Category Archives: Arts,Culture & Entertainment

A fest to commemorate Goan exodus

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

Kochi :

At the temple festival at Srinivasa Kovil, commemorating the exodus of Goans to the South through the sea route during the Portuguese colonization centuries ago, the Kudumbis of Kerala will stage the horrors of the voyage through a ritualistic enactment called ‘Lifting of the boats.’

A documentary on the ritual was recently launched in Goa under the aegis of Kanaka N Swamy, who researched the festival and its history.

“I made the documentary as the festival in memory of the arduous journey from Goa to Kerala during the Portuguese colonization triggered my interest. Goans hardly had any knowledge about such a remarkable festival in Tripunithura,” Swamy said.

The documentary brings out the historical and cultural roots that run between the coastal states of Goa and Kerala.

During the ritual, decorated boats are carried by the youth who sway and roll them to symbolize the rough sea voyage the community went through during their exodus. The ritual is enacted accompanied by thonya melam, a percussion using Goan musical instruments. It earlier used to conclude with the boats being immersed in the temple pond.

“However, the forced capsizing of the boats are avoided to safety and security concerns of the people participating in the ritual, as once a person had drowned in the pond while trying to forcefully drown the boat,” said L Subramaniam, member of Kudumbi community and executive member, Kerala History Association.

The costumes and rituals are representative of the cultural diffusion between the Goan and Keralite Kudumbis, which amount to less than 300 families in the area.

This year’s procession which will begin from the Statue Square at Tripunithura on Wednesday at 10am will end at the Srinivasa Kovil pond at around 1 pm.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City News> Kochi News / TNN / march 28th, 2018

State to honour master sculptor as he turns 80

Arts,Culture & Entertainment

Kanayi Kunhiraman

Thiruvananthapuram:

To honour sculptor Kanayi Kunhiraman on his 80th birthday and celebrate the 50th anniversary of his magnum opus ‘Yakshi’, the state government is organizing a three-day event from April 2 to 4. The cultural programmes would be held at Kanakakunnu palace and nearby venues.

Culture minister A K Balan will inaugurate the cultural convention at 4pm on Monday.

Filmmaker Adoor Gopalakrishnan will inaugurate the exhibition of photographs by Jithesh Damodar covering the life and work of Kanayi at the function. A discussion on ‘Yakshi’ will be held at 6 pm. A dance drama ‘Sagarakanyaka’ directed by Pramod Payyannoor, will be held at 8 pm.

A seminar ‘Kanayi turns 80 – History and future of sculpture’ will be held on Tuesday. Tourism minister Kadakampally Surendran will inaugurate the seminar. A musical event ‘Silpa Sangeethika’ will be held at 8pm.

On Wednesday, CM will felicitate Kanayi at the valedictory function to be held at 4pm. Mullakkara Ratnakaran, MLA, will preside over the function. Philipose Mar Chrysostom, metropolitan of the Malankara Mar Thoma Syrian Church, will deliver the felicitation address.

‘Yakshi’ dance performed by dancer Rajashri Warrier and choreographed by Pramod Payyannoor will be held at 6.30pm.

The event is jointly organised by the departments of culture and tourism and Bharat Bhavan.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> News> City News > Thiruvananthapuram News / TNN / March 31st, 2018

Kerala Dalit woman’s struggles to be Bollywood fare

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, World Opinion

Fraser Scott with Chitralekha and her husband Sreekanth. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Briton writes script based on auto driver Chitralekha from Kannur

He was googling to get preliminary details about Dalit millionaires in India as part of a film project he was entertaining in his mind. That search finally led him to E. Chitralekha, a Dalit autorickshaw driver from Edat, near Payynnur here, who had been in the news since she was allegedly attacked by local Communist Party of India (Marxist) workers and her struggle highlighting the plight of her family.

Fraser Scott, script writer and art seller from the United Kingdom, has now put on hold his curiosity about Dalit millionaires as he is busy writing the script of a story based on Chitralekha for a Bollywood film.

The idea of writing the script based on the life of a poor but resolute Dalit woman has got an impetus when his announcement of the plan in his Instagram account drew the attention of filmmaker Shekhar Kapoor, his family friend. Mr. Kapoor found the story of Chitralekha, who has been earning a livelihood by driving her autorickshaw, amazing.

