Category Archives: Arts,Culture & Entertainment

An emerging centre of new discoveries

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All

North Kerala is fast emerging as a site of relics of Stone Age cultures.

Belying 19th century British geo-archaeologist Robert Bruce Foote’s argument on prehistoric habitation in the State, north Kerala is fast emerging as the centre of new discoveries on Stone Age cultures.

Several reasons have been cited to make this possible, particularly the enthusiasm shown by a young archaeological-anthropologist N.K. Ramesh, who is a senior assistant, Museum Project, Cultural Heritage Department of Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University at Tirur.

N.K. Ramesh, a young archaeological-anthropologist, has been credited with the discoveries of many Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Megalithic, and Neolithic tools and several Megalithic sites in North Kerala.
N.K. Ramesh, a young archaeological-anthropologist, has been credited with the discoveries of many Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Megalithic, and Neolithic tools and several Megalithic sites in North Kerala.

He has been credited with the discoveries of many Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Megalithic, and Neolithic tools and several Megalithic sites in North Kerala. Findings such as the typical Palaeolithic hand axe from Vanimel river basin (Kozhikode) and pointed choppers and side scarpers from Anakkayam and Cheerkkayam river basin of Chandragiri (Kasaragod) are some of the first-time evidence of Palaeolithic implements in these districts. This revealed that hand-axe fabrication technique in quartz raw material was also familiar among the prehistoric man in north Kerala. “In fact, archaeologist Killingworth Richard Utten Todd (KRU Todd) had discovered Mesolithic tools from Chevayur (Kozhikode), perhaps the first Stone Age evidence in Kerala during 1930-35.

But detailed studies then failed to take off,” says P. Rajendran, archaeologist, whose works since 1974 brought to light rich Palaeolithic evidence of myriad cultures in Kerala.

Giving the lie to Foote’s view

Dr. Rajendran said that Foote had argued that Kerala was unsuitable for prehistoric habitation citing primary causes such as the absence of quartzite raw material, thick forest and heavy rainfall in the State. “Today the situation is different with more people coming to the forefront in archaeology. But only a few succeed in identifying the implements of the prehistoric era,” he says.

Mr. Ramesh, who does research under Dr. Rajendran’s guidance, has discovered Mesolithic tools from Panom forest region, which lies 1,500 feet, above sea level, bordering Kozhikode-Wayanad districts. “It is a Mesolithic factory site as waste material and hammer stone were discovered near a stream inside the forest,” he said.

He has been certified for the discoveries of Megalithic sites at Valayam, Varikkoli, Chekkad, Kuitheri, Ummathur, Perumundacheri, Mullankunnu, Pannimukku, and Muippra. The evidence include black and red ware, eagle head-like figures made of clay, iron chopper and dagger, black ware, smoke pipe, iron knife, iron sickle and several iron ingots.

The well-polished symmetrical shaped Stone Adzes made of quartz showed the high expertise in quartz fabrication of Neolithic people in Kozhikode, Mr. Ramesh said.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kozhikode / by Biju Govind / Kozhikode – March 08th, 2016

Her space in a crowd

Arts,Culture & Entertainment

JalajaKERALA05mar2016

P.S. Jalaja is constantly fascinated by people, crowds in particular. The crowd as an organic entity forms the backbone of Jalaja’s repertoire. Some of her canvases have thousands of people in them. “Each person in a crowd has a different expression, mannerism, skin colour … yet beyond all that, they are just human,” says the artist, who is currently working on a series titled ‘Boat People’, which is a take on the plight of refugees.

Her preoccupation with people perhaps makes her a non-fastidious worker. “I don’t look for ideal conditions to work. For that matter, I don’t even have a ‘formal studio’,” she says. She works in the living room of her two-storey rented house at Kochupalli near Udayamperoor. Even that space, she says, is not her own. It is shared by her partner Jasinther Roke Feller, who is a sculptor and her sister, Jaya, an artist and sometimes, Jaya’s cats and dog, too. When friends visit, she works while talking to them.

