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.
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
Work is my God: Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai worked tirelessly and did not lose hope till his end Photos: courtesy family album
For six long decades Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai kept his movement alive – Kasargod had to become part of Karnataka. RAHMAT TARIKERE writes that the meaning of all the writings of this writer who passed away recently is to be found in his social activism
My meeting with Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai was an accident. There was a programme at the Kannada Sahitya Parishath in Bangalore. Kinhanna means little brother, but our Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai was a strapping six and a quarter feet, well-built man. Dressed in his trade mark white khadi kurta and dhoti, he was sitting all by himself in the last row. With the sweet memories of his poem I had learnt in school Neenanagiddare Naaninage, which unfolds as a dialogue between a horse and a donkey, I walked up to him and greeted him. Holding my hand he ushered me to the chair beside, pulled out a four page resume from his bag and gave it to me. In that resume the list of his non-literary activities outnumbered his literary activities. For instance, his participation in Quit India Movement, submission of a memorandum to the Unification committee urging that Kasargod should be absorbed into Karnataka, winning the Best Teacher national award, his administration for 15 years as the chairman of Badiyadka village panchayat, the two schools and community hospital he built, the Swadeshabhimani newspaper of which he was editor, president of Weaving and Weavers Khadi Co-operative society… so on and so forth. It felt unusual that the resume of a Kannada writer read like this. Everything in it said that Kaiyyara Kinhanna was more a political activist than a writer. Once I had finished reading it, Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai started speaking about Kasaragodu. Now, even the programme had begun. He was speaking softly, just for me, but his gravelly voice overpowered the speaker’s voice and was audible to everyone in the auditorium. Some of the audience members turned back impatiently and gave us dirty stares. I didn’t know how to stop this senior writer, nor was I in a state to listen to him – I was getting restless. By this time, the writer Boluvar Mohammad Kunhi walking straight up to us, in a brusqueness that is unique to Coastal people, said: “If you want to talk, please go outside.” I fled from there. That was my first and last meeting with Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai.
***
Between 1930-40, Coastal Karnataka was tense with three major movements. Foremost of them was to free the country from the clutches of the British. Second was to unify the regions that shared a common language but had been distributed among various presidencies, the Unification movement. Third was the communist movement that was fighting against the ruthless zamindars who had the support of the colonial rulers, and then there were other social movements like untouchability, caste system etc. For Karnad Sadashiv Rao the country’s freedom was most important. For someone like Kudmal Rangarao who had been ostracised by the Brahmin community, building a free hostel and school for the Dalits was of utmost importance. For B.V. Kakkilaya and Niranjana, labour movement was important. B.M. Shrikantaiah, Kuvempu, Alur Venkatarao and others felt that Unification was more important than Independence. Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai had twin obsessions – freedom and Unification. After Independence in 1947, his only mission was Unification. When Potti Sriramulu fasted for three weeks and gave up his life, the Nehru government, unwillingly constituted a committee for the linguistic reformation of States. The committee recommended that Kasargod, Dakshina Kannada and Bellary which were a part of Madras presidency, should henceforth become a part of the Mysore presidency. What eventually happened was however different – they included Kasaragod in Kerala. The Kannadigas of Kasargod were heartbroken. It was at this juncture that Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai began his movement for Kasargod’s absorption into Karnataka. This became a question of life and death for him. A full-time preoccupation, he discussed this with all and sundry, and in every place. But death has terminated his relentless struggle of a lifetime. His dream remains unfulfilled.
***
It is a matter of surprise that Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai kept this spark burning in him for six long decades. His commemorative volume, in fact, is called Kasaragodina Kidi. There is a story behind calling it a spark. When he realised that Kasargod did not become a part of Karnataka, in anger and sorrow he wrote a poem, Manege. He tried to ignite everyone else with the fire that had caught him. In every public forum this was what Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai spoke. Once, chief minister Gundu Rao was present at the function. “We, two and a half lakh Kannadigas, have been orphaned. Our language and culture is getting erased. The water that flows in Payaswini is our tears,” Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai had cried in public. Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai belonged to that generation which dedicated its entire life to a cause it believed. The question is however, why could he not realise his dream? To get absorbed into Karnataka, or to get separate statehood is perhaps a political dream, and it can bear fruit only when it becomes the dream of the community.
