Enchanting Kerala

Vembanad Lake - Preserving a Lifeline

2011-09-26T11:15:00.001+05:30

How we treat the diverse Vembanad backwater estuarine ecosystem needs careful thought and action.

The Vembanad Lake - local fishermen

The history of kerala is indisputably and powerfully linked to the brave expeditions of the great Portugese adventurer, trader, warrior and diplomat – Vasco da Gama.
This naval commander is said to have discovered a navigable sea route to the Malabar coast in 1498. Vasco da Gamma knew this land as described by the legendary explorer Marco Polo – as the land of black gold (pepper) and other exotic spices and one of the richest places in the world that he had ever seen.

Kozhikode, Crangannoor (Kodungalloor), Kochi, Alappuzha and Kollam were the main trading ports of that glorious era. Soon the Europeans (France, Portugal, Britain and Dutch) would fight naval battles to secure a monopoly over the lucrative spice trade. These wars changed the history of India and in particular Kerala.

Known as the ‘Venice of the East’ – Kerala and its waterways played a major role in this spice trade. These interlinked water bodies stretched over 900 sq km. including inlets from the sea, estuaries of 41 rivers, lakes and natural canals connecting coastal villages and townships. The Vembanad and Ashtamudi lakes together form the backwaters of Kerala. These lakes act as a buffer between the sea and rivers and control floods and tides and most importantly – provide a livelihood for thousands of village folk.

A large transport vessel carrying sacks of grain. These vessels are the predecessors of the current houseboats plying the backwaters of kerala

The Vembanad wetland system is the largest estuarine system in Kerala characterized by a continuous chain of lagoons and backwaters. This wetland system encompasses four districts, Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Kottayam and Ernakulam – an area of 219.51 sq. km. The most important part of this wetland ecosystem is the Vembanad Lake. The lake is 96.5 km long beginning in Alappuzha in the south and ending in Azheekkod in the North – covering an area of 132 sq. km. Six major rivers of Kerala namely – Periyar, Muvatupuzha, Meenachil, Manimala, Pampa and Achankoil drain directly into the Vembanad lake. The lake, the surrounding paddy fields, marshes, islands, canals and rivers all together form the vembanad wetland ecosystem. The mighty Vembanad lake drains into the Arabian sea at Cochin forming one of the world’s largest natural harbours.

The Thaneermukkam salt water barrage divides the vembanad wetland system into two zones; the Kuttanad region in the south and the Cochin backwaters in the north. The salt water barrage controls the flow of salt water into the Kuttanad region (also known as the ‘Rice Bowl of India’). The northern part of the lake remains a largely saline wetland ecosystem throughout the year.

Thanneermukkom bund divides kuttanad backwaters from kochi backwaters

The vembanad wetland ecosystem is characterized by its humid tropical weather and as such is considered a tropical wetland that possesses all the characteristic flora and fauna – mangroves, diverse tropical fish, water birds and other avifauna, agriculture etc. For its unique attributes the Vembanad wetland system together with the adjoining Kol wetland system was declared as Ramsar Site in November 2002 (The convention on wetlands, signed in Ramsar, Iran in 1971 for the protection of the wetlands all over the world.)

Kuttanad which is an important part of this ecosystem lies over 500 square kilometers of land and is located 0.6 m to 2.2 meters below sea level – the region with the lowest altitude in India. Kuttanad is a land of paddy (rice) fields – cultivated below sea level. Much of this land was reclaimed from the Vembanad lake in the early 19th century. There is more than 145000 hectors of this wetland under rice cultivation. Almost 60 percent of the total rice production of the state is from this man made wonder; of which is said – ‘God created man; man created Kuttanadu’.

Sand being transported in kuttanad in small country style canoe

The Vembanad wetland is well known for the diversity of fishes, aquatic mammals, mollusca and avian fauna. The floristic diversity of this area is also very rich consisting of hydrophytes, mangroves and mangrove associates. The Kumarakom Bird Sanctuary, spread over 10 acres is situated on the banks of Vembanad lake. The birds roost and nest in the mangroves and inside the dense growth of reeds and grass. There is a virgin, uninhabited island in the middle of the southern region of the Vembanad lake called ‘Pathiramanal’ which is known for its unique biodiversity and specifically for breeding of Black Clam – Villoritta cyprinoids.

Sadly however, this pristine backwater ecosystem is now under serious threat. The five major rivers that drain into the Vembanad lake carry untreated sewage water from the villages and towns situated on their banks. This includes poisonous effluent from the many factories located nearby. The slew of modern and inorganic agricultural practices also endangers the ecosystem. Large quantities of chemicals, fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides eventually seep into the ecosystem threatening and poisoning fish stock, bird life and vegetation. Land reclamation, unrestricted and irresponsible tourism activity is the Vembanad ecosystem’s most significant threat.

Workers collecting shells from vembanad backwaters

More than a thousand commercial houseboats ply the lake. Their lack of concern about adopting green practices is further backed by the ignorance of the local people who enjoy the material wealth generated by tourism and are unencumbered by the long term effects it may have. They do not consider the fact that the very source of their livelihood is dying before their eyes. All manner of waste generated in these boats including plastic, sewage, engine oil etc, is discharged in to the lake, thereby threatening an already fragile ecosystem. Rampant exploitation of the wetland ecosystem continues. Clay mining, shell mining etc. coupled with unscientific fishing methods are other threats that go unchecked.

Large transport vessels of yesteryears have been modified into luxury houseboats which attract a large number of tourists every year. However with the number of houseboats operating in the alappuzha backwaters have multiplied over the years and presently plays a major role in polluting the backwaters.

The most important aspect of the Vembanad lake is its rich floral and faunal diversity, which provides livelihood to millions of people directly and indirectly. In addition, there are the aesthetic attributes of the region that is blatantly abused. The conservation of this unique ecosystem is necessary for future generations and for their very existence. This unfortunately is not being given the seriousness it should be.

Conversing the lake should be a joint effort, and a first step would be to create awareness of the dangers of indiscriminate commercialization.

Article by : P. Manoj (Senior Naturalist - Marari Beach Resort, Mararikulam - Alappuzha)

Humor

2010-02-22T11:51:00.000+05:30

Humor

No one knows exactly what it is that makes a person laugh or why any thing funny should cause us to make such a peculiar noise.

By far, the greatest amount of humor is told rather than seen. Humor of words can be gentle and kind, or it can be harsh and biting. Most humor produces a smile, but wit usually causes people to breakout into laughter.

Comedy is one form of drama that deals with ridiculous aspects of human behavior to make people laugh. Many famous humorists like… Nash, Oscar Wilde, G.B Show etc. made satirical comments on society and ridiculed foolish behavior. For them humor was the best means of surviving is a difficult world. To summarise “laughter is the brush that sweeps away the cobwebs of the heart.”

By: Amy Irene Mathew, St.Teresa's College.

Frauds' Own Country

2010-01-23T10:03:00.003+05:30

Frauds' Own Country

Do you ever spare a moment to think about the people below the poverty line Kerala?

Have you ever thought of the problems caused by garbage or a simple solution for it? Do you know that a tribal child has to walk an average of 17kms daily to school and back? Well, the chances are you will say 'no ' to these, and I guess that's because most of us, including me, are caught up in the scandals, scams and bedroom stories of politicians today.

We are so much engrossed in the much- glorified; media- hyped controversial lives of the people in power that we fail to understand the day- to- day struggle of the common man. All of us know the corruption and the dirty games played by the politicians but still a majority of us spend time and money to cater them. It might not be surprising that even the judiciary can be bought. Do you really think that they deserve so much of your attention? I wouldn't say that we should spend our vacations trying to construct elementary schools for the economically backward or to clean every street in our area, but wouldn't it do well if we help to eradicate the minor problems around us?

A study conducted by 'The Week' says that in India around 55000 kids below 15 try a smoke each day; or take the recent example of the porn photos circulated amongst students on their camera phones. Do you seriously think that the authorities would do something constructive about it? They have better things like crores of property deals or their daughter-in-law's uncle's tea estate to take care of. It is up to us if we want to make our country God's own.

Article by: Shana Ninan,St Teresa's College

Differences are Fine, Discrimination is Not

2010-01-20T20:41:00.001+05:30

Differences are Fine, Discrimination is Not

Mrs. Narayana Murthi, Infosys, Bangalore was the only female engineering student in her class in her time. When placements started in her college she found a notice from the Tata group, asking students interested in working for them in the shop floor to apply. The notice explicitly stated that female students need not apply. Angered by the discrimination, she sent a letter to Mr. J.R.D. Tata, criticizing him and his company for the bias against women. A few days later she received an interview call from the company. During the interview, she was told that girl’s weren’t preferred only because once married, they would leave the job to go and live with their husbands. Mrs. Murthi replied that, that was a 100 year old tradition which would take time to change, but however, she assured them that she wouldn’t leave her job just because another company offered her more money. She joined the job and thereafter so did many other women.
The Tata’s changed their attitude and policy but that cannot be said for the rest of India. A woman’s place is still believed to be in the Kitchen. A woman should first learn to cook, before she goes in for any career oriented education. Yes, society is changing; women for going higher education, exploring areas and careers until now completely dominated by men. Yet there is a limit put to them. If you take just the case of funding, a woman entrepreneur would find it harder to get loan or venture capital, but a male entrepreneur foot the same business, might find it easier. Our society must broaden its thinking. Indian society tends to lack confidence in its women. This altitude must also change.

However, it is also important that gender differences do not completely disappear. After all, the difference between the sexes is not always a matter to be loathed. There are a few women who have broken all barriers, they have so broken the laws of nature and disturbed its delicate balance. These are women who choose not to get married until they are settled in their career. They reach the top of the corporate ladder and then in their 30’s, get married. However when they wish to conceive they sadly find that their fertility has become low and that they cannot conceive any more. These women then declare that they would give away all their success if only they could conceive.

Then there are women who decide to remain unmarried. They feel they don’t need a man or a partner to live their life with. As for children, well there’s artificial insemination. However when such kids go to school, they realize that a family will always be pictured as one with a dad and a mom.

Gender differences are alright as long as it is not gender discrimination. Women should move forward, but not so much that they lose their feminity. As pandit Jawaharlal Nehru said ‘When a woman moves forward, the family moves forward and so does the society’, In short, empowerment of women, develops the nation.

Article by: Nidha Nayeem, St Teresa’s College

The Feel Good Fiasco

2010-01-18T19:27:00.003+05:30

The Feel Good Fiasco

The people in the Delhi Durbar combating the torrid climate of April- May had to bear the heat from one more quarter- the Elections 2004, the most stunning and decisive battle fought to appoint the raucously irreverent ones to the polyglot colossus (Lok Sabah ). The two big fighters (NDA and UPA) were neck-n- neck in this race to conquer the throne of India. After a lot of gambling when the curtain was slowly raised, shattering all the BJP dreams, it was clear that democracy had outlasted every-one and everything.

The election 2004 to the world’s largest democracy was the only other election akin to the one in 1977 that upset party leaders and poll predictions. The apocryphal stories of a ‘shining India’,- when the poor remained poor, the assurances to feel good-even while the rates of suicide skyrocketed, and an elusive picture (or otherwise) of a redeemed relation with our neighboring country were the specialties of the election. A star studded ambience along with the entry of a slew of affluent and educated GenX faces- with a name plate bearing their father’s name- was a treat to the tired eyes (ears, as well) which were accustomed to an army of indecorous politicians with pan stained clothes, and with sprigs of black hair sticking out of their ears. The personal vendettas waged by the NDA leaders also found their share of space in the media columns. The TV channels, the major ancillary to the BJP’s whims, found their TRP ratings shooting up, as each rivaled to get the major players to their studio. So what was the reason for such an ignominious defeat of the party even after a lot of micro level planning?

The verdict signified not only a fundamental change in the democracy but also a radical shift in the social basis of political power. The personal issues and not the prospects of a shinning India were paramount to the voters. The failure in providing basic education, sanitation, irrigation facilities and employment opportunities resulted in the failure of voting back the much touted protectors of democracy. The verdict was in fact a strong resentment against the local government’s inefficiency, which resulted in the termination of the power of the central government. In fact, there was a total disconnection between the ground reality and the houses of power. In this process of maneuvering votes, the outspoken BJP top guns made a foray into mobilizing the Indian minorities- disowning the Hindutva ideal- as a pre-text for showing that they are secularists. One also witnessed the Advanis and the other Hindu extremists shaking hands with Muslim clerics in the hope of removing discontent. That too did not work. Finally, along with the three a’s-Atal, Allure and Acceptability- they managed to add another towards the end: Arrogance. The arrogance factor placed them in an ivory tower from where they kept on regurgitating their old cacophony.

Now that everything is over, it’s time to do some homework and find out where they went wrong. In retrospect, their Hindutva ideology paid electoral dividends by propelling them to the centre stage. Not anymore! Instead of finding out scapegoats-already the RSS ideologues have begun their rant against BJP for departing from the Parivaar’s ideals- the post- Vajpayee, post-Advani leadership must begin attending to the task of revamping the party to a normal, conservative and right-wing political party. In future they should remember that a majority of voters in India is constituted by the rural section and not the middle class and strive to make an all pervasive feel good factor. For the time being, they have at least made one section of the people feel good-the Congress.

Article by : S. Gopika Gopakumar St Teresa's College

Amazers!

2009-12-21T20:08:00.000+05:30

Amazers!

 The sentence “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” uses every letter in English language.
 Donald duck comics were banned in Finland because he doesn’t wear pants.
 If you keep a goldfish in the dark room, it will eventually turn white.
 The name of all continents ends with the same letter that they start with.
 ‘TYPEWRITER’ is the longest word that can be made using the letters on only one row of the keyboard.
 The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
 You share your birthday with at least nine other million people in the world.
 The longest word in English language is 1909 letters long and it refers to a distinct part of DNA.
 Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.
 February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
 The strongest muscle in the body is the TONGUE.
 It’s impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
 A shark is the only fish that can blink with both the eyes.
 There are four words in the English language which end in”-dous” : tremendous, horrendous, stupendous and hazardous.
 In England, the speaker of the house is not allowed to speak.
 The microwave was invented after researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate melted in his pocket.

Article By: Rini Ephrem, St.Teresa’s College

A Peep Into defense Forces

2009-12-19T19:42:00.001+05:30

A Peep Into defense Forces

I was one among three from Kerala and Lakshadweep Directorate, lucky enough to get selected for the Army Attachment Camp at OTA (Officers Training Academy) Chennai. This is only center in India where lady cadets are trained for Army. First of all, I record my heartfelt thanks to the OTA and the NCC directorate and unit for giving me a chance to be a part of the Army for atleast; a few days. In our mind the term ‘Army’ stands for bravery, discipline and selfless service towards our mother country. It was the first and foremost chance we got to have a close interaction with the army.

We had three cadets from each state representing their Directories. We had a golden opportunity to meet some of the cadets undergoing army training. Among them there were several Malayalees. We participated in a variety of activities there. We had horse-riding, obstacle training, swimming, short cane and sword drill and firing. We were lucky enough to fire with INSAS, the latest weapon used by the Indian Army and we did double trap shooting which was the event of our Olympics silver medalist Major R.V.S. Rathore. We had dinner in our ceremonial dress in the company of the most distinguished guests. We visited the Coastal Guard and Navy and Air force Institutes and many other interesting places. Everyone regarded us with great pride and respect when we wore the overcoats of OTA.

As there were representatives from every state we tasted almost all the variety of Indian dishes. We had cultural programmes from each state. We could interact with many of the ranked officers in Army, Navy and Air force. I was really surprised that one of the officers was from Cochin. Though they looked strict and harsh in their uniforms, they talked to us in a friendly manner. We began to get very much attracted to this environment and to its routine. But soon it was time to pack up. As an NCC cadet, I had the chance to peep into this disciplined, brave world even before joining the Army. From the gateway of OTA, I could feel the breath of our great soldiers and the whole atmosphere was reminiscent of their enthusiasm. Before leaving the camp each cadet took a pledge that we would return to this soil and get commissioned. That was the motivation injected into our hearts by the training at OTA. I pray to God Almighty for his grace, to help me fulfill my dream.

Article By: M.S. Divya, St.Teresa’s College

My Ages And Mothers

2009-12-18T20:24:00.001+05:30

My Ages And Mothers

4 years of age = My Mummy can do anything.
8years of age = My mom knows a lot; a whole lot.
12 years of age = My mom doesn’t really know quite everything.
14 years of age = Naturally, mother doesn’t know that either.
16 years of age = Mother! She is hopeless old fashioned.
18 years of age = That OLD woman! She is way out of date.
25 years of age = Well, she might know a little bit about it.
35 years of age = before we decide, let’s get mom’s option.
45 years of age = Wonder what Mom would have taught about it?
65 years of age = Wish I could talk it over with Mom.

Article By: Sinjini.V, St.Teresa's College

Words

2009-12-17T10:34:00.001+05:30

Words

Words that trickle down our tongue can be sharp swords or sweet honey. We are eager to detect faults in others, but lack the ability to appreciate the good in them.
R.K.Narayanan in his short story ‘Another Community’ remarks that “the good things done by a person or a community reach others very slowly, whereas their evil counter parts disseminate at an amazing pace.”

Why is that we always prefer to be a problem to others rather than to be a solution? It’s not a taboo to appreciate or say ‘well done’ to your friends, relatives, siblings or any body, when they do something, worthy of appreciation.

Try appreciating others as well as yourself. It can make a radical change in the way we think and live. We can be a blessing or a curse to others-the choice is ours.

Article By: Sara Babu, St.Teresa’s College

Chemistry of Women

2009-12-02T20:39:00.002+05:30

Chemistry of Women

Element – Woman Symbol - Wn.

Discovery - Discovered by Adam in nascent form. Surplus in urban areas.

Physical Properties

• Boils at any temperature
• Freezes at nothing.
• Melts when properly treated.
• Very bitter if not used well.
• Unstable under pressure.
• Atomic weight is about 40-60 kgs.

Chemical Properties

• Possesses great affinity for gold, silver, platinum and precious stones.
• Reacts violently if left alone.
• Has ability to absorb great quantities of food.

Uses

• Highly ornamental.
• Useful as an equalizer in distribution of wealth.
• Most effective income reducing agent known to man.

Tests

• Turns pale when placed besides a better looking specimen.

Caution

• Highly explosive in experienced hands.

Article By: Cismol P Mathew, St.Teresa’s College

The Secret of Attaining Greatness

2009-12-01T20:18:00.001+05:30

The Secret of Attaining Greatness

What is the secret of attaining greatness I our life? We all desire to become great, to attain high positions. Great goals and aspirations can lead a person to success.

Once the disciples of Jesus Christ argued among themselves as to who was the greatest of them. Do you know what Jesus told them? ‘Whoever wants to be first must place himself the last of all’. Greatness does not lie in power, position or wealth but in one’s character and behavior.
I am reminded of a little girl Vimala who in a dream saw herself in a shop, with God at the counter. She was surprised at this and wanted to know what all things were sold there. God told her that whatever she desired was available there. Then Vimala said, “I want to have love, joy, knowledge, courage and strength”. Then God answered, “Child! I don’t sell fruits here. I sell only seeds. But if you plant these seeds, they will grow into big plants and trees yielding useful fruits. I can give you the seeds, but it is your duty to sow them and tend the plants and trees, which will yield fruits of good quality. You must share them with others.”

It is true that we should have role models to guide us. But whom do we consider as our heroes- film stars, sports persons, politicians, models? What are the qualities that we appreciate in others? Is it beauty, pride, power, position? Think of the ordinary people we meet in our daily life- our parents who are loving and airing, sincere and devoted teachers who strive to mould us into responsible citizens, the postman who is punctual and systematic in bringing our letters, the honest clerk in an office- shouldn’t we appreciate their virtues?

We should emulate and imbibe all these noble qualities to become worthy citizens who can shoulder the responsibility of leading our nation to success and glory.

Article by: Ann Abraham, St Teresa’s College

Whenever You Fall, Pick Up Something

2009-11-30T19:25:00.001+05:30

Whenever You Fall, Pick Up Something

Human beings, the only inhabitants of the world who tried to gasp the forces of nature, who tried to control these forces, who tried to produce similar artificial forces, once again proved to be a big zero. Nature along with fate- an unrevealed mystery for man- made man the loser. He lost his possessions including his beloved ones.

Man is always after luxury. His luxurious living constantly diverts his thoughts and makes him careless. Our ancestors granted us the knowledge that we can see bubbles along with tides before the giant killer- waves. This is a signal given by nature. But who bothers about these signals. If we are not able to analyze things in the right manner at the right time or if we are not able to foresee the possible disasters that could take millions of innocent lives, it is time to ask probing questions about the utility of scientific progress.

We know that Tsunami struck on 23rd August 1883 and 22nd May 1960. Then it is man’s carelessness which made him ignore the possibilities of another Tsunami, which could come anywhere at any time. All natural calamities remind us that we should always be aware of the natural disasters which are uncontrollable and which still remain a complete mystery to man.

If we ever tried to foresee disasters which could come to our brothers and sisters we would control the massacre by Tsunami to a great extent through safety awareness classes. But now in a world of competition, who thinks of others and their sufferings? All are in a mood to find out more pleasures and to be in a wonder land. But the mighty sword of nature reminds us year after year that we are nothing.

Presently, all humanity conveys their condolesens to the victims. It is our duty to wipe their tears and give them the inspiration to live. It’s we who should support them. Watch out! It may be our family and our relatives who may have to suffer next time. Let us give the afflicted the emotional support they need the only effective support which could bring them back to normal life. Let them be comforted by the hope that those who have lost their lives might be enjoying divine bliss in Heaven.

Practice in life these words ‘whenever you fall, pick up something’. Having seen all these calamities let’s pledge to work hard to keep the balance in nature, to protest against any activity in the name of development which would spoil our beautiful nature. This might help to reduce natural calamities which burst out when nature tries to rearrange itself to accommodate the changes made by man and by the passage of time. Let us bear in mind the wise saying “the virtue of adversity is fortitude” or “sweet are the uses of adversity” and do something constructive.

Article by: Treesa Angel, St. Teresa’s College

Peace

2009-11-29T11:47:00.001+05:30

Peace

“Peace rules the day, where reason rules the mind.”

In today’s world, which is dominated by materialism and consumerism pride, ego and selfishness get prime spot as peace is pushed into the background. The perspectives of peace are also different to different nations and individuals. This also creates problems. If Iraq war was fought ostensibly in the name of peace, it only created chaos in that country. This proves that the search for peace needs a broader understanding of peace and the use of a nonviolent method to achieve it.

Peace does not breed in an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust, so mutual understanding and trust is prerequisite to peace. Peace making is usually perceived in the narrow sense of diplomacy and relationship between nations. The pervasive element of peace makes it a unifying force. Development happens when there is peace. So achieving peace is of extreme importance to every human being, in the realization of his potential.

Some say that the ultimate peace is elusive. Since every individual is different in his outlook and interests, there will always be conflicts. But this view gives us a notion that yearning for peace is futile. But only the existence of peace has made the survival of human race possible. So the choice for peace is a choice for life and its survival. To quote Pope John XXIII:

“We supplicate all rulers not to remain deaf to the cry of mankind. Let them do everything in their power to save peace. By so doing, they will spare the world the horrors of a war that would have disastrous consequences, such as nobody can foresee,”

Article by: Josna George,St.Teresa’s College

A Kiss Is.........

2009-11-27T14:33:00.002+05:30

A Kiss Is.........

Teacher of Geometry : A kiss is the shortest distance between two points.
Teacher of Algebra : A kiss is divided by nothing.
Teacher of Physiology : A kiss is the contraction of mouth due to the expansion of the heart.
Teacher of Chemistry : A kiss is the reaction of the interaction between two hearts.
Teacher of Zoology : A kiss is the interchange of universal salivary bacteria.
Teacher of Accountancy : A kiss is a credit because it is profitable when returned.
Teacher of Economics : A kiss is the thing for which the demand is higher than supply.
Teacher of Philosophy : A kiss is persecution for the child, ecstasy for the youth and
homage for the old.

Article By: Cismol P Mathew, St.Teresa’s College

Live Out Your Dreams

2009-11-26T20:44:00.001+05:30

Live Out Your Dreams

We sometimes come across phases when life seems engulfed in a mire of doubt and bleakness. Nothing seems to work well for us and the roads we take lead us nowhere. We gaze hopelessly at the life of great souls and wonder how they got to be what they are. Perhaps, we reason to ourselves, we have been born at the wrong time, at the wrong place, to the wrong parents, to the wrong world… Some feel thwarted by the situations in our country. Why don’t our countrymen be more open minded? Why don’t opportunities knock at my door? The list of ‘why don’ts and ‘how comes’ is endless. But let us reflect for a moment the significance of our self. We are, whether we believe it or not, a part of a greater plan of God. We have been born where we are, to carry out some goal which is part of the Universe. True that we to get lost sometimes. But, being cogs of the wheel we cannot afford to derail the whole plan. Then how do we derive inspiration to move forward and accept life for what it is? We can learn to do it by reading the map of our lives. The omens that God strews on the path will reveal themselves to every open mind. Hope, that last element in Pandora’s Box, is what makes man’s life worth living.

Ask any psychologist what works wonders in a man’s life and they will inevitably point out a positive attitude. This can be cultivated only if we are alert to the language of the Heart. A great source of inspiration is books. Every few decades a book is published that changes the lives of the readers forever. Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist is an unsurpassed example of such a work. The philosophy is simple yet pregnant with truth: it is the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting, Santiago, an Andalusia shepherd boy yearns to travel across the world. He hopes to find a worldly treasure as extravagant as any ever found. From his home in Spain, he journeys to the markets of Tangiers and into the Egyptian desert, where a fateful encounter with the alchemist awaits him. The alchemist teaches the boy very many valuable lessons which every human can appreciate. The greatest lesson is that we have to listen to our heart. The heart knows all things because it came from the soul of the world. Whoever you are, or whatever it is that you do, when you really want something, it is because that desire originated in the soul. The entire universe conspires in helping you achieve it. To read omens is also very essential for the realization of our goals. To understand these God sent impulses or stimuli we need to take time out for ourselves (refer to one of those famous Oprah Winfred shows aired on star world). A little quiet and peace, a few moments of solitude can do wonders in revealing our true purpose in life.

Many of the problems the present age faces can be traced to the lack of connection humans feel with nature, the greater world around him. The only secret to happiness is to see all the marvels of the world. Another realization that ought to seep into our being is that the soul is not just a human gift; everything on the face of the earth has a soul, whether mineral, vegetable or animal- evens a simple thought. Remember those immortal lines of Blake in Auguries of Innocence:

“To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a Heaven in a wild flower,
Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand,
And Eternity in an hour”

An hour spent for a walk on a beach early morning or late evening, a glorious vision of the sunrise or sunset, moments spent just watching the changing colours of the trackless sky, a walk through the forest taking in it sounds and sights, observing the love in the eye of your loved ones (even the faithful pet dog or any other animal will do, believe me!) or even a few moments up on the terrace of one’s own house watching the flitting butterflies, birds and clouds can be moments of everlasting glory. These eternal moments with nature will reveal to us slowly the ways of attaining our goal. These are moments when God speaks o us. Let us remember Anne Frank’s words in her diary:
Wed 23 Feb 1944,

As long as this exists; this sunshine and this cloudless sky, and as long as I can enjoy it, how can I be sad? The best remedy for those who are frightened, lonely or unhappy is to go outside; some where they can be alone, alone with the sky, nature and God. For then and only then can you feel that everything’s is as it should be and that God wants people to be happy?
Such a harmony with the elements around us can work wonders in transforming our lives. Coelho was right when he wrote that life is really generous to those who pursue their destiny. Our heart is alive. Keep listening to what it has to say.

