A visit to Trichur would be incomplete sans a stopover at the Sakthan Thampuran Palace, says SONA.K.R, Curator of the Archeological Museum, Sakthan Palace . A protected monument for its stylistic importance and a cache of rare antiquities the Palace tells a lot to the visitors about a rich heritage once we had.

Once again Trichur hosted the whole world with ‘the most enchanting sight of the globe’ Thrissur Pooram..

Never deviated from the conventional and customized ways and careful observance of time schedules when the pooram blooms,  Trichur bows before its mighty architect Sakthan Thampuran . Had such a powerful ruler not there, perhaps Trichur might not find a niche in the world tourism chart.

The city of Trichur always amazes and lures each visitor, by hiding something bizarre and cooling inside its weird pockets. Like the placid Vadakkunnathan temple at the geographic centre of the commercial metro, Trichur owns a lot more unexpected sights and feels in its cache – Sakthan Thampuran palace, now revived and preserved by the Archeological Department is such a haven amidst the stifling schedules of the daily run.

Sakthan – the visionary

The Swaraj Round

Sakthan Thampuran is the first person who foresaw the umpteen untapped potentials of Thrissur which was the old sod of wilderness and miscreants then. It made the pragmatic visionary to transfer the capital of the Kochi dynasty from Thrippunithura to Trichur.

To make the place more commercially accessible he ordered to clear the 60 acre Teak Forest around the Vadakkunnatha Temple. He was even dared to chop the head of the oracle who surged and spurted against this move proclaiming the woods as the ‘jada’ (scalp hair) of Lord Siva, though  Sakthan himself was an ardent devotee of Lord Siva.

After clearing the ground he made a circular concrete way around it, the Swaraj Round. This road has been structured with such a long vision that nobody can pass through the city without perambulating Sri Vadakkunnathan by this road.

Thrissur Pooram is also the brain child of that farsighted ruler. To deploy the whole natives of Thrissur under one parasol of unity he recreated the festival challenging the Yogathiri rule and the adamancy of the neighbouring locales. Now, as he documented, Thrissur Pooram signifies a miniature succor to the multi-cultural and multi-linguistic embarrassments of the nation. Thrissur Pooram has been parading through the tracks and slots marked and designed by SakthanThampuran without a slight deviation since its origin.

The Royal Palace witnessed the rehearsal of the Pooram as Kolothumpooram’.  Now the custom has shrunk to sample vedikkettu, that observes two days prior to Pooram.

Along with the ‘ezhunnellippu’ from the Royal Palace, the King also would join the procession and sitting under the Ilanji tree at the inner premises of the Vadakkunnatha Temple he enjoyed the orchestra (ilanjithara melam) there. By completing its high notes through the 72 melakartha ragas, now when the world bosoms it as the pinnacle of temple orchestra, it becomes the pride of each Trichurian.

Economy

Tipu's Flag staff

Himself a man interested in agriculture, the King encouraged farming and the trade of farm products and Pooram happened to be the best market of the season. By country boats and bullock-carts traders plied with commodities along and around Kochi province for the Pooram sale.

Trichur homes many leading entrepreneurs, financial and commercial institutions thanks to the farsighted king who invited and accommodated the Syrian Christians and Tamil Brahmins who made the city flourish with internal and global trades.

The Warrior King

Sakthan literally means mighty and the King lived it unto its full means as well.  Unlike other Kings of the time, Sakthan used to roam around his province alone, deliberately avoiding the extravaganza of a retinue to know the pulse of his country.During Tipu Sultan’s military exploits (padayottam) marring the valour and self esteem of the Indians, Sakthan Thampuran was there to fight against his molestation. However, at the expense of his man and arm power, Tipu could break in to the Palace and transgressing all the Hindu customs he lived a short but profligate life in this Palace.

As the symbol of this wrested atrocity, one can see the flag mast of the Sultan at the entrance of the Palace.  Demolishing the mighty fort and the deep trench around, Tipu entered the palace and in that Aceldama, he lost his buddy horse and history says that incident made the Sultan depressed a lot. His flag staff stands erect at the place where the mighty fort stood upright once.

Near to this we can see the flag mast of the Kochi province. It was upon this staff the golden coloured flag of the princely State fluttered with the motto of the province embroidered as ‘Honour is our Family Treasure’.

Archeological ways

At the time of the formation of Kerala State the Palace along with its custodial properties was managed under Palace Administration Board. But certain family members rented this property to some educational and business institutions like casting pearls before swine. Vandalism mirrored everywhere in the 6 acre campus, hooligans roamed around the Indo-Dutch architectural beauty for a long time.

In a mission to revive and preserve heritage properties, the Archeological Department reached here with a radical departure to rescue it from a total destruction.

To get back the property from the then owners, the Department had to die hard and however, the fights came to an end in 1993 when the Government appropriated it with a fancy price. Thenceforth began the revival and

Resurrection -- the Archeological way

renovation works on the palace with utmost care and study, to reinstate the lost antiquity and glory so as to pass it on to generations for a self-realisation and pride over our heritage. It took more than 10 years for these tiresome endeavors to put back the relics as we see today.

Now Sakthan Thampuran Palace has got a niche in the Indian Heritage properties and its upright doorways are opened to the visitors.  Many visitors come here every day and get amazed at the vast repertoire of the historical and heritage museum inside the palace.

Palace – historical monument

Palace, also known as Vadakkechira Kovialakam  is a figurative testimonial of Kerala Architecture. Its particular Naalukettu style renders nostalgic feels of a bygone golden era of joint-family system where the generations grew fondled with love and freedom in rich.

The palace has a rectangular structure where four halls are joined together with a central open courtyard.   The King worshipped their kudumbadevatha (family deity), Sri Pazhayannur Bhagavathy installed in the open courtyard.

16 wooden pillars with artistic carvings of elephants and other traditional Vasthu etchings render a majestic feel to the visitor who comes in. The structure of naalukettu, oottupura (dining hall), ural pura(work area), kitchen etc strictly observe the Science of  Vasthu. The highlights of the Sakthan Thampuran Palace are its high roofs, extra thick walls, spacious rooms and floors paved with finely smoothened Italian marbles.

Vadakke Chira

But Sakthan Thampuran altered this structure a little by adding some Dutch architecture to the Palace. Thus this Palace became one of the Indo-Dutch Architectural monuments.  By replacing the poomukham and padippura with arch-vaults and porticos it invokes a Dutch touch. But the extra wide doors and windows and the imported floor tiles make one really agape. This brings in cool air even in the scorching summer to the Palace.

Restoration

The vast premise of the Palace was once an endless yard of the King who loved agriculture. Most of his backyard was rich with different varieties of mango, jackfruit, banana and guava trees. Western side of the palace was endless paddy fields and the people reverently called it ‘kolothumpadam’ (paddy field of the Royals). Even though the place still carries the same name, we cannot find any tint of a green field there except the piled up concrete forts.

Sakthan’s  Mango-yard where all the varieties of the mango trees bloomed and fruited and his horse-stable where the air resonated with the sound of hooves has changed to Indoor Stadium.

While taking over the royal property what left with the Archeological department is only 6 acres of land around the Palace. As the result of their passionate endeavor everything the King owned at this 6 acre land started to breathe again. The sarpakkavu (Serpent grove) on the southern side of the Palace is still there under an Ezhilampaala tree of more than 400 years old. Big serpents stride over their own premise undisturbed. Visitors are not allowed to enter into it.

This sarpakavu is preserved in the Heritage Garden created by the Archeological Department.  Heritage Garden has been set up using only those plants and trees which grows in the natural atmosphere of the mid-Kerala. A cross-section of almost all kinds of the indigenous medicinal plants can be seen here. At another point a Butterfly Garden has been set up, where we can spot almost all varieties of butterflies. Massive collection of different hibiscus plants commemorates Sakthan’s blooming garden. Vadakke chira, the pond used by the Royal family hems the garden now. Different types of migratory birds come for a short stay here. From November-February, the palace and the pond would abuzz with migratory birds. Tombs of Sakthan and and another King of Kochi are kept undisturbed here. Tomb of a Zamorin who had a reign over here once, is also seen.

