The importance of Kalakaumudi daily

Synonymous to the masthead statement, "A newspaper for Keralities living away from home" Kalakaumudi daily truly stands for the spirits of Mumbai Malayalis. Founded in 1990 Kalakaumudi daily is considered the first Malayalam newspaper from Mumbai. However, historically now defunct Mahakeralam which started in the eighties was the first Malayalam daily newspaper from Mumbai.

Kalakaumudi weekly offered special 10-year subscription scheme for readers and the management declared with the fund raised thus will utilize to start a newspaper from Mumbai for Keralites living away from home. As promised they started Kalakaumudi daily newspaper from Mumbai, then it was Bombay. At that time they purchased a beautiful office in the prime location at Nariman Point for Kalakaumudi daily for few lakh rupees, say peanuts to the present market rates. Now the value of this office commands crores of rupees.

Mumbai is considered the home of over 30 million Malayalis who are scattered and mostly live in the suburbs of Thane and Raigad districts. Now year after year the Malayali population is increasing, but the number of Malayalam speaking, reading and writing Malayalis are decreasing. The younger generation youths of Malayali parents are not interested in Malayalam newspapers or Malayalam publications. Nevertheless the first generation Malayalis want to read Malayalam newspapers.

Malayalis across Mumbai and its surrounding suburbs were very happy to have their own Malayalam newspaper. The welcome to Kalakaumudi from tender coconut vendors, hawkers, street merchants, small traders, nurses, office goers were amazing.

They blindly accepted the new newspaper because it was backed and managed by the legendary Keralakaumudi group. Keralakaumudi's founder editor late K.Sukumaran and his dynamic son M.S. Mani, who was the Chief Editor of Keralakaumudi and Kalakaumudi, are the most respected names in all Malayali families particularly in Travancore area.

Kalakaumudi started 21 years ago. I very much remember the day when Kalakaumudi started from Mumbai. The starting was very modest. Almost 13 years Kalakaumudi was the undisputed number one Malayalam newspaper from Mumbai. Seven years ago Mathrubhumi and Malayala Manorama, the two leading Malayalam newspapers in Kerala, entered Mumbai market with satellite editions which brought more competition and made the going of Kalakaumudi very tough.

Kalakaumudi daily has many accolades. It was the first continuously publishing Malayalam daily newspaper from Mumbai with lot of news related to Mumbai Malayalis, Malayali Associations, Samajams, temples, churches. It reported with importance and priority each and every social, cultural and religious activity amongst Malayalis living in and around Mumbai and even faraway places like Vapi, Surat, Ahmedabad, Pune, Nasik and Nagpur.

When Mathrubhumi and Malayala Manorama started Mumbai editions seven years ago, they started to divide Mumbai Malayalis as from Travancore and Malabar regions and thus encouraged classification and disintegration amongst Mumbai Malayalis. However, remarkably since beginning Kalakaumudi always stood out from the crowds with dignity. Till this day Kalakumudi considered its readers as one and always upheld the oneness and constantly encouraged integration.

Columns of the late V.T. Gopalakrishnan, M.G. Radhakrishnan and Cheppad Somanathan and articles of prominent Bombay writers were the attractions of Kalakaumudi Sunday issue. The Kalakaumudi daily Onam special issue was the most sought-after one and on Thiruvonam day people were virtually queuing up in the early morning near newspaper stands and news vendors to get a copy. Reminisce those days now is quite nostalgic. I am sure like me almost all first generation Malayalis will cherish those memories.

When Kalakaumudi daily started Viju V. Nair was the editor. After some years he has been transferred to Kalakaumudi group's head quarters at Thiruvanathapuram. Then Biju became the editorial representative who was succeeded by V.D. Selvaraj. Later the editorial representative post also disappeared.

Kalakaumudi shifted most of its operations to Thiruvanathapuram about four years ago, generating just two Mumbai pages, page two and three, and using the content of its parent newspaper, Keralakaumudi. This arrangement has also been changed slowly. Nowadays the practice is Mumbai matters are typed and being sent to Thiruvanathapuram together with relevant photographs. In turn from Thiruvanathapuram all pages were set and sent out to the press in Mumbai directly.

The most significant factor of Kalakaumudi daily is it gives the soothe feeling that irrespective of geographical regions, caste, creed and religion it is the own publication of Malayalis. How many newspapers in India or even in the world can match this magnificence?

World Toilet Day is incomplete without paying rich tributes to India's Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, the pioneer innovator of economic sanitation and social reformer

Today is November 19.

What is the importance of this day? Indians in India and across the globe will say it is the birthday of former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. They are right. But, I am discussing about another importance of this day.

Today the World Toilet Organization (WTO) is observing World Toilet Day. The World Toilet Organization founded by Jack Sim in 2001 with 15 members, now has 215 member organizations in 57 countries working towards eliminating the toilet taboo and delivering sustainable sanitation.