He commented that Chitralekha’s is a “story of courage no less than that of Bandit Queen.” The reference was to his own 1994 film on Phoolan Devi.

“I visited Kannur recently to interview Chitralekha and will visit her again next week for another round of meeting before the script is ready,” Mr. Scott told The Hindu over phone from Mumbai.

The script would be completed in a month, he said adding that four Bollywood production companies had already shown interest in making a film on the story.

Mr. Scott in his Instagram page says that Chitralekha “fought against unbearable hardship to drive an autorikshaw” referring to the alleged attack on her and the torching of her vehicle.

Roopesh Kumar, an activist who is working in the film field, served as Mr. Scott’s local link to connect to Chitralekha and her family.

“I never thought that my life can be the story of a film,” said Chitralekha who is excited about the project. The film would be a recognition of my struggle, she said.

She is currently living with her husband in a rented house at Kattampally here and the construction of her house on a five-cent plot granted by the previous United Democratic Front government is in progress.

She had left her home at Edat as she found it hard to live there. “Local CPI(M) workers are not allowing me to live there,” she said. The previous UDF government’s decision to rehabilitate her followed her sit-in agitation in front of the Collectorate here for 122 days in 2015.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Special Correspondent / Kannur – March 30th, 2018

Fine art from weeds

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Business & Economy, Green Initiatives & Environment, Inspiration/ Positive News and Features, Nature

Students of the Buds Rehabilitation Centre (BRC), Aryad, displaying handicrafts made of water hyacinth.

Here is a solution to the water hyacinth menace

They are students with special needs. But at the Buds Rehabilitation Centre (BRC) in Aryad, they are doing extraordinary things.

Any one visiting the centre can see the students busy chopping water hyacinths collected from a nearby waterbody.

The chopped parts, except roots, are then boiled and transferred to a mixer for extracting pulp.

Under the watchful eyes of their instructor (rehabilitation worker), the students mix the pulp generated with paper pulp, and in no time, they are moulded into beautiful handicrafts.

These students, most of them suffering from cognitive disorders, are offering a unique solution to the vexing problem of water hyacinth, one of the most invasive aquatic weeds which is choking the life out of several freshwater ecosystems in the State.

“Articles made of water hyacinth are the latest addition to an array of products we prepare at the BRC,” says BRC rehabilitation worker Vineetha Rajesh.

“Of the students undergoing vocational training in the BRC, some are experts in making soap powder, others in producing lotion, among other things. Recently, we trained students to make toys and decorative items from water hyacinth. Some of the students are very good at it and the products they made were displayed at an expo organised by the Kudumbasree. We are now planning to create more items,” she said.

Eco-friendly

Last year, Vineetha was among the Buds school teachers, Kudumbasree members, and students who had undergone a one-day training on the value-addition of aquatic weeds offered by the community training centre under the Centre for Research on Aquatic Resources (CRAR) at SD College, Alappuzha.

The activities of the CRAR are funded under the Biotechnology Innovations for Rural Development (BIRD) programme of the Kerala  Biotechnology Commission.

The CRAR led by its principal investigator G. Nagendra Prabhu is on a mission to put aquatic weeds to good use. From various aquatic weeds, the centre has developed material for mushroom cultivation, biomass briquettes, and modified hydroponics.

In the process, the researchers also found that pulp generated from water hyacinth could be used for creating handicrafts; utensils; utility articles like multi-purpose boards; egg and fruit trays; disposable plates; painting canvases; and so on.

“Over the years, crores of rupees have been spent to keep invasive species like water hyacinth under control, but with no effect. The CRAR has developed a number of solutions for the control and value addition of aquatic weeds modelled on concepts like eradication through utilisation and use to reduce. We are happy to see that the technologies, we developed are being commercialised. These eco-friendly technologies can be developed into an alternative livelihood programme in the future,” Mr. Prabhu said.

Kudumbasree Assistant District Mission Coordinator N. Venugopal said that the project would be extended to all nine BRCs in the district soon.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Sam Paul A / Aryad(Alappuzha) – March 27th, 2018

Bid to conserve British-era bridge gains momentum

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Architects, people’s representatives keen on converting Venduruthy Bridge into open space

The proposal to conserve the 80-year-old Venduruthy Bridge built by the British as a heritage structure is set to gain momentum, with people’s representatives and the Indian Institute of Architects (IIA) expressing keenness to take it ahead.

