kerala afford to crawl? When other states are marching ahead with hundreds of job opportunities created every month, we're still boasting about the cliched Kerala-model. Migration and associated remittances from abroad have ensured that Kerala society doesn't crumble and fall into a state of civil-unrest. GoK plans to suck dry the NRI tits for its survival and has no back-up plans to set the foundations strong and straight.

This leaves us in a very precarious situation where Kerala State doesn't have a penny for social welfare, road works, water supply or poverty eradication projects without the burden of loans from foreign banks or begging in front of the Center. Remember the situation in 2001 when E.K Nayanar left the chair to A.K.Antony without a nickel in the treasury. Well, Achumama may well step down leaving us deep and buried.

For me the biggest achievements of the current LDF regime was that both Kairali TV and Deshabhimani could build their multi-crore headquarters in the prime-most locales of Trivandrum city.

Kairali Towers, close to MLA Quarters, Trivandrum

So even for the staunchest commie supporter the previous 4 years will not have much to dance around about. Perhaps we will see the CM laugh again after the 2011 Assembly polls the same way he famously laughed after the 2009 Parliament results. Its not long away dear CM, you may better get all your stones carved out and set before the Code of Conduct is formally in place. Good luck! :-)

Images courtesy Keralatv.com, www.tribiz.in, fotolia.

Shashi Tharoor: A year into the job

2010-05-11T15:48:00.003+01:00

Spoiler: This post is a mere look-back on my MP Shashi Tharoor and how he has fared as the most hyped-up representative of Trivandrum. If you're looking forward to discussing the likes of cattle class, interlocutor, IPL and so on, then you may please close this browser window asap. I propose to look at something very different and in all probability pretty uninteresting. Thanks...

The dates connoted in the passage indicate the tweets of @ShashiTharoor. You can access the tweet-archive on twimp.in or tweeple.in

I'm least bothered about the Foreign Policies and the erstwhile External Affairs conundrum of Dr. Tharoor, its all Greek and Latin for me. This is my perspective of my MP from my constituency and state, simple as that!

Dr. Tharoor surely must've taken this first year as an internship to understand the internal games of Indian politics, and surely got some very hard lessons. The gains for Trivandrum commenced the very day he announced his candidature. The constituency hogged national spotlight and Tharoor deservedly climbed the steps into the Lok Sabha by squashing the now obsolete commie opponent by six-figure margin. Period.

But not before he was taught the first lesson in Politics by the Trivandrum DCC, that you needn't try too hard to create enemies in Politics. His late night party with a group of 'red-class' businessmen irked some local Congressmen who were getting irritated by the limelight a newcomer like him hogged. Tharoor did start well, on way learning that if ever there was a 7-day a week job it was that of a politician (May 17). Before leaving for the Capital, he held a 3 hour meeting on the development needs of his constituency within a wide range of experts (May 17) including fellow blogger Ajay Prasad.

On reaching Delhi and assuming the power at his Office of MEA, Tharoor diplomatically handled the doubts about his open tweeting and also pitched in for Trivandrum's long awaited demand on High Court Bench. He was different from ordinary politicians we see around us when he openly declared that the struggle for the High Court Bench couldn't be settled anytime soon and that there has to be a softer stand adopted by the Trivandrum Bar Association. (June 17) The appointment of the one-man commission by the Ministry of Law is a direct reflection of the efforts Dr. Tharoor put in for the High Court Bench.

From eating 6 mangoes a day (June 9) to meeting with CM Achuthanandan in Trivandrum (June 13) Tharoor soon realized his priorities should be the unfortunate sections of society who lives on <$1.25 a day. Inaugurating his first bridge at Kazhakkuttam(June 17), initiating steps for new Passport Office facility, (July 6) and the successful inclusion of economically backward girls in Rai Foundation's scholarship (July 29) saw Tharoor stamping his arrival on all arenas of Indian public life.

It might be ironical to see his caricature as the US-bred-and-spoiled, blackberry wielding NRI Minister who connected with his Twitter constituents and not to the roti-kapada-makan folks in his hometown.

Tharoor, like other politicians, didn't jump in front of the camera claiming responsibility for the fruitful proposals for Kerala in Rail Budget ' 09. There was just a quite tweet that he was so grateful to the Railway Miniters for showering his constituency and state with the best ever Rail Budget (July 9). And he did continue his efforts to make sure that all the proposals got implemented. Papers have moved more briskly for the Kochuveli and Nemom development plans, though the Trivandrum Central modernization project is still bonded by Fevicol somewhere. Depressing to say though, the 2010 Mamata speech was a disaster.

In a quite robust event Tharoor managed to get Trivandrum twinned with Spanish city Barcelona, the idea being co-operation for city planning and improvement. It was another joke for many eager Trivandrum enthusiasts (and Tharoor deterrents) because of previous experiences with other sister-city projects. Remains to be seen where Tharoor and Barcelona will take Trivandrum to. Fingers crossed. But unlike his predecessors Tharoor took a few useful steps forward, including evoking an official Spanish interest in Trivandrum's dream project Vizhinjam, (that now VISL is seriously looking up at a G-G model) making sure that his brain-child wouldn't be left stranded and become a point for his critics to joke about.

Tharoor's panaciousness saved Trivandrum from losing of the Mental Health Center of Excellence originally proposed in Trivandrum, to Calicut. Tharoor did vociferously fight for the city but it appeared for a while that the executionery power of the State Govt would win. State Minister for health Sreemathi teacher almost succeeded in taking the institute to her constituency but as Tharoor would tweet later, an MP can influence the Central govt but without the co-operation of the State Govt nothing gets done(Sept 11). But the one relief is that this tug-of-war didn't result in the State losing an Institute, like what happened with the IIT. (You can read more about it on Hijacked City on TrivandrumLife)

Tharoor's timely involvement in the Sree Chithra Tirunal Institute of Health Sciences and Technology expansion plans may save Trivandrum from losing yet another prestigious development to Malabar. This has been the curse of this city, when the Congress led coalition is at the helm its Central Travancore-Cochin areas in focus and when the Reds are in control its the Malabar region which is given the thrust. Tharoor has been a welcome relief for Trivandrumites on that count and episodes like IIT, NIFT, NIALS doesn't happen too often.

It might be imperative to note the way he used the foundation in the name of his late father, the Chandran Tharoor Foundation to assist the Neyyar Dam kids to access their school safely. Airport Development, new road developments and infrastructural initiatives have picked up during the tenure of Dr. Tharoor, unlike the previous regimes where Trivandrumites heard more and saw less.

Even small things matter. Tharoor was earnest in appreciating even minor initiatives from his constituency because his Tweets carried the weight of Gold. Tharoor happily responded to a local web initiative http://www.filmydum.com/ to promote their website by his tweet. (Feb 2)

A new working platform was formed for the integrated development of the capital region, TCAN (Trivandrum Citizens Action Network), for expediting the developmental works for the city. (Mar 13).

Tharoor did hint at his hands were tied because an MP didn't have executionery powers. Quite right, the LDF Govt getting cold feet over Trivandrum becoming like a family property for Dr. Tharoor just like Amethi for Rajiv Gandhi. Quite interesting when you think that the likes of Mr. Vijayakumar who was the fighting warrior for Trivandrum, has almost gone into a shell.

Tharoor may still regard his most important achievement as bringing the IPL team to Kerala. Rest is history. All in all, a Greek tragedy...A great cricket enthusiast himself, Tharoor was instrumental in bringing the Rendezvous Consortia together for a Kerala team above the much stronger contenders like Ahmedabad, Nagpur and so. His works also helped in expediting the Edakochi stadium by KCA and also in the putting the skids on the similar stadium in Trivandrum as a part of National Games. Tharoor was very vocal about getting the facilities ready in Trivandrum to hold IPL matches, even as we speak now.

Just not IPL, it would be cruel to suggest that he is not trying to uphold his constituency when he has mentioned about efforts to bring in world-class events to Trivandrum, like the Hay Literary Festival (May8). These kind of events may give our local economy great boost than TRIDA building a market complex.

Some people feel that Tharoor hasn't lived upto his expectations, that they see no 'visible' changes. Well folks, what do you expect to see in 12 months? A palm-island in the Arabian Sea off Veli or a new Burj Trivandrum in the CBD or a Maglev from Attingal to Kovalam? First time in my living memory I'm seeing someone who're honest and committed to his constituency and ready to look beyond the 2.5 crores MP fund. Remember, all what our previous MPs had managed to do with that money was re-thatching a few school sheds, building public toilets and tarring a few roads to their in-law's houses... Tharoor has pretty much addressed the most needed development needs of the city instead of promising castles in the air.

Its just one year folks, and Rome was not built in a day! A small example: We are just getting to see some obvious changes to the urbanscapes of Trivandrum after the road development project was kicked off 8 years back! So how wise it is to write the post-script now?

Pretty much of the Tharoor critics seem to run and hide when someone talks about pointing out a suitable replacement especially for Trivandrum. Even hardcore critics who care about the city, gumly agree that the city can't get a better one, well at least in the next few years.

Perhaps my political viewpoints may change over time but one thing I'm pretty much assertive about. Trivandrum may never get someone as committed as Tharoor, at least we have a person whom we can speak to. As his Congress deterrents said he wasn't accessible, but how ironic he was available at the press of a button to you and me.

Holiday blues

2010-05-25T18:27:00.002+01:00

Must say, the 11 day vacation was hectic than the busiest work schedule I ever had! Jeez, it was like a merry-go-round, hardly got a chance to set foot on the ground.

9th May 2010 meant it was one year since my little bundle of joy arrived into my life. No way I could afford to miss her first b'day, even when the Eyjafjallajokull fire-mountain threatened for a while. Ah no, back to good old Trivandrum in the nick of time, and ouch... the summer this time in Kerala was reportedly harder than usual.

No glitches to report though, the birthday celebrations went on fine :)

Got a chance to meet up with old friends. Sad, many of the old pals are now scattered around in Bangalore, Gurgaon, Kuwait, Halifax, Chicago, San Diego and the likes. Trivandrum, without them, now feels a lot different than it used to be 3-4 years back. And the couple of old friends left in Trivandrum, one is a surgeon in Medical College and the other an Area Manager of a Pharma Co, supervising from Kottayam down. In short, they seldom find time to look at themselves in the mirror or relax for a while on the commode.

Nevertheless, found some time to do what I love most to do when I'm in the city. Visited the new international terminal under construction in Trivandrum. Matter of pride and despair. Hoped to use it this time but ha!

Took family to the Zoo, myself going there after at least a decade! Lion, hippo, rhino, deer, monkeys, snakes, rats all ok, but where has the Giraffe gone?

Watched TRDCL change the looks of my city. MG Road works seen here, the surfacing of the road has been completed since.

Meanwhile the construction of the half-kilometer long flyover at Bakery Jn still carries on. We're promised vehicles will be 'flying over' pretty soon. hmmm...

The church has got back its old colours, and the road in front is being given a new surface, lane-by-lane.

City has got an extra touch of green though many trees have been axed down. But who will tame this litter menace? (empty plastic water sachets thrown around in front of the Martyr's square after some political/ religious procession left the scene)

Checked out a few eateries...old and new. Nothing beats Buhari at Attakulangara and Rahmaniya inside Chalai. You'd better try this one out if you yearn for the posh variety. Ambrosia @ Heera Grace, Kowdiar! Trendy, spacious, rich menu, nice ambiance but may well scald your pockets.

Stayed a couple of days at the good old Tharavadu in Kayamkulam. My family bosses decided to raze down the century-old charming tiled house to build a modern concrete structure and it was my first time at the new house. The old one never needed a fan but it appears as if you'd need a 2 ton conditioning beast to make this thing livable. A goddamn greenhouse!

Not to mention the last 2 days in Trichur, at wife's home.

Hey, went to the famed Trichur gold-houses to get some metal for the li'l one. Mother-in-law was certain that we'd get year-round blessings if we bought gold on May 16th, Akshayathrithiya. Scam, but its not wise arguing with her. Gold merchants are making merry @ 13k+ per sovereign, but we get tons of free prosperity this day. Still awaiting the promised 'free' stuff...

Back to Trivandrum in Amritha Express.

Saw the MG Road being tarred in front of the AG's Office on way back home from the Railway Station. 2 days since, I read that the same road has been dug up by the Water Authority! (Image courtesy Keralakaumudi) Hail Public Works, Kerala!

And back...How disappointing I'm not flying out of the T3 :( Guess the lobby and gate will be more luxurious than this. Next time, surely.And wait, don't tell me you haven't seen the sneak shots of the interiors of the new terminal. Click, and enjoy, thanks to Vivek, a smart techie boy and member of Skyscrapercity India forum.