The observation of World Toilet Day is incomplete without paying rich tributes to India's Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, the pioneer innovator of economic and hygienic sanitation and social reformer. He has been developed the cheapest toilet in the world. Many an elite people in India and the general public at large are not familiar with the name Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak. However, they are familiar with the name Sulabh Shauchalay, the pay-and-use public toilets across the country.

Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh Sanitation Movement in India, has been awarded the 2009 Stockholm Water Prize Laureate. As the Founder of the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, Dr. Pathak is known around the world for his wide ranging work in the sanitation field to improve public health, advance social progress, and improve human rights in India and other countries. His accomplishments span the fields of sanitation technology, social enterprise, and healthcare education for millions of people in his native country, serving as a model for NGO agencies and public health initiatives around the world.

Since he established the Sulabh Sanitation Movement in 1970, Dr. Pathak has worked to change social attitudes toward traditional unsanitary latrine practices in slums, rural villages, and dense urban districts, and developed cost effective toilet systems that have improved daily life and health for millions of people. He has also waged an ongoing campaign to abolish the traditional practice of manual “scavenging” of human waste from bucket latrines in India while championing the rights of former scavengers and their families to economic opportunity, decent standards of living, and social dignity.

“The results of Dr. Pathak’s endeavours constitute one of the most amazing examples of how one person can impact the well being of millions,” noted the Stockholm Water Prize nominating committee in its citation. “Dr. Pathak’s leadership in attaining these remarkable socio-environmental results has been universally recognized, and not least by those who have secured the freedom of human dignity as a consequence of his efforts.”

Sanitation Innovator

Frequently citing the common toilet as one of civilization’s most significant advances, Dr. Pathak has led the development of cost-effective and culturally appropriate toilets and related treatment systems to replace the traditional unsanitary bucket latrines in poor communities throughout India. His most prominent innovations include:

• ·     The Sulabh Shauchalaya twin pit, pour-flush toilet system now in use in more than 1.2 million residences and buildings built by Sulabh. This technology has been declared a Global Best Practice by United Nations HABITAT and Centre for Human Settlements, and is now recommended by the UNDP for use by more than 2.6 billion people around the world.
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• ·       Sulabh public toilet and bath facilities based on that system at 7500 locations, together serving more than 10 million people daily. These pay-per-use public facilities provide an economically sustainable, ecological, and culturally acceptable solution to hygiene problems in crowded slum communities and public places.
• 
  
• ·   Optimised water conservation in the Sulabh Shauchalaya systems, requiring only 1.5 litres of water per use to flush, in contrast to conventional toilets that require a minimum of 10 litres. This has significant additional benefits for health and quality of life in water-poor regions.
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• ·    Environmentally balanced wastewater treatment based on a duckweed and fish raising (pisciculture) ecosystem that provides economic opportunities for rural poor communities.
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• ·       Several technologies that convert waste from Sulabh Shauchalaya toilets into biogas for heating, cooking, and generating electricity.
• 
  

Action Sociologist

A self-described “action-sociologist,” Dr. Pathak has worked on the leading edge of social enterprise for decades, combining business best practices and principled activism to advance the causes of better sanitation, societal change, and improved quality of life. In 1970, he founded the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation, an NGO that has been a catalyst for improved sanitation and social change across India. Now with more than 50,000 associate members who are rendering their voluntary services, the organisation has recently /started operations in Bhutan and Afghanistan. In collaboration with UN-HABITAT, Sulabh has trained engineers, architects, planners and administrators from 14 countries in Africa. Sulabh is now planning to start work in Ethiopia, Cambodia, Laos, Angola, Madagascar, Dominican Republic, Tajikistan and other countries.

Through Sulabh, Dr. Pathak has waged a decades-long campaign to abolish the traditional practice of manual “scavenging” of human waste from the simple pit latrines that have predominated across much of India. His early concern for the plight of the “untouchable” scavenger caste led to the development of the Sulabh Shauchalaya toilets to eliminate the need for scavenging in poor communities. Over the years he has led multiple initiatives to champion social dignity, economic justice, and liberation from the caste-oriented system for former “untouchable” scavengers and their families.

Hygiene and Health Educator

With the establishment of the Sulabh International Institute of Health and Hygiene (SIIHH), Dr. Pathak has led efforts across the NGO and government sectors to develop effective and culturally oriented hygiene and health models for urban slums and rural villages. In collaboration with other organizations, SIIHH has created hygiene curricula for young schoolchildren and their teachers, provided sanitation and health training for volunteer instructors in slums, and opened centres providing basic healthcare for urban poor at Sulabh community toilet complexes.

Working with the Indian Ministry of Environment and Forests, Dr. Pathak also established the Sulabh Environmental Information System Centre to gather and disseminate environmental information related to hygiene, sanitation, and sewage treatment for researchers, academics, policy makers, and students.

About Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak

Born to a Brahmin family in 1943 and raised in the Indian state of Bihar, Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak attended Patna University where he earned an M.A. in Sociology, an M.A. in English, a Ph.D. in “Liberation of scavengers through low cost sanitation” and a Doctorate of Literature in “Eradication of scavenging and environmental sanitation in India: a sociological study.”

Dr. Pathak first came to understand the plight of scavengers in 1968 when he joined the Bhangi-Mukti (scavengers’ liberation) Cell of the Bihar Gandhi Centenary Celebrations Committee. During that time, he travelled throughout India, living with scavenger families as part of his Ph.D. research. Drawing on that experience, he resolved to take action, not only out of sympathy for the scavengers but also in the belief that scavenging is a dehumanizing practice that would ultimately have a destructive impact on modern Indian society. With the establishment of the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation in 1970, he thus launched a unique movement that combines technical innovation with humanitarian principles.

A prolific writer and speaker, Dr. Pathak has authored several books, the most well-known of which is The Road to Freedom, and is a frequent participant in conferences on sanitation, health, and social progress around the world. He lives near the Sulabh campus in New Delhi.

The Government of India must consider conferring the highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, to Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak without any hindrances or political recommendations of Bihar or Delhi governments as paying rich tributes to his glorious services.

Souyma Swaminathan wins World Junior Chess Championship

Pune based Indian Soumya Swaminathan, achieved what only five other Indians have achieved in world chess - she has won the World Junior girls chess championship at Puerto Madryn, Argentina on Thursday, November 4.

The 20 year old woman grandmaster, tallied 10 points in this under-20 tournament. Soumya was seeded ninth in the tournament and needed a victory in the last round. This win has given her direct entry to the Women's World Championship.

“This is a big achievement. With this title, she will directly qualify for the junior World cup in Russia later this month. Almost every junior champion has performed well in the World Chess Championship. That is why this title is more prestigious”, said GM Abhijeet Kunte. Soumya has been training with Kunte's Academy for the past three years.

In the thirteenth and final round, Soumya defeated Kubra Ozturk of Turkey for a place in world history. She became the third Indian girl after Koneru Humpy (2002) and Dronavalli Harika (2008) to win the World Junior Girls championship. The World Junior title has also been won by Vishwanathan Anand (1987), P Harikrishna (2004) and Abhijeet Gupta (2008).

India has retained the girl's title this time. Soumya was tied for the first place with two others but had the better tie-break score to end up as a winner. All of them scored 9.5 points from 13 games. In the final round, she started on 8.5 points and Cori Tello was also on 8.5. But, Betul Yildiz of Turkey was better placed on nine points.

While leader Yildiz only drew against Orissa's Kiran Mohanty, Soumya and Cori Tello won their games to be tied for the first place on 9.5 points. When the official results were declared, Soumya had the higher tie-break score of 27314, higher than Cori Tello's 27250 and Yildiz's 27052. Soumya was in command in the event but a penultimate round defeat pushed her down from which she rose to win the tournament.

Soumya was born in Palakkad in 1989 and her family shifted to Pune. The city's chess administrator Joseph D'Souza said, "In her trip to Europe last year, she made five norms in one and a half months."

Saumya studies commerce at the BMCC College. She is studying on the scholarship provided by a petroleum company, Joseph informed. Soumya has won several national titles including the national U-17 in 2004 and the national junior titles in 2005 and 2008. Her rating is 2297 and she played at 2433 Elo and would be gaining about ten Elo points from this event.

At the tournament, she won eight games, lost two and drew three games for the title. The highest rated player she defeated was second seed Xiaowen Zhang of China. She did not face the top seed Mary Ann Gomes of Kolkata.

Wow! 60% special discount in rape

A rape is a rape after all whoever commits it. However, our age old Indian Penal Code framed by British in 1860 gives around 60 per cent discount in rape punishments and privileges to certain category of people. We have a woman President, a woman Speaker and a powerful woman Congress Chairperson. Still it is a shame that we encourage to give the concession for rape to police officers, medical superintendents and government officials by giving the maximum punishment of three years whereas a common citizen gets minimum seven years imprisonment.

Forget the illiterate women, how many educated women know about this ambiguity and discrepancy in our outdated law. When we will throw out the old laws with disparity and haziness and make new laws? Had something constructive and meaningful were done by making changing, amending and modifying the punishment for rape? Otherwise the time will record the celebrations in the centenary year of international woman's day were as Hippocratic. Are you listening dear women activists? Please rise and act now. Do you think Lalu Prasad YadavLalu Prasad Yadav, Mulayam Singh YadavMulayam Singh Yadav, Sharad PawarSharad Pawar, AshokAshok Chavan or even your local MLA or corporator will come forward to express their solidarity with you?