Article by: V.Gayalakshmi,St. Teresa’s College

Automobiles: Enemies Of Earth

2009-11-25T10:13:00.004+05:30

Automobiles: Enemies Of Earth

Whenever I see the tempting ads of automobiles, the terrifying picture of global warming comes to my mind. These machines from the day of their birth till they reach the junkyard are the enemies of our beautiful planet. As comfort has become an indispensable part of modern life, one cannot now think of a life-style without these dangerous machines. New models of cars with added comfort and greater fuel consumption hit the street every day. When the temptation to purchase a car grips us, we never think of the harm these machines do to the environment. By owing a car we contribute to the destruction of our wonderful earth.

Fossil fuel excavation, increase in the production of vehicles, and the growth of industry have been going on at a rapid rate for the past few decades. In the name of development we have been exploiting natural resources without any thought of the damage this will cause. Atmospheric pollution has been increasing at an alarming rate. Now we have reached a stage of irreversible changes in the environment. The greatest threat that is looming large in the present century is the problem of global warming.

Global warming is a phenomenon which is going to endanger the survival of human beings on the earth. It can result in the rising if sea level all over the world due to the melting of snow in the arctic region. The changes in regional climate could alter forest, crop yields and water supplies. The evil effects of this cannot be fully predicted now. It may be more terrifying than we predict now.

Global warming is caused by the increase in the amount of carbon dioxide and other green house gases in the atmosphere. The concentration of these gases in the atmosphere will trap the radiation from the sun and will result in increasing atmospheric temperature. The earth’s surface temperature has risen in the past century, with accelerated warming during the past two decades. There is new and stronger evidence that most of the warming over the last 50 years is attributable to human activities. We have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere through the buildup of green house gases, primarily carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide. Energy from the sun drives the earth’s weather and climate, and heats the earth’s surface, in turn; the earth radiates the energy back into space. Atmospheric green house gases (water vapor, carbon dioxide and other gases) trap some of the outgoing energy, retaining heat somewhat like the glass panels of a green house. Without this natural “greenhouse effect,” temperatures would be much lower than they are now, and life as known today would not be possible. However, problems may arise when the atmospheric concentration of greenhouse gases increases. Direct manifestations of a wide spread and long-term trend toward warmer global temperatures will result in heat waves and periods of unusually warm weather, ocean warming, sea-level rise and coastal flooding, glaciers melting and Arctic and Antarctic warming. A continued warming may bring many communicable diseases, earlier spring arrival, plant and animal range shifting and population changes, downpours, heavy snowfalls, flooding, drought and fire.

Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have increased nearly 30%; methane concentrations have more than doubled; and nitrous oxide concentrations have risen by about 15%. These increases have enhanced the heat-trapping capability of the earth’s atmosphere. As a result the snow covers in the Northern Hemisphere and floating ice in the Arctic Ocean have decreased. Globally, sea level has risen 4-8 inches over the past century. All these are clear indications that it is time for action; otherwise we will have to pay a great price for our inactivity.

It is a crime to think: “we don’t care, we are now safe.” The problem of global warming may sound unreal to those who are not aware of the enormity of the danger. If we do not preserve our wonderful earth for our future generations who else will do it? Many nations have become aware of this and as a result the singing of Kyoto Treaty has taken place. The Kyoto Protocol went into effect on Wednesday 16 February 2005. Its 141 member nations have to cut emissions of the greenhouse gases linked to climate change. But there are certain debatable issues that are still remaining. Will Europe and Japan, which must make deep cuts in their emissions under the treaty, be able to do so without hurting their economics? Will the U.S. government, which pulled out of the protocol in 2001, continue to oppose the international negotiations on climate change? And will the automobile companies make cuts in operations and remain satisfied with lesser profit? Many questions are still unanswered, but one thing is sure that this is a positive move in the right direction. In this dehumanizing age this gives a ray of hope for the humanity.

President George Bush has decided not to sign Kyoto Treaty saying that it will affect their economy. But even in the U.S.A. there are people who are aware of the problem and the placards, “To Humanity, hey George, Sign Kyoto” that have appeared before the White House are a clear indication of their feelings. One should remember the fact the U.S.A. is one of the nations which is causing the maximum amount of atmospheric pollution. In the United States, approximately 6.6 tons of greenhouse gases are emitted per person have increased about 3.4% between 1990and 1997. Most of these emissions, about 82%, are from burning fossil fuels to generate electricity and also to power their cars. The remaining emissions are from methane from waters in their landfills, natural gas pipelines, and coal, as well as from industrial chemicals and other sources.

Fortunately, we can take action to slowdown global warming. To reduce the emission of heat-trapping gases like carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxides, we can curb our consumption of fossil fuels, use technologies that reduce the amount of emissions wherever possible, and protect the world’s forests. We can also introduce new technology to mitigate the impacts of global warming. Through careful long-term planning and other strategies we can reduce global warming. Many people in European countries are switching over to public transport systems rather than using cars. The use of automobiles has been discouraged or controlled in some of the campuses in Europe.

Clearly, global warming is a serious problem that deserves serious attention. Every-one governments, industry, communities and individuals should work together to make a real difference. If we are convinced of its effects then we should also shoulder the responsibility to fight against it and also to make others aware of its massive effects. If we don’t show enough interest in it then we are doing a crime against the human race. The awareness and remedy should go hand in hand and should create a wonderful world to live in. We should advocate policies that will reduce global warming and should think of alternative fuels for our vehicles, find renewable energy sources and stop cutting valuable forests. If these things can be done, then the earth will become the most beautiful place to live in.

Article by: Lima Antony,St. Teresa’s College

Reel Culture V/S Real Culture

2009-11-24T11:09:00.002+05:30

Reel Culture V/S Real Culture

Think twice before you go for a movie. Which would you prefer- a Bollywood or a Hollywood one? With the content remaining the same both offer you loads of crap in the name of wholesome entertainment. In the dream factory of Bollywood, aspirations are being fulfilled, even as more are born every second. In a nation of a billion fantasies there is always a new star in the making. The new age actors are ready to go to any extent for the character to be safe in their hands.

Indian movies are no longer ambassadors of Indian culture. With directors trying hard to draw a line between the aesthetic and the vulgar, Indian movies seem to be deteriorating in quality day by day. Gone are the days when film makers made movies for the satisfaction of their creativity. Today’s film makers make movies for fame and wealth. If any of you, the wannabe actors read this article let me illustrate what you should do to be a part of the crowd. Criterion no: 1 is that you should be a director’s actor, the director will tune your system clock and you have to perform. If you try to register your protest it will be considered as an act of interference on your part as there is a thin line between passion and interference. Indian movies are neither at Cannes nor at the prestigious Oscars. They are exclusively the ‘MADE IN INDIA’ brand meant for titillating Indian audiences. Why would the jury prefer Indian movies for Hollywood ones? The movies featured at Cannes and Oscars are typical of different cultures. The actors seemed to have lost the appetite to explore the unexplored realms of cinema. The Indian entertainment industry has lost its credibility, sensibility and sensitivity.

With banal talk shows and phone-in programmes the situation in the TV-industry is no different. The attractive youth who picks up the phone never forgets to ‘welcome’ you and ‘Thank you’ for calling. Cinemas rather than becoming a medium of social change are trying to promote a new culture among the youth. Premarital sex, live-in relationships or divorce were taboo for the middle class a decade ago, but today’s youth gracefully approves all that.

News channels carry tales of sleazy actions caught on camera. Spy cameras are omnipresent and omniscient causing havoc not only to people at work places but also to politicians, housewives and executives who get caught red-handed. From a multicultural society India seems to have transformed itself into a monoculture one which is in sync with the western world. The work of Indians should be a celebration of Indianans. The private domain has become public spectacle with formatted reality shows, 24 hours news, eternally remixed videos and endless film promos. The line between real and reel is no longer distinct. With the urge to emerge on the international scenes Indians seem to have divorced Indian culture.

Article by: Neethi Jayakrishnan,St. Teresa’s College

The Black Sunday

2009-11-21T20:16:00.001+05:30

The Black Sunday

It was a peaceful Sunday and the streets wore a tired look after the just concluded Christmas celebrations. As the sun rose slowly spreading its rays of joy, the people too woke up to welcome the day with a bright smile-as mile never to come back to their faces.
December 26, 2004 will forever remain etched in the world’s collective consciousness as massive ocean waves triggered by an undersea earthquake off the coast of Sumatra ravaged almost half a dozen of the littoral countries of the Indian Ocean. Nature’s ferocity in the form of Tsunami, which returned to devastate after a gap of around 60 years, plunged the whole region in shock and grief. It has brought the world to a screeching halt to take cognizance of the fact that nothing is predictable.
The earthquake, which recorded a whopping 8.9 on the Richter scale-the fifth largest since the beginning of the 21st century-was a foretaste of things to come. Within minutes, the earthquake unleashed a devastating Tsunami as high as 6 meters, which first hit the coasts of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Maldives. These spreading walls of water took more than one hour to reach India and Sri Lanka to wreak havoc across the coastal areas of this region, cutting a swathe of destruction and death. The Tsunami though a rare phenomenon in the South Asian region set everybody pondering over its occurrence.
Tsunami, a Japanese word meaning harbor wave, is a silent wave generated when the sea floor is ruptured by seismic action thereby displacing the overlying water in the ocean. These waves cannot be felt aboard ships nor can they be seen from the air in the open ocean. But as the Tsunami approaches the coastal waters, the long waves pile on one another thereby attaining a mammoth size, which lashes the shore devouring the entire region.
The calamitous effect of such an unprecedented catastrophe is unimaginable. The victims of this tragedy were mostly poor people, on account of the proximity of their houses to the sea. People taking a stroll on the beaches, vendors gearing themselves for a busy ahead, fisher folk just back from their fishing ventures, tourists rejuvenating themselves in the cool fresh air of a Sunday morning and trying to feel the tickle of water on their feet, children taking positions on their regular playground… they were all swept away by these gigantic waves which turned the whole place into a ghost town. And what remained was debris of bodies lying strewn in an undignified manner, destroyed catamarans and fishing vessels. Cars and motorbikes lifted by the waves lay mangled. Where once stood fragile huts and sturdy buildings dotting the beach, today one can see nothing but a wasteland.
No sooner had the news of the cataclysm come out than the government was quick in reacting to the situation by ordering the state governments and other officials to roll up their sleeves and start the relief operations. But for those who lost their rays of hope, it will take more than relief measures to expunge the memories of that black day.

Article by: S. Gopika Gopakumar,St.Teresa’s College

'Discrimination' It Starts From The Womb

2009-11-20T18:38:00.002+05:30

'Discrimination' It Starts From The Womb

It is agreed by all that man and woman are different. In addition to the differences in physiology they also differ in their thoughts and sensibilities. But these differences have been conveniently termed by society as gender inequalities. Gender inequalities are prevalent in societies which are patriarchal. A patriarchal society is one in which men are privileged over women. Feminists argue that societies all over the world are patriarchal. Thus gender inequality is a world-wide phenomenon.

In a patriarchal society, women are discriminated against and are subjugated. This discrimination starts right from or even before the birth of a child. Female infanticide is quite common now, especially in rural areas. The female fetus is eliminated in the womb itself. Nobel laureate Prof. Amartya Sen. calls female feticide ‘the high-tech’ mode of discrimination. Technology is used by man so as to eliminate the female fetus. Though pre-natal sex determination has been made illegal, this continues to take place followed by the abortion of the female fetus. This has led to the alarming reduction in the sex ratio (Which is the number of female per male). This makes the life of women even more dangerous as their exploitation will increase. In certain rural areas of north India, there is such a scarcity of women that women are bought from neighboring villages. These women are used by all the men in the family. The price of a woman is Rs.2000 there; a buffalo costs as much as Rs.5000. This is the ugly state of affairs to which the world is rapidly moving.

Even during childhood, the female child suffers. She is given less food than her brother, leading to malnutrition. In rural areas, it is considered useless to send a girl child to school. Instead she is trained to become a housewife while her brothers are sent to school. Even if a girl child is sent to school, higher education is often denied to her.

Marriage and child bearing are presented as the focal pints of a woman’s life. The girls are constantly schooled in the thought that they do not belong to their house. They are trained to give priority to the needs of others and ignore theirs. All this assists in their subjugation.
Even professional women suffer from inequality. Often higher posts in employment are denied to them. Furthermore many women do not go for promotions as they have to think of their family. Promotions invariably mean transfers. So in order to be with their family, women often sacrifice their desires for professional advancement. Furthermore, life of the working woman is all the more difficult since she is expected to balance her profession with her family life.
Though gender inequality is said to be more prevalent in South Asia, it is present even in the advanced countries of the world. Many South Asian countries like India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Srilanka, have had, or even now have female heads of government. But this has not been the case with other advanced countries.

Coming back to the position of women in a patriarchal set up, this is where women are most discriminated against. Women occupy a pivotal role in the family in such a society, but it is the men who dominate. Right from childhood, a definite code of conduct binds the women. Their talents and capabilities are suppressed in the interest of men’s ego.
Amartya Sen. also points to the consequences of discrimination against the girl child. Nutritional discrimination leads to severe malnutrition in girls. When later in life, these girls become mothers, this affects their children too. The children are often born underweight. Studies link many adult diseases like diabetes, hypertension and heart problems to the low weight and severe malnutrition during childhood. Thus in the end, men suffer more than women due to the discrimination against women which seems to come back like a boomerang and haunt them with a vengeance.

Violence against women is also on the rise. Often the oppressors go unpublished. The times are so bad that neither a small girl nor an old woman is safe. Society is more interested in victimizing the woman than in punishing the oppressors.

Different aspects of gender inequality have been eliminated-But some are still on the rise. Women from the corner stone of human civilization. It is essential that she be treated equal with man. Furthermore, she should be respected for what she is. Feminists argue that the difference between man and woman is one of kind and not of degree. It is high time both men and women realize the exploitation of women and provide a discrimination free existence for them.

Article by: Asha Antony,St.Teresa’s College

The Mirror That Cracked

2009-11-19T19:33:00.003+05:30

The Mirror That Cracked

Staring at my reflection in the cracked mirror I wondered about the fate that had conspired against me. I wondered why that overpowering benevolence which some call God gave me this loveless existence. Tears streaked away the cheap powder on my cheeks. Quickly I redid my make up but even my best efforts couldn’t hide the pain, misery & hunger in my eyes.

Bright red lipstick, low cut chollies and pleated lehangas can no longer attract customers in the old age. Sitting alone in the verandah in the cobbled street I slowly slipped back to my reminiscences…. So sweet… yet so bitter…

I feel my biggest misfortune was being born into a family of overachievers. My Dad was a prosperous business man in his sixties. In my eyes he was a charmer, a creature as vile as a snake, never to miss an opportunity to make illegal thousands in shady deals. Appropriately his favorite axiom was ‘The end justifies the means’.

Mom, who ought to be synonym for love and sacrifice, was to me like the rude step mothers in fiction. My Mom was an alien in my life; she was no more than a visitor in home. High society world of glitz and glamour was her home and hearth. To my dad she was another trophy to be shown off before others.

My sister was always busy either winning beauty pageants or scholarships. I always watched with amusement tinged with jealousy at the number of boys who queued at her feet ready to slay dragons for her.

I always felt like an intruder in this family. While my sister was stunning I was just a plain Jane. I had neither beauty nor brains neither charm nor charisma. Once I openly heard my dad remark to his friends that I was his little mistake. His friends roared with laughter.

Love seemed like a forbidden fruit to me. The harder I tried the farther it seemed to be. Even God seemed to be playing a joke with me. I was always afraid of dreams. In my dreams I saw people loving me, a family loving me. Everything was beautiful and everywhere I found love. I dreaded waking into the cruel reality. I had shed tears late into the night for love. In those hours I seriously contemplated if my existence was really a mistake.

I vividly remember the day I left home. I had not planned it before. It just happened. Servants had retired to their quarters. Bored of watching. T.V. alone, I loitered to my parent’s room. On a sudden impulse I opened the bed side drawer. I was more than surprised when I took my mother’s diary from it. I never knew she had even kept one. Flipping through the pages I realized, not for the first time, that she was ashamed of me…..ashamed of being seen with me…. Ashamed of being known as my mother….ashamed of giving birth to me….

Though I had sensed it before, reading it from my Mom’s diary written in her own hand was a blow from which I never recovered. I knew then that hopping things would look up one day was akin to my unattainable dreams about love.

Looking back, I don’t remember much about the ensuing events. I left home penniless, walked to the bus stand in mild rain and my drenched clothes attracted a lot of hungry stares. I got into the first bus I saw. Somebody bought me a ticket and some food which I later realized had been drugged.

I found myself in this brothel when I woke up. My body was badly battered and bruised. Here I saw women shed all pretences of dignity, displaying their ample wares to get a mouthful of food a day. Like me the others here don’t know what love is.They foolishly craved for it once, and like me had left home in pursuit of it and found themselves here. So I am home….in a sense…lost among loveless souls….

Big isolated raindrops wake me from my stupor. No sign of customers…another day without food. Slowly…sadly I retreated to my hovel…nobody is there waiting for me…I am wedded to loneliness and poverty. Yet I thrive in pursuit of love…because I am in love with love.

Article by: Sherbin Salim,St.Teresa’s College

A Mobile Phone

2009-11-17T22:56:00.002+05:30

A Mobile Phone

‘Necessity is the mother of invention’

This relevant proverb has been always a spark to ignite the fire of development. Men from the Stone Age to the modern 21st century have been inventing things for their needs. And the remarkable notification is that the invention made according to the necessity are for advanced by modernized and modified in accordance to ones comfort and facility. Mobile phone is one such device that boomed into the modern society with dramatic changes. The invention of Telephone by Alexander Graham bell in the 19th century was the stepping stone to the world of distant communication.

The 19th century telephones were coded signals send across short distances through fiber wires that passed through everything that was tall, to the communicator. During the 20th century fiber wires were replaced by telephone cables that passed across large distances and connected many people. The trunk calls of the initial stages were liberalized and more extensive. By the end of the 20th century advance telephone networks were established all over the world. One could speak for a very long distance no matter which part the belonged as long as there were telephone networks. Telephone cables travelled long distances on pole posts, underground and even under water making a very large network of communication.

Man is always a glutton and wants more than his needs and works for his greed’s. The modernized busy living people began realizing that telephones had became a knot in their lives. One could not communicate without being near a telephone connection. Travelling became a problem. Urgent commitments caused panics. Danger could not be alert on spot. Everyone had to rely on their fixed telephones which caused man great inconvenience. This caused the rise of the necessity of having wireless telephones that could bring remedy to all man’s inconvenience. The invention of mobile phone was the result of this quavering necessity.

The invention of mobile phones drastically changed the lives of the modern world. As a fast the wired telephones are falling existing dim with the introduction of portable wireless mobile phones. Mobile phones are great blessing to the fast moving world. The modern developed mobile phones are micro servants in hands. The inconvenience of running back home or office to attend a call is completely knocked off by the use of mobile phones. Mobile phones being portable, every one carries it where ever they go and make use of its advantages. Great business deals are made through mobile phones while travelling in a car. Any time any where one can contact any one with the help of mobile phones. The inconvenience caused to in communication while travelling or out of station, urgent commitments, danger alerts etc., are straightened by mobile phones. As mobile phones are anytime any where useful most of the people especially the youth rely on mobile phones.

The latest technologies of mobile phones put forward many companies have made work and life easier. SMS and MMS services, blue tooth and infrared services, internet services, camera, music players, radio, conferencing and much more are mobile phones greatest advantage. These facilities are in planted in a single mobile which is the greatest blessing to the present generation. From business and political shots to the present generation youth mobile phones have influenced live in many ways. When life becomes much easier and simpler through the facilities mobile phones they are a boon to the society.

The universe posses negative and positive for its existence. Mobile phones too amongst all its advantages and blessings it do posses many disadvantages. Though wireless and very handy it should be remembered that mobile phones work on wave signals. The radiations that these devices give out are of great danger to human health. Ailments like elbow hand, hearings disabilities, cancer, sink diseases and much more are caused by the harmful radiation of mobile phones. It affects the functioning of the brain and causes mental retardation in a slow pace. These are not more hypothesis but many people are affected by the use of mobile phones physically. The heat radiation that is emitted by the long use of mobile phones causes serious damages to the sense organs. Mobile phones are a technological antigen that adversely destroys human health.

Article By: Nikitha Francis, St.Albert’s College

"My Only Goal Is To See My People Free"

2009-11-15T19:04:00.003+05:30

"My Only Goal Is To See My People Free"

Ho Chi Minh learned of the October Revolution while in Paris. The young revolutionary had visited many countries in the six years since he left his homeland. What he witnessed every where was the underprivileged and poverty of working people and their oppression by the powers that be? Reading Lenin’s works and talking with French Communists, Nguyen Ai Quoc (as Ho Chi Minh was cooled then) looked forward to visiting the land of the October revolution. But such a journey was no simple thing then.

Nguyen Ai Quoc became a distinguished figure among the Vietnamese emigrants in Paris. He initiated the establishment of the Association of colonial peoples comprising representatives of a number of French overseas territories who were living in the parent state. He also began publishing the newspaper Le Paria which advocated the unification of the colonial peoples with the proletariat of other countries and the working people of Soviet Russia. Ai Quoc was shadowed by the police. His activity attracted the attention of Albert Surratt himself, France’s colonial minister, who had been governor-general in Indo-China. In the August 1, 1922 issue of Le Paria the Vietnamese revolutionary published his open letter to Surratt angrily exposing the inhuman regime the colonialists had established in Annam (as Central Vietnam was called in those years). As a consequent, the “insolent trouble- maker”, was summoned to the minister.

“MY NLY GOAL…”

…The noise from the street could hardly be heard in the enormous office decorated with silk tapestries. A majestic- looking old man, with luxurious mustache, was sitting at a massive ebony desk. The door opened and a young Vietnamese entered. A proudly- set head, shining dark eyes in a lean face… The minister stared at him coldly as he approached the desk, walking on a carpet runner. Pointing to a gift armchair, the minister said, “Be seated.” Nguyen had neither timidity nor fear, but only intense curiosity: “What’s this cunning fox after, I wonder?”
The police had failed to arrest Nguyen the day before; the threat of Marcel Caching and Paul Valliant- Couturier to create a fur ore in the press had caused the procurator of the 17th Parisian Arrondissement to revoke the other.

The minister picked up a copy of Le Paria from the desk.
“I’ve looked through your newspaper. You seem to be discontent with practices in your homeland?”

Surratt put a magnifying-glass to the newspaper.
“And one more thing rather witty, I’d say. While showing concern for France’s budget you deny privilege of being taken care of by our agents.”

“Yes, indeed, Mr. Minister.” There was a touch of irony in Nguyen’s voice. “Is there any sense in spending so much when my daily schedule is no secret to anybody: editorial board library- museum?”

“We know more of it than you think,” Surratt interrupted him. “For instance, your intention to make trip to Bolshevik Russia:”

“They’ve got wind of it, these sleuths,” thought Nguyen and then said: “I simply want to be closer to my homeland.”

“Then what’s the problem?” Surratt spread his hands theatrically.

“The Marseille- Saigon line operates smoothly. You’re an able and energetic young man. Who knows, with time you could well be one of the indigenous representatives at the Cochin China Assembly. And what is in store for you in Russia? There is hunger, misrule.. Just look at this.” Surratt plucked a poster from a file. It showed a furious- looking bandit with a shaggy cap on and a blood- stained knife clenched between his teeth. “Bolshevik,” read the caption.
Nguyen shrugged his shoulders:

“These posters are pasted on all walls in Paris, Mr. Minister.”
“It was only a miracle that helped the Bolshevik hold out for five years,” continued Surratt, getting angrier. “But their days are numbered. What example can they give you?”
“What example?” Nguyen repeated the question. He still looked impassive. “Apparently, it proved most contagious for the soldiers of the Indo china Battalion you sent to Siberia to fight revolutionary Russia. And for the Vietnamese sailors of the French squadron in the Black Sea. They all refused to fight the Bolsheviks.”

“Propaganda!” yelled Surratt. “It’s only from France that Indochina will get all the benefits of civilization. It will transform your land, without it you’ll eke out a slavish and miserable existence.”

“They for your concern. Mr. Minister,” Nguyen gave a slight bow.
“I’ll take account of your wishes.”
“France forgives a great deal,” the minister said ominously. “But it will never forgive trouble-makers who establish contacts with the Russian Bolsheviks and seek to incite unsuspecting crowds in Indochina to commit acts of lawlessness.

“My only goal, Mr. Minister,” said Nguyen rising from the armchair “is to see my people free”.
Several months had passed since that conversation. The house where Nguyen Ai Quoc lived, at 9 Rue Compoint, was watched day and night. Yet despite this he managed to slip away unnoticed from his tiny room on the second floor.

With papers bearing the name of entrepreneur Tren Vang he shortly after showed up in Hamburg. German Communists made arrangements for him to sail abroad a boat bound for Russia.

IN BOLSHEVIK RUSSIA
From my first in U.S.S.R Ho Chi Minch recalled, “I realized how difficult it was for the Soviet Republic to start a new life. Even then, the Soviet people already had achievements to their credit. The Soviet country’s swift progress and each of its successes made every revolutionary proud for the cause of the Great October Revolution.”

In Soviet Russia, Ho Chi Minh witnessed the unparallel enthusiasm of the builders of socialism. There he saw his youthful dream about freedom and equality coming true. “Neither in childhood nor in my mature years,” he later told his jungle comrades-in –arms,” have I experienced such feelings of freedom, infinite joy and happiness as in Moscow in those days.”

The stay in the USSR contributed immensely to shaping the world outlook of Ho Chi Minh and of many his associates, Vietnamese Communists. They thoroughly assimilated the Leninist Party’s experience in order to creatively apply it in Vietnam.

Today, we read with excitement the lines written by the Indochina delegation that attended the 6th Comintern Congress in Moscow in 1928.
“We had lived through long and dramatic years, daily witnessing the ordeals that fell to the lot of our people. Since our first days in the USSR we found ourselves in new environment calm, fraternal, humane. A singularly interesting journey across the USSR has given us fresh strength.
“When back in our Indochina Peninsula we shall prepare for our own battle so as to fight to the last drop of blood to people imperialism and capitalism and to build a socialist country in the Far East.”

During the short existence of the Democratic Front of Indochina, in the mid-1930s, when the Vietnamese Communists had won the freedom to conduct propaganda legally, they started publishing Soviet magazines Soviet Construction Sites, Stakhanovism Drive, Soviet women and other in Vietnamese.

“The USSR’s example shows,” the newspaper Vo San Wrote in 1933, “that the proletariat is powerful enough to create a society ruling out the exploitation of man by man.”
Vietnamese revolutionaries’ internationalism was vividly manifested during the Great patriotic War of the Soviet people (1941-1945). On the day after Nazi Germany’s perfidious attack on the USSR the Communist Party of Indochina circulated leaflets expressing confidence in the triumph of the Soviet people’s just cause. Verses by an anonymous poet were very popular then: “The Soviet Union is unparalleled courage. The Red Army is death to Hitler.”

