Very delighted to see the commendable initiative taken by The Hindu with regard to the Timely publishing of Subramania Bharati's letter.Bharati was popularly known as Tamil Poet,hence his proficiency in English language went unnoticed.His writings were true reflections of his mind towards various social issues including colonialism that prevailed during his period.The inspiring letters will definitely bestow thoughts upon today's youth,to cultivate a sense of nationalism.During our pre-independence era as well as in early 50's, besides Bharati,there were many other visionaries,who contributed articles and letters in dailies.Their writings were a manifestations of their constructive thoughts and love for our country..It would be a worthwhile effort,if The Hindu take steps in publishing those letters and articles,in the interest of the nation.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
Savitri-A Woman Of Substance!
"A Book has one voice,but it does not instruct everyone alike"
Any mythology or epic can influence us in so many ways.Even great men are inspired by charcters in the epic to face the trials with faith and intensity..Savitri is one such character drawn by Vyasa..The anecdote of Savitri and Satyavan is about their love and relieving satyavan from the clutches of yama by Savitri.The story gives an insight to Savitri’s multi faceted role as well..as an affectionate daughter,a dedicated and loving daughter in law,a determined and devoted wife..Above all she was a woman with a blend of wisdom,faith,fortitude,&confidence.Definitely these attributes makes her unique.
Even though she was the daughter of a Great King,she decided to choose satyavan at her will(knowing that he was pennyless)..Not only that she followed satyavan to the forest,but also she took care of satyavan’s parents.These actions of savitri substaniates her love accompanied by humbleness.When yama took satyavan ,she ran after him and won the battle.It depicts her faith,confidence and courage!
In this era of gender war,mythological character like savitri assumes a lot of significance.Her mind was flushed with wisdom,courage,faith and confidence.Yet she never intervert from her path of her love for Satyavan,duty bound mind….Women can imbibe a lot from the role of Savitri..Even in this 21st century ,we all make a hue and cry over the legends of Sita and Draupadi..It is true that Sita was pushed to Agnipareeksha..and Draupadi became the victim in the fight between Pandavas and Kauravas,but the same mythology has rendered on Savitri.But her parables remain unsaid,hence we continue to sob along the tales of Sita and Draupadi.Stories of Ubhayabharathi,Savitri,Kannaki…personifies the unlimited Wisdom,endurance,Courage of women…women are yet to explore the same..so our weakness continues to be more visible than our strength.
Women should remain as a Pillar of Strength…and that makes a woman ideal. Savitri is one such rare character of mythology.The greatness of Savitri deserves to be preached and practised among women.Truly she is a woman of substance!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Ennodothunarunna........
Ennodothunarunna Pularikale……yes,that sways in my soul..! Not only that,many of the compositions of Bombay Ravi are heart felt and i turn quiet chatty...when it comes to Bombay Ravi’s music…coz most of his musical works are my favourites..from the movies...Panchagni,Parinayam….almost all.!.His masterly compositions echoes in my heart,and whenever I listens to his songs in neeraduvan,ee puzhayum,Aareyum bhaava..it takes me back to my place kerala…greenary all over...down the memory lane…I wonder how a North Indian is able to create marvellous songs that too in Malayalam(A fusion of Tamil& Sanskrit)with a classical touch and without losing mallu feel!
Bombay Ravi’s inimitable style of musical creation has gifted malayalis with more than a dozen of ever green nostalgic hits .. ,indupusham,Chandanalepa sugandham, .... Flow of nostalgia accompanied with a sketch of divinity is the specialism of his songs.His songs are quite absorbing,and it has attributed to the unparagoned hits produced by him.Even though he has composed only for a limited number of movies(around 15) almost all his compositions(except 2 or 3) were super hits!
Everyone talks about Ilayaraja,A.R.Rahman....but i have never heard anyone talking about this amazing music director...An Unsung Maestro of the Music world!
Link to Bombay Ravi's songs
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/malayalam/m/music_director.2631/
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/malayalam/m/music_director.938/
http://www.musicindiaonline.com/music/malayalam/s/movie_name.3655/
Friday, February 29, 2008
Reminiscence
When i took pen to write this memoir...my heart was filled to the brim with feelings which were expressive beyond words.
"Unfolding the casket of memories..
Your picture comes to my mind..
Through the words from the
Bottom of my heart...
I Prostrate before you..."
Here i begin....
It was in the year 1997 i got admission for my Mcom in GCC.I got down from the bus and like a toddler ,crossed the road and entered the college campus.Though i was fascinated by the greenary all over..i looked around the campus with some apprehensions...with respect to students as well as teachers.Regular classes began...and sooner i threw all my apprehensions.
