Category Archives: Nri’s / Pio’s

Late NRI businessman Sajan Parayil’s dream venture receives Kannur municipality nod

Business & Economy, Nri's / Pio's

Protracted delay in granting all-clear led to the expat bizman taking the extreme step

Kannur :

Anthoor municipality on Tuesday issued a licence to Partha Convention Centre, which was in the eye of a storm following the suicide of NRI businessman Sajan Parayil. Municipal secretary M Rameshan said licence was issued as the owners rectified five violations in the construction as suggested by the civic body.

The only violation that remains to be rectified is the location of the water tank. The owners were given six months to shift it to another place. The decision to issue licence was taken after municipal secretary M Rameshan and engineer in charge P V Biju conducted a joint inspection on Tuesday based on a fresh application submitted by Sajan’s family to the municipality.

It was on June 18 that Sajan committed suicide as he was frustrated by repeated denial of permission to open his convention centre. Denial of a licence to the convention centre and the subsequent suicide of Sajan was discussed across the state as an example of the ruthless attitude of officials putting hurdles to obstruct entrepreneurs.

Following Sajan’s death, a team led by chief town planner (Vigilance) conducted an investigation and found some violations in the construction. As per the report, Additional Chief Secretary T K Jose directed the municipal secretary to issue a licence to the owners once they rectify the violations and submit a new plan.

On Tuesday  Sajan’s family members and manager Sajeevan approached the municipality with a fresh application seeking a licence. After verifying the application, a licence was issued to the convention centre around 3 pm. Earlier during the inspection, it was found that water tank of the convention centre was built at a place where construction was not allowed according to rules.

Though Sajan’s family sought 10 months’ time for rectifying it, they were given only six months.

Shymala’s statement recorded

Kannur :

A special investigation team led by Narcotics Cell DySP V A Krishnadas recorded the statement of Anthoor municipal chairperson P K Shyamala in connection with the suicide of NRI businessman Sajan Parayil.

The statement was recorded by a team including Valapattanam CI M Krishnan and Kannur SI Mallika at the Anthoor municipal office. 

Though they recorded Shyamala’s statement, they didn’t get any evidence to prove she was responsible for the death of Sajan, said Krishnadas. 

“I have nothing to do with death. The truth will come out one day,” Shyamala told reporters later.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / July 10th, 2019

Her steel will, untouched by cerebral palsy

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

23-year-old Dhanya has penned 32 keerthanas and dreams of being an RJ

Dhanya has a disarming smile that even cerebral palsy could not rob her of.

The smile belying her age, however, is also deceptive of her steel will to reduce her physical state to a minor irritant. Her resilience found another manifestation when renowned playback singer K.S. Chitra released an audio CD of 32 keerthanas penned by her at Sharjah last month.

There is a doggedness about the way the 23-year-old pursues her passions — be it listening to music and mythological stories or penning stories and poems for children. But she’s largely dependant on her parents Ramanan and Sunitha for moving around.

Mr. Ramanan, originally from Thrissur and employed with Dubai municipality for the last 30 years, had initially toyed with the idea of sending his only daughter to special schools in Dubai. “But those schools mostly had mentally-challenged children while my daughter only suffered from restricted muscle movements. So we opted for home schooling and she is now doing Class 8,” he said.

Ms. Dhanya is mostly cheerful and active on social media with three Facebook pages to her credit. While she has published all her 32 keerthanas in PDF format in one page, another page dedicated to stories for children features eight small stories written by her. According to her father, she has so far written nearly 72 stories.

The youngster is now experimenting with poetry for children. Her latest Facebook page dedicated to poems features one of her three works.

For someone who loves to laugh, Ms. Dhanya dreams of becoming a radio jockey or a television anchor someday.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by M.P. Praveen / Kochi – March 08th, 2019

Kerala girl Ashwathi Pillai shoulders Swedish badminton hopes

Nri's / Pio's, Sports, World Opinion

Ashwathi Pillai hailing from Thucklay, 50 kms from Thiruvananthapuram, is a Swedish national champion in badminton now represents the country at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.