In the grim autumn of 1941, when the Nazi hordes were approaching the Soviet Capital. Moscow, an international Regiment was formed there. It comprised revolutionaries from various countries who worked or studied in the USSR. Six Vietnamese youths were among the first volunteers.

Underground newspapers of the Vietnamese Communities wrote then; “We unhesitatingly declare that the Red Army men shedding their blood in battles against Nazism are also fighting for the peoples of Indochina. Only the Soviet Union’s victory will give us hope that our revolution will be victorious.”

The six Vietnamese volunteers died a hero’s death on the distant approaches to Moscow. The real names of four of them came to light only recently.

The drawn of the new life that broke over the planet in October 1917 is still illuminating the road to the future for the Vietnamese working people. The Vietnamese people have associated and continue to associate, their victories and accomplishments with the Leninist teachings and the ideas of the October Revolution, with friendship and cooperation with the country in which this great revolution occurred.

Article By: Sreekumar, St.Albert's College

A WARNING TO MANKIND

2009-11-14T09:40:00.001+05:30

A WARNING TO MANKIND

There are events the news of which spreads very rapidly round the world. This happened in April 1937, during the Spanish Civil War; When Hilarity bombers destroyed Guernica, a town 30 kilometers away from the large industrial centre of Bilbao. The world shuddered when it learnt about this heinous crime. The day of April 26, 1937, when the Nazi bombs started to fall on the ancient city of the Basques, the inhabitants of northern Spain, is a grim date in mankind’s history. Guernica opened the mournful list of cities and settlements crushed by the Moloch of war in the 20th century. It was the first town almost completely razed to the ground by an air raid, the first common grave of World War II (1939-1945), the same tragic lot befell Or dour- sure- Alien in France, Lidice in Czechoslovakia, Coventry in Britain, Khatyn in Byelorussia.
Those who miraculously survived will never forget the horrible day of April 26, 1937.
This is what A. Jaurequi, a resident of Guernica, told Igor Kudrin, a Soviet correspondent who was working in Spain for many years. “I wasn’t quite twenty and did odd jobs at a construction site. It so happened that the house where I lived was the first to be hit by a German bomb. Everything in sight seemed to be burning the houses the church, the sweet factory, the restaurant, the old people’s home. But most awful was that people around me were falling. It was a market day and crowds were out in the streets. The German pilots flew their planes close to the ground chasing people and gunning them down for a lark”.
The fascists dropped some 200 kg of explosives per square meter 1,654 were killed.
In the years of Françoise the truth about the destruction of Guernica was hushed up by the mass media. Moreover, they tried to shift the blame for this monstrous crime onto the Republicans shoulders. However, the facts show that General Franco, who was waging war against the Spanish Republic with the backing of German and Italian fascists, had been informed beforehand about the plan to destroy the ancient centre of Basque culture by the German air squadron Condor.
After World War II ended in the complete route of fascism, and the Nazi war criminals were put in the dock before the international tribunal in September 1945 in Nuremberg Goering the former Luftwaffe chief was asked the question.
“Do you remember Guernica?”
“Guernica?” he replied. “Yes I do. It was a sort of test of strength for our air force”
By bombing Spain, the fascists wanted to terrorize the people of that country and force it to capitulate. However, they miscalculated. Soviet writer IIya Ehrenburg (1891-1967) who was in Spain at that time wrote in his frontline reports, “The 1,108 air raids on Spanish towns did more than to leave ruins and graves in Spain. They awakened hatred and indomitable spirit in the Spanish people, to a great extent; they contributed to the transformation of this hitherto peaceful land. In his words, the spirit of the Republican Army was born among the smoldering ruins under which people pulled out corpses of their children.
When dropping hinders of high-explosive and incendiary bombs on defenseless Guernica the enemies of the Spanish people had no notion that its ruins would become a symbol urging people to fight fascism, exposing its inhuman character, cruelty and barbarity.
Two days after the raid, on April 28, 1937 the Government of Republican Spain held an emergency session. It discussed the bombing of Guernica, Having condemned the fascist’s monstrous crime; the government decided that a monumental work of art, a panel, must be created which would reflect the Spanish pavilion of the world Exhibition on Paris to be held in the summer of 1937. When the question arose as to who could do such a work, Jesus’ Hernandez, Minister of public Education, did not hesitate to name Fabio Picasso, incidentally, at the end of 1936 he had been commissioned to paint a big picture for the Spanish pavilion of the Paris exhibition.
At that time pabio Picasso (1881-1973) lived and worked in Paris. But he remained in touch with his homeland, visited Spain frequently and remained true to it in his work.
Starting his work for the Paris Exhibition the artist wanted to dedicate it to the freedom of art. But in January 1937 he began work on a series of engravings entitled “Dreams and Lies of General Franco,” which expressed the artist’s hatred for the Spanish General. He transferred the receipts from the sale of his engravings to the treasury of the Spanish Republic. Picasso reacted to the bombing of Guernica as only a progressive- minded artist could do. He did not hesitate to accept the Republican’s proposal to create a panel about the tragedy of the Basques’ city. On May 1, he made his first sketch of three symbolic imagines: a woman with a candle, a horse with a stretched neck and the head of a bull. All of them were included in his final composition.
Those who met Picasso in the spring of 1937 recalled that he worked indefatigably on the picture. He stood at easel for 12-14 hours a day, making one sketch after another.
In the process of work the artists’ conception changed considerably. He decided against depicting the political symbol- the raised first, which was the Republicans’ greeting. The scene depicted took place not in the market square but indoors- The changes he made were towards allegory and generalization moving him ever further from the portrayal of speciesfic events. It could not be otherwise- Picasso’s artistic vision did not permit of documentary presentation or a simple transfer of reality on to a canvas. He strove to depict the truth in symbolic generalized images.
“Guernica” was finished shortly before the opening of the Paris exhibition- it was not even included in its catalogues. The picture greatly impressed those who saw it. The symbolic created by the artist’s imagination aroused in them the feelings similar to those which had inspired Picasso during his work. The pictures reflected a whole gamut of thoughts and feelings; despair, horror of death and destruction, horrible torments of people crushed by the forces of evil, a wrathful protest against these forces, hatred for war threatening all life on Earth, and also hope that the forces of reason would eventually triumph.
The artist pronounced his verdict on fascism. His “Guernica” was recognized as a masterpiece of twentieth –century art. The picture was highly praised by the defenders of the Spanish Republic themselves, among them courageous Dolores Ibarruri, Pasionaria, as the people called her. In her opinion, even if Picasso had created nothing but “Guernica’ he would still have been listed with the best artists of our time. Most of the people who saw this work by Picasso viewed it as a warning to mankind, a warning against the forces which push the world into the chaos of destruction, as an appeal to human conscience and reason.
In 1944 the world famous artist joined the ranks of the French Communist Party. He regarded this step as the logical result of his life and work. He believed his brushes and colours to be his weapons and he used them as such when working on his “Guernica”.
1987 saw the 50th anniversary of Picasso’s immortal work. For over 40 years out of these 50 Th picture was far away from the artist’s homeland, in the New York Museum of Modern Art. Only six years ago, in September 1981 Picasso’s desire that his work be exhibited in the Prado, Madrid, was fulfilled to mark the centenary of the artist’s birth, his great work was moved to the Spanish capital. There “Guernica” and 63 studies to it will be on display in the old mansion of Cason Del Buena Retro adjoining the Prado. Thus, Picasso’s great work has found its permanent home.
As the artist himself said, his idea was to show not the horror of one concrete even but a worldwide tragedy. Therefore “Guernica” half a century after its creation continues to call to people, imploring “This must never happen again”.

Article By: Praveen Kumar, St.Albert's College

CELL- BASIC UNIT OR SUB UNIT OF LIFE

2009-11-12T18:47:00.002+05:30

CELL- BASIC UNIT OR SUB UNIT OF LIFE

The word ‘cell’ is derived from the Latin word ‘Cellula’ which means a small compartment. The term was first coined by Robert Hooke (1635-1703) an English Microscopist. He observed a section of a bottle cork under a Microscope. Then he saw a honey comb – like structure consisting of a number of compartments. He published its illustration in a book called ‘Micrographia’, in 1665.
Cell is the most enigmatic mystery of nature about which it is believed that, the day scientists will understand it fully, they would be able to unravel the secret of life and death. With the advance of time, more advanced types of Microscopes became available which helped Robert Brown (1831) to find a conspicuous spherical body in each cell. He called it nucleus. By this time many scientists flung in this field. Mirabel (1819) advanced this statement by saying “Nobody can have life, if its constituent parts are not cellular tissue or are not formed by cells. “M.J.Schleiden and Theodor Schwann (1839) propounded the cell theory saying “The cells are organisms; and animals as well as plants are aggregates of these organisms arranged in accordance with definite laws”- and in 1855 Rudolf Virchow concluded that :Omnis Cellula-e-cellula, “i.e., new living cells arise only by reproduction of pre-existing living cells-i.e. the cell theory. Though credit for formulating this theory goes to him, it had already been postulated in pre historic Vedas.
The cells of all living organisms, though varying to a great extent in size, mass, shape, structure and function have many things in common. A cell has been variously defined, the cell is the structural and functional unit of plants and animals, or the cell is the unit of life or the cell is a mass of protoplasm surrounded by a thin membrane.
However there are many exceptions to cell theory. Eg, Vines and Venuses’ do not fit in the definition of a cell and these are therefore often described as living chemicals. These are supposed to be primitive organisms; which fail to reach a cellular state. Among other examples, coenocytes forms such as Rancheria (algae) and Rhizopus (fungus0 may also be found, placed outside the definition limit. These living substances are enclosed in a wall and there is hardly any organism like that of a cell. It is therefore difficult to accommodate these kinds of units in the context of cell theory.
A vast majority of cells range between 0.5 to 20 diameters. The biggest known cell is the egg of ostrich and the largest unicellular organism is Acetabularia. The fleshy cells of Citrus and Cucurbits are large enough to be seen by naked eyes. The shape of cell also varies depending upon their functions, needs of the organism and environmental conditions. A cell may be meristematic, Parenchy- matons, supporting, conducting, protective or reproductive in function. A typical plant cell has three distinct regions: (i) Cell wall, (ii) protoplasm and (iii) vacuoles. The protoplasm is living but cell wall and vacuoles are thought to be non-living though there is some difference of opinion about the non-living nature of cell wall.
The organism theory introduced by ‘Sharp’ (1934), rejects the idea of a plant or animal, being divided into separate physiological units. The metabolic activities of the whole plant are interrelated and the plant itself functions as a homogeneous entity. Hence, this theory emphasizes the importance of unity of protoplasm as a whole. It does not consider an organism as an aggregation of independent units. It considers the whole organism as the basic unit and the cells merely as its sub units.

Article By: Paulson K.J, St.Albert's College

MOBILE PHONES A BOON OR A CURSE

2009-11-11T19:45:00.002+05:30

MOBILE PHONES A BOON OR A CURSE

“ Mobile Phones”- the master brain of the Japanese is one of the most commonly used thing among the people. The entry of this tiniest thing was a decade ago. Even though the entry of mobile phones were not accepted first, in this present era it has become a part of one’s life. Now a time has arrived that people cannot carry out their lives without this superb discovery of the Japanese. As the years pass by the shapes and size of these mobile phones changes. If we compare the latest mobile phones with the first mobile which came decades ago, we will be very much astonished to see the difference in the models, size and their latest techniques used. With the entry of mobile phones communication with the people has become easier. Now a person has to contact someone urgently, he/she can just take use of their mobile phones and call whomever they want from the same place where there are. Even though mobile phones are very useful, it has both good qualities as well as bad qualities. Like the two sides of a coin, mobile phones are a boon as well as a curse.

According to me mobile phones are a boon to this developing hectic world. With the help of mobile phones communication has become more and easier as well as faster. Now we are able to call a person anywhere in the world from the place we are already present. Due to the new developments in these mobile phones we able to get internet access, update flash news, listen to music as well as hear radio news. Nowadays we don’t have to go to those rushy café hubs to browse anything important. All that we have to do is just go on browsing in our mobile phones. If we are bored we can listen to the music stored in the memory card which we use in the mobile phones. Just go on checking the mobile phones for the latest news happening in the world. Sometimes mobile phones even become the part of many evidences in many cases.

Even though mobile phones are having many advantages it’s having so many disadvantages. In this present hectic era we found rarely someone not using these mobile phones. For the present day growing youth to a certain extent mobile phones are a curse. Nowadays when we go through the news paper we could see many suicides of the female youths due to love failure. The main evidence of the case will be the mobile phones from which the investigators identify the reason by checking the call history. For example a few days before everyone would have read about the suicide of a girl named Reshmi and her lover. The next disadvantage is that the use of mobile phones increases the sex-rackets in our place. Usage of mobile phones leads the youth to many wrong paths. The best example for this is the Ambalapuzha case. The suicide of three plus two going students due to the abuse which they had to face. The next main thing is the fast growing off the gangsters and the quotation groups. Through sudden information now killings and robbery has become a fancy event just like dialing a call. All have read about the murder of Paul.M.George. The gangsters get then and there messages and information through these mobile phones. Through a certain extent we can say that this is through these mobile phones notorious activities are increasing day by day.

Mobile phones have both good as well as bad qualities. So try to find out the goods more than the bads. So according to me mobile phones are a boon as well as a curse. Try to make mobile phones a boon to the world.

Article By: Swarna. P. G, St.Albert's College

ASTROLOGY OR LIVELIHOOD

2009-11-09T19:49:00.001+05:30

ASTROLOGY OR LIVELIHOOD

The time for Indian freedom was settled in consultation with astrologers. This I think is the ugliest fact of our freedom struggle. If all there had to go the star’s way. Why had people had to struggle, sacrifice their lives, get locked up in jails. It is a shame that astrologers had been consulted for such matters making the people who struggled for India’s freedom mere fools.
People still give much importance to their beliefs. Of course what is their astrology? In dictionary it is given as a pseudoscience based on the notion that the sun, moon and the stars effect human affairs and that one can foretell the future with the aid of these. And an astrologer as the one who makes their studies. Is this true? I am afraid it is not hedgiest on to more details.
Astrology was known as early as 3000 years ago. Since then it has remained static except some unavoidable charges, that too when it could not complete with modern astrology, which is a scientific study of stars and planets.
Calculations in astrology were done on the basis that the earth was the centre of the hero- scope and that the sun and other planets revolved around the sun, until Copernicus exploded this way back in 1543 A.D. He proved that it was the planets that revolved around the sun, for the survival of astrology the astrologers just substituted the sun for earth and did all the calculations unchanged. But I don’t think that the astrologers home any reason to get frightened but there facts because those who believe in astrology do not care about their details. They just believe it.
It was the Greek who gave the stars their godly powers. They named the planets by their name of gods. This included only five planets which could be seen through our naked eyes. The rest were discovered after the invention of telescope. They started predicting ones future with the help of these stars relating it to the situation where it is situated when the person is born, from the Greeks it spread all over the world.
Till now, that is 3000 years after the birth of astrology astrologers have not come to a common solution of when the time of birth should be taken. Some say the time when the head of the baby is visible out of the mother’s womb is to be taken. Yet some others that the time when the baby touches the mother earth is to be taken scientifically speaking. If the time is to be accurately taken, the time when fertilization taken place should be taken.
After deciding the time of birth the astrologers look for the signs or houses. There are twelve signs after deciding the house of the baby the astrologer predicts about the future. The signs are named after the object, animal or human being they belong. If a person is born in the sign of Leo, they give all the qualities of a lion to the baby. If in Aries they give all the qualities of a ram etc that is why people call someone ill-starred. Readymade literature is available on this and the astrologer just her to repeat it.
There we come to aspects or seeing. Through the aspect, a powerful planet may weaken the opposite planet and a good planet like Jupiter may bestow good effects and a bad planet like Saturn may weaken this.
If this is to be true, the influence or rays emanating from one planet should reach the other for example, the rays starting from venue should travel to the sun at the centre covering a distance of 67 crore miles ran the sun diameter of 8, 65,000 miles and proceed with what is left, if there any, a distance of 87.2 crore miles to reach Saturn which would be glying at a rate of 21,000 miles per hour. And that, a ray like this to reach the baby, a thing dust particle compared to, the earth I don’t think is believable.
I know there are still many of you who totally disagree with me let me narrate some incidents.
Poet and a play writer. Kolazhi Gopalakrishnan Panicker was the astrologer in the horoscope column of Express daily from Trichur. He died on January third 1983 of heart attack. He had written the horoscope of all the signs for that day also. But in no column was it written that any would die, leave alone heart attack. That was the care of an astrologer.
Mr.Micheal Jacqueline conducted a very interesting experiment on this subject. He placed an advertisement in ICC Paris in 1979 offering a free personal horoscope if details are sent. He sent one and the same horoscope for all the applicants. Ninety four percent of the people replied that the horoscope correctly resembled their personal character. The great Indian Mathematician, Miss. Sakundala Devi, known for her speed in metrical calculation is now a busy astrologer. But we hear that most of her clients are not satisfied with the results. And 94 percent people whom Mr. Michael sent were extremely satisfied. You may wonder why the reason is one was free of cash and the other collected enormous amounts from people. If she too does not collect money the same horoscope might have tallied with their future.
The astrologer are in a habit of predicting many events if it doesn’t occur they forget it, and if it happen, they make a news out of it; for example, If I predict that there would be an Indo-pak war in 1991, well that looks good and if it occur like what happened to the rabbit which accidentally got under a jack fruit. If the news get spread worldwide and people move in front of my house to know their future. If it doesn’t nobody cares.
So astrologers can be defined as some dubious people, interested in making easy money by cheating people still why do many people even the educated lot gets into this trap? Why an alliance is snapped because horoscope doesn’t tally? It is because of the people’s anxiousness to be told about their unknown future.
It is time for us to revolt against such beliefs clear thinking; control over our mind is what we need. We should strive to make our circumstances our slave and never be the slave of our circumstances we must awaken them who are still unconscious about these facts.
Article By:M.T.Sathesh,St.Albert's College

Miracle Of Smile

2009-11-08T10:35:00.001+05:30

Miracle Of Smile

Every year on September 5th we pay tribute to all our teachers. Once when Mother Teresa could not go to a school to deliver her teacher’s day message, the authorities went up to her. Mother said, “What message should I give? If the message exceeds in length, the interpretation will not be effective. Hence I would like to be simple and practical. ‘S*M*I*L*E’ that’s my message to all teachers. For if they smile, the children will smile, when children smile, the whole world will smile”. I cannot remember till date any other anecdote as powerful as this. It speaks volumes of the miracle of smile.

What is the significance of smile? Take my word; there is no healer as happiness for diseases afflicting mind, body and soul. ‘smile’ reflects inner happiness. It is an effective tool to gauge your happiness quotient. There was a time when you immediately recruited on the basis of I.Q. (Intelligence Quotient). Today E.Q. (Emotional Quotient) has taken over. Tomorrow H.Q (Happiness Quotient) will be in demand. So the ability to put all your pressures and worries on the backburner and being cheerful has assumed paramount importance.

All parents today expect their wards to be masters of all trades. Children hence practice the uphill task of juggling all the activities with time. Even an error of the smallest dimension leads to their nervous breakdown. They should learn to take failures in their stride and move on. Marks and ranks can take you to places, but it is your character that’ll give you respect. ‘life is lived but once’, ‘life is like an ice cream, enjoy it before it melts’ – these are the adages that great men have gracefully accepted and put into practice. There is a vital fact that Lord Krishna effectively conveys through Gita even, and that is:
‘Wise men endowed with equanimity, renounces the fruits of action. An action without a desire for its fruit will bear fruit. Suppose a farmer sows seeds without selfish motives, will he get corn? Yes he will.’

Only by enjoying what you do will you be able to remain happy. Happiness acts as a stress buster. It exudes positive energy giving others courage and confidence. According to experts, Priyanka Gandhi enjoys greater mass appeal than Rahul Gandhi. Reason? Her charismatic approach to life. There have been many leaders from time to time who have topped popular charts with this approach. Bill Gabriel Okara in his widely appreciated poem, ‘Once upon a time’ describes the shifting and changing morals and values of people. He says, there was a time when people used to laugh heartily. Whenever they met one another, their joy knew no bounds. There eyes and hearts reflected sincere laughter. He goes on to say that frankness has gone out of their lives. Now they seem to laugh ‘with their teeth’. Their cold eyes tell a different story. Their may be times, when you run into people, who take you for granted. it is at these times that you should have the courage and sincerity to stand up to your conviction.

Life is all about making memories and hence let those memories be sweet and lovely so that when you look back the world must be smiling with confidence at you. It is not important how many times you fall down, what is important is how many times you pick yourself up and carry on.

Hey friends, pardon me if it was a long sermonizing talk. What you need to remember is so very simple SMILE. It can cure your sadness, madness, illness, loneliness and eeriness. I had a wonderful time writing about SMILE; hope you had a great time reading it too………………………………..!

By, Neethi Jayakrishnan,St.Teresa's College

Spider- The Master Spinner

2009-11-02T21:37:00.002+05:30

Spider- The Master Spinner

Spiders are found every-where, up in the Himalayas, below the sea level, in deserts, on tree tops and even in burrows. Approximately 32,000 species of spiders have been described, and this probably represents only a small portion of the actual number. Spiders by mistake are the most feared and maligned of nature’s small creatures- but at the same time the most fascinating also.
Only a dozen or so types of spiders are dangerous to man. On the other hand nearly most of them are involved in keeping the incalculable hordes of harmful insects in check.

Many consider spiders as insects, but they are not. Spiders are closely related to scorpions and ticks. Spider population is very large. Brest-owe calculated that an acre of undisturbed grassy meadow contained 2,265,000 spiders. Many features (adaptations) of spider make them interesting, animals-their feeding habits, their utilization of venom, the powerful vision, the modified hands (pedipalps) foe copulation in males and their amazing capacity to secrete silk and spin webs.

Spider’s spinning habit and hanging on to the web is attributed to Greek mythology. An artful weaver named Arachn impudently challenged goddess Athena to a contest. Later, shamed and mortified by her own conceit, Arachne hanged herself. The goddess in a moment of compassion, brought Arachne back to life, transformed her into a spider and made her nose into a web. In order to preserve the memory of this lesson, the goddess commanded Arachne and her descendents to hang on to the web. Thus these classical are subscribed Arachnids.

The size of spiders range from small pin heads (0.5mm ) to the size of dinner plates (12cms). The larger ones are mygalomorphs like tarantulas, bird spiders or monkey spiders. The convex head (carapace) bears eight eyes anteriorly. A pair of chelicerae, pedipalps and four pairs of legs are the usual appendages of a spider. Chelicerae is of moderate size with a fang at the end. Pedi alps are short and leg- like but in the male they are modified to form copulatory organs. The tip of pedipalp is knob-like and resembles a boxing glove; The legs are formed of eight joints. Abdomen is globe-shaped and usually unsegmented. On each side of the abdomen, openings called spiracles are present through with the spider breathe. At the end of the abdomen a modified structure called spinneret is found which spins the web. Each spinneret is a short conical structure bearing many openings from the silk glands. The glands themselves are largely located in the posterior half of the abdomen.

Spiders feed mainly on insects. The prey either is pounced upon by members of more active groups or is caught on the silken snare. Hunting forms include wolf spiders, fisher spiders, jumping spiders and tarantulas: Prey is detected by tactile and visual stimuli and in some families like wolf spiders and jumping spiders leap on the prey by sudden extension of legs, which result from sudden elevation of blood pressure. Hunting spiders lay down a dragline while ground spiders tie up their prey by running around them.

Spider web is made of silk which is a protein. It is emitted as a liquid and hardening result not from exposure to air but from actual drawing-out process itself. Silk plays an important role in the life of the spider. All families of spiders do not build webs. The silk s sometimes used as a dragline which acts as a safety line similar to that used by mountain climbers. Another function of silk is to protect eggs by forming cocoons.

The silk thread made by the spider is as thin as one-millionth of an inch. The threads are elastic and can stretch more than twenty percent and are stronger than steel wire of the same diameter.

Construction of an orb web by a spider is a remarkable feat. Web building is dependent upon many factors like silk supply, behavioral state of spider and appetite. Web building spiders are aerialists of the family Araneidae. They usually have slender legs. To move about in the web, the lines are hooked by a small middle claw which lies between the two large claws of the legs, the form of threads is determined by spinnerets- clusters of tiny nuzzled jets from which the spider draws the silk with its hindmost pair of legs. The mesh size of the web depends on the size of the spider and the potential prey size. The web is replaced periodically. The sticky nature of the web is lost in a week, the old silk is eaten and the protein is resecreted as new silk. Sometimes the web is replaced every night.

Curved claws and thick barred hairs at the tip of each leg permit orb-web spiders to race across silken lines. They avoid entanglement in their own snares by walking only on the dry radial strands and shunning the sticky spiral threads.

Web builder spiders are very sensitive to vibration: They can determine from thread vibrations the size and location of trapped prey. Investigations show that they respond to strange vibrations also. In a certain experiment, the web of the spider Argiope was touched by a vibrating tuning fork. Instantly the spider rushed across the strands and furiously assaulted the quivering metal. With her legs she pulled silken stream from her spinnerets and in seconds the prongs of the fork were bound tight. Spiders are unable to discern vibrations. The tuning fork or a thrashing insect, the response is the same.

Spiders have highly complex precopulatory or sexual behavior patterns. The partners identify each other by chemical and tactile cues. On encountering a dragline, a male spider can understand whether it is produced by his own relatives and that to from a matured female spider. A chemical substance called pheromone is responsible for this. Like-wise the female also responds to a variety of cues from males. The male plucks the strands of the webbing which can be detected by the female. Sometimes, as in the case of hunting spiders, the male directly pounces on the female and palpates her body with pedipalps to stimulate her.

The female lays her eggs in several batches. Silk is spun over the eggs to form a case called cocoon for protection. The spider ling’s hatch inside the eggs, by ballooning process they get dispersed too far off places.

Right on tomorrow, watch a spider on your window pane beginning to lay a foundation for her web. The very next day you can see, a geometrically perfect web has been made and the spider resting in the centre after the marathon effort. With ablow from your nose, you can destroy it, but again the following day morning you can see a more compact web the spider has made. This spider does not lose battle or lose heart as it does not have one. But then imagine how much destruction you have done with a blow from your nose to this Nature’s art of perfection. If this task of web spinning is given to you, you will mess up and get enmeshed in thread knots as man is yet to attain that standard of perfection as that of a spider.

Article By:P.R.Venkitaraman, St.Albert's College

"If I Win A Lottery"

2009-10-31T22:19:00.003+05:30

"If I Win A Lottery"

Its quite interesting to think that I win a lottery of above 50 lakhs.As long as desires rules man,his want of money will never end.I enjoy winning lottery since my desires and dreams are the inspirations of my tomorrow.Also i'm sure that there is no confusion to spent the money as blooming generations have endless wants.
Of cource,as everyone does,I will ask my parents for better suggestions to spent the amount.First of all,I will share my joy with all the beloved ones who aer a real source of my life.I am very well sure that I will have to give them a big and delicious treat as a part of my delightment.All the pleasures that I have today are the blessing of my god.So I will never forget to thank my entrusted lord and will surely give a good donation for modification of the shrine.

Article By: Darshana A,U C College.

My St. Albert's College

2009-10-30T21:46:00.001+05:30

My St. Albert's College

“Is Chazhi (corn gnat) wealth?” Prof. T.J.Job asked.

