Recently in Kerala, One Professor said something contro and some people chopped off his right hand. A few months back, One Writer said something in a meeting and some people mandhandled him on the stage straight away. After the Professor's incident, there is not much debate on the issue except some media coverage about arrests and all. Nothing very special about it. Last week, one of the political leader in newspaper blamed all Malayali writers for not responding to this social issue. That was awsome! Why should they unnecessarily get amputated?  By the way, on 21st or 22nd this month we will ...

Against the govt's move on fuel price hike, opposition party has declared a national harthal on 5th July. In this regard, malayalies are double lucky. They had one harthal for the same cause last week and will go for the second one as well. The good thing is, the border check post is busy clearing sprit tankers flowing from karnataka. For a good number of keralites, a harthal day is a party day. beverages goes on record sale on harthal eves. Long live Harthal.......

From a mail I received today; A TRAGEDY OF ERRORS I had moved to Bhopal in January 1983. Year 1984 was a difficult one for me. I was struggling to set up my business of interior designing and furniture with practically no capital. I did not have many clients. Of the few clients that I had, not many treated me with any level of respect. But this gentleman was different. Dr. was an ex-academician who had moved to corporate research with Union Carbide India Ltd. (UCIL). He was always very courteous, polished and humble. I had done some small work for his residence in the hope that I shall be able...

John Isner of the US and Nicolas Mahut played a marathon tennis at Wimbledon. We can expect, after a few years, the US guy by tradition, will disclose to us that they actually cheated us, like Agassy did last year.  ...

All Malayalam language lovers, tune to Kairali TV at 8 PM and 8.30 AM from Thursdat to Friday to watch a classic reality show on Malayalam poems "Mampazham". Don't miss this one....

HYDERABAD: It was the victory of have nots in Eamcet 2010. An auto driver’s son emerged topper in Eamcet, the results of which were declared on Wednesday. Md Gousejani, son of an auto driver from Vizag district, scored a mind-boggling 159 out of 160, the highest marks in Eamcet this year. A score Gouse thinks would end his family’s struggle with poverty. Gouse, a resident of Muslimthati Chettapala, a small basti in Vizag, now dreams of becoming an electrical and communications engineer, work for an IT major and shift his parents to Hyderabad for good. His crackling performance in Eamcet, he sa...

BCCI decided not to participate in Asian Games due to their earlier business commitments. This news surprised me. My second thought corrected me, why surprised? It was on air since IPL took over the control of this wonderful sport. The message is, Cricket in India is no more a sport; it is a mere entertainment, like the bollywood movies. Like a beautifully choreographed item number, it entertains the audience by its strategic moves keep one on the edge of his seat. It’s a business with huge money investment with much larger returns than bollywood investments. It is no more a sport in India...

NEW DELHI: In a brazen and brutal case of honour killing right in the capital, a 19-year-old girl and her 21-year-old lover were tortured for hours by the girl’s family and then put to death by electrocution and flogging with steel rods in the wee hours of Monday. Neither intervention by neighbours nor pleas for mercy by the girl — which could be heard by residents of Swaroop Nagar in northwest Delhi for four hours — prevented the gory murders. "The girl’s family accosted the duo around 11.30 pm on Sunday. We heard her screams coming from her uncle’s house till 3 am. She kept pleading for th...

South Korea failed their second attempt as well to launch a satellite into orbit and thus join the elite group of nine countries that include India. While in their first attempt, the vehicle failed to launch satellite into orbit, this time the vehicle exploded at an altitude of 70 kms which their scientists would find it very difficult to explain. Good luck next time. Btw, what happens to the debris of that exploded rocket at 70 kms altitude?...

It is world cup football fever once again. The world is focused to those seven stadiums in SA. It is really amazing to see that all other issues in the whole world are sidelined for this world cup extravaganza. I think, the height of Commercialization has reached its extremes and can’t go any further. The brains behind this very successful professionalism are to be admired. The media brings out the even faded football interests from each and every human now living on earth. Good luck football, good luck SA!...

A mail I received today! De ar Keralites, People from outside our state often refer to us as “Mallus”.  We also often refer to ourselves as “Mallus” thinking that it is a short form for ‘Malayalee’.  BUT  please note that the meaning of the Hindi word “Mallu” as given in the Oxford Hindi English Dictionary is “MONKEY”.   ·          Oxford Hindi English Dictionary by R.S. McGregor – Pg. 795. First Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1993  So next time before referring to yourself as a ‘ Mallu’ – please think!!!   And if anyone else calls you a “Mallu” – politely but firmly tell them...

NEW DELHI — India lives in its villages, Gandhi said. But increasingly, the people of India are dying on its roads. India overtook China to top the world in road fatalities in 2006 and has continued to pull steadily ahead, despite a heavily agrarian population, fewer people than China and far fewer cars than many Western countries. While road deaths in many other big emerging markets have declined or stabilized in recent years, even as vehicle sales jumped, in India, fatalities are skyrocketing — up 40 percent in five years to more than 118,000 in 2008, the last figure available.  ...

The news channel was showing weeping families of deceased moving away from the wreckage of broken compartments. I just visualized myself being among the killed or in the weeping crowd. It is terrible to even imagine that in the middle of the night in a running train, getting a sound sleep sometime in the early morning hours, listening to the rhythm of murmuring between the railway tracks and wheels, suddenly a shock equivalent to a massive earthquake underneath throws everyone from the berths to elsewhere and even while trying to realize and recover from the shock, another killer train crush e...

27th April was celebrated as a national harthal day in India. We Keralites mark harthal as a Bandh day and almost go back to the ancient black-hole age. Nothing will move in the state and yesterday was no different. Even trains were stopped on as and where basis. As a result, all items' prices are reduced by 50 to 75% in the state. Breathing air is almost free of cost from today. The smart state leaders have instructed centre govt not to grant same price reduction to any other states where only partial harthal was observed. God's own country!...

This is showing live in most of the Malayalam channels throughout the day! The most colorful and spectacular of temple festivals in Kerala, the Thrissur Pooram festival will be held at the Thekkinkadu maidan in Thrissur today. This evening, the Thiruvambady and Paramekkavu temple deities will stand face to face on the southern side of the Vadakkumnathan temple, where kudamattom or exchange of colorful umbrellas will be staged. Each side will field 15 caparisoned elephants for kudamattom. The colourful display of fireworks organised as part of the Pooram festival will be held during the early h...