Category Archives: Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Turning Malayalam calligraphy into a fine art

Amazing Feats, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion

Calligraphy work by artist Narayana Bhattathiri

Thiruvananthapuram:

Asked to point out some of his best works is probably the stupidest question one can pose to Narayana Bhattathiri, a name synonymous with Malayalam calligraphy. Rather than point out some his unforgettable drawings for the titles of novels ‘Randamoozham’ or ‘Neermathalam Pootha Kalam’, he gently prods you to look up his Facebook page ‘Bhattathiri Calligraphy’.  Bhattathiri is that rare artist who draws energy from his work and not from society’s acceptance.

Meeting Bhattathiri a day after the announcement of the Jikji international award for the best calligraphy work instituted by the South Korean government in memory of their first printed book ‘Jikji’, he was, as usual, busy with his work at his office on the first floor of his house at Forest office lane, Vazhutacaud.

It was an employee of the Indian embassy in Seoul – Dinesh Moorakkal – who saw his works on Facebook and suggested to Bhattathiri to send some of them over. Last year, the Korean government included Bhattathiri’s three calligraphy works as a permanent exhibit at Cheongju culture centre in North Chungcheong.

This year, Bhattathiri collected and sent 27 works of around 14 calligraphy artists in the country to Seoul. Among those, Bhattathiri’s work on Jikji won the award. He will receive the award in Seoul on December 8.

A native of Pandalam, 59-year-old Bhattathiri started his career in Kala Kaumudi while doing his degree at Fine Arts College in Thiruvananthapuram. He also worked in Samakalika Malayalam. During his tenure in magazines, he drew titles for various novels such as O V Vijayan’s Pravachakante Vazhi, M Mukundan’s Daivathinte Vikrutikal, Malayatoor Ramakrishnan’s Aaram Viral to name a few. He also did titles for all the works of M T Vasudevan Nair when Malayala Manorama made a CD of the writer’s works. Though Bhattathiri could not recollect the exact number of films he worked for, the list includes most films of Padmarajan to latest films like ‘Ennu Ninte Moideen’ and ‘Clint’.

The calligraphy style of Bhattathiri is that even a person who is unfamiliar with Malayalam script might get a feel of it. With a few strokes and some dots, he can write ‘Niram Marunna China’ resembling Chinese characters. His ambigrams are highly popular.

“Earlier, people used to hang quotes from the Bible on the wall, which were excellent calligraphic works. I wish such a culture would come back where people could hang calligraphic works on their walls,” Bhattatiri exclaims.

It was the exhibition ‘Ka cha ta tha pa’, that brought together a few of his innumerable works, organized on the pestering of his late friend Sundar Ramanatha Iyer in 2013, that made Bhattathiri popular.

The exhibition was an eye-opener to several artists. Orion Champadiyil, who is a senior art director at Maitri advertising, says that it was from the ‘ka cha ta tha pa’ that he started thinking about Malayalam calligraphy.

“Till then, my calligraphy experiments were limited to English. After learning about his works, I started asking myself why I didn’t try Malayalam calligraphy. I was more into typography and it was after getting inspired by him that I started doing Malayalam calligraphy,” he says.

Bhattathiri once saw a Gulf-based music band using his calligraphy as their logo which he had originally designed for a musical event of musician Ramesh Narayanan. Out of curiosity, he asked how they got it. They replied that it was from the internet. Of course, using his works without permission or credit was not a concern for Bhattathiri. When asked about recognition and money, he says it is up to the people who use his work to decide. “I already got my reward from the satisfaction of doing it,” he says.

While Malayalam is experiencing a dearth of Unicode fonts, Bhattathiri and free software developer Santhosh Thottingal, who is the designer of Malayalam Unicode fonts Chilanka and Manjari, have been planning to develop a new Unicode font for a while.

“With the support of Bhattathiri, we could create a unique Malayalam font. I am ready to provide all technical support for developing a new font,” Santosh says. “Among the present calligraphy artists, Bhattathiri is the greatest. He can be considered a continuation of the great lineage of Vasu Pradeep, C N Karunakaran and Bharathan.”