If the dream does not have economic and political dimensions, and is merely an emotional one, it is even more difficult to keep it alive. For the new generation of Kannadigas in Kasargod, Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai’s dream must have seemed unrealistic. When there are more important questions than Unification, the poor or the locals will not make this a significant issue of their lives. Also, Kerala tops the country for its administration, education and other vital issues; it may have therefore appeared to them that they do not want to be a part of Karnataka. There was no political outfit like MES in Belgaum to fight the case of Kasargod. Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai therefore became lonely in his struggle. That he could keep this Unification dream alive in him for six long decades became his achievement.
***
Born in Peradala in Kasargod (1915-2015), Kaiyyara was a school teacher. Writing was his hobby, though not a very powerful writer. The other important writers from this area are Govinda Pai, Parvatisubba, and K.V. Tirumalesh. His best writings are his poems for children. His other poems tended to be verbose and heavy with idealism — it lacked creative energy. One has to recognise this as the limitation of a Kannada school teacher. Gourish Kaikini is among the few teachers who could transcend this limitation. Even his autobiography that contains many intense and intimate experiences of his life is bland.
Yet, his writing has a historic importance. It becomes important because of its dynamic social and political consciousness. And this was shaped by Gandhianism. Gandhi’s visit to Mangalore filled youngsters with new ideals. By refusing to enter the Udupi temple that denied entry for the Dalits, Gandhi had stirred up the consciousness of the society. By then, Kudmal Rangarao had already been ostracised. Narayana Guru had launched his temple agitation against the upper class. People had laid down their lives in the communist movement in this part of Karnataka. Shivarama Karanth’s Chomana Dudi had been written. Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai’s social writing was an extension of this. He, however, was not critical of the society, but instead glorified the tolerance of Dalits who put up with these social evils.
***
Truly Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai’s contribution should not be sought in his writing. It has to be seen in his social activism. This trait could also be found in B.M. Idinabba. We can see it in H.N. Doreswamy too. In fact, the title of his autobiography Work is my God suggests this.
At a time when governments have absolved themselves of community responsibility, a corporatized education that is available only to those who have money, the hospital, and school Kaiyyara Kinhanna Rai built as panchayat chairman is important. Freedom fighter, social activist, journalist, poet Kaiyyara is no more. With him, we have lost the link to a generation that dedicated its life for a cause.
Translated by Deepa Ganesh
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> Friday Review / by Rahmat Tarikere / Bengaluru – August 27th, 2015
Sans cassock, Fr. Pathrose could be mistaken for a professional nature photographer.
Impulsive and passionate about photography, the priest of the Syrian Church sets off with his backpack at the drop of a hat to destinations as far and rich in biodiversity as Nepal, Bharatpur, Tuticorin, Wayanad and the like to delight in the ‘camera moments’ that the nature offers to him.
“He’s a blink and you miss him-type,” beams writer and actor V.K. Sreeraman, who fostered the priest’s talents with the lens. “And, like me, he’s a resident of Kunnamkulam, widely known as Kerala’s haven for fake goods. But in reality, it has several original gems like Fr. Pathrose.”
In fact, the priest wears several hats: he’s the principal of the Bethany St. John’s English School at Kunnamkulam, a karate black belt, naturopathy expert and a poet.
A native of Nedumkandam in Idukki district, he enrolled himself in a seminary in 2000 before joining Plus Two.
“I used to write poetry and stories during that time, but when I enrolled for degree at the Catholicate College in Pathanamthitta, film personality and Professor Madhu Eravankara introduced me to the finer aspects of viewing a scene through the lens. Kathaprasangam artist Prasad Anchal further fine-tuned it into a love for nature,” explains Fr. Pathrose.
Starting off with a second-hand camera using film roll, he slowly graduated into wielding an ordinary digital camera before obtaining a DSLR.
FACE
The Forum for Arts and Cultural Events (FACE) instituted by Mr. Sreeraman organised the first exhibition of his nature snaps at Kunnamkulam along with those of seasoned lensman Manoop Chandran. The show has come to the city’s Durbar Hall now.
