Daily Archives: August 4, 2014

Kerala 100 years ago, reloaded and gone viral

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence
Kozhikode Railway Station in 1908 and (right) goods being transported using country boats. Photos by Clain & Paul studio, Madras.
Kozhikode Railway Station in 1908 and (right) goods being transported using country boats. Photos by Clain & Paul studio, Madras.

Kochi:

Ever wonder how Keralites lived 100 years ago? Photographs of the lifestyle, attire, schools and  hospitals in Kerala taken by a studio in Chennai and shared by Southern California University, USA, describing Kerala’s day-to-day life 100 years ago have  surfaced on internet. Seventy-eight  photos providing  glimpses into  Kerala culture are  going viral on the social media with several persons sharing them, including Thiruvananthapuram MP Sashi Tharoor.

The pictures were shot by unidentified  photographers who worked for Clain & Paul studio, Madras. Most of the pictures belong to the Basel Mission.  There are photographs of Brahmin, Muslim, Nair and Christian families. The oldest photo is of the Mananchira Trade House and the manmade lake taken in 1850.

The photos of Lighthouse, Calicut, Chirakkal mosque, Kannur, Tali temple, Kozhikode, Indian Mission Station, Vaaniyamkulam, dated 1888, Thalassery Mission School 1911, a Christian Church in 1913, the Mananchira manmade lake  and the trade house  throw light into the ancient history as well as the culture of Kerala. Most of them were shot in the Malabar region, especially Kozhikode and Malappuram. Some pictures focused on the education sector showing Sunday school, women learning English and Christianity.

After Tharoor shared these  pictures, Chandrashekar Sivarama, a Facebook user posted, “It’s sad you have to get this info from a foreign university. Let’s start a movement to get these pictures from these foreign universities. We expect Mr. Tharoor to lead this cause.”

The album also shows the pictures of working class society. Men are seen engaged in hard labour while women are seen in household works and in tile factories. Many more interesting photos  are available in the digital library of Southern California University.

source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> Nation> Current Affairs / DC / Rohit Raj / July 27th, 2014

A lone woman’s crusade against the sand mafia

Amazing Feats, Green Initiatives & Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature
Jazeera along with her children protesting in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. Photo: Kaavya Pradeep Kumar / The Hindu
Jazeera along with her children protesting in front of the Secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram. Photo: Kaavya Pradeep Kumar / The Hindu

Jazeera is on a silent campaign, in defence of the Neerozhukkumchal beach in Kannur

The so-called sand mafia of a little taluk in Kannur rues the day Jazeera returned home. Dismissed as an insignificant voice of protest against the rampant exploitation of a stretch of shoreline near Pazhayangadi town, this woman has soon come to be known as a force to be reckoned with. All the way from the northern district of Kannur, she has brought her silent campaign to the State capital, as she sits in front of the Secretariat with her three children — protesting without loud sloganeering or politically coloured flags or leaflets.

Entering the fifth day, Jazeera’s protest has thus far been eclipsed by a far more populous Left protest.

Now that they have left, the presence of this family has become more conspicuous, leading the Chief Minister to meet them briefly on Monday afternoon on the issue of sand-mining in her hometown. For Jazeera, the cause is intensely personal, as the Neerozhukkumchal beach is the canvas all her childhood memories are painted upon.

She is an autorickshaw driver, a profession she has struggled to be part of, in a conservative society. She does not let herself to be affected by such taboos and continued working until after her marriage in 2004, when she moved to Kottayam with her husband.

She has found the new district far more accepting. It was only one and a half years ago, when she returned home during the final month of her third pregnancy, did she see to her shock the daylight robbery of a natural landscape.

Countless visits to the Kannur collectorate and police stations have proved futile.

And for the past one and a half years, her silent protest has involved a sit-in, along with her daughters Rizwana, Shifana and her son Mohammed. The two girls, aged 12 and 10, know everything about the case and have flanked their mother every step. Her husband, Abdul Salaam, is a teacher at a madrasa in Kochi.

While he has not been a visible part of Jazeera’s protest, his support, despite pressure various quarters, has been a huge boon for her.

She is clear about her objective despite the obstacles strewn before her in terms of muscle and money power. Even the police, she says, have pleaded with her to give up. “Their greed is despicable. In broad daylight they commit this heinous crime of emptying our lands, oblivious to the fact that there are so many creatures that depend on it. The sudden depth of water is dangerous as well,” she says.

She is glad to have met the Chief Minister personally and she said he assured her that he would ensure that the vehicles carting away the sand would be immediately dealt with.

She will leave once she obtains something in print promising a complete halt of the activities.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Kerala / by Kaavya Pradeep Kumar / Thiruvananthapuram – August 08th, 2013