Kottayam  (KERALA):

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will formally dedicate the ‘Cartoonist Sankar Memorial National Cartoon Museum and Art Gallery’ to the nation on Thursday. Announcing the event at a press conference here on Tuesday, Minister for Cultural Affairs K C Joseph said the museum is   the first of its kind in the state and would be elevated to the ‘top cartoon study centre’ in the country.

The museum is being set up under the aegis of Kerala Lalithakala Academy at Krishnapuram near Kayamkulam. The museum, in memory of cartoonist Sankar on his 112th birthday, has been  built on a 15,000-sq ft area and will showcase Sankar’s major works. His tools including brush, pen, easel, table, overcoat and dolls would also be displayed at the museum, the minister said.

The tools are donated by Sankar’s daughters, Yamuna Sankar and Santha Sreenivas.  The minister said the museum will showcase cartoons of existing and former cartoonists, but will predominantly feature Sankar’s works.  Almost 120 original cartoons have been received from his kin. Cartoons of Gandhiji, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi are among them, the minister said. A water-coloured portrait of Nehru by him will be a major display at the museum. Cartoons of former stalwarts including Abu Abraham, O V Vijayan, Kutty, Samuel, B M Gafoor, John Mathew, Thomas P Mohan, Kerala Varma, K S Pillai, P K Manthri along with Sankar’s students and existing cartoonists including Yesudasan and B G Varma will be exhibited at the museum, he said.

Another draw would be Sankaran Kutty’s caricatures on Indira Gandhi and Vaikom Muhammed Basheer. The minister said the building was constructed by the Public Works Department at a cost of `3 crore, under the initiative of Kayamkulam MLA C K Sadasivan.

According to Lalithakala Academy officials,  Joseph will preside over the function on Thursday.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Kerala / Express News Service / July 30th, 2014

Kochi :

Rayamangalam, one of the earliest panchayats in the district, has embarked on an innovative mission to teach its Generation Next – the history and culture of the village. And it is doing it the digital way.

The home to famous sons-of-soil like Kerala’s ninth chief minister P K Vasudevan Nair, noted communist P Govinda Pillai, and Dr D Babu Paul, former IAS officer and writer, Rayamangalam panchayat is proposing to make a documentary film, ‘My Village’, at a cost of Rs 3.5 lakh.

The panchayat has decided to produce a 45-minute documentary to shed light on the historical and cultural significance of the village as many of its younger generation are ignorant of its past glory and the famous personalities who lived there,” said K K Mathukunju, panchayat president.

Rayamangalam, situated in Kunnathunadu taluk, was the first village to be declared the total pension panchayat in the state.

“The Kuruppampady market in our village was once famous for lemon grass oil for its quality and hill produce. But with passing of time and people switching over to other farming activities, it lagged behind other markets. The Lemon Grass Oil and General Marketing Co-Operative Society Ltd is the only society in the state for the development of lemon grass oil,” Mathukunju said.

The panchayat has invited tenders for producing the film. The 1,600-year-old St Mary’s cathedral in Kuruppampady, Koottumadam temple, Kallil temple which is a Jain temple will be featured big time in the film. One of the attractions is a rock statue of a woman, Velathipara – which is being protected in the regional poultry farm.

The controversial plywood factories and the pollution caused by them will also be highlighted. There are 95 plywood factories, 12 crusher units and around 100 wood factories functioning in the panchayat, says Mathukunju.

Well-known ancestral homes in the village, how they came into existence and interesting anecdotes of former panchayat presidents will also be featured in the documentary.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Kochi / by T C Sreemol, TNN / July 06th, 2014

A life-changing moment for P.N. Vasudeva Rao was on the day he garlanded Mahatma Gandhi on the latter’s visit to Kochi in the 1930s. From that day the young man took a vow to don only khadi and be an ally of the Indian National Congress. “He became a Congress supporter and remained one till his end in 1996,” says his 57-year-old son Suresh Rao and current proprietor of Vasant Vihar hotel in Thoppumpady.

Vasudeva Rao, a businessman and a philanthropist, chose a unique way to be a friend of the Congress party. He decided to not only open his heart but also the services of his hotel, Vasant Vihar, for party work for free. He offered Room No. 18 in the hotel to be the unofficial party den and it remains so till date.

Vasant Vihar opened as a lodge with six rooms in 1937. The gate led to a 40 cents open space that fell behind the rooms, which were on its either side. The rooms were on top of shops and faced the main road. In the same year Vasudeva Rao opened Cochin Café, a pure vegetarian hotel, opposite Vasant Vihar. “All tea and food came from there as it was the first hotel to get a sugar license,” says Suresh.

As the years went by and political activities, especially associated with the freedom movement, gained momentum, Vasudeva Rao too began getting more seriously involved in assisting the Congress. In 1958 he stood for the Mattancherry Municipal Council Elections from Karuvelippady but lost by a narrow margin of eight votes. “Our house was used as the polling booth. After the loss my father abandoned his desire to join active politics, but he decided to help the party in all possible ways,” says Suresh. In 1967 when the new wing of Vasant Vihar was inaugurated Vasudeva Rao dedicated Room No 18 for Congress party work.

K.K. Kunjachen, former president of Youth Congress Mattancherry, reminiscences, “Room no 18 was like a party den. Notable congressmen like A.K. Antony, Vayalar Ravi, M.A. John used to frequent the place to meet local leaders like M.K. Dharmadev and T.K. Jayaram. Vasudeva Rao was a staunch Congress loyalist and would see that party workers got tea and food. We could use the telephone services at all times. He never said ‘no’ to a Congress worker. That relationship continues even today.”

An important event that Kunjachen recalls is the assembling of party workers on their padayatra that started from Kasargod, and was led by congress leader V.M. Sudheeran. A public meeting was held on the grounds on the hotel.

Suresh says that the open space on the premises was the reason that facilitated public meetings. K.J. Paul, one of the founders of KSU, the student’s wing of the Congress remembers party stalwarts like P.T. Jacob, K.K. Vishwanathan and Dara Singh holding discussions in the room. “They were close friends of my father,” says Suresh adding that in those days the party stressed on simple, Spartan living. Nobody would sit on chairs. There was a paya (mat) shop close by and mats were rolled out on the floor for seating. Chairs were used much later.”

Kunjachen says that Room No 18 was mainly used for conducting training sessions for newly inducted Congress workers. He remembers a young A.K. Antony, Alexander Parambithara and M.A. John take classes here. “In 1968 we had about 300 members. It was a high point,” he says with a nostalgic look.

Many former Congress party workers still hangout at the hotel for old time’s sake. They remember the staging of a drama called Police Station during the period of Emergency. “It was staged under police protection,” says one from among them. The women’s cell of the party called ‘Priyadarshini’ staged a comedy show called, Vanitha Varsham too. Suresh remembers important trade union leaders like M.K. Raghavan and A. Kochunni frequenting the hotel for meetings. “The Cochin Port was very active those days and political leaders held their meetings with labour leaders here.”

Room No 18 does not see any of its high profile visitors of yore or host livid political meetings of a different time.

Its interiors, like a classroom, remain unchanged except that mats have given way to rows of wooden chairs and an office table. A white board is crooked behind. The cupboards in the wall remain closed with locks. Each piece of stolid furniture offers little; except for a small brown fan that whirrs excitedly from the ceiling.

Suresh says, “It’s more than 50 years old; it was brought from Cochin Cafe. It used to hang over the cashier’s table.”

Perhaps the fan, a witness to the activities of the room, in its lively whirr, wishes to narrate the stories that unfolded then and there.

source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Society / by Priyadershini S / Kochi – June 20th, 2014