According to the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), sexual offences in India are increasing year after year. Many sexual offences go unreported and not recorded. Therefore, based only on the reported sexual offences data of NCRB, we cannot understand the exact level of sexual offences occurred in India during a particular period. There are many drawbacks in our system.

Like anywhere in the world, sex workers play a vital role in India directly and indirectly in controlling sexual offences. In a move aimed at bringing sex workers into mainstream of society, on June 15, 2004 the then union Minister of State for Human Resource Development Kanti Singh announced that the UPA government was considering a proposal to introduce a licence system for sex workers across India. It remains a mere nice consideration-thought after six years.

There are more than 20 lakh sex workers in India now. Prostitution in India is tolerated to a certain extent so far as a prostitute practised her trade in private. In India the sale of one’s own bodily sex to a male customer by an adult woman on her own free will in her private premises is not illegal. However, organised prostitution is illegal.

Many NGOs, social scientists, workers from medical profession and sociologists opined that the Women and Child Development Minister should take initiation to legalise prostitution in India. Though the previous Women and Child Development Minister Renuka Choudhary encouraged this thought endorsing her views at different platforms, no decision has been taken in this matter until now.

The British introduced the written Indian Penal Code in 1860 and their aim was to make it best suitable for their own needs and to take advantage of the situation at all time to rule India. The Constitution of India adopted on 26th November, 1949 and came into existence on 26th January, 1950. Later on, though we have made many amendments, modifications and additions in the Indian Penal Code, 1860 the sexual offence section has not changed substantially suitable to the independent citizens of India and the current time.

Every day we come across with the news of rape, molestation, sexual abuses, blackmailing for sexual favours etc. In my opinion, there is imprecision, disparity and divergence while discussing the sexual offences in the Indian Penal Code. Due to this disparity, ambiguity and loopholes, Indian female folks largely are suffering and fall victims of sexual offences and hence the sexual offences are increasing year after year at an alarming level.

It is a pity that after 60 years of independence we still follow the very old 1860 British Indian Penal Code sections for sexual offences, which are conveniently made as law for their benefits. IPC 375 deals with rape and the nature of rape is described in six different ways. An exception states, “Sexual intercourse by a man with his own wife, the wife not being under fifteen years of age, is not rape.” The Manipur state later amended the age clause of the wife from “fifteen years” to “thirteen years”.

Indian Penal Code Sections 376, 376A, B, C and D deal with the punishment for rape. Here we can see the disparity and haziness. Whoever, except in the case provided for by sub-section (2), commits rape shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term of which shall not be less than seven years but which may be for life or for a term which may extend to ten years and shall also be liable to fine unless the woman raped is his own wife and is not under twelve years of age, in cases, he shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or with both.

The sub-section (2) describes if a police officer rapes a woman in custody, a public servant rapes a woman subordinate taking advantage of his official position, being on the management or staff of a jail and rapes a woman, being the management and staff of a hospital and rapes a woman, commits rape on a woman knowing her to be pregnant, commits rape on a woman when she is under twelve years of age—in all these cases the punishment shall be normally with a description for a term not exceeding three years. A rape is a rape irrespective of it committed by an ordinary person, police officer, doctor, government officer, jail superintendent or a priest and generally, the punishment should not be discriminated. Our judicial system, legal experts, sitting and retired judges, advocates, sociologists, social workers, intellectuals, writers, journalists, NGOs, ministers, parliamentarians, elected members of legislature assembly and civic bodies, public servants, teachers and people from all walks of life should study the sexual offences scenario in India in detail and actively take part to debate and review the sections of IPC 375, 376 and 376A to D and appropriate additions, changes or amendments to be made by the parliament and if necessary new sections to be added in the Indian Penal Code to contain the sexual offences. We must complete the task in a time-bound manner within six months. The rewriting the sexual offences sections of IPC should be vision, soundness and to uphold the integrity, unity and security of the nation.

It should never be a mere outburst of egoism, generalisation of an exceptional case and appeasement of cheap political tantrum aiming the vote bank. I recall an incident occurred few years back. There was an interesting scene at a futile meeting of a Group of Ministers in New Delhi. The then Union Minister for Women and Child Development Renuka Choudhary wanted that if any man found in a brothel with a minor girl to be charged with rape or attempt to rape and to punish for a minimum period of seven years, and the responsibility to prove his innocence would lie with the accused. The Group of Ministers (then) headed by Home Minister Shivraj PatilShivraj Patil, Minister of Science and Technology Kapil SibalKapil Sibal, Panchayati Raj Minister Mani ShankarShankar Aiyar, Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss and Minister for Social Justice and Empowerment Meira KumarMeira Kumar were among others besides Renuka Choudhary. All opposed Renuka’s proposal and in retaliation, it is believed, she accused her male colleagues of being “chauvinists”.