Museum

Several preserved materials relating to the erstwhile Kochi rulers are kept in the museum inside the palace.  It owns the largest collection of the excavated megalithic materials in Kerala. It also houses a number of galleries like Bronze gallery where we can see bronze statues dating back to 12^th and 18^th centuries, a Sculpture Gallery showcasing granite structures from 9th century and an Epigraphy Gallery exhibiting the genesis and evolution of writing.

Royal sleep

Also there displays a gallery of nostalgic pieces containing household utensils made of copper and bronze used by the Royal family. A Numismatics gallery is also in store luring the new generation to a euphonic past of tintinnabulation.

A visit to Trichur thus becomes incomplete without a visit to Sakthan Thampuran Palace, thanks to the ardent endeavor of the Archeological Department.

A guide and interpreter of our historical monuments to the foreign delegates K.K.Mohammed is always one step above when it comes to heritage and human race. ANEESH POOKKAD takes us to a walk with that archaeologist along his bizarre ways across the nation.

We are passing through a period where everyone thinks of changing the world sans changing himself. But here is a man, K.K.Mohammed stands apart with a green thumb on his twisted wrist, never hopes to sit under its shade.

We know K.K.Mohammed as an official with high profile at the esteemed Archeological Survey of India. We know him as the prestigious CJ (Citizen Journalist) Award winner of CNN-IBN. We know him more as the hand-picked guide to Barack Obama on his visit to India in the last January. We have enjoyed the visuals of Mrs.Obama dancing with some poor children (in TV slots) and catharsized by the visuals when the First Lady celebrated with those hapless kids, a distant dream even an ordinary Indian can have. Thank Mr.Mohammed an Indian who loves to perceive fraternity at all odds for making that dream true.

What made the Obamas to visit these children, dance with them and share love and sweets leaping beyond the protocol is the report they got from FBI (the investigative body of the U.S.) prior to their visit to India. They somehow spotted the story of the school run by the ASI in a different shade and fortuitously got the right person, its patron K.K.Mohammed to guide them there.

Excavations and Revivals

Some see Archeology as the peeping Tom of the sciences and archeologists, who care not where they are going but want to know where everyone else has been.  K.K.Mohammed is here to rule out this appraisal by resorting to one step above where the Science bows before compassion.

“I used to spot the same children at different work sites indulged in beggary. “, recalled Mohammed of the origin of a noble mission.

“During my tours to various sites of revivals we put almost the same labourers most of them come from Bihar, Jharkhand and like economically poor States.  During this migration, they carry their children with them but cannot afford to send them to a school. So they were sent to nearby streets begging or laying under the scorching sun until their parents come out of the works.  I was really moved at this plight.”

But unlike a layman hiding his tears or journo writing and publishing the human interest fragile story, Mohammed decided to start some informal classes so that the kids can learn.  A person who expertised in excavations and revivals, Mohammed handpicked the kids soaked in sludge and ignorance and started to educate them. As a first step he hired certain youngsters to train them. He contributed Rs.10,000 of his own money toward this cause and approached the contractors for the rest.

“Labourers from Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan etc also live in make-shift tents at the monument premises. To keep their children engaged sans a roaming around, I think is rather a social responsibility. “He commented on the Schools at the Heritage Sites.

Though ASI supports him in this endeavor, these schools never get a Government aid. But the children are provided with books, stationeries and uniforms  thanks to the Archeologist who owns a mindset to protect the past as well as present, to posterity.

Thus Obamas requested their guide Mr.Mohammed to take them to these schools and saluted those wretched kids with a ‘namasthe’ in return to their mugged up ‘Good evening’ and spent with them 10 minutes plus beyond the protocol.

Proud to guide

The antique ways

For the voracious reader Mohammed, history was not mere a subject for academics but an extinguisher for his wandering mind. Reading Bhagavad Gita he smelt the same subtleness he got from the Khoran even when he was a high school student at Kozhikkodu.  Acquaintance with Nalanda University and the historically sensitive places of Bihar ushered him through Nehru’s ‘Discovery of India’.  While doing his Post Graduation in History at Aligarh University he realized the way he has to walk over to his goal, not an end, but a journey. After acquiring another Master’s in Archeology it came close on his tip toes.“Later when I joined Aligarh University as an Assistant Archeologist,  I could get in touch with more excavations especia

lly at Fatehpur Zikri. The findings amazed us as well as the whole nation. We could spot the plethora of richness that our nation possessed once – precarious traits of Din-i-Ilahi the religious  doctrine propounded by the Mughal emperor Akbar, the then market places, the first Christian Church in North India and like.”, surged an eloquent Mohammed.

Central Government honored him with a chair in the prestigious Archeological Survey of India. It really focused his journeys on track and he started to visit places of historical importance along the length and breadth of India and started to revive each for the future, keeping its antiquity as such.

It was at this point Mohammed noted the sporadic trauma that the children of the migrant labourers at the work sites go through.

The interpreter

It is not for the first time K.K.Mohammed is being selected by the Government of India, to introduce our precious cultural heritage to foreign delegates.  When Nawaz Sherif , former Pakistan Prime Minster visited India at a time when the friction between the two neighbours where at high, K.K.Mohammed  took out his task of guiding and narrating the vast potentials of the veiled heritage  to the distinguished guest with pride.

Mohammed’s deep and wide knowledge of history and heritage, the instigating inner spirit and the quest to know and learn may be the factors which push him forward in his professional and personal life.  It makes him spurt out the facts and truths at the hour of the need and came out his statement of the birth place of Sri Rama, as the place of issue, at Ayodhya and of the mortal remains of Mumtaz that brought to Yamuna.

“It made chaos and at the end I got a job transfer which never affected me as I love all the places alike and find something potentially worthy wherever I go. Because we are that much rich..”, smiles away Mohammed.

“Besides excavations, Archeological Department is destined to conserve our world heritage as such. So every worship centre of the ancient age, we consider as historical monument or never as a private asset of any religious segment “, says K.K.Mohammed the only Muslim participated in the Ayodhya excavations.

Another controversial incident in which Mohammed had involved and made headlines was the ‘Taj Corridor project’ by the Mayavati government. Finding it would mar the celebrated beauty and significant heritage of the 7^th wonder of the world which attracts lakhs of tourists every year, Mohammed approached several historians and other influential people and began a signature campaign against that move. He fought unto the Supreme Court Verdict to ban the project.

Recognitions

Historical monuments mirror a country’s civilization. To protect it is the right and responsibility of every citizen. But it confines to the framework of a bureaucratic body, the Archeological department.  Utilizing and exploiting its bureaucratic and public-acceptance elements at its best are the professional policy Mohammed has taken along. However, he has been felicitated and honoured with scores of awards for his sincere mission now and again.

The Great Sanchi Stupa dating back to the 3^rd century B.C., a globally acknowledged historical monument was saved from destruction thanks to the timely interference of Mohammed, as an official in the ASI. For it, he has been honoured by the nation in 2008 and by the Sri Lankan Buddhist Society later. He was again privileged in the next year for arranging facilities for the physically disabled people to visit and make out the vast richness of the repertoire set at Qutub Minar.

Next year it was for the right kind of preservation he served at the Humayun’s tomb by wiping off the ‘hooligans and vagabonds’ who reigned inside. Mr.Obama on his recent visit to the tomb described it as ‘spectacular’, thanks to the ‘clean-up’ by the ASI.