Ashwathi Pillai (Photo: Facebook)

Kochi :

Think of sports stars from Sweden and names that come instantly to mind are Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Bjorn Borg or Freddie Ljungberg. Sports like football and ice hockey hold sway in the Nordic country, but an 18-year-old with roots in Kerala might change all that.

Ashwathi Pillai is the daughter of Vinod and Gayathri Pillai, hailing from a village near Thucklay, 50 kms from Thiruvananthapuram. Ashwathi, a Swedish senior national champion in badminton now represents the country at the Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires.

The bout will begin in the Argentine capital on Sunday and Ashwathi is in Group C with Malaysian third seed Goh Jin Wei, Indonesia’s Maharani Sekar Batari and Germany’s Ann-Kathrin Spoeri. The top player from each of the eight groups will qualify for the quarterfinals and vie for medals.

“It is going to be a great experience for me to compete in such a big tournament. The idea is to gain exposure against top players and use that in future,” said Ashwathi, who has clinched Sweden’s U-13, U-15 and U-17 national championships after moving to the country with her parents when she was nine.

She is trained by Indonesian coach Rio Wilanto and Anders Kristiansen of Denmark at the Taby Badminton Club near Stockholm and National Centre, Uppsala. She also trains at the Prakash Padukone Badminton Academy, Bengaluru, when she is in India on yearly vacation.

“My objective is to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. I believe the Youth Olympics is a good step in that direction,” she said. “We have great facilities here and I train for around 25 hours a week. I get the services of strength trainers and nutritionists from the Swedish National Sports Federation, ” said Ashwathi who is funded by Sweden’s Olympic programme.

“I started badminton when I was seven. I used to watch my father play during evenings and would join him once in a while. I started enjoying the sport and didn’t want to stop training after moving to Sweden,” said Ashwathi, who will also compete in the World Junior Championships in Canada later this year.

Badminton, like tennis, was once a popular sport in Sweden. The first ever BWF World Championship was held in the Swedish city of Malmo in 1977. “Badminton and tennis suffered as new sports came in. In tennis, Sweden hasn’t had a big star since Borg and Stefan Edberg,” said Vinod, an engineer who works for an IT services company.

“Badminton is slowly gaining popularity and the association and the government are pumping in a lot of money to produce someone like PV Sindhu or Saina Nehwal, who can revitalise the sport,” said Vinod. Ashwathi could just be the one if she lives up to promise.

Achievements

2018-Became the youngest to win the Swedish senior national championship.

2017- Reached quarterfinals of Bulgaria Open.

2016-Won silver in singles at Polish Junior International Championship.

2015-Gold medallist in singles at Swiss Junior Open.

2015-Became Swedish national champion in U-15 category

adwaidh@newindianexpress.com

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Advaidh Rajan /  Express News Service / October 07th, 2018

Eminent physicist Sudarshan passes away

Amazing Feats, Leaders, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

He was recommended for the Nobel Prize nine times, but never awarded

Ennackal Chandy George Sudarshan, popularly known as E.C.G. Sudarshan, who made path-breaking discoveries in the realm of quantum optics died aged 86 in Texas on Monday morning.

Professor Sudarshan was a faculty at the University of Texas for the past 40 years. A globally-recognised theoretical physicist, Professor Sudarshan had often pointed out that Physics meant everything to him. He was recommended for the Nobel Prize for Physics nine times, but never awarded.

Professor Sudarshan made significant contributions to the field of theoretical physics — optical coherence, tachyons, quantum zeno effect, open quantum system, spin-statistics theorem, non-invariance groups, positive maps of density matrices and quantum computation, to name a few.

Born to E. I. Chandy and Achamma in Kottayam on September 16, 1931, Professor Sudarshan graduated from the Madras Christian College in 1951 and did his postgraduation from the University of Madras. He later moved to Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai, where he worked for a brief period with Homi Bhabha, father of Indian nuclear programme before moving to University of Rochester in New York to work under American physicist Robert Marshak. They founded the V-A theory of of the weak force, which eventually paved the way for electroweak theory.