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Thiruvananthapuram News / Jisha N  / December 18th, 2017

Meet Anna Rajam Malhotra, who became the first woman IAS officer in 1950

Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All

At a time when most women’s dreams were limited to finding a good match for themselves, Anna Rajam Malhotra broke the stereotypes associated with a woman to become India’s first IAS officer. She also became the first woman to hold a secretarial post in the Central government.

Anna had to face many prejudices for being a woman, and people constantly doubted her capabilities. She was even mocked by her female colleagues for making this decision, and soon she made history.

Anna cracked her Civil Services examination back in 1950, and was requested by the panel to join either Foreign service or Central service despite her merit. However, Anna stood her ground and was given a secretarial post instead of district sub-collector by the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu.

Anna was not just good academically, she also excelled at rifle and pistol shooting, and horse-riding. She did not wish her capabilities to be questioned for any reason. However, she still faced discrimination and was allegedly asked to not get married during her service tenure. The rule, which was applicable only for women, was removed a few years later.

Anna was born on July 17, 1927, in a village in Kerala. She was brought up in Calicut and had completed her intermediate education at Providence Women’s College there. After completing her graduation from Malabar Christian University in Calicut, she went to Tamil Nadu to pursue her Masters in English Literature from University of Madras.

During her service, elephants entered into a village, and Anna was pressurised to pass an order to kill them. However, she did not want to kill a harmless animal. Hence, she decided to take intelligent measures to send these elephants back to the forest. She was successful, leaving everyone thoroughly impressed.

It was during Anna’s service that the first computerised contained port was built in Mumbai, known as the Jawaharlal Nehru Port. She also assisted Nehru in 1982 during the Asiad Conference. She travelled with Indira Gandhi to eight States to understand the food production pattern despite her ankles being broken.

source: http://www.yourstory.com  / YourStory.com / Home> Her Story> December 15th, 2017

‘Missile woman’ receives award

Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology

Tessy Thomas receiving the Dr. Pinnamaneni and Smt Seethadevi Foundation Award in Vijayawada on Saturday. | Photo Credit: CH_VIJAYA BHASKAR

Advises students to draw inspiration from Abdul Kalam at a college here

‘Missile Woman of India’ and Director of Advanced Systems Laboratory (ASL) Tessy Thomas was presented the Dr Pinnamaneni and Smt. Seethadevi Foundation award here on Saturday. Foundation Managing Trustee C Nageswara Rao and trust member and daughter of Pinnamaneni Venkateswara Rao after whom the awarded is named, Ch Sudha, presented the award.

The Missile Woman now shares the award with distinguished scientists like A.P.J.Abdul Kalam— who was also her mentor, M.S.Swaminathan and Prof C.N.R. Rao.

Prof V Ramalingaswami and Sribhashyam Appalacharyalu were the first to be conferred the award in 1989. The other eminent persons who received the award include V Kurien, Lata Mangeshkar, S.P.Balasubramanyam, R.K Laxman, K.J.Jesudas, Karan Singh, B.G.Verghese, Ramanand Sagar, Sudha Murty, E.Sreedharan, Zakir Hussain, Y.V.Reddy and Changati Koteswara Rao.

The Gramapragathi Puraskaram was presented to the Swacha Sundara Challapalli Udyamam represented by doctor couple D R K Prasad and Padmavati.

Earlier the Missile woman spoke to the students of the V.R. Siddhartha Engineering College, Kanuru.

She asked the students to ensure a strong hold on the basics of engineering, mathematics and physics to be successful in any area.

Sharing her experiences of working along with former President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam on the missile technologies, she urged the students to take Abdul Kalam as their role model and work hard for the overall growth of the nation.

She stressed on the need to be skilful in the latest technologies such as cloud computing, big data analytics, Internet of Things and cyber security as there were many opportunities across the nation in both public and private sectors.

Space technologies

Students were all charged up after listening to her talk and actively participated in the interaction that primarily centred around missile and space technologies.