“It’s only recently that I realised I’ve shot over 1,000 pictures of birds and animals in the wild and from the Kole fields of Kunnamkulam,” says Fr. Pathrose, currently in Munnar on a photography sojourn. “Those who say everything in nature has been lost haven’t looked around. I’ve clicked so many rare birds. It’s a pleasure to see how they interact with their surroundings,” says the priest, eager to rush off to Kashmir at the next opportunity.
Father Pathrose is a man of many talents. Nature photogprahy is just one of them.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by S. Anandan / Kochi – August 28th, 2015
Proud winners:Chief Minister Oommen Chandy with students who cleared this year’s Civil Services examination, at a function organised by the Kerala State Civil Service Academy in the city on Thursday.— Photo: C. Ratheesh Kumar / The Hindu
The Kerala State Civil Service Academy has churned out as many as 252 civil servants, including a top rank holder, since its inception in 2005.
The Kerala State Civil Service Academy, which is celebrating its tenth anniversary, can look back with pride as it had churned out as many as 252 civil servants, including a top rank holder, since its inception in 2005. So it is not surprising that the number of candidates enrolling for coaching at the academy is only growing.
In 2005, when it was established, only eight among a handful of candidates managed to enter the service. Now, in its tenth year, more than 400 aspirants have enrolled for various batches. Last year, 35 students cleared the examination.
“We are witnessing a steady rise in the number of students joining the academy. The examination is no more considered a hard nut to crack. Instead, students feel that with the right approach and perseverance, clearing the exam is not a hard task,” said P.M. Rajeev, course co-ordinator at the academy.
Taking into account the growing number of aspirants, the government has decided to construct a new building for the institute at Charachira, near Nanthancode. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy laid the foundation for the new building here on Thursday.
The three-storey building will have all modern facilities. The building, which will be constructed at a cost of Rs.3.43 crore, will also have a hostel for girl students.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Kerala / by Staff Reporter / August 07th, 2015
Infosys co-founder and former CEO SD Shibulal is joining the board of The Tamara, the hospitality venture set up by his daughter Shruti, as its chairman at a time when the company is planning at least one fresh acquisition in the German speaking region of Western Europe
Since he retired from Infosys last year, Shibulal has been making investments through his family office Innovations Investment Management.
Since he retired from Infosys last year, Shibulal has been making investments through his family office Innovations Investment Management, most notably in real estate and hospitality sectors.
“He (Shibulal) plans to use his years of experience on a professionally run board to bring the foremost standards of corporate governance to The Tamara,” said Senthil Kumar N, director and chief executive of The Tamara.
The Tamara, which operates under the umbrella of Shibulal’s family office, also helps manage properties owned by the Shibulal family across the world.
Real estate makes up over half the portfolio of Shibulal’s family office, which has several resorts and projects in India.
The company’s flagship property and brand is the Tamara Coorg – a pet project of Shruti Shibulal, who is currently spearheading the venture’s Thiruvananthapuram project as well as the acquisition being pursued in Europe.
Shruti, who holds an MBA degree from Columbia Business School and started her career with Merrill Lynch, has also been actively building the family’s real estate portfolio. She also runs several finedining restaurants, including Caperberry and Fava in Bengaluru’s upmarket UB City mall.
“Each one of our platforms (such as The Tamara) has a professional management and governance structure in place from the beginning. They develop their own medium and long-term plans based on various factors. For example, our decision to consider acquiring a hotel property in the German speaking part of Western Europe is part of our long-term strategy,” said Kumar, an IIM-Bangalore and BITS-Pilani graduate who joined the Shibulal family office in 2005.
The company has started construction for its upcoming projects in Thiruvananthapuram and Kodai projects. It has also begun operating two new properties – Lilac in Bengaluru and Palma Laguna on the Kerala backwaters, Kumar said.
Shibulal’s family office currently manages the entire wealth of the family including any new funds added through dividends and share sales, and also helps build the philanthropic and business platforms which the family is interested in, Kumar said.
Since his retirement, Shibulal has also become an active investor in the startup ecosystem and even set up a venture capital and accelerator program called Axilor under the purview of his family office, roping in fellow Infosys co-founder S Gopalakrishnan as an investor.