Only a few days had passed after the reopening of the college. I was then doing my Ist Year B.A. Economics.
Students one after another stood up without answering the question. It was soon my turn. I make myself bold to answer. I said “yes sir, “Chazhi is wealth”.
Prof. Job was not taken by surprise. “Explain!” he exhorted.

“It is indirect wealth. Chazhi will destroy crops. Supply of agricultural produce will be reduced as a result. The demand for rice or wheat will increase. The producer will be able to fix higher rates and make more profit. He will save considerably from transportation expenses also”, said I.

Quick came Prof.Job’s rejoinder: “You are a capitalist”.

Yes, it was exactly what the capitalists in the U.S. and other places perpetrate. They destroy wheat and potato to control the market and to make more profit.

The students who had attended his class could never forget Prof.T.J.Job. He was so sincere and loving. Every student attended his class in rapt silence.

He had also encouraged students to partake in debates.
Fr.Xavier Kaniampuram was our Principal. He was affable and considerate. But he never allowed the students break discipline. He used to take classes on ‘public finance’.His classes were excellent. He gave his lectures with gestures and gesticulations. He was tall, stout with a big belly. When he referred to “the World around us” we had no choice but to focus on the “World” in front of us!

We had Prof.K.J.Augustine as our lecturer in English. He was indeed a scholarly person. Once he was teaching an essay entitled “Silver Paper”, written by E.V.Lucas. He always referred to other prominent literary men and great authorities during his lecture. What is there to be written about a silver paper used for wrapping cigarettes in boxes? But it was an interesting essay. What is important is the craftsmanship which makes any subject interesting reading. He quoted A.G.Gardiner and said, “Any peg will do to hang the hat on”.

Prof.K.J.Augustine though a lecturer was in fact a teacher in its true sense. According to him, “Professors profess, lecturers lecture and teachers teach.”

A.D.Hari Sharma, the research scholar and author of several literary works, was also a lecturer in Malayalam at St.Albert’s College. He taught us Malayalam poetry. He remarked during the course of his lecture that critics very often attributed strange meanings to the works of men of literature. He was reciting “Kakka” (crow) a famous poem written by the great poet Sri. Vyloppilly Sreedhara Menon. It was a time when symbolism in literature was being discussed widely. Some critics had said that the poem “Kakka” was a unique example of symbolism. The pet was applauded too by many. But Sri. A.D. Hari Sharma took exception. The attribution of ‘symbolism’ to the poem ‘Kakka’ was far from the truth. The poet was inspired by the crow which was seen scavenging from the surroundings of his house. The critics, however, said, the poet had depicted ‘Kakka’ as a symbol of a philanthropist who helps to remove spites and hatred from the society.

Sri. A.D. Hari Sharma asked Sri. Vyloppilly, the poet directly as to whether he had written the poem depicting ‘Kaakka’ as a symbol of Philanthropy. The naïve poet unhesitatingly said that he never had intended so!

Another important person that comes to my mind now is Fr.Konnully. The tall and swarthy Vice Principal. Being a Mathematician he never had occasions to address the Royal Group, students of History and Economics.

During our time there was closed retreat given for Catholic students for a few days in a year. The participants had to observe silence and pray and meditate only on spiritual matters.
There was roll call every day. One day some students had stealthily scrambled and jumped over the compound wall. I and one of my friends decided to skulk. After the roll call was over, we managed to go out. Straight we went to the house of writer Sri. Ponjikkara Raphy and collected some books. We came back and joined the prayers as if nothing had happened. But later on we came to know that there was fresh roll call! Majority of the students had gone out on that day surreptitiously. Fr. Konnully who was in charge of the retreat got the names of those who had jumped out.

Retreat was over. Regular classes resumed. One day Prof.Kithu, our lecturer, read out a chit asking me to meet Fr.Konnully. I was terribly afraid. I did not understand why I was asked to meet him. When the class was over, I went to Vice Principal’s room. Fr. Konnully was waiting for me. With grave seriousness he asked, “Now, Mathew, I have report that you went out without obtaining permission while the retreat was going on. Is it true?” I smelt the rat. Something was going to happen to me!

I mustered courage. Politely I said; “yes father. I had gone out one day to bring some books to read. But no permission was sought. I realized my fault. During confession I had said about it and received my penance.

The reply was unexpected. His helplessness had allowed me to go to the class. He, however, did not forget to warm me about the consequences if I had repeated the same.

Fr. Konnully was always seen to be immersed in studies. He was a world renowned Mathematician and the Inventor of”Konnully Theorems”. There were also several books to his credit on that subject.

Fr.Pandethumparambil was another prominent lecturer of our time. He taught logic. Handsome but emaciated. It was very difficult to follow his classes. His voice was thick and resounding! He was a kindly priest of great affection. I am still reminded of his lectures of inductive and deductive logic and classes on syllogisms. It was all about vertical thinking.

Sri. M.M.Mani was our Professor of Oriental languages. He was clad in Khadi Mundu, Juba and Shawl. Pure White! Dark he was with normal height. He had Post Graduate Degrees in Sanskrit and Malayalam. Spoke always printed Malayalam. Students loved him for his gentlemanliness.
I cannot forget two of our lecturers in English, Prof.E.V.Paul and Pro.Thomas Pulikkan: Prof.Paul was noticed always for his immaculate dressing. He never used complex or compound sentences either in his lecturers or in his notes. His language was simple and sweet. Whether it is prose or poetry, he dealt with the subject exquisitely. He had the habit of repeating lectures several times.
Prof. Paul was tall, a little more than 4 feet in height! He had a Mongolian look, with a skin to match.The fact that he was short of stature was a matter of joke for his colleagues. Prof. Thomas pulikkan like the king pin wove several stories.

One such story goes like this. Prof. Pulikkan was walking one day along the Banerji Road, Ernakulum. He saw a car coming very fast from the opposite direction. No driver. It was a horrendous scene. The car was fast approaching. Scared of being run over, he jumped off. But the car came close. He could see Prof. Paul at the wheel!

We had a wall magazine brought out every month. Students were the contributors. One cartoon that appeared in the magazine created commotion. “Prof.E.V.Paul standing upon a chair attempting to hug a woman”, was the theme; Prof.Paul also shared the fun with others. Being broadminded, he had a sense of humor.

Prof.Pulikkan, the comely figure with an Aryan nose was very popular in the college. He was amiable to both students and his colleagues alike. Being a drop out from the seminary, he retained some of the characteristics of a seminarian. He was reputed for austerity in life. Smattering knowledge of Latin which he acquired from the seminary helped him, it seemed, enrich his command of the English language. As a lecturer, therefore, he was a success. His narration of David Copper Field is still green in my memory.

Yet another stalwart to be remembered is Prof. P.T.Thomas. He was the head of mathematics Department well-versed in humanities.His baldness was unique. His head was shaped like a small brownish pumpkin sans corrugation. Not a single hair could be seen on his head! His eye-lid also did not bear any semblance of a hair. He did not require the help of a razor, a no hair dared to grow on his chin.

He was well dressed wearing always a refulgent smile on his face. An at all important function in the college and outside, his presense was felt conspicuous. Most of his time was spent for the spiritual uplift of the people. He was one of the collaborators who brought out the Malayalam translation of The Bible published by the Pastoral Orientation Centre. In recognition of his service to the Church, the Pope conferred on him the honour of Chevalier. Indeed, he was a many splendored personality.

We had a couple of Mathais as our Professors. One was Prof. A.P.Mathai, the Head of the English Department and the other Sri. P.M.Mathai. Prof. A.P.Mathai had deep knowledge in phonetics. Hence during his class special emphasis was given to pronunciation of words. His Shakespeare classes were absorbing.

Prof. P.M.Mathai taught us Modern History. He appeared with utter seriousness in the class. Combed his hair in good style and kept his thick dark moustache well trimmed. Handsome he was, he always dressed in well tailored suits.

Mr.Joseph Kithu, our lecturer in Agriculture economics was a character akin to the man- in-black of Goldsmith. He was intelligent and well-versed in the subjects that he dealt with. He could not speak but in chaste English. The students admired, loved and respected him.

Like Prof. Tharakan, prof.M.Achuthan is also a renowned writer in Malayalam. He had taught us for a short period only. He is the author of several solid works. Soon he was appointed Prof. in Malayalam at maharaja’s College, Ernakulum. But the traces of his sojourn cannot easily be erased.

Prof. Dayanandan was also a Lecturer in Malayalam. He was placid in nature. Very handsome. He too migrated to the Maharaja’s College.

All the three commanded much respect.

Prof. Stanislaus successfully bridged the gap created by Prof.K.M.Tharakan. His recital of “Elegy written in a country churchyard” still rings in my mind.

St.Albert’s College Library was one of the fine libraries ever attached to a college. It was well maintained. The Librarian Mr. Vincent was always seen absorbed in reading. There were few books whose contents were not known to him. He was strict but considerate. Always there was a serene atmosphere in the Library.Books of eminent authors, both Indian and Foreign were available.Before closing I feel impelled to mention about my alma mater.

St.Albert’s College belongs to Archdiocese of Verapoly. It was founded by the saintly prelate late Dr.Joseph Attipetty, the Archbishop. It is a living example of His Grace’s altruism and foresight. Tens and scores of students who hailed from poor circumstances would not have seen the portals of a college but for His Grace’s benign efforts. Archbishop graciously helped by providing them with funds for fees and books. Rt.Rev.Dr.Cornelious Elanjikkal, Vicar General, as he then was, had rendered efficacious service as His Grace’s right hand, during that time. Later Dr.Cornelious Elanjikkal also became Archbishop of Verapoly. His grace followed the footprints of Archbishop Dr. Joseph Attipetty.

Archbishop Dr.Joseph Kelanthara succeeded Archbishop Dr. Joseph Attipetty. A former lecturer in English of the college, His Grace had also rendered yeoman service for the progress of the college. Auxiliary Bishop late Dr.Antony Thannikkot had also extended able assistance to the cause of education. A very promising Bishop. But the Bishop was called to Heaven in the prime of life.

It is indeed providential that an alumnus became the absolute authority of the college. The unique privilege was bestowed upon Dr.Daniel Acharuparambil, the archbishop. His Grace graduated from this college in 1969. Archbishop Dr.Daniel Acharaparambil possesses vast experiences as an educationist. Urban University of Rome is one of the ancient and very prominent Universities under the Church. Dr. Daniel Acharaparambil was a professor continuously for more than 24 years in that University. The archbishop also had the rarest of rare privileges to become the rector Magnificus (Vice Chancellor) of the University for two terms during this period. The only person from the whole of Asia to hold the covetable post. It is, therefore, legitimate and natural to hold that His Grace will be a perennial source of encouragement and support for the College and all other educational institutions of the Archdiocese.

I become nostalgic. St.Albert’s College in my mind, heart and soul. I am proud of all Albertan’s-students, teachers and non-teachers. My sincere salutation to my beloved alma mater!

Article By: M.M.Mathew,St.Albert's College

MY INTERVIEW AT ST. ALBERT’S

2009-10-29T19:22:00.000+05:30

MY INTERVIEW AT ST. ALBERT’S
Taking a little time off ( of course, unofficially! ) from my then employer, M/S Blow Plast Ltd., I had gone to St. Albert’s to attend the interview for the post of lecturer some-time in 1984. I was rather disenchanted with by ‘Sales Officer’s Job with the Blow Plast as the basic qualities of a sales officer were never in my blood. Hence I was badly in need of the job of the lecturer for which I had received the interview card. But my little dreams of becoming a lecturer were shattered when I was told by some of the candidates who had come for the interview that the lucky soul for the post had already been decided by the Management of the College. To add to my shock, some others stated that in any case the College authorities were looking for a hand with ‘econometrics as optional subject (which was never my optional subject)
I had decided to take the interview in the most casual manner since I felt that it was just a ‘formality’. I had a heated argument with the ‘Subject Expert’ as he never seemed to agree with whatever I stated. I had come out of the interview room quite dejected and disturbed. Probably, what hurt me most was the strong disagreement of the Subject Expert with my analysis of the issues debated in the interview.
But to my pleasant surprise, I was told subsequently by the candidate who stood ‘second’ in the interview that I was placed first in the final list of selection, thus defeating all my conclusions that the Management would select only candidates of its choice based on ‘certain’ considerations. In fact, my experience showed that selection was on absolute merits and the same is vindicated by other faculty members of the college. Later I was told that the ‘Subject Expert’ was only measuring the depth of my understanding of the subject.
I maintain very fond memories of my short stint with St.Albert’s College and it is also with pride that I refer to others of the warmth and cordiality among the faculty and the student community of the College. I have immense pride to be a member of the ‘Albertian Family’.
BY:VINCEN M. PAUL, I.P.S.

THE BRILLIANT EDUCATIONAL CAREER OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF VERAPOLY

2009-10-28T21:25:00.002+05:30

THE BRILLIANT EDUCATIONAL CAREER OF THE ARCHDIOCESE OF VERAPOLY
In April 1995 a team of 25 Malaya lee literary men visited Germany to join their counterparts there for celebrating the first Birth Centenary of Dr. Herman Gundert. The team included such luminaries as Dr. K.M. George, S. Guptan Nair, O.N.V.Kurup, P.Govinda Pillai, Chemmanam Chacko, D.C. Kizhakemuri, Scariah Zachariah and others. One of the many centres’ of learning visited by the team during the 7 days programme in the state of Stuttgart in Germany was the University City of Tubingen. The organizers had put up an interesting exhibition of old and valuable manuscripts mainly collected by Dr. Hermann Gundert. One of the exhibits was a rather voluminous Malayalam Lexicon (Acaridae) prepared by a ‘Jesuit’ missionary residing in Verapoly. Such was the notice paste on the important exhibit. Dr. John Ochanthuruth and the present writer both members of the team happened to see the notice. They realized the mistake and at once called the attention of the organizers and got the notice corrected then and there. The Jesuit missionaries never stayed in Verapoly. In fact it was a Carmelite Missionary who composed this valuable Lexicon.
This incident demonstrated how the valuable contributions of the Carmelite Missionaries of Verapoly go unnoticed or worse, arrogated by some others because of default or by a false sense of humility. Neither the Missionaries themselves or their successors did anything bring their valuable contributions and achievements of the Carmelite missionaries of Verapoly lay spread over various fields such as literary, scientific, ecclesiastical, Governmental, educational etc., in this article we confine ourselves only to the educational contributions of the Archdiocese of Verapoly, with special reference to the period of the Carmelite Missionaries.
Just as in the case of literary activities, the Carmelite Missionaries of Verapoly were pioneers in the field of education also according to the need, style and spirit of the time. It is true that they did not adopt the same style and method, which the later Protestant Missionaries adopted in their time. Their urgent and active attention was bestowed on the religious education of the people which was the primary motive of their coming down to India.
The Carmelite Missionaries first arrived in Kerala in 1655. Their leaded was Fra.Joseph Sebastian of immortal memory. He travelled to India courting many ordeals. The Pope had given him the charge of reconciling the St. Thomas Christians of Malabar with Rome. They had severed all connections with the Portuguese on account of what is known in history as the “Koon and Cross Oath” in 1653. When the Carmelite Missionaries settled down in Malabar, they built their first church at Chathith, a hamlet couple of miles to the north of the present city of Ernakulum, in 1673, thanks to the diplomacy of one of the Carmelite fathers, Fr. Mathews O.C.D. In the same year Fr. Mathews himself built their second church at Verapuzha a picturesque island along the bank of the river Periyar. The beautiful church over looked a panoramic view of the conjunction of Periyar by its own branch at Eloor. Though the Carmelite Fathers started residing in Verpuzha from 1673, it was made the seat of the Vicar Apostolic of Malabar only in 1700 when Fr. Angelo Francis was made the Vicar Apostolic (Bishop) of the Vicariate of Malabar. It is this Angelo Francis who wrote the very first Malayalam Grammar by name “Gramatica Lingua Vulgar is Malabarica” (Purushothaman Nair, The Christian Heritage of Kerala. P.135). Two years after the errection of the church at the Verapuzha i.e. in 1675, the Carmelite Missionaries residing at Verapuzha opened a Seminary there, attached to their house for the training of native priests. If you had well educated clergy, then you will have a well informed laity. A Seminary was the crying need of the time. “This Seminary later became one of the best in Asia. One hundred years later in 1764 this Seminary was rebuilt with permission of the propaganda Congregation of Rome instilling new life it”, says Cardinal Tisserant. To the Seminary was added a Catechuminate in the same year (this building still remains as also the Seminary building in Verapoly) in order to educate the new converts not only in religion but also in matters useful for life, such as the three R’s. In those days the converts were in large numbers. Hundreds of such neophytes lived in this famous Catechuminates existed not only in Verapoly, but also in Kottayam and Kalamasery.
Though the Portuguese established several great centre’s of higher learning such as St. Paul’s College Cochin, the Vaipicotta Seminary Cranganoor etc...The Carmete Missionaries who followed them could not pay much attention to secular education because they had to pay special and undivided attention to the preservation of the ancient faith of the people against many threats of heresy and schism. They also had to attend to the effective formation of priests. Moreover they had to grapple with the continual problems of the external threats of heresy and schism arising out of the intervention of Oriental Prelates visiting Malabar and frequent dissention within the community.
With the establishment of the British power in Malabar with the conquest of Cochin on 20th October 1795, the Carmelite Missionaries in Verapoly were free of the skeptical Dutch yoke, but had to contend with a new challenge-the spread of Protestantism. Protestantism made its advances on a three pronged front namely large scale conversion of the low caste people into Protestantism, modern English Education which attracted thousands to Protestantism and the vigorous dissemination of Protestant literature, which was made available in plenty. We confine ourselves to the subject of modern English Education which changed the face of India on a large scale.
One of the most efficient vehicles through which Protestant Missionaries, with the strong backing of the EAST India Company and later that of the British Crown spread Protestantism, was Modern English Education. The British wanted to rule India as a country in Britain. The best method for achieving this end was evidently to make English, the language of administration. This they did by introducing their system of Government, administration, Judiciary and even their system of parliament though to a lesser degree. All transactions took place in English. Literature and Journalism also developed in the English language. Naturally any one wishes to learn English. Thus were opened several English schools all over India from the elementary to the University levels. This, of course, was very attractive and empowering.
“The first English language school was opened in Travancore in 1805 by a German Protestant Missionary Rev. W.T. Ringletauble. The famous British Missionary Organization, the Church Mission Society established itself at Kottayam and started English education there in 1816 in what is no known as the Old Seminary. In 1838 the C.M.S. College was established”. This has been quoted by Prof. L.M. Pylee in his book “St. Thomas Christians and the Archdiocese of Verapoly.” P.213. Conversion into Protestantism was to rampant that under the influence of the Protestant Missionary Centre, Kottayam, there were some 36000 Protestant Christians in and around Kottayam alone in 1900.
The first English School- Christian David School-was started in Trivandrum in 1821. The first Government English School in Trivandrum was established by the Protestant Missionary Mr. John Roberts in 1831 at the insistence of Travancore Maharaja Sri. Swathe Thirunal. This school later developed into Raja School and still later into the Maharaja’s College, Trivandrum. All these and similar efforts in Travancore under various Protestant Missionary organizations were instrumental in spreading English education far and wide through which vigorous Protestant prosylitisation made great headway. Tracks, books and leaflets published in English by the Protestant Missionaries also contributed greatly towards conversion into Protestantism. Naturally this posed a great missionary challenge to the Verapoly Vicariate. The Carmelite Missionaries in Verapoly realized the great importance of having a network of schools both in English and in the Vernacular as a means of religious instruction and also for safe-guarding the faithful from the Protestant errors.
As a result of these developments a few elementary schools were started in various parts of the Vicariate. The earliest one was started in Vypeen Murukumpadam in 1836. Another school was opened in Thykoodam, near Thripoonithura in 1840. The third and fourth were opened in the Perumanoor parish in 1868 under the names K.P.School and St. George School respectively.
Archbishop Bernadine Beccinelli who ruled the Vicariate from 1853 to 1868 was one of the most illustrious Vicars Apostolic of Verapoly, was responsible for some of the most important historic development of religious congregations for men and women. Though couple of schools was opened before he became the Vicar Apostolic, he formally inaugurated a new age of formal education in the Vicariate. He published a formal Pastoral letter making it compulsory on every Parish Priest to open one or more elementary schools in each parish which were open to all children irrespective if caste or creed. This was, indeed, a revolutionary measure with regard to education in general and universal literacy in particular. At that time literacy was allowed only to the Hindu high caste. The children of the low caste got the first chance to learn the alphabets in these elementary schools which were commonly called in those days “Pallikoodams”, which means attached to the Churches. For supporting the schools, apart from permitting the Parish Priests to allot a portion of the parish income, he encouraged them to raise money by such means as “Pidiyari” and “Kettuthengu”. (“pidiyari” is a handful of rice taken from the rice which every family was about to cook each time and stored in an earthen ware, which will be delivered to the church at particular intervals and auctioned. “Kettuthengu” is the practice of allowing the parish the use frucks of a certain number of coconut trees, whose yield church will take). The system of “Pidiyari” was primarily stare for the construction and up-keep of the Seminaries and Monasteries, it also helped the parishes and “Pallikoodams” to a great extent, particularly for remunerating the teachers who were in the beginning mostly Non Christians. “Pidiyari” system got further formalized in the reign of Archbishop Leonard Mellano in October 1868 that is shortly after he took over charge of the Vicariate (L.M.Pylee Op.Cit.P.323).
No doubt, girls’ education is an important catalyst in social change and amelioration. We owe a great debt of gratitude to Archbishop Bernardine for the beginnings of girl’s education in Malabar. The Theresian Carmelite sisters (CMC and CTC) who were started by his initiative at Koonamavu in 1866 became in due course of time the premier institution in Malabar for girl’s education. It is, indeed, a heroic success story which, for lack of space, is not described here.
Archbishop Bernardine laid but the foundation of modern education in the Vicariate, which at the time comprised almost the whole of Malabar. It was his illustrious successor Archbishop Leonard Mellano who ruled the Archdiocese for almost thirty years from 1868 to 1897, first as the Vicar Apostolic and later as the first Archbishop of the first Archdiocese of Malabar, who laid the foundation of modern education in the Archdiocese. “For this purpose, he issued his famous Pastoral Letter dated 7th November 1872, calling upon all parishes to open schools and gave detailed directions for conducting them in the manner of real Catholic schools. He even ordered the opening of Sanskrit Schools for the purpose of imparting instruction in the Sanskrit Language.”
He bestowed his special attention on giving hi flock education in English thereby ensuring them of a chance to enter the ruling class. As already pointed out the British had opened English schools throughout the region either as Government run schools or as Protestant managed ones. Since there were no English schools under Catholic management in Malabar, the Catholic girls and boys were not able to acquire English education without running the risk of losing their faith and morals. So strong was the attempt on the part of the Protestants for Prosylitisation.
Seeing the need of the hour the Archbishop at first introduced the study of the English language in the curriculum of studies in the Puthenpally Seminary. In 1880 with great expectation, he opened the first English school in Fort Cochin by name St. Joseph’s College which was taken over by the Cochin Diocese in 1886 when it was bifurcated from the Archdiocese of Verapoly. Since then it has become the present Santa Cruz High School of Fort Cochin. “The object of the institution is to afford the Catholic youth of the Vicariate a good and sound education and a facility for prosecuting their higher education in English and Mathematics. Youths of other perusions are also admitted. In 1886 there were 187 students on the rolls a sizable strength for those days” (L.M. Pylee Op.Cit.P.325).
Likewise another school was opened at Fort Cochin around the same time by the Vicariate for the education of the girls, which received Government recognition and grant in aid. Similarly the Carmelite Missionaries working in Alleppy realizing the increasing influence of the Protestants their started a school there for the education of girls in 1879. This was entrusted to Miss Grace D’Lima, an English teacher brought from Madras especially for the purpose. Strange are the ways of God! Miss Grace became a Carmelite run taking the name of sister Theresa of St. Rose D’Lima. When the Cochin Diocese was resuscitated in 1886 Sr. Therese, however shifted her abode to Ernakulum in 1887, and thanks to the indomitable efforts of a veritable Carmelite Missionary Fr. Candid us, she opened a school for girls in Ernakulum. This institution steadily grew and became what is today known as the St.Theresa’s Educational Complex (This was the first women’s college in the Cochin State, started already in 1925 as a second grade college under the Madras University. This indeed was the premier educational institution in the erstwhile Cochin State, having won several recognitions from the Maharaja of Cochin).
St. Philomena’s High School, Koonammavu (residential) started in 1891 and St. Albert’s High School Ernakulum started in 1892 (initially with 30 boys on the rolls) were two others citadels of learning which owe their existence to Archbishop Leonard Mellano. St. Joseph’s Convent High School, Verapoly, St. Philomena’s Anglo-Vernacular School, Koonammavu, St. Joseph’s Convent Girl’s School, Kottayam are some of the other educational institutions which had their origin during the time of Archbishop Leonard Mellano. All these institutions are premier one in the state now.
Thus when the Vicariate was raised to the status of an Archdiocese in 1886, there were five Government recognized English schools in the Archdiocese which were attended by about 600 students of all denominations. In addition to this, there were 600 vernacular schools in the Archdiocese with a total strength of 6275 students, both boys and girls of all denominations. One can easily imagine the great social change brought about by these educational institutions in the region and the enormous contribution made towards the progress of all classes of people here.
Archbishop Leonard Mellano convoked and conducted the third Diocesan Synod of the Archdiocese of Verapoly on December 15 and 16, 1896. The decisions and constitutions of the Synod are contained in 27 titles or chapters. The 24th title or chapter deals with the schools. The Synod sets out the following principles and directions:
1.It is of utmost importance and usefulness that various kinds of schools such a Parish schools, or other types of schools including higher schools are to be established not only for the religious good but also for promoting civil good.
2. In such schools both boys and girls should be taught not only to read and write but also to lead truly human lives and to do their respective jobs.
3. Truly capable teachers should be selected; boys and girls should be taught separately.
4. The Vicar should do all in their power to establish at least one such schools in each parish an they should follow the same curriculum which is followed in the Government schools. In the main parishes the Vicar should raise such schools at least to the so called primary level.
5. The Vicars or their Assistants should visit such schools at least once in a week and where there are several schools they should visit at least every month. The students should be taught apart from the usual subjects the small catechism in primary schools and in the higher schools also the Bible History.
6.Whereever there are difficulties in supporting the schools, the faithful should be instructed to come up with assistance, and if this did not sufficient the Vicars are allowed, may ordered to use the funds of the parish or of the confraternity for this purpose. At least one parish school should be maintained solely from the resources of the Parish.
7. We should be informed of the state of such schools and their progress at least once a year.
8. In bigger cities Catholic students should be given more liberal education.
9. Catholic students should not be sent to Non Catholic schools unless under grave necessity and with our permission.
From what has been set forth above, it is clear that Archbishop Leonard Mellano did not leave any stone unturned for promoting the educational progress of this people in the Archdiocese.
Archbishop Bernard Argonzonis, who ruled the Archdiocese from 1897 to 1919, had a different educational policy from that of his predecessor. Though he encouraged elementary education he did little to provide English education. On the contrary the only English High School in the Archdiocese namely St. Philomena’s English High Schools, Koonammavu, was compelled to close itself down because of paucity of students and lack of support from the Archbishop (By that time the Syrians were separated from the jurisdiction of the Archdiocese of Verapoly. All the school, except St. Philomena’s, naturally had gone over to the newly created Syros-Malabar Vicariates). At the same time, he strictly forbade his flock from frequenting Non Catholic schools on pain of excommunication. However, he raised the St. Albert’s Middle School to a High School, in order to absorb the thrown out staff of the St. Philomena’s School, Koonammavu on its closing down. This, of course, seriously affected the prospect of the Latin Catholics getting higher education which consequently blocked their entry to the area of better employment and more political influence.
There I not much to be said about the higher education efforts of Archbishop Angel Mary (1919-1934) except that he encouraged a number of the clergy and the laity to go for higher education both here in Kerala and elsewhere. Archbishop Angel Mary sent a couple of Seminaries for higher studies at Rome. This bore rich fruits for the Archdiocese as seen in the case of his successor Archbishop Joseph Attipetty. It was again Archbishop Angel Mary who exonerated several lay people from excommunication which they had incurred during his predecessors time, for having attended Non Catholic schools without permission.
When Archbishop Joseph Attipetty succeeded Dr. Angel Mary in 1934 the following was the picture of the Educational Institutions in the Archdiocese:
No. of schools Attendance
Primary Schools 86 785
Upper Primary Schools 17 1797
High School 5 3106
University College 1 95
When Archbishop Joseph Attipetty died in 1970, the picture was as follows:
Primary Schools 80 27099
Upper Primary Schools 43 20388
High School 24 13233
Colleges 4 3640
Technical Schools 55 526
Training College 4 106
Special School 1 _
The above statistics are self explanatory. During the 37 years of shepherding his flock, Archbishop Attipetty gave top priority to provide all the possible facilities for the higher education of his people. By his own efforts he started two first grade colleges up to the post graduate level, apart from opening new high schools in different parts of the Archdiocese in order to cater to the needs of his people, as is seen clearly from the statistics given above. One of the harsh realities which dawned on Archbishop Joseph Attipetty, when he took office in 1934, was the fact that owing to various reasons, the members of his congregation in general stood far behind in modern education in comparison with their fellow Christians in other communities such as the Orthodox, the Syros-Malabar and the Protestant groups. He, therefore, brought all his energy on the project of establishing a university College in Ernakulum. There were insurmountable obstacles in the way, not only by way of financial difficulties, but also lack of eligible staff and management. Making capital out of this situation, adversaries brought all kinds of hurdles in the way of achieving the goal. He worked almost single handed on the project. He went abroad to USA and other foreign countries literally with a begging bowl. Thus in 1946, the St. Albert’s College was inaugurated in Ernakulum as an affiliate of the Madras University. This College has magnificent record in the educational history of Kerala. With several of its ex-alumni as Government Ministers, Bishops, Judges of High Court and even Supreme Court. All the hardships attendant on the establishment of the St. Albert’s College did not deter Archbishop Attipetty from achieving his yet another pet project- that of establishing the St. Paul’s College in Kalamasery. In 1964, when the Holy Father Pope Paul VI, came to Bombay to attend the Eucharistic Congress held there, Archbishop Attipetty carried the foundation Stone of St. Paul’s Kalamasery all the way to Bombay to get it and the St. Paul’s College, Kalamasery was inaugurated in 1965, the second First Grade College in the Archdiocese of Verapoly. This indeed is a magnificent achievement, two First Grade Colleges in one man’s life time. Both the colleges have at present courses up to the post graduate level and even a few professional courses.
Archbishop Attipety was never tired of encouraged the two indigenous Carmelite Congregations of Sisters to establish and run educational institutions of the highest standards. Both the congregations have under their management the most illustrious centre’s of learning. The congregations of the Teresian Carmelites (C.T.C) have a first grade college in Alva, (St.Xavier’s College) apart from several High schools for girls. The Carmelite sisters of St. Teresa, as already mentioned in the course of this article, established their St. Teresa’s College in Ernakulum already in 1925. This premier institution has blossomed into the St. Teresa’s Education complex of today.
Archbishop Attipetty also opened several Technical Training Centers and schools in order to provide job-oriented courses to his people. They are a veritable boon even to this day. The Little Flower Engineering Institute is the most illustrious among them.
It is not the intention of this article to describe the extra ordinary gifts and talents. Archbishop Attipetty had exhibited in providing higher education to his people, much less all other achievements of this in the various other fields he harvested during his long tenure of office.
The Carmelite Missionaries had laid but the small beginnings of the most needed infrastructure for the all round education of the people of the Archdiocese. On this infrastructure Archbishop Attipetty built up the beautiful edifice of modern education to the admiration and even the envy of others. It has been the endeavor of his successors to further build upon the well-laid foundation.
ArticleBy:Fr.GEORGE VELIPARAMBIL