Adjacent to the living room is the kitchen, where her aunt, who lives with them, cooks. “So, even as I work, there are people walking in and out, sounds and smells from the kitchen and the TV which is on most of the time. I work amidst all that.” As a practice, she works 10 to 15 hours a day. If she has undertaken a project, work could extend up to three days. Jalaja’s famed work, ‘Tug of War’, which was showcased at the first Kochi Muziris Biennale in 2012, was 30-foot-tall, four-and-a-half-foot wide.

The stress of spending long hours at work sometimes manifests as a nagging pain in the neck and as sinusitis, but Jalaja prefers to ignore them.

Jalaja is surrounded by art, even daily conversations revolve around art. “I see that as an advantage I have, being around people who understand “my language”. Though our styles are different, Jas, Jaya and I tend to agree on the basic artistic essence. I believe I benefit from my interactions with them.”

Having completed her Masters in Fine Art from RLV College of Music and Fine Arts, Tripunithura, Jalaja started working with dry pastels. For about three years, she worked with just dry pastels. “When you work in a medium continuously, it yields itself to you totally,” she says. Later, she moved on to watercolour, but she treated watercolour in an opaque manner. “An artist knows what medium can convey his/her idea best.”

As a child, Jalaja used to draw and paint. She credits her father, who was a carpenter, for sharpening her artistic instinct. As he worked, he would involve the children and assign them small tasks, which she believes, went a long way in developing her imagination. Growing up in a small village Keezhillam in Perumbavoor in the 80s, Jalaja says her father gave her and her three siblings a lot of freedom. He insisted she complete her studies and find a job. She completed her B.Com and only then went on to pursue art at RLV.

Her love for art deepened soon. While doing her BFA, Jalaja’s friends organised an informal show of her works titled ‘Ray’, which won her Lalit Kala Akademi’s “student award”. In 2008, she won the Honorable Mention Award in a State exhibition of art organised by the Akademi. The State award came her way in 2009. Jalaja has worked in BMB Gallery, Mumbai, from where she got a chance to participate in the Guangzhou art fair in 2010, where she displayed her work ‘Bittersweet History’, a 10×5 watercolour work depicting historically eminent personalities in a rally. Jalaja has showcased her work at the Prague biennale in 2011 (a watercolour on policemen from about 40 countries firing at a few ordinary people).

Her reading and travels serve as inspiration. She recalls her journey to Italy as part of a residency programme with fondness. “Journeys teach you so many things. The things and people you see add to your visual library and they come back to you in so many different ways,” she says. She carries a notepad and pencil wherever she goes.

Jalaja’s works are intricately layered with multiple images on a single canvas. “Even as a student, I was interested in human anatomy. Gradually, it developed into a desire to look at the human predicament through my works. Even as I paint a person, it is not just a portrait of him/her, it reveals his culture, history and identity. The being says it all without saying anything at all.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Anasuya Menon / Kochi – March 04th, 2016

How History Makes a Writer Better

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, World Opinion

Benyamin | Albin Mathew
Benyamin | Albin Mathew

In 1502, Andrew Pereira, his wife Catherina and son Diego embarked from Portugal in the company of Vasco da Gama and reached Kozhikode. Thereafter, Pereira decided to settle down in Kochi.

Initially, the King of Cochin appointed Pereira as a treasurer and later, as the chief trainer of the army. Following Pereira’s death on January 9, 1520, his son Diego was given the position. In 1545, the king made Diego a ‘Madambi’ (a local chieftain). And he was the only Christian among 71 Madambis.

The Andrappers (a corruption of Andrew Pereira) married Portuguese women, but in 1786 Kochandy Andrapper married a local woman called Anna. It was then that the integration of the family to Kerala became complete. Over the years, some members moved to Puducherry, Diego Garcia and Africa.

In 2005, Benyamin read the family’s history in a Malayalam magazine. This became the spark behind the novel Manjaveyil Maranangal or Yellow Lights of Death, which was recently published in English by Penguin Books.

In the novel, Benyamin does a fictional exploration of the history of the family. He also writes about the history of Kerala in the past 500 years, including the life of Thoma of Villarvattom, the head of India’s only Christian dynasty in Udayamperoor. At the same time, the book is a murder mystery. A killing at a restaurant in Diego Garcia sets in motion a series of events that has the reader gripped. “I had deliberately written a thriller, because I did not want to repeat myself,” says Benyamin, at his home in Pathanamthitta.

