Daily Archives: August 17, 2014

Twinning Tale Delivers More Wonders

Amazing Feats, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Science & Technology, World Opinion

Mallappuram : 

Less than a week ago, gynaecologist Laila Beegum supervised the birthing of a set of identical twins to a couple from Kodinhi village, now known globally for the high number of multiple births. The twin babies born on August 7 this year took the total number of such deliveries witnessed by her to 452.

Though the total number of twins in the village has now crossed 500, the mystery behind the phenomenon is yet to be unravelled.

Located close to Tirurangadi town in Malappuram district, Kodinhi village, with its high twinning rate, garnered global media attention around six years ago. At Kodinhi, twins account for 42 per 1,000 live births while the global average of twinning is reportedly around six per 1,000.

Brazil’s Candido Godoi and Nigeria’s Igbo-Ora have witnessed similar birth phenomenon. Attempts by several scientists and organisations to find the secret behind the high twinning rate have failed to bear fruit.

Recently, Dr N K Sribiju, public health consultant, Taluk Hospital, Tirurangadi, approached the state government seeking permission to conduct a genetic study on the local populace.

“Surely, there would be a scientific reason behind the birth of a huge number of twins in such a small area. But, the secret can be revealed only through a detailed genetic and environment study. We are awaiting permission from the ethical committee of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology at Thiruvananthapuram for the same,” said Dr Sribiju.

Significantly, more than 90 per cent of the couples from Kodinhi who reported twin births conceived normally. “Hence, IVF treatment cannot be considered as a reason for the high rate of twinning in Kodinhi,” Dr Biju said.

Dr Laila, who runs Laila’s Hospital, Chemmad, said multiple births are not just being reported by persons born and brought up here.

“Many women who came to Kodinhi after marrying someone here have also experienced twin birth. So, it could be due to some mysterious element of nature.

“Earlier, we conducted a water test but the results were not conclusive,” Dr Laila added.

Twins and Kins Association (TAKA) of Kodinhi believes that their village has the most density of twins in the world and is planning to approach officials of the Guinness Book to claim a record.

Get-together

“There are families having three pairs of twins and triplets at home. A 90-year-old man here is the eldest among the twins who are alive,” said Bhaskaran Pullani, president, Twins and Kins Association, which is planning to organise a get-together of all Kodinhi twins.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Santosh Christy / August 17th, 2014

An array of rare charkas on display

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence
overnor Sheila Dikshit takes a look at the exhibits at the Charka museum after inaugurating it in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar / The Hindu
overnor Sheila Dikshit takes a look at the exhibits at the Charka museum after inaugurating it in Thiruvananthapuram on Wednesday. Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar / The Hindu

Charka museum at Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi

When Kerala Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi planned to set up a charka museum, one of the challenges was to locate and collect enough exhibits. Though it had some of the earlier wooden charkas and the more recent spindle charkas, those were not enough to start a museum.

For the past few months, the Smaraka Nidhi volunteers have been travelling around the State and outside, visiting the homes of freedom fighters and other old-timers. In Kanyakumari, they met R.K. Sunder, a veteran Sarvodaya worker.

“He had a Kisaan charka, one of the earliest forms of the charka, made of wood. Despite its antique value, he did not take any money from us. He just wanted it to be useful to more people and he thinks here in this museum, future generations can learn about how it all started from this charka,” says K.G. Jagadeesan, secretary of the Kerala Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi.

The Kisaan charka now sits inside the Charka museum, a small building inside the Smaraka Nidhi compound at Thycaud, which was inaugurated by Kerala Governor Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday. Beside it sits a ‘Petty charka,’ which, as the name signifies, is a miniature charka inside an open ‘petty’ (box), which can be carried around easily.

“These charkas can be operated even when one is speaking or sitting in a meeting. Even now during the meetings of Gandhians and Sarvodaya workers, you can see old-timers spinning the wheels, to make maximum use of the time,” says a volunteer here.

Also at the exhibition are allied instruments such as ‘otni,’ used for removing the cotton seed and ‘Balni,’ used to thread the cotton.

The modern spindle charkas, which are still used in production centres of the Smaraka Nidhi, are exhibited too. Operating it is sheer drudgery and the pay is less too.

“Three of us are involved in the charka work at Smaraka Nidhi’s centre in Thozhukkal in Neyyattinkara. We make around 15 sets of thread per day and for each of those we get paid around Rs.4. I have been working on this for the past 18 years,” says Leela.

The Gandhi Smaraka Nidhi is now banking on the renewed interest in khadi clothes among the younger generation.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities / by S. R Praveen / Thursday – August 14th, 2014