The bridge, which was opened to traffic in 1938, provided the crucial connectivity between the city and Willingdon Island till the Public Works Department (PWD) built a parallel bridge in 2011. Its build quality is evident from the fact that it survived the impact of two collisions by a dredger deployed by Cochin Port Trust.

According to K.V. Thomas, MP, a plan to conserve the bridge and hew out a walkway with kiosks/eateries was under the consideration of the previous UDF government. “I submitted memoranda to the State and Central governments, seeking speedy initiation of conservation measures so that the unused bridge is developed as a tourism spot,” said Mr. Thomas, who ushered in a slew of innovative schemes during his tenure as State Tourism Minister.

Meanwhile, an IIA office-bearer said that the organisation was focused on taking ahead the bridge’s conservation along with offering expertise in developing tourism in Fort Kochi, Mattancherry, and Thripunithura. A detailed study has to be done on the conservation of the structure and its conversion into an open space, since it is in the vicinity of sensitive establishments like the Naval Base and Cochin Shipyard, he added.

Architect S. Gopakumar, who is also the president of Better Kochi Response Group (BKRG), said that the NGO had suggested opening up the heritage structure during evenings for setting up a ‘flea market’ which abound in Goa and Brazil.

He cited the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco and the Brooklyn Bridge in New York as examples of heritage structures which draw crowds. “We need to conserve and respect our heritage. Imaginative ideas like opening kiosks in containers can be thought of,” Mr. Gopakumar said. The corporation is willing to pursue the project if bodies like the IIA come up with concrete proposals, said Shiny Mathew, chairperson of the town planning standing committee.

“The civic council can pass a resolution, following which it can be taken up with the State government. On its part, the PWD too must approve the project since the bridge was being maintained by them,” she said.

A proposal to convert the Old Mattancherry Bridge into a heritage structure was shelved after it was decided to permit two/three-wheelers and light vehicles to use the facility.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by John L. Paul / March 26th, 2018

Discovering the sacred feminine

Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Records, All, Travel

Men dressed up as women offer prayers as part of the Chamayavilakku festival at Kottankulangara Devi Temple in Kollam on Sunday.

Chamayavilakku ritual at Kottankulangara Sri Bhagavathy Temple held

Thousands of devotees thronged Kottankulangara Sri Bhagavathy Temple here on Sunday, the concluding day of the famed Chamayavilakku festival.

As part of the unique temple ritual, men dolled up as women offer prayers to the presiding deity, holding traditional lamps with five wicks. The ritual conducted in two days have identical procedures going on till midnight on both the days. “This year, we have been witnessing a huge rush of devotees since Chamayavilakku falls on Saturday and Sunday,” said a temple official.

On Saturday

Even before Saturday, the temple premises came alive with a string of studios and green rooms to transform the male devotees into damsels.

There were also stalls offering every accessory on hire including wigs and lamps for the participants. Though a local festival, hundreds of men from various parts turned up at the temple, cross-dressing to seek the blessings of the goddess.

As part of the festival, devotees stand in long lines from temple gate to Kunjalummoodu holding the lamp for the ceremonial arrival of deity (Ezhunnallathu), which happens around 2 a.m. It was the devotees of Chavara and Puthukkad karas who jointly hosted the festival on Saturday, and on Sunday, it was the turn of Kulangara Bhagam and Kottakkakam.

Legend

According to the temple legend, a bunch of cowherds tried to break a coconut by hitting it on a stone, which suddenly started bleeding.

It was found by astrologers that the stone contained divine energy of Vanadurga and the locals were instructed to build a temple around it.

It is believed that the first poojas of the temple were conducted by the cowboys wearing the clothes of women, which eventually led to the unusual custom.

Transgenders

Chamayavilakku is also a much-anticipated event for the members of transgender community, as it offers them an opportunity to celebrate their real identity. During the past few years, there has been a steady inflow of trans persons not just from Kerala, but all parts of the country.

Celebrity make-up artist Renju Renjimar says the community members wait for the festival all the year.

“I have been attending the festival for last 23 years. Earlier, it was our only chance to stroll openly as women and even now we are very happy and excited to be part of it. I am a hardcore devotee of the goddess and follow all customs associated with the ritual without any fail.”

