Daily Archives: September 16, 2015

Kannur flew, way before its first airport

Kannur :

Kannur is all set to take wings with authorities of the Kannur International Airport burning the midnight oil to ensure that commercial operations at the airport begin by mid-2016.

However, this will not be the region’s first brush with airline operations. Not many know that the first flight to the state had landed in this cantonment town – decades before the Kannur airport was conceptualized. The DH83 Fox Moth aircraft of Tata Airlines was the maiden flight of that operator to Kerala, under the patronage of Maharaja Chithira Thirunal, the last king of Travancore.

The operator started the service to Kerala on October 29, 1935, after the frequency of the Karachi-Madras flight, was increased to twice a week in 1934, according to the website of Tata. The weekly service between Bombay and Trivandrum had stops at Goa and Cannanore. Though Kannur was not a commercial stop, the small aircraft had to land here for refuelling. It was the time of the British reign and Kannur cantonment had an airstrip as the military headquarters here used to have several airmail from Bombay.

“The first passengers were JRD Tata’s colleague Jal Naoroji and the well-known Bombay merchant Seth Kanji Dwarkadas, the latter wearing a traditional dhoti, a long black dagalo coat and a small black cap,” the website says.

Seeing the flight was nothing short of a great spectacle and children in the town went as if they were going to watch a festival, remembered Captain Krishnan Nair in his autobiography ‘Krishna Leela’.

“It was in the Fort Ground that the aircraft landed… and even now that feeling of wonder is in my heart. The ‘Pushapakavimana’ we heard of in the epics is here in the Kannur Fort Ground, we said in mind. We kids shouted and some of us wanted to touch it. But since there were security personnel there we couldn’t,” wrote Captain Krishnan Nair in his autobiography ‘Krishna Leela’.

The flight put Kannur on India’s airline map though it had no airport, according to Madhu Kayarat a former employee with Peirce & Leslie, the ticketing agent for Tata’s air service.

“And if the information I got from my seniors at Peirce & Leslie is correct, the first flight had birthday greeting for the Maharaja from Lord Willingdon, the viceroy, and a copy of The Times of India, making the most prominent daily newspaper in the country available to a Malayali reader on the day of its printing,” he said.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Kozhikode / by P. Sudhakaran, TNN / September 14th, 2015

Take a sip, thumb through at leisure

BookshopKERALA16sept2015

A few cafes have put up well-loaded bookshelves, but there aren’t many takers.

A leisurely hour or two spent over a cup of espresso and nibbling something while reading a book may recall images of a Parisian sidewalk café but that was what a few establishments in the city bravely attempted when they stocked up on books.

This was also to stand out from other hangouts where loud music and talk was the order of the day.

Something for all

City residents though are yet to warm up to the idea. Cherries and Berries at Cotton Hill has the usual Chetan Bhagat, James Patterson, John Grisham, and Jane Austens, but also J.D. Salinger and Gustave Flaubert for the serious-minded. Children can bury their noses in the adventures of Pinocchio. But only five or 10 people a day reach out for the books, says café employee Sheeja. Most people come in groups and for fun, she says.

Take them home

At Square One Homemade Treats, the shelf of books weighs light these days as customers can not only borrow books but also buy one if they so wish. Here too, only or two people a day sit and read at the outlet, says Prem G. Jacob, floor manager. “This is probably because we have only a few seats and are usually busy, which is not what those looking to sit and read here at leisure have in mind.” The shop plans to add to its collection soon.

Brewberry at Sasthamangalam has some 10-15 books, but few takers. “Most people just turn the pages, and then move on to the food,” says manager G.V.K. Nair. There are some who come in when the crowd is thin to spend long hours reading, he says. The magazines here are changed regularly, though the book titles remain the same, something that is not an issue at Cherries and Berries where people can take home books provided they leave one behind.

The comfort factor

At Café Sarwaa, which has some 60 plus books, the clientele mostly comprises groups or couples. Single people who are likely to linger over coffee and read something are few and far between. Some do come, but to work or make use of the Wi-Fi facility, say the owners. “Women, especially, need to feel comfortable in a café, with no one to disturb them.” Finishing a book in a café is not easy, they agree.

Takers or no takers, most cafés have no plans to dismantle the book shelf as yet.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by R.K. Roshni / Thiruvananthapuram – September 15th, 2015