Honored by REACH

Mr.Mohammed has got the award from the Madhya Pradesh government for the best excavator who loves to travel.  “Shri K.K. Mohammed was the first conservation archaeologist to plan and execute the preservation of lost glory of The Bateshwar Group of temples, in Chambal valley remains in Madhya Pradesh. At a time when people were even scared to go to the valley dull of dacoits, he dared enough to lead his team and start conserving the dilapidated temples within the forest. Some 200 temples in 25 acres of land were brought back to its original glory, using the same fallen stone members with a meager budget of 15- 25 lakhs spent for the labour only.”, states the citation plaque.

Recently he has got the REACH foundation award for his selfless service in preserving the ancient temples and heritage monuments. It was at the start of the World Heritage Week that the award had given away to Mohammed.

CNN-IBN’s Best CJ award keeps aside in this array of accolades. It reached him when he looked beyond his official duties and indulged himself in providing basic education for the children of the migrant labourers. He documented the activities of these schools at work sites and showed it to the world through CNN-IBN channel and challenged conventional media houses in an open air until its waves reached and resonated unto Washington DC

Josna.P.Joy, the record holder and Individual Champion of Senior Women Swimmers talks to MAYA KRISHNAN of the thick and thin splashes in the Indian Aquatics.

Kids from far and wide along with their dabbling moms toed the line with giggles along that blue-tiled swimming pool.  They were there to swim across the two-month summer vacation counting down in delight, leaving the kids in safe as well as sportive space. Amidst all the razzmatazz stood Josna with a wide smile making one think of the news reporter’s spelling  error Jolsna (meaning moonlight), something factual. With much affection and patience, she approaches each kid, sweeping his/her fear for water away, by simply sinking into the pool, holding the kid many a time until he/she tries a hand own.

Water-babe

Josna P. Joy, the water-babe from the banks of Meenachil river, in Aymananm village has been known to the Keralites, even before ‘God of Small Things’ turned the world to this lush village. It was in 2003, she made headlines by swimming across the Vembanad Lake, the longest lake in India, along with her two sisters. Then she was so small to realize the greatness of the mission she has undertaken. Now with the moonlit smile she would say, ‘Yes, for the last 5 years, I have been keeping the crown of the national champion in Indian Aquatics meets’.

After winning several titles in school, university and state levels now she is thirsty to conquer herself and this makes the driving force for this young girl to swim forward.

“It is to my father Polakkadu M.V.Joy,I render all my accolades as he is my first guru in this field.  Himself a university aquatics champion, Papa made us three sisters to get in with the Meenachil River which flows through our village. Inside his arms I learned the alphabets and tactics of swimming at the age of 2”, says Josna.P.Joy .

So from the sub junior level onwards she started to bring laurels to her school and spotting the unique talent inside this tender girl, her father took her to SAI (Sports Authority of India), Trichur. The methodological coaching at SAI under the stalwart coach C.P.K.Mathew groomed a star in Kerala Aquatics and she started setting the pools ablaze wherever she went. It was the rise of  a new aquatic star Josna.P.Joy, a contribution from Kerala to the nation.

But her accolades credited to the cache of Trichur and Calicut University  in all the five categories (100m,200 m,400m,600m, 1500m Free Style) in which she has participated in the State junior and Senior Championships. Until wearing the jersey of Kerala, Josna says she couldn’t represent her own village ever. A precocious swimmer Josna loves Butterfly Style most but excels in any form of water-sport and makes one call each of her feat, a classic one.

Women  drop-outs

In the long run of Aquatic competitions,  Josna.P. Joy has been crowned with Individual championship 5 times consecutively. At a time when the drop-out rate of women swimmers especially in the senior category is alarmingly increasing, Josna still glues to her childhood passion with water, unaltered.

water nymphs...Josna with her sisters

Concentrating more own studies and many other baseless reasons can underscore the naïve explanations for these vanishings. Even though much thrilled about the umpteen achievements she never inhibits to reveal her annoyance towards the step-motherly attitude of the government and sports authorities towards Aquatics.

“Swimmers seldom get job opportunities in dignified government services like Railways or Police force. When cricketers and other sports stars get massive recognition and support, we are being neglected deliberately. You can see the clear-cut gender discrimination in our case. Even when the male swimmers enjoy the celeb life of sports stars at various such Government departments inclusive of KSEB, we, the women swimmers get an appointment once in a blue moon, after a long awaiting, that too only in the Secretariat where we won’t get any bond and if we want to participate in a competition we have to represent Kerala State alone.”, rues Josna, though with the in-built smile.

‘I love to be a coach’

Swimming has now gone hi-tech with pompous pools like that of the Basavangudi Aquatic Club at Bangalore, Otters Club at Mumbai etc rendering scientific coaching, while Kerala, the land of rivers still relies on its reminiscent little water resources. The kids come from its background often fall back when they have to lock horns with the hi-techs at the State and National level competitions.

‘This also brings one’s spirits down’, Opines Josna who have traveled amply across the nation for many aquatic meets resurrecting from the village scenario against all the odds.

Legends say those who get ‘neelakoduveli’(a medicinal flower ) from Meenachil River in the month of Karkkidakam would ensure rich harvest. Josna must have pruned it with her tender hands when she was trying to beat the whirlpools of the tributary. However, never wasting time waiting for the Godot, she splashed into her track of dreams to become a good Swimming Coach.

Vembanadu Lake

“It is my ambition to become a Coach who is capable of inspiring as well as grooming the rising stars in this field. So I am contented with what I have now.”, she said looking on to the diving children inside the pool. “For the last 4 years I have been coaching children and of course their moms in swimming which now have acquired the pose of a Women Empowerment Project in the milieu of frequent Tsunami threats..and obviously as the best exercise one can have amidst a gadget-junky life.”

While talking on Josna suddenly leapt into the deep pool and vanished for a while. For some solid moments  the water was calm and at another point of the pool she came up like a diving eel lifting a 10 year old girl who while swimming got cramped her thigh muscles. After consoling her with more than 10 drowns and ups wearing the same smile Josna jumped on to the floor and continued.

“This is common while swimming. But to train them to be professionals I need an NIS certificate from Bangalore.”

But she sighed she can get it even though she got a late appointment in the Secretariat only to swim without bonds. But she says she enjoys the job of the swimming coach at Rajagiri School Kalamassery, thanks to the new curriculum amendment which precisely spots swimming as a part of education.

A PG student of Economics at Vimala College, Trichur, she continues her profession a passion thanking the never-ending co-operation of the college authorities. Unlike many disheartened talents waiting to be spotted, like a diving swan she vanished once again into the blue pool only to rise up with the giggles of her tiny tots who fuel her ambitions.

ANEESH  POOKAD in conversation with the poet laureate and social reformer Akkitham Achuthan Namboothiri.

“Thaliyathiri reign is the first and foremost form of democracy. I think you cannot see such a healthy ruling pattern anywhere else in the world.”, remarked the octogenarian writer Akkitham at the onset of another electoral celebration that sweeps the whole scenario.

[It was a subtle instance in my life to scribble out what my two Gurus were chatting with.]

Tapping on the shoulders of Mr.P.Balakrishnan, Retd. Deputy Editor of Mathrubhumi, Akkitham, the towering personality in Malyalam literary world began to chew the cud of the palmy days.

“Kanyakumari to Gokarnam is a depleted phrase and entity now. It is from Kunchikuttan Thampuran’s ‘Aikyakeralam’ that we get details of this ethnic past once we had. Recently Tapasya had conducted a cultural pilgrimage across the State only to re-inculcate this forgotten fact unto the new genre.” (Tapasya is a cultural organisation in which Akkitham has been an actively associated with.

Knowing  Kerala

Kunjikkuttan Thampuran

“Earlier there were 64 villages out of which 32 were in Karnataka and the other 32 were in Kerala. 4 Thali s constituted the State in which 8 villages each were line up under these th

ali s reigned by Thaliyathiris. They were being elected through voting at an assembly where the whole people gather at a point to elect their leaders. People were well acquainted of the person who is going to rule them.”, explained Akkitham.