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Kerala / by Staff Reporter / Kollam – March 26th, 2018

Exploring nature’s forms through brush strokes

Arts,Culture & Entertainment

An array of paintings by artist V Raman Kutty was on display at Alliance Francaise de Trivandrum recently, in an exhibition titled Imagined Forms.

The artist, who is a researcher and teacher at the Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, through his works, conveyed the different forms of life in nature, and how they change with time. The abstract paintings in acrylic with vibrant hues, invite the viewers to give multiple interpretations. They also explored the dimensions that these forms can take with the passage of time.

We also spotted Usha Rmachandran, veteran cartoonist P V Krishnan, Rani, A V Jose and Francois Grosjean at the event.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Kochi News / TNN / March 25th, 2018

When Kochiites turned storytellers

Arts,Culture & Entertainment

It was a breezy Sunday afternoon, and the clouds which turned one shade darker, soon beckoned showers to the city. The rains brought a sense of relief to Kochiites from the sweltering heat and also invited a handful of raconteurs to come together.

They shared their experiences at the event titled ‘Stories Worth Sharing’, held at Fort Kochi.

And they weren’t just mundane incidents but stories or incidents that changed their lives.
Around 20 people took part in the event, and all were visibly excited. They came from various backgrounds and were exposed to different experiences, but each narration struck a chord with the group. As each participant walked down memory lane, the rest realised that life’s greatest moments happen during the smallest of experiences.

From endearing stories of a grandfather repairing an umbrella to how someone got his quirky and secular name, a lot of interesting and inspiring tales were told.

It was two youngsters Mohit Munjal and Himanshu Poswal from Delhi who kicked off the concept, while they were on a trip, at Hampi. Saroj Anilkumar, associate partner of ‘Stories Worth Sharing’, came on board when one of their events was conducted at Thiruvananthapuram.

Impressed by the impact the stories had on people, she decided to introduce the event in Kochi. “The ones who joined us in the Kochi event were very enthusiastic. The fact that these stories came from ordinary people made it all the more interesting. This network of storytelling is kept alive through social media groups, following which it will be taken further, through the rest of the members.“

Johann Kuruvilla, a social media influencer, talks to us about the story he narrated. “It was the film Neelakasham Pachakadal Chuvanna Bhoomi that instilled in me a desire to try out something as adventurous as the trip the protagonists of the film undertook. What started as a plan for a friends’ trip to the North East later paved the way for a solo journey, where I explored myself.” It gave him more clarity on how to go about his life, eventually prompting him to quit his job and become a travel blogger.

Another story was from Rittu Jacob, who once went on a cycle ride with friends. During the 200 km ride, they met with an accident. “Some of my friends were badly injured, but that did not deter us. After ensuring that they were hospitalised, we took our cycles and continued the ride. Completing the ride gave us so much confidence that now we are planning to start a company which will promote cycling as a way of life.”

Arun Nair, who is heading a corporate training academy, says that the session was a great ice-breaker for all, as it helps people to socialise. “Everyone is able to relate to the stories, as somebody else might have gone through a similar experience. I talked about how to outsmart the brain when life throws a hundred reasons to not pursue an action.”

He concludes, “People who walked in as strangers returned as friends, as people feel a sense of empathy on listening to others’ stories. That is the power of storytelling. It is not about the extraordinary things in life, sometimes, it is the silly incidents in life that teach us the greatest lessons.”

Bhairavi Jaswal divulges about her experience as a traveller

source:  http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Kochi News / by Deepika Jayaram / March 23rd, 2018

Dravidian language family is 4,500 years old: study

About Kerala, Arts,Culture & Entertainment, Education, Historical Links, Pre-Independence, Records, All, World Opinion

The Dravidian language family’s four largest languages — Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu — have literary traditions spanning centuries, of which Tamil reaches back the furthest, researchers said.

The Dravidian language  family, consisting of 80 varieties spoken by nearly 220 million people across southern and central India, originated about 4,500 years ago, a study has found.

This estimate is based on new linguistic analyses by an international team, including researchers from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Germany, and the Wildlife Institute of India in Dehradun.

The researchers used data collected first-hand from native speakers representing all previously reported Dravidian subgroups. The findings, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, match with earlier linguistic and archaeological studies.