See you again folks :-)

PS: Managed to publish in a hurry, an already drafted post about Shashi Tharoor's one year as the MP of Trivandrum. Guess who got impressed? :whistle:

Thanks to Shashi Tharoor's tweet, the article brought 3600 hits in 24 hours and has fetched 52 responses until today. Whew, some serious publicity for my hobby! :-)

Kerala NH development: Back to bullock-cart era

2010-04-27T23:09:00.006+01:00

This newslink tweeted by a friend has given a rather clear-cut caricature of Kerala's history of shooting ourselves in the foot.

T.V.R. Shenoy on Rediffnews

A journalist in Delhi, K T V Raghavan of the Railway Board called me over, chuckling, to his office to show me a letter from the Calicut Municipal Corporation.The city fathers were requesting the railways to refrain from building their proposed rail overpasses.

Like most other cities in India, Kozhikode had grown by leaps, so that what had once been countryside was now well within the town.

This meant the gates were often shut at railway crossings when a train was due. The Railway Board in Delhi thoughtfully decided to build two or three overpasses so that road traffic would not be inconvenienced.

The municipal corporation politely demurred. The city fathers' point was that a lot of people were making a livelihood out of the bus and car passengers left stranded until a train roared past -- those selling everything from lemon juice and coconut water to flowers and magazines.

Calicut has paid more than enough for that decision. The city, which is depended on by people of over 6 districts of Malabar still has railway lines criss-crossing the urbanscapes and suburbs on numerous points. All for lemon-juice wallas, coconut vendors and Ma-gazine boys?

The article also mentions the history behind one of the proud-standing avenues of Kerala: the M.G. Road in Cochin. How the visionary in Sahodaran Ayyappan was brought down to his knees by the idealistic morons of the times, leading to a cut down in the width of M.G. Road from 100 feet (30 meters) to 70 feet (21 meters). Now the authorities are contemplating the Metro, BRTS et al on the avenue but the shortfall of that badly needed extra meters dwindle all plans.

The rise of NH Bypass is Cochin is a classic example. The spacious road is going to replace the MG Road as the state's major commercial avenue in a few years time. Space crunch has really started to take toll on the MG Road, and the NH Bypass provides answer to all the problems faced by the former. The reason: Bypass Road has enough width to accommodate an 8 lane carriageway, service roads and a median wide enough to think of the skyway or whatever they're thinking about.

The article points a finger at the incredible imprudence of our leaders and organizations and inability to learn from old mistakes, the saddest thing that they keep on committing the same old mistakes time and again. The suicidal proposal to curb the National Highway development from the initial 60 meters to 45 meters and lastly to 30 meters is an example.

The argument is that the the thousands of small-scale businesses and residences along the highway would have to be displaced throwing a question mark over their future. T.V.R. Shenoy rightly points out to the humane angle of the argument but if the shoe won't fit, fixing the foot is the solution?

Here the matter is simple. The Govt, nor the opposition wants to take on one of the biggest unions of our state: the Trader's Union (Vyapari Vyavasayi Ekopana Samithi). The state will suffer, but who cares? It's the vote-bank that matters folks!

I have nothing more to say about this ridiculous decision by the all-party-honchos to arrest our state's progress. The article below pretty much sums up why those few extra meters matter.

Roads to nowhere from Trivandrum Rising. Ajay Prasad explains the heart of the matter in consultation with a specialist in Highway Construction. I quote, with thanks:

"Within 30 m, one can only think of 4-lanes without service lanes. This necessitates 24 m of Right of Way (RoW) but does not include such critical things as a utility corridor (necessary to prevent the road being dug up every week or so) or the gradient needed to correct dangerous bends. Once this is taken into account, we need at least 32 m.

Once the essential service roads are brought in, the minimum RoW needed goes up to about 45 m. (This was the minimum figure agreed as an exception only for Kerala).

Finally, wherever grade separators - flyovers or underpasses - are needed, the minimum RoW width goes up to 52 m."

With 30 m RoW only, we will be left with no service roads, no utility corridor, no drains - in short, poor roads. Forget widening to 6-lanes!

And this is not rocket science. The width is calculated in very simple terms. For example,

RoW = Carriageway width + median width + shoulder width + drain width"

Kerala is dreaming tall about Techparks, container terminals, International Airports and all sort of hi-fi things by forgetting the most basic of the infrastructure: the roads. I doubt if we are heading towards becoming the first space-age state in the world where aam citizens use flying saucers and rocket ships for town-to-town transit and even to go to the local fish market. Or else we all should get the technology behind the Iron Man thing...go whoosh, and you're there!

The Govt was seriously looking at Cruise ships (!!) between Trivandrum, Cochin and Calicut; my plea is to implement them as soon as possible. Arabian Sea may be last hope for many of us, and it may appear a terrible cliche if you imagine yourself on our 30m wide NH 47 a few years from now, catch ma drift? :P

Because if this is the road we are going to take, then we'd better stop dreaming high. For, it's not us that build our roads, but its our roads that build our nation.

IPL-Gate: Pun unintended

2010-04-20T00:01:00.029+01:00

[Statutory Warning: Some names and associated statements may create severe indigestion. Have some Gaviscon ready if you have]

The dust has settled on the MEA innings of Dr. Tharoor. And as a politically inevitable response, we're going to see the vacuuming of the the dust, dung and dirt from this IPL dinghy which effectively ran-out the minister. But some quarters have brought in the much needed fun-side to the fiasco by letting the world know what they felt about this all. Who else do you think? :P

Lalu Prasad Yadav is literally 'aghast' by the corruption he finds in IPL. He wants the Govt to take over BCCI and IPL, annex it into the Sports Ministry and perform an anointment. I can foresee which portfolio Lalu will be interested in, if he gets in next time. But Sir, we're impressed by your honest attempt to sanctify our system. C'mon let's commence from Patna. Cattle-fooder for instance?

btw, Mulayam Singh Yadav is also reportedly 'shocked' and 'stunned' into submission by the rampant 'favouritism', 'money laundering' and 'unlawful activities' in IPL. According to the UP Supremo 'Cricket is a foreign game, it ought to be banned in India and Govt should promote desi games instead.' Seriously, I'd like to know was this fellow is smoking.

"Yeh IPL kya hai, kya haaai yeh IPL" (What is IPL?), explains Hon. Minister Vayalar Ravi. Listen.

"IPL is a glorified gambling with black money. The Govt must look into it to see who is behind all this. Who are these people, where does the money come from? It is a matter of concern."

Moment of Eureka from Mr. Vayalar Archemedes Ravi! But why wasn't there no concern about all this before? Its not as if this IPL had suddenly mushroomed in the last summer rain. It took 3 years, and ultimately cost India a Minister, to open the can of worms that is IPL. I really hope something productive comes out of all this mess. Tharoor mustn't be made a scapegoat for nothing, especially when the High Court rejected a demand for a probe and the IT Dept has cleared him off any gain via this Kochi deal.

The third edition of the IPL is currently underway and in just 3 years its think-tank Lalit Modi has grown from a null-factor to a money spinner, ie in virtually no time. His growth chart, which looked like a rocket trajectory is all set to come crashing down like the WTCs of 9/11(yes, promising to bring down a few surrounding him as well). Someone who is not afraid to take on even the nation's Home Minister, someone whose career credits speaks for himself. Highlights:

The Telegraph

According to documents in possession of The Sunday Telegraph, Lalit Modi was convicted by a United States court in 1985 after pleading guilty to charges of possessing cocaine, false imprisonment and assault.

He was put on five years' probation.

From a school drop out, to a US University student acquiring a criminal record in drug-dealing and kidnapping, carrying on to become the all-in-all of Cricket India, Lalit Modi has it all in himself to make it to a Union Cabinet. What more could BJP ask for? He terminated UPA's poster boy, tainted the Govt and exhibits remarkable ability in multiplying financial assets in geometrical proportions. Oh, I almost missed out on the bollywood-ish traits. Look who is on the ramp, arms all over the former Miss Universe!

image courtesy ibnlive.com

No surprise IPL has openly exhibited its liking for blondes, brunettes and the femmes of especially (and exclusively) the 'white' variety. Like the two black cheerleaders who learned it the hard way, as did Ms. Gabriella Demitriades, neither IPL nor Modi play by the rules of decency, transparency or dignity.

He always has a few tricks up his sleeve as well...like that cock-n-bull tale on television about his Twitter account being hacked and 'some material' being deleted. What material dude, we've not lost our marbles yet hey...

Nevertheless, his business model impressed even the media-gods of our times! Look at Pronnoy Roy showering the crook with praises when his New Delhi Television heralded him as the Businessperson of the Year 2008.

The Ministry of Finance is going to probe into all sources of IPL funding. (Newslink) Mr. Modi way well take a good few of the team owners, proxys and well-wishers to his grave. The high-flier, I guess, would be hurt pretty badly by the incessant fall from such great heights. Gravity is a cosmic phenomenon, so is Newton's III Law.

Let's wait for the real names behind all these IPL franchisee to come out. Already head-honcho Modi is doing some explaining about his blood relatives and buddies among the owner's list of some franchisee. Something which has been given tax rebates in hundreds of crores may well turn out to be a 'family owned enterprise' altogether. Waiting to watch how many roads actually lead to Pope in Rome.

Down far South, and a li'l bit to the West, some of the local leaders have expressed their 'sadness' over Tharoor ouster. Ramesh Chennithala's feeble voice was the first to be heard AFTER everything was over. He feels 'Tharoor should have been more careful' and that it shows 'how committed Highcommand is about ethics in public life.' Newsreport

A big rofl! Ethics in Indian Politics?? First time I'm hearing of such a substance existing, I sure hope this isn't the Dark Matter those space guys are searching for. I presume this Ethics roll is handed over to all the members elected from all Assembly & Parliament constituencies, Mr. Chennithala?

To crown it all here comes a Kerala channel with a 'Vision' which spread the nitrous oxide like wildfire... Someone created a fake Twitter account of the IPL lady 'Sunanda Pushkar' (which has now been erased) quoting that she was 'very hurt by the ongoing allegations'. Our glorious channel guys actually jumped in and made this fake tweet their 'Breaking News' by actually quoting the fakie!!

Seriously mates, who gave you your certificates? Any novice will pass that account as a fake, clearly indicated by the profile picture of the run-of-the-mill media shot of the lady and a multitude of other indicators.

Guys, please. This is enough. This will rank up there, among the now famous hot-dog crack-up of the listless commie paper and the persistent spoofs of Kerala's most circulated newspaper (gulp). Pity.

As for the IPL-gate and the Pandora's box, open sesame!

Odd man out

2010-04-19T01:18:00.001+01:00

Shashi Tharoor resigns.

Winners:

Congress
BJP
Left

And the lone loser...

Shashi Thaoor. And the millions of men and women including yourselves and myself who rejoiced a bit too much (and a bit early) to see someone enter our political scenario who could clear a bit of stagnation and odour from it. Sad, the system is rigid and primeval than we thought, so are the ones who control it.

But why just Tharoor? Because the greenhorn didn't learn the ubiquitous hide n seek ploy? In politics they say, if you get a chance to strike down an opponent, grab it with both hands. That's exactly what the BJP did, credits to them. Moreover its their duty and obligation to come out tooth-n-nails, especially when it was their darling boy Lalit Modi who was in a corner. They played the politics well, and Congress caved in without a fight.

If our national party is honest about fighting the so-called 'corruption' then perhaps Kaangress should open up the knickers of some of their own men, co-alition partners and friends and peep inside. How about Sharad Pawar and A. Raja for a start?

Any citizen of this country would like to know how our politicians amass wealth in hundreds of crores whichever way you do the math with their salaries and perks.

Ah, you need balls mate. A political neophyte like Tharoor made a perfect sitting duck for the party's double standards. The whole of Maharashtra and Tamilakam will come crashing down if you dare touch the above mentioned boys. The equation: politics= business= money has become the anthem in those parts, not so much in Kerala.

Not to mention our great leaders from Kerala keeping their tongues securely zipped up inside the buccal cavity. Characteristic, wonder if the old Kerala crab tale is a bare fact afterall. May be a blackberry yielding, handsome, educated and trendy politician has given some serious mediocrity feelings to some of our khadar-clad netas.

But someone raised a very valid question. A successful UN diplomat who served nearly 3 decades in high ranking positions without ruffling a single feather has been such a glaring misfit in our system. May be the odd Tharoor-cynic is right afterall. Indian politics is not for the likes of him, give us more Pappu Yadavs, Shibu Sorens and Mayavatis.