The punishment for sexual offences should be reviewed and stringent measures to be taken by rising the punishment period and fine and bring parity and conducting fair, unbiased and transparent trials with a fixed time frame, but by applying common sense, practical methods and wisdom.

Nevertheless, there is a ray of hope for sexual offence victims. The government has already cleared a proposal with bold changes in the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC). The major changes of the proposal are completion of the trial within two months after examination of witnesses begins (and adjournment will not be granted), as far as practicable a woman judge to hear cases, investigation of case at victim’s residence and as far as practicable by a woman police officer, questioning of the victim in presence of her parents or a social worker of the locality at the location of their choice and court not to take cognizance of an offence under IPC section 376 (punishment for rape) where such offence is alleged by a man’s wife who is under 18 years of age. The proposed legislation was to get parliament nod earlier and if the legislation is passed, it will be a landmark in the history of punishment for sexual offences and the law in India.

Nevertheless, if the controversial Sexual Offences (Special Courts) Bill, 2010, introduced in Parliament two weeks back, gets a nod, a woman in her position could land in a right legal mess.

The Bill, which is touted as being gender neutral, proposes the introduction of a new section — 376 (E) — to the Indian Penal Code, 1860, on unlawful sexual acts. “Whoever touches directly or indirectly, with a part of the body or with an object, any part of the body of another person (not being the spouse of such person), with sexual intent and without the consent of such other person, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with fine or with both,” it says.

The Bill does not specify the sex of the victim. So in effect a man can accuse a woman — or another man — of sexual abuse. But ironically, the Bill has its seeds in the 172nd report of the Law Commission of India, and recommendations drafted by women’s groups around the country, spearheaded by the National Commission for Women (NCW).

References

· Indian Penal Code 1860 and its various amendments.

· National Crime Records Bureau

· Sexual Offences (Special Courts) Bill, 2010

· National Commission for Women (NCW)

Published in the Afternoon News in 2009

Snobbish Sarvadesi Days

Barring to present day visual and print media emperors who are gargantuan and bestowed with abundant resources, technology savvy personnel equipped with modern visual, sound, communication and printing technology and wide marketing and distribution network, Sarvadesi was a very small Malayalam magazine published from Bombay. T.A. Jose started Sarvadesi in 1979. He was a modest, gentle, meek, honest and positive person. Sarvadesi bid adieu from the publishing arena in 1989 after an illustrious, glorious and wonderful 10 eventful publishing years. What was so special in Sarvadesi and how 10 publishing years, a small period compared too many a decades and even century old publications, differentiated? Which qualities make Sarvadesi imperative?

Many publishers will claim that they are giving family publications. Nevertheless, in my opinion, Sarvadesi was probably the first real family monthly magazine published in Malayalam from outside Kerala. T.A. Jose was working with Albright Morarjee Co. Ltd., Ambernath, and was staying in the same vicinity. As he was working, he made his classmate and friend K.J. Antony as the official Editor of Sarvadesi. Famous writer and playwright Ezhikara Ambjujakshan edited the first three issues of Sarvadesi.

I was fortunate to associate with Sarvadesi from the beginning. I met T.A. Jose personally after three issues and from that moment, I become the family member of Sarvadesi and T.A. Jose. He is very much to me – a friend, guide, philosopher, advisor, motivator, helping hand, mentor and above all an elder brother. Until date, I never addressed him Josetta, but I adore him rather than any of my related brothers and relatives. We had an amazing match up and mental rapport. I got the first remuneration in my life from T.A. Jose for publishing my story in Sarvadesi. Really, it was a treasured moment.

After retirement T.A. Jose shifted to his native place at Kattur in Thrissur District and now lives there. I worked with Sarvadesi behind the curtain without any by-line credit, but with full freedom. When I am with T.A. Jose, I will lose myself and used to forget the circumstances while carrying on our discussions on Sarvadesi and various other matters and persons. We shared many secrets-- evil and good, vice and chief – of a good many literati, which we never exploited or ever used for character assassination of anyone.

Any modern printing facilities and digital typesetting were not available at that time. Sarvadesi was printing in a treadle press with handpicked Malayalam letter types in St. Joseph’s I.S. Press, Thrissur. At least 10-12 days prior to publishing date all matters were ready in the press. Yet, Sarvadesi managed to cover current Bombay local news, reports on literary meetings, dramas, dance programmes and all cultural, religious and literary activities with equal importance and published on time. All these 10 years Sarvadesi published all issues regularly without skipping a single issue. Sarvadesi’s valuable platform benefited too many established as well as young and budding writers, performing artistes, actors, singers, upcoming dancers and journalists. The first feature on Nache Mayuri fame Sudha Chandran Sudha Chandran written by Soman Alappuzha, who died in Mumbai on May 30 2010, published in Sarvadesi about her first performance after the accident, which brought to her to the limelight. Similarly, one of the good features on Mata Amritandadamayi was published in Sarvadesi a quarter century ago. Bhart award winner great actor Premji was the proof reader of Sarvadesi at that time.