Contributions ignored

Professor Sudarshan also developed a quantum representation of coherent light later known as Sudarshan-Glauber representation. Glauber was awarded 2005 Nobel Prize in Physics for the contribution to the quantum theory of optical coherence. Renowned scientists in India and abroad had then observed that the Nobel Committee had ignored the contribution of Professor Sudarshan, who justly deserved to share the coveted award.

An eminent scientist who drew parallels between science and Indian philosophy, Professor Sudarshan was honoured with several awards, including Padma Vibhushan (2007), Dirac Medal (2010), Bose Medal (1977) and C. V. Raman award (1970).

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Kochi – May 14th, 2018

A documentary on a past that touches a raw nerve

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, World Opinion

Raju E Raphael and Jose Punnamparambil on shoot of the documentary film in a convent in Asbag, Germany.

Ariyapedatha Jeevithangal deals with large-scale migration of Catholic girls to Germany in the 70s

A 40-minute documentary Ariyapedatha Jeevithangal (The Unknown Lives) has opened up the controversy on migration of Catholic girls from Kerala to Germany that had rocked the Syro-Malabar Church and the Catholic Church in Germany in the 1970s.

The documentary made by expatriate writer Jose Punnamparambil, documentary-maker Raju E. Raphael, and media activist and researcher K. Rajagopal is in final stages of production and will be screened in Germany and Kerala  in June this year.

There was a mass recruitment to West Germany from Kerala in the 1960s and 70s of Malayali Catholic girls, who completed matriculation or were studying in senior secondary classes.

The recruitment was to fill vacancies of nuns in convents in Germany as there was severe shortage of nuns there due to lack of ‘vocation’ (the divine call to become nuns).

The recruitment began in 1962 and the first batch of girls sailed to Europe from the then Bombay in January 1963. Following this, many more groups of Catholic girls migrated to West Germany and the figure crossed 800 by 1972.

In 1972, European and American newspapers broke the story, terming it “human trafficking.” The allegation was that Kerala Catholic girls were used as ‘slaves’ in German convents and hospitals and forced to work as cleaners and labourers. Reports even alleged that some were forced into prostitution.

The reports shocked the country, with national and regional media carrying the news.

Churches under cloud

It brought the Syro-Malabar Church and the Catholic Church in Germany under a cloud as bishops of these two Churches were involved in the recruitment.

Their initiative was based on the decisions of the Second Vatican Council of the Roman Catholic Church in 1962. The Second Vatican Council advocated the necessity for the stronger sections of the Church to help the weaker ones.

Fr. Werner Chakkalakkal of the CMI congregation was one of the priests in India entrusted with the recruitment while Sister Ludgardis of the congregation of John the Baptist based in Leutesdorf was one of the coordinators in Germany for the recruitment and migration of Kerala girls.

“We joined hands about a year ago as part of a mission to gather information about the controversy. Punnamparambil and I travelled across Germany and visited many convents that received Kerala girls. Not all convents were ready to discuss the issue but some were cooperative. Our aim was to meet, talk, and understand what happened to the Kerala girls brought to the convents,” said Mr. Raphael.

“It was not an easy task as most of them were leading a retired life, a few in other parts of the world. But our team managed to meet Sister Ludgardis at a convent near Koblenz,” said Mr. Punnamparambil.

About 70% of the migrants continued to live in Germany, mostly as nurses, teachers, and caretakers in old-age homes and orphanages and the rest returned to India for missionary and charity works in Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Kerala. Some had even left for Africa.

The documentary depicts the life of Malayali migrant nuns in Germany and will be a valuable source of information for researchers, said the Thrissur-born Jose Punnamparambil, who had migrated to Germany and bagged the Kerala Sahitya Academy Award for lifetime achievement in literature recently.