The latter folks have got a glossy CV full dotted with exemplary qualities befitting an Indian politician. Murder, arson, rape, corruption...you name it. And they've learned the fine art of feathering one's nest without even God Almightly getting a wave of it. Tharoor may have been a touch injudicious in flaunting his lady friend who just had a major gain from something he was involved. Right or wrong, but certainly skulduggery and favouritism didn't reach India with Tharoor.

Make no mistake, this is not the end of the road for him in any sense. Relieved of the duties of MEA may be a blessing in disguise for the suave diplomat-turned-politician. Now he will have apt time on his hand to sweat it out for his constituency and state. In fact, 4 years from now when he returns to the voters he would've been least judged by what he did at his MEA desk.

Talking about his constituency, Trivandrum may not have yet got a Burj Trivandrum or a Palm Island or a Mag-lev but steps for some realistic projects have surely been taken. My party has been spoiled in a sense, but nevertheless a folder of Tharoor: The MP will be published here in a short while.

Pathways to future

2010-04-12T10:00:00.001+01:00

The old and forgotten Expressway project appears to have received a shot in the arm with the Central Govt proposing to taking up the challenge. The report last month in Keralakaumudi talks about a fresh alignment from Kanyakumari to Trichur, passing via Trivandrum- Punalur- Kottayam and eastern parts of Cochin city and terminating at Trichur.

The project makes up Phase I of the project, and the State Govt has requested the Expressway to be extended to Mangalore through the Malabar regions.

Features of the project

400 km long
60 m wide with 4/6 lane carriageway
Total cost 5000 crores
100-120km/hr design speed
passes through the East side of NH 47 and MC Road

The only flipside is that we won't have the 'International' tag to this project, unlike the other similar breeds propping up all over the small state, like the Int'l Airports proposed in almost all Municipalities.

Now the real challenge is only set to begin here. The report says that Central Govt will fund the acquisition of land, but still it's tricky...the onus of the process of acquisition falls back on Kerala Govt.

I've told all I've to say about the Kerala Expressway project here in this post: Setting the Standards: Part II, and I just wanna add on to that post. The Central Govt has also planned a few new highways in Trivandrum, except from the Expressway project. Here is a snapshot.

In a surprisingly far-sighted and appreciative move, GoI has envisaged development of a few new roads to augment the development of the Kerala capital. Two ring roads, both 30m wide, 4 laned highways connecting the suburbs of the city have been proposed. An outer ring road, 60 km long will connect Vizhinjam and Kovalam to the MC Road in Vattapara (via Aruvikkara) and from there connecting to NH 47 via the Film & Video Park. The 30km long inner ring road will connect the immediate peripheries of the urban district from Thiruvallam all the way around to Kuzhivila near Technopark Phase III.

Apart from this, a stand-alone bypass road is also proposed from Attingal to Parassala, which will re-route all the bypassing traffic without touching urban Trivandrum. It remains to be seen if both the projects, the Expressway and stand-alone Bypass are going to be materialized. Two tolled super highways vying for the same traffic may not be a great idea but I'd like to see the Expressway materialize here.

Instead of the stand-alone Bypass, the ring road projects could do much more benefits to the city. Once the Technocity, Technopark Expansion and various Industrial Parks proposed along the NH 47 are realized then it will become essential for re-routing the traffic or else we will step out of our houses into a 40km long traffic snarl.

Here is the rough sketch of the proposed road projects: The blue one indicates the stand-alone bypass and the red marks the route of the inner and outer ring roads. The proposed Expressway may well pass just inside the blue line and to the right of the MC Road.

There were also talks about connecting Trivandrum to the neighbouring town of Tirunelveli via the Ghats but given the nature and classification of the terrain that is likely to remain in paper. Too many environmental constraints, and who would like to waste their time and energy (and money) on that?

Talking about waste of money and time, here is a classical whacky one. Kerala Govt is going to undertake a feasibility study to connect Kesavadasapuram to East Fort through a 6km long flyover, and that too without ramps in between! The lightening quick mental calculations by Hon Minister PJ Joseph estimates the cost to be at around 500 crores. huh, the whole massive Trivandrum Road Development project cost just over 250 crores, how many times effective and beneficial it would be for the city if that money is used for implementing a Phase II of road developments? You could build over 20 flyovers in the city with that money. Hmm, the only party which benefits from these dream-projects would be the consultants.

It is about time that our leaders and population see the wider picture that good roads are always the course to progress, instead of building Airports all over the state. Agree, airports are far glamorous than building a black asphalted road surface, but which one reaps dividends?

Mumbai-Pune Expressway image courtesy Indiashots.com

IPL @ Kerala!

2010-03-21T23:12:00.006Z

Its champagne time for the sports lovers of Kerala, especially Cochin, when the vibrant Kerala port-city snatched one of the just two spots available for the prestigious IPL T20 Cricket teams.

This could well be a shot-in-the-arm for Cochin and for the overall cricket/sports development of Kerala as this new cricket avatar called IPL may well be the beginning of a new era in our sorry sports tale. I'll tell why in a minute.

Facts first: its the hitherto unheard of Rendezvous Sports World Limited, a consortia of a few real estate biggies viz Anchor Earth Pvt Ltd, Parinee Developers, Anand Shyam Estates & Developers, Film Wave Combines Pvt Ltd and private investor Vivek Venugopal (Elite Group, Trichur) that gobbled up the Cochin franchisee out of nowhere. The group fished out a cool 1530crore green bucks for the cricket team, ahem! In fact this Cochin team and the other one bought today, the Sahara India's Pune franchise shelled out more than what the first 8 teams were valued together during IPL- I.

Incredible! But when the 3 big money makers of Indian economy, the Bollywood, Corporate World and the Cricket Duniya come together who wants to be a skeptic.

Acting the Devil's Advocate here , just 2 teams are managing to show some green in their balance sheets from the last 3 years of 'business', amazingly the persistently losing Kolkata team carried by Shah Rukh is among them!

Ah, when you invest such barbarian sums you have to give yourselves some time. But it's not just the money which gladdens my heart about this IPL dinghy, its the hope of this one benefiting the whole community is what attracts me.

Just like the English Premiere League...

IPL Cochin or rather it is called IPL Kochi, is going to propel the name of Cochin and Kerala to much more dizzier heights. Minuscule, some may think, but in this globalized world everything matters, especially when its country vs country, city vs city and even panchayath vs panchayath when attracting investments and nurturing their societies. The EPL has demonstrated how well sports could be used to the benefit of the whole city.

Surely many of us wouldn't have bothered about the western English town of Manchester if not for the glorious Manchester United team it hosts. And the two football teams this English city own have influenced the culture and economics of the city in a big way. I don't see why IPL would not replicate such a success tale in Indian cities given the popularity of the game in the nation.

Cochin is building its own stadium off the pristine shores of Edakochi to be the host ground of the new IPL Kochi team. The Kerala team wouldn't have been possible if not for the enterprising and cricket-enthusiast MP of Trivandrum, the charismatic Dr. Shashi Tharoor. Quoting Mr. Lalit Modi, the father of IPL, it was Tharoor who was instrumental in bringing together the consortia and presenting Keralaites with their own team, negotiating the strong contenders from Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Nagpur etc which had a better cricketing culture that ourselves.

It may take a good while before IPL grows into a much bigger and wider spectrum, knitting well into the community it supports. Is it too tall a hope to see multiple teams from the same city, like London having as many as 4 major EPL teams, but I think eventually second divisions will evolve for the competition. With decks being cleared for a cricket stadium to be built in Trivandrum (as a part of the 35th National Games) I hope the Kerala IPL team would be playing in my home-town as well.

There is one spoiler though. What I learned from the IPL is that there may not be much city-loyalty to be seen in the stadium, like what happened in Delhi. Mumbai's Sachin Tendulkar was cheered full time when he smashed the Delhi bowlers in their own den. Its usually the players that create a heart-chord for supporters and I have a private fear that I'm sure many of you guys may share...

I just heard NDTV speculating that this guy, the one you see here, might be captaining the IPL Cochin team.. Now, sorry for being rude and cheeky, but we haven't done that many sins to deserve this, have we?? Sorry Sreesanth, you've been a very very poor ambassador for our state.

Sure, if a group of lions are led by a donkey then I'd not rather mention the fate of the poor herd of lions... :P

Purblindness of the elysian eyes

2010-03-10T22:58:00.001Z

Why do I feel that the Gods residing in our palatial courts of worship appear to exhibit an element of sanctimony?

KJ Yesudas, India's most versatile singer and Aasthana Gayakan (official singer) of Kerala state, is permitted to visit the Mookambika Temple in Kollur, Thirupathi in Andhra, Attukal in Trivandrum but he is not allowed to bow before the divine figure he reverends most: The Lord Krishna idol at Guruvayoor.

Why? Because apparently its not the Gods who decide whom they will bless in their abodes each day, but a faction of His clergymen who determine who gets to see the Gods. So, who is the boss?

One thing which always perplexes me. Yesudas, though born in Christianity and still practicing the faith, has openly expressed his belief in Lord Krishna, and a desire to revere the idol at Guruvayoor (though recently he opined that he didn't want to enter somewhere he wasn't welcome). The experience he had at Guruvayoor, along with his Guru and mentor Chembai Vaidyanatha Bhagavathar still remains a melancholic episode in the history of the divine shrine. Here is what happened years back, something which Yesudas still reminisces with a heavy heart.

The Hindu, April 17, 2007

"During Ekadesi, my guru used to visit Guruvayur, offer pujas and render a concert as an offering. Since I was forced to keep off the confines of the temple, he too decided to stay out and we sang together before the Parthasarathy temple. The Divine Grace of Guruvayurappan can be felt in no small measure here, too, he had said. Though I had said that my guru himself was the embodiment of the Lord, I was really pained, and that sorrow haunts me even now. But for me, my guru could have sung at the temple."

Ironically of all, a savage chunk of the popular devotional Krishna songs are sung by Yesudas, and his voice has no prohibition whatsoever anywhere. Even in sacred temple of Sabarimala, Lord Ayyappa is put to sleep every single night by this song sung by Yesudas.

The issue got a political whip when it was taken up by the commie ministers of Kerala. When Minister G. Sudhakaran opened his holy mouth for Yesudas it immediately became clear that the temple doors would remain closed for the prolific singer. The Minister was taken to the cleaners by the NSS (Nair Services Society) who represent the high-voice in the temple governance. What pissed off the NSS and the likes is the apparent Govt attitude of treating the temples like inexhaustible milking cows. The Govt makes a fortune out of Guruvayoor, Sabarimala et al but has scant regard for the infrastructure and facilities of the shrines. On top of it, the Govt controls the temples via the Devaswam Board, a corrupt seedy misrepresented politico-religious organization, and the NSS accuse the Govt of trying to dictate terms, for political mileage.

The Congress-led governments never wanted to burn their fingers playing with this 'sensitive' issue and when it comes to the commie Govt, who are certified atheists, sparks fly. Nobody wants to get caught in between, Yesudas the last man!

I do think debates in the right way are going to solve this issue. India has given constitutional rights to practice any religion, and so has it promised discrimination in any Govt controlled organizations. So I believe the temples come under that law as well, as they're under a state managed organization.

There is another side to the argument that places like Guruvayoor should be protected from becoming mere places of tourist importance where anyone and everyone can step in and have a stroll around. Maintaining the sancta sanctorum I suppose, but how in the world do they differentiate them now? I mean, a true believer from a lost tourist?

These controversies surrounding the places of worship are nothing new. The Vayalar Ravi punyaaham saga hasn't deserted our memories yet, all because the Congress politician had married a Christian. Long before that Indira Gandhi wasn't allowed into another solace Jagannath Temple in Puri because she was married to a Parsi.

lol, considering the spike in the inter-religious marriages in our society it may be necessary for the temple authorities to make sure all the visitors come with their birth & marriage certificates and a family tree if applicable. Also its only a complete fool that would believe that currently non-Hindus and non-believers doesn't gain entrance to the temple premises in Guruvayoor. I believe as per the current laws there is nothing to prevent our previous Devaswam Minister from visiting the temple. He has locked antlers with many holy folks and pretty much treats all the religious bodies and institutions with thorough contempt. But still someone like Yesudas is banned. Apocalyptic..

Is it God, or is it just the man interpreting the verses?