MARRIAGE AT FIFTEEN!! CHILD MARRIAGE

2009-10-27T10:44:00.002+05:30

MARRIAGE AT FIFTEEN!! CHILD MARRIAGE

In India the decision of the Supreme Court is final and binding. So when the suggestion of lowering the marriageable age of girls from eighteen to fifteen was seriously considered there was a big hullabaloo around. From politicians and social activists to the layman. Everyone wanted to express words of support or criticism to this topic. All the people are united on the fact that an individual is considered an adult only after attaining eighteen years of age. So bringing down the age of marriage by three years will be like forcing immature girls to behave like adults at very tender age. It is disheartening and shocking to know that such a topic was taken into consideration in this twenty first century, when women are so much aware of there potentialities and will not want to be curbed.
Are we leading the womenfolk of our nation back to the dark ages of child marriage? A fifteen year old girl would only be a 10th standard student probably studying and aiming for the stars. Wouldn’t marriage cut the stem of the bud that can’t wait to bloom? A fifteen year old person irrespective of the sex of the individual is hardly aware of responsibilities and is definitely not in position to shoulder critical issues regarding life. It is the when they are budding and should be allowed to spread their wings, to explore the things around them, to realize the consequences of their actions, to decide about their future and most importantly have the chance and ability to dream- TO DREAM BIG.
Nowadays, in the world of globalization we see women emerging as leaders and inspiring role models in various fields. No longer is the world dominated by the commands of men. Women have shown their potential and have proved to the world that they are as precious as diamonds and that their worth cannot be ignored. In India itself women like Sonia Gandhi, Sania Mirza, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Teesta Setalvad, Preity Zinta and the like have even proved their mettle and have made men envious. If a powerful youth icon like Sania Mirza who is just eighteen years have been married off at fifteen years of age, would she ever have reached the position of fame and power that she is in today? Would she ever have had total control over her decisions? The answer to these questions is definitely in the negative. In India married women are considered subordinate to their husbands, they do not usually have an equal say in decision making. When mature women of twenty four- twenty five years are in such a situation, then what will be the plight of a fifteen year old married girl? How will she ever be encouraged to speak up for herself?
We are a nation that openly condemns our traditional customs of sati and child marriage. So is this latest suggestion any sort of such a crime? It definitely stands on the same pedestal of injustice by denying the social and human rights of the girl child. The system dowry will increase tenfold if this is brought into force. The girls can leave behind their dreams of independence and freedom in the gutter because it might take ages for their hopes and aspirations to see day light. Evils like rape and polygamy will prosper. If the court decides the minimum age of marriage for girls it has to put a tab on the maximum age for men to marry. Or it will be a miserable sight to see poor uneducated girls getting betrothed to men twice their age. Has any one wondered what harm this might to do to the emotional side of such girls? Education and literacy will have to take a backseat because poor parents will not bother to educate their girls and will be eager to utilize the money to marry them off.
We point our finger against prostitution and trafficking of minor girls. By lowering the marriageable age we will be openly throwing our girls into the mouth of the dragon to be engulfed in its flames. Is it possible for a teenager to make decisions regarding the family? How will the problems of female infanticide and infant mortality ever cease to exist…? It is not humanly possible for such young girls to raise her opinions regarding family planning. Moreover this cannot happen since she will hardly be educated to understand the relevance of such terms. These young wives and mothers will have to be dependent on their husband for their livelihood as they will not be qualified enough to take up careers. Hence the scope of enjoying independent careers and income is out of the question.
Voices of those like Teesta Setalvad, Barkha Dutt, and Nafeesa Ali will be drowned in the see of raging evils such as this. More than looking into this issue from a feminist, political or practical view point we have to focus on the humanitarian issue. Is it right for us to throw away the lives and future of these young girls who are just in process of realizing their potential and importance.
If a court ruling lowering marriageable age of women to fifteen is made, it will certainly be a regressive one instead of being progressive. We have to open our eyes and realize the serious consequences this can have on our young women. We have to give them a a chance to built their own future. They too have voices, they too have dreams. Marriage is a holy ceremony to be entered into by the full willingness of the bride and the groom with an awareness of the situations they may have to face after marriage. Let it remain holy and not become a burden to be done away with. Our women should get the opportunity to enjoy their freedom, only then will they respect marriage.

Article By, Rhea George, St.Teresa's College

Spiders- A Layman’s View

2009-10-25T16:31:00.002+05:30

Spiders- A Layman’s View

Some time ago, I heard a lecture by one of my Zoology Professors about spiders. He was explaining the part their tactile sense played in helping spider’s to catch their prey. He said that even though their power of vision is weak, spiders are able to descend swiftly & accurately to the prey ensnared in their webs. This amazing fact was not clearly explained until W Mitchell Masters & Hubert Market proved that this was done with the help of the spiders highly developed tactile sense. A prey on falling on the web sends out vibrations. These vibrations do not fan out equally on all sides but in clearly defined directions. Due to this a spider is able to locate the exact location where its prey is ensnared. It is now apparent that the webs strands are excellent conductors of rapid oscillations. The spider’s tactile sense is in turn highly sensitive to these vibrations. After hearing this lecture, I carried out a simple experiment. I dropped a small leaf on to a web. The spider sitting in the middle of the web rapidly & accurately descended on it. But on sensing that it was not food, it went back to its original position. I then dropped another leaf on a different part of the same web. But this time the spider did not even care to move. Even though I tried dropping leaves several times, the spider did not seem to move at all. My zoology professor did not find a satisfactory explanation for the spider’s behavior. It may be true that spiders reach their prey by sensing the oscillations of their webs. But how do they differentiate the prey from other materials?

Article By: Stephen Francis, St.Albert's College

Painting Of Rabindranath Tagore

2009-10-23T19:22:00.002+05:30

Painting Of Rabindranath Tagore

“When at the age of five, he was compelled to learn and repeat the lessons from his text book; Tagore had the notion that literature had its mysterious manifestations on the printed pages, that it represented some supernatural tyranny of an immaculate perfection. Such a despairing feeling of awe was dissipated from his mind when by chance he discovered in own person that verse making was not beyond the range of an untrained mind and tottering hand-writing. Since then his sole medium of expression has been words, followed at sixteen by music, which also came to him as a surprise.”

On this backdrop of thought-cycle we may have a scope to estimate that relationship of human being with the universe does not arise out of material necessities or knowledge alone. Relationship evolves out of sense of creative’s. Creative form means artistic achievements of all sorts of practices and performances. Therefore, arts are not only simply steric presentations, they also cover numerous creature efforts that men make out of their mental urge of which literature is an end to form expression in verbal orders. Goethe of the west and Tagore of the East through their ceaseless activities have made us convinced of and stressed enormous importance on cultural unity and universality of creativities for fruition of a complete man. There is none on this earth so much complete. More and above, creative energies having tendencies to differ with one another, individualities evolve with variant attitudes in order to isolate mental planes of expressions. This prologue helps to cultivate our understanding of phenomena of literature and visual arts.

In his matured form, more than once, he defined the outcome of these faces of culture as all embracing literature. If we are not nostalgic towards such an approach, we are able to establish a real framework for our so much desired literary platform with so much freedom.

Tagore once said; “but one thing which is common to all arts is the principle of rhythm which transforms inert materials into living creations. My instinct for it and my training in it has led me to know that lines and colours in art are no carriers of information. They seek their rhythmic incarnation in pictures. Their ultimate purpose is not to illustrate or to copy some outer fact or inner vision, but to evolve a harmonious wholeness which finds its passage through our eyesight into imagination. It neither questions our burdens it with the meaningless, for it is, above all, meaning.”

From his saying we can proceed to a stage of analysis. We are aware that calligraphy plays a dominant role in Asian Art. In the artist, Society has a leaving reminder that despite the relentless logic of everyday life, man’s capacity of dreaming still survives. Artists of the past created images significant of the necessity of their time and place, Universal and timeless. Very few of us are gifted enough to become great artists or writers, but we can benefit by experiencing the nature of creation and by appreciating various types of works of art. The necessacities for these abilities is as great to us as it was at any time, perhaps even greater in a world where physical barriers to communication are being removed so rapidly by science. Through his art exercises Tagore tired to reflect this tendency, which may appear very much new to the modern exponents of the contemporary period.

In all their components- composition, drawing and coloring, Rabindranath’s paintings express his daringness. Starting with erasures on manuscripts. Those abstract rhythms of lines genuinely of his own, he went on to designing quite realistic forms and lat of all to mature those instead of relying merely on line movement amidst the monochromes, he adorned with rich, attractive sobers.

While setting line work in a perfect balance- his whole imaginative and suggestive processes proceed in a beautiful wandering from the written world to the world of pictorial nebula of cosmos. The rolling, quivering, heaving and fleeing shapes- get flooding out from the abundant ocean of the unknown- are playfully dreadful. Of those queerness Tagore Himself said-

“The Universe has its own language of gestures. Every object proclaims by the dumb signal of lines and colours, the fact that it is not mere logical abstraction but it is unique in itself, it carries the miracle of its existence.”

Tagore’s art, being embodied with so many complexities of expressions, may be termed broadly as creative interaction. In which rhythm of texts has a sort of their intermingling with rhythm of forms- which ultimately unites the visual and verbal courses towards ascertaining a mystic conception of the spiritual world. This creative interaction was the most dominating factor of his wonderful life. Any consideration of Tagore’s literary achievements, therefore, should be started with the study of his assimilated of his life.

The abstract forms belonging to his subjective and objective world are more or less his own personifications that embody meter psychoses and sparkling spectrum that translate the eternity into his ideas are definitely born of accompanying inquisitiveness, and isolations which did not perish at any time like unrecognizable and inaudible spirits of the other world. All this criteria danced at the centre of his life’s activity with light feat of resolution. These ushered in him a response and call towards the intricacies of his life-all silently. Thereafter, he was prevented from adding metaphor to his creations. That Rabindranath had no ulterior end in view is clear from his own statement.

“It is absolutely impossible to give a name to my pictures. I never make a picture of any preconvinced subject. Accidently some forms, whose genealogy I am totally unaware of take shade off of the tip of my moving pen and stand out as an individual. My work is done with creation of ‘rupa’ (form). It is for others to usher in the deluge of ‘nama’ (name) - this adds to my previous contention.

When Rabindranath was creating a Renaissance of Modern Indian Art in Bengal deriving his inspiration from the refined Indian Classical schools and when Jiminy Roy was turning to folk art for inspiration, a revolution was taking place in Tagore which nobody took serious notice of. He certainly left a communication gap. The reason why he has not shown any of his paintings in India (excepting a preparatory show in Calcutta in 1928) before he exhibited them elsewhere, was told to his intimate one’s, “I have not shown my paintings to this country. Here most people do not know to see a picture. First of all they look to see whether the faces are good looking or not and how to know whether it has become a work of art or not how to know that which cannot be explained or taught. One must develop that power; get instinctive insight to be able to see a picture. It cannot be done just by any one. That is why I never wished to exhibit my paintings here!”

During the 20s Tagore’s eagerness for rehabilitating his spontaneous art got some artists of the western countries. A versatile man of the east met a galaxy of versatile personalities of the west. Eg. Lionel Feininger, Johannes Itten, Kandisky etc. He was also an advocate of Automatism. In this point Tagore had affinity with him. Automatism and spontaneity are two closer terms almost with same interpretation. It was learnt that an assessment discussion was held at Bauhaus at the request of count Kesselring, who observed, ‘Rabindranath, the poet and artist impressed me like a guest from a higher and more spiritual world. Never perhaps have I seen so much spiritualized substance of soul condensed into one man: After this meeting at the request of Tagore, about 83 aquarelles, drawings and graphics of all the above artists, excepting those of Nicholas Roerich and Mahaly Nagy were brought to Calcutta in 1922 for an exhibition. A good number of people have witnessed this exhibition but a few people knew that exchange value of ideas cropped of their in. In fact, all these gave him opening as an artist cum Connoisseur on the theoretical side.

His real achievement came since his visit to European countries. His first knowledgeable appearance as an artist took place at the Gallery pigalle under sponsorship of an Argentine lady, mdme. Victoria Okampo and a French aristocrat, Countesses De Nomilles on 2nd May. About 125 paintings were exhibited there. Tagore wrote to one of his contemporaries-“I shall leave all last creations of my life in this country”.
During his visit to Germany, arrangements were made to exhibit his paintings at the Muller art Gallery in Berlin on July 11 and the exhibition was formally inaugurated on July 13. It transpired from the poet’s letter that Dr. Selig a German lady took special care of this exhibition. There were a large number of visitors at this exhibition. In that connection Tagore wrote to Smt. Nirmal Kumari Mahalanobis-‘you must have come to know long before the receipt of this letter that my paintings have gained no mean appreciation in Germany. The Berlin National Gallery has taken five of my paintings.” The next exhibition in Germany was held at the Kaspari Art Gallery in Munich on 23rd July. Extract of criticism of both the exhibitions were on the Berliner Tageblatt of July were under the heading ‘Philosophical painting’-It seems Tagore has not turned to painting discarding his pen--- Common people are more apt to understand the language of his pictures than that of his philosophy.

His exhibitions were finally shown in Boston on 25th October, in Newyork on the 3rd November with the sponsorship of Hari Singh Govil. Ananda Kumaraswamy wrote the introduction note. We have this idea that he was well received by the American Artists Circles. However, the total impression of his western tour appears to be very much gay, adequately fruitful, tolerant and exciting as much to get his recognition as the first international artist of modern India.Before his life came to the end, this versatile genius made nearly 3000 paintings and drawings.

Article By: Mohamed Ziab K. M,St.Alberts College

2009-10-22T23:45:00.001+05:30

The Evolution Of The World Cup Football

Football is one of the most ancient games to be played on the face of the Earth. It traces its origin back to the Han Dynasty of some two thousand one hundred years ago, when the Chinese warriors set the football in motion with a game called Tzu Chu (kick-ball) devised basically for physical fitness training. Variations spread to Japan where they played Kemeni. In Indo China it took the form of a funeral ritual with a fierce sacrificial bull’s head being booted over a dead chieftain’s body. The game then spread to Italy where the Romans practiced ‘Harpastum’ and then to Britain where ‘soccer ‘was played.

The factors that led to soccer’s world wide appeal- were that it was fundamentally simple in conception and could be played in all climates. The game has been followed by mountaineers 16000 feet up Everest, played on ice by Capt. Scotts’ men in the Antarctic. British soldiers practiced football during the First World War. But officially the first international football matchwas played by England and SCOTLANDIN 1870. But still there was no competition that could bring all the football playing nations together and the need for one grew larger and larger.

As early as 1920, FIFA- the Federation International de Football Association had approved the idea of an open World Cup. Frenchman Jules Remit whose name went on the trophy and Henry Delauner pushed the idea through a vote. 1930 was chosen as the year for the inception of the World Cp… but where ???, Five applications were received from Italy, Holland, Spain, Sweden and Uruguay would pay all travelling and hotel accommodation expenses and would begin work on a new 1,00,000 seater stadium. An offer FIFA just couldn’t refuse.

The four other applicants promptly refused to complete. Claiming that it was too far and expensive to go. Only 13 participants took part n the first ever World Cup which was later bound to become the biggest event in any single sport in the history of man.

Europe was less than enthusiastic about the whole affair. Only France, Yugoslavia and Belgium wound up making the trip. The United States consisting mainly of English and Scottish players were the surprise entry. And so, to the big kick off on the 13th of July, 1930. Montevideo was flooded due to the unseasonal rains. Uruguay and Argentina, two of the finest teams in the world were tipped to capture the glory. Uruguay was the Olympic Champions in 1924 and 1928 and Argentina was the runners up in 1928.
Uruguay was treating the occasion with seriousness in the year of its hundredth anniversary of independence. France and Mexico played the inaugural match and although France lost their goal keeper Alex the pot that was kicked in the jaw, France coasted home quite comfortably with a 4-1 victory. And so the World Cup had come underway and the dream had become reality. Two days later France was at the centre of the most controversial match of the tournament. Trailing by a goal, Marcel Langiller of France broke through the Argentine defense and shot at the goal. The Brazilian referee Almeida Rigor blew the final whistle… with six minutes to go. The French argued and the referee later agreed to continue. The French players tried for an equalizer but to no avail. Argentina later moved on to the finals beating the United States to meet Uruguay as expected who had disposed off Rumania, Peru and Yugoslavia. Argentina had chartered ten packet boats to take the spectators from Buenos Aires across the River Plate. Both teams were put under 24 hour guard and the referee was not confirmed due to fears for his life. Uruguay won 4-2 in the finals and Montevideo was transformed into a city of unparalleled delight. Streets were alive with rejoicement and the national flag was hoisted up in many places. The next day was declared a national holiday. Back in Buenos Aires there were riots. Mobs stoned the Uruguay an Embassy and later relations were broken off between the two countries. But Uruguay was still the World Champions. The Jules Remit Trophy was safely in the hand of the tournament’s host.

Article By: Gigi K. Mathew,St.Alberts College

GRATITUDE

2009-10-21T21:35:00.001+05:30

GRATITUDE

“……….and as he was going into a village, ten men that were lepers came towards him; they stood far off, crying aloud, Jesus, Master, have pity on us. He met them with the words, Go and show yourselves to the priests; and there upon, as they went, they were made clean. One of them, finding that he was cured, came back, praising God aloud, and threw himself at Jesus feet with his face to the ground, to thank him… Jesus answered, were not all ten made clean? And the other nine, where are they? Not one has come back to give God the praise, except the stranger. And he said to him, Arise and go on the way, thy faith has brought the recovery”.St. Luke Ch xvII 12-19

This episode shows that even Jesus Christ, held in high esteem the virtue of gratitude. In this episode we see Jesus being elated and gratified at the thanks giving performance of the leper who returned to Jesus to show gratitude. At the same time we see Jesus annoyed of the nine ungrateful lepers. It is human to expect gratitude from those who receive help or favour from us. So also, it is quite humane to show gratitude.

Gratitude means the quality or condition of being grateful; a warm sense of appreciation of kindness received, involving a feeling of goodwill towards the benefactor and a desire to do something in return. Gratitude urges one to repay kindness. Gratitude remains empty if not accompanied by sympathy, understanding and patience in one’s dealings with others. In other words gratitude is the art of receiving gracefully, of showing appreciation for every kindness, great and small. Most of us do not fail to show our pleasure when we receive hospitality, gifts and obvious benefits, but even here we can perfect our, manner of showing gratitude by making it as personal and sincere as possible.
One fine afternoon I hired a taxi in Trivandrum. The cab-driver happened to be an old acquaintance. From the driver’s expression and the way he slammed in his gears, I could see that he was upset. I asked him what the trouble was. “I have got good reason to be sore”, he growled. “One of my fares left a handbag in my car this morning. Nearly three thousand rupees in it. I spent more than hour trying to trace the guy. Finally, I found him at his hotel. He took the handbag without a word, glared at me as though I meant to switch it”.

“He did not give you a reward”? I asked.

“Not praise and me out my time and petrol. But it was not the dough I wanted……” He fumbled, and then exploded, “If the guy had only said something….” Because his helpful, honest act had not been appreciated, that cab driver’s day was spoiled, and I knew he would think twice before rendering a similar service. The need of gratitude is something we all feel, and denial of it can do much to stifle the spirit of kindness and cooperation. Who does not loathe the ungrateful? Ingratitude may spoil and poison one’s life, may cause frustration, distress, disappointment and may serve to bring our civilization down in ruins.

May I try to reproduce here from memory, an anecdote I read somewhere in the forties, not long after the end of the Second World War. During the war a mother in America received a letter from her paratrooper son, in which he spoke of a woman in a village in Normandy who had taken him into her home when he was wounded and hungry and hid him from the Germans. Later on unhappily, the boy was killed in some offensive, yet the mother was moved by an irresistible intention. She saved up for 2 years, crossed the Atlantic and located the village referred to by her son. After exhaustive inquires, she found the woman who had sheltered her son the wife of an impoverished farmer-and pressed a package into her hand. It was the gold wrist watch her son had received on his graduation, the only object of real value the boy had ever possessed. The mother’s act of gratitude so touched people’s hearts that it has become something of a legend in and around the village.

Gratitude is sometimes more than a personal affair. A doctor friend of mine in Trivandrum Medical College, told me of a patient brought into hospital whose life was saved by a blood transfusion. When he was well again he asked. “Isn’t there any way I can discover the name of the donor and thank him?” He was told that names of donors are never divulged. A few weeks after his discharge he came back to give a pint of his own blood. Since then, he returned again and again for the same purpose. When the surgeon on duty commented on this splendid record of anonymous service, he answered simply; “ someone I never knew did it for me. I’m just saying thanks.” It is comforting thought that gratitude cannot be not merely a passing sentiment but a renewal which can, in some instances, persist for a life-time.

It is above all in the little things that the grace of gratitude should be most employed. The boy who delivers our newspaper, the milkman, the mailman, the barber, the bearer at the restaurant, the elevator operator, the bus conductor, the taxi, auto driver-all oblige us in one way or other. By showing our gratitude we make routine relationships human and render monotonous tasks more agreeable.
Nothing brightens life, our own and other’s-so much as the spirit of thanks giving. A doctor neighbor of mine narrated the following incident. One of his patients, a few weeks after his discharge from the hospital, came back to thank his nurse. “I did not come back sooner” he explained, “because I imagined you must be bored to death with people thanking you.”

“On the contrary, she replied, “I am delighted you came. Few realize how much we need encouragement and how much we are helped by those who give it.” Simple courtesy makes life easier. Manners serve to keep the foundations of society intact. The gift of gratitude enriches and benefits the life of the person who bestows it quite as much as it does the person who receives it. Gratitude is something of which none of us can give too much. For, on the smiles, the thanks we give, our neighbours build up their philosophy of life.

By: Prof. P.J Mathew,St.Alberts College

Humanity in Action

2009-10-20T23:00:00.000+05:30

Humanity in Action

Does it usually require a calamity to elicit the utmost out of man? Certain ingredians force us to belive that only emergrncies can make man prove their powers.

Al least the spontaneous overflow of benovolence exibited by the lowliest fisherman in Perumon on 8 july 1988 proves the theory. These common fisherman who had laboured hard , had eaten and drunk, had procrated and engaged in resuation just like any common man, proved to be angel of mercy on that day. on that fateful day, the Island Express plunged into the river Astamudi, carrying thousands of passengers in it.The cries of thousnds of passengers, man, women and children, rent the air.

The local fisherman stood in a gape for a moment. Immediately they realised the cause of the din and cries. It took no time for them to realize that it was an emergency that brooked no delay. They plunged into action straightaway. Hectic and untiring activity followed. They were not fully conscious of all that they were doing. But the goal was quite clear in their minds- to save as many lives as possible. Mindeless of damage, they exersised all their powers. And in the end when all that was humanly possible, has been done, they sat down exhausted. Later when they recollected what they had done, they wondered at their own aceivement, with unutterable joy.