The documentary makers also travelled extensively in Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, and Maharashtra to document the nuns.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Mini Muringatheri / Thrissur – May 04th, 2018

Kannur native has a ‘brush’ with stardom

Business & Economy, Green Initiatives & Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature, Nri's / Pio's, World Opinion

Kannur :

Nostalgia. That sentimental longing for his homeland made Sijesh Poyil pack his bags and come back to Kannur. From Dubai. Five years ago. Nostalgia again played its part in turning him into a successful entrepreneur fortunate enough to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. On April 11, Sijesh became an overnight hero as a tweet from the PMO named him and mentioned his achievement as an entrepreneur.

The PMO’s tweet said, “Mr P Sijesh from Kannur in Kerala is running a successful unit where herbal tooth powder is made. He presented his product to the Prime Minister during the interaction with various Mudra beneficiaries.”

An excited Sijesh said over phone from New Delhi: “I just cannot believe my luck. How can an ordinary man like me from a village in Kannur think about meeting the Prime Minister and spending around two-and-a-half hours with him?”

The meeting held at the PM’s residence was arranged to felicitate around 100 beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana who have shown extraordinary commitment in scripting successful stories of entrepreneurship. Of the 110 people selected for the meeting, only four were from Kerala. The other three were Sreelal from Koyilandy, Vinod of Kozhikode and Venu of Wayanad. Sijesh had expanded his tooth powder after receiving a Mudra loan of Rs 8.5 lakh.

The financial situation at home having forced him to try his luck in Dubai, where he worked for three years as a security officer with Emirates Airlines, Sijesh flew back home in 2013.“The modern world and its added facilities have never been my priority in life,” said the 32-year-old.“My heart ached for the things I had left at home. The rain, rivers, temple festivals… I realised  I’m not made for a life outside my place.”

Like every Gulf returnee, Sijesh too wanted to start a of his own. Though he had continued with his pharmacy job, which he had left before going to Dubai, he was looking for something new.

“I used to clean my teeth with rice husk ash (Umikkari). But what was available in the market was not up to standards. So I decided to make a product of my own. After researching on it for sometime, I developed it and distributed it among my family members and friends. As they all appreciated the quality of the product, I decided to move ahead,” he said.

As the stuff he made with husk ash, clove, pepper and salt received appreciation, he had decided to produce it on a large scale. At this stage, the Positive Commune Entrepreneurship Club (PC) — a WhatsApp group for young entrepreneurs — stepped in. The association with PC changed Sijesh’s fortunes, for the people at PC helped him redesign the brand logo.

Armed with the group’s valuable inputs and the experience received by participating in the ‘Vijayi Bhava’ training camp conducted by Kochouseph Chittilappilly, Sijesh was out to reap more from his . By that time, he had given a name to his product — Shanthiz husk ash — which he had earlier sold without a name in a plain bottle.“Shanthi is the name of my mother-in-law,” he chuckled.

With a designer look and a brand name, Shanthiz husk ash has become a much sought after product. From a nameless, label-less product, Shanthiz now sells around 5,000-6,000 bottles in Kannur district alone. The price per 25 gm bottle is Rs 30 and Sijesh is keen on expanding to other districts as well.

Along with his family members, especially brother Dhanesh, sister Dhanya and wife Sajina, there are five women helping Sijesh make Shanthiz. He has a three-year old son, Sreehari.
Two years after the first bottle was produced, Shanthiz has now reached the hands of the Prime Minister too. Because Sijesh presented 10 bottles of Shanthiz to him during the interaction.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by M.A. Rajeev Kumar / Express News Service / April 13th, 2018

A life lived less ordinary

Amazing Feats, Business & Economy, Education, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, World Opinion

Philanthropist V Damodar faced vicissitudes bravely and came out trumps on his terms

Sharjah, 1975: From a settlement with small palm-frond ‘arish’ houses hugging the creeks, the region, no more than a village-like city, was slowly moving towards development. That is when V Damodar landed there. In the 11 years he worked there, Damodar saw the Emirate grow into a centre of culture and industry, a growth in which he had a significant role.

“The Indian population, mostly Malayalis, in Sharjah was hardly 20,000. Only one restaurant there dished out Indian fare, which forced many like me to go to Dubai for lunch every Friday. There were just a few tarred roads and a couple of multi-storied buildings. I had to make adjustments to cope after having relocated from Bombay, a huge city even then,” says Damodar, who rose from humble beginnings to become the vice-president of GGP Group of Companies, one of the major business groups in the UAE.