South Asia, reaching from Afghanistan in the west and Bangladesh in the east, is home to at least six hundred languages belonging to six large language families, including Dravidian, Indo-European and Sino-Tibetan.

The Dravidian language family, consisting of about 80 language varieties (both languages and dialects) is today spoken by about 220 million people, mostly in southern and central India, and surrounding countries.

The Dravidian language family’s four largest languages — Kannada, Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu — have literary traditions spanning centuries, of which Tamil reaches back the furthest, researchers said.

Along with Sanskrit ,  Tamil is one of the world’s classical languages, but unlike Sanskrit, there is continuity between its classical and modern forms documented in inscriptions, poems, and secular and religious texts and songs, they said.

“The study of the Dravidian languages is crucial for understanding prehistory in Eurasia, as they played a significant role in influencing other language groups,” said Annemarie Verkerk of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.

Neither the geographical origin of the Dravidian language nor its exact dispersal through time is known with certainty.

The consensus of the research community is that the Dravidians are natives of the Indian subcontinent and were present prior to the arrival of the Indo-Aryans (Indo-European speakers) in India around 3,500 years ago.

Researchers said that it is likely that the Dravidian languages were much more widespread to the west in the past than they are today.

In order to examine questions about when and where the Dravidian languages developed, they made a detailed investigation of the historical relationships of 20 Dravidian varieties.

Study author Vishnupriya Kolipakam of the Wildlife Institute of India collected contemporary first-hand data from native speakers of a diverse sample of Dravidian languages, representing all the previously reported subgroups of Dravidian.

The researchers used advanced statistical methods to infer the age and sub-grouping of the Dravidian language family at about 4,000-4,500 years old.

This estimate, while in line with suggestions from previous linguistic studies, is a more robust result because it was found consistently in the majority of the different statistical models of evolution tested in this study.

This age also matches well with inferences from archaeology,  which have previously placed the diversification of Dravidian into North, Central, and South branches at exactly this age, coinciding with the beginnings of cultural developments evident in the archaeological record.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Science / by PTI / Berlin – March 21st, 2018

Now, Sing Thyagaraja Kritis in Malayalam

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Retired principal translates 101 compositions of the saint-poet

The Telugu compositions of Sri Thyagaraja have reached God’s Own Country and are available to music connoisseurs in “His own language”.

This was made possible by the efforts of Latha Varma, retired Principal of Madurai-based Sri Sadguru Sangeetha Vidyalayam College of Music and Research Centre. Quite surprisingly, Tamil acted as the bridge in translating the Telugu compositions into Malayalam.

Ms. Varma, who belongs to the royal family of Ernakulam, joined the famed college in Madurai when she was 24 and retired a couple of years ago. As Malayalam is her mother tongue and she gained proficiency in Tamil with her prolonged stay in Madurai, she decided to go the extra mile to learn Telugu literature too. And she did master it with élan through a certificate and diploma course from Madurai Kamaraj University.

Though Thyagaraja kritis are sung world over by people of all languages, many are do not know Telugu and as such miss out on its literary beauty. The mellifluous note and rhythm come in for appreciation, but the ‘Bhava’ (substance) more often than not gets lost. It is this void that the musicologist wanted to fill, at least in Malayalam.

She hand-picked 101 most popular compositions of the saint-poet and gave a word-by-word translation (Prathipadartham) and also a gist (Thathparyam) of each verse. As senior Telugu professor T.S. Giriprakash Rao translated the Telugu verses into Tamil, she picked them up for translation into Malayalam.

An academician, performer cum researcher, Ms. Varma spoke to The Hindu on the sidelines of a seminar on “Group kritis of different vaggeyakaras,”organised by Sri Padmavathi Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam’s (SPMVV) Department of Music and Fine Arts, where she was the key-note speaker.

The translation work, which she calls her “pet project”, lasted for two years. “The copies are now available at the Maharaja’s College for Women and Kerala University, both in Thiruvananthapuram, and the Chittur College in Palakkad. I will soon present some [copies] to the Maharaja’s College in Ernakulam,” Ms. Varma said.

Ms. Varma was felicitated by SPMVV Rector V. Uma, Dean (Social sciences) D.B. Krishnakumari, seminar coordinator K. Saraswathi Vasudev and academic Dwaram Lakshmi on the occasion.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> States> Andhra Pradesh / by A.D. Rangarajan / Tirupati – March 21st, 2018