In less than a month Panchatantra, Aesop’s fables, Gulliver’s Travels and Oliver Twist will reach the remote village of Kichangani in Tanzania, thanks to Somy Solomon and her social media friends. Hartal or no hartal, her team of 50 is busy categorizing the 7,000 odd books -collected from all over India and abroad- at SH School of Communication on Saturday. Around 50 volunteers from the college and Cusat turned up to categorize the books before shipping. The sorting works will be completed by Sunday and the books will be shipped before March 22.
Kichangani Library, which received social media attention since October 2014, is not just a library, but a learning centre for the villagers. “Such a learning centre came to my mind after I reached Tanzania in 2012 after my marriage. Education is a luxury that most people cannot afford. And for the same reason, they are exploited and most kids go for domestic work at a young age. I feel a learning centre would be the first step to help them,” said Solomon, mother of two-year old Pachu. The envisaged centre will also have a reading room, a video room and computer training centre.
While the space for the centre was provided by the Kichangani village chairman, books were donated by people across India, Singapore, Sharjah, Dubai, Germany and the US. The cost of packing and shipment was sponsored by an IT firm based in Kochi and the transportation is being done with the help of a non-resident Malayali based in Tanzania.
The contributions were books and CDs in English and Swahili, including language and literature, general knowledge, biographies and diaries, dictionaries, atlases, geography and history texts, art books etc.
The learning centre, which Solomon hopes to extend to other villages, will have a drinking water facility. “Water scarcity is one of the major problems here. We hope to set up a drinking water facility at the centre for which the people have to pay as per the law of the land. The money collected will be used to run the library,” she said.
Solomon has begun a non-profit organization named ‘Ubuntu Reads’ to get government recognition for the library project. Twelve kids from the village will be given training to run the library. “This is to ensure that even if I leave the place, the movement will still go on,” she said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kochi / TNN / March 15th, 2015
BLESSED FOOD The origin of the feast is associated with a legend and preparations involve the entire village folk. Photo: Thulasi Kakkat
The annual feast of St. Joseph in Kanamally is a century-old tradition that sees the entire village come together to prepare a meal for over one lakh people
Year after year, for the last 110 years, all roads, from far and wide, wind their way to Kannamaly on March 19. On this day the scenic village, hemmed in by backwaters on the east and the sea on the west, finds itself in the throes of a celebration that is both spiritual and communal. The annual feast of St. Joseph held at the village church, St. Antony’s, feeds on the day almost a lakh and fifty thousand, with a meal, a sadya, prepared by the village community and volunteers who come from different parts of the State to participate in the activity.
The origins of this communal cooking and feasting began in 1905 when the area was supposedly hit by a tsunami. It led to water logging and a subsequent cholera epidemic. Parish priest Fr. Joseph Kadanattuthara says that stories of the time are about rotting dead bodies lying around and of the hungry and the sick in each household.
It was then that a group of doomed men came to the church to prepare for impending death. The priest is said to have placated them informing that the next day was the death anniversary of Joseph, father of Jesus, and they should prepare for death for the next day. He cooked a sparse meal and shared it with the group, asking them to offer some to the dying in their homes. This food is supposed to have cured them all. From that day, March 19, 1905 the feast of St Joseph began.
In the early days the villagers cooked food at home and brought it to the church for sharing. This grew into communal cooking over the years with people joining from different places as volunteers. Many partake in chopping of vegetables, grinding spices, cleaning the premises, arranging firewood, making pickles and winding up after the feast. “There are people who grow vegetables to be used for this feast; a family brings 2,000 kilos of yam every year,” says Fr. Joseph adding that they plant yam only for this occasion. “Similarly people bring coconuts, rice and other provisions.”
The meal that consists of ulli curry, two vegetables, sambar and rice is prepared on firewood in very big vessels. Members of the 1,500 families that form the congregation of the church help in the preparations that begin a month before.
Provisions like sacks of rice, sugar for payasam, mounds of vegetables, oil, ghee and such begin to be stocked in the school in the church yard. Closer to the date women from nearby houses begin arriving to chop and prepare.