President of the Siddhartha Academy N. Venkateswarulu, vice-president C. Nageswara Rao, Principal A.V. Ratna Prasad, CSE HoD V. Srinivasa Rao and heads of other departments M. Suneetha and PVRL Narasimham were present.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by Special Correspondent / Vijayawada – December 16th, 2017

From a lecturer to Kerala’s first woman DGP, R Sreelekha’s rise to the top

Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All

Kerala’s senior IPS officer, R Sreelekha, has become the first woman in Kerala to become Director General of Police (DGP). She is renowned for bridging the gender gap and working for women empowerment.
Image Source: The Week

The police officer was accused of corruption, faced harassment and there were many efforts to pull her down. However, she did not let anything deter her spirit, and Sreelekha is now seen as a trendsetter.

She first shot into the limelight in 1987 when she became the first woman IPS officer of Kerala. Before joining the force as an IPS officer, she had earlier worked as a lecturer and was also employed with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Sreelekha was posted in Thrissur, Alappuzha, and Pathanamthitta as District Police Chief, following which she joined the CBI. She earned the epithet, ‘Raid Sreelekha’ for conducting many raids during her CBI stint, and was made Inspector General (IG) of crime branch.

She represented India in the United Nations to form protocols to combat women trafficking. She received police training in Scotland Yard.

Sreelekha has written nine books in Malayalam during her police stint, of which three are books on crime research, and included the perspective of an assassin and the sufferings of the victim. Despite her diverse responsibilities, Sreelekha always makes time for literature as her father is a professor, and reading had always been encouraged at home.

Before her latest appointment, Sreelekha worked as Additional Director General (ADG) of Police. Out of her eight contemporaries, she was one of the three to be appointed to the post at that time. She was also honoured with the President’s Award for her exemplary service.

Sreelekha was promoted along with her rival, Tomin J Thachankary, and appointed as Transport Commissioner. As Transport Commissioner, the number of road accidents has reduced, while awareness on road safety has increased.

source: http://www.yourstory.com / YourStory.com / Home> Her Story > Think Change India / December 14th, 2017

Guinness memory record for Keralite

Amazing Feats, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All, World Opinion

Santhi Sathyan has been undergoing memory training for seven years

There is a misconception that memory is an innate skill whereas it is a result of years of training and perseverance, says Santhi Sathyan, who holds a Guinness world record for the longest sequence of objects memorised in a minute.

The 28-year-old from Kadakkal needs just 60 seconds to save 45-odd objects to her memory, and after reshuffling, she can arrange them back in the same precise order in 2 minutes 57 seconds.

The previous record was held by Arpan Sharma of Nepal, whose record of 43 objects was easily broken by Santhi.

“There are many scientific methods to enhance memory. One of the main tricks is to convert the objects into visuals, something that will last longer in your memory,” she said at a press meet here on Wednesday.

Santhi has been undergoing memory training for the past seven years and started preparations to break the Guinness record a couple of years ago.

Her husband, Anith Soorya, an IT professional-turned-counsellor, is her coach.

From school days

“I have been practising this from my school days though I have never entered any competitions. Two years ago, a friend encouraged me to make an attempt to break the current record that had remained unbroken for two years,” she says.

The postgraduate student in psychology entered the Guinness Book of World Records at a programme held on May 28 at the Kadakkal panchayat conference hall in front of a panel approved by the Guinness World Records officials.

“I am grateful to the Kadakkal panchayat authorities, whose immense support helped me achieve this feat,” she says.

Gearing up for more

Santhi next wants to win the World Memory Championship.

“Many of us are not aware of memory training and its benefits. I want more and more children to come to this field and I am willing to train them,” she says.

A wish

Santhi is currently waiting for her Guinness World Record certificate, which has been shipped to Kerala,  she says.

“Usually it’s handed over by a renowned personality and I wish I could receive it from cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar,” she adds.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Staff Reporter / Kollam – December 06th, 2017

Mulanthuruthy’s women ‘stars’ making waves

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Vanitha Vedhi members making Christmas stars that feature LED lighting systems assembled by them.

The women’s forum received a lot of public attention with its initiative. The price of the stars being sold ahead of the festival this season ranges between IRs 130 and IRs 230.

These women in Mulanthuruthy are the ‘stars’ ahead of Christmas as they have launched a programme to make and sell LED stars for the 2017 season. The Vanitha Vedhi women’s group under Mulanthuruthy Public Library hopes to sell around 300 of the stars which feature LED lighting systems assembled by them.