“Voting was absolutely transparent. People used to lift their hand in consent with the person whom they support. Thus it was vigorous and vital. After the declaration of the results no one would try to provoke the other and the victorious and the lost would leave the premise shaking hands each other with their allies. Right to freedom of expression was the crux of the politics then.”

Now, as the present scenario makes everyone an alienated island, the poet laureate cum social reformer never leaves articulating his notion of reproducing Kunhikuttan Thampuran’s ‘Aikyakeralam’ with enough interpretations once again into this callous arena.

I was adhered to Communism

“When I shed a drop of tear

For the sake of others, dear,

In my soul there do appear

A thousand social spheres..”

So how can this bard keep aside a philosophy which craves and lives unto the poor and oppressed?

“ I know there are some rumours of me being a communist. I have worked in the Yogakshema Sabha sans an authoritative membership for a l

ong time. That may be the reason behind this.”, observes Akkitham.

“But I have been lured to socialism since my childhood. At the age of 6 as per the Namboodiri custom I too had undergone the Vedic studies. When learning Rigveda, we were used to repeat the word ‘samaanam’ (equality) several times. This fancied my mind and I was fortunate once to have a ‘peep’ to its Malayalam translation by Vallathol. And I particularly noted the various interpretations of socialism in it. I was trained in Rigveda up to my 12th year and it made me all the more craving towards socialism.”

“At that time our social arena was dangerously perilous with so many bad customs like classism, untouchability etc that prevailed all through. Later when went through “Why Socialism” by EMS, ‘Soviet naadu’ by C.Achutha Menon, and Wendel Wilkey “One World” translated and published in Mathrubhumi, I could mould my perception towards life as a whole and never particular. I was leaning towards socialism which I felt was the need of the hour then. This thought guided me towards Karl Marx within whom I saw a

V.T.Bhattathirippadu

redeemer of the humanity. But I would prefer to say that ‘Sampada sooktham’ of Rig Veda which preaches and interprets ‘samaanam’ is the first ever scribble of Communism in the world.”, asserts the social reformer.

“What attracted me to Communism is its bottom line of equality which I thought could break the barrier of castes which stand upright amidst our society as a hurdle towards communion and prosperity,its byproduct ”, states Akkitham.

I am always a Gandhian

A bard who travels through weird ways of imageries and images that rooted deep in the spiritual texture of a country having a solid heritage Akkitham Achuthan Namboodiri always waded in searching the Ultimate through his multifarious poetic world. Hence it justifies why he loved Karl Marx when there was no surety if Marx had any acquaintance with the Indian philosophical crux ‘vasudaiva kudumbakam’ which calls for a community living that needs no government to rule upon.

‘na rishi kuruthekavya’(one who is not a sage can never be a poet). That is why Akkitham says he cannot separate Love, God and Poetry just like he cannot do the same with Dharma, Satyam and Swathnthryam.

That may be the same reason why he seems to rack his brains on reviving  the past while surging with innovative beliefs at a time when Assembly poll-heat surpasses the scorching summer sun.

“Communism, in its sole core, is absolute village imagery. But now, there exists hardly any village in our society. Every village has developed to town and further to city along with its core objective of science. So I think there is no scope left for the ism right now in this soil.”, quips the reformer who gained the vigour from the fire brand revolutionary leader V.T.Bhattathirippadu.

“But Gandhism is different. It is unalterable. It never conceives or recognizes any scientific facts. So I believe in Gandhism which is verity, ultimate. I like to hear you call me a Gandhian”

Fr.Dr.Paul Poovathingal talks to SAJEESH KUTTANELLUR about the objectives and  dimensions of Vocology , a branch of Science absolutely new to Indians who ironically spin around musical reality shows which demands Voice toss and turn.

After a three-minute’s massage when spoke out in a masculine voice, Sonu couldn’t believe it at first, and his mother too. It was for the first time she hears her son speaking in a male voice. They must have thought of a divine heal or a celestial touch to the mute vocal chords which brought him only mops and mows until then. Yes, it was a divine touch.  Dr.Fr.Paul Poovathingal, a seer in the pathway of the Lord, known to the State as ‘paadum pathiri’ (Singing Priest), was behind it.

[Call it irony, Tony Walsh, another ‘singing priest’ whilst encounter with criminal offenses in Ireland , the singing priest of India, Fr.Poovathingal was roping into the shoes of a redeemer for those who lost their voice to express their feels.]

“Sonu was a victim of what we clinically term as ‘Puberphonia’, a state while the nerves to the vocal chords do not open at puberty when they need to be enlarged.”, says Fr.Poovathingal. “When I was undergoing a short-term course in Vocology at Denvor, I could attend a video demonstration of this laryngeal massage and I was just trying it on Sonu. Anyways, the Great Healer was working through my hands.”

Pioneer

Fr. Dr. Paul Poovathingal is the pioneer of Vocologists in India where the term ’vocology’ itself was something bizarre for the ear. In his endless search through the musical highways, it was not an air of mystery for Fr.Poovathingal to land up in the Science of voice culture. Through his Guru Karaikkudi Subramanian who was a disciple of T.Viswanathan who was fortunate enough to have ample exposure to the Western culture that helped him in the nick of time.

“Though our ancient maestros in Carnatic music had advocated the significance of the right kind of production and preservation of voice, we never tried to follow up it but concentrated more on the science of music. See, Thyagaraja himself has sung of the ‘nabhee hrid kanda rasana nassa dulo..’ of producing sounds using the abdominal muscles to create base voice.”, rues Fr.Poovathingal.  “Unfortunately our heritage lacks an objective and analytical approach. For us spirituality is always something mysterious and we hold a subjective philosophy over it. But in the West, they analytically follow the cause behind the voice and their approach to it is very objective in nature. However, Hindusthani music deals with it partially but we cannot own it as it has its roots in Middle East.”, comments Fr.Poovathingal , a Ph.D. holder in Carnatic music.

“In the West, the teaching methodology of music itself is different. There will be a Voice Coach for a singer or an actor to train him how to retain the voice and how to strike the different chords when situation demands. But here, if there is a problem with the voice of the student the music teacher can’t help but send him off with tears. It can be cured by the clinical approach of the voice coach.”, says Fr.Poovathingal  an extensive traveler who roams around the world ‘singing unto Him among the nations’.

Vocology

“Vocology is well developed in Japan and Europe. It focuses on the functional unity of vocal chords. If to define, it is the science which deals with habilitation and rehabilitation of voice i.e. to equip oneself with the aid of knowledge about vocal hygiene and vocal maintenance.”, explained Father. “It is a multi-disciplinary subject inclusive of psychology, music, physics and anatomy.” .

When came to know about such a ‘science’ from his guru, Fr.Poovathingal got interested in it and one of his U.S. friend David Claman and his wife a choir singer who introduced him to the Columbia university, New York where the he got training in Vocology under Dr. Jeannie Goffi.

“It is in fact to discipline my own voice that I went there. But after learning voice culture in deep, I thought of introducing this system in India to help those who face voice problems.”, explained Father about his Voice Clinic at Chetana  Sangeetha Natya Academy in Trichur.

“As born dubious, Keralites were lethargic when I started this venture here. My target was musicians and singers. But the majority come here are teachers and stage artists. Like Sonu another young man, an engineer came here with paralyzed vocal chords after an accident. He had to undergo clinical exercises for 4 weeks and he has got his sound back. Now he is employed in Mumbai. But still he goes on with the exercises I prescribed.”, says a jubilant Father.

Besides his touring profession as visiting faculty in various foreign universities and his directorial venture at Chetana Trichur, Fr.Poovathingal is the General Secretary of the Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences (KIMS) Voice Foundation, Thiruvananthapuram.

