Category Archive

July 11

Men and Moustache has been associated with each other since ages, and when the talk is about our Kerala men then one can’t imagine these men without their whiskers. But it seems that these Kerala men are shedding their age old manly symbol for a funkier look.

Gopalkrishnan Pillai, 55 an accountant in a private bank and a father of two sons, tells how youth of Kerala are slowly distancing themselves from the ethnic look and are embracing the clean cut shave. ‘Gopal’ takes a trip down the memory lane and fondly remembers his teenage days and how he was proud of his moustache. It was his identity which he still restores with pride.

If we turn back the pages, we would find that every single man was proud of their whiskers, but time has changed so has the ideology of our generation-next. Now moustache on men has become an outdated trend. And even if you will find few with the ‘Mishas’ (moustache) they might be keeping that due to some parental pressure to follow this ethnic Kerala style.

Suraj, 20 a young college boy with a dude look and a fire in his belly believes that one has to move with the time and for him looks matters the most. He with his spike cut and clean shaven look feels more confident and comfortable to stand out with his pals in society. His parents though are not in favour of his so called funky look, but that never bothers this young lad, who defines this to be a generation gap.

All this mixed views point out that the youth of this God’s Own Country is steadily moving at a rocket speed and are aping every new trend out in the global scenario.

Kochi, June 10

If you are young, charming, bold and have that pep in you, then do try your luck at this year’s Miss Kerala pageant. This beauty contest will be held on July 11 here, announced the reigning Miss Kerala Rohini Mariam Idicula at the function unveiling the logo here yesterday.

The pageant is a great platform for the emerging women of Kerala to showcase their image of modern women upholding the traditional values intact. The pageant will test the beauty, brain, and confidence of these young women’s of present Kerala, by a team of juries.

The winner of this pageant will get a scholarship worth Rs 2 lakh from the International Education Council. All those young women aged 16 to 24 with a minimum height of 5ft 2inch can apply for this pageant.

The current holder of Miss Kerala crown Ms Rohini Idicula said fame comes with lot of responsibility and she her self has been associated with many issues and problems relating to children and youths of today. She contributed a lot to boost the self confidence in the youths by organising few camps for them. Who ever will win this crown has to understand the role of Miss Kerala and should work for the betterment of society and state. 

Kochi, May 16

Kalarippayat is very well known as the traditional martial art form of Kerala. This art of physical culture is being practiced in Kerala from the time immemorial. The popularity of this martial art is not only restricted to India, but is known globally. This martial art form will soon be seen on the Discovery channel. In the latest series ‘Fight Quest’, to feature this traditional martial art form a team of Discovery is filming an episode on this traditional martial art form in Kerala. This Indian art of combat skills will now feature among the world’s oldest martial art forms in Discovery.

Kozhikode has been known for its vast number of kalari centres which made the team from Discovery to start their filming from here. The series Fight Quest will showcase all different hand-to-hand combat and martial art traditions. Kalarippayat is the only Indian martial art form which has been included in this series. Rest other forms of martial arts includes Wushu in China, Kali in Philippines, Krav Maga in Israel and Boxing in Mexico.

This unique series featuring the different fighting styles will be aired every Tuesday at 2100 hrs on the Discovery channel. The series will showcase a lot of information’s relating to hand-hand combating and martial art traditions across the world. Also the show will bring in the traditional culture and style of Kalarippayat at a global platform.

Kochi, May 6

Kerala the land of culture and traditions is the home to many religions giving this state a varied feel. This cultural diverse state boasts an array of worship places for all religion, from temples, churches and mosques. But the one common factor in all these religions are the priests. Well its very sad to know that these priests are paid very poorly in all religions.

If we look at the salaries of these priests we can find that they are paid far too low. In the case of Catholic Church priests, they use to get a fixed amount as monthly allowance. It is also known that amount even though paid to them as monthly allowance is not more than Rs 4000. The allowance could also differ as per the area the priest is working in; he may get more for working in an urban area.

A priest of Cochin Devaswom board gets a monthly salary of Rs 4000, the salary increases as per the service of the priest. Apart from the salary these priests are also entitled to get the dakshina (offerings) by the devotees. Meanwhile the Travancore Dewaswom board has a grade system for fixing the salaries of the priests. The grades are fixed on the basics of the years of service of the priest. These priest starts as part-timer with a basic salary of Rs 2300. Only after three years the priests gets full time appointment with a basic salary of Rs 3600-4510. The board also gives them other benefits like yearly increment, leave and pension.