A day before, the fires are lit and cooking is done all night long. Maria Xavier, 50, a former teacher who now runs a ladies store says that the preparations for this large scale cooking are planned and undertaken by the ‘kalavara’ committee.
It begins on March 12 with women peeling up to 1,000 kilos of onions and storing them to be used in the curries. Nearly 500 kilos of bitter gourd and 800 kilos of mangoes are peeled, cut and stored.
Two days later the only work in the ad-hoc kitchen is grating and grinding coconut- thenga peera- and roasting it with chopped shallots, vazhathu. The next day the onion curry, and mango pickle are made and stored. On March 16 bitter gourd is cut and prepared. The following day is a No Work Day. On the night before the feast the fires are lit and rice is prepared in almost 20 vessels. The main mixed curry too is prepared. Cooking is halted at eight in the morning.
“As soon as the morning mass is over, at eight, the meals are served,” says Jaison Ezhuthaikkal, event coordinator, who has put up a 1, 20,000 sq ft canopy to accommodate the diners.
“In the olden days people sat on the floor and ate on banana leaves but now with increasing numbers arriving arrangements have changed. The ela sadya has given way in the last two years to a buffet,” says Maria. A relatively new addition is bottled payasam, sold at Rs. 50. This is done by a group from Tripunithura.
Antony Peko, 78, is a known name in the area. He heads a team of 10 assistants to cook, having mastered the art from his father. Sisters Barbara and Baby Pullamaserry, in their 70s, too have been associated with the food preparations for the last many decades.
Thettamma is another respected cook known for her skill at cooking huge quantities. Tom Edward whose family has been associated with the activity since its inception and is a patron of the church, remembers a year when it poured heavily, but the area around the church, where the feast was being cooked, served and savoured remained dry. Another hearsay story is of rice remaining fresh in a pit where it was buried as leftover.
“It is generally believed that the meal is blessed and that is the reason that draws people in hordes from distant places. It’s faith that brings them,” says Maria whose house becomes an open house. Last year she had 45 people staying at her house, not all known to her. Her neighbours too open their homes to strangers. “Balconies and verandas of every house in this area hosts visitors who come in groups. This is tradition,” she affirms.
In its century-old history food has never run short. It is cooked manually right through the day and night. By early evening if the curries begin to get over, fresh parippu curry is prepared. This goes on late into midnight, “by which time everyone is tired.”
“But we wake up fresh next morning satisfied that so many people ate a blessed meal,” says Maria.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Priyadershini S / Kochi – March 18th, 2015
Some of the young residents of S.M.S.S. Hindu Mahila Mandiram Photo: Nita Sathyendran / The Hindu
Women of all ages get a new lease of life at the S.M.S.S. Hindu Mahila Mandiram, which kicks off preparations for its centenary celebrations on Saturday
School’s over for the day, but Aparna and Shilpa, both of them students of class nine of Chinnamma Memorial Girls High School and long-time residents of S.M.S.S. Hindu Mahila Mandiram at Poojapura, which runs the school, have a lot of revising to do for an upcoming maths exam. Oblivious to the ruckus, as happy youngsters in this 95-year-old home for indigent girls and women make the most of play time, the duo are bent over their notebooks, working out complex geometry equations, helped by a couple of home tutors.
“We want to be computer engineers and we are determined to work hard for it,” says Aparna, brimming with confidence. Sprightly Aishwarya, meanwhile, a student of class 11 and one of the home’s star pupils, wants to become an architect. She is busy prepping for her role as the compere for an upcoming event at the Mandiram. Like these three precocious youngsters, every one of the 96 girls, ages ranging five to 19, who call the Mahila Mandiram their home, want to make something of themselves. Guiding their dreams to fruition is M. Sreekumari, the organisation’s long-time honorary secretary, and her merry band of dedicated volunteers and staff members.
Mahila Mandiram was established in 1918 and registered as a charitable organisation in 1920 by K. Chinnamma and centres its activities on the ‘care, education, empowerment and rehabilitation’ of orphans and women and children from impoverished backgrounds. “We’ve tried to carry forward the legacy and social commitment of our founder. Our aim is not only to bring the girls up well and get them married off, but to also make each one of them stand on their own two feet, be empowered, self-sufficient and, above all, have self-respect,” says 71-year-old Sreekumari, who has been running the organisation for some 34 years now.