The year 1997 was so significant in the history of college...it was in that year the college celebrated its Golden Jubilee.The celebrations lasted a month and the whole campus was in a festive mood.There were a lot of cultural activities,competitons,exhibitions...Under the guidance of Prof P.Venugopal i got an opportunity to lead the commerce department in the exhibition,and our department stall was adjudged the best and we won a trophy for the same. Participating in that exhibition was a nice experience for me.
1998 the most memorable year of my college life ..the year in which i was elected to the college union as the Vice chairperson.Immediately after filing the nominations..we started the campaigning.The election campaigning-the most relishing part of college elections which i can never forget.Our mass campaign that started from the college gate with 2 songs.....where manu,shijina,rinju..took a lead role for singing ..the songs Padunne puthupattinnithu paadunne nammal"..a nostalgic one!and another song EE neelavanangalil"..These two songs still echoes in my heart!!!The ganamela that was conducted prior to the elections..magical voice of sainoj and the crowd puller singer shyju added spice to our campaigns.
Awesome and mind blowing speeches of the trio(Aneesh,Arun Kumar and Shine Sankar Das)nothing can beat those spectacular speeches that captured the minds of hundreds of students of the college.During the campaigns..the classrooms resound with the speeches of the Trio.
On the day of meet the candidates..i was shivering..as i had no prior experience of addressing a mass.My voice was trembling and somehow with the help of my zealous comrades,i was able to finish my task of addressing the students.
The union members worked towards a common goal-with a creative approach.
Arts festival was organised and celebrated in an elaborate manner.The celebrations lasted for 4 days,and it was the first time that arts festival was given so much importance.
An association called Mathrukam(vanitha samskarika sanghadana)was formed,with the objective of motivating the female students ,to take part in the college activities.Still i remember ..we campaigned each and every corner of the campus to ensure the presence of female students for the inaugral session of mathrukam.We all were excited and surprised when we saw the college auditorium was jampacked with the active presence of girls-girls only!!!all the guys were standing outside the auditorium.
Apart from these a 3 day film festival,quiz,debates and many other seminars were organised by our union.
Another remarkable achievement was that our college secured third place in the inter zone competitions held at Kalppetta.I got an opportunity to take part in that inter zone festival and that too was a memorable one for me.
The college Union stood above the expectation of the students in all sphere of activities and it was one of the Best Union the college ever had.,and the staff and many other senior members vouched the same.Even today i feel proud to say that i was a part of the most creative union.
Today when i look back into those days..i don't have any regrets.The only regret in the corner of my mind is that i could have contributed in a much better way for my dear GCC.Even though i have missed many academic sessions..my teachers and friends helped me a lot in compensating the lost sessions.
Life in GCC gave me many things..it widened my friends circle,my contacts and above all it taught many things and shaped my thoughts and attitudes.As i put a dot to this memoir, the Pictures and thoughts of my loving friends,teachers ,campus comes to my mind..the thoughts that can never be erased from my memory.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Gods Own Country and Devil's Own People!
On one side we are making a roar over the achievements made through Kudumbasree,through which the women are being made independent for their livelihood.-on the other side the girls in our society are being sexually exploited.Over the last 10 years we are witnessing a SPURT in the growth of the sex rackets and only few cases such as suryanelli,kilirur,vidhura,adimali,ice cream parlour are brought into the eyes of the public.A large number of cases are being concealed and are ignored.In major cities and towns, big shots are involved in organising and running the sex rackets andtill today none of the government has been able to take action against the persons involved in the scandals and in a desperate situation,the victims put an end to their lives by committing suicide.Unfortunately the girls from the poor families are subjected to these exploitation and very often the family members of the victim are beset by the rackets and the leaders.
It is true that Kerala stands first in literacy in our country,and this has lead in making hypocritical statements regarding the achievements in the field of education.Proliferation of colleges alone cannot solve the problems in this sector.Still we lag behind our neighbouring states and due to this we continue to hinge on these states for higher education.Vocational education still remain as a dream for us.Absence of professionalised approach and lack of focus further enchances the problems and leads to the complexities in the education sector.The issues related to self financing colleges remains unsolved.Vaccancy exists for the posts of school and collegiete staff ,these positions remain as unfilled because recruitment are not done in a satisfactory manner.A large number of youth adhere to work part time in schools and colleges because of the uncertainity prevailing to their recruitment. Existence of redtapism,malpractice and irregularities in this sector has to be annihilated and the concerned authorities must delve in to these matters so that it the entire education sector can be revamped so as to achieve a desired results.