Benyamin’s earlier book Goat Days (Aadujeevitham) had been a bestseller. “Goat Days was liked by many ordinary people because it is a simple book,” says Benyamin. “Anybody could understand it. But Yellow Lights will not be accepted by all.” However, the book has done well. Publication Manager A V Sreekumar of DC Books says, “The Malayalam version has already crossed 50,000 in sales. We are very happy.”

Benyamin says that the Malayalam edition has got a new readership. “The young generation has embraced this novel,” he says. “One reason is that I have written about social networks and other contemporary subjects.”

One great attraction about Yellow Lights, translated by media person Sajeev Kumarapuram, is the clear and lucid writing. Benyamin says that it is a deliberate decision. “This is the only way to lure people, who are hooked onto the visual media, to start reading,” he says. “The era of literary gimmicks is over. We have to attract a reader within the first five pages, otherwise we will lose him or her forever.”

Two years ago, Benyamin gave up a job in Bahrain, after working there for 20 years, and returned to Kerala.  Asked about his current life, Benyamin says, “It is much more pleasant being a full-time writer. For one, I can devote more time to literature. Secondly, it has become easy for me to travel. I am able to attend a lot of literary meets in Kerala, and abroad.” Last November, he attended the annual conference of the Literary Association of North America in New York.

Benyamin is currently doing research for a historical novel, which will be set in Central Travancore from the 1970s to the 90s. “For me, research is a basic tool of writing,” he says. “It is necessary to have historical supports for a novel.”

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> LifeStyle> Books / by Shevlin Sebastian / February 27th, 2016

Tomb of social reformer vandalised

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, World Opinion

Unidentified persons have vandalised the 100-year-old tomb of Mosa Walasam Sastriar, a 19th century poet, composer and evangelist, in Thiruvananthapuram city.

The son of the missionary’s great grand daughter, Sushil Chandran, said the tomb situated inside the LMS Church cemetery was razed to the ground by miscreants on Friday night.

Memorial

He said several prominent persons in society had recently suggested that a memorial be erected on the spot to honour the social reformer.

This could have caused those inimical to the idea to raze the tomb.

Anniversary

Residents of Thirupuram, where the lyricist and composer of several popular congregational songs were born, had on Sunday gathered to observe his death anniversary.

The police were yet to register a case in connection with the incident.

Sastriar was born in Neyyatinkara and was converted to Christianity by the famed British evangelist John Cox.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Special Correspondent / Thiruvananthapuram – February 29th, 2016

Milk and honey flow at Kulamavu

Agriculture, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives & Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features

Each member in this Kudumbasree team has four cows and the unit sells 300 bottles of milk daily — in an autorickshaw.

IdukkiKERALA28feb2016

They were just homemakers and their husbands were small-scale farmers. But now their lives have changed. Each member of the 11-member team of the Thanima Kudumbasree unit at Kulamavu is now making a monthly income of Rs.20,000 by selling milk.

The Ksheera Sagaram Scheme of the Kudumbasree district mission supported by the Agriculture Technology Management Agency (ATMA) gave them an opportunity to buy cows and locally distribute milk on the model of the Nature Fresh project implemented at Edavetti grama panchayat in the district.

Thanima members locally distribute the milk in bottles and the remaining milk is given to the dairy cooperative society at Arakulam.

“Each woman member has four cows and it is possible for the consumers to identify the milk supplied by each member through the number affixed to the bottles,” said Ancy Vinod, a member.

Fresh produce

They carry the milk in an autorickshaw to homes, tea shops, and hotels. “Fresh milk is locally made available in the morning and afternoon,” she said.

The self-help group president Thressiamma said they sell 300 bottles of milk every day at Kulamavu. The aim is to make available quality and fresh milk on the doorsteps, she said adding that they sell milk in 650- millilitre bottles at Rs.31 and 375-millilitre bottles at Rs.17.

They have no plans to increase the price. Instead, they want to make more value-added products available in the market. The team is also planning to buy more cows.