M. Sreekumari, honorary secretary (left), and Radha Lakshmi, president, SMSS Hindu Mahila Mandiram Photo: Nita Sathyendran / The Hindu
“Social work is in my very genes; I come from a family which has always been into social work. I am in awe of Chinnamma who thought so far ahead for women and children of the land, at a time when they were relegated to being second class citizens. Chinnamma hailed from an ordinary family in Attingal but was determined to get an education. Encouraged by her kunjamma [maternal aunt] who worked at the palace, she was one of the first female students of the Fort High School. She completed graduation after marriage and rose to become an inspector of schools in erstwhile Travancore and became a pioneer in social work. Chinnamma died at 47, 12 years after she established the organisation, the seeds for which must have been sown in her early teens itself,” adds Sreekumari, as she shows us around the well-kept home that includes spacious living quarters and a library, among other facilities.
“We are all one big family here,” she says, responding with a smile or a small wave as the youngsters call out greetings – in near reverence – to their ‘Amma.’
Apart from the home and the high school, Mahila Mandiram runs a Government-aided lower primary school, a working women’s hostel, an old age home for impoverished women at Azhoor, Chirayinkeezh, Panchavadi, ‘a holistic community development project, benefitting both children and the elderly’ at Vellanad, and a vocational training centre, the Mahima complex (currently under renovation).
They started out by giving young women training in handloom weaving and changed to “more feasible trades” as times changed.
Today Mahima complex houses a stitching and embroidery unit, a book binding unit, an offset press, and a computer centre that not only trains young women from the locality but provides employment opportunities too. In fact, for its efforts, the organisation won the national award for child welfare in 2013.
“Apart from fundraising, one challenge is actually finding committed personnel to help run the organisation. Because we can’t afford to pay exorbitant salaries, most of those who come for work here view it as a stop-gap arrangement. This also means that we are not savvy enough to attract the kind of corporate sponsorship that is available nowadays. Then again, the biggest challenge is raising the children – two at home is difficult, imagine a 100!
“Each child is a challenge, more so when the child in question has come to us after suffering emotional/physical trauma. We try to give them as much individual care as possible but it’s not always easy and we’ll never measure up to their mothers, who they would have left behind. The key is to persevere come what may and get them on the path to success,” says Sreekumari.
For a cause
On Saturday, March 21, 5 p.m., the organisation kicks off the first event in its master plan for its centenary celebrations – a fundraising event for Puthen Mandiram, the old age home at Azhoor, established in 2002. “We want to celebrate our centenary by bringing more women and children under our umbrella,” says Radha Lakshmi, president of the organisation. Having started functioning with just four residents, Puthen Mandiram [the land and heritage home was donated by one of the organisation’s member T. Madhavi Amma] now accommodates 15 women. “The present accommodation falls short of the comforts the residents require. By 2020 we want to expand the facility to a two-storey building to accommodate at least 25 elderly women, and make it more age-friendly, besides starting several outreach programmes such as a day care centre, assisted living facilities and an ambulance service,” adds Sreekumari. Contact: 0471 2351243
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Nita Sathyendran / Thiruvananthapuram – March 19th, 2015
The twelve final year students of Oriental School of Hotel Management in Kerala who made the longest puttu.
A world record was achieved by making the longest puttu in the world of 18.2 feet, by twelve final year students of Oriental School of Hotel Management, Lakkidi, Wayanad, Kerala. It was held on March 16th, 2015 at 3.00 pm in the campus of the institution. The longest puttuwas made as per the guidelines and specifications of the Guinness World Records.
Students standing next to their creation, the longest puttu in the history of puttu in Kerala.
The twelve final year students who etched their names in the World Record attempt are Ms. Syama. M, Ms. Kavya Varghese, Mr. Akhil. B, Mr. Sivajith. S, Mr. Akshay Jain, Mr. Nithin George, Mr. Yadav Gurunathan, Mr. Jobu Ebin, Mr. Ebin Albert, Mr. Umesh. R. Nair, Mr. Jishnu. P. R and Mr. Mohammed Saif, all final year Hospitality Management students under the able guidance of Mr. K. C. Robbins, Principal of Oriental School of Hotel Management.