Some people say its time for a second Guruvayoor Satyagraham, on the lines of the original one 75 years back which opened the doors for backward castes and dalits. Change is a universal law. Mankind, societies and even religions are not insular. Religion doesn't exist in vacuum, it is most closely knit with the social fabric, and exhibiting rigidity to change with the changing society doesn't augur well at all. It will only push people away from the shrines, and arguably away from God. Check history, all faiths have run through turbulent times, reformed themselves over and over and diluted their fundamentalist approaches... Want examples?

Galileo and his heliocentrism brought in severe wrath of the 17th Century Christian priests but now the Church stands corrected and has apologized to the treatment meted out to the great Astrologer.

Islam, by staying on its foundations, have started giving the fairer sex the fair deal. Kuwait has given voting rights to women, and they're even getting behind the steering wheels even in more conservative societies.

Catholic church is at crossroads again on the issue of Homosexuality, depending on how one man, the Pope, thinks what is the better thing based on the changing social circumstances.

Hinduism has come through many a changes. Guruvayoor itself has seen a massive change in practices when it opened doors to the backward classes after that historical Satyagraha in 1935.

Still, Gods appear a good few steps away from man, courtesy our religious bodies. No wonder the no: of people who're convinced that its the homo sapiens that invented God and religion are on the rise; there are far too many imperfections in the way our temples, churches and mosques deal with and propagate the concept of the Creator.

Thankfully enough, there are sparks of brain-storm sessions around. Old liners apart, a section of high priests are already talking about changing the rigid laws to suit both the believers and the customs. Like the war of the religions, the fight between fundamentalists vs liberals appear to carry on...And historically, it has been the latter avant-garde class that've come out victorious, most often than not.

There are two ways to look at it, be you a conservative or a reformist. Please answer this if you're severely aligned to the right of center. Consider myself to be a blue-blood atheist like our minister Sudhakaran. Your rules don't prohibit our entry to the premises, do they? In that case you're holding on to a practice which mocks itself by keeping someone like Yesudas away. In simple, you are pushing an honest and devoted believer away from God. Why act as the only genre of malayalees in the world who can't recognize the godly voice of Yesudas?

For the forward-thinking reformist ostriches who have fully buried their head in the sand, consider this. Yesudas, at 70, is reaching the twilight of an exemplary blessed life. If he exists the world-stage without fulfilling his long-standing wish to visualize the Lord then you're as well responsible for it...

Either way, will you escape His wrath?

The feeling that is INDIA

2009-08-14T00:01:00.001+01:00

Just a timely coincidence that I chanced upon this piece of journal from a Frenchman: 10 things I love about India, just on the eve of our 63rd year of freedom, courtesy Twitter and Mani Karthik.

Before you turn all peppy and keyed-up let me remind you that it was a forced sequel to a rather uneasy but realistic portrayal of our country by the same author. Its the 10 things he disliked about India, the original link here. I've chosen not to highlight the original link because, obviously, the term 'hate' is an easy word to use but is as dangerous as it is counter-productive.

Nevertheless it is interesting to see a Frenchman's perspective of the country we know too well. An excerpt from his love-hate feature would be something like this:

India is an incredible place and I have never regretted, even for one day, to have settled here.

...the kindness and the smile of the villagers around. They were poor but they had such dignity; a quality of being which made them a hundred times richer than wealthy Europeans or Americans.

If one balances the 'hate-able' and 'lovable', the irritating aspects are just superficial prickly heat; the deeper one goes, the more one sees the inner qualities of Bharat

We all know what he is speaking about, don't we? Let's be honest to ourselves, the article is fair if we have the courage to call the spade a spade. The encouraging thing is that our country is acquiring the power to put the kibosh on those negatives, one at a time, because as of 15th August 2009, India's positives grossly outclass our shortcomings.

The West still harbor the shocking images of India circulated all around the world during our infamous drought, or rather the Famine of 1966. We've come a long way since, but the terrible pictures of those years still linger in the minds of many Westerners. For them, the IT Parks in Bangalore or Gurgaon, Metro in New Delhi or the Chandrayaan are just as unlikely as Moon Landings are for Bill Kaysing.

India's growing profile in collage. Clockwise from 12o clock, Ashoka Sculpture; Imperial Towers, Mumbai; INS Vikrant; Mumbai-Pune Expressway; Bandra-Worli Sealink; Technopark, Trivandrum; Delhi Metro; Chandrayaan launch vehicle;

It is encouraging to see our country shrug off the stereotypes and put its good feet forward. There is a vibe of positive energy in the air, commanded by the multi-million-strong youth of the country. We have personalities like Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam who knows that inspiring a few thousand young brains is enough to usher in brighter tomorrows. We have inspiring leaders like Shashi Tharoor who have made the youth of Trivandrum think and act beyond the sooty curtains of caste-ism and politics. We have cities like Bangalore and Hyderabad who pip the alpha-world cities in attracting investment. We have institutions like the ISRO and VSSC which are proud enough to show that we can do it! We have educational facilities like IIT and IISER which churns out some of the most sought after brains of the planet. We have the bravest of the braves like Capt. Jerry Premraj and Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan who taught our foes the virtues of a real soldier. We have industrialists like Mittal and Tata who are making it loud and clear as to who call the shots in the business-world today!

Lastly India is a proof that money and material are not the only things you need to see genuine happiness on a face... Look at Pooja, she has the most radiant smile you'd ever see, according to the photographer. Source.

Pooja from Calcutta; photograph by Dey Alexander

This is where the real Indian spirit lies... finding the sense of joviality in even the paradoxical of living states. Far cry from the rich and high-fi countries where depressive disorders are part and parcel of existence, people take their own lives when the value of their stocks crash on a Black Monday, when mothers have to be 'trained' and 'encouraged' to get emotionally attached to their own babies and where barbie-dolls and teddy bears become the only solace for those at the dusk of their lives... I'm seeing it all...

But they have their own strong points, and so do we.

So in a nut-shell folks, I always feel how incredibly lucky I'm for being a part of this part of the world. Never a day passes in my life without the urge to see how things are improving in my country and my state, so is the case with millions of Indians back home and abroad, I'm sure. Once you're exposed to the outside world and you get to realize some of the good things we miss back home (read efficient bureaucracy, equality in laws, obedient and socially responsible citizens, care of environment). You tend to become temporarily frustrated at the state of things in India...only temporarily.

Because at the back of our mind we know that it is only a matter of time before our society evolves into a better one for its citizens.. The British didn't shed Colonialism overnight, racism didn't evaporate from the US in a flash, Nazism took a while to move into oblivion and it took Kuwaiti women decades to earn their right to vote... All good changes take time...

So, the Earth revolving, we can bring about changes to our society. The charges in Claude Arpi's article doesn't demand a huge effort to tackle, except the politicians, the bureaucracy and the corruption. Well, as I said, this triplet may take a bit longer...

But there are more teething problems than those mentioned in that article. It may not be pleasing for anyone to see the sea of ghettos that spoil the Mumbai urban-scape when you take-off or land at the CSIA. Yes, still 25% of our countrymen live below poverty line, ie they earn less than 10 Rs/day/head. Don't ask how someone is going to survive @ Rs.300/month but if you consider the World Bank cut-off point of 1.25 $ per day, then 70% of our countrymen turn BPL! Gosh...

Looking at the official figures, do you see any silver lining? Look, the graph shows an obvious declining trend.

% of population below poverty line

But the road is still a a long, steep winding one uphill and all we've got is a moped with heavy load. Perhaps its the time to be pragmatic and lets join hand to bring in some real sunshine to the lives of children like Pooja. So why not take inspiration or determination from a few of our friends around us, a few of fellow-bloggers and colleagues for instance?

Kenny Jacob and his wonderful MAD volunteers, the exuberant youth of tidycity working to keep our environment in check, are all some of the efforts people I know undertake. If you're abroad and your heart still yearns out, why not consider signing up for something similar to Child Fund Ireland? Don't you realize how huge a difference you can make, for such a small sum?

So have you decided how you are going to share the feeling that is called India!!?? C'mon lets all join hands and pull that graph down to the trough!

image courtesy santabanta.com

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

Speak to me, better :)

2009-11-27T00:01:00.005Z

Hi all,

No Man's Land? comments section will be powered by DISQUS from now on.

Nothing big to talk about it here, but I hope the new feature will solve the problems you've been having with my comments section ever since the new template was uploaded.

A good few issues were raised in connection with the Embedded Comments from I had here in No Man's Land? Apart from the inconvenience in logging on, there were instances like the comments vanishing into thin air, not being published in spite of repeated attempts, inability to generate a preview and so on.

I tried a few suggestions from my techie-buddies but nothing seem to work. Even doing away with comment moderation didn't help. Enough is enough, I've decided to try out this specialised comments plug-in. I'm not sure if things will become worse but still let's give the boy a chance... :)

Things may appear a tad complicated and confusing if you're using it first time but I find it miles ahead of what our big-boss Blogger has been providing. Blogger Comments mechanism sucks, almost a joke when compared to Wordpress, and its about time Google listened to their users.

Apart from equiping myself with some serious musclepower of editing and keeping track of the responses I recieve, DISQUS provides you a few notewothy advantages:

Multi log-in options including Twitter and Facebook
Video Enabled
Ability to post direct links easily
Response to individual comments
Comment rating
Flagging troublemakers and much more...

In short, saves a lot of breath for technology greenhorns like me :)

So, keep me informed how the new lad is bahaving. Thanks ever so much...

GOOD DAY! :)

2!

2009-12-14T00:01:00.001Z

Yes, simple as that! This blog turns 2 today!

What started as an off-time hobby has now developed into a much more serious vocation for me. Strange, but it seems as if I've been on this platform much longer than this. My feeling is right in a sense, I've been an avid blog reader and commenter on many of the blogs I used to follow, like http://www.savekerala.blogspot.com/, http://www.newkerala.blogspot.com/, and http://www.trivandrumrising.blogspot.com/. The above blogs inspired me and convinced me that you need to speak on your own stage to be heard better. True, as a social animal the civic responsibility of getting involved with the issues of society I live in did help to keep the spark lighted, but the real impetus came from somewhere else.

I'll talk about it.

As any novice blogger I wanted my voice to reach as many as possible. Initial help arrived from various social sites and forums. Trivandrum Rising was the first place where No Man's Land? was blog-rolled first, thanks a million to Ajay Prasad. The traffic stats started shifting to higher gears after being listed on Trivandrum Rising and then on blog-queen Silverine's page.

Going through my old posts, one thing struck me. I had put multitude times effort and time into my old blogposts compared to the ones drafted now. But I still doubt if posts like Birth of a new city, Sunrise at Vizhinjam or the CIAL post ever got read by more than a few dozen. Those remain my favorite write-ups, along with my personal jotting about the birth of my bundle of joy! How a small blog has given me a channel to open my heart!

Blogspace has given me many friends, and a few foes as well. I've learned that when you express your thoughts and feelings as honest as it feels in your heart, there could be repercussions. People are different and it is impossible to satisfy everyone in the world, which I never try to. What bothers me was the way some people responded to certain viewpoints by me or the commentators in the blog, by teething personal attacks.
I don't like moderating comments to be honest, but at the same time I don't like my turf a place for dung-slinging, who does?

This is a democratic country and we all are entitled to our opinions, and we all should agree to disagree, but in a gentlemanly manner... in a diplomatic way.

My thanks and gratitude lies with the visitors to my blog, and commentators in particular who has propelled the urge to do more with this. As a proud resident of the city of Trivandrum, I also happily contribute to the development showcase blog Trivandrum Fast Forward by dear friend and co-blogger Nishanth Nair. And Metro-blogging in its own sense is taking wings, so I also keep tabs on Cochin Square and Trivandrum Buzz, the Citizen's blogs for the two premiere cities.

The decision to have my own domain name from the old blogspot address seems to have paid dividends. And so has this custom template which I love, though it has given me and my readers headache at times. Sincere apologies, we'll tame the tantrums of the boy but for the time being allow me to persist with the mellow fellow.

An ounce of fame does help the self-esteem. First the article Cellulloid and behind featuring on Reuters and then the real break of having my blog and pic printed on India's National Newspaper. Heah-ho, highly satisfying and truly rewarding experience, certainly the highlight of my blogging career so far.

image courtesy www.weddingcakes.com

Thanks a ton to all my guests, and keep visiting. For you're the impetus I spoke about earlier and which keeps me going. :)

Shankhumugham

2009-11-04T16:36:00.006Z

A visit to Kerala's capital city is never complete without its most magnetizing showcase: the Shankhumugham Beach.