ET had reported last year that Shibulal and his family own several hundreds of apartments and properties across the world. Shibulal and his family currently have about 1.97% of shareholding in Infosys, worth nearly $1 billion (about Rs 6,400 crore).
source: http://www.economictimes.indiatimes.com / The Economic Times / ET Home> Tech> ITes / by Anirban Sen, ET Bureau / July 29th, 2015
The funeral rites of R.N. Saboo, industrialist and former president of Grasim Industries at Mavoor, were held at the crematorium on the Mavoor Road here on Tuesday afternoon.
Saboo, 84, who was instrumental in establishing the Mavoor Grasim Company, had died at a private hospital on Monday.
A native of Pilani in Rajasthan, Saboo, began his career as a production executive at a cotton mill of the Birla group in Gawlior in 1952.
The company appointed him as deputy chief executive to start the factory at Mavoor in 1961 and he had played a vital role in all its spheres of activity for nearly four decades.
Saboo was active in the socio-cultural field in the city. He had also served as president of the Malabar Chamber of Commerce.
He had established the Savithrio Devi Saboo Memorial Women’s College, a cancer ward at the Kozhikode Medical College Hospital, and an English medium school.
He is survived by sons Alok Kumar Saboo, Sanjeev Saboo, Rajeev Saboo, and daughter Meenakshi Dalmia.
His wife Savithri Devi Saboo and a son Ajay Saboo predeceased him.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kozhikode / by Special Correspondent / Kozhikode – July 22nd, 2015
P.C. Iype (64), the Additional Advocate General, died in Kochi on Friday.
Iype, who was appointed as the Additional Advocate General in 2011, had earlier served as the State attorney in Kerala High Court from 2001 to 2006.
He had also served as the former Standing Counsel of the Kerala State Housing Board, the Kerala State Inland Navigation Corporation and the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation. He is survived by his wife Jaya, and son Cyriac Iype.
The mortal remains were kept on the premises of the Advocate General’s office for the general public to pay their last respects.
The body will be kept at his residence on Market Road till 3 pm on Saturday and will be laid to rest at the cemetery of St Mary’s Basilica in the evening.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy and Speaker N.Sakthan have condoled the death of P.C. Iype.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Kochi / by Special Correspondent / Kochi-Thiruvananthapuram , July 11th, 2015
K P P Nambiar, renowned technocrat and founding chairman of Kerala State Electronics Development Corporation Limited (Keltron), will be cremated in his native village Kalliassery on Thursday. He died of age-related illnesses on Tuesday evening in his Bangalore residence, where he had settled after leaving Kerala.
Later, after a brief stint abroad, he returned to India on the invitation of the then Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru. Later he came to Kerala on the state government’s request and played a pivotal role in the setting up of Keltron in 1973. While establishing Keltron, Nambiar chose his native place for establishing a major unit.
“Keltron was actually a dream project for Nambiar and he put in lot of energy to realize his dream,” reminisced writer and activist Karivellur Murali, who was a store manager in the Keltron unit in the district. “Though the unit in Kannur, which he set up along with the headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram, is the biggest capacitor manufacturer in Asia and known for its quality, Keltron is unable to market it properly due to the policies of the central government,” he said, adding that it would have been a different story for the ailing enterprise had he been there at the helm of Keltron.
Nambiar’s dreams were not limited to electronics. “When Keltron’s component making unit was established in Kannur, he was concerned about the power problems here and wanted to set up a power project,” said industrialist and exporter C Jayachandran.
“He had even identified 190 acres at Irinavu for the project. However, there was stiff opposition from residents and politicians and meanwhile the business partner for the project, Enron, also got entangled in controversies and it ultimately killed the project. The land was later identified for the Indian Coast Guard Academy.
He had big dreams for Kannur but it did not take off because the community and political leadership failed to understand his vision,” he said.
In a sense, his decision to leave Kerala was a political statement on the state of affairs here, feel those who knew him. Though Kannur University conferred him with DLitt in August 2013, Nambiar could not make it and the honour was received by his wife Umadevi.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kozhikode / TNN / July 02nd, 2015
In 2003, a packed Senate chamber in the city witnessed a rare event that had just two speakers – both non politicians – F C Kohli, father of Indian IT, and Vijay Bhatkar, Padma Bhushan award winner. Policitians, including K R Gowri Amma and P K Vasudevan Nair, sat in the front row among the audience. All eyes were on a man in the wheelchair, K P P Nambiar, the visionary behind the establishment of Keltron and Technopark. The occasion was his 75th birthday.