This was a roller-coaster phase in Damodar’s life – along with success, fame and fortune, he slid down the road to desperation, forcing him to leave the Emirate, destroyed but not defeated.

Like his autobiography titled Fortitude, thoughts flow, unbroken, when Damodar talks. Shorn of political correctness and hypocrisy he allows memories to tumble. “Writing about my life was something I had not dreamed of. If it were planned I would have kept a diary. It was impulsive, the contents purely based on memories, and available records like photographs. There’s no attempt to edit my thoughts,” says Damodar, whose signal contributions include founding the Sharjah Indian School and Indian Association Sharjah.

As Finance Manager of the company, Damodar had to oversee numerous capital projects in keeping with the developments in Sharjah. “Almost simultaneously we were working on the construction of a modern airport and over a dozen high-rise buildings to be called Rolla Square. We had new divisions within the company and our Sheikh, who was the brother of the Ruler, was building a 11-storey tower for himself. Our organisation was also growing, diversifying into transport, aluminium, carpentry and also a travel agency, Sharjah National Travel and Tourist Agency (SNTTA). And all of them prospered.”

Founding the Indian Association Sharjah in April 1979 as a service organisation for the welfare of the community especially in Sharjah and establishing the Sharjah Indian School remain Damodar’s enduring contributions to the Indians in particular and the Emirate in general.

For the people

“We started the school on September 3, 1979 with 346 students and had classes from nursery to the fifth standard. We upgraded it to eighth standard the next year. In four years time the first batch wrote the public examination successfully. We constructed our own building on the land provided to us by the Ruler. The school has progressed steadily and presently has about 15,000 students. The Indian Association Sharjah, as a community organisation, owns and manages the school.”

Getting Air India to commence operations to and from Sharjah in 1981 was possible only through Damodar’s persistence. “It began when I was snubbed by the then regional director of Air India who termed my idea as ‘ridiculous’. I decided to pursue it. Meeting Ravindra Varma, then Minister of Labour and Parliamentary Affairs, Government of India, was the turning point. I managed to convince him to visit Sharjah and took the Minister and his entourage to the airport and met the Director General of Civil Aviation. I also showed him the correspondence I had with the Air India Chairman. The Minister returned to Delhi and did not forget his promise. And soon things fell in place and in March 1981 the first Air India flight landed in Sharjah. It was an unexpected but gratifying moment.”

These were ‘happy moments’ in a life that was punctuated by long phases of struggle and gloom. Like some passages in the book where the prose becomes intimate, Damodar’s eyes well-up, his voice breaks, when he speaks of his life’s struggles.

Damodar relives past events with insightful intent. His writing appears like a soul-cleansing exercise.

“Looking back at my life, it sometimes appears unbelievable considering where I began. Kaipuram, in Palakkad district, was an extremely undeveloped village. I had to walk nearly 15 kilometres every day to school. Childhood was a mix of fun and the constant worry of trying to meet basic needs. Perhaps this made me responsible even as a child encouraging me to do odd jobs to supplement the family’s income. Though I completed my Secondary School Leaving Certificate exam with high marks I could not continue my education.”

After a short stint at a typewriting and shorthand institute, Damodar left for Bombay looking for a job. “When I left home in 1960 the whole world was open before me. And it opened unexpectedly. Bombay shaped my career. I found a job as a typist with a meagre salary, studied part-time, took a diploma in secretarial practice, gained a university degree, Associateship from the Corporation of Secretaries, London and Fellowship from Institute of Company Secretaries of India.”

Joining Nagpal Ambadi Petro-Chem Refining Limited as Company Secretary, Damodar worked from its inception to public issue of share capital and arranging of institutional financing. He then moved on to another major group before moving to Sharjah.