The exellent service rendered by the fisherman of Perumon, has been well recognised. The Railways and Government of Keralahave come foreward with presents in recognition of this sterling service. Millions of people who cannot offer presents, have enshrined the memories of this yeoman service in their heerts.

Article By: A.C. John,St.Alberts College

Psychedelic Extra Sensory Perception

2009-10-18T21:42:00.004+05:30

Psychedelic Extra Sensory Perception

In 1502, at the festivities accompanying the coronation of Montezuma II, the Aztec ruler of Mexico, the celebrants consumed specially pickled mushrooms. After ingesting a portion of these, some of the natives began to have visions, masses committed suicide, still others became psychic and had premonitions of the future events including

1) The arrival of the Spanish conqueror:
2) The subjugation of the Aztec ruler and
3) The death of the civilization.

It has been known that certain types of mushrooms, cacti and other plants (ancient Rig Vedic texts have incorporated the ritual of Soma Yaga. History abounds in such reference) can induce a certain altered state of consciousness on a human. The Shamanic culture, the ancient Yaqui Indians, all have from time immemorial sought the philosopher’s stone; the elixir of life in these magic portions. They could induce not only visions, but also marked changes in perception and the thought processes-

The celebrated Tales of Don Juan (the mystic YAQUI INDIAN) abounds in anecdotal reference to the ‘ green man’ the spirit in the hallucinogenic cacti named by him as ‘Mescalito’ Mushrooms such as ‘Psilocybe Mexicana’ can act as meta-programming substances on our behavioral pattern. (Welcome to chapel Perilons).
To a septic such tales will certainly be totally false and mere mystical blah- blahs. But consider’ Paracelsus’, the founder of modern medicine, who believed in such vegetative spirits and claimed to have had frequent commune with them. Weird and incredible as it may seem.

It was from psilocybe Mexicana, that the drug ‘psilocybin’ was synthesized by Dr. Albert Hoffman, a Swiss investigator. The most publicized of all the mind expanding drugs is L.S.D. (Lysergic acid diethyl lamide) a purely chemical non- organic substance discovered by Dr. Hoffman.

Mind expanding drugs jolts the tripper into a mysterious journey of the mind hither to unexplained. The tripper can enter into a mystical magical realm of nature. A collage of characters, painted in so many varied colours are cast in this cosmic fun house. Colours seem brighter ; Nature explodes into a sparkling clear life.

In the case of mushrooms and other vegetative ingestion, it has been found that each trip has an emotional content strongly projected as though the spirit in the mushroom decides the trip for the mind. It has also been found that when a group of people are ‘tripping’, they can converse among themselves without actually speaking.

When we say that “seeing is believing” aren’t we seeing what we believe all the time and only occasionally seeing what we can’t believe. “L.S.D. can take you out of normal space-time age- the mechanical mode of everyday casualty”. This is the verdict of the 60’s genie Tim Leary. Dr. Leary’s pioneering research in this interesting domain has been with held and suppressed by the establishment which has always behaved paranoical in its reaction.

Dr. Leary explained that the psychedelic drug experience is a synergetic product of three non-additive factors.

1) The dosage of the drug used.
2) The set (subject)-

a) The subject’s expectations
b) Emotional- status
c) Personality profile.

3)The setting- i.e. the actual location in space –time dimension.

This has been established by Dr. Leary in an experiment conducted in 1967 (With the help of a qualified psychologist who assists in the trip); where- in he used L.S.D. with a clinical setting to cure a latent homo-sexual of his disorder by positive suggestion.

Aldous Huxley the celebrated English novelist & futurist have recorded his experience in the ‘Doors of Perception’. His explanation is mostly scientific rather than spiritual. Human brain is mainly concerned with survival. So out of the thousands of units of data fed in by the six senses, only the ones that are useful for survival are analyzed by it-others are filtered out. L.S.D. and other mind expanding drugs, when ingested, reduce the sugar content in the blood stream, thereby depriving the brain of its main energizer. This reduces the efficiency of the ‘filtering system’ and the brains get flooded with the information fed in by the senses- it begins to hallucinate. This hypothesis explains why the brain hallucinates- but it does not explain some of the other, more bizarre aspects of a trip.

Serious research has to be done before we can come to a definite conclusion. Till then, we can go on believing in the ‘green- man’ ‘ mescalito’ and the other spirits. That is, if at all anyone wants to believe.

Article By: Stephen Francis,St.Alberts College

Theatre Of The Absured- Its Relevence To Modern Man

2009-10-16T00:12:00.000+05:30

Theatre Of The Absured- Its Relevence To Modern Man

In the 1950’s there arose a group of dramatists who did not regard themselves as a school but who all seemed to share certain attitude towards the predicament of man in the universe a suddenly deprived of illusions. This is an irremediable exile, because he is deprived of memories of a lost home land as much as he lacks the hope of a promised land to come. The feeling of “Absurdity” overwhelms the human thinking mind when man is separated from his life, the actor from his setting. Therefore a relatively new term like “Theatre of the Absurd” must be understood as a kind of intellectual shorthand for a complex pattern of similarities in approach, method, and convention of shared philosophical and artistic premises, whether conscious or subconscious and of influences from a common store of tradition”- Martin Esslin.

The Theatre of the Absurd is said to be a reflection of the principal attitude of the modern post war Western Europe. As a result of the two world wars the earlier optimism and dynamism of Western Europe gave way to doubts and disputations. There can be little doubt that such a sense of disillusionment, such a collapse of all previously held firm beliefs is a characteristic feature of all the modern times. The social and spiritual reasons for this sudden loss of values are manifold and complex: the meaning of the traditional Christian faith, lack of trust in inevitable social progress in the wake of world war 1; the disillusionment with the hopes of radical social revolution as predicted by Marx after Stalin that turned Russia into a totalitarian tyranny, the relapse into Barbarism and torture in the Nazi Camps in the course of Hitler’s brief rule over Europe and the aftermath of the war.

Such a loss of values must have inevitably led to a questioning of the established mode of communication of meaning language. Hence the obvious rise of the Theatre of the Absurd. Contrary to established drama, absurd drama lacks a cleverly constructed story, replaces subtle characterization with vague characters and absurd present the audience with almost mechanical puppets and we find incoherent babblings in the lieu of witty repartee and pointed dialogue. And yet strangely enough these plays have worked They have exercised a fascination of their own in the theatre. In the beginning it was said that this was merely a “success descandale” It had become fashionable to express outrage about them at parties. But the success of a whole row of similarity unconventional works became more and more manifest. If the critical touchstones of traditional drama did not apply to these plays; these plays were creating and applying a different convention of drama.

It is true that basically the Theatre of the Absurd attacks the comfortable certainities of religious or political orthodoxy. It aims to shock the audience out of its complacency and to make it aware of the harsh truth of human life. But the challenge behind this message is not one of object dejection. It is a challenge to accept the realities of life with all its intricacies and absurdities and bear it with dignity because there are no easy answers to the mysteries of existence because ultimately man is alone in a void world. The theatre of the Absurd does not induce tears of despair but the laughter of liberation.

BY: GOPAL K.S

From Kitty Hawk With Love

2009-10-14T23:05:00.001+05:30

From Kitty Hawk With Love

Like a huge pre-historic bird one sees only in biology text books, the pterodactyl touches down on a strip of grass barely sixty feet in length. A man is strapped into a bucket seat in the midst of aluminium tubing, Dacron Sailcloth and metal staywires. Looking at this seemingly fragile contraption it is difficult to imagine that it can really be flown. Yet today this contraption has captured the imagination of people all over the world.

Known to different people by different names as micro-light, aero-light, ultra-light, pterodactyl this brain child of human ingenuity signifies the realization of a dream, a dream as old as humanity, the dream of flying like the birds.

In 1903 on an isolated beach in America two brothers, at long last open the realm of the skies to the rest of humanity Orville and Wilbur Wrights Pioneering flight from Kitty Hawk in 1903 changed, the world once and for all.

Folk lore and legends are replete with accounts of man’s clumsy yet brave attempts to fly. All of them were drawn back to earth as unexorably as Newtons apple. Greek mythology accounts the flight of Icarus who with wings of wax flew too close to the sun. The wings melted and Icarus was brought back to earth. Da Vinci made drawings of an aircraft. Yet all of man’s efforts met with failure until 1903.

Though many expected the model-T of the skies to materialize, world war-1 prevented it from happening. The aircraft was turned into a killing machine. Following closely on the heels of the first, the Second world war completed the metamorphosis. The aircraft had become too fast, complicated and expensive for the common man. Ironically wings for the common man had to await the dawn of the space age to revert to the simplicity of their beginnings.

Otto libenthal, the great German aero nautical pioneer had fashioned bat-like wings of willow and linen and had made nearly 2000 glides by jumping off the top of mountains before a stall and consequent fall in 1896 brought his life to an abrupt and unceremonious end.

In 1951 Francis M. Rogall of NASA Patented after test a new kind of airfoil shaped like an obtuse V. The fabric para-wing unstiffend by intermediary ribs bellowed on both sides of a central spar. His simple and elegant design sparked the rebirth of hand gliding fledgling bird men with their home made, brilliantly coloured butterflies soon covered the sky slopes of North America and Europe.

Biologists have a saying: Ontogeny re capitulates phylogeny; that is an embryo goes through all the stages followed in the evolution of a species. So with a evolution of glider into micro-light; designers of the ultra- light had, in a decade, recapitulated the aeronautical development of 75 years. Many daring people experimented with bizarre ideas like strapping a chainsaw engine fitted with propellers on to the backs. None of them met with any real success, until, the Orville wright of the new era, John Moody of Wisconsin rigged a ten horsepower engine and propeller into a glider with his legs as landing gear flew a mile and a half a few feet above a frozen lake. In September 1975 Moody flew 16 miles cross country for the first time and the word of his pioneering flights soon spread. The race to add power was on.

The Wright brothers first flew on the “kitty hawk flyer” which weighed 605 lbs Moody’s glider fitted out with landing gear, seat, controls and heavier engines weighed only 150 to 250 lbs. This is why this new breed of glider is known as ultra-light.

Only four year after the Wright brothers first flew, a Brazelian living in Paris designed and flew the ancestor to todays ultra-light. Albert Santos-Damont in 1907 built a miniature high-wing monoplane that weighed 243 lbs and had a two cylinder 20 horse-power engine that flew the machine at48 miles an hour. The designer of the world’s largest selling and most copied micro-light ‘Quick silver’ is John Lasko. Lasko studied and refined Albert’s Santos-Dumonts early micro-light. When Parisians first saw Dumonts craft, they dubbed it ‘Demoiselle’ or Dragon fly.

The present micro-light uses stick and throttle controls climbs 800 feet a minute and reaches a surface ceiling of 12500 feet. Yet it takes off and lands in 50 feet at 23 miles an hour. Lasko has this to say about his brainchild “We have tried to reduce human flight to its essence and I think we have succeeded.”

Flying is a hobby which is now not too expensive. Micro lights cost only about as much as two wheeler to build. In India however the craze that has taken the west by storm has not yet taken root. Micro lights with its innumerable application is ideal for a country like India where cash resources are not easy to find. The technology involved is not of a complicated nature. At best it is a craft that could be put together by school children. However micro lights in India are flown in some of the big cities only by people who have access to flying clubs. The micro light requires only a backyard as runway and it can easily be maintained at home. Apart from the select few who have access to flying clubs the Indian defense services and the N.C.C. use these crafts. The true capacity of this craft can be judged from the fact that fact an Indian army officer flew from Kashmir to Kanyakumari on a micro light.

It has been said of micro lights that they are so easy to fly that the real danger is now that a novice might jump into his machine and take off.

Eipper Aircraft one of the leading manufacturers has the following statistics to quote. 7000 micro lights sold and flown for a total of more than one million flying hours and a total of only ten fatalities, One for every 1,00,000 flying hours half of that of general aviations. In other words a well maintained machine is rapidly becoming the safe aircraft aloft.

In many crashes pilots can walk away from the wreckage without serious injuries. The reasons are simple A micro light with trainer and passenger weighs, lets say, around 550 pounds and lands at 27 miles an hour. A Cessna with the same two people in it weighs around 1600 lbs, 3 times as much and land’s at 55 miles an hour.

Bill Adaska, builder of the Rotec-Rally says “We are not advancing aviation but setting it back 75 years. Now anyone can fly, stay up two hours on a full tank, go a hundred miles, spray crops, inspect pipe lines, but mostly have fun. The micro light is the common mans window to the sky.”

In deed, so versatile is this aircraft that experts say that it is virtually undetectable by radar, and should it be built from carbon or Borone fibre it simply would not be there. Two Palestinians on micro lights were forced landed b Israeli war-planes trying to fly into Israel. The mission was unsuccessful but it is an ominous portent.

Manufacturers have been approached by government of several nations. Saudi Arabia has bought a few with desert camouflage. Manufacturers have been requested not to sell these aircraft to a select list of bad guys. These aircraft can easily be adapted for pilotless flight to be sent into hazardous areas with TV Cameras and radiation sensors. They can be fitted with grenade launchers or sub machine guns and if the pilot is removed they can stay aloft-for 24 hours, Intelligence agencies dread the thought of smugglers flying across borders with drugs, piloted or by remote control. On the positive side it can be used for inspection of pipelines, electricity lines, spraying fields. It is used extensively by scientists to study the migration of sharks butterflies and the like.

The truth is that the potentialities of the micro light are virtually limitless. Its flight has started and it will fly high for quite some time to come, for the over riding function of this tiny fragile, elegant and versatile David in a sky filled with goliaths is to make possible the poetry of flight.

Article By:Eric Kurian,

Computer

2009-10-13T23:04:00.002+05:30

Computer

Is it meant only for the ‘hi-tech’ brains or for the layman too ? Read the article and decide….
The creative genius in man has striven to make life easier and as a result we had adding machines, cash registers and then calculators. Nowadays, we have the computer. The idea of the present day computer was conceived by men like Blaise Pascal and Gottfried Leibinitz way back in the 17th century.

Anything to do with computer has always been related to people with ‘hi-tech’ brains. This misunderstanding has created a wide gap between the ordinary man and computers. We have to bridge this gap to move ahead and go into the 21st century as a country capable of keeping up the traditions of excellence that our forefathers have shown ever since the beginning of civilisation.

To operate a computer, one does not require ‘hi-tech’ brains. The computer is made of ‘hi-tech’ stuff but the whole field has advanced so much that it has literally become childs play. One does not need even a little bit of electronics or a science background to use it. The computer is separated from the user by so many sets of circuits that one can talk to it in simple commands in English to instruct it to do certain tasks. The computer itself understands only the digits 1 and 0. One couldn’t hope to feed in commands in 1’s and 0’s. It would to run millions of 1’s and0’s. So we have a machine language which has commands in the form of ADD, SUB etc. But this is also complicated and so a high level language is used for Eg:-BASIC, FORTRAN, COBAL, PASCAL etc. These languages have been developed with a specific type of user in mind. The degree to which a language interacts with a user is called user friendliness BASIC is an all purpose language which can be used to do all kinds of work but FORTRAN is basically a language meant for scientific calculations. COBOL is a business oriented language and it would be easier to use COBOL for business calculations rather than BASIC.

Consider the following program which is in BASIC. 1u=5, 20B=10, 30C=A+B, 40 PRINT A, 50 PRINT B, 60 PRINT C. We feed this programe to the input/device which is as in most cases, a keyboard very similar to a typewriter keyboard. This programe is typed and it comes simultaneously on the video screen so that we can moniter what is going to be fed in. After all the 6 lines have been typed in, we print RUN on the screen and input this command also. When this is done, the computer processes the 6 lines that have already gone into its memory. The numbers 10,20 etc, are given at the beginning of each line. So as to give the give the computer a sequence to process the program I .e . it process line No. 10 first, then line No. 20 and so on. So at first it reads line 10 and when we say A=5, we are assigning a constant value of 5 to the variable A. On processing line 20, the value 10 is stored as the value of B. In line number 30 we ask the computer a simple task of addition of 2 variables A and B of which the values 5 and 10 are known to the computer. This value is stored as C. Now line Nos. 40, 50 and 60 are PRINT statements which mean that the computer is expected to print the values of A, B and then C on the video screen as it is stored in the memory. So on the screen we would see 5, 10 and 15. This is a very simple program to illustrate how simple it all actually is. When one has to do a repetitive and time consuming calculation a computer can be very handy. In eg:- quadratic equations are frequently encountered in all sorts of calculations. Some of these equations take a bit of time to solve. If we were to program a computer to do the work, as soon as the coefficients of n, n etc., are fed in, the answer is on the screen. This kind of program would be very useful to a science student. So every time a quadratic equations is encountered we can have the solutions in a couple of seconds rather than in a couple of minutes.

So programs are essential for a computer to function and programs can be made for any of those usual repetitive jobs that we face daily.

Now we go on to how a computer is used in the office of a small scale industry which would need, say, one accountant and one typist. If the propreiters have sufficient funds to buy a capable computer and an equally appropriate program, he could save a lot of man hours spent on account books and typing not to mention the space saved by storing all the records on floppy discs (thin discus- 51/4” in diameter) rather than on paper. He could do a lot more to work to improve production at a factory rather than at a desk waiting for a bill which has gone for typing or an account statement which the accountant is preparing. The major advantage is that he will have all the data he needs at his fingertips. So he could replace his typist and accountant with a couple of data entry operators who have a commerce background.

To create a program all one needs is pure logic and reasoning. It is just a matter of learning the commands which are feasible on a computer and learning to write programs as short as possible, there again it is not essential to have a science background. Only the person who repairs the computer needs to know the circuitory inside.

We are now coming to an age where computerization is almost inevitable in view of the time saved. It now being widely used in banking, ticketing for railways, airlines, police records and many other fields mainly to store data so that it is easily accessible. So all you prospective scientists and Managers, get off your backsides, learn all you can about computers and hitch this wagon to the stars.

Article By: Zacharaih George,St.Teresa's College

JESUS AND THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY: HER STORY (JOHN8:2-11)

2009-10-12T21:53:00.002+05:30

JESUS AND THE WOMAN CAUGHT IN ADULTERY: HER STORY (JOHN8:2-11)

I was the good girl growing up, the shy one. I was the only daughter my father didn’t have to worry about. Now, look at me- caught in the act of adultery, pulled by the temple’s high officials, most likely to be stoned. I didn’t care though; there was nothing to live for anyway. The one I was trying to hurt didn’t even show up. Surprise. Surprise. The good for nothing, my husband…. He probably was revelling in his luck of getting rid of me.

When I married him, he gained status and wealth through my family. His family wasn’t as high as my family was, but our fathers were friends. In the year of our marriage, he was a true gentleman, a good son-in-law, a great scholar… he had us all fooled. I started to notice changes in him and his family as my father began to get sick. He wasn’t a great husband anymore nor was his parent’s great in- law. He started to get irritated with me over trivial things. In my father’s weak state, they manipulated him and got all our property. Soon, I was kicked out of our bedroom and into the kitchen. One of his favorite girl slaves took my place in the bedroom.

Later, I realized they were poisoning my father, but by that time it was too late. My father had died, and in my crazed mourning state, I decided to take revenge. But it didn’t exactly work out…
The Pharisees pulled me into the centre of a crowd and approached one of the taller men saying, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the law, Moses commanded us to stone such women.”

I wonder what they do to men who commit adultery, abuse and kill… Their friend, my husband did all of that.“So what do you say?” I glanced at the man they were talking to. So he was the final decision maker. Strange. The man didn’t look like the others. He didn’t have elegant robes or golden rings on his fingers. He looked more or less like a common shepherd or artisan.

Instead of responding, the man bent down and started writing on the ground with finger.What an unconditional person. The hypocrite (I mean, the temple’s official), looked almost irritated when he continued to write in silence. They asked again and again until the man stood up.
“Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”
He said calmly before bending down and continuing to write.

After hearing this, one by one, they all started moving off. When only he and I were left, he straightened up and asked, “woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?”
“No one,” I replied. With an afterthought I quickly added “Sir”. He did save my life. He smiled. “Neither do I condemn you. Go, and from now on do not sin anymore.”
As he started to leave I couldn’t help but ask,” Who are you?”
“Jesus,” he said simply as if that would answer my question. “Jesus of Nazareth.” With that said, he left with his entourage.

I walked over to where he was writing. I started to read. Mathew, son of Issac-steals from the poor. Luke, son of Zachariah-abuses his wife and killed his father…. I stopped reading. How could he know that? He couldn’t possibly be just “Jesus of Nazareth.” I had to find out who he truly was.I started to head in the direction he had taken.

Article By:Lincy Elezebeth John,St.Teresa's College

Yoga

2009-10-11T21:20:00.003+05:30

Yoga

Human beings are made up of three components body, mind and soul. Corresponding to these needs that must be satisfied for a contend life: the physical need is health, the psychological need is knowledge and the spiritual need is inner peace.

Yoga- at the physical level gives relief from countless ailments. The practice of Asana strengthens the body and creates a feeling of well-being. It enhances muscle strength, co-ordination, flexibility and help in the cure of back-aches. From the psychological viewpoint, yoga sharpness the intellect and aids in concentration. It steadies the emotions and encourages a caring concern for others. Spiritually the practice of pranayama calms the mind. With meditation – inner peace is experienced.

Regular practice of yoga helps to keep our body fit, controls cholesterol level, reduce weight, normalize blood pressure and improves cardio-vascular performance, reduces stress, tension, and tightness. It also a tool of self–healing.

Ayurveda - the ancient science, time tested and unique understands the essence of long living. It enhances your body’s natural capacity to cope with stress and strain, while catalyzing the rebuilding process within the organs. Researchers the world catalyzing over are concluding that yoga and pranayama go a long way in preventing many a dangerous disease.

Article By: Simi George,St.Teresa's College

A Love Letter in Physics

2009-10-10T14:04:00.001+05:30

A Love Letter in Physics

Mr. D.C Shock,
Einstein Building,
10-Coulomb,
Stat Volt.

Dear Miss Magnet,

With my cell of love, I first saw you across the field of vector yesterday, accelerating with the r m s value with uniform velocity. Then my heart started beating with twice the normal frequency. With respect to my field of vision from sin, cos and tan angles, you looked so beautiful that I couldn’t resist myself. I wanted to meet you with same moderating frequency as radio waves. The north pole of my heart was attracted towards you and I was charged with the image of your eyes, which reflected on the concave mirror of my heart but since Mr. Joules and Mr. Newton were with you, the idea of approaching you repelled me.

Please come to Wheatstone bridge at mega kilohertz per hour sharp. The circuit of my heart will break, if I don’t find you there. So please don’t find you there. So please don’t disconnect the circuit and don’t discharge me.

With multiplying love,
Yours chargeful
Mr. D C Shock.

Article By: Daisy Kurien,St.Teresa’s College

Memories a Piece of Paper Brought Back

2009-10-08T23:23:00.001+05:30

Memories a Piece of Paper Brought Back

“Some like golden ships
Some like silver ships
I like one ship…
That is friendship.”
Does not sound familiar? You must have written these words in greetings cards on different occasions when you were say 7 or 8 years old. Definitely not after that ! These words must have found a prominent place in the cards you made for your best friend. And that’s how I got these words too. When I was in the std II my friend wrote these words in the New Year Card she made for me. It was the first time I was introduced to this ‘friendly jingle’ and I was full of awe for my friend whom I believed to be a great poet (I was so naïve…). But then I realized that my friend was no great poet because the same day my sister received those words on a card her friend made for her. And so my sister and I began using the rhyme profusely in whatever we wrote. Not anymore. In fact we stopped using it the moment we got the next one! It went like this:
“I don’t like Sunday,
I don’t like Monday,
I like one day,
That is your birthday!”
And that became a regular in every birthday card I made for my friends. But with time these cute little poems got tarnished (due to overuse of course) and I stopped using them. I even stopped making cards “Why should I make one anyway?” was what I thought. Especially when Archie’s or Hall-mark cards were available. So I switched to tailor made cards perfect for any occasion. So did my friends. No more did we have to write the same old symphony (or cacophony?) of ‘I love your birthday’ on cards made out of middle pages torn out from a notebook. By the time I was ten I had stopped this business of making cards for my friends. And each one of us would look forward to New Year and Christmas to buy beautiful cards for each other. My favourite was the one with the baby Jesus in mother Mary’s arms, in a stable with the lambs and three shepherds standing nearby and cute cherubs floating above.
And I would buy something like that for my friend hoping that I would also receive a similar one from her! And we used to be in such a frenzied state buying cards for uncles, aunts, and teachers…
It used to be much fun. Being on the receiving end gave greater pleasure (it’s the same even now) and the joy used to be greater when a card arrived by post, especially if it was addressed to me instead of my father. It made me feel important and I could proudly say,”It’s mine!”
I have a collection of such cards I received on different occasions. There are more than hundred of them I should say, all preserved and kept in a red paper bag. (That it lies in the store room is another matter altogether! ).
The other day as I went to get something from the store room my eyes fell on the red paper bag, full of dust kept on the top most shelf, and I thought it would be fun to go through the mess! I took the bag gingerly from the shelf trying my best not to sneeze ( It was so dusty).
I took out the cards one by one and glanced at them. There were so many that I started rummaging through them as I began to lose patience. Suddenly I spotted a very dirty looking yellowish paper lying twisted disgracefully among the ‘once upon a timeelites’. I took it out carefully and opened its folded ends. It was hand written. It said, “Happy New Year… May your every morning come with new happiness.”
The ‘almost perfect’ grammar and spellings told me that it was at least ten years old. It was a middle page torn out from a small notebook. On the front, the maker had drawn a potted plant with a single stem, a single leaf and a single flower.There was a sun smiling above it too. It was made for me by Ramya, my childhood friend whom I barely remember now. She had given it to me just before I left my school, my home and everything and everyone I knew before I came to Kerala.
And I went on a tour down memory lane. I remembered how we used to play ‘chorsipahi’, ‘blind man’s buff,’ etc, how we used to fight over silly things, how we used to patch up. Waking up from my reverie I turned back the card to find the same old lines written on it:
“Some like golden ships,
Some like silver ships,
I like one ship,
That is friendship.”
And I had to laugh. After all these years of alienation from that lovable rhyme, I was introduced to it all over again!What I found worn out and clinched long ago, now brought a smile to my lips.
This card was the only thing I took back to my room after I put the red bag with all its contents back on the shelf in the store room. The simple card conveyed much more than any other beautiful card in the bag. It brought back memories of bygone days, sweet friendship, and innocence.
That card now rests in the middle page of my personal diary, which is kept among my most prized possessions! And guess what I am thinking after I recovered that card: “Should I gift my friend an Archie’s card on her birthday after all???”

Article By:Veena M.B,St.Teresa's College

Friends Forever

2009-10-07T23:31:00.001+05:30

Friends Forever

Sometimes I felt very lonely;
Wanted to cry aloud,
Let go all those hurt feelings;
But there was no one near me
For opening my heart to share,
Halfen the sorrow or double
If it’s something happy.
End of the empty bench
I sat down with tears;
Not knowing what to do
Until you came lighting
All the darkness in the shade
And in the depths of my heart.
A new sun-rise in my life;
Dear friend I owe it all to you;
The stranger at the first sight
Became a friend till the last;
That too a true one.

We all make friends by scores; but have we ever thought why people find themselves lonely? The wail, “ I have no friends, I just can’t seem to find any friends”, but unfortunately don’t realize that friends are made, not found: made by our constant little efforts on behalf of others by the respect, loyalty, affection and understanding that we are willing to give one another. Only a friend can feed the better need, the hunger of the heart.

