Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, Speaker N. Sakthan, and CPI(M) State unit secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan at the 140th anniversary celebrations of the Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram, on Wednesday.— Photo: S. Mahinsha
At the first alumni meet of law college, promises pour in
There was pride in their eyes and awe in their voices as the ‘who-is-who’ in Kerala politics spoke about the institution that has mentored thousands in the legal profession and helped hundreds to build careers in politics and social activism.
The chief among them rued the fact that he had not studied there, but was all praise for its alumni. The reference is to Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who studied at the Government Law College, Ernakulam, and not where he stood on Wednesday evening, at the Government Law College, Thiruvananthapuram, which was celebrating its 140th anniversary and the first alumni meet on record.
Mr. Chandy promised the gathering that his government would do everything possible to lift the college to national status. A firmer offer came from an eminent alumnus of the institution, N.R. Madhava Menon, who promised to hand over to the college his collection of books and also do his bit to raise a corpus fund to develop the institution. He would also be available to guide the research programmes at the college, Prof. Menon said.
Present to celebrate the occasion were Home Minister Ramesh Chennithala, Transport and Forest Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, Information Minister K.C. Joseph, CPI(M) State secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, and former Union Minister of State Kodikkunnil Suresh and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader Ajith Joy. Almost everyone agreed on the need to raise the college to the status of a centre of excellence and, perhaps, a university in the none-too-distant future.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Special Correspondent / Thiruvananthapuram – March 26th, 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
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
Rakshanya Sekar, a confident youngster,is on cloud nine. The student of KV Pattom is the only one from the state to receive the Bio Asia Young Minds award 2015.
The class XII student got the award for her science project, ‘Smart disposal bin’, which she presented at the Bio Asia 2015, a national convention held recently at Hyderabad. The award comprises a cash prize of Rs. 50,000 and a citation.
Rakshanya presented a basic working model of the bin at the Bio Asia conference.
With enthusiasm, the teen elaborates on the working of her ‘Smart Disposal’ apparatus. She says,“The bin is divided into two compartments- the plastic waste unit and the food disposal unit. The food waste unit consists of a food dehydrator, hot air blower and a wire mesh through which the waste reaches the bottom chamber of the food unit. The dehydrator and the hot air blower helps to take out the moisture content from the waste, which can then be used as manure or even animal fodder.”
The empty plastic bottles put in the other unit are crushed and shredded into small pellets by horizontal blades present in the compartment. “These horizontal concave blades work alternatively, and the plastic pellets are collected in the bottom chamber of the unit.”
The 16-year-old sees it as a solution for the waste disposal problem faced by the Railways. She said, “Managing waste, especially plastic, is a huge problem, with plastic bottles lying on the tracks.
The Smart Disposal Bin helps by reducing the volume of the bottle, making it easier to transport. One can utilise the plastic collected in this way, for using in innovative projects.”
The biotechnology student used zinc sheets to make the body of the model, which also has additional boxes to collect powdered waste. Rakshanya,who is passionate about science, says, “I like innovating and coming up with new ideas, and wish to contribute to society through science.” She will be representing KV from her region, along with a few other students in the upcoming Jawaharlal Nehru National Science Exhibition.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Kochi / by Varsha Mohan / March 07th, 2015
Tourism Secretary G. Kamala Vardhana Raoand Suman Billa, Joint Secretary in the UnionTourism Ministry, receiving the silver prize for Kerala Tourism at the Golden Gate awards in Berlin on Thursday./ The Hindu
‘The Great Backwaters’ campaign of Kerala Tourism has bagged the silver prize at the Golden Gate awards at the Internationale Tourismus-Börse Berlin (ITB-Berlin) – 2015, the world’s leading travel trade event.
The silver prize at the Das Golden Stadttor (Golden Gate) awards in the multimedia campaign category was presented to Kerala Tourism at the German capital on Thursday. Tourism Secretary G. Kamala Vardhana Rao, who is leading the delegation, and Suman Billa, Joint Secretary in Union Tourism Ministry, received the prize.
Presented every year at the ITB-Berlin for the last 14 years, the Golden Gate awards, dubbed the Oscar in tourism communication, are considered the ultimate recognition in the field.
Conceptualised by Kerala Tourism’s creative and marketing agency Stark Communications, the campaign won the Golden Gate Gold Prize in the print category at the ITB-Berlin last year. The campaign was noted for its use of aerial photography on a wider scale covering the backwaters as a single destination.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Special Correspondent / Thiruvananthapuram – March 07th, 2015
The 200th anniversary celebrations of CMS College begin on March 17 as new-found records prove that the oldest existing college in India was started in 1815, two years earlier than previously thought.