When Father Paul Poovathingal, a priest who travels through many weird paths amazing us more than once, discussed about his introducing a voice clinic at Kerala with some of the laryngologists he says, everyone was aghast at this very concept. But now every Wednesday his Chetana Sangeeth Natya Academy gets jam-packed of the patients. Many of the sagas are caught by the news channels and Father says, “I’m fed up” of the phone calls.

Voice problems

Asked why teachers outnumber his patients, he replied, “Teachers use their voice probably more than 5 hours incessantly. But they lack any exercises. See, if we go for a race, we start with a warming-up, and then try for a 500 mtrs, then 800 mtrs and so on. For vocal activity also we need to warm up the muscles to trigger our vocal stamina.”, elucidated Fr.Poovathingal, a previous school athlete.

Most of the people who come to his Voice Clinic at Chetana are of the Voice protection Problem. “..because, they don’t know how to produce a particular sound and how to alter it as situation demands. So they use wrong (deceptive) muscles and later these muscles are being conditioned as such.”, says Father.

If once happened something wrong to the voice, the person gets upset and then falls into depression. So counseling is the first therapy done in this voice clinic. As a graduate in Psychology and Literature, Fr. Paul Poovathingal never gets fussed at such sessions. Then he leads the patient to breathing exercises through Yoga and Pranayama.

“Those who are affected with any kind of voice problem will have their lung area weak. Here we have the software to check lung pressure. To enhance it Pranayama is the sole remedy and it has to be practiced regularly.”, observes Father.

As the next step, a 15-minutes video show revealing anatomical convolutions and dimensions of therapy is being screened for them. Then Father himself demonstrates the ‘do’s and ‘don’ts’ excerpting previous know-how. Right mode of breathing and sitting posture are the emphasized area in this session.  He also urges all the music aspirants to undergo training in voice culture so as to deal with their voice problems which may happen at one time or other.

Yoga and Pranayama

Those who come to his voice clinic return home with a new voice without any crack or cramp. They also take the streak of Yoga and Pranayama along with. As a musician in search of the Ultimate Fr.Poovathingal is a right choice for the people to line up with.

“Indian music is deeply spiritual. I see it as a vehicle to take me in my search for God”, says the Singing priest.

A person inspired by the devoted life of Thyagaraja Swamy, enriched by the discipleship of Indian music legend Dr.K.J.Yesudas, made head-lines by singing ‘Vaatapi Ganapati’ inside Christian Churches and Rashtrapathi Bhavan , Father Paul Poovathingal  reserves all rights to impart the

On the way...

radiance of the higher notes of Yoga beyond a simple physical exercise to a genre ignorant of its own rich heritage.

Though turned to music only after the entry into the priestly paths, Fr.Poovathingal later realized it as his realm to achieve that ‘settled consciousness’ unto the Supreme.  Deeply spiritual, this priest can hence leave religiosity on the sidelines accepting Vedas as the books of Supreme knowledge and identify Jesus, a Yogi. That is why he composes mass prayers in ‘sindhu bhairavi’ and ‘madhymaavathi’ ragas and perceives its awesome impact upon the devotees who track their ancestral roots right in this soil.

A musician who believes lyrics limit music, when makes us turn inward to dig out our veiled energy, we hear him saying, ‘God created man in his own image and likeness. If you believe so, find out where is that power which equalizes man with God..’.

RAJASHRI IYER swears out her dilemma on a women’s day celebration….

They  promised me a lovely woodland Far away,

Where the women bloom.

They screamed at me

To come out of my kitchen

To walk in the moonlight.

They asked me to call him

A beast…..

And taught me how to lure him in.

Whispered me of the short-cut

To his heart ..

That is through his stomach.

They taught me how to do manicure

And how the spices tap his senses

To open into my bowls.

They urged me to be bold enough

To broaden my neckline

Revealing my cute cleavage.

They chuckled at me for knitting buttons

On his shirt , taught me how to embroider

A tapestry to my visitor’s room.

They asked me to shake off the rituals

And spread out the tattoos

That most befit my waistline.

They trained me at the gym

To be stiff and stubborn

And gifted me a moisturizer

To keep my skin-tone fragile.

They quoted the doctor

How to castrate him

And taught me how to be ‘safe’.

They also assured to re-stitch me

To a virgin, forgetting my three kids

But they excerpted the psychologists

How to bring up my pampered ones.

They brought me a lawyer

To learn about my rights

And his zero rights on my body and my yard

Where my flowers bloom and sway

Under his shower.

And they led me to the street

That leads to the woods

Where the women bloom and sway,

Feasting pink under the blue…

ANJALY. C. in conversation with acclaimed Maddalam maestro Thrikkur Rajan

Thrikkur village is famous across the State for two reasons probably with a single dimension – the Rock Cave temple of Lord Siva and the irrefutable percussionist Thrikkur Rajan who lives unto to the culmination of a Devavaadyam (divine music) on his Maddalam, an instrument that symbolize the  Siva-Sakthi  cult. When Thrikkur Rajan strikes at the right and left ends of his beloved Maddalam, we see every being in the festival ground  quiver in tune with those rhythmic notes as if in the eternal union of universal creation.

Rainy notes of a vocal ‘malahari’ guided us to the Maddalam exponent’s home, far from the bus stop near the Thrikkur  Mahadeva temple. Sitting among the loads of mementos and accolades the legendary helmsman recollected his memoirs of a hard-core practice in his childhood which made the maestro of today.

“I started learning Maddalam at a tender age. Along with my brother Unnikrishnan we had our arangettam at Thrikkur Mahadeva temple. Our Guru was none other than our father.”

“We used to perform in most of the temple festivals with our father. Earlier, Maddalam was a mere ‘one- among- the- five’ in Panchavaadyam. Since the growth of Panchavaadyam to a 3-4 hour liturgical symphony harmonizing individual creativity, it has attracted many leading artists in other instruments. Thus Maddalam artists also got the ace in festivals.”, Rajan recollected the reformation of a sovereign Panchavaadyam.

“By the way, my brother got a better opportunity in government service and put his part upon my shoulders he left for Delhi.”, commented  Rajan who has been donning the role of the helmsman of Paramekkavu sector in Thrissur Pooram for the last 17 years.

Meanwhile his daughter Suma, a music teacher came down after the class with a group of young students.

Guru -cult

“Now, nobody is bothered of the values of learning an art form.  Young generation learns it just for performing in youth festivals and thereby getting grades.” Remarked Suma and Rajan nodded in consent.

“Earlier Guru-Sishya relationship was divine and healthy. Now it has reduced to just a friendship with the ‘use and throw’ drift.”, he added.

A man of improvisation, Thrikkur Rajan used to render his own inputs during his performance.  Aesthetic world has recognized his ‘mischief’ as enhancing the beauty of Panchavaadyam which reckons for its strict discipline and harmony.

“Never count it as a denial of our Guru who paved a way for us to this art. Whenever I input my own improvisation I understand the multiplying splendor the whole symphony acquires. It only rejoices my guru and of course the audience.”, observed Rajan of his inimitable style of performance.

In 2008, Kerala Sangeetha Nataka Akademy honored Thrikkur Rajan with a Fellowship.  Along with the torrents of recognitions, he has been selected for the prestigious Poomulli Aaraam Thampuran Award, recently.  A.S.N.Nambeesan, former Vice-Chairman of Kerala Kalamandalam addresses him as the ‘Rajahamsam of Panchavadyam’ regarding his commanding strokes and matchless fingering.

Helmsman

Scholars are of the opinion that a conscious effort alone would not result in a beautiful rendering in thimila and maddalam while exploring swara structure. It needs an exceptional flexibility for the artist’s palms. Like Pallavur Maniyan Marar in thimila, Thrikkur Rajan is blessed with this flexibility which creates gorgeous rhythmic notes out of his Maddalam.

Like that, Thrikkur Rajan’s noted feature is his amazing ability to sway over rhythms and tempo using palms on both the sides, often inter-changing the fingering.  Health and stamina of the body has nothing to do here. It is an unusual capacity of the performer to bring in all his energy into the palms in order to produce such unique sound effects. He knows it subconsciously where to strike and how to harmonize both the sides.