Hard times

“In Sharjah I knew that I was surrounded by people who were envious of my growth. The Sheikh himself had warned me many times that ‘my own people,’ the same people I had employed nurtured, had approached him with complaints against me. A Palestinian/Jordanian and a Pakistani also joined them. They managed to sway the Sheikh’s opinions. When I realised that he seemed to have lost confidence in me , I resigned. I was vice-president of the group but left without getting a penny as the Sheikh refused to settle my accounts.”

Undeterred, but having decided not to work as an employee for anyone again, Damodar set up businesses in the UAE, India, Botswana and Zimbabwe. “The soft drinks company in India collapsed owing to misappropriations. In Botswana, I was part of a business but had to quit owing to ethical differences. I founded the Afroworld Group that grew into five active member companies; started a similar venture in Zimbabwe but had to leave, disillusioned and disgusted, owing to politically motivated difficulties. Right through I was let down by people I considered close to me.”

Damodar is now settled in Coimbatore, where he lives with wife Thankam. Their son Sumod who is the chief of Afroworld Group in Botswana, is an avid cricketer and administrator. He played for Botswana, holds various administrative posts with Botswana Cricket Association and Africa Cricket Association. Last year Sumod was elected to the Chief Executive Committee of the International Cricket Council.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Books / by K. Pradeep / March 19th, 2018

A long journey from Thalassery to the Swiss Parliament

Leaders, Nri's / Pio's, Records, All, World Opinion

Nik Gugger, who was sworn in as member of Nationalrat in Bern, still cherishes his Kerala connection

His is a journey from Thalassery to the Swiss Parliament and he still maintains his connection with the town where he grew up till he was four.

Nik Gugger was sworn in as member of Nationalrat (Swiss Parliament) in Bern around 7.30 p.m. Indian time on Monday. The 47-year-old father of three children has been elected to Swiss Parliament as a candidate of the EVP (Evangelical Party in Switzerland). An Indian by birth, he was adopted by a Swiss couple and he still cherishes his association with people and institutions at Thalassery. Though he was born at the Basel Mission Hospital at Udupi, he had grown up as an orphan in what is now the Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF) campus at Illikkunnu at Thalassery till his adoption by his Swiss parents. The NTTF itself is a symbol of the Indo-Swiss cooperation aimed at promoting technical education among the youth of this country.

Likely to visit Thalassery

“I am proud to be in between the two cultures, the Swiss and Indian culture,” Mr. Gugger told The Hindu over the phone. Recalling his association with the late Murkot Ramunni and the Gundert Foundation School the latter had founded, he said he would probably visit Thalassery in March next year when the 70th anniversary of Indo-Swiss friendship would be celebrated. Mr. Gugger started his political career as a councillor in the town parliament of Winterthur, the sixth biggest town in Switzerland, and as a member in the Cantonal Council. He is one of the youngest members in Swiss Parliament. He recalls that his foster father was an experienced social worker who had played an important role in shaping him as a social worker. His social work had given him an opportunity to work in Colombia as a youth worker. He studied at the Center for Agogics in Basel, the University of Amsterdam and also at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

Helped in fund-raising

“I still keep in touch with Mr. Gugger,” said Raghunatha Kurup, a native of Thalassery, who had retired from the NTTF. Mr. Gugger was part of the delegates from the Volkart Foundation, Switzerland, who had visited the Gundert Foundation School at Thalalssery in 2006, he recalled. Mr. Gugger had also helped the school by collecting funds for it, he said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Mohamed Nazeer / Kannur – November 27th, 2017

Kerala girl at centre of ‘period poverty’ campaign in London

Amazing Feats, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nri's / Pio's, World Opinion

Last month, thousands of protesters gathered outside Downing Street as part of the campaign. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

With her #FreePeriods campaign, Amika George hopes to help young girls in Britain stay in school

On a cold London morning last year, 17-year-old Amika George was at the breakfast table when a news story caught her attention. It was about young girls, some just 10 years old, in the northern English city of Leeds missing a week of school every month because their families couldn’t afford to buy them sanitary napkins.

A Leeds school had, in fact, sought help from a charity that provided hygiene products to women in Kenya, the report went on to say.