Breakneck pace of terrorism is posing a threat to the state and kerala has emerged as the hub of terrorist activities.The terrorists linked to mafia,hawala agents and their animus attitude towards the society is creating bigger challenges for the government and the department.Although the officials are taking this as a serious issue,they are unable to take severe action against these groups.The shocking information revealed by a senior police official is that nearly 50000 crore of rupees is being floated by the mafia operating in the state.So far strict action has not been taken against these operators and very few cases (Hawala)are registered ,and due to the intervention of leaders, the officials are being put in a dilemma and they are forced to withdraw from those registered cases.Major chunk of the hawala money are diverted for realestate and for private financing at a higher rates interests thereby creating a headache for the common man.
Kerala holds the record for strikes and bandhs .The attitude of the union,workers,political parties is responsible for these strikes and bandhs.Investors view this as a major hindrance for their business operations in the state and this inhibits the investors from investing in the states.In the initial stages,they wilfully come for joint ventures but in the end they withdrew from those major projects.Natural resouces are not tapped and utilised in a viable manner .Only relief is the interests taken by the government(both)in inviting new proposals for the state like smart city,vallarpada,vizhinjam,cial......The straggly attitude towards industrial development should be given up so that we can hold a prime position in the industrial map of our country.Moreover these proposals should be viewed as an opportunity for employment for many of the unemployed youth in the state.Several other bottlenecks such as improper connectivity,uneven development of cities ,lack of infrastructure facilities are deterring the growth of the industries.
Apart from the above mentioned there are a number of other issues that are unnoticed ..... like that prevails in the agricultural sector,problems faced by the farmers,improper drainage and sewage,absence of a well organised road transport system...
Though the state has made noteworthy achievements in the field of tourism, and other tiny sectors,still it has a long way to go to reach the height of development.Government,opposition,
bureaucrats should consider the topics seriously and collective efforts has to be put in towards the rectification of the problems so that the state may be able to regain its lost glory,and can acclaim ourselves to be the children of God's Own Country!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Education - As I See It
Over the last decade, Indian educational scenario is witnessing a tremendous change, with respect to the quantitative growth of educational institutions.Simultaneously there is an ongoing paper war over the flaws in the present education system,an outcry insisting on the need to make changes in the present education structure for the over all development of a child.A serial of articles criticizing the rote learning continues to occupy the space in journals and newspapers..That means, our system has reached such a state.,.where change has become inevitable..To be precise,the only solution is to revamp the entire education system.The write ups and debates urges for a renewed pattern or rebuilding of the system.Nonetheless,before chalking out the steps for a restructuring,there arises so many questions(not subjective) for which unequivocal answers has to be found.Even though all the debates and exposition are free from ambiguity,most of them jog on to draw generalized approach for this regeneration.Alas,the basic issues are left unnoticed.It would be more fruitful if the discussions addresses the following need.
Objective of education and its need?
Does academics alone is suffice to achieve the objectives?or a combination of academics and non academics?
Does the present disciplinal structure ensures the accomplishment of objectives?
What can be done towards bringing about change?
From where the change should begin?
How it can be brought in?
Who all should act as a bridge in bringing a positive change in the development of a child?
Role of the teachers in moulding the child
Lead role to be taken by the institution towards change
Curriculum
All the above factors have a lasting influence in the growth of a child.Thusly,each and every element has to be analysed carefully,inorder to promote a healthy educational system in our country.
Friday, February 1, 2008
Beyond Imprisonment
The Delhi High Court has come up with a clear message by delivering a remarkable judgement in Priyadashini Mattoo's case.The message is transparent-that whoever it is,all are equal in the eyes of law irrespective of their positions in the society.This verdict is going to serve as a warning to the prospective criminals also.But there is one issue that still lacks severity-the punishment for the sexual assaulters.At present the maximum penalty given to these criminals is life imprisonment under section 376 of IPC..So it has become the need of the hour to review the punishment given to these malicious persons,who don't deserve any mercy.The penalty given to Imrana's assaulter was only 10 yrs imprisonment.Such criminals have to be wiped out from the society.Wicked persons of this category must be dealth with punishment beyond imprisonment-Death sentence..or they should be treated in a brutal manner....which is being practised in some of the middle east countries(slicing the tongue or dipping them in boiling oil or water)The severity will haunt them for years and others who intend to do such unscrupulous acts will put an end to such thoughts.This will also forbid others to do such inhuman acts.Moreover women in our country can remain fearless.