Presence-of-mind to improvise the rendering and massive inputs out of imagination keep Thrikkur Rajan abreast of his contemporaries. Often he makes us spell-bound with his unconventional stance by bringing in novel experiments especially in pathikaalam (base),thripuda (3^rd stage) and in thaniaavarthanam (repetitions) . His style may not be of a maverick, but what he has done contributes a lot to those who desire to improvise their rhythmic notes.

Not only at the festival grounds, but in the wide-spread ritualistic South-Indian percussion ensembles Thrikkur Rajan is a helmsman under whom the debutants can line up confidently.

Flexible in ensemble and improvisation, Thrikkur Rajan is but adamant in using his own instrument wherever he performs. “I insist an error-free rendering of the concert so at any cost I won’t compromise on the quality of the instrument to subside the quality of the exposition.”, states Rajan.

Lineage

If asked about his diligence in this 60 plus he would reply with a smile, “It is nothing but the hardcore training I got at a tender age. My father, my guru was very strict and I never missed my sadhaka (daily practice) ever. Still it continues.”

“Now everything has got a sea-change.”, continued Rajan. “Earlier, Maddalam performance was a hereditary right for the Marar families in Kerala. Now who comes from this community to take over this as a right other than a job..? I think it is coming to the verge of extinction if it is counted on a lineage basis.”

“Makers of the instrument also rope into some other’s shoes. It was the right of the Kadaya community to make Maddalam. They were so skilled that just by striking the wood after it has been hollowed, they can tell which part is needed to produce good tonal quality.”, said an evocative Rajan.

Rhythm is a hereditary element in his family. His paternal uncle Kizhiyedathu Raman Marar was a Thimila exponent. In Chenda also he was equally at home.

Thrikkur Rajan learned the alphabets of Maddalam from his father. “My father had 62 students then”, says Rajan. But Rajan never tried the coat of a guru even though his villagers address him with reverence ‘Aasaan’(great teacher). If asked, he would say, “I don’t think I have that much potential to decant to the coming generation.”

GREESHMA VINCENT talks about the episode of a chatting session with M.Mukundan the Chronicler of Mayyazhi, staged at the venue of a literary celebration where he opened up to a flock of new-genre writers.

“Although such workshops contribute something to the goal, often it deviates from its track to mere festivities. Writers are not supposed to be ‘on-the-dais’ but they are badly in need of those who are ‘off-the dais’.” affirmed M.Mukundan through the rhapsodies of a pompous ‘Vaikhari’, a 5-day long event conducted ‘to revive interest in literature among college students’.

Renovation

To the amazement of a group of young aspirants, the story-teller of Mayyazhi whose existential novels once said to be heralded an era of anarchy, greeted them with a serene smile. In a soft gentle voice he interacted with the novices, often searching for his companion V.R.Sudheesh, who was patiently waiting outside.

“Good works of art can be sprung from an orderly life too.  I am experimenting on it now, like the exact reverse of what I have been doing since my writing career.” He kick started the session with a simple thud upon the subconscious notion of the wannabe ones.

Underlining what V.R.Sudheesh told about him as a ‘writer who constantly re-invents himself’, he continued.

“I like to bring in renovations and innovations in the theme, form and style in my writings. I need to re-invent and update myself in order not to be died out in the deluge of e-writing. I never blamed or afraid of the new writers or their styles. Why should I fear when I own a space here..?”,asks a confident Mukundan.

“In the present trend of Malayalam literature, I find the language becomes heavier with excessive use of alien elements. It becomes difficult for the common man to comprehend with. Substantially, it never reaches the readers..”

“But it doesn’t mean there are no good writers in Malayalam. With the emergence of social networking sites a lot of people get a platform to showcase their talents.  They do read a lot and of course write too in good language.”, replied Mukundan for a query on newcomers.

An ultimate  writer

“There is a tendency to figure out a writer’s persona on the basis of his character sketches. This may not be true often. However, my personal experience out of my extensive travels and umpteen acquaintances might have influenced me to plot a story.” He retorted to a question on his short story ‘Delhi 1981’.

“France is a country which upholds human values at high and its language too carry the shades of its rich heritage. My childhood memoirs revolve around Mahe, the then French territory. So the influence of French comes subconsciously into my writings..,”, observes Mukundan who has received the prestigious Chevelier des Arts et des Letters from the French government.  His magnum opus ‘Mayyazhippuzhayude theerangalil’ (On the banks of Mayyazhi) has not only revered by generations but also brought him an award for the best novel that has published in a span of 25 years. As its sequel when ‘Daivathinte Vikruthikal’ (God’s mischief) came out, Malayalee was once again feeling the subtle and divine bond of man with his native land beyond boarders.

When Daivathinte Vikruthikal was screened Mukundan himself penned the script. Even though it fetched him the Sate award for the best scenarist he says script-writing never gives him a writer’s content as it being more technical than creative.

“In my writings you may find the influence of Dostoevsky and Vaikom Mohammed Basheer because I adore them immensely. But I never tried to emulate them as such.”, Mukundan elucidates of his inspiration .

Can we expect another classic like Mayyazhi…?

“I believe that such classics happen only once in a life. See, we got only one ‘Naalukettu’ from M.T., only one ‘Khasaakinte ithihasam’ from O.V.Vijayan. Heard that Mr.Vijayan had tried to build up another one, but could not..”, comments the writer who apprehended the in-depth self of human entity.

Awards

At a time when awards become a hot piece of debates, he responded to it in his usual abrogate style. “ I adore every award as a recognition. If it is given I would accept it even if it is cinder. If burnt, would shake it off, but never refute.”

This time it was by N.K.Thalikulam Trust for his novel ‘Pravaasam’ depicting the sojourn of a Malayalee who travels around the globe carrying his Malayalee self wherever he goes.

“I revere this award which is in the name of a great personality like N.K.Thalikulam. But I cannot completely rule out the political interferences which ruin the image of awards and its concepts.”

For a writer whose 32 works found a slot in The Library of Congress with two other books written on him, awards and recognitions need not matter, even if it comes on and off.

Sahitya Akademy

“Experience as the President of Sahitya Akademy was really enriching. It informed me a lot of the intellectual activities in the State which I had viewed from a distance earlier. But it was also a period of stress and tension. It affected my writing badly.  However, I believe I could bring some talented writers to the mainstream. But the lack of continuity in governance that blocks the ongoing projects in Akademy.”, Mukundan recalled the incidents of his Presidential term in Kerala Sahitya Akademy.

“Excepting a handful of painful memories, I could release a collection of poems, then.”, he added with a smile.

“We had conducted a lot of seminars and workshops at that time. But Sahitya Akademy alone can do nothing to preserve or promote Malyalam language. It is the responsibility of the language Institutes to helm the moves”, Mukundan replied to a query.

And he responded with an abrupt ‘No’, when asked if Sahitya Akademy does anything to promote Malayalm literature.

Tri-phased Life

In a worthy life with three distinct phases that redound to an aesthetic living, which one would be the favorite and favorable for M.Mukundan?

“Definitely the Delhi life”, stated an exalted writer. “It was the time when I could mould the writer out of my Self.”

Mukundan let in a chance for us to turn the pages back to his Life at Mayyazhi which formed the backdrops of his classical works as well as his writer-self standing at this Return to the native part where he misses his privacy often. Sahitya Akademy alone can do nothing to preserve or promote Malyalam language.

“It was at the last hours of my Babychaayan (Late poet Kaakkanadan) that I felt it severely. They (media) were torturing me when I was in a deep grief. Yes, I know, their profession demands it. But that was too much..”