The ‘stars’ initiative is the continuation of a project to locally assemble and repair LED lighting systems launched in August this year. The women’s forum received a lot of public attention with its initiative. The price of the stars being sold ahead of the festival this season ranges between ₹130 and ₹230.

The women are confident that the products are priced competitively. The group of women is already well-known in the area with their brand of LED lighting systems under the name ‘Sooryakanthi’. They have been selling LED bulbs and tube lights under the brand name.

Ajitha Ramachandran, who is among the group of women, said on Saturday that they expected good response from the public as the people were aware of the novelty of their initiative. Besides selling stars during the Christmas-New Year season, the group of women also hopes to popularise LED lighting systems to save energy.

Early this year, Ms. Ramachandran along with Benny Lalan decided to get trained in making LED lighting systems. They were part of a group of around a hundred women in three batches who were given training in LED assembling and repairing. The initiative has helped substantially in increasing the reach of LED lighting systems in the neighbourhoods of the Vanitha Vedhi.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – December 04th, 2017

Kerala tops among states on 3 critical social parameters

About Kerala, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Records, All

Is economic progress itself an indicator of overall growth? Not quite.

Going by the Social Progress  Index, a tool that captures the social progress of the regions based on social performance, Kerala’s social progress score is about 10 points higher than Gujarat’s despite the latter’s economy being about twice the size of the southern state.

In fact, Kerala is the only state in top 5 on all three component indices and its social progress score is about 10 points higher than Gujarat’s.

This shows that economic growth alone cannot deliver good quality of life.

Here is a look at how India’s making social progress and how the states fared on three dimensions that make up their social progress index  score.

 

 

 

STATE STATS

The colours indicate the position of the state in the overall index as shown on the map

 

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> India News / TNN / November 29th, 2017

Valliyamma becomes Kerala’s first woman to head RAF

Agriculture, Green Initiatives & Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature, Records, All

She leads a 10-member team in Agali region to chase wild elephants away

Though she lacks any formal scientific training in herding back crop-raiding wild elephants to their forest environs, 38-year-old R. Valliyamma looks confident in her new role as the first woman in Kerala to head a unit of Forest Department’s Rapid Action Force to mitigate escalating human-animal conflicts.

“My selection to this post proves managing wild elephants is no more a male bastion. My growing up in forest fringe tribal village Vadakottathara in Attappady as member of a family with harmonious relationship with the wild animals has provided me enough capability to carry out this challenging job. I know elephants and their behavioural patterns since schildhood,” said Valliyamma in an interaction with The Hindu a day after taking charge as RAF unit head at Agali under Mannarkkad Forest Division.

She is now leading a 10-member team comprising two beat forest officers and five forest watchers in Agali region, where wild pachyderms from Coimbatore and Nilgiris districts of Tamil Nadu engage in regular crops raiding apart from posing threat to the lives of local community.

She is getting the new responsibility hardly four months after being promoted as a Section Forest Officer, the first woman in that post in Kerala. In the previous role, she had to manage a section of wild under Mannarkkad Forest Division. As far as Valliyamma is concerned, this is her 15th year with the Forest Department.

The Irula tribal woman had begun her service with Kerala government as a forest guard and her initial years were in fact a hard struggle to rein in sandalwood smugglers and ganja cultivators who roam the Attappady forests.

“I had been fighting hunters, ganja cultivators and sandalwood smugglers with the help of my colleagues in the department. There were instances in which we collectively seized sandalwood pieces weighing more than 35 kg,” she said.

Before becoming section forest officer, her designation was Beat Forest Officer.

“After failing pre-degree, I was working as an Anganwadi helper. My engagement with forest protection began after getting selected under a special recruitment drive by the Kerala Public Service Commission. But my family and friends were initially worried because the job was too risky,” said Valliyamma.

“My parents were nominal farmers and the land we inherited was barren. I married Sivan, a weaver. But he lost his job when the local weaving centre closed down. To make ends meet, I became an Anganwadi worker. The job exposed me to the world outside and I was determined to find a government job,” recalled the mother of two school-going children.

