Subhash Chandran wins Vayalar Award

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All
Novelist Subhash Chandran. Photo: R.V. Moorthy / The Hindu
Novelist Subhash Chandran. Photo: R.V. Moorthy / The Hindu

Novelist Subhash Chandran has won this year’s Vayalar Rama Varma Literary Award for his novel “Manushyanu Oru Aamukham”.

The award, to be presented on October 27, Vayalar Rama Varma’s death anniversary, carries a purse of Rs. 1 lakh, statuette and citation. The purse has been increased from Rs. 25,000 earlier thanks to support from the Government of Kerala.

Mr. Subhash Chandran had won the Sahitya Akademi for the same novel last year.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by C.  Gouridasan Nair / Thiruvananthapuram – October 10th, 2015

A museum for dance enthusiasts

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Travel

Thiruvananthapuram  :

A national dance museum, claimed to be the first in the country, will be inaugurated on Friday.

Located on two acres in Vattiyoorkavu, the Rs 12-crore Guru Gopinath National Dance Museum (GGNDM) will showcase the evolution, heritage and diversity of dance forms in India and abroad.

Promoted by Guru Gopinath Natanagramam, an institution under the department of culture, the museum has been named after Kathakali maestro Dr Guru Gopinath (Guruji).

“Our plan is to bring all information regarding dance in India and abroad under one umbrella,” said James Sunny, Natanagramam secretary.

The 42,000-square feet museum on three floors would have 10 galleries displaying paintings, statuettes, costumes, photographs, Indian musical instruments. An audio-visual presentation of various dance forms and a digital library, too, would be available.

“The costumes were purchased from professional dance costume makers in different parts of the country. As a tribute, we have devoted a gallery to Guruji, which will have his rare photographs and a 500-kg bronze statue,” said Yohesh Shrinivasan, chief designer.

A 5D theatre would be set up in the second phase. “Performances by foreign and Indian artists will be organized,” said T Venu Kumar, executive officer of Guru Gopinath Natanagramam.

He added that the museum would have avenues for research on various dance forms. Wax statues, too, would be displayed.

The central government had allocated a grant of Rs 6 crore for the museum. While the state government chipped in with Rs 5 crore, the Guru Gopinath Natanagramam contributed Rs 1 crore.

A 20-foot-high statue of sage Bharata would be an added attraction at the museum campus.

source:  http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Thiruvananthapuram / TNN / October 01st, 2015

Learning the Honey Business

Agriculture, Business & Economy
Participants at the programme on Beekeeping held at ICAR- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Peruvannamuzhi
Participants at the programme on Beekeeping held at ICAR- Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Peruvannamuzhi

Kozhikode :

Beekeeping is a ludicrous business and a healthy profit can be gleaned if it is done after obtaining the proper training. A district level training programme on Beekeeping was organised at ICAR-Krishi Vigyan Kendra, Peruvannamuzhi.

Classes on different species of honeybees, their behaviour, bee colony maintenance, significance of beekeeping, pest and disease management in Apiary (a place where bees are kept; a collection of beehives), different by-products of beekeeping etc were covered during the three day programme. Practical session on Beekeeping was also organised at District Agricultural Farm, Koothali and KVK, Peruvannamuzhi.

The trainees will be issued certificates and they are also eligible for obtaining beehives and other accessories at 40 per cent subsidy by the Horticorp.

A total of 36 trainees including rural youth and farm women from Kunnummal, Balusserry, Naduvannur, Thodannur, Chelannur and Perambra blocks of the district participated while 27 participants completed the training course successfully.

The training programme was led by K K Aiswariya, subject matter specialist (Plant Protection) of KVK.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / October 09th, 2015

A spiritual backwash from the sixties

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Leaders, Records, All, Travel

From the travel log of ISKCON founder Abhay Charan De during his stopover.

An artist’s impression of Abhay Charan De boarding the ship M.V. Jaladuta.
An artist’s impression of Abhay Charan De boarding the ship M.V. Jaladuta.

Fifty years ago, Abhay Charan De, a young man who was actively involved in Mahatma Gandhi’s Civil Disobedience movement, inspired by the teachings of Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati, agreed to his mentor’s request to spread Hindu culture to the Western world. He set sail on August 13, 1965, as the lone cabin passenger onboard M.V. Jaladuta, a cargo ship bound for the United States.

With a complimentary ticket courtesy Sumati Morarjee, owner of Scindia Steam Navigation Company, a two-month tourist visa and Rs. 40 in hand, embarked on the rigorous journey. On August 22, the ship anchored at Kochi. Abhay Charan De stayed at Mattancherry as the guest of the shipping agents, Jairam & Sons. Abhay Charan De in his diary records his Kochi stopover. “The dock is peculiar,” he writes, “because it is by nature full of small islands. Some of the islands are full with nice hutments formerly known as British Island.”

Abhay Charan De saw his books that had arrived from Bombay in five boxes loaded into the ship in the evening. He then went around Mattancherry and Ernakulam. “Out of the group of islands, two big islands joined by an iron overbridge are known as Kochi and Ernakulam.

The iron overbridge was constructed by the Britishers very nicely along with railway lines. The railways line is extended up to the Port. There are many flourishing foreign firms and banks. It is Sunday and the bazar was closed. I saw a peculiar kind of plantain that is available in this part of the country. The island known as Kochi is not an up-to-date city. The roads are like narrow lanes. The parts of the city where the foreigners reside are well situated. The buildings, factories, etc. all big, are well maintained. The Mohamedan quarters are separate from the Hindu quarters like in the other Indian cities.” His diary makes a mention of Ernakulam, which he found to be ‘up-to-date.’ “There is a nice park on the bank of the gulf and it is named Subhas Bose Park. It is good that Subhas Babu is popular in this part of the country. I saw the Kerala High Court and the public buildings, the High Court being situated in Ernakulam it appears that the city is the capital of Kerala.”

The movement he started, International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), from a small shop space spread across the world.

This year marks the Golden Jubilee of Abhay Charan De’s, (who later became popular as A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada) visit to Kochi. The organisation will celebrate this historic visit with various programmes at TDM Hall, Ernakulam, on October 10, from 5 p.m. onwards.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by K. Pradeep / October 04th, 2015