Shocked, Amika knew she had to do something. She launched the #FreePeriods campaign, and prepared a petition that quickly garnered support, with over 1,33,000 signatories. Last month, a thousand protesters, including politicians, activists and models, gathered outside Downing Street to ask for the government’s help to end ‘period poverty’ in the U.K. — by providing free sanitary napkins to the poorest students.

“I think one of the reasons the campaign attracted so much attention is because people have been shocked that such levels of poverty exist in the U.K., considered a developed country,” she says.

Amika George

Talking about the motivation behind the initiative, the North London-based student says, “It seemed wrong to me on every level that there were children creating almost primitive, makeshift solutions such as socks stuffed with stolen toilet paper or newspaper. Missing school means falling further behind in academics, and these girls find they are such a long way off from attaining their goals and ambitions, all because they bleed.”

Too poor to bleed

The protest garnered widespread media interest. Amika’s campaign also tapped into wider sentiment — both about women’s equality and the larger issue of poverty in austerity-ridden Britain — with several political parties making commitments to help end the problem.

The Labour party has committed £10 million to end ‘period poverty’ in schools, while the campaign has spurred the Green party to pledge free sanitary products for women and students from low-income households.

“The root cause is poverty, and while eradicating poverty is a challenging mission in itself, making life better for a small pocket of the population is what I’m aiming at,” says Amika. The teenager hopes to now attract the attention of Education Secretary (minister) Justine Greening with her campaign. “I’m encouraged that there are a huge number of people who’re working to put pressure on her.” Amika hopes to use the impetus the campaign has generated to push for a wider examination of attitudes towards periods, which she believes reinforce the obstacles the poorest sections face.

“There’s certainly a feeling now that periods should not be all cloak-and-dagger, as it’s been in the past. I’m trying to be as outspoken as I can about menstruation; it’s a normal biological process, but we speak about it with embarrassment and shame.”

Going places

Given her background, Amika, whose family is originally from Kerala and regularly visits there, is keen to broaden her campaign beyond the U.K., and enthused by the way campaigners, from Nepal to the Philippines, have reached out to her. She is motivated by initiatives such as Kerala’s She Pad Scheme.

“I’d really like to connect with campaigners in India to work to end the taboo and help campaign to ensure all girls can access menstrual products. It’s staggering that we haven’t really moved away from the taboos our grandmothers faced back in their days, but it horrifies me that there are thousands of girls in India who drop out of school altogether and feel ashamed to go back because they have their period.”

“It really is a global issue, and I’ve been contacted by women in many countries saying that period poverty is affecting girls there, so we should all be joined in working to stamp out period poverty across the globe. We really can do it together,” says Amika.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Profile> Society / by Vidya Ram / January 13th, 2018

Indian-American child prodigy drops debut album in 6 languages

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

When I grow up, I want to be a soprano opera classical singer: Tiara Abraham (Image: facebook/sopranoTiara)

————————————————————————————————————-

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Tiara Abraham, 10, has released her first album titled ‘Winter Nightingale’
  • The album contains her renditions of some classic carols and holiday songs, sung in English, Spanish, Italian, German, Latin and French
  • Tiara got enrolled at the American River College in Sacramento at the age of 7
  • ———————————————————————————————————-

Houston :

Indian American child prodigy Tiara Thankam Abraham has released her first album, a collection of nine world holiday songs, in six languages.

Tiara, 10, who entered college at the age of seven, is the younger sister of Tanishq Abraham+ , a contestant on the Lifetime reality show “Child Genius”.

The album titled ‘Winter Nightingale’, contains her renditions of some classic carols and holiday songs, sung in English, Spanish, Italian, German, Latin and French.

The Abrahams are second generation immigrants from Kerala, India. Their grandparents came to the United States when they were children.

Tiara is enrolled at the American River College in Sacramento, California — the same school where her brother graduated in May 2015. Currently a junior, she has big plans after school. “When I grow up, I want to be a soprano opera classical singer,” she said.

source:  http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> NRI> US & Canada News / PTI / December 18th, 2016