Shankhumugham, meaning the face of the conch is one among the many famed beaches of Kerala. I have senile yet stainless reminiscences of my early visits to Shankhumugham as a kid, rearing to tear away from the firm grip of my mother, out into the ravishing blue waves frothing up on kissing the golden brown sands. Evenings in Shankhumugham were the most enjoyable days of my childhood because it almost always had the Bombay sweet and the Cone Icecreams as toppings! And a wind-up dinner out in one of those hotels opposite Secretariat once we were back to the city.

Sunset @ Shankhumugham image courtesy Vividplus

My love affair with the place continued into my adolescence with many memorable afternoons with peer groups, bunking the classes. The fondness for the place only increased when I left Trivandrum for greener pastures to build my career. The off-trips to my hometown always featured a re-grouping with the old pals who were still at Trivandrum. The only difference being that now we reach Shankhumugham after dusk-fall, when usually that's the time we used to leave the place as a kids.

Aha, the smile still comes to me when I recollect the anxious eyes of my mother shouting after me when I told her I'm going to Shankhumugham to see the 'Tsunami' after the fateful day in 2004. I remember the then CM Oomen Chandy's warning on TV that there was chance of another Tsunami and we couldn't resist the adrenaline rush to see it! Good ol' foolish days, or the pseudo-bravery, or was it the over-confidence that it would surely be a false alarm, me and my amigos reached Shankhumugham in a flash.

The Tsunami never came, as evident from my this autobiography you're reading. I mean, I'm still here...

It would be interesting for you to comprehend that as a Trivandrumite I visited Kovalam only 3-4 times, the first time as a college student!! I suspect the bikini-clad Caucasian figures on the famed beach must've made my family chiefs think twice about taking their kids to Kovalam. Whatever, I don't yearn for the Eve's Beach except for the royale seafood and those magnifique femmes...Shankhumugham has always been my first choice...and will remain so.

An evening in Shankhumugham image courtesy Saifudeen

And I'm back to my favourite beach in the world, this time a bit in the other shoes... as a husband and as a father holding my bundle of joy close to my heart. My little lady is too too too young for me to be concerned about the waves but I understand why my mother always used to be uneasy about taking us kids to the beach, the rapturous delight the place triggers in the kids. The shores always let loose the exaltation in you, and mothers naturally are concerned. The evening still bears the permanent feel of a fair-ground, teeming with life. Parents with extra-watchful eyes on the jubilant kids, teenagers engaged in ball-games, artists, photographers, tourists, vendors, sons-of-the-sea fighting with the waves, sweethearts in their own world amidst the crowd...

Honestly, over 2 decades of clock-tickings haven't robbed the shores off any charm. The water may be a tad brownish and the place may have become more crowded, parking fees may have tripled and quadrupled but the charisma that made Shankhumugham, Shankhumugham still remain... A 200m walkway has been built and a few hi-mast lights installed, rest all remain unchanged. The star-fish restaurant, the Mermaid, the hillock giving the perfect view of the take-off of the metal birds, those stone marvels... all still the same!

Mermaid @ Shankhumugham image courtesy fstop mathai

Surely, would the word 'nostalgia' have the same meaning if we were in a perpetual world?

But some changes could've been productive...For the likes of the Traffic Park which still remains dilapidated, the historical pond is not yet preserved and the palace is still rusty...

But it is promised that things are deemed to change now. The authorities have drawn up some whacky ideas for a complete overhaul of the place.. And they tell me the structure rising up next to the playground is a Police Station! Yes, a Police Station bang inside a Beach Park.. wtf, who approved this???

What next? A morgue with a view perhaps?

Sculpture in the beach park image courtesy fstop mathai

So there! Trivandrum may have some very famous beaches but none so enticing as the Shankumugham, if you ask me. May be the airport and the closeness to the city have helped the brand-image but no, there is something more to the place. I'll come here again, inshah allah, some good things should never come to an end.

From a novice boyyie and to an acting-the-smart youth to a family man, the place still teaches me new lessons. I held my daughter in my arms, bending down for her two tender feet to touch the earth at one of its most beautiful points. I was just getting the feel of a grown up man swelling with happiness and pride, but there, mummy is giving out about the wind being too cold for the baby... "No amma, she's all covered up", I argue, but I've to recede. I still don't call the shots everytime.. ;)

The breeze, the horizon, the sands, birds, the people, the ever-enduring sea and the feeling of being home... Shankhumugham never ceases to exhilarate.

Here is my fav beach in a nutshell, courtesy Tom Thomas from Vanity Moments.

Ironically this trip gave me something to forget. I lost my mobile phone with all its photos in the Arabian Sea while playing catch-me-if-you-can with the waves. Too bad, the photo-collage I planned with this post will remain a dream :(

Railway Budget 2010-11: Bitter-sweet Kerala

2010-02-25T10:46:00.002Z

Thank you Mamataji, two-and-a-half hours of verbal orgasm in the imperious Parliament building...

552 pair of ears live on the stage...Millions listening on the idiot-box, and for updates here on webspace (though Sachin Tendulkar cruelly overshadowed the spotlight on Mamata and her trains by that epic-script at Gwalior). Railway Budget is a matter of huge interest for the infrastructure-development geeks as well as for the common Indian public.

And as usual after the ritual, the cross-examination begins. The coalition partners haaaaaappy and rapturous, the opposition states frowning, the Commie West Bengal Govt caught in political doldrums even as this was almost a jackpot hit for the state, the experts in media analyzing the pros and cons of the Budget. Afterall we all need some job.

For Kerala? It's a mixed bag. Check out the major promises: (I'm not including the whole list of proposals for Kerala. You can access the entire budget speech from the link provided at the end of the passage)

7 new trains

Ernakulam- Mumbai Durando

Ernakulam- Pune Superfast

Trichy- Mangalore Express

Trivandrum- Calicut Jansatabdhi via Kottayam

Trivandrum- Bhopal Bharath Thirth Circuit train

Shornur- Nilambr Passenger

Ernakulam- Kollam MEMU

3 Trains extended

Coimbatore- Calicut Passenger extended to Kannur

Trivandrum- Ernakulam Intercity to Guruvayoor

Kochuveli- Yesvantpur Express to Hubli

New water bottling plant in Trivandrum
Survey for 5 new lines

Punaloor- Trivandrum

Chenganoor- Trivandrum

Madurai- Kottayam

Dindigul- Kumily

Calicut- Angadipuram

Mysore- Thalassery line (approved)

So there! The list is too long is it? May be because it is stuffed with that list of Survey proposals which turn out to be a relaxing 'roam-around and sight-seeing' picnic project for officials. Thank God most of these surveys are not realized, otherwise Kerala would now be having more railway lines than Panchayath roads.

A few proposals for new trains have been made but we were promised a similar list in the last budget as well. Ahmed saar managed to flag-off a few longies but the Durando/ Thurantho/ whatever-you-call-it, promised last year still runs only on paper. Same is the case with trains promised via Nagercoil to Tirunelveli from Trivandrum. Where are they Sir?

Railway Budget is by far the best exercise in India which delivers what it promises, unlike the Union Budget projects, plans and proposals of our Corporations or the ridiculously hollow addresses by the President and Governor in their respective houses. To be fair, Railways most often deliver what they promise, and within a reasonable time frame. There are patches of dead-black soot though.

Kerala CM Mr. Achuthanandan and his Railway in-charge Mr. Vijayakumar are not impressed by Kerala's plate. They are cross at didi that our 'much cherished' Railway Zone has not been granted. A good few high-ranking railway officials from our own state have repeatedly conveyed that an exclusive rail zone is not going to benefit the state much, other than satisfying the misplaced ego of some politicians. We still need more railway lines and also another Division in the state or from our neighbours to constitute the Zone. So we have to set our priorities right, the projects beneficial for the majority of common travelling public should get the chunk of budget allocation.

Only Attukal Radhakrishnan can confirm for sure if all these trains will commence operations before the next rail budget. E. Ahmed deserves an acknowledgment for his efforts; he has done well in the show-off game. Still, the travel woes remain.

After the Venad/ Janasatabdhi leaves Ernakulam at around 1800hrs, there is a 5-6 hour gap before the next one to the state Capital. Hopefully the new Janasatabdhi via Kottayam will solve this issue, we need a train between 1800- 2000hrs when the demand for a South-bound train is still at its peak.

The long standing cry for a better rail connectivity to Bangalore from Malabar/ Trivandrum has yet again been axed down mercilessly. The little blue-birdie says that its the 'Bus lobby', which makes merry in the Malabar- Bangalore route, in which one of our Ministers has a pie as well but shhhh... I didn't tell you this. ;)

Interestingly E. Ahmed has worked for Rail connectivity to 3 Kerala ports viz Azheekkal, Beypore and Thalassery. Something tells me that the Railways missed something big here, or may be its just me. (Survey to the Vizhinjam Harbour line is going on, so I guess it's not an appalling miss)

Malabar may have received a generous hand, especially with the Palakkad Coach Factory receiving final sanction. But the Wagon Factory at Cherthala may well have to wait. Also Ernakulam North has been included in the list threatening to convert it into International Standards. (Trivandrum Central received the red-alert a few years back, still Shankaran is right up there on the Coconut tree).

The MEMU promised between Ernakulam and Kollam is good news but nobody knows for sure how a frequent shuttle service is going to operate on single track between Kayamkulam and Kerala's commercial capital. The doubling works needs to be expedited, if not it will lead to serious delays in the services between Central and South Kerala.

Kochuveli Station woes are sure to continue for another year. The budget has allocated 92 lakhs, probably enough to chop off the grass and clear the shrubs in the enormous wood-lands like area. Something for the NDTV new-age politician to look into seriously.

So an over-all bitter-sweet affair, though nothing much to be too much elated about. Fair-play to E. Ahmed and Mamata for handing over a better token to the state, at least the name Kerala appeared more than once on the Budget speech (unlike when Lalu/Balu/Velu were doing the job). Still its been a dinner without starters or desserts, well that's how I feel. How 'bout you?

Click for Full Railway Budget Speech of Mamata Banerjee.

Kerala Railway map courtesy hampi.in

Trivandrum, please

2009-10-09T19:33:00.002+01:00

How many of you have an idea about how Kerala capital Thiruvananthapuram a.k.a Trivandrum is being abused the world over? You can shrug, you can frown, you can whinge, you can rofl, or you can do a bit of all these but just go through my experience about the 'international' abuse of my hometown taking place every single day, every single minute on every single continent in the sphere.

image courtesy Rajith Mohan

The tale started with my receiving of my IATA flight ticket where it was printed that I'm travelling from Dublin to Thiruvananthapu... Yes, to Thiruvananthapu, ending in a 'pu' as in Pappu. I think there was also a hyphen (-) after the 'pu', possibly to indicate that the name extends furthur into the outer space.

The name grew a tad more to 'Thiruvananthapura' on my printed ticket I received through e-mail. Not so bad, 'pura' more or less deploys the same meaning. But something tells me that I'm missing something again.

After landing on the swanky new Terminal in Abu Dhabi I started scanning the information screens to locate my Gate for the Trivandrum flight. And here goes! Gate 11 for the 2245 flight to Thiruvananthapu... Again! Anyway the boarding pass was not so irritating as they chose the easier method, AUH to TRV. Simple enough. No torture there.

The real ill-treatment occured in the air when the First Officer was briefing about the flight details. The apparently Eastern European gentleman had no idea where he was flying and was consistently addressing Trivandrum in as many ways as he liked. During the flight the Captain took over and it was even more hilarious, the suave lady carried on announcing that they had now initiated descent into Trivandrapuram! Classical Anglo-mallu name for my city and the first time I'm coming across this.

Whatever, I dont intend to ridicule her. She knew what she was saying better than the lad beside her who was absolutely in the middle of the Pacific. Still both would fail the Std I fill-in-the-blank test for "Capital of Kerala" question.

I don't know who is to blame here but lets for easy-sake blame it on the Karunakaran Govt who decided to do away with the anglicized names for Kerala locales. A sudden upsurge of patriotism I believe, but is the Govt recognizing the way the world is screwing our place-names? At least the Brits saved the slaughter of my hometown for half-a-century from these travel personnel and tourists.

Leave the foreigners, our own Northie countrymen have their own ways when dealing with Trivandrum. I've seen it spelled Trivendrum many many times and pronounced Thrivendhrum. So those who have a compulsive habit of making mistakes will find a way to commit them, either way.