I had started many good relations and friendships during Sarvadesi days. Solomon Joseph, Ezhikara Ambujakshan, Pamman, Soman Alappuzha, R.M. Kooliyat, Edayali Gopalakrishnan, Leela Sarkar, Balakrishnan, M.G. Radhakrishnan, Prabhashankar, Meghanadan, Cheppad Somanathan, Dr. T.R. Raghavan, Pappanamcode Prabhakaran, V.T. Gopalakrishnan, Sankaranarayanan, Manasi, Dr. Venugopal, Kamal Jasapara, P.V. Nayar Agra, C.V. Saseendran (Sasi Edanadan), Sriman (K.S. Menon), Viswanathan Palloor, Vasu Kakkanad, N.K.N. Chammanad, E.K.K. Nayar, Kottayam Pushpanath, K.D. Chandran, Premlal, Orma Menon, N. Rajasekharan Nair and Uzhavoor Sasi are to name a few among them. Before I come to Bombay names like Solomon Joseph, Ezhikara Ambhujakshan, Pamman and Jayanthi JayanthiGeneral Stores, Dadar West were familiar to me through Malayalam publications and radio plays.

I don’t remember when I first met Solomon Joseph. But we met only few occasions. But, before meeting him, I heard a lot good things about him from T.A. Jose. I think K.J. Antony and T.A. Jose must have told to him about me. Solomon Joseph was very kind, affectionate, and friendly and treated me like a brother. Sarvadesi was the only Malayalam publication at that time from Mumbai except the Visalakeralam published by The Bombay Keraleeya Samaj, Matunga. Solomon Joseph opined once, Visalakeralam was fitting to frame and keep it in a glass box as a (an) (useless) antique.

Solomon Joseph was a good orator. I recall the inaugural meeting of Mahakeralam, the first Malayalam Daily from Mumbai, at Mysore Association Hall, Matunga. Solomon Joseph who inaugurated the daily was the sole attraction of the function held on a working day at 9.00 a.m. in Matunga. Because Solomon Joseph was inaugurating the daily, meeting held with packed audience on a working day at 9.00 am. I heard from the mouth of great Mathewkuttychayan (K.M. Mathew of Malayala Manorama) that once through Solomon Joseph’s articles only Malayalam readers knew about Hindi film world. His language and style was very simple, fascinating and attracting to all. Perchance Solomon Joseph would be the first writer from Bombay who had a membership in the most prestigious Sahithya Pravarthaka Sahakarana Sangham Limited, Kottayam, and published books under SPCS and received the highest royalty percentage in the world. Many writers who could not become SPCS members envied him. But, Solomon Joseph was standing like a colossus in front of them. In my opinion, the revered writer did not get his deserved recognition in his lifetime.

On another occasion, I shall write more about Solomon Joseph and high and mighty Sarvadesi days.

V.G. Nair means Very Good Nair

This is about a very ordinary, humble, simple and down-to-earth, but an extraordinary and amazing personality called V.G. Nair.

Who is V.G. Nair? Like any previous generation Malayali from Kerala V.G. Nair arrived in Bombay in search of a livelihood. The youth has a strong will and ready-to-do any job attitude. After searching for job and doing some odd jobs, he joined as a waiter in Ananda Bhavan Hotel near to HMV, which is now Axis Bank fort branch, next to Laxmi building. Anand Bhavan Hotel, the pure vegetarian south Indian hotel run by Iyer and Sons is a landmark in fort area. The current name of the building where Ananda Bhavan situated in the ground floor is Sheri House. The National Hindu Hotel and Lodging situated opposite fort market is the parent institution, which was probably the only place in the city that served unlimited vegetarian meals for a fixed economical price.

In the mid 1970s, I was living at Ulhasnagar. The Ulhasnagar Malayali Association had two offices, one in camp number four near Venus cinema and the other in camp number three near the Bharat Stores and Malayali tailor Rajan’s shop. I was staying in camp number three in a single self-contained rented long room. We were four roommates and I was the rented-room owner. I.V. Chandran, who is my childhood friend and neighbour in native village Pullut of Kodungallur Taluk and presently residing with his family at Dombivli. Gopalakrishnan who was nicknamed by me as Gokru taking the first Malayalam alphabet ‘Go’ from the formal part of his name Gopala and ‘Kru’ from the later part of his name Krishnan and SukumaranSukumaran were the roommates. Now Gopalakrishnan settled in native place and Sukumaran took VRS and returned to native place. Except Sukumaran, all were bachelors. Sukumaran’s family was in his native place Azhikode, near Kodungallur.

