Daily Archives: October 3, 2014

A Go-To Guide for Ancient Wisdom

K G Paulose at work | Melton Antony
K G Paulose at work | Melton Antony

It was a bolt from the blue for K G Paulose, 68, when Ravi Deecee, the Managing Director of DC Books, a reputed book publisher in Kerala, approached him four years ago with a unique project: to bring out the 18 volumes of the Puranas in a single edition.

Initially, Paulose was unsure about taking it up, considering the magnitude of the project. Though he had robust knowledge and passion for Sanskrit, he was never obsessed with the Puranas. Later, he realised that it was a ‘divine assignment’.

The 18 Puranas extend to over 18,000 pages, with each Purana varying in size and content. This historical work in Malayalam will be four times bigger than the Mahabharata in terms of the number of verses used.

“It is the first time that anyone is trying to compile the Puranas into a comprehensive, holistic, single edition,” says Paulose. “Sanskrit is the golden key to unlock any treasure of Indian history.”

At his house in Tripunithura, Paulose is busy working on the final pages which would soon be sent to the publisher. Titled 18 Puranangal, the book will be released on the auspicious day of Vidyarambham, which falls on October 3 this year.

Paulose knew he could not do the work single-handedly. So he divided it among his colleagues and associates. There were fifteen people or “fifteen think-tanks”, as Paulose calls them, including his wife T K Sarala.

One such think-tank is M V Gopalakrishnan, 67, a retired professor from the Maharaja’s College in Kochi. “I was assigned the task of composing Vishnupurana, one of the prominent Puranas and one half of Agnipurana,” he says. “It took me two years to complete Vishnupurana, as it was a difficult job to translate and simplify the complex Sanskrit verses. I would spend 18 hours a day for the research and writing.”

The team used to meet every week at Paulose’s house to review everyone’s work. “There were several give and takes, disputes and suggestions,” says Gopalakrishnan. “It was a discussion forum in which doubts got cleared and we were able to give birth to a clean and accessible edition.”

Paulose was the first Vice Chancellor of Kerala Kalamandalam, a deemed university for Art and Culture. He has also been the registrar of Sree Sankaracharya University, Kalady, chief editor, publications of Aryavaidyasala Kottakkal, and the principal of Government Sanskrit College, Tripunithura.

Ravi says it has been a stupendous effort by Paulose and team to make this venture a reality. “It was my father D C Kizhakkemuri who first came up with the idea in 1997,” says Ravi. “He approached a handful of scholars, but the project was shelved mid-way owing to lack of research.” However, in 2009, Ravi met Paulose and asked him to take up the project. “His expertise was a necessity,” says Ravi. “Since the project also needed a team of scholars, we were lucky to get the right people at the right time.”

The book cover will have mural paintings depicting each of the Puranas created by a Thiruvananthapuram-based painter Athira Sajith.

“We will have a first print-run of 20,000 copies,” says Ravi. “They are all pre-booked.” The selling price is Rs 10,000, but as a pre-publication offer, it will be sold at Rs 4,999.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> LifeStyle> Books / by Krishnachand K / September 28th, 2014

Zero Cost Farming: Success Story Scripted by a 17-year-old

Sooraj, winner of state govt’s Karshaka Jyothi Award, with the elephant foot yams grown in his farm | Express
Sooraj, winner of state govt’s Karshaka Jyothi Award, with the elephant foot yams grown in his farm | Express

Sulthan Bathery : 

At a time when many farmers in the state are abandoning agriculture owing to poor yield and low income, Sooraj C S, a Plus-Two student hailing from Mathamangalam, near here, is scripting a success story with his experiments in zero budget farming.

The 17-year-old, who recently won the Karshaka Jyothi Award for the best student farmer, instituted by the state government, is now busy promoting ‘healthy eating habits’ through his Facebook page by highlighting the harmful effects of pesticides. His farmland also serves as a knowledge hub for aspiring farmers.

“There is no need to glorify a person who grows vegetables or fruits for his own consumption. It says a lot about our society’s misconceptions about agriculture. Each individual can make a difference by developing the habit of cultivating and eating organic foods,” Sooraj says with an air of maturity unusual in one so young.