I fail to see the sense of purpose behind such a move especially because mostly it is the Govt Departments and establishments that name the place as they fancy. I bet you still can find Trivandrum being typed on GoK official documents. Technopark likes to go with Trivandrum, even on their official website. In TIA or Trivandrum Int'l Airport you can easily find both names inside and outside the Terminal. The Indian Railways too indulge in this name-hop. They have huge boards screaming Thiruvananthapuram Central while their LCD Display TVs welcome you to Trivandrum. Many trains also carry the Trivandrum (and sometimes Trivendrum)tags on coaches in an as-when-comfortable basis.

I'm one among the many millions of Keralaites who think Trivandrum is much more suited for the recognition of our city on a global platform. It may appear childish and trivial, but these small things do count. Even our MP Dr. Shashi Tharoor thinks so, look at the snapshot of his Tweet a few months back. Personally I don't gel with Ananthapuri, but Dr. Tharoor's idea is right on track. We don't want to see our city screwed left, right, center and on the air by every passing Dick, do we?

I did a bit of research about the longest placenames in the world and voila! Look whoz appearing! Our own Thiruvananthapuram, right up there among the 13 elite places in the world with a hyper-extended nameboard! You happy, or?

Check out this Wikipedia link if you don't believe me.

Still T-h-i-r-u-v-a-n-a-n-t-h-a-p-u-r-a-m stands pretty when compared to some of the tongue-freezing Polish place names I came acorss. How about Krzeczkowo Szepielaki? A village in Ostrow Mazowiecki district in Poland! You think it's the worst? Then try Szczedrohoszcze and Zienowszczyzna.

But thank heavens my home is not in Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu, the official record holder for such interminable names. Hold on, the name above is actually a shorter version for the original name
Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatah!

Well oh well, lets go home now...

King Khan and some flop clans

2010-02-14T11:35:00.002Z

Is there anything more enticing for an actor/producer than the release of his flick run the show in newschannels, tabloids as well as mainstream newspapers, the netspace head over heels about it, even the state legislature discussing publicly about the movie to an extent that the Chief Minister comes down to see the film! A frenetic aura surrounding a movie release as if it was an Olympic Opening Ceremony happening in town. Still, you have butterflies in your stomach on the release Friday, even if you're the SRK... Bollywood's King Khan.

Honest confession: I'm no SRK fanboy. I admired his work when he was the old simple Shah Rukh Khan who gave us Circus, Kabhi haan Kabhi naa or Baazigar but lost his fine skills somewhere on way to becoming the SRK.

But the point of talk here is entirely different.

This spring-storm blowing through the nation in the name of the Khan is not just about this one person, or one city standing upto partisan politics, hate play and hooliganism. There is a larger vistarama frame to the whole turmoil. The My Name Is Khan aftermath has sent out the right message to 'leaders' of the wrong breeds: Everything you do wont be tolerated everytime.

Shiv Sena and its moth-eaten kingpin, who always had a spell over Mumbaikars has been peed on twice in less than a fortnight. Rahul Gandhi made a dumbass out of the Thackerays last week, and now SRK and an enterprising Mumbai have pissed right on his face.

Somebody on Twitter designed a new logo for the old Sena tiger...the once very fearsome Tiger. How very symbolic!

Is this an indication of a maturing society, identifying and isolating the sectarian forces and standing upto them?

Isn't this a proof that denominational dogma doesn't rule the senses of majority and the educated new generation is ready to dump them?

Does this not prove beyond any shadow of doubt that if our rulers are determined to maintain decorum, then it stays put more often than not. Kudos to Maharashtra Govt who made a statement by using the arm of the law to crush down the ruffians.

Not to mention the sublime power of unity among the countrymen to utilize all possible channels; Facebook, Twitter, blogs, you say it, to crack down on the mob-ocracy.

You see, it doesn't matter if MNIK fails to break Box-Office records, no matter if SRK's characteristic over-acting, this time as an Asperger's Syndrome individual (doh!) again fails to impress, no matter if Karan Johar has once again managed to churn out a mediocre dampener, MNIK will go into pages of history as an event which unified the nation against the 'elements'.

The elements which we have to be wary of, who're as lethal as the 'internationally branded' ones from across the LoC.

The same elements which feast on the fear-factor of public, plaguing on our misinformation, illiteracy and poverty to good use to cash-in on their treacherous, hideous and misplaced agenda.

The elements which work to fragment our nation in the name of caste, language, culture and sundries.

The SRK-Sena showdown was seen by many as a guerrilla marketing strategy, but I care less. Afterall who is the loser? Only those who had to be defeated. That's the whole point. Dignified press persona Barkha Dutt, Pranab Roy (NDTV), Rajdeep Sardesai (IBN), Aaj Tak, Star News et al endorsed MNIK as if the movie was their collaborative in-house production released by the Press Council of India.

SRK fans cheering in Mumbai image courtesy The Hindu

Shah Rukh, you've managed to accomplish something unprecedented. You turned the whole mass-media contingent into an advertisement board, the usually sedentary and cold-footed Maharashtra Govt wake up to perform their duty, brought out entire net-gen to campaign ferociously for him (even people who can't stand him), even managed to arouse the watchful and tongue-tied Bollywood co-stars join hands and raise voice for him, instilled confidence in the multiplex-mall owners to be brave enough and reminded for once and all the citizens of the Mumbai megalopolis that the city belongs to them and not to some impious partisan advocates.

Bottomline? Thackrey and his ShivSena bite the dust...Period.

Remember the last time such a widespread public anger and unity was seen? After Mumbai 26/11. Then, it was the 'foreign' terrorists that lost out to Mumbai, this time the home-grown outfits... How ironic!

And ouch... The Khakhiwallas are enjoying their open-air workout in front of cameras! Make sure these whacks are remembered for long! :-)

It seems things have come the whole circle for Senas of all breeds. I mean, for this guy Muthalik and his Sree Rama Sena, the Kannada incarnation of Shiv Sena; only difference that its been a fart without sound. The same cowardly beast who laid hands on hapless women last year. Well, he got something well and truly deserved. lol..

By God, Muthalik is talking about Democracy, and condemning act of 'Goondaism'! GOD! *goosebumps* *goosebumps*... For him Democracy = men assaulting women in public; Goondaism = inkstaining... Next what, Osama Bin Laden preaching peace and harmony?

The message from the public appears clear: A Thackarey or an itch like Muthalik is NOT going to dictate terms to us. India is a democracy and we have full rights to act within the boundaries set by our Constitution, who the heck are you to draw the lines? You have no place in modern society, neither have you any role in building the India of tomorrow.

image courtesy: Shahrukhkhan.fotopic.net, Sonyahallet, The Hindu

The Pen, the ink & the colours PART III

2009-07-05T21:33:00.012+01:00

Disclaimer: This post is not aimed at spreading detestation, nor is this an attempt to differentiate the good, the bad and the ugly. I'm aiming to evaluate in a small detail how one of our leading vernacular dailies has been doing their business around with regard to the ethical principles in journalism. The views expressed here are personal and the links to the blogs provided in this article is for the purpose of a broader description, but I do not claim responsibility for all the statements in those posts. Read the full disclaimer before proceeding to read this article.

Concluding, from Part I and Part II

The claim is pretty vociferous and veracious... Malayala Manorama is the most circulated newspaper in Kerala. It is ahead of its nearest opponent by over 5lakh copies (ABC 2008)

And the lead still keep climbing...

Manorama has a few points to their credit. It appears the most glitzy of all mallu dailies; it has an attractive makeup, is colourful and catchy, leads by miles in the quality of print and paper and sits pretty on a strong advertising cushion. Good for ém, sure!

Manorama is second to none in reporting business and development news, is forward-thinking when it comes to showcasing the state as an investment destination and is one of the well known Superbrands of Kerala. I like their Sports page, hosts a superlative 'Opportunities' supplement and dishes out a trendy 'Metro' pull-out in the bigger city editions. Not surprising at all, Manorama hosts the best online edition among all contemporary regional papers.

But wait a minute. Are we talking about a newspaper or a waxpaper here? Manorama is surely an 'intellectual product' and certainly not a 'material' one. And you take out the mundane features like colour and texture and look at MM in the right way, then you'd see why its no better than toilet-paper.

Have a look below to see how Manorama gets people to 'see' things. Below is the Manorama report of Pinarayi Vijayan's 'crowning' after the Navakerala march. The MM photographer's focus was on V.S. Achutanandan and his apparent disinterest with the proceedings. MM makes sure the point gets across by the tagline below the picture.

And see how Kerala Kaumudi has reported the same news. And hey, Achumama is all glued up into the action!

Images: Courtesy Sajith Vijayan, Rajith Mohan

I'm the last person to support our current CM Achuthanandan or his commie Govt, nor am I closing my eyes to the open war between the two senior comrades, but what kind of reporting is this? May be you could argue that it was the Kaumudi reporter who waited for the right time for his click, but given MMs track record this is another instance where it has created an avenue for sticking the hot rod onto the reds' ass.

Not the least surprising, given the history that the late godfather of this paper had vowed that he would commit suicide if a Communist Govt ever got elected in Kerala. Period.

The tradition is still kept alive by the new generation MM journos by news like "CPM activist's wife commits suicide" , "CPM supporter kicked his wife" (hyperbole) and so on...It isn't an exaggeration to say that Manorama and Deshabhimani will balance each other when it comes to biased reporting, you know what I'm talking about. Wonder if Congress will ever need another "Veekshanam" ?

The newspaper's wicked and shady deeds need just one undignified example: the ISRO Espionage Scandal that rocked the nation in the 90s. Who else could be behind such outrageous dreamwork rivaling the Hollywood fiction writers other than Manorama? The fairy tale cooked up by Manorama was taken over by other media and turned into a full-blown scandal. Spare a thought for the innocent souls, including the foreigners and the scientists, caught in the trap.

Recently, when the whole country was unanimous in condemning President George Bush and the United States for triggering another unnecessary and monstrous war in Iraq, Manorama shocked the entire state by exhibiting in the front page an emotional photograph of an American wife bidding a tearful farewell to her Marine hubby departing to destroy Iraq in a US warship!!! Disgraceful is a mild word to use here...What was MM thinking???

The accusations against the Manorama House doesn't end there. In the modern democratic era the word "lobbying" is as essential as it may sound obscene. Newspapers have their own regional preferences but Manorama is being constantly accused of playing the dirty regionalism card by torpedoing the developmental projects outside their turf.

When Infosys Technologies announced their interest on Kerala, MM jumped in with a clinical assessment of the locations Infosys considered and shortlisted their choice: Cochin. They even went on record with this one bit, totally exclusive which none of the other newspapers heard. When Minister Rajagopal proposed the Habitat Centre in Kowdiar, Manorama cited someone in the Finance Dept proposing to move the project to Cochin to help the project break-even early! Ditto with the Central University where what GoI wanted was 500 acres within 50km of an Int'l Airport. Manorama couldn't see beyond Malayattoor even when the Trichur location met the same criteria. When KCA announced the Cricket Stadium, MM came up with a report that 'officials' in BCCI had quoted that ''If not in Ernakulam, then nowhere in Kerala" WOW! The curious thing is that none of the other newspapers reported these 'demands', even though they were all present at the respective locales and conferences. So its logical to conclude that MM see and hear things which noone else does...

And lately,the finger has been pointed at the Manorama House for attempting to scuttle the Vizhinjam Port project for the favour of the business interests of their own backyard. Speak about the larger interests of the state!

This is what pisses me off to the maximum. Every newspaper has the right to be the patrons for their own niche, but could it only be done by annihilating the other locales? All these years I was reluctant to believe this one accusation against Manorama, but the Vizhinjam episode gave me first hand proof to see the truth. The personal account from one of my friends about the indifferent attitude of Manorama to report an awareness-campaign in favour of the port project put the newspaper in the right light, for me.

And Manorama, as shrewd as they are, pitches in with some seminars on Capital Development, Malabar Development and Coconut Development once a while, just for the namesake of it! Lets keep everybody happy, eh MM? and pull the plug from behind...

Even weird is some of the social issues and moral policing taken up by Manorama and its team. True, there have been some instances where the media house has to be given credit for reports like "How Kerala behaves towards the fairer sex".But there is ample proof that Manorama pays some of the inept journos in Kerala who haven't the faintest idea what they're writing about. First a stir-up in Vanitha about how mobile phones are perpetrating social morality, then comes a teething attack on Bluetooth technology which created a wave of laughter among the techies. And now Manorama has jumped upon the major medium of communication, the email!!

What does Manorama want us to do? Lock our telephones, throw away the mobiles, discard laptops and computers and go back to the Damayanthi- Hamsam era?