Apart from her official assignments, Valliyamma is also the secretary of the Adivasi Forest Protection Samithy at Melechavadiyoor. The tribal collective is engaged in social forestry apart from coordinating with the Forest Department to collect forest produce. “Fear never prevented me from going deep inside the forests for conservation-related matters. I prefer working outside than going through files in office,” she said.

She is the first person in her extended family to enter government service. “The new responsibility is reflection of the absolute faith my superiors have in me. I will live up to their expectations,” she said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by K A Shaji / Allapady (Palakkad) / November 26th, 2017

World record? 191 tumours removed from Omani woman’s uterus at Kerala hospital

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

A doctor at the hospital said they performed the operation in four hours without removing the patient’s ovaries or uterus. The previous record was held by an Egyptian woman, who had 186 tumours removed from her body last December.

Mediapersons interview the medical team that conducted the surgical procedure. (HT Photo)

As many as 191 benign tumours were removed from the uterus of an Omani woman at a private hospital in Kozhikode, north Kerala, on Saturday.

Doctors at the city’s Starcare Hospital claimed this was a new world record. They said the previous one was held by an Egyptian woman, who had 186 tumours removed from her body last December.

Dr Abdul Rashid, the hospital’s chief gynaecologist, told Hindustan Times they performed the operation in four hours without removing the patient’s ovaries or uterus. “We blended keyhole and traditional mechanisms to do it. We were expecting 80-odd tumours, not so many,” he said, adding that the woman was now recuperating from the procedure.

The existing record in the country is 84 tumours.

Dr Rashid said the hospital will soon update Guinness World Records authorities on the development. “We did not operate on the 34-year-old woman to break any record. We had initially considered laparoscopic surgery, but decided against it when we realised that the tumour was really big,” he added.

A team of three doctors had performed the surgery.

The chief gynaecologist said a leading medical body has already confirmed that this was a unique case. “The woman seemed to be in an advanced stage of pregnancy when she first came here, but we were keen on protecting her ovaries and uterus. She can now lead a normal life, and even conceive after a couple of years,” he added.

According to Dr Rashid, there has been a significant rise in middle-eastern patients visiting super-specialty hospitals in the state lately. “Our facilities are economical when compared to hospitals in the West, while keeping with similar standards. Kerala has always been a leading tourist destination, but it may soon become a medical hub too,” he said.

source: http://www.hindustantimes.com / Hindustan  Times / Home> India / by Ramesh Babu – Hindustan Times, Thiruvananthapuram / November 19th, 2017

Amid ruins stands the last king of Travancore

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Leaders, Records, All

Chennai :

Conflict among Hindus, divided by caste, over the right to worship their preferred deity can be found all over modern Indian history. But at the height of Indian independence struggle,  the last Maharaja of Travancore,  Sree Chithira Thirunal Balarama  Varma, stunned the rest of the country with a royal proclamation.

The decree, issued on November 12, 1936, removed restrictions on dalit entry to Hindu temples. The announcement had a profound impact on the Madras Presidency, where despite the efforts of Dravidar Kazhagam founder Periyar E V Ramasamy entry for dalits into temples was still not a reality.

Three years later, to commemorate the radical declaration, a statue of Chithira Thirunal was erected near Esplanade Road. Funded by public subscription, the statue was sculpted by M S Nagappa, then the official sculptor to the British Crown. On October 28, 1939, then Governor of Madras Lord John Erskine unveiled the statue.

“It is the only statue erected for a king in Chennai,” said historian R Venkatesh. A park around the statue was taken up for Broadway bus terminus expansion, leaving the statue exposed to the elements. The Travancore royal passed away in 1991, and a few years later the statue was shifted to the Sree Anantha Padmanabha Swamy temple in Gandhi Nagar, Adyar by well-wishers.

Today, 81 years since the decree, the statue stands among discarded materials in the corner of the temple premise, having lost its place and significance in transition. “The Maharaja’s decree brought out reformist tendencies in Hindus. It is another thing that the decree did not find favour among dalit leaders like Ambedkar and Rettamalai Srinivasan who only saw it as an appeasement, and not a solution,” said political commentator D Ravikumar.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Chenna News / by Pradeep Kumar / TNN / November 14th, 2017