Expert advice

They follow scientific methods in growing the cows and took the advice of experts for building cow sheds.

The members were trained under the experts in the Government Veterinary College, Mannuthy.

The Agriculture Department also takes them for study tours to learn about model dairy farms outside the district.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by Giji K. Raman / Idukki – February 28th, 2016

Her telling sketches

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, World Opinion

Prabha Mallya. Photo: Thulasi Kakkat / The Hindu
Prabha Mallya. Photo: Thulasi Kakkat / The Hindu

The animal kingdom is celebrated in the works of Prabha Mallya, illustrator of popular books related to the field

Lola would creep tenaciously into the drawings of Prabha Mallya. The orange coloured office cat, naughty and doted upon, invariably entered the works until she evolved into a pert little side character. “She walked in and out of my drawings,” recollects the young illustrator witha proclivity for birds and animals. The feline’s conspicuous omnipresence, caught in her different moods, was noticed and led to Prabha’s first major assignment – illustrating Nilanjana Roy’sThe Wildings, a story on urban wild life. This was followed by another work, related to the wild, for popular writer Vikram Seth’s Beastly Tales From Here and There and then the sequel to Roy’s work. It established Prabha as a graphic illustrator in an evolving field of graphic story telling. The artist, writer was in the city to conduct a sketching workshop at Studio Kokaachi in Panampilly Nagar.

LeopardKERALA22feb2016

Prabha’s world of drawings is peopled by creatures from the animal kingdom, her main aim currently veering toward animal activism. She believes that such visibility will help the cause of wildlife conservation and the rescue of unlucky animals who stray into human habitation. Stray cats, dogs and leopards caught in the crossfire of urbanisation are sketched by her. Her Jungle Book illustrations are on wolves.

“I find it fascinating that such a large animal, like the leopard, lives alongside human habitation; it observes us quietly,” she says on her series Found Lepard, where her leopards get spotted and are found. Her fascination for the wild originates in spending a childhood, growing up singly, near a forest in Goa.

Free time then was about observing the wild, writing stories on it and illustrating the creatures that inhabited therein. She did so along with her cousin. The Nancy Drew type thrillers were illustrated and retold. A course in Mechanical Engineering from BITS Pilani too did not relegate her passion for drawing. It persisted much like Lola in her works. A few internships in art, along with her graduation, and Prabha decided that a corporate job was not for her. Her calling was art, drawing, sculptures and writing. “I felt I could do art for a living rather than be an engineer,” she says.

“The Wildings came about because of the cats. The motivating part of illustrating the books was that the writing appealed to me, the verse and the stories were great. If the writing is inspirational the drawings reflect that,” she says. Currently based in Stanford, Prabha freelances as an illustrator and is at an exciting professional juncture with the graphic novel in India establishing itself. She finds it to be an interesting time for illustrators, a time to experiment.

Her choice of using the pencil as tool for expression and the straight line as the medium was made early when she felt that the line and monochrome were best suited for her narrative. Introducing and familiarising graphic narrative to youngsters, she believes is nudging children to observe illustrations, “it is about communicating an idea through a medium. It takes a bit of thinking visually and to be able to draw. It’s is like playing Pictionary,” she says.

Her current works are with a publisher in France for a colouring book and illustrating a book with Kokaachi for their series Twelve. She has illustrated for The Small Picture and recently done a comic. A graphic novel is on the cards.

An illustration should – show not tell, she says about the balance a graphic drawing needs to achieve in contrast with cartoon, caricature, animation and comic, the different forms of visual art.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Priyadershini S / Kochi – February 18th, 2016

P K Rosy Award for Sethulakshmi

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All

Thiruvananthapuram  :

The second P K Rosy Memorial Award will be presented to film and drama actor Sethulakshmi. P K Rosy, who had acted in the first Malayalam film ‘Vigathakumaran’ directed by J C Daniel, is the first heroine of Malayalam Cinema.

Sethulakshmi has been selected by the P K Rosy memorial committee for her memorable performances in the Malayalam films which released recently.

Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala will present the award to her at the Thiruvananthapuram Press Club at 4 pm on Wednesday.