Friendship is a universal necessity. Along this adventure called life, w make more and more friends. A small acquaintance starting with a simple “Hello or Hi, your good name? I’m so and so”, may last a life time. Any way a real friendship is above all these.
Hi and Byes and smiles painfully produced from polished lips and faces.
It is really a matter of choice; the friends you make. And life is made of such choices; like you are reading this instead of something else cause you choose to read this article. So we should choose friends with care, but we may repent later.

Friends are a powerful influence in our lives. As they say those who keep company with wolves will learn to how! Hence, we must be careful who we hand around with? Do they encourage us, build us up, make us feel wanted and loved, share our dreams and have a positive influence us in a negative way.

There are a lot of good people still left in this world. Infact, I’m writing this ‘cause of such people’.
Gladys H. Cooper tells it all in these lines;
“It has been my joy to find,
At every turning of the road
The loving arms of friends so kind
To help onward with my load,
And since I have no gold to give,
T is love’s coin alone I spend
Be this my prayer while yet I live-
God, make me worthy of my friend.”

And a true friend is not just the friend in need. He is the one who even after knowing our failures, weaknesses, imperfections, limitations and lapses; who knows the dark sides of our life, but still loves us. Friends there will be many; but true friends are few. Everyone would like to have a true friend, but they should remember these lines,

I went out to find a friend
I couldn’t find one there
I went out to be friend
And friends were everywhere.

“Greater love has no man than this that a man lay down his life for his friends”. Truly he is a happy man who finds such friends.

Friendship should be a give and take affairs, we should do to others what we would like to have from them. This anonymous quote a little more:-
If you have a friend worth loving
Love him, yes, and let him know
That you love him, ere life’s evening
Tinge his brow with sunset glow;
Why should words ne’er be said
Of a friend till he is dead?

Bitter things in your friendship should be used to strengthen more; because life Is a mixture all. It isn’t very easy to learn to forgive and forgot, but that’s what it takes to keep the friends you have met. But we shouldn’t carry a friendship knowing its lead us on to disastrous consequences.

There is friend who’s a friend of all friends. When friends fade away, this one friend remains firm with us. He is called “God”. What a privilege to have a friend for 24 hours of the day. We can share the innermost secrets of our heart with Him& He need to be carried where ever we go. Of all gifts that God gives to sustain and nourish our lives, none can equal the prescence of a faithful friend. No sacrifice is too great…….. no personal discipline is too exacting….. no struggle too painful to offer in exchange for the ability to give and receive friendship.
Some people in their attempt to be more social pretend to be something else from their true self. There is no point in this cause, if one day the cap is lifted and the gen!! comes out revealing your real self, it will create unnecessary problems. So to be more social, the way you are. The negative way in which friendship between opposite sexes is looked upon is really bad. A more constructive and creative approach should be taken regarding this.

This article is tribute to all those real friendships which stood the test of time. The river of troubles and emerged successful. Today, humanity is in a crises; the murders, suicides and everything that’s happening in this overcrowded, over populated world of ours tell the same story. The need of the hour is to be friend each other. We have to let go those stupid egos, open our hearts and share our inner selves, for we have no other choice. The breaking the self imposed prison walls, we have to go out making friends everyday of our life. Friendship is really a fragile and precious thing and it should be handled with care. The one who can win new friends has mastered the art of living and when we look back, we’ll find that we’ve come a long way from the first day we’ve met and every moment of it worth treasuring when the day’s work is done.Let us sing along with Ruth cravens:-

“Golden threads of golden deeds
Rosy tints for dreams come true
For friendships earned and friendships held,
Are the tints of heavenly blue.”

Let us hope, pray and do whatever we can so that our friendship will last forever and ever………

I write this as a tribute,
To those friends who made me
And married me as well
From my very own to the distant ones
Every now and then;
When in those golden oasis
I quenched my thirst of love and companionship,
Till I reached another one.
Closer I got more and more;
And when there was satisfaction at last,
Parting time over to me.
Again the same old story
New and more friends in the gaiety
That fill the heart and air
Well, it seems heart never
Seems to get it’s full…..
And the search goes on…….
Till there is no more paper left for me
To write any more tribute to……..

By:Tony Noble

A Little Understanding...

2009-10-06T21:34:00.002+05:30

A Little Understanding...

My best friend is always in trouble with my teacher. Her crime: she’s always late to class in the morning. She’s so bad at being punctual that none of us, teacher included, expect her in class before half the class is over. All of us have flaws. Tardiness is her imperfection. Sometimes we wonder if it’s physically impossible for her to come to class on time. But friends are supposed to be understanding right? And the only way to understand is to find out why. Why is so late to class every single day? What are the road blocks on her path to becoming a teacher’s pet?

Now, my friend’s a typical teenage girl (although with enough brains to know that Europe’s not a country). Anyways, she lives in a typical teenager’s world where many things are expected of one as a ‘typical teenage girl’. After class, some unwritten rule insists that all of us friends hang around chatting about everything and nothing for at least two hours in our class room or at the bus stop or the friendly neighborhood shop cum restaurant, which means that she reaches home a full three hours after class.

Once home the beast in her takes over and she spends some time nourishing her body, tired from her efforts at fulfilling her typical teenage duties. Being a girl and eighteen, she’s doomed to spend the following two hours taking a bath and grooming her hair, skin nails and eyebrows. She painstakingly scrubs, plucks, waxes, tones and moisturizes. At the end of this tedious routine, she’s left with very little time to do her home work and more importantly, to watch TV to enrich her head with very important pieces of information which every teen should know if she’s to sustain any two minute conversation with her peers. She dutifully spends her time enlightening herself on the lives of reality TV stars, actors and other ‘celebs’. In the midst of these come urgent calls from her friends- boyfriend problems, movie on Saturday? She multi tasks and manages them all. And if, God forbid, any of her friends has a birthday coming up, she has to spend hours deciding on a gift and making plans to bring out that ‘surprise’ every birthday girl expects. After all this exhausting work she logs on to her orkut/facebook/whatever... Account to do the mandatory amount of social net working. She spends hours replying to all those annoying scraps and scribbles and fending off irritating friend requests from either boring people with no profile photos or hyper active ones with 900 friends. Then at last, past midnight she shuts her laptop with tired eyes only to suddenly remember that the assignment given a month ago was due the next day. Ever the responsible pupil, she dutifully finishes it and collapses onto her mattress after another round of combing, scrubbing and moisturizing.

She’s shaken from her slumber by the faithful phone alarm which shouts out some annoying tone. Snooze. Five minutes. There it goes again. Her mom pokes her head into the room. My friend pretends to get up and goes back to sleep. Then a pair of hands, her mom’s physically removes her from the bed and shakes her till she wake up.

My poor friend, with only an hour and a half till begins, takes a ten minute bath and proceeds to dress. An act of no consequence which would take five minutes you’d think. But you’d be very, very wrong. She’s about to make the most important decision of the day in our typical teenage world. That unanswerable question: what should I wear?? She spends half an hour contemplating and trying on different sets of clothes. Then she puts on her favorite pair of jeans and a carefully picked top and proceeds to makeup and do her hair. She tries on different hair dos and then takes a look at the clock and puts it all into a pony. She carefully draws her eyes and lips. She hunts her drawer for earrings and other paraphernalia and puts them on. And voila, she’s done, ready to face the world. Thirty minutes to class. What else? Books! She outs her texts and notes into her bag and stuffs her lunch in. No time for breakfast; she has to catch that last minute bus. She races towards the bus stop; the bus is already there. She runs. The bus jerks forward and stops again for a lady. She waves wildly. The bus passes her by. The conductor grins.

She waits for the next bus. Ten minutes till class begins. Where have all the buses gone? The next one takes another five minutes to arrive. She jumps in. She prays for the bus to over speed. The conductor looks her up and down as she gives him her student ticket change. ‘Card’ he says….She fishes out that scrawny little yellow card. The guy looks at her photo and scrutinizes all the little details in it. He gives it back with the ticket. The bus is over flowing. Guys hang on to the door handles with their life. The driver goes slowly lest he should accidentally shake off some of the people dangling on one side. Old ladies push and shove and mess up my friends carefully combed hair. The bus plods through the dirt tracks which lead to the city.

After twenty minutes of torture my friend is pushed out at the college stop by a torrent of humanity. Her dress is crumpled and she realizes that the bath she took in the morning had been a waste. The class has already started. She rushes with other late-birdies and risks her life crossing the road with no zebra crossings or signals. She walks as quickly as she can. The campus is eerily quiet. She almost slips and falls while climbing the stairs in her clumsy slippers. She runs to class and is joined by other late comers to our class. They wait at the door in embarrassment, as the teacher tries to figure out what to do with them. “Oh, just come in…” she says in exasperation. “The next time, I will send you to the Principal. Why can’t you come to class on time? You’re only students. What’s keeping you so busy that you can’t make it to class on time?”
With all due respect ma’am, you have no idea…

Article By: Nandini M.Thilak,St.Teresa's College

From Cocoon to the Butterfly…

2009-10-05T22:31:00.002+05:30

From Cocoon to the Butterfly…

My life started in a country abroad – in a place of sunshine – the Middle East. To me, that was my country … My native place… My home. I saw India as a strange and foreign land. A place of everlasting rains, mosquitoes, bad roads and overflowing drains. Kerala consisted of people who used a language I spoke with an Anglicized accent. Was this my motherland? Oh no, not at all. I belonged to the Land of Dates, the Island of Pearls – Bahrain.

I had everyone and everything I needed there. My family, friends, a good school and most importantly, a wonderful climate. I was happy. But despite the sophisticated foreign culture, I was a silent, shy girl.I was a s loud as a car horn at home but always as quite as a as mouse outside. My friends were just as quiet and well-behaved in class as I. I was comfortable only with them or my family. I was enclosed in a cocoon and too timid to come out of it. Neither did I try coming out because I was happy where I was.

But then came the day I always dreaded in my life-the day I had to bid farewell to my home. The day brought a river of tears and a heavy heart. I simply could not say good bye. I could not believe that it was all over so soon.

I was plucked out of the country I loved and planted in the land; they call ‘God’s own country’. I did not know anyone and no one knew me. I was very apprehensive about joining an Indian School. The first day of class greatly disappointed me. Everyone, including the teachers, spoke Malayalam. I kept struggling with the language. But a month or so in St. Teresa’s School made me realized that it was not that bad. As opposed to what I expected, I made good friends. Some of them even found my English flavoured Malayalam amusing. Contrary to my friends in Bahrain, the ones here were pretty jovial and fun- loving. Probably because girls schools provided an atmosphere for students to express themselves freely in contrast to a coed institution where girls generally tend to be reserved amid boys. I was used to studying in such a
school. The nature of my friends here influenced me. Next thing I know, I ‘m talkative and fun-loving like them. Life here was better. True, the place had all the flaws I saw in it before, but the characters in my life in India made up for it all. I began to love this place. Now I see it as my country … My native place… my home. My home- away- from home? No, home itself.

But it is not just my friends that changed me. My growing older must have been another reason behind it. I entered teenage – that phase of life where you crave fun, freedom and attention. I began breaking the silence whenever I was among my friends. In high school my name was almost always found in the class perfect’s list of the talkative. Even now some of our good old families friends from Bahrain listen to me speak in amazement. “Is this the real you?” they sometimes ask. “Since when did you start talking?”. “Since 1945 love story…” I say. They laugh more out of wonder than at the ridiculousness of my so-called joke.

But I am not entirely out of my shell. I’m more of an introvert than an extrovert. But looking at the past and comparing it with the present, I see that I have come a long way and I still have a long way to go. It is probably a step-by-step process. I believe that a day will dawn when I will break loose completely. After all, every cocooned caterpillar one day breaks free, spreads out its wings and flies, doesn’t it?’

Article By: Jisha Davis,St.Teresa's College

A Promise

2009-10-04T22:47:00.001+05:30

A Promise

Ask me what my greatest wish in life is and I will tell you that it is to see my father’s family in
Kathmandu. I often dream about going to my ancestral home and meeting my aunts, uncles, cousins and everybody there. People often ask me whether I am a North Indian and I reply in the affirmative. Because if I say otherwise,the next question will be, “Have you ever been in Nepal?” and here I’m silent. What can I say when I have never met my relations nor even spoken to them. Moreover, I don’t even know if they realize I even exist.

I know of them when my Papa tells me his sister is very caring, that his brother are very serious, that his nice had won the Miss Nepal title, that his Mom was very strict and so on. I know through the media that Kathmandu is a very beautiful place but inspite of being the daughter of a native of Kathmandu I have never been to the place. It sounds ironical.

On festivals like Diwali and Holy when my Papa talks of how they used to celebrate them in his childhood days, I can sense a touch of regret and sorrow in his voice. I know he misses his relatives when he is far removed from them here in Kerala, and this feeling surfaces at times when he shouts at me. Being the only daughter, I know what loneliness is. I know how lonely Papa feels in his strange land away from his people.

So this is the resolution I have made. One day, when I am independent enough, I will take my Papa to his motherland and my Mamma to the in-laws she has never met. This is my promise…to myself.

Article By: Tenzing Noryan,St.Teresa's College

Intricate Kin…

2009-10-03T18:59:00.001+05:30

Intricate Kin…

1989 was the year when my mother and I were heading back to Kerala from Delhi. Sitting in the train when my father was outside holding my hands through the window perplexed me, not to mention disturbed me because I wanted him sitting beside me and not standing outside telling me to be a good girl while he was away. Little did I know that my mother was expecting another baby and she wanted to deliver her second child in Cochin?

When the train started to move I realized my dad wasn’t going to come with us and I wasn’t ready to leave him behind. That’s when it hit me that the ice cream he bought me instead was to divert my mind. He didn’t realize that it was him that I wanted and not the ice cream.

I remember I cried for a while and gave my mother a hard time. Over the next few days I forgot the little trauma I went through and started to enjoy my new life in Cochin City. My mother running after me with her belly (I have to say I was fascinated about what was inside her belly), getting me dressed for school, and also getting some grub into my mother… yes, life was alright.

Then one day my mum tells me ‘’Neethu… Appu is not in Delhi anymore ...he is in Jeddah’’ I didn’t care where he was, all I understood was that he was further away from me.

Within a span of 12 month my dad managed to get all of us to live with him as one big happy family .Life went on for 12 years and then it was again time to move away, but this time, from both my parents.
Leaving Jeddah and all the beautiful memories I had was devastating. Even more painful was leaving my dad and mom behind. Joining the college hostel in Cochin was what made me feel that all this was a part of growing up. I learnt to appreciate them more, miss them a lot, pray for them whole heartedly, telling them all the naughty things I did with my friends (of course, gulping a down a few details here and there! ) whenever I got a chance to talk to them over the cell phone.

Now since I am living with my mom and brother, I have started talking them for granted and there are certain inevitable issues that come up in every family.

My dad and mom always thought that I would never miss them when I am away from them, and I don’t really know how to tell them that they are the most important people in my life. One day they think I am ashamed of them and the next day they conclude that there is a huge generation gap. They don’t realize that I grew up looking up to them and if at all I am a little less conservative, it’s because of my age.

At the end of the day I realize that all my dad and mom want is my security and nothing else. What they mean to me is way beyond what I can express!

Article By: Neethu George

Weighing My Life

2009-10-02T20:58:00.001+05:30

Weighing My Life

Last April, when my best friend Jenny arrived from Mumbai, I organized a get-together for all our close friends from school. Everything about this get-together was fun, except, the reaction of my family on seeing my photos with my friends. It was as if my folks were waiting for some evidence to bring up this new issue: I was putting on weight.

Early next morning my Papa woke me up, make me drink a glass of warm lemon juice with honey. We did some exercise for about 45 minutes and then it was ‘counseling time’. My mom couldn’t resist this opportunity and joined in this grant event. My Papa (a journalist) who loves playing with language started talking endlessly about how a lifestyle change would benefit me. I had to do everything in the right way (from taking up the right breathing techniques, to how much water I drink, to posture of sleep …) and thus bringing about a positive vibe in my life. This was new information according to which I must freeze immediately no matter what I’m doing and start all over again. “This will wear me out, if not anything else “, I thought to myself. My mom jumped into the conversation at the first opening she got. She, being a doctor, went on with the medical aspect of being ‘overweight’. Oh, the very term shook me to bits and at the same time I was amazed how many times she used the term ‘endocrinology’ and ‘hormones. For the first time in my life I started hating Biology.

I didn’t understand the necessity of this conference over ‘lil old me’. My friends always described me as a ‘warm, lovable, plump and cheery ‘person. I don’t think I could have described myself any better. Though my vital stats are not 36-24-36 (I think only Barbie has this ratio) I am not horribly overweight either. I believe I am a cheery person who loves to laugh and who eats when hungry. With anorexic looking girls running about the city, should I starve too? (Not in this life!) I can walk, do everything I love and more, and I am comfortable with my own self. “I need to lose a few pounds here and there, but I can’t stop living my life for that “. I shrieked... The only thing I probably cannot do is to lie on the beaches of Goa in bikini (when my buddies and I go to Goa after college is over). But I think I can live with that!

For my defence, I rang up my big brother (a journalist) who is in Pune. ‘’Chetta, our folks are going wild with the thought of making my waistline perfect. Save me please.’ Little did I know that I was adding fuel to the fire? Let me brief you on the background details of my brother. ‘A fitness freak’ is not an exaggeration when describing him. He loves his proteins, biceps, 6packs and thighs and to top it all, he is crazily in love with me. I got half an hour talk on gyms, proteins consumption, calories and ideal weight.

So here I am now, 5kgs down and more to go. Listening to the endless lectures of the three most loving people in the world, drinking 10+ glasses of water daily and doing exercise are all part of my routine. Don’t get me wrong when I say, “I love myself and the way I am”. But I guess I live my family and my peace of mind more.

Article by : Lauella Amy,St.Teresa's College

BEAUTY CONTESTS: IS BEAUTY JUST SKIN DEEP?

2009-09-30T14:47:00.001+05:30

BEAUTY CONTESTS: IS BEAUTY JUST SKIN DEEP?

Once it’s an accident, twice it’s coincidence and thrice it’s enemy action. That’s James Bond’s theory. But when applied to beauty contests, once is get, twice is set and thrice proclaims go proves that dreams backed by perseverance, motivation, and systematic grooming when coupled with confidence can transcend borders, turn dreams into reality. So to dismiss beauty contests as demeaning is to ignore the long roads traveled by women generally and these events specifically. These beauties have made their mark elsewhere and only a blind stupid person would remark that they show a “woman’s body remains her sole identity.”
It selects women who or not just fair to outward view but also epitomize the perfect amalgamation of the heart and the head, beauty an brains. The questions posed are the main yardstick of these contests. It calls not only for the heartening looks but also for cranial stimulation.
Obviously a beauty contest today is big business. The spectacular success of Femina Miss India has infused an astonishing self-confidence into an entire generation of the middle class young woman. They have turned the ‘different’ and the ‘hesitant’ into savvy, sassy girls. They don’t even have to rush home at midnight but step out at the stroke of that swinging hour.
Beauty contests rightly applied to advertising business, can earn an income that can be mistaken for a phone number. My worthy friends may see this as an indication that beauty is just skin deep. But I would say that it is that power that transfers priorities from their deep beauty to beauty with substance.
Yes these contests have impregnated society with a misconception that fantasy is promoted en route to success and starvation is promoted in the name of a perfect figure, transforming it into a social statement. However a deeper insight shows that the fault lies not with the contests but with biased views because we do not accept them in the right sense.
In the end I would conclude by saying that we may learn to walk the walk, have a nose job done, order a smile as tailored as the evening gown, but when we talk the person inside is reflected, and that is what ultimately becomes the deciding factor.

Article By:Soumya Menon

Memories a piece of paper Brought Back

2009-09-28T17:13:00.001+05:30

Memories a piece of paper Brought Back

“Some like golden ships

Some like silver ships

I like one ship…

That is friendship.”

Does not sound familiar? You must have written these words in greetings cards on different occasions when you were say 7 or 8 years old. Definitely not after that ! These words must have found a prominent place in the cards you made for your best friend. And that’s how I got these words too. When I was in the std II my friend wrote these words in the New Year Card she made for me. It was the first time I was introduced to this ‘friendly jingle’ and I was full of awe for my friend whom I believed to be a great poet (I was so naïve…). But then I realized that my friend was no great poet because the same day my sister received those words on a card her friend made for her. And so my sister and I began using the rhyme profusely in whatever we wrote. Not anymore. In fact we stopped using it the moment we got the next one! It went like this:

“I don’t like Sunday,

I don’t like Monday,

I like one day,

That is your birthday!”

And that became a regular in every birthday card I made for my friends. But with time these cute little poems got tarnished (due to overuse of course) and I stopped using them. I even stopped making cards “Why should I make one anyway?” was what I thought. Especially when Archie’s or Hall-mark cards were available. So I switched to tailor made cards perfect for any occasion. So did my friends. No more did we have to write the same old symphony (or cacophony?) of ‘I love your birthday’ on cards made out of middle pages torn out from a notebook. By the time I was ten I had stopped this business of making cards for my friends. And each one of us would look forward to New Year and Christmas to buy beautiful cards for each other. My favorite was the one with the baby Jesus in mother Mary’s arms, in a stable with the lambs and three shepherds standing nearby and cute cherubs floating above.

And I would buy something like that for my friend hoping that I would also receive a similar one from her! And we used to be in such a frenzied state buying cards for uncles, aunts, and teachers…

It used to be much fun. Being on the receiving end gave greater pleasure (it’s the same even now) and the joy used to be greater when a card arrived by post, especially if it was addressed to me instead of my father. It made me feel important and I could proudly say,”It’s mine!”

Article by: Veena M. B

Green Dreams

2009-09-21T11:52:00.001+05:30

Green Dreams

The flight from JFK airport took off at 2200 hours sharp. There was just a humming on the runway, something like anti gravity-a Lufthansa aircraft bound for Frankfurt. Very sophisticated interiors. I had no problem with the legroom. The mood in the cabin was mixed. I could see the silent portraits of separation and colorful rejoicing of reunion. These are normal scenes anywhere. The cabin was agog with the Third language, an assortment of phonetics unknown to all. We were at an altitude of about 30000 feet, the pilot informed in his welcome note.The loner in the New York Light House might be gazing at us at mighty heights, a pleasant guess which I always practice. The roar of the Atlantic was far below the audible fathoms.Looking besides the window seat, the tiny lights of the New York City was fast disappearing. I cried through the windows, “good bye, New York”quite passionately disregarding my fellow passengers.
Most of the passengers now settled in their seats, were waiting for slumber, while I recollected my accomplishments. A first year degree student of St. Teresa’s College, Ernakulam on her way back from USA? Glory to God and St.Teresa’s. The cultural Exchange group of our college was selected to participate in the Global meet for Green Groups. (Glomegg). That was really due to the relentless initiative directly taken by our principal Sr. Christabelle I was picked up as the Green Champion in our college, impressed by my speech on “Talents Day”, about the ways God wants our planet Earth to be always the nicest place to live on, and hoe mankind negates God, the almighty, by including in activities breaking the equilibrium of life through a million ways. I still feel that the aspect of sustainable development using green and clean technology is to be given added importance.
My sojourn at New York happened to be a mixed bag of emotions and experiences. It is not very often that one finds herself stranded in a big city, solely for the purpose of spreading the message of nature.I was new to New York, but New York was never strange to me. The day the flight tickets were handed over to me by Sr. Christabelle, I started to breathe the air of the city, a type of voluntary simulation. I was unknowingly harmonizing with the heart beats of the city.
As a country, the US had updated knowledge in ecological preservation. They were quite appreciative of the Chipko movement, preservation of hermitage mangroves in Kerala through mythical dictations and India’s unique nature nourishment practices. It was enchanting to find a sense of awe for nature in this highly materialistic part of the world.
As we were summing up our summit, something strange was happening-the declaration of Nobel Prize to Mr.Al Gore,for his efforts to build up and spread knowledge about preserving nature and for checking man made climatic change. The gleaming visuals of the winner, a topic for which we had assembled, was adding new dimensions to our mission. All of us felt individually honored. I was personally enjoying the occasion, and was eager to meet him.
Al Gore being enlisted in the high security category, I had to go through great deal of formalities to get permission to visit him. Not wanting to receive so much exposure he declined my request for an interview. But as I was a student representing India in a US summit on “Glomegg,” he agreed to short meeting at his farm house in Tennessee. I chose to travel by road,a rare opportunity to experience the cross section of the country’s fabric. It was a journey from the concentrations of development to the feeble agrarian settlements, which no one would have dreamt of . Anyway, America promotes the sustainability of virgin forest land and the fragile biodiversity connected to it. There was a profound change even in the wind, it carried with it a brisk whiff of rich tillable earth.
Gore’s farm house stood amidst vast wheat fields, a large wood house. After a short security check at the entrance, we walked through the passage, both sides lined with a blossoming garden. His secretary took note of our credentials and withdrew after exchanging pleasantries.
We were soon ushered in to a wood partitioned office room. Al Gore was already there expecting us,and we were awed by his personality. Gore was particularly curious about me, rather young for such a forum. We all congratulated him.”How did the political debacle in 2000 get to influence you as a green activist?” I wanted to provoke him. But he was very calm. “I am still in politics, as a democrat. I feel I have greater role to perform. The White House demands you to be a country wide service provider, whereas sitting in this wheat house,I feel elevated as the ambassador to Mother earth”
He explained to us, lucidly, about some of his ventures in checking man made climate change, which we call the ‘Global Warming’. He was in no doubt the reason of the devastating hurricane, ‘Katrina’ and the scorching autumns haunting Washington every year. “something has to be done urgently and consistently”. He explained to us about the probable reasons for the series of tremors taking place in Indian Ocean, near Indonesia, the flash floods at Oman as examples from Asian continents. My prejudice about a person seeking flash popularity vanished abruptly and I thought of some of the green activists in India and of their pseudo personalities. Mr. Gore was stressing the need for carbon neutrality, for zero effective emission of green house gases as the first priority for any environmentalist.
It was time to take leave. I thought I should not lose a chance to present my case. I told him of Mother Teresa, who was also a recipient of Nobel Peace Prize. “sir,I am also a Teresian.”He was amazed to hear it but to break the suspense.”Sir, I study in St.Teresa’s College.” He was full of praise for the Teresian community spread all over the world. As a ready reckoner he remained me of the social work the congregation is actively involved in. Rather than advocate social retreat, he lauded the example of sister Teresita, who lead the mass movement in Philippines during the civil resurgence in 1986. That was quite unexpected but rejuvenating. He wanted me to be an ideal Teresian. “An ideal Teresian is a celestial angel!”I was moved…. I felt humbled by this person of unbiased wisdom.I thanked God Almighty for encouraging me to present my case fruitfully.
It took me a great deal of time to convince myself that everything was a dream, mysteriously unfolded in thick sub-conscious transactions. But for me, to come out to reality was quite awesome. I was ejected out of Narnia,my dream world.

Article by: Anju Claranel Thomas

Some space Facts

2009-09-20T18:57:00.001+05:30

                                           
Some space Facts

1. The Big Bang theory is related to the creation of the universe from the primordial atom.
2. The word ‘comet’ comes from the Greek word meaning ‘hairy one’.
3. Scientists believe that the greater part of the universe may be made of something called’dark matter’.
4. Cores is the biggest comet discovered  so for.
5. In large stars the heat inside produces iron in the core.
6. Our galaxy,the Milky Way, is shaped a bit like a giant merry-go-round.
7. Gravity is what gives your body weight. You will not weigh as much on the moon as you do on earth. If you weigh 56 kilos in earth, you will only weigh 8 kilos on the moon.
8. Venus shines brightly sometimes in the western sky as the Evening star and at other times in the pre-dawn eastern sky as the Morning star.
9. The year in which Halley’s Comet was first seen is 1759 and the next time it comes near the earth will be 2060.
10. Russian space travelers are known as Cosmonauts and American space travelers as Astronauts.