Inspired by Subhash Palekar, a promoter of the concept of zero budget natural farming, Sooraj started farming as a hobby at the age of 15, but it has now become a full-fledged passion for him.

“During the summer vacation two years ago, I attended a seminar on zero budget farming, held in Sulthan Bathery. Subhash Palekar was the main speaker at the programme. The event helped me shape a new perspective on farming techniques. Following that, I took a pledge not to use chemical fertilisers and pesticides,” says Sooraj, a Plus Two student of Government Vocational Higher Secondary School, Ambalavayal.

He cultivates a wide range of vegetables, including cabbage, bittergourd, eggplant, tomato, capsicum, beans, green chilli, different types of yams, bananas, carrot, beetroot, and potato on his pleasingly congested four acres of farmland on the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border. There are also about 50 varieties of fruits such as rambutan, passion fruit, mangosteen and orange, besides about 60 types of medicinal plants in his field.

Last year, when he had a bumper crop of cabbage, he gave a major chunk of the produce to friends and neighbours, and then sold the rest of the vegetables in the local market.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Aadharsh / September 27th, 2014

When a duo punched above their weight

The match between Sita Bai of Tanjore and Kamala Bai of Malabar saw enthusiastic crowds but also led to controversy. / The Hindu Archives
The match between Sita Bai of Tanjore and Kamala Bai of Malabar saw enthusiastic crowds but also led to controversy. / The Hindu Archives

The 1st all-woman boxing bout lasted only 3 rounds but ignited a fiery debate

Sunday was a fine day for Indian women’s boxing at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon. Olympic bronze-medallist M. C. Mary Kom, L. Sarita Devi and Pooja Rani entered the semi-finals, assuring medals for the nation. However, it was right here, in Madras city, that the first punches in women’s boxing in the country were thrown.

It was Saturday, the 15th of March, 1931, when two Indian women stepped into the ring for a bout of professional boxing at the famous White City Carnival held in the city. Looking fierce in knee-length shorts, sleeveless jerseys and gloved fists, the women appeared every bit combat-ready. Kamala Bai of Malabar and Sita Bai of Tanjore were trained boxers, touted to be in good form. Singapore’s English daily The Straits Times reported that this was arguably a first for India.

Visibly excited, The Hindu published an article five days prior to the event urging its readers to brace themselves to witness for the first time two ‘Indian ladies’ meeting in the boxing arena — until now the most exclusive preserve of men.

Large crowds, including a number of Europeans, assembled to watch history in the making. While the first two rounds saw the boxers on the defensive, the third round saw them packing a punch, exchanging double jabs, hard rights, hooks, and uppercuts. Disappointingly, by round three, the session drew to a close with referee V.E.J Brackstone of Messrs. Parry and Company declaring it a draw.

Despite their underwhelming performance, both Kamala Bai and Sita Bai stayed in the news — even making international headlines for days to come.

‘Shocked and pained’

The fact that two Hindu women dared to ‘invade’ the boxing ring also left many Indian men and women ‘shocked and pained’. Florida’s The Evening Independent published a report on March 16, 1931 titled ‘Women Boxers arouse India’. The story stated that ‘feminine India was up in arms’ with the female boxers facing ‘social ostracism and disgrace,’ having engaged in a boxing match in Madras.

For a country that had for centuries relegated their women to rigid domesticity, ‘ladies boxing’ became particularly hard to digest.

Mahatma Gandhi for instance found this to be especially problematic. He was quoted in Pennsylvania’sReading Eagle as saying women boxing was ‘degrading, disreputable and totally unbecoming of the finer instincts of Indian womanhood.’

Today, as the country celebrates the laurels of our women boxers, it seems only appropriate to pause and acknowledge the spirit of Kamala Bai and Sita Bai. For if not for them, we as a nation may have not dared to imagine the likes Mary Kom, L Sarita Devi and Pooja Rani fighting the good fight.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Nitya Menon / Chennai – September 30th, 2014