Puttu is an authentic Kerala breakfast dish of steamed cylinders of ground rice layered and blended with grated coconut. The ingredients for making the longest Puttu were 20 kg of ground rice flour, 15 grated coconuts, 15lts of water, salt, and a special equipment mould of aluminum was meticulously designed by the institution to prepare the longest puttu for the record breaking event. The longest puttu weighted 31.87kg.
Twelve final year students of Oriental School of Hotel Management in Kerala have managed to set a new Guinness World Record by steaming up the longest puttu.
The students took an hour and 15 minutes to prepare the world’s longest puttu and this is the result of days of relentless hard work and detailed planning. The Oriental School of Hotel Management is managed and owned by Malabar Hotel Management and Catering Promotion Trust—a charitable Institution founded by the visionary and social icon—Dr. N. K. Mohammed, the guiding force and inspiration behind the challenging event.
Earlier in 2006, the students of this institution had made a ten feet long puttu by using 10 coconuts and 26 kg of powdered rice in a specially designed 12-foot-long aluminum mould which took one-and-a-half hours to be cooked. (Refer: Wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puttu).
The world’s longest puttu being examined at the Oriental School of Hotel Management in Kerala.
The world record attempt by the students of the institution has surpassed their own previous record, and will be appropriately certified and documented by the Guinness World Records. All the documents and supporting evidence have been sent to the Guinness World Records for appropriate verification and certification.
source: http://www.food.manoramaonline.com / On Manorama / by Correspondent, On Manorama / Home> Food> Foodie / Monday – March 16th, 2015
Any attempt to find a connection between Kerala’s popular percussion instrument chenda and pieces of bamboo may sound bizarre. But in the hands of a set of tribal artists from Kasaragod, bamboo pieces chatter in a voice similar to that of chenda.
Named as mulam chenda (bamboo drum), the instrument is made of one-meter long bamboo pieces, end of which are tied with long ropes. The instrument with long narrow slits on the middle part of the bamboo pieces has tonal resemblance with chenda when hit with specially designed sticks.
According to Ananthan M V and his troupe of nine other percussionists hailing from ‘Mavilar’ tribal community from Kasaragod, the instrument is a symbol of their indigenous culture and music, which is now a part of their livelihood. The group was in the city as part of the ‘Thala Maholsavam’ organized by Vylopilly Samskrithi Bhavan that began on Saturday.With the support of Kerala Institute for Research Training and Development Studies (Kirtads) and other government-registered organizations the team has performed in more than 350 venues across the country.
The group often uses mulam chenda as an accompaniment to the tribal songs composed by them in Malayalam and Tulu. “As per the custom, the actual duration of the performance is one day with intervals, but when performing outside we have to do it in a stipulated time and we prepare the songs and rhythms accordingly,” Ananthan said.
Mulam chendas are classified into two, the ‘veek chenda’ or the bass drum and ‘mani chenda’ or the melody drum. The instrument was used for ritual customs to please the presiding deity of the tribe, marriage rituals and to scare off birds and animals from agricultural fields. To make mulam chendas one has to select the suitable pieces from the bamboo variety ‘aringadom mula’, which should be done on a new moon day that too according to the moopan’s (tribe leader) guidelines.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Thiruvananthapuram / TNN / March 16th, 2015
The library to be opened at MAM UP School, Parambil Kadavu t p sooraj
Thiruvananthapuram :
In book shelves arranged on branches and the trunk of a tree’s statue, ‘Aksharakoodaram,’ a library to be opened at MAM Upper Primary School, Parambil Kadavu, Kozhikode will feature books from the personal collections of major writers in Malayalam like M T Vasudevan Nair, Sugatha Kumari, P Valsala, etc. And with these appealing features, the school library is being set up for a unique cause – to develop a reading culture among the families by taking the parents, besides the children, to the world of books. Apart from the teachers and students, each of the parents will be the members of the library, which will be opened by writer M T Vasudevan Nair on March 19.
