Daily Archives: December 10, 2014

A Shot Putter’s Golden Touch

Records, All, Sports

Suji-S-RaniKERALA10nov2014

Thiruvananthapuram  :

Nothing short of gold,  goes Suji S Rani’s route to success. The girl-next-door for the city, this shot putter hailing from the coastal village of Pozhiyoor in the capital stands tall by having clinched the first slot for shot put event three times in a row.  She clinched  her latest gold in senior girls shot put event at the ongoing 58th Kerala State Schools Athletics Championship at LNCPE, Kariavattom, on Tuesday.

‘’I want to stay focussed in the sport for long and work hard to better my results in future. When I join college to pursue higher studies, I want to stay next to my school, Government VHSS Mathirappilly, which has been the bedrock of my achievements,’’ she said.

Alongside her winning laurels, this young talent needs more support to scale greater heights and a house tops her wishlist. Her father Santhosh, who was at the venue on Tuesday, showed the black-and-white photographs of his family standing in front of the crumbled thatched-roof dwelling on three cents of land.

‘’The government has promised us a home when Suji took part in the national meet in Ranchi and won a bronze medal. The verification process was over only two weeks ago. Now we are residing at my sister’s home,’’ her father said.

The sole income for the family is the earnings from a provision store run by her Suji’s father. Suji has an elder brother pursuing his doing a degree course in Hotel Management. Her  father admits that he is not earning enough to realise his daughter’s dream.

Suji does not prefer to stay idle and on holidays she uses the free time to practice in a work area at the place near her house as well as the nearest stadium in Pozhiyoor.

‘’My coach P I Babu sir has advised me to keep on practising to hone the talent. His coaching advice increases my self-confidence,’’ she says.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Meera Manu / December 10th, 2014

The ‘Biennale city’, since 12/12/12

Arts,Culture & Entertainment
An artist paints on a wall at Fort Kochi ahead of the opening of the Biennale. Photo: Vipin Chandran
An artist paints on a wall at Fort Kochi ahead of the opening of the Biennale. Photo: Vipin Chandran

The event brought in its wake a new ecosystem for art in Kerala

Keralites debated artist A. Ramachandran’s oeuvre for decades before they got to see his work exhibited for the first time in the State last year, courtesy the Kochi Muziris Biennale.

The ripple effect of India’s first biennale in Kochi in 2012 swept over moribund systems, bringing in its wake a whole new ecosystem for art in Kerala, and the rest of the country by extension.

“It was a watershed and nothing has remained the same,” observes veteran artist Paris Viswanathan, who is on his way to Kochi to see the Biennale. The internationally-renowned artist was a robust presence in the first edition in which he exhibited his film series based on the ‘Elements’.

“While any cultural change permeates the society in a slow, inconspicuous manner, the experiential nature of the biennale has been an awakening. The fact that mediocrity was getting erased was in itself a big achievement,” says artist Bose Krishnamachari,  Kochi Biennale Foundation co-founder.

The first biennale, which closed the lid on controversies relating to art being commercialised, made contemporary art tremendously popular, expanded the horizons of Kochi in the world of art and engaged international artists of stature in a dialogue with Kerala.

“Our Biennale might have been simplistic when it comes to monetary figures, but we have been able to grab the eyeballs of the art world and the model is now being hailed as one of the best. It was emotionally more touching than any other art event, people say.”

What started off on 12/12/12 did not pull a stop even after three months as a series of research programmes, art residencies, experimental events like the ‘arts and medicine programme’, several art talks, collateral events and cultural programmes gave momentum to the new wave.

“Look at the current edition and you have some 20 finely-curated collateral events going with it,” adds Mr. Krishnamachari. Thanks to the Biennale, something like Art*Ry, an art commune of some 45 Keralites, was born in Dubai. It is now organising a collateral event, an exhibition of the late artist C.N. Karunakaran’s works, alongside KMB-14.

The Tourism Department in Kerala owes to the Biennale — whose first edition saw some four lakh footfalls— for its hop-on-hop-off boat service along the Muziris heritage route as the boats and the taxis are painted with works by Kerala-based Biennale artists. “The script, ‘Welcome to the art capital’ inscribed on them makes us proud,” he says. The tourism potential of the Biennale is well-known. Culture accounts for 35 per cent of the United Kingdom’s gross domestic product (GDP). “But we need infrastructure and the renovation of the Durbar Hall (using Rs. 5 crore government grant) was a step in that right direction.”

On the education front, new vistas have been thrown open to students and culture enthusiasts. The students’ biennale being curated by 15 young artists for instance, connects them umbilically with an event that showcases the best in the practice in the world, he says. Like last time, art enthusiasts around the globe and students from all over the country are preparing

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by S. Anandan / Kochi – December 10th, 2014

Kochi Book Festival opens

Arts,Culture & Entertainment

The 18 edition of the Kochi International Book Festival began at the Ernakulathappan Grounds here on Saturday evening.

Readers flocked to the venue of the annual festival soon after the inauguration. The festival was inaugurated by Minister for Culture K.C. Joseph and writer Sethu, who is also the chairman of the National Book Trust.

About 240 publishers are taking part in the exhibition, organised by the Antharashtra Pusthakotsava Samithi.

The fete, which began with a dance programme soon after the inauguration, will include several book releases, children’s competitions, talks and discussions by writers, and cultural programmes. Jnanpith Award winners Kedarnath Singh and M.T. Vasudevan Nair are among the few writers scheduled to speak at the festival in the coming days.

Bestselling books, classic titles, children’s literature, and works of writers from all over the world are on display at the fete.

The festival concludes on December 8.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Staff Reporter / Kochi – November 30th, 2014