To crown it all, have a peep as to how careful and technically impeccable MM dudes are with their reporting. C'mon, have a look and enjoy! The report is of Planning Commission Deputy Chairman M.S.Ahluwalia speaking about the Budget, and look whose pic is there instead of the man...Nithari serial murderer Mohinder Singh Panther! Oops!

How very Manorama-istic... :()

So Manorama, behind all those glitz and colour, is not a dependable organization. It faults at its basic function: taking the truth to the public. You can argue that truth depends on which angle you look at it from, but view it upside down or in 3D, Manorama still stinks. It is a glorified example of the most-sold not necessarily being the best.

There is little hope that Manorama will change for their own good. They have a force behind them which keeps them going, not talking about the poor subscribers here. And at times I feel that as Keralaites we deserve something better than this load of crap.

The quintessential "mallu"

2010-02-01T11:59:00.005Z

"Malayalees are sex-starved or perverts", says Paul Zacharia, noted writer and social activist. Newslink

"The journalists don't look at my face but at my breasts", the reason given by Arundhathi Roy for refusing to attend a press conference in Kerala.

What does the tailpiece read?

Haven't we had enough of this gelling together of the apparently all-too-global nature of the 'malayalees' or rather should I use the term "mallu" when I speak about forbidden impulses and rot behaviour? Some people suddenly seem to grow a tongue encircling their throat when they speak about the 'mallu' sexuality and perversion. Now why is that?

Is it because of the seemingly endemic character of the mallu-men to ogle and drool at women, whichever part of the world they are?

Is it because of the stereotypical paradigm created by the old Malayalam movies, which were too bold and 'un-natural' for the rest of the nation?

Or is it because of these women, perhaps? Especially the one with that thunder thighs who rejuvenated and reinforced the above mentioned mallu prototype.

Or may be it is because of the omnipresent nature of the mallu to investigate what's brewing hot in his neighbour's backyard and bedroom?

Whatever, the search engines display an all too obvious caricature of the quintessential 'mallu', a comfy aperçu for the 'malayalee' or rather for the Keralite. This is what Google exhibits on Page #1 if you look for 'mallu'.

I had a frisk at some similar shortys like 'gujju', 'bhojpuri' etc but the results were pretty much bland... I mean, no spice or steam even when classical contemptible stereotypes are in place about them all. Wanna read this article, from Big Fish magazine? if you feel urged to know more about them stereotypes.

So why just mallu? Because 'sex' sells my mate... The most searched word on the www is 'free porn', 'sex' and the likes. And the mallu-word got an embryonic attachment to the obscenity due to many reasons.

Let me reel-off a personal experience while working in Mangalore a few years back. I shared the apartment with a couple of folks from Orissa and another from Bihar. During a regular weekend booze, the chit-chat on women and sex was initiated and one of the Oriya men had a bizarre doubt. He wanted to know why most Kerala men preferred 'women on top position' while making love. Since we all (the 3-4 mallus in the group) looked bewildered, he rephrased the querry with a rationale that "women are more educated and forward in Kerala, so they like to be on top of men while doing sex." (!!!) Take it, we were not scholars on how people behaved and positioned themselves in copulation but found the reasoning obviously ridiculous. But the Oriya and Bihari fellas were as sure as sun that it was a gospel truth and everyone in their states knew the 'fact'. Ahem!

Ah, since we were all genuine bachelors at the time our opinions had no face value, and we were taken to the cleaners. They just laughed off as if we were arguing that 'sun rises in the North-west'. Not done, our friends were also of the opinion that Malayalee women were too easy to get laid but they refrained from enlightening us with the reason then. We found out why a tad later....Hold on...

"South Indian men are all ugly and skinny and so the Kerala women feel magnetized by the men from the outside". Outside in the sense, not within the four linguistic states... Well, the idea seemingly was pregnant from the movies, especially Tamil films of the times were 'handsomeness' was not a requisite for the heroes. The voluptuous and gorgeous female actresses raving for the dark-skinned, short-statured heroes must've send out the signal to the peanuts of the err....macho men from the North.

True, the local movies at the times prominently featured real-life heroes and never had a 6 feet he-man like Amitabh Bacchan or chocolate heroes like Rajesh Khanna.

Movies are pretty powerful medium and see how it has created a stereotype. And the objectification got naturally displaced to the mallus.

The Malayalam films of the 70s and 80s, which depicted sexuality and womanhood in a palpable and artistic angle did create build the stereotype. But very often these Malayalam movies ended up as soft porn in big cities, like the movie 'Thamburatti' (Princess) a bold mallu movie of the late 70s was released as "Thamburattiyude Aadyarathri" (First night of the Princess) in Mumbai. Even now a good number of the ultramasculine Northies associate Malayalam film world to erotica. Many believe that Kerala produces just 2 kinds of movies: the award category Adoor types and second, the raunchy and ticklish Shakeela types.

The indulgence of the ordinary Kerala women in choosing professions like Nursing, Teaching or other service oriented jobs poured more into the stereotype as they further feathered classical male sexual fantasies. This help build the stereotype and it transferred onto any mallu girl. Wishful thinking... :big grin:

Recalling that argument in Mangalore, almost 6 years after it occurred, it isn't too tough to see how horrendously wrong people could be. There is no magic cure for ignorance, especially for something as sheer as the above, but also left me wondering. F**k matters, is there a rule-of-the-bed that woman should scream only under you, always???

My advice: refer Kamasutra; but even Vatsyayana appear an undergraduate about sexual positions when considering the in-depth research and analysis our Orissa and Bihar dudes have done.

Depiction of sexual positions in Kamasutra

There is one right fact about all stereotypes... They are all wrong.

Saying that, there is one glaring fact and I don't intend to be in a denial mode about that. The way some of our men conduct themselves around, especially outside the state borders, has earned the state some pretty stinking reputation. A joke around Mangalore was that mallu men may go to bed even with a stick wrapped in a salwar. Many a times than not, our own men are too eager to brand a woman as 'easy', or as a 'whore' if she appear social and companion-esque. In cities like Bangalore, the Kerala men goes on with their ogling habits and naturally people feel that we are desperate to stick the dick into any wayside hole.

True, a fair number of Kerala men act like Casanovas and feel and behave like 'kaamadeva'. No excuse from my part, this form of eve-teasing should be chained. Many roadside Romeos firmly believe its a kind of masculinity to drool and ooze at females, even to poke and feel some sensitive parts. Its fun, they think, until their sister or mother gets to the receiving end.

Kerala society, as per Paul Zacharia, suffer from the disease called 'moral policing' while being extremely hypocritical about own selves. The recent Rajmohan Unnithan saga forced his tongue but to any novice observer it would appear that there is a dark sinful cloud over the Kerala social-scapes. Our society is still conservative; too orthodox, rigid and maligned as per people like Zacharia. But my question is: has this trait just evolved exclusively for Kerala, or fine tuned by mallu men?

Zacharia carries on: "I have lived in Delhi, I have lived in Mysore, I have lived in Chennai but I have not seen such starvation anywhere and I have not seen people peeping into another person's affairs, especially the affairs of a man and a woman, at this level anywhere."

Well, isn't it in Tamil Nadu that all kinds of issues broke out on the 'condom issue' which landed Khushbu and the likes in trouble? I find it comical that Zacharia has mentioned New Delhi, where men barging into the ribcage of women, groping incidents and other forms of sexual misconducts are the order of the day. Every other day we hear issues r/t rape and assault in Goa, and even kids are not safe with even a Minister going on to say that Goa is the rape capital of India. How safe is our cosmopolitan douche-bag Mumbai? How many shocking and shameless incidents of mass groping/ public assault on women has occurred in Bihar and its neighbours? I don't see any reason to single out mallu-men when the issue w.r.t disrespect and disregard to the fairer sex seems to be a pan-India problem.

What did a newschannel in Bangalore do in the name of Moral policing? They broke into the house of a prostitute, and exposed her to the whole world. Excerpts, courtesy Bombay Dosti

News9 made a sting operation and found that a service apartment in Bengalooru was being used for prostitution by a Russian lady. The channel team member posing as a prospective customer discovered this fact. After confirming that she was indeed in the business of selling sex, the team returned with a camera. They broke open the apartment and started recording. Apparently she was with a customer. What gives these journalists the right, to violate the rights of a woman, even if she were a sex worker. She was wearing a two piece suit, when they broke open and the channel had the audacity to force her to reveal her body. She was trying to cover her breasts and her face with her hands. Two men pulled open her hands to reveal her body and face on camera. WTF!!!!!

No, Kerala society hasn't degraded that much. Oh God, NO! Wonder why Zacharia failed to notice all these...

We've had Sooryanelli, Vithura, Kilirur and it IS upsetting and excruciating, but as serious social crimes such cases have to be seen in a different perspective. If one society can raise more voice against eve-teasing, molestation and crimes against women then I believe it is Kerala. Except for the Metros, Indian women still live in a shell. The mallu-women may harbour the same orthodox character, is subjected to injustice and may not be socially-liberated like widely believed, but they're far more free and empowered. (I repeat, I'm not talking about the Metros)

Strolling on a deserted street at 12am, having a sip at a pub or wearing micro-mini isn't exactly what I mean by free and empowered women... Kerala has to acquire more cosmopolitan attributes if you wanna see that.

image courtesy The Hindu

But a lack of cosmopolitan culture, proportionately higher no: of wannabe skirt-chasers and playboys imitating the silver-screen chocolate heroes doesn't mean the whole state is a pervert-house. No denying the fact that our social behaviour could be more refined ,but sex-starved and frustrated? Too overboard.

You see why I don't feel intimidated by Ms. Roy but has taken serious offense of Mr. Zacharia?

Image courtesy: DU Beat.com ,Wikipedia, The Hindu

*Comment moderation enabled*

Crickey, the worldz all bigoted

2010-01-21T11:36:00.003Z

The recent turmoil and melodrama about the racial abuse and attacks on Indian nationals in Australia is making a lot of unwanted noise. Its all a hoopla state for politicians on both sides with our desi leaders 'enraged' and 'appalled' at the vicious crimes being committed on our citizens abroad. Even the least figure you could imagine, the sinistral and senile Thackarey man launched his prophecy the other day, warning the Oz to tackle the issue or pay the penalty. Yo man, you rock!

Encroaching on the absolute limits of shameless hypocrisy, this last one by Thackarey, by far the most sectarian leader we have ever managed to produce in our country, who has no soul-prick in murdering Indians in the name of language, region and caste. And how he has come out all guns blazing for our countrymen...Makes me swell with pride.

Racism exists everywhere, even in Australia. Yes, even in Australia, but at least a megaton less than that in India. Not forgetting the fact that the Australian continent is yet to catch up with their first cousins, the US/Canada and Europe in negating the race issue. Its been long since Australia officially abolished the infamous White Australia Policy and the old Stolen Generations , which put the nation in very bad light. But mindsets don't change radically and perhaps the per-capita no: of Xenophobic individuals could be marginally higher Down Under. Just guessing...

Incredible as it may seem, Australia is one of the most multi-cultural regions of the world. Put aside Times Square, NYC, you'd come across almost as many ethnicities of the human species on the whereabouts of Opera House, wondering how quickly the country has moved forward to shed its tag. So why hasn't it, yet?

The answer could be multi-prong. This assault- racism arguments have much more to it. Its about the times we live in...

Nobody denies the blunt fact that racism exists in Australia, as it does everywhere. The isle may still be carrying forward a few malicious traits as old British convict land. That could be hard to erode, especially when you talk about Aussie culture and that pot of yogurt, as the joke goes. Many arrogant young minds think its fun to go 'curry bashing' because Indians are easy targets. Australia knows perfectly that its image has been dented outside and will be only too keen to get things patched up.

Talking about Indian community in Australia, they belong to two broad groups, just two groups... Too bloody easy for us to understand as back home we're used to categorizing people on the basis of caste, colour, creed, language, profession, region, sexual orientation and what not. In Australia the Indian contingent consists of the Working class consisting of the professionals in the medical, engineering or IT fields and the Student Community, who gets the short end of the stick now-a-days. It is important to note that this student class doesn't include the children of the professional Indians, who're well integrated and naturalized with the local community.

And these two groups are like chalk and cheese...They seldom mix. In fact most of the former class, nearly 2.5 lakh of them, looks to avoid the above mentioned student group for pretty apparent reasons. Isn't there an obviousness when you see that its predominantly the student community (96,000 in number) who make news for wrong reasons?