The early years of the college came to light after a study of documents in the Bangalore United Theological College Museum and the Missionary Register in the CMS College library as well as the Church Missionary Proceedings.
Dr Babu Cherian, the head of the college’s Malayalam department, stumbled on the piece of history during the research for his book, ‘Towards Modernity: The Story of the First College of India’. The college management has approved the change in the birth date.
The bicentennial celebration is also aimed at modernising all the departments of the college and raising the quality of education, principal Dr Roy Sam Daniel said.
The college, then called The College, Cotym, was started by Colonel John Munro, a British statesman who was a political resident and later Diwan of the princely state of Travancore. He started the college on 16 acres at Chungam near Kottayam.
The recently discovered records show that construction of the building was started as early as 1813 and classes were started with 25 students in 1815. Colonel Munro received the support of Rani Gowri Lakshmi Bayi, the Regent of Travancore.
Munro entrusted the management of the college to Pulikkottil Ittoop Ramban (Joseph Mar Divannasios) of the Malankara Church.
Munro wrote to the Church Mission Society (CMS) headquarters in Britain in 1813 asking for two missionaries to teach in the new college, the records collected by Dr Cherian shows. The letter was received in Britain after six months.
Thomas Norton, a missionary from Britain, came to Kottayam in May 1816 to take charge of the college. He stayed in Alappuzha, then a bigger and busier town than Kottayam.
Munro’s insistence on a resident head for the college led to the arrival of the legendary Benjamin Bailey in 1817, which was traditionally known as the founding year of CMS College. CMS College calendar recorded 1815 as the year the college was started.
The college’s phenomenal growth started with Bailey, who laid the foundation for English education in Kerala.
The original building where classes were started in March 1815 was later turned into a seminary when the college was shifted to its present location on a hillock in 1837.
source: http://www.english.manoramaonline.com / OnManorama / Home> News> Kerala / by Manorama Correspondent / Saturday – March 07th, 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
Paving the way for a fillip in ‘polyhouse’ cucumber cultivation, the Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) has developed a seedless hybrid cucumber variety, ideal for polyhouse cultivation.
This is the first such hybrid developed by a public sector research team in South India, according to reports on Friday.
At present, multinationals have monopolised in ‘parthenocarpic’ variety of cucumber hybrids used in poly house farming which have the ability of producing fruits without pollination.
Farmers have to depend now on corporate sector for such variety of hybrids, and they have to pay in the range of Rs 5 to 7 per seed. The development of parthenocarpic hybrid by KAU offers availability of indigenously developed hybrid seeds to Kerala farmers.
Field tests in university farms have proved that a 10-cent polyhouse can yield five tons of fruits in three months. Dark green fruits, weighing 220 gm with a length of 24 cm and 15 cm width, can be stored up to one week at room temperature without any loss in quality.
The Southern Zone Research Extension Advisory Council of KAU, held at College of Agriculture, Vellayani, recommended this hybrid for multi-locational testing across selected polyhouses in all districts, said Dr Pradeepkumar T, associate professor, Department of Olericulture, College of Horticulture, Vellanikkara, who led the research team.
The team, according to reports, developed the hybrid variety by inculcating parthenocarpic trait into plant types with only female flowers through complex breeding programme.
The team had also developed earlier seedless hybrids of watermelon successfully. It has now followed with the technique of F1 hybrid seed production in parthenocarpic cucumber.
The state government has accorded high priority to polyhouse cultivation in the state by providing subsidy for polyhouse construction in 1000-odd panchayats.
Polyhouse cultivation requires specific cultivars in each crop, and farmers now depend on the seed produced from Korea, Thailand, imported and marketed by multinational companies.
KAU vice-chancellor Dr P Rajendran said cucumber is an ideal vegetable variety for polyhouse cultivation as the fruit is harvested in immature stage. The vertical height of the polyhouse structure can also be exploited for producing more number of fruiting nodes.
F1 hybrids have a very important role in boosting vegetable production in the state. Development of parthenocarpic cucumber is a great beginning in this direction. Time bound action for making available this technology to farming community is the next step, he said.
Normal cucumber types produce both male and female flowers and require pollination for fruit development, said Dr T R Gopalkrishnan, KAU director of Research. Development of fruit without pollination is a tricky trait in cucumber and naturally seedless fruits in this hybrid make the commercial production of seeds a cumbersome task, he added.
Seeds of the new hybrid cucumber are expected to reach the farming community within a year.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / by Express News Service / February 28th, 2015