The function is still vivid in the memories of Technopark founder CEO R Vijayaraghavan, who strongly feel that KPP could do a lot more and that his illness was the result of unfair treatment meted out by the state. “A vigilance inquiry was ordered against him out of political vendetta. This happened because he refused to bribe a prominent politician for KPP’s prestigious Kannur Power Project. He had put much effort into the project, incurring substantial debt,” he recollected.
“What is surprising is that the inquiry was forwarded by the then chief minister based on an anonymous letter which just said ‘inquire against KPP and Keltron’. The vigilance department informed the government that no inquiry could be made against individuals, but only against allegations. Then, another anonymous letter with various allegations against KPP was forwarded to the department. Several people, including those whom KPP had helped a lot, raised false accusations against him. Recognitions like the Padma Bhushan got delayed due to this. The inquiry was dropped during the tenure of the last UDF government. KPP had written about this controversial phase in his book ‘Saphalam Kalapabharitam’, but most of its copies were destroyed. The book I have with me has that portion edited out,” he said.
Former senior business development manager of Technopark, M Vasudevan, recollected KPP’s contribution of KPP as the secretary of the electronics department in the Rajiv Gandhi ministry. “When IBM was banned in the country in the mid-1980s, TCS decided to import large IBM mainframes worth $5 million. But the government refused. TCS gave a guarantee that it would generate four times that amount in three years from software exports. Nevertheless, the firm had to approach KPP, who understood its significance and took up the matter with the concerned ministries and obtained approval,” Vasudevan remembered.
Vijayaraghavan said KPP was a man of great memory who was not afraid of anyone. “Once he had an argument with one of the Cabinet members in the Rajiv Gandhi government. He walked out from the meeting, but went to meet Rajiv Gandhi himself and got a favourable decision,” he said.
Technopark CEO K G Girish Babu described Nambiar as a brave visionary. “He was one of those rare non-IAS men who singlehandedly fought against the IAS lobby in the government. Today we organized an internal meeting of Technopark officials and shared our memories,” Babu said, before leaving for KPP’s funeral.
Chief minister Oommen Chandy condoled the death of K P P Nambiar. He directed that the funeral be conducted with full state honours in Kannur on Thursday.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Thiruvananthapuram / by Jisha Surya, TNN / July 02nd, 2015
Kalyan Jewellers’ chairman and managing director T S Kalayanaraman, is the wealthiest jeweller in India with a personal fortune of USD 1.3 billion, says Wealth-X report.
Kalayanaraman opened his first jewellery shop in Thrissur City in 1993 with only USD 100,000 capital, and his business has now expanded to 32 showrooms across South India. His personal fortune is worth USD 1.3 billion.
Nirav Modi was ranked second on the Wealth-X list of India’s wealthiest jewellers with an estimated net worth of USD 1.1 billion.
“Born into a family of Indian diamantaires, Modi left the family business in 1999 and launched his own company, Firestar Diamonds. In 2007, Firestar Diamonds acquired New York-based Sandberg & Sikorski,” it said.
The third on the list is M P Ahammed, with a personal fortune of USD 1 billion. Ahammed had opened the first Malabar Gold & Diamond showroom with only USD 70,000.
Others on the list include, Bhima Jewellers’ B Govindan with a personal wealth of USD 620 million, Kiran Gems’ Vallabhbhai S Patel (USD 590 million), Laxmi Diamond’s Vasant Gajera (USD 580 million), Dharmanandan Diamonds’ Laljibhai Patel (USD 480 million), Kiran Gems’ Babubhai Lakhani (USD 470 million), Kiran Gems’ Mavji Bhai Patel (USD 410 million) and Rajesh Exports’ Rajesh Mehta (USD 310 million).
Wealth-X provides insight into the ultra wealthy with the world’s largest collection of curated research on ultra high net worth individuals.
“The gems and jewellery industry is among India’s fastest growing sectors fuelled by UHNWs affinity for jewellery and the fact that they view it as an important store of value. For India’s ultra wealthy jewellers, all that glitters is gold!,” Sahil Mehta, director, Indian subcontinent at Wealth–X said.
source: http://www.deccanherald.com / Deccan Herald / Home> National / PTI / Singapore – July 01st, 2015