Aimed at instilling better interest in reading among the children, the library club of the school had organised a programme to introduce the writers, along with their books, by conducting visits to their homes, and the books for the library was a result of that.
“The collection of books for the library began on the last reading day when the students interacted with M P Veerendra Kumar, who donated his 18 books to the library. Later, they had an interaction with M T Vasudevan Nair during Onam and then with writers like U A Khader, Satchidanandan, etc., who donated their own as well as other books in their collections for the library,” points out library convener Simi Z A.
“We actually aimed at offering an opportunity to the children to interact with the writers and they offered their books after knowing about our project,” points out Rajeesh Kumar, who led the programme.
“After making the parents the members of the library, we will be organising book discussions during the class PTA meetings with an aim to develop a reading culture among them, which will have a great influence on the children. It will further give a boost to the academic activities of the children, who will be encouraged at home to get into the reading habit beyond their academic syllabus. The majority of the parents often show reluctance towards children reading books other than their textbooks and creating interest in reading among the parents will bring in a change to it,” points out school headmaster Devanandan K C.
Apart from the writers’ collections, publishers like Lipi, Chinta, DC Books, Olive, etc. and the students and alumni members have also contributed books to the library, around 1,500 of them, and the school authorities aim to increase the number of books to 5,000 this year. All other accessories in the library and reading room, including the table, fan, tiles, shelves, computer, etc have been donated by the alumni members. An amount of Rs 1.5 lakh has also been raised from the teachers, students and alumni members. Moreover, the library will also be fully digitised with a software developed by an alumni member.
“What attracts me is that it’s not the library and its facilities, but the opportunity it provides to select books according to our taste,” says Anagha Krishna S J, a class VII student.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Anila Backer / March 12th, 2015
Many takers:Municipal chairman A. Sureshkumar with She Auto drivers in Pathanamthitta town.— Photo: Leju Kamal
Five pink autorickshaws ply on Pathanamthitta roads
Pathanamthitta is becoming a model in gender support, with the Pathanamthitta municipality pioneering She Auto service in the town limits.
Taking a cue from the Shetaxi scheme of the Social Welfare Department, the civic body here has introduced the State’s maiden She Auto scheme a month ago. Painted in pink, the She Autos are fast getting popular in the town, says A. Sureshkumar, municipal chairman, who is the brain behind the women empowerment programme.
The municipality has sanctioned 12 She Autos and the first allotment of five autorikshaws hit the road a month ago. The other seven beneficiaries are undergoing driving classes and vehicles will be allotted to them as soon as they qualify the driving test, says the civic body chief.
The municipality has provided subsidy to the tune of Rs.60,000 each to the beneficiaries belonging to Scheduled Castes sections and Rs.40,000 to those in the general category. The civic body has also arranged vehicle loan to all the 12 beneficiaries through UCO Bank.
“A majority of our customers are women and we earn a profit of Rs.650 to Rs.750 a day,” say Sindhu, Lonamma and Sathi Muraleedharan, She Auto drivers. Suchitra and Rajalakshmi are the other two She Auto drivers in the town.
However, the autorickshaw drivers at the autorickshaw stand near the private bus stand are up in arms against allotting a separate stand for She Autos in front of the private bus stand. District Collector S. Harikishore has intervened in the issue and an amicable settlement is expected soon, says Mr. Sureshkumar.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Kerala / by Radhakrishnan Kuttoor / Pathanamthitta – March 09th, 2015
Women, who participated in the kite flying training programme on Sunday on Kozhikode beach, trying to control a kite.— Photo: K. Ragesh
It takes eight to 10 men to control the 1,000-kg circular kite of the One India Kite team. Founder of the team Abdulla Maliyekkal was quite apprehensive when he gave the reins of the kite to a group of women . His apprehension was not misplaced considering how the women struggled with it initially, but it gave way to happiness watching the first professional all-women kite team in the country take form.
The team named ‘Incredible India’ was launched on the Kozhikode beach on Sunday, on the occasion of International Women’s Day.
