Kerala celebrates her 54th birthday today
Published October 31, 2010 | 
Kerala is celebrating her birthday on November 1st amidst cultural festivities and celebrations that will span over 50 days to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the formation of the state. Kerala was formed in 1956 when the Indian states were set up based on linguistic similarities. Thus, Malabar which was under Madras province was annexed to Kerala while Canara became part of Karnataka.
The district-level Keralapiravi celebrations were marked by various functions. In Aluva, to mark the day, 50 prominent personalities from different walks of life lighted the lamps and a cultural procession that comprised of Five thousand women dressed in traditional Kerala attire was taken out from the Aluva Palace. Floats and traditional art forms were also staged. For the next fifty days, films from different places in the district will be screened on a mobile platform.
Several developmental schemes were launched and literary and cultural figures were felicitated. Some of the developmental schemes on the anvil include the commencement of work on the road and rail links to Vallarpadam.
Competitions also have been arranged for Government employees, students and the public in connection with the Kerala Day celebrations. An exhibition, which showcases 50 years of Kerala’s development, would be yet another attraction . One of the demands that will pursued with great zest during the Kerala day celebrations all over the state and in other parts of India and abroad would be to confer the the status of classical language to Malalyalam.
On November 1st, as Kerala shares her birthday with the neighbouring States of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka , for an ordinary Malayalee, Kerala day has long ceased to hold any special meaning except to deck themselves in traditional attire and to show up at their work place in the cream and gold finery of Kerala handloom! But this year, even this lone spectacle that reminds us of Kerala day is also missing on the roads as rain plays spoil sport.
A village hotel
Published October 17, 2008 | Just step into a typical tea shop in any Kerala village to sample its rustic charm and the warm hospitality it offers. Functioning from a ramshackle thatched shed, these shops will mostly have names of Gods and Goddesses like Muruka Vilasam or Sreekrishna Café. The interiors would be clean though Spartan with a lighted oil lamp and the fragrance of incense welcoming you indoors.
These hotels will turn into a beehive of activity with the crack of dawn when villagers assemble here to share about the day’s Malayalam newspaper headlines and the hottest gossips doing the rounds in the village. Politics is typically the favorite topic of discussion, where the villagers will foretell the outcome of the next elections and appraise the performance of the elected members representing the village.
It is interesting to note that a ‘meals ready’ board will be hung at the entrance of the hotel at all times of the day, though lunch is served only in the afternoon. The typical breakfast items would include puttu, (the famous steamed rice cake) and gram curry or other favorite combos like dosa and sambar along with side dishes of omlette, boiled banana and the like. The 1 meter tea is probably the most popular item in the menu. The tea will be thoroughly beaten by pouring it in and out of two vessels and the tasty brew will be ready in no time. The supplier would shout out the customer specifications like low sugar, more milk or strong tea with less milk and so on and so forth as he places orders in high vocal pitch.
Lunch will be served in banana leaves and the delicacies would include spicy fish curry and vegetable dishes. Tasty food is served at nominal rates and tips are something unheard of in these hotels. Many regular customers maintain credit and pay off the amount at the end of the month. The milieu is warm and the hospitality affable in these small time restaurants where guests are treated like God, unlike the many plush city hotels, where serving food to the starving forms only part of a lucrative business.
Kerala all set to get Internet facility in Malayalam
Published June 11, 2008 | 
Kannur: The innovative project of ‘Malayalam Computing scheme’ would turn the conventional equations of the wirefree world on its head by enabling the common man to use Internet facility in his mother tongue.
The Chief Minister while inaugurating the project expressed hope that around 50 lakh people in Kerala would benefit from Malayalam computing in the next three years. The brainchild of Kerala IT Mission and Akshaya, this innovative scheme would be propagated through the Akshaya centres.
This would bridge the digital barrier and would help people across the state to operate computers in their mother tongue. The government website www.malayalam.kerala.gov.in has all the information on the use of Malayalam in computers. With this system users can send mails or chat in Malayalam without the need to use English ever. Transcending the language barrier, this is expected to bridge the digital-divide, existing between the city bred and the rural folks and neo e-literates. The operating systems like windows XP and Linux have inbuilt facility for this and no special software is required to enable the local language facility in the computers making it easy to set up and operate.
This would empower the common people to easily lodge their complaints and grievances through e-mail as all the police stations in the State would also be computerized within the next one year. The ultimate objective of this project would be to set up a Malayalam web portal in every panchayat in the State, which would popularize internet among the masses by taking it to every door step. It is heartening to note that Kerala is bolstering its position of being a fully literate State by adopting the latest technologies to stay in tune with the changing times.
Super star Mohanlal to add glamour to magic
Published April 19, 2008 | 
Thiruvananthapuram: Malayalam matinee idol Mohanlal is all set to perform a daredevil stunt named ‘Burning Illusion’ on April 27 at Chandrsekharan Nair stadium to convey the message that if there is a will there is a way. Aimed at motivating the younger generation to dream big, this magical show would be the curtain raiser for ‘Vismayam 2008’, slated for May 1-14, where over one thousand magicians from all over the world will participate.
Mohanlal has been undergoing training for the act for over 1 year under the guidance of magician Gopinath Muthukad, who runs the famous Magic Academy in Trivandrum.
The Kerala Sate Youth Welfare Board went ahead with the plan of organizing this four-day international magic festival, ‘Vismayam 2008’ encouraged by the incredible response received earlier for the national integration magical voyage headed by Mr. Muthukad.
The 30-minute escape stunt to be performed by Mr. Mohanlal would be a beautiful expression of the message to the youth that if they have the grit and determination they can overcome any problems in life with ease. Mohanlal decided to relate to this great message by participating in this stunt act to the delight of millions of die hard fans of this great actor.