Balakrishnan, the vice-president of Ulhasnagar Malayali Association, who is presently living in Kalyan east, was our neighbour in camp three. Opposite to our room Karuthedathu Subramanian Ravindran of Hawkins Pressure Cooker and his brother were staying. I also gave him a nickname as Karuthedan. At that time, I become the member of Ulhasnagar Malayali Association and office bearers of the association asked me to take charge of the editorship and start association’s handwritten Malayalam magazine titled UMA. The name UMA was made by taking the first words from Ulhasnagar Malayali Association. It resembled like a Malayali name and was easy to remember.

During the editorship of UMA, one day I met V.G. Nair, a handsome man in white pants and slack shirts, in the association office at camp four. I did not know much about that good-built, ever smiling and energetic man at that time. We met again at some occasions, exchanged smiles and made few casual chats. Incidentally, V.G. Nair’s sister MadhaviMadhavi wrote poems and regularly contributed to UMA handwritten magazine. V.G. Nair and I simply know each other at that time by face was our only relation.

After few years, one day I was dining around 1.15 p.m. at Anand Bhavan Hotel in fort. I saw five people with a red flag picketing in front of the Hotel and shouting slogans in Hindi and “Inquilab Zindabad, Inquilab Zindabad” against the owner of the Hotel. A well-built youth was the leader in white shirt and white paints. His full sleeve shirt was evenly folded carefully and artistically with one and half inch width fold till the elbow. I have been told by the manager of the hotel that they are the dismissed staff and demanding for compensation and more wages. The well-built youth was V.G. Nair. But, I could not easily recognize him as Madhavi’s brother V.G. Nair instead I thought, the face of this person is familiar to me.

With a meager compensation of less than Rs. 10,000 received from the Anand Bhavan Hotel owner V.G. Nair built his present business empire of more than 100 crores. With his strong will power and desire to become somebody, in 1982 he started steel vessel business at Ulhasnagar. He flourished day by day and the rest is history. The trust and mere trust reposed by his customers, hard work and his promise to deliver were the main capital. If V.G. Nair gives a word or promises verbally, that is a more powerful instrument than any written record. This honesty, time management and promptness in service made him the multimillionaire V.G. Nair of today.

After a gap of few years, we met again. He is a voracious reader in Malayalam, Tamil and English and a good speaker and listener. Before he starts his Jewrllery Shop, the entire cash dealings were doing by him personally. I had witnessed his amazing memory power at many occasions. I remember one occasion when I was sitting with him, not opposite the table, but just next to his cash counter and near to his left hand. He was talking to me seriously and with the same seriousness handling each and every visitor with ease. When he was operating the business at a single point, he quickly recognized all his regular customers. He could recognize all 6000 plus members of his vessel scheme or chit scheme by name with their family history, name of his/her father or husband, brother, sister, children and their years old dealings with him. Now VGN group has grown greatly and the entire transactions are computerized and he divided the responsibilities to his Managers and General Managers. Customers feel at home when they visit any establishments of VGN group and they have the affection of meeting a family member when they meet V.G. Nair personally.

The most important thing is the easy access of V.G. Nair to a customer. When people become rich, they start telling more and more lies and blunders to show that they are very big. However, V.G. Nair is the same humble and simple person without any change whom I met first around three decades back. Very few people can possess such character and integrity.

V.G. Nair is Very Good Nair to all his staff members and their family members, his all customers and their family members and all his friends. Few years back, Kairali TV Aswamedham fame G.V. Pradeep in a public function at Chembur, where V.G. Nair was sharing the dais, openly acknowledged his generosity, philanthropy and honesty and said that V.G. Nair means Very Good Nair to him. Professor Parambil Jayakumar once told me that he was the first person who called V.G. Nair as Very Good Nair. Well, now I would like to interpret it in Malayalam as Valare Gunangalulla Nair and I think I can claim the patent for this interpretation.

I compiled a Marathi-English-Malayalam Dictionary, a unique Dictionary in four parts with pronunciation guide, pronunciation of important and difficult words, Marathi Grammar in Malayalam and an appendix. My day and night hard work of many years was the result of Marathi-English-Malayalam Dictionary. I have become bankrupt and my life was miserable at that time. I am thankful to V.G. Nair, the Managing Director of V.G.N. Jewellery Pvt. Ltd and Chairman of V.G.N. Group of companies, who helped me by ordering a good number of copies and giving the full amount in advance to release the Dictionary from the press.

Really, V.G. Nair is a gem of man.