Training in style
Supported by their parent group One India Kite Team, the women who have undergone training in the nuances of kite flying, took off in style flying the Circular kite and the Kathakali kite amidst the curious Sunday crowd on the beach. “This is the most relaxing experience I have ever had. Controlling a kite is not child’s play. It takes great coordination and team work. Hence while flying the kites, we forget everything else,” said Mini Nair, team captain.
The team now plans to take part in kite festivals across the country and abroad where they plan to present some kites of their own.
As part of the launch of the women’s team, the One India Kite Team, in association with the women’s wing of Junior Chamber International, Calicut, had organised a kite-flying training programme for women, which was attended by 25 women. “The training was given by expert kite flyers Abdulla Maliyekkal, Hashim Kadakkalakam and Shyam Padman.
source: http:// www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Kerala / by Aabha Anoop / March 09th, 2015
An expert demonstrates how to prepare organic fertilizers during a training programme organised by the National Horticulture Mission on the CWRDM campus at Kunnamangalam in the city. / The Hindu
Along with vegetables, spices also need to be cultivated organically, say experts.
Spreading awareness among people about the importance of producing toxin-free spices through organic cultivation was the main thrust of a training programme in homestead water management and organic spice cultivation organised by the National Horticulture Mission in collaboration with the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management (CWRDM) on its campus at Kunnamangalam here.
Around 60 housewives, who are members of the farmers club aided by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), participated in the two-day training programme, which was inaugurated by the Kunnamangalam MLA P.T.A. Raheem on Monday.
Water resources
In various sessions, scientists as well as experts from the centre and the Agricultural Department spoke on how to go about managing the available water resources in a common household for the cultivation of essential spices including ginger, turmeric and pepper.
E. Abdul Hameed, Technical officer of CWRDM, talked about the things to be done while cultivating spices in the backyard.
While CWRDM scientist Dinesh Kumar spoke about the role of spices in the protection of health, K.R Prasannakumar, another expert from the centre, spoke on the role of soil fertility and use of organic fertilizers for spices cultivation.
P. Vikraman, former Principal Agricultural Officer, demonstrated on how to prepare organic fertilizers and pesticides.
The scientists also clarified various doubts raised by the participants during the programme.
One kg of ginger and turmeric rhizomes each as well as five saplings of pepper were distributed free to the participants at the end of the session. CWRDM executive director N.B. Narasimha Prasad presided over the function. CWRDM Training Education and Extension Division (TEED) head Kamalam Joseph and NABARD District Development manager K.P. Padmakumar among others spoke. Details about organic spices cultivation can be had from the organisers. Ph: 9447276177.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kozhikode / by Jabir Musthari / Kozhikode – March 04th, 2015
“I still remember the day when I heard about the murder of Gandhiji in the radio. My mother broke down hearing that,” said poet and social activist Sugathakumari”, while narrating her childhood memories when radio made its entry to the state. “For today’s youth addicted to television, all these stories will sound like a fairytale,” she said.
Sugathakumari was releasing the book ‘Aakaashathile Nakshathrangal, Memories at Akashavani’ written by S Saraswathi Amma, by handing over the first copy to Kudumbashree Mission director K B Valsala Kumari at a function held at Press Club on Monday.
Saraswathi Amma, who retired as assistant station director of All India Radio, Thiruvananthapuram, is well known for the women centric programme, ‘Mahilalayam’, she had produced for several years. She is known as ‘chechi’ among listeners and her advices were hugely popular among homemakers.
It is a blend of history, memories, observation and 25 years of service at AIR which she has narrated in simple language in her book. The book also describes the artists who worked with her at Akashavani. “The book is my gratitude to my AIR family,” said Saraswathi Amma.
Mentioning legends such as G Sankara Kurup, T N Gopinathan Nair, Nagavally R S Kurup and Jagathy N K Achary, who had once ruled the Akashavani Thiruvananthapuram station, Sugathakumari said, “It was through them we learned the language and its pronunciation properly. No doubt, it was the golden era of radio”.
The book contains interesting anecdotes about the stalwarts and like her programmes Saraswathy Amma has presented them in a manner that is appealing to the masses.
Kerala Sahithya Academy president Perumbadavam Sreedharan and others spoke.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Thiruvananthapuram / TNN / March 03rd, 2015