Minister A P Anil Kumar will preside over the function.

K Muraleedharan MLA, fimmaker Lenin Rajendran and actor Chandini, who played the role of P K Rosy in ‘Celluloid’ will attend the function.

source:  http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Express News Service / February 14th, 2016

Jnanpith-winning poet O.N.V Kurup no more

Arts,Culture & Entertainment

Waxing lyrical J nanapith award winner O.N.V. Kurup is the lyricist of award-winning documentary filmmaker Vinod Mankara's first feature film ‘Karayelekku Oru Kadal Dooram.' M. Jayachandran is the music composer of the film that has Indrajith and Mamta Mohandas in important roles. Vinod has stuck gold with his documentaries on a wide variety of themes such as Kathakali, painting and occult.
Waxing lyrical J nanapith award winner O.N.V. Kurup is the lyricist of award-winning documentary filmmaker Vinod Mankara’s first feature film ‘Karayelekku Oru Kadal Dooram.’ M. Jayachandran is the music composer of the film that has Indrajith and Mamta Mohandas in important roles. Vinod has stuck gold with his documentaries on a wide variety of themes such as Kathakali, painting and occult.

Malayalam’s most celebrated contemporary poet and Jnanpith-winner O.N.V. Kurup is no more.

ONV, as he was popularly known, was part of the progressive movement in Kerala and penned some of the most remembered poems and film lyrics. He died at a private hospital here a short while ago owing to age-related ailments. He was 84.

He was honoured with the Padma Sri in 1998 and with the Padma Vibhushan in 2011. He was awarded the Jnanpith in 2007.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by C. Gouridasan Nair / Thiruvananthapuram – February 13th, 2016

Gundert was foster father of Malayalam, says MGS

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, World Opinion

Historian M.G.S. Narayanan releases the book Malayalavum Herman Gundertum by handing over a copy to literary critic M.M. Basheer at a function at Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University at Tirur on Tuesday.
Historian M.G.S. Narayanan releases the book Malayalavum Herman Gundertum by handing over a copy to literary critic M.M. Basheer at a function at Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University at Tirur on Tuesday.

‘Even serious historians have neglected books like ‘Kerala Pazhama’ by Gundert’

“If Thunchathezhuthachan was the father of Malayalam Language, Herman Gundert was its foster father,” opined historian M.G.S. Narayanan. Releasing the book ‘Malayalavum Herman Gundertum’ (Malayalam and Herman Gundert) at the Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University at Tirur on Tuesday, Mr. Narayanan said that even serious historians have neglected books like ‘Kerala Pazhama’ by Gundert, who is mostly known for the first lexicon in Malayalam as well as ‘Rajyasamacharam’, the first newspaper in the language.

Study of Gundert’s works have helped historians much in clearing certain misunderstandings and misconceptions. His works were milestones that marked the history of Kerala. The myths portrayed in his books give us a hint of the culture of those times. He was recovering the culture of Kerala for the later generations through his books. His work as a missionary only showed that the problems and culture of people are the same around the world, Mr. Narayanan said and appreciated the Malayalam University for establishing a ‘Gundert Chair’ in Germany.

Vice-Chancellor K. Jayakumar, in his presidential address said that the university has set aside the traditional methods and has formed its own policy on research activities.

The book, in two volumes, was published by the Gundert Chair established by Malayalam University in Tubingen University in Germany. A seminar on ‘The contemporariness of Gundert’ was held later.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kozhikode / Staff Reporter / Kozhikode – February 03rd, 2016

NSS to honour 146 couples

Arts,Culture & Entertainment

The Nair Service Society (NSS) will be honouring 146 couples who have completed 40 years of married life at a ceremonial function at Sree Bhadra NSS Aaditorium at Muthoor, near Thiruvalla, on Tuesday.

Minister for Transport Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan will inaugurate the programme, according to M.V. Auresh, coordinator of the NSS human resources (HR) department. K.R. Rajan, secretary, NSS HR department, will deliver the keynote address, and M.G. Manjula, academic, will speak on ‘Family relations – today and tomorrow.’ D. Anilkumar, NSS taluk union president, will preside.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Pathanamthitta – January 26th, 2016