In the Muslim community there are no fixed salary system for the Imams, basically the salary for the Imams is fixed by the Mahallu Committee. The minimum salary an Imam gets is Rs 2500 and average salary of Rs 3000 per month. The salary mostly doesn’t exceed over Rs 5000 and it depends on the financial strength of the committee. They can make additional income by teaching in madrasa and from marriages and funeral ceremonies.

But one thing is for sure that in such an inflationary situation such mere salary for these priests seems far too low to make both ends meet. They might be the most respected section in society but they are getting far too less for what they are doing.

Kochi, May 5

Taking in to count the increasing cases of elephant fury in the state, Zachariah Mathew MD of Mumbai based Senzo Engineering has come up with a new device to rein jumbos. This innovative device is in the form of a nylon belt which has a remote control that can lock the legs of the elephant by the press of a button.

It is known that elephant getting violent is not an unusual scene for people of Kerala. This elephant fury has claimed many lives and huge loss of property so far. To make sure this series of elephant violence doesn’t continues so widely, Zachariah Mathew invented this unique device. The device will be placed at two sides of the elephant, with one of its legs connected to a belt. In case of animal turning violent the mammoth can activate the device with the help of the remote control.

As the remote is triggered the belt gets tightened around the legs of the elephant making it unable to move ahead. This visionary gadget can be operated from a distance of about 75 feet from the elephant. The new founding is still waiting for the day when it finally gets tested on the real jumbos.

Kochi, April 17

The biggest temple festival of Kerala ‘Thrissur Pooram’ started off with a bang yesterday. The city was brimming with festivity and huge numbers of spectators congregated to witness this traditional fest. It all began with the procession from various temples which has its own traditional importance.

The main attraction in the procession was the brigade of caparisoned tuskers heading the procession from the front. The traditional ceremony like Madathil Varau and Kudamattom were much liked by the spectators. As the colourful umbrellas unfurled the spectators started waving and shouting with joy. This traditional ceremony of Kudamattom is one of the most attractive and essential part of Thrissur Pooram. Umbrellas of different shapes and sizes are unfurled in this ritual which is a great sight to watch.

Earlier the Panchavadyam and Ilanjithara Melam started at 11:30am which filled the atmosphere with the rhythm of chenda and clarinets. The pooram ground was filled to its maximum with huge number of spectators assembling from all over the country. Along with the locals many foreign tourists also have come to witness this grand festivity.

Like every year the main attraction of the festival remained with the highly decorated elephants, but after the directive of the high court this year these tuskers were made to stand on wet jute bags at the venues. It was also known that to make sure tight security arrangements at the venue about 2400 policemen were deployed keeping a check on the crowd.

The much hyped firework display began at 3am today with variety of sparkling and noisy fireworks, taking the crowd on their feet. This massive firework showcased a variety of colourful and dazzling display of fireworks lighting sky with sparkles. The pooram will wind up today afternoon with the traditional Pakal Pooram.

Kochi, April 11

Vishu the festival signifying the beginning of a New Year for Malayalees is all set to add its colours to the city. With only two days to go the city has geared up to embrace this festival with fervour. As it is well known that Vishu has is a unique festival for all malayalees not only in Kerala but also through out the globe. The most customary ritual on the occasion of Vishu is the Vishukani (first sight) it is believed that good things seen on the New Year day brings good luck for the whole year.

Amidst all this festivity the city streets are running busy with people shopping for the festival. It is tradition that people use to wear new clothes welcoming the new year and elders use to buys gifts for family members. One more essential feature of Vishu is the traditional Vishu Kaineetam, its generally given in the form of small cash or gifts which elders give to the children as blessing.

This year the soaring price rise has broken the back bone of common man, but still the city shops are running busy with shoppers buying for the special day. From jewellery shops to garment shops and cracker shops all are having a great business this festival season.

Radha Krishnan a house wife says, Vishu is one of the festivals which all Keralites awaits for the whole year. During this festival the whole family unites and marks the new year with joy and warmth. On being asked whether the growing inflation would have an effect to this year’s Vishu, she replied “With such a rise of prices of necessary commodities like vegetables and household stocks it will be a bit tough to manage the budget for house wives like us. But still it won’t affect the festivity and people will celebrate Vishu in the same way they use to before. Radha further said the not miss part of this festivity is the grand sadya (feast) which the whole family enjoys together.

Well it seems kochites are all set to celebrate Vishu with a bang, and the city is buzzing with the Vishu fever these days.