PRIYA  PALLISSERY talks about  a Malayalam magazine which has successfully completed 12 years of media activism debasing all the existing trends with the sole back-up of its intellectual capital and untiring determination…………

Recently the new issue of a 12 year old Malayalm magazine caught attention on its special launching ceremony at various district head quarters.  Eminent personalities from social, political and media fields attended the function, but few reports came printed in the news papers.  Particularity of the new issue and the nature and fiber of the magazine as a whole, explains the ‘why’ factors in particular and in general.

They like to call the new one as the ‘postmortem issue’ as its whole contents serve the very purpose of reminding  Keralites once again the dreadful Emergency period and the role of Late K.Karunakaran in it. When almost all the articles are written by the victims or the witnesses, this issue of Keraleeyam epitomizes the objectives of journalism.

In Black & White

While going through any of the previous issues of ‘Jaagrathayude Keraleeyam’,   we never find it a smooth reading. The coarse paper, crude lay-out in black and white, not-so-well-edited text, hard lingo, non-lubricate subjects – an absolute contrast to typical media-formulae. While  media world ply along the narrow corridors and back doors to feast the masses with semi-porn human interest stories, political postmortems and painted stories of scams and humbugs , Keraleeyam deals with the black and white stories of the oppressed and down-trodden, sweaty live reports of the suppressed protests against the elite power, foul-smelling accounts of the gang-raped rivers.

If you visit the office of Keraleeyam, you will be all the more stunned to see a congested single room with papers, magazines and periodicals scattered on the dusted tables. You will be scorched with the humidity inside and will start to sneeze and find out where the sub editors and other pen-workers are.  You will find some coarsely written notices inviting you to join in some protests or hunger-strikes. Some notices proclaiming the stance of a few protestors and a dump of memorandums to the authority can be seen flying along the untidy floor escaped from the gewgaw paperweights …Rushes of  centrally air-conditioned marble-floored cubicles and the tapestry in front of the editor’s cabin may flash through your mind. When you stand spell-bound, with a soft tap on your shoulder, Robin, the Co-ordinator and soul of Keraleeyam will wake you up to the not-so-glam truths spread-out before you.

“See, I admit our language is not so readable and our presentation not pleasurable. The answer is simple, ultimately we are not writers but activists,”, Robin’s soft talks and candid smile will make your head droop. While he talks on, a touch of breeze will lull you to unchain yourself from the restraints of deadlines and encoded ethics.

Existence..?

It is not at all a simple thing in Kerala, for a magazine with such a feeble set-up to withstand and survive for 12 years continuously. Amidst the ever-competing media barons with a strong marketing team (often stronger than the editorial team) and chains of advertisement wings, staying alive itself is cumbersome for a print media. But Keraleeyam still stay alive in this struggle as if in the anecdote of the Rabbit and Tortoise.

“Beyond simply a magazine concept, Keraleeyam is a collective effort of a group of people with hardly any expectation of any returns. You may call it a big notice board to tell aloud the present socio-political issues, environmental problems. This is rather an exchange center where different people from different segments with entirely different thoughts and ideologies come and exchange their views and ideas regarding one or more major issues that affect the masses. You may call this a merging point, a rendezvous where people gather around a point where their aims in a wide frame will be the same..”, Robin explained about the floorer Keraleeyam.

“It is by retaining all the disparities and discordance as such that they come to a consensus for the problems. That is the particularity of this togetherness. We share the information, thoughts, concepts, ideas and everything on the basis of our mutual belief and trust in one another.”, reveals Robin about this bizarre concordance.

We..?

While talking to Robin we see his mobile phone rings incessantly and he replies to each query with patience , meanwhile he would search in his phone for some other’s phone numbers and give it to the person at the other end. By the way, some students from JNU who do research on various topics concerning the environmental issues, biodiversities of the dying forests, aquatic diversities of the bed-ridden rivers etc come in. Robin gives them contact numbers of various activists and research scientists concerned with the topic…

“See, this is also a telephone directory.” Robin continues with a smile. “Cosmic Law is the sole unchangeable truth. Those who believe it come down here – they may be politicians, media persons, social activists, environmentalists and like. We discuss about the current issue on these fields and get at a conclusion and strive for its solution thereafter. It may be in the form of harmless strikes, protests, cycle rallies, awareness campaigns. Sometimes it needs deep study. So we go directly to the spot where the crisis fumes. But we take care to lessen our expenses in travel and accommodation. We have our supper together..its output is amazing”.

There is hardly any permanent staff in Keraleeyam. In the late evenings people who work with other media firms comes after their shift directly to this small room with collected reports and themselves do the DTP works in the dusted Desktop PC. Some of the activists come with their live reports. Sometimes Robin himself does the process, his friends, colleagues  and like people helps in doing the lay-outs. Some others go for the print. Articles are given by social activists and eminent media persons.  There are translators in this coalition; they translate the English talks and Englsih/other language scribbles into Malayalam. “Everything is being done on the basis of an eco-centric mind, never an ego-centric”, comments Robin.

Every birth is painful

The birth of Keraleeyam under the leadership of a trio has happened in the form of a Graamapathram (village manual), ‘Novu’ (pain). Protection of environment and biodiversity, awareness campaigning for the public from the grass-root level, analyzing political issues sans party politics, nurturing a sustainable life culture that contrasts with the health consumerism,, agriculture projects etc were dealt with in ‘novu’. It was also a product of togetherness of the like-minded people and when the trio separated in the torrents of life, ‘novu’ transformed into ‘Keraleeyam’ with a vigilance and support from many.

“It is a wrong notion among us that a cultural publication should include stories or poems. In fact, cultural affairs deal with the basic requirements and basic issues of the community where we should work for its progress by making them aware of the gravity of the issue and supporting them to resist.” says the gentle rebel.

Protests

“Who said media can influence individual lives?”, asks Robin. “It is not the quantitative influence but the qualitative influence that counts.”, remarked Robin  mentioning the TRP and TAM rating s of media impacts.

Keraleeyam comes out of the masses as it lives among them. Media and institutions with parallel thoughts share their part with it. Lalur, Muthanga, Chengara, Muriad , Aaralam, Moolampilly, Erayam kudi, Plaachimada, Athirappilly, Kaathikkudam, Nandigram, Singoor  and like popular uprisings which found  cornered  in the dailies were handled by Keraleeyam as a media campaign along with active participation in person. Thus when its reports came in print they could not ‘paint it properly’ as most of them were brought live into the paper without editing.

“Often a protest breaks out among its victims and it revolves round a particular segment. In that context we media people should make the people aware that it is for the basic rights, they fight. We should take the issue into the society from particular to general. People should realize the need of protest in a broad sense.”

Togetherness

In their quest to find out the solutions for these issues, a few socially committed media persons and environmentalists took over the baton and in their voice Keraleeyam reincarnated many times out of the blue.  C.R.Neelakandan, K.P.Sethunath, K.Venu, Rafeek Ahammed,  Dr.Nissar Ahammed, Late Larry Baker, Arundhathy Roy, Vandana Siva, Late Saratchandran, Dr.S.Fazy, Dr. Latha, S.Unnikrishnan etc were a few of them who stood with Keraleeyam supporting  those who were evicted from justice. Entirely deviated from the present media culture they went to the extent of activism other than a lip-exercise or fishing with a pen.

Can you find any other magazine in which a column is dedicated to promote other vernacular periodicals of parallel thoughts, with the details of the issue number and title of the article?

Eco-friendly

The words ‘eco-friendly’, ‘herbal’, ‘natural’ etc lost its meaning of the gang-bang of consumerism. That is why Keraleeyam tried a cycle rally from Kazargodu to Trivandrum challenging the speed and pride coded by the marketing system. It was ‘cycling with a mission’ in a world that runs on motor wheels spitting carbon causing Green House Effect. When motor vehicles become a symbol of dignity than a necessity, increase in the number of vehicles on the old-fashioned roads turn out to be alarming. Cycle journey became hazardous. Touching the soil, spreading their message for the right of the people for a healthy living, Keraleeyam flagged off this mission. It was also a task to collect a fund for ‘Chilla’, a charitable organ and an awareness campaign for the protection of the Western Ghat Ecosystem. One of Keraleeyam’s issues was titled as “Cycle Issue’.