Indian Students protest in Melbourne pic courtesy theage.com.au

When squarely pointing a finger at the Aussie authorities it may be prudent to be aware of the other 3 fingers pointing back at ourselves. A small chunk of this student community behaves as if they're in their grand-dad's backyard carrying on with the same ignorant behaviour unacceptable to the community they're living in. Being rude and ignorant towards natives, being loud, filthy and scant disrespect for the culture of the country they're in, these students naturally invite trouble. To add on, many of these student groups live in shanty suburbs, work unsocial hours and end up soft targets for the criminals.

There has been no definite evidence that all the recent attacks down under are racially motivated, though some definitely appear so. Its also crucial to note that many of the perpetrators belonged to other ethnic groups like the Lebanese. Australia is facing a crisis in their coal-mining sector and many people working in those areas are relocating to the cities. Jobless mass-migrants alien to a city is a recipe for trouble. The situation gets ugly when these youngsters rub shoulders with the immigrated folks from the sub-continent who're hardly modest in their attitude.

It's this social problem which need to be addressed immediately, and internally. The focus is now on the evil R-word and it will only help to flare things up, feels many Aussie Indians. Look back at history...

A small group of ignorant Lebanese youth triggered the 2005 Cronulla riots. If the situation gets out of hand then it will be the innocent and decently living people who may have to pay the price for the stupidity of a few lost souls. With more help from the likes of the outspoken Mr. Thackarey and actions like burning the effigy of Kevin Rudd, we're creating a toxiferous potpourri for our own countrymen in Australia.

Has any of those responsible from our country made any open remarks against the inhuman treatment meted out to Indians in the Middle East? Indians, including millions of Keralaites are officially second or third class citizens and are subjected to racial vilification, abuse and injustice in the oil fields, docks and even on streets in UAE, Saudi Arabia and the likes. The Air-India stow-away Habib's tale is a testimony to the sufferings of our countrymen in the Arabian desert. Thousands of desperate man work under scorching sun, shut away in labour-campesque living conditions, their passports frisked away and paid paltry salaries. Modern day slavery, but I don't hear any concerned voices. Not even NRI Minister Vayalar Ravi who was very vocal about Australia.

We have Embassies, we have High Commissions, we have exclusive Ministries and Ministers but they keep their trap shut. We can't rub the Arabs the wrong way because they'll close their doors to us, damn sure. The West is multitude times more civilized, more moderate, more fair. Vayalar Ravi knows the fact only too well.

The knee-jerk reactions in relation to the Australian situation raises more uncomfortable questions. India has the right to raise voice when their citizens are under danger overseas but the way the media reacted has been pretty much depressing. The latest ku-klux-klan cartoon was a sick sick joke and it has done no good for the two nations than sparking more unrest and enemity. The kkk word is considered more offensive in the West than our own Congress Party officially and openly branding Speaker Meira Kumar as a 'Chamar'.

The pompous media who panted with breathlessness 'racism', 'racism' every time a student gets attacked in Oz made matters worse through their unmediated, unprofessional and inaccurate reporting. The one good thing the media managed to do is to force the Aussie authorities come out from their denial mode, and accept the all-too-clear fact that strands of racism still infest their society. But even seasoned observers, bloggers or politicians now look down on Australia as an evil land-of-bigots where everyone with pigmented skin is under serious threat. How we comfortably forget the above mentioned Middle East reality or rather how handsome we look in the mirror.

Shashi Tharoor appears to be the lone person who has taken note of the current. Tharoor praised Australian efforts to end the violence but said he could not say with certainty that Indians were no longer being singled out for assault in Australia. The enigmatic leader identified the problem as that of law and order, " one that Australia is dealing with and needs to deal with internally. But it cannot but affect us when our citizens are reported to be suffering", he said.

"For an Indian mother to hear that her son has been assaulted in Australia, it little matters to her whether he was assaulted because of his race, or because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, or because he was the wrong colour or the wrong height, or was carrying an iPod. She doesn't want her son to be assaulted," Tharoor said, appealing to the media-folks on both sides to show restraint while attributing colours and adjectives while reporting such events.

Read Tharoor's full statements here.

Remains to be seen how clearly the Indian and Aussie press folks take his words.

Comment moderation enabled for the post.

One for the cowboys

2010-01-12T00:01:00.002Z

I'm a great fan of the wildwest movies, they always capture my imagination: the legendary American railroad, the steam engines, eerie wooden stations, cowboys, horse carriages, guns...its a quivering feeling. And there is one place in our own Kerala which pretty much mimics those wild-west attributes in all aspects: the Kochuveli Satellite Railway Station.

Before I start, let me clarify one thing. It is grossly unfair to compare Kochuveli with the similar small-town railway stations in Kerala like Kayamkulam, Kasargode or Mavelikkara. Kochuveli is a place where at least a dozen trains originate/terminate. In the longrun it will share the spoils with Trivandrum Central (TVC) which is fully saturated and is space constrained. In a nutshell, according to the plan the Kochuveli Satellite Station will be as important as TVC.

Kochuveli Map click to enlarge

Well, that was the hope when the station was inaugurated by the then CM Oomen Chandy in 2005, after Minister O. Rajagopal, the man behind many of the Rail developments in Kerala, proposed the idea for the satellite terminal.

5 years down, and Kochuveli has turned into something like a nightmare for the passengers and authorities alike.

Plans

Oh the plans are so grandiose that your eyes will pop out.

Kochuveli is planned to be the largest railhead in Kerala. Once finished it would consist of 11 platforms and 11 pitlines, almost double the size of the current Trivandrum Central station. Kochuveli also features in the idea of a rail-head along with Nemom and TVC. To add on a 1.5 million sq ft, 9 storied ultra modern station building is also planned.

Here are some excerpts from the press: The Hindu, 25 Dec, 2006

Elevated platforms to avoid congestion, nine-storey station building with waiting hall, big concourse and 11 platforms are the highlights of the master plan worked out for the development of the Kochuveli Railway terminal.

Eleven platforms, 11 pit lines and 11 or 12 stabling lines to cater to the needs of maintenance of the rakes have been proposed. The proposed station building will have a big waiting hall, reservation centre and a host of passenger amenities.

Three platforms would be built at more elevation to cater to incoming trains. Three platforms will be at a lower level to cater to passengers of outgoing trains.

The eight-metre elevated platforms, first of its kind in the State, will help avoid the rush of passengers. The platforms would 10-metre in width and 630-metre long. This would help accommodate 26 bogies and 5,000 passengers.

The existing road from near the `English India Clays' to Kazhakuttom-Inchivila NH 47 bypass would be widened straightened. The Railways will construct a road over bridge later to replace the existing level cross near the `English India Clays' to ensure the smooth flow of vehicular traffic.

The Railways will be able to handle 25 trains from the terminal when it is fully developed at a cost of Rs.80 crore.

K, essentially we're promised something similar to an Airport when this is complete, fingers crossed, but at present this is something very similar to the 1895 outback stations in Arizona.

Present

The pictures tells the whole story, so I'm not taking pain to elaborate more..Here goes the present in full bloom.

Current Station Building and the "green" pathway leading to the station.

Way to Platform #1

Approach Road to the station.

As I said, nothing much to showcase. You'd imagine 5 years is long enough to put up decent services for the paying public but it seems not.

Future

As mentioned, the plans are all in the air. Construction of Platform #2 has commenced in Kochuveli but it wouldn't solve the current travails.

The Railways feel that once a passenger is out of the terminal their responsibility end. The Corporation behaves as if its not their problem that the passengers to/from Kochuveli is all abandoned in the middle of nowhere once they alight from the train. The location of the station is a classical wildwest location; ill-lit, creepy, outbackish and dangerous. I'm not sure about the technicalities, but connecting the current platforms and station to the old station on the Veli side appear a feasible option.

The road connecting the old Kochuveli station (All Saint's College- Veli Road) has good road frontage and is served quite frequently by City bus services to important city points. It baffles me as to why for the past 5 years this was not done in-spite of repeated solicitations by media and the public alike. Currently, passengers including women and children illegaly and precariously negotiate the dozen-odd tracks and stationed wagons to reach the old station on the Veli side to connect to the city.

Old station building facing the Veli Road

The state of the NH Bypass is another factor that creates spillover problems for Kochuveli. The Bypass Road is largely unlit even when the traffic along the road is bursting at its seams. And the Corporation, as ever, is fast asleep.

KSRTC has issues with scheduling their services to Kochuveli given the punctuality of Indian Railways. Earlier this week one Minister had a pragmatic idea about informing the KSRTC when a train reaches Kollam Jn, so that they can be ready with the bus in time.

The hapless passengers arriving at the station in the wee hours of the day or at night have just the autowallahs for their recue, even if they're ruthless when it comes to the greenbucks. No Police outpost or even a Polieman in sight at most times, it's not a place you want your sister or wife to set down. It's incredible that those concerned choose to take a blind eye to the issues raised here. Or are they waiting for the blood to spill and then jump out with shock from under their sheets? That's always been our style.

TRIDA and the Corporation are talking about planned urban development of the Kochuveli area which surely will revolve around the Satellite station. So far nothing concrete has transpired, and the travails of the general public continues with the lack of basic amenities.

New Station building at Kochuveli photo courtesy Sudheesh Nair

Kochuveli provides a golden opportunity to show the world that meticulous town planning is not Greek to us. Apart from the prospects of a large rail head, the terminal could well be developed into a new transportation hub for Trivandrum with an intergrated City Bus Terminal or a satellite terminal for long distance buses. It wouldn't be a bad idea to relocate that Clay factory polluting the environment to the outskirts and the land pooled for the sation development. If ever a Railway Zone is alloted to Kerala, we needn't run frantically in search for a suitable spot. Moreover there is the mesmerising Veli lake and TS Canal frontage for this stretch of land which further opens up more possibilities.

But what we need as of today, is an option for a rookie backpacker or a mother with a child or a North-Indian techie coming to Technopark to reach their den safely without being subjected to tachycardiac experiences.

Cochin backwaters: a photoblog

2010-01-01T00:01:00.005Z

Welcome abroad folks, and it is January 01, 2010! The festival season is over and we are all back to real life...and don't tell it s***s, its new year day. I thought I'll just compile a filler-post from a few shots I took from my mobile while in Kerala a couple of months back.

Had a chance to ride the pristine backwaters of Cochin last time I was in Kerala. The experience, needless to say was quite charming. Less talk and more shots, scroll down...

All shots taken from my mobile cam Sony Ericcson K770i.

The Rainbow Bridge which caught the attention of travellers and kicked off the Marine Drive brand. All too familiar for malayalees, the artistic pedestrian bridge has featured on countless movie scenes.

Waterfront apartments standing proudly overlooking the magnificent waters. A single sq. ft land has the value of solid gold in these parts.

This island is all set to change the face of the Queen, once and for all. The Vallarpadom Container Terminal approaching commissioning date.

A couple of tiny islands dotting the backwaters. They appeared to be havens for the birds and a good few of them were following our boat for a good period of time. The man told us they were hunting fishes on our boat trails.

This oil tanker and the associated infra looks like some facility for the Cochin Refineries.

And yo, how I managed to catch this giant in one single frame!

The passage to riches... The reason behind the prosperity of Cochin dating back to pre-independence era. The mouth of the harbour. Vembanad Lake joining the Arabian Sea leaving enough space for the big vessels to come ashore.

New and a more boisterous skyline taking shape on the Marine Drive Extension, new 1.5 km long waterfront stretch reclaimed from the lake during construction of the Goshree Bridges.

A closer look at the elite homes for the lucky whales. Most of these harbour-view apartments have an 8-digit price tag. Interested? ;)

The Bolghatty Island named after the Bolghatty Palace. Now KTDC runs an upmarket resort here on the island, the Bolgatty Island Resort

The folks at KTDC sure got ideas... A unique looking cottage on the island. Our man told the rates could be as much as Rs. 5000/night, not so exorbitant for such a pristine setting.

A couple of older ones on the other side of the island

Boat jetty on the front side of the Palace

There is some activity taking place on Bharat Seema, operating between Cochin and the Lakshadweep Islands. You can travel to Minicoy for as low as Rs.150 a direction or get a cabin for Rs. 390.

Earning a few dollars for the nation.

Aha, Indian Navy Vessels! SALUTE!!

On way back, reaching the docks again. This shot was taken from my brother-in-law's new mobile, the HTC Diamond and see the difference in the picture quality... I should've used it from start, well may be next time. WISHING YOU A WONDERFUL NEW YEAR mates..take care! :-)

Obviously you've noticed the new look No Man's Land?. I loved the old one all right, but thought I'll give you something fresh for the new decade. Just for a change...do share your thoughts on it. Thank you. :-)

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