Renowned Writer Kamala Das Passed Away

Pune, India: Well-known writer Kamala Das alias Kamala Surayya alias Madhavikutty passed away in a private hospital at Pune, India, on Sunday early morning, the 31st May 2009, family sources said. She was 75. She had been undergoing treatment in the hospital for the last few months.
Kamala Das, a well-known Indian writer, who wrote in English as well as Malayalam, her native language. She is considered to be one of the outstanding Indian poets writing in English, although her popularity in Kerala is based chiefly on her short stories, novels and autobiography. Much of her writing in Malayalam came under the pen name Madhavikkutty.
Kamala Das was recognized as one of India’s foremost poets, who born on March 31, 1934 in Malabar in Kerala.

A noble thought on Jawaharlal Nehru’s 45th death anniversary

Today is 27th May, 2009.

My thoughts go back to down memory line. I was then a little boy of eight-years old. On 27th May 1964 our neighbour Kamlakshan was returning from the village shop with hot news and while returning home he was saying to everybody Nehru died! No television, internet, direct dialling telephone or other means of fast communication system were not available at that time in India.

Now 45-years have been passed. However, I still remember that day.

Today, on 27th May 2009, the Wednesday, India paid rich tributes to Jawaharlal Nehru’s 45th death anniversary. President Pratibha Patil  and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh  were among a host of leaders who paid floral tributes to India’s first Prime Minister. Jawaharlal Nehru was born on November 14, 1889.

On the 45th death anniversary of Jawaharlal Nehru I would like to share my thoughts with my readers. Now in India the Congress Party is back in power with 200 plus seats in the recent elections. I wrote an article last year about the closure of Nehru’s National Herald newspaper.

The Congress party and its president Sonia Gandhi can revive Jawaharlal Nehru’s National Herald. The paper is part of Nehru’s legacy and has upheld the tradition of secularism and non-alignment. Any thought of reviving the paper would be the most befitting tribute from the Congress party and Sonia Gandhi on his 45th death anniversary.

I reproduce below excerpts from my article published last year to refresh the memory of my readers:

“Creating something is not an easy job. Making something from the scratch and raising it to the top is a hard task to accomplish. Jawaharlal Nehru did this job 70 years ago in the form of launching the newspaper, National Herald at Lucknow on September 9, 1938. And now, bidding farewell to this venture is a difficult task. But, the 70-year-oldNational Herald and its sister Urdu newspaper Quami Awaz closed down on April 1 (Tuesday). The last editorial titled ’Herald hopes for a better tomorrow indicates perhaps the closure would be only a temporary phase.

Manikonda Chalapathi Rau was the editor of the National Heralad from 1946 onwards for over a period of 30 years. The founder, Jawaharlal Nehru was the soul and M Chalapathi Rau was the body of the newspaper.

Rajiv Gandhi revived the National Herald in 1987. The Lucknow edition of the National Herald and Quami Awaz were closed down about 10 years ago. The paper also had a Hindi edition Navjivan - a name given by Mahatma Gandhi - that was also closed down several years ago.

According to the oldest employee of the newspaper, 70-year-old TV Venkatachalam, the editor-in-chief of National Herald, New Delhi, who joined the newspaper in 1987 when Rajiv Gandhi revived it, and with 20 years’ service, nine years as editor said, "The paper is part of Nehru’s legacy and has continued to uphold the traditions of secularism and non-alignment and I hope the Congress party will not allow it to close down finally."

TV Venkatachalam further added, "The National Herald team always tried to keep a fine balance in our news, especially the editorials, and never tried to make it sound like a party publication. Unlike any party newspapers, there has never been any interference from the Congress party in presenting the news in the National Herald."

Can anyone imagine that the editorial department of a 70-year old English language newspaper did not have a computer in 2008? The press section had five computers and there was one computer in the teleprinter room, which was used by the editorial and advertisement staff to check mails. Some senior editors brought their own laptops to work. The management had wanted to computerise Quami Awaz four years ago, but the proposal was shot down by the union as around 20 calligraphers would have been displaced. The National Herald newspaper, which officially claimed a circulation of around 40,000 copies, ’never had a history of making profits’. Management is an art. Similarly unprofessional attitude and mismanagement is an art for quite a number of political people.

Jawaharlal Nehru once told "I will not let the National Herald close down even if I have to sell Anand Bhawan (to avoid it)".

It was his hope. Time has changed. Yes, time will tell the difference. Now who is interested in a non-profit making and dying heritage newspaper? As a person of Sonia Gandhi's stature, who has written longer Forewords than Indira Gandhi, in the latest editions of Jawaharlal Nehru’s three famous classics, Glimpses of World History, The Autobiography and The Discovery of India should have avoided the closure of the National Herald.

Had she some problems to avoid the closure of National Herald, competently manage the mismanagement and to find out means and finance, she should have consulted with the great fund raising Congress leaders from Gods own country, Kerala, who claim running a party newspaper and a TV channel, though the second claim is invalid. The Congress leaders from Kerala could have easily raised funds from the Middle East through their well-wishers and party supporters for National Herald.”