Unlike usual political stunts, we can see those who behind Keraleeyam come in cycles drenched in sweat, and life pledged with the mercy of the motorists. Also they tried a hand in celebrating a vegetarian Christmas in a world that whirls around grilled chicken!!!

Success..?

“Indian independence struggle was more than 100 years old..”, winks Robin. “We can create only some ripples now. For a complete renaissance we have to wait for long. It is a gradual process.”

“Our sole aim is a new world where people get the right to live in a peaceful and unpolluted ambience. — Not only people, flora, fauna, rivers, hills and hillocks– We are committed to retain them as such. Equality, fraternity and freedom – we strive for it since 12 years. If we could make a small ripple in the society, I count it as very positive”, remarked Robin quoting their incessant protests in support of the Plachimada problem through their 145 issues out of the total 165.

Struggles come to an end only when we feel somebody’s voice become a melody for our ears…

Finance

The profit of Keraleeyam is nothing but a never-ending list of finance loans. Sans a marketing team or a spicy text, it struggles for existence. “After each issue, the production of the next always dooms like Damocles’ sword. So we cannot say that we could keep the periodicity at the best. Financial debts are being shared among us. Subscription amount is our major revenue.”

“Such things can make me disturbed but never hurt. When comparing it with the plight of those who die for a piece of land, this is very simple. What happens, if we cannot publish a new issue?’’

Smiling and waving good-bye Robin took his bicycle and faded into the buzzing traffic jam.

A  chat with B.K.Harinarayanan, the poet-lyricist upon whom the aesthetic Kerala looks forward for reinstating  its  rich lineage of film songs with musical and lyrical contents..

By AMULYA.K.A.

When B.Unnikrishnan’s new movie released sans a Girish Puthenchery, everybody was anxious to know the name of the lyricist in the promo ads. To their astonishment, they found a new name – Harinarayanan– and the media shaded him with the halo left by the great bard Puthenchery .

“Please don’t count me a successor or substitute of Girish Puthenchery..”, an ardent admirer of Girish Puthenchery, Harinarayanan  openly admits himself as pales into insignificance at this go. “If you say so, it will be like promoting a first standard student to graduate level by simply calling him a child prodigy..”.

Late Gireesh Puthenchery

But if you snoop to the songs of the Prithwiraj starrer ‘Thriller’, you may find a tint of Puthenchery cult in between the lines. On listening to the rap music of ‘Thriller’ you will smell the yesteryear hit of ‘Summer in Bethlehem’, ‘confusion theerkanamae….’.

The Poet

A poet is often born. The ambience reinvents him categorized into the world of words and aesthetics. Thus , the oxygen-rich Karikkadu village and the Vedic chants echoing inside an orthodox Kerala Brahmin garret, made Harinaryanan a bard of our richness. In his poems with calculated meters and rhyming,( which are rare in today’s poetry), Malayali re-identified  his literary roots embedded in a well-off Sanskrit.

“It was my Guru Shri.E.P.Bharata Pisharoty, brother of my tutor in Mridangam Shri. Narayana Pisharoty, has found out the poetic persona inside me and with his inspiration my first poem was published when I was a school boy.”, says Harinarayanan who always love to be known as a poet rather than the umpteen fields in which he has excelled with so far. “My paternal uncles also paved my way to a realm of verses and they still stand pillars by my side all through my journey of twists and turns”, he added.

Harinarayanan’s poems often seen published in ‘Bhashaposhini’ like periodicals which deals with serious literary affairs in Malayalam.

Transmission from a poet to a lyricist is still incomplete with Harinarayanan.  While songs are written for the mass to enjoy and sing along with, poems targets a particular segment who owns a sense of literary aesthetics. “But to write certain words that suit to the tunes and the context pre-determined is the challenge in song writing”, says Harinarayanan. “In both, it is a game with words and I always love words. Even while writing poems I had a dream to be a lyricist rendering tunes for generations to hum with..You see, all the lyricists are poets. If there is no poetical element in a song, it won’t live for long. That is why Malayalees still ponder over the musings of Vayalar, P.Bhaskaran and like stalwarts..”

Entry into Cinema

Thriller

“It is because of my some sincere friends like Jayan that I could get into the film field. By recognizing the poet inside me, B.Unnikrishanan had given me a chance to write for his film. Though a debutant, I could render what the director wanted me to. It happened only because of his (B.Unnikrishnan) support and motivation.”, remarks Harinarayanan. “Writing verses according to the pre-set tunes was nothing new to me. My first song came out through an album by East Cost, titled as ‘Patturumaal’. A

nd I have penned for a lot of devotional albumsalso before ‘Thriller’. My latest devotional album is ‘Kaanikka’”, replied Harinarayanan for a query about the new trend of song composition.

A lover of words and literature, Harinarayanan keeps a long-cherished dream parboiled clos

B Unnikrishanan

e to  his bosom. Had destiny not pre-determined for him to be known to the world as the lyricist of ‘Thriller’, he would have the privilege to be the intellectual craftsman of the Malayalam film Industry.

“It was 4 years back. Motivated by my friend Rajesh, an off-track movie director, I tried my hand in relocating Shakespeare’s ‘Macbeth’ . I had to try hard for reinstating that classic tragedy into Malayalam backdrops. I was

overwhelmed by the appreciations it received from a few who went through it. But due to some unfortunate incidents I could not turn it to a movie..”, says Harinarayanan in a stance of melancholy, but soon he got back. “ I was trying to bring it through a Kathakali background as it suits to the Kerala scenario more. In fact it was a tiresome journey through the bumps and curves of the world of Kathakali, the art form and the artists, who see their self in the completion of a character”

Vedic ways

“I have been practicing Vedic rituals since my childhood days. Still I do go well with it as a profession also. I used to participate in Athirathram (the oldest surviving ritual that invokes the untapped Universal energy) as a Rithwik”, states Harinarayanan who also does its media works with the privilege of being a Post Graduate in Journalism.

“It was Shri.Uthamakkuruppu and Shri.M.P.Surendran (senior journalists of Mathrubhumi Daily) who inspired me to take up the media works of such a traditionally rich event to make common people know about the significance of this Vedic rendition. As a Rithwik in the last Athirathram in 2006, I was deeply going inside of this ritual while reciting the Vedic chants.”

Right now, Harinarayanan is busy working on his dream project – a book on the know-how of Athiraathram. Reincarnating from his own experiences and attired by his magical vocabulary, this book would be an asset for those who want to learn deep about the cultural heritage of India.

In Love …

Fancied by his good looks and charming smile one would definitely ask this young poet on his first meet up that would he be not interested in acting.  Harinarayanan will laugh at this question and with his innate humour he would fold his palms to us pleading to leave him off. But he is active in dubbing industry lending his pleasant voice to various programs in Dooradarshan.

Though dabbling with different genres like Physics, Charted Accountancy, Tantric ways, Journalism, poetry, script-writing et al, Harinarayanan’s ultimate love  falls with words. That is why he renders the verses for the dance adaptation of C.N.Sreekandan Nair’s famous play ‘Lankalakshmi’. “Rajashree Warrier is the brain behind this venture. She conceives and does both the choreography and performance for this. In fact, her motivation is my only back-up to take over such an altogether novel project. Keeping in mind Ravana’s inseparable entity with his kingdom Lanka and his desire to bring glory to his State through the auspicious Sita, I pen the verses ..here there is no space for lust..”

When Harinarayanan speaks about this versification we sense his poetry as always ripe to be lyrics immortal, we value the ‘unearthly excellence of a poet who escaped from his celestial realms..’ and would love to ‘cherish’ him ‘not to fly back to his homeland..’