African tulips are among the most spectacular flowers in the world. Often found in the tropics, it is also known as the Fountain Tree, Flame-of-the-forest and Nandi Flame. The botanical name is Spathodea campanulataI took these photos (copyright reserved) at Olavipe. Click on them for enlarged view.
Olavipe Kayal (Lake) is a branch of Kerala’s largest water body, the Vembanad Lake. During the time of the Portuguese and the Dutch, small ships used to sail in from Cochin Port to Thycattussarry about a mile from Olavipe to load pepper and spices. (See A unique prayer.)
Subsequently, till National Highway 47 became operational, large country boats carried the bulk of cargo movement between Cochin, Cherthala and Alleppey. Rows of those vessels laden with merchandise passing by Olavipe, their sails ballooned with wind, used to be a beautiful sight. Now the trucks have taken over.
Rejo, younger brother of Reji (A village artist) took these lovely pictures. Click on them for enlarged view. Copyright reserved.
Ends.
Also see: God's own dream
Kerala has always welcomed people from different parts of the world. They came from the East and the West – traders, travelers, Apostle St. Thomas, St. Francis Xavier and other missionaries, displaced communities and so on. The array of religions included Jainism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. All were received warmly and a healthy symbiosis developed. Kerala was a land of communal harmony.
It is against this background that one has to view the story of Kudallur Mana situated in Naglasserry Panchayat, Palakkad District, Kerala. Mana means the home of Nampoothiris (Kerala Brahmins). Kudallur was a center of culture and learning. The Family gave great importance to learning and teaching. People who were interested in Sanskrit were welcome to free stay and tutorials at the Mana.
At the same time, the Nampoothiris were not able to obtain modern education without compromising their age-old traditions and beliefs. Kudallur Kunchunny Nampoothiripad was aware of this problem and approached the Government of Cochin in the 1870s to start a special school for the community. This move fructified with the establishment of Nampoothiri Vidyaalayam at Edakkunni near Thrissur almost five decades later.
The ancient Kudallur Mana was fabulously rich and powerful. But even during the height of feudalism, the enlightened and magnanimous members of the family were progressive in their outlook. The tenants were always treated fairly. People who needed help were never turned away empty-handed.
In spite of all these, the Communists once organized a struggle against the Mana with their stock slogans about capitalism, uplifting the downtrodden, imperialism, religious domination and the like. EMS Nampoothiripad, the undisputed leader of the Kerala Communists, himself ordered that the agitation be called off!
A piece from recent history – the last Karanavar (head of the family) of Kudallur Mana, Dr. K Narayanan Nampoothiripad, went to England for higher studies. He came back a Christian and continued as the chief of the family. No one tried to protest, or to ostracize him. Along with Vedic texts, readings from the Bible also resounded within the walls of the Mana.
When the doctor who came to be known as Nazrani Thampuran (Lord) died in 1995, he was buried in the western yard of the Mana. His tomb has a cross and a quotation from the Bible inscribed on it.
Right now Kudallur Mana is again in the limelight. The controversial social studies textbook for 7th Standard introduced by Kerala’s Left Government this year reportedly gives demeaning hints about this historic institution. The Communists seem to have forgotten the advice of EMS Napoothiripad.
Ends.
[Note: This piece is inspired by an article on Kudallur Mana by Vasudevan Nampoothiripad in the Sunday Supplement of the Malayala Manorama dated July 27, 2008.]
Also see:
Photos from Olavipe by me. Copyright reserved.[Due to certain problems I could not post for a week. Hope to restart regular postings. I thank the readers for being patient.]
Last Saturday (19th) I boarded the Chennai-Trivandrum Mail, for Cochin. This is a fast train (they call it ‘super fast’) by Indian standards. Leaving Chennai at 8p.m., it normally reaches Cochin at 6.45a.m. Each time I travel by this train, there seems to be some improvement in the quality of the rake and standards of cleanliness particularly of the toilets.
I had an early dinner and went to sleep. At about 2 a.m. I woke up, disturbed by the sound of people moving around. The train had stopped. A lady official and a policeman were next to my berth. They asked me to identify my baggage. On asking what was the problem, I was told that an important bag was misplaced and they were looking for it.
I expected the train to restart soon, but the wait continued and I could not get back to sleep. After a couple of hours I went outside and found that the train was parked on a sideline at Podannur Station near Coimbatore. Some people who were standing around in groups told me that there was a bomb scare and expert squads were checking the train.
My first thought was that the officials should have, as a precautionary step, asked the passengers to vacate the train. That of course would have created panic at a time when the passengers were deep asleep. And without any trained person around to guide them, there would have been chaos and people could have got hurt.
Whoever was in charge of the operation took a difficult decision to carry out the search with least disturbance to the travelers. When the train finally resumed the journey after a three-hour stoppage, some people were criticizing the inefficiency of the Railways. Most of them would have realized the reason for the delay only when they read about the bomb scare in the next day’s newspapers.
We certainly have to congratulate and thank the personnel of the bomb squads all over the world. These brave men and women put their lives on line almost every day to save the lives of others.
Ends.
Also see: The romance of railways
The painter put a comma at the wrong place on the board and that changed the entire meaning. I am sure that you can guess after which word the comma was inserted.
That was a lesson well learned.
Ends.
How many of the elected representatives of the people of
Or should it be ‘The value of Indian MPs?
The purpose of this short post is to draw the attention of those who want to evaluate the deal to the comments on my post Nuclear Deal: The Left, and the right. They are rather lengthy but worth reading.
Ends.