ArticleBy:Greeshma.C.Anand

ABHILASH GOES TO TOWN

2009-09-19T00:15:00.003+05:30

ABHILASH GOES TO TOWN

Once upon a time, there was a young boy named abhilash. He lived with his family in GAUTANPUR village. They were very poor and were struggling for their bread. Abhilash decided to go to the city and earn money for his family. He decided to go to MUMBAI, because it is known as the land for OPPURTUNITIES in his village. It was the time of his departure his mother gave him a promise to be honest and loyal towards his employer.

Abhilash came to Mumbai, having the dreams in his eyes to make then into reality. He was synchronized by the busy life of this city. From his first day itself, he ran in the search of a job from door-to-door, office-to-office.

He had the talent but no opportunity. He had the skill but no approach. He got disappointed by the strategy and policies of this city. One day he was traveling in the train. Suddenly, he saw a black leather bag without its owner. At first look itself, abhilash got the idea that it must be a bag of a wealthy person with lot of cash inside it. He took the bag and went to his rented house.

When he put his hand to open it, a divine voice came from his spirit. It was the culture inoculated by his mother. That what ever may be your situation, wherever worst it may be, we should never go on the wrong way to help it out. We should never do anything that hurt our god in our heart.

After a long time, he convinced himself that he will not open it and will hand it over to police. He went to the police station and told the whole story. The superintended of police was very happy to here the honesty of this young boy of 18.

Suddenly, he heard a beep coming from the bag. Immediately, the SP realized that there is a bomb inside it. He called the bomb squad and the bomb was diffused. This came as a turning point in the life of our hero.

From panampally to Punjab, Bangalore to Boston, shimla to Singapore. Everyone was appreciating this Indian. Media coverage made him a super hero and government made him a collector. Fame and fans, both were welcoming abhilash. He called his family with win and his parents, his villagers were proud of him. On his post, he did the best possible things for the welfare of the people.

In this district, everywhere there was a prosperity and happiness. The fragrance of joy reached to immense heights. He became world famous, this time for his rules and policies. He was promoted to a minister and he did such a great things that people still remember him and like him.

Story By: RAHUL PANDEY,
St.Alberts College Ernakulam.

CRUDE REALITIES

2009-09-16T22:05:00.000+05:30

Amidst the mushrooming ideas of India, the attempt make rocket fuel as cheap as mineral water is a move to bring down launch expenses drastically. Are we keeping a meaningful silence about the soaring oil prices?

The ‘deadly dependence’ on foreign oil is threatening the very foundation of the energy security of India in an accelerated manner. Oil dependency has become a real challenge to our economy. As the oil price level reaches sky high, government is doing precious little to confront the so called “dependency dilemma.” Oil subsidies provided by the government do not address the hike I fuel price. India, in tune with soaring global crude costs, had no option but to hike the oil prices, which led to anti government demonstrations. Reeling under the pressure, the common man has fundamentally lost belief in people’s government. It has shaken peoples trust in the government ofIndia.

There are several factors that attribute to the skyrocketing global oil cost. The growth appetite for oil in the global economy has risen drastically; oil price hike is a crystal clear indication of the drying up of oil wells. It took millions and millions of years for the formation of this treasure house of energy but within a short span of less than hundred years, the civilized society has consumed more than fifty percent of the total oil deposit. How can we conveniently forget the time when this invaluable energy source was thoughtlessly being destroyed during the gulf war? When the ‘power’ struggle had got American aid, the oil wells virtually turned into fireballs.The present political and labour situation in all oil exporting countries like Iraq, Nigeria, Venezuela and Saudi Arabia has affected its production, and uncertainty in the dollar value has also contributed towards this. In the wake of ‘crude realities’ the government should not turn a blind eye towards energy issues. India should blaze a new trail with technological breakthrough, research, and domestic discoveries and should open up new horizons to explore alternating energy resources.

As India is endowed with substantial energy resources it should harness the energy sources effectively. The nuclear power plant is an easily accessible substitute. We should adopt nuclear power based power generation and transportation. There should be greater reliance on indigenous sources of supply like gasification of coal, biomass,use of ethanol and biodiesel as alternative fuels, the promotion of electric cars, and the use of renewable bio fuels which provide increased independence from petroleum and enhances energy security. Besides the development of hybrid vehicles, promotion of hydrogen cars in India can lessen dependency on foreign oil. India should take over right conservation prices and restructure the economy to plug wastage and inefficient use of oil.

A truly empowered India will emerge only when we tackle our dependence on foreign oil with a strong sense of social responsibility, political censuses and by moulding visionary leaders who refuse to live in the past and are determined enough to script a new future which is free the scourge of soaring oil prices.

Article By: Sheethu Ann George

ENJOY THE GAME

2009-09-14T21:17:00.003+05:30

ENJOY THE GAME

Who gets success in life? Those who work hard would be the answer. It would be more correct to say that those who enjoy their work definitely embrace success. This is true of a student, a doctor or a farmer.

Truly speaking, enjoyment is the key to success. Students who really enjoy learning are naturally the top scorers. They find study interesting and enjoyable. For them, concentration is not a problem. They simply get attracted towards books like iron nails to a magnet.

Many of you must have read the classic, ‘Adventures of Tom Sawyer’, written by Mark Twain. Tom Sawyer is one of the most lovable and interesting characters. We simply love him, his mischief, wit and intelligence.

One day Tom was punished by his aunt. She asked him to whitewash a wall, while other children were out playing. Poor Tom!How miserable he was!

He started working with a heavy heart. A few friends came around. They were curious. Why was Tom engaged in such a dull and boring job?

Soon a brilliant idea crossed his mind. He thought in this manner. Why shouldn’t I pretend I enjoy this work? Without wasting any more time, he told his friends that he enjoyed the work. With a beaming face, he explained the beautiful job of turning the grey wall into a milky-white shining wall. What a job it was!

His friends could not resist the temptation of enjoyment.Each one requested for a share of that job. There was a great demand. Tom rose to the occasion. He charged one penny per child. The work got over within no time. And this time, it was Tom’s pocket that became heavy with the coins.

Tom was really smart. He knew the great attraction of enjoyment. Enjoyment is a million dollar idea. So, if you want success, you simply have to enjoy what you are doing. Enjoy your seminars, assignments and games.

By the way, have you enjoyed reading this?Has a smile brightened your face?

Article by: Monisha Titus

Photo by: Shanu Jose Wilson

Dr. Rajagopala Nair Awarded ‘Sai Samanvaya Award’

2009-09-10T18:31:00.006+05:30

Dr. Rajagopala Nair Awarded

'Sai Samanvaya Award’

Dr. Rajagopal Nair, Reader and Head, Department of Commerce has been awarded ‘Sai Samanvaya Award’ for excellence in human endeavour 2009. This award has been conferred on him for his excellent service in the field of education. He joined St. Albert’s College in 1980. He is an approved research guide since 1995 and has produced 8 PhD’s including the first in commerce from M.G. University.

Congratulations Dear Professor By Your Students...

Habit principle

2009-09-09T18:40:00.008+05:30

Habit Principle

Cultivating good habits and overcoming bad habits is the key to develop a good character and a pleasing personality. Suppose we want to remove a few bad habits from our life we will think like this.

HABIT [We try to remove a little bit of bad habit. We remove H]. A BIT [We have a bit of Bad Habit remaining. So we try removing more of it. We then remove A]. BIT [we have bit of its still there. So we try removing a little more of it. We then remove B]. IT [We find that the Bad habit is still there as it is].

“Bad habits are like a comfortable bed, easy to get into, but hard to get out of.”

Plant a word in the mind, and you will reap as act.Plant an act and you will reap an habit.Plant an habit and you will reap a nature.Plant a nature and you will reap a destiny.

Article By: Shine Antony,Coordinator & Head,

Dept. of Animation, St. Albert's College.

Photo By: Finson

Everything Has Its Share of Goodness

2009-09-08T22:10:00.003+05:30

Everything Has Its Share of Goodness

NOBODY CAN STOP complaining when it comes to Kerala Road Transportation. Pot holes, overly crammed buses, broken bridges… The list is apparently as long as our roads.But the sad part is that not even we college students acknowledge the amount of fun and excuses we gain out of it.

Once when the Venduruthy Bridge had problems, the busses from Fort Cochin side had to go through the Mattammal Junction, via Thevara to reach Menaka. I got into one such bus which was packed to the steps. Somehow I managed to pull myself in, but didn’t have to bother about holding on to the bar. Over crowded buses are such a blessings, especially when your hands are full of files. And let me not forget to mention the benefit utilized by guys who always want to be a step closer to the girls, lest they fall you know!

Anyway, the bus came to a halt abruptly and I remember all of us standing at an angle of 60 degrees. Apparently a few people in the front had lost their hold. Now this provides plenty of body flexing exercises that even yoga can’t provide.

In the next few minutes I found myself standing at the Thevara- junction with a sea of static vehicles all around. I was wondering of the possibilities of getting out of that place and finding an auto, when I saw this familiar face in an auto. I asked her whether she was from STC and luckily for me she was a senior sociology student! She offered me a ride and well, we sat there in the auto for a long long time…

And we talked…. And sat…

Finally after two hours we reached college. The advantage that we gained is that we both spared the tests we were to have during the 1st hour. Moreover, I made a new acquaintance.

They say good things come in small measures. After all it’s not every day that we have a broken bridge or such a heavy traffic block.

So let’s stop complaining folks and acknowledge the small favors that our not so systematic and faithful Government is bestowing on us. Happy Travelling!!

Article By: Nasiya.F

Photo By: Ashish P.H

Why am I here...

2009-09-06T14:21:00.004+05:30

Why am I here...

An author once wrote,”….for those of us who have been born into this world by mistake…”

By mistake? Could that be true? Defenitely not. You are not an accident and most defenitely not a mistake. The very reason for for your existance today is the specific plan God had in mind when he created you- a plan for your well being and happiness and not your destruction.

Our birth itself is God’s plan- a great mystery and in a very real sense a miracle. For we did not choose to be born on our own.

We didn’t choose our gender or the color of our skin, our nationality, height or even our parents! It was all part of a devine design.

And what is more, there are scores of miscarriages happening around the world every year; abortions happening worldwide every single day; still born babies being born every single minute. And yet in the midst of it all, you having been born into this world, you being alive today is indeed a great miracle of God!

Before any of us were conceived in our mothers womb , we were conceived in god’s mind. The bible says that God knew you even before he made the Earth and he had purpose for your life. He has a purpose for you just the way he created you…… God knows exactly why he made you the way he did

Psalm 139 says that he knit you together in your mother’s womb and that he has made you fearfull and wonderfully in his owm image!

God’s plan for your life brings forth love, joy, peace and true happiness, whereas the ways of the world or the Devil’s plan brings about chaos, confusion, inferiority, complexes ,fear and anxiety.

Today I don’t know whose plan is being implemented in your life but the truth is you were created to rejoice in the day the Lord has made.

Once a poor little boy came up to me and asked me for money. I opened my wallet and found a single ten rupee note in it, but it was soiled and shabby. I hesitantly took out the soiled note and handed it to the youngster. His face just lit up at the sight of it and he gladly accepted it with a big, bright smile.

Today our dear readers, no matter how spoiled you may be or how terrible you may feel about yourself, our ever loving and patient Father still looks at you and says……

“I can still do something amazing in you”…

Just as the little boy accepted the soilled note with a smile knowing it still had value no matter how dirty it was and how ugly it looked, God our creator looks at you with compassion and says, “My dear children you are so very precious and valuable to me……”

All you have to do is give him your life and he can make something truly beautiful out of you!!

We sincerely pray this artiicle has been a blessing to you and will lead you to life everlasting in all its splendour!! Be blessed!!

Article By: Anju Cyrus and Nicole Alex

Photo By: Prem and Sankey

The First Student in the College Register- St. Alberts College

2009-09-06T13:33:00.001+05:30

The First Student in the College Register

To be the first link in the golden chain of the illustrious and numerous alumni array of a reputed institution like St.Alberts College on the occasion of its Golden Jubilee is indeed a rare privilege: an opportunity that any one will welcome with great pride. On July 11th 1946 when the first indigenous Archbishop of Verapoly Dr.Joseph Attippetty wrote my name ‘P.A. Paul’ (Pathichery Augustine Paul) in the register as the first student of the newly formed college, that event signified the opening of the golden gate of a noble temple of education to thousands of young students.

I recollect, it was the third week after my admission to St. Thomas College, Trichur, as an intermediate student and I was getting acquainted with my hostel companions. One evening during the usual games time I was called by the hostel warden. He told me that I had to go to Ernakulam and meet the Archbishop. Not knowing the reason of this message, I was a bit perplexed. Reaching Ernakulam on the following day, I came to know that I was to discontinue my studies at St.Thomas College to join the new college and continue my studies. I was much delighted at the news, though with a bit dislike at the thought of leaving behind the friends in the hostel. The following day I went to meet the Archbishop. The newly appointed principal Mr.L.M. Pylee and Msgr. Joseph Vaippicherry joined me at the entrance of Archbishop’s room. Inside Archbishop was waiting for us and with the usual smile he admonished me “Paul, you are going to be the first student in the new college.” Then in the presence of the principal and Msgr.Vaippicherry the Archbishop entered my name in the college register. Ever since he used to encourage me in my studies whenever he met me or wrote to me. I remember that years later when I was a student in a Canadian University in Halifax the Archbishop Attippetty inquired through a letter which branch of Engineering I was studying, and when he came to know that I was mastering in Electronic Engineering, he replied that he was pleased with it, but then he wanted me to graduate also in Civil Engineering, perhaps not aware of the hard toil that goes with it. Later on I came to know that he was planning to institute an engineering college in Kalamassery area where he hoped that I could be on the teaching staff.

Being the first student of a college has its special effects as well. I was given the first seat in the first bench; this was the seating order of students in the class of our English Professor Rev. Fr. Baneventure D’souza S. J. Through this mode of seating arrangement, for Fr. D’souza attendance taking was a matter of a few seconds. Whenever answer papers after evaluation were returned to the students, I was the first to receive the papers and very often my answer papers used to be upheld as models for the students in the class.

When you enter the extensive campus of a long established college with massive building structure, you tend to be over whelmed and feel too much of an inferiority complex. But when the college is newly started, housed in make-shift buildings and temporary arrangements, you are inclined to fell a certain amount of importance and self confidence. This was the feeling I shared with my classmates. The students number was small and the Lecturers and Professors, though some of them very well experienced, were all new to the place as were the students. Thus there was a homely and close atmosphere that helped pleasant student-lecture relationship and well motivated studies. But of the management and heads of departments it was as though a pioneering work. The convenience of the class rooms and laboratories were scanty. Some of the class rooms of the existing high school were allotted for the use of the college. The students of the first intermediate classes assembled in the main hall for common subjects. The laboratories for Physics, Chemistry and Natural Sciences functioned in room temporarily set up with limited convenience. But the Professors that handled these subjects, besides their high qualification and experience, had special excellence and charm of their own. Sri Krishna Moorthy who taught Physics subjects with his energetic yet businesslike approach. Sri. Joseph Kalapurackal, the chemistry Professor was outstanding in handling his subject with a pleasing and in an attractive manner. Sri. Rao taught Natural Sciences . he seemed to throw away topics in front of the students as a challenge. Prof. Sharma who taught Malayalam was really a Pandit. In his gentle and pleasing style he rendered the study of Malayalam literature wholesome for the students. The two memorable English Professors were Fr. Baneventure D’souza and Mr. Velayudhan Pillai. Fr. Baneventure taught English poetry in a very profound style that can be expected of poems like Milton’s Paradise Lost. Prof. Velayudhan was a Shakespear specialist. His commenting lectures on Shakespear’s Dramas were non stop out pouring of ideas, quotations, and annotations. So much so he was better known among students as “Shakespeare Velayudhan”.

In the beginning of the second year two new members joined the staff: two Franciscan fathers from Ireland. Rev. Dr. Luke Burke who assumed the charge of new principal and Fr. Graham who taught us Mathematics. While Fr. Graham was a mild and gentle type, the principal Fr. Burke was tough and harsh as a military commander. The latter was strict on the question of punctuality. Once it was time for Students Union inauguration. Still half an hour to the meeting. Invited guests and VIPs were arriving. The principal was found restless walking up and down the side aisle of the hall. The reason was evident: the Students Union President had not yet arrived and the time for the meeting was closing in. one of the staff members approached him and gave him a plain explanation: as per Indian time, there can be a delay of about half an hour! The principal then breathed a sigh of relief and beamed a smile of understanding. On another occasion there occurred a student strike, not on any issue connected with the college, but due to some political issue. The students were picketing the college gate. Some of them lying down at the gate. When the Principal and Fr. Graham arrived at the college gate, to their great surprise, they found the students picketing. They both walked over the picketing row of the students without any hesitation! If that were to occur in these days, that would have triggered a big commotion leading to violence and rebellion. But on that occasion the rest of the students stood simply watching in dismay and in admiration of Principal’s courage and understanding.

Now on the occasion of Golden Jubilee, through various stages of developments the college has grown to a full-fledged institution with various departments branching into different specialized fields, even to some job-oriented courses like aquaculture and biotechnology and with specially qualified staff. The students who have passed through the venerable portals of the college are now among the walks, status and positions of life in India and abroad. In the array of these eminent personalities I join with pride and joy to salute the 50 year old Alma Mater.

By: Fr. Paul Figaredo, B.A., B.Ed., M.Engg., P.Engg

A tribute to Ayyapa Panicker Sir, On Teachers Day

2009-09-04T20:24:00.005+05:30

A tribute to Ayyapa Panicker Sir.......On Teachers Day

Dr. K Ayyappa Panicker (September 12, 1930 in Kavalam near Alappuzha – August 23, 2006 in Trivandrum) was a Malayalam poet, critic and a scholar, regarded as the pioneer of modernism in Kerala. In poetry, Dr. Panicker is seen as the harbinger of a new voice; and in the field of literary criticism, he ushered in a paradigm shift towards a radically newer awareness.

Dr. Panicker (his preferred spelling) published his first poem at the age of 16. After graduating from the University of Kerala, he took his doctorate from the Indiana University and did his post-doctorate research at the Yale and Harvard Universities.

Dr. Panicker is a recipient of a number of honours including the Pdmashree, the Kerala Sahitya Akademi award for poetry and criticism, the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award for poetry, the Saraswathi Samman, the Distinguished Teacher award, the Mahakavi Ulloor award for poetry, the Kabir Samman, the International man of the year (IBC, Cambridge, UK), the Indira Gandhi Memorial Fellowship, the Gangadhar Meher National award for poetry, the Asan prize, the Jana Sanskriti award (Abu Dhabi), the Vyalar award and Vallathol award.

Dr. Panicker joined CMS College, Kottayam, as a lecturer of English in 1951 and later became a Professor at the Institute of English and the Head of the department in University of Kerala.
He came to be regarded as an icon of modernist culture and thinking and his influence has been quite profound and far-reaching in the entire cultural and intellectual life of the Malayalee. His influence on modern Malayalam theatre and on new playwrights has been of equal importance. G. Sankara Pillai, Kavalam Narayana Paniker and Narendra Prasad have all come under his sphere of thinking. Similar has been the case with filmmakers like G. Aravindan, John Abraham and actors like Bharath Gopi and Nedumudi Venu. A widely travelled scholar and poet of international renown, he was a unique instance of creative and intellectual genius.

To My Sir … With Love

You taught us poetry, we understood Life,
Your comments, suggestions and quaint smiles
Left patterns and new designs in our minds.
Sir, often, you did overcome, moments of strife..........

(read full poem click here Poem)

By: Mary Teresa Lopez,

Former head of the Dept of English,

St.Teresa’s College,Ernakulam.

Funny Things About Famous People

2009-09-03T21:02:00.001+05:30

Funny Things About Famous People

Cleopatra’s last name was Ptolemy,and she was Greek rather than Egyptian

Alexander the great was an epileptic

King cabinet George of England could not speak English.He was born and raised Germany and never learned to speak English even though he was King from 1714 to 1727.He left the running of the country to his ministers thereby creating the first government cabinet.

The German Kaiser Wilhelm had a withered arm and pften hid the fact by posing with his hand resting on a sword,or by holding gloves.

Stalin of Russia was only five feet ,four inches tall.

Shirley Temple always had fifty six curls in her hair.

Pamela Anderson Lee is Canada’s Cenennial Baby,being the first baby born on the centennial anniversiary of Canada’s independence.

By:Anju Antony

A Nightmare

2009-09-02T07:29:00.001+05:30

A Nightmare

It was raining heavily. Ram was on his way back home. He had no umbrella with him. It was indeed very dark. The streetlights were also off. He didn't know what to do: whether to ask for an umbrella from a nearby house or to hire a taxi. He thought that if he chose the first option and went toa nearby house to borrow an umbrella at such an hour (it was almost midnight), people would assume he was a cheat or a tramp. So he decided on the second option. He stood near the footpath to hire a cab or an auto. But there were none to be seen. He did not know what to do. He stood there for half an hour, and then decided to walk. Suddenly the streetlights came on. He saw a beautiful young lady coming towards him. She was wearing sari and had a silk umbrella in her hand. He grew quite scared. He took her for a ghost, as it was the dead of night. She came near him and asked, "Are you Mr. RAm?" He replied in a trembling voice, "Yes; what is the matter?" She said, "I am an angel from heaven. God has sent me to help you in your need. I will take you home. She continued, " Come, let us fly through the stars and clouds to go to your home". Ram could not refuse. they started flying. Ram saw the roads, rivers, churches, postoffice and other buildings. then they flew over a sea. He was frightened that he might fall. Suddenly she dropped him into the sea and he was drowning. Ram started screaming and woke up to discover that it was a "dream"!

By: Haripriya T.V

A 'Beautiful' Experience...

2009-08-29T21:32:00.002+05:30

A 'Beautiful' Experience...

"Make it to Le Meridian at 11 am sharp," is all that I remember after I got a call for Vivel Miss Kerala 2008. To my surprise, Natasha from B.A Communicative English also made it through.

We reached the venue and came to know that like every other Impressario function, this too was starting late. It finally began at around 12, when we all received our numbers and were asked to introduce ourselves and then take the ramp. this was followed by a questionnaire session, where around 5 girls were 'size zero'. Since my answer was good, the fact that I cat walked terribly some how went unnoticed and i got chosen for the final 22 contestants.

The training started on 5th July. A mixture of emotions is the best way to explain what we were feeling then. We made our way to River Dale Resort, where we were allotted our rooms. We then met our trainer Mrs. Ritika and our choreographer Mr. Dalu. Our training started off with a game, in which you had to sell your self with your special qualities. that helped in breaking the ice amongst us. Then we visited radio Mango, and there were visits by the media, Ex Miss Kerala (Ranjini, Roshni) ... All this made our experience all the more to be cherished.

Parties, late night ramp walks, craving for food, no mobile range (I wonder how they found that place ) , visits by different people, photo shoots... So many things happened in just 10 days. I was reminded of I.T professionals who like us, have it all - computers, T.V, internet, save the time to use it. Have breakfast, run for training, have lunch, run for ramp walk. The cookies we got in between where our only energy boosters.

And the final day approached, we realized that we had come a long way and every one present there really deserved the crown. the fight for the crown only started when it was time to set our feet into the spot light. Some say I was lucky, some say it was my confidence, but I look back on these 10 days, and see that I did things that I never dreamt I ever would. And I did it with grace. That is all that matters to me.

By: Pooja Mammen

Inventions- Teleprinter

2009-08-25T22:59:00.001+05:30

Inventions- Teleprinter

The early telegraph had functioned by converting letters and digits into codes. The message could be deciphered only after translating the codes. Because of this we will loose a lot of time. Many attempts in overcoming this limitation had begun in the last stages of the 19th century.
The main aim of the attempts was to invent a device by which the message could be recorded on its own or the message could be recorded as it was.

The first machine capable of recording letters was invented by David E Huges, a professor in the Newyork University, 1855. In practical level , it was very difficult to operate this machine. In 1874,Emile Baudot invented the ‘plain language printing telegraph’ having a keyboard of 5 keys at the point of transmitting messages. The Baudot codes is till used in some modern teleprinters, but it was less precise and less speedy.

In 1898, an instrument capable of perforating paper in the design of letters was made by Donald Murray of Australia.It worked according to the flow of electricity.This instrument led to the invention of the modern teleprinter that could record letters as they were.the first model of teleprinter was made in 1890’s by Freberick G Creed of Britain. But it was Charles L Krumm of America who first practiced the teleprinter.

The teleprinter consist of a typewriter-like-keyboard for transmitting the message and a printer to receive the message. According to the flow of current, the teleprinter records the message in a paper through the printer in its receiving end.In America and Europe teleprinter became very much popular in 1920’s.By 1950’s almost all news- media in the western countries relied on teleprinter for obtaining news. When the world began to move according to the electronic technology the position of teleprinter and other such machines were superseded. The telex and computer networks began to dominate the communication field in developed countries. But it is not fully throwed away , yet it is now using in developing countries like India and in some underdeveloped countries.

Telex is the predecessor of computer network and the internet. By the system, by which the subscribers to teleprinter messages can exchange message among themselves. Government agencies of many countries used the services of telex in the fields of postal department, telegraph department and telephone department. Telex was originated in Germany the system of telex was developed for the first time by Edward Kleinschmidt,in 1914. The telex ‘revolution’ that originated in Germany had spread within a shot span of time, to America and European countries. Telex had become an important part of many developed countries, in 1930.

Messages are transmitted through telex using call numbers given to each teleprinter subscriber. Teleprinter keyboards are also used for transmitting messages through telex. The message received is first converted into electric signals. Later the messages reach the receiver through telephone line. It is again the teleprinter that receives the messages. Telex messages can be printed soon after the receipt and also can be stored for future references. Like the monitor of the computer, telex also has an instrument through which we can see the message. We can transmit upto 50 words per minute through telex. The application of telex came down by the invention of computer and -fax machine. In many countries, telex system working with the help of computers came into force. The rapid growth of computers blunted the growth of telex. Now a day, telex can be seen only in those places where the effect of computers had not been reached.

Inventions- Telephone

2009-08-24T22:34:00.002+05:30

Inventions- Telephone

The telephone is an instrument enabling us to converse with a person at a great distance. The word telephone is derived from two Greek terms – Tele-meaning 'At a distance’, and phone-meaning 'Sound'. In the language of Suence, telephone is an arrangement to convert sound waves to electric waves and then to convert electric waves to sound waves again. Nowadays Telephone has become one of the important means of communication. People from near and far communicate through this instrument.

Scientists had started attempts at broadcasting the human voice as far back as in the 1800's.It was Sir Charles Wheatstone himself, one of the inventors of the telegraph, who had initiated this search. During the course of his search, he developed the enchanted lyre, an instrument that could broadcast music from one room to another.

In those times, persons travelling in ships and trains are seated at a distance, used to talk through certain tube like devices. Children of those times used to talk with each other through two tins tied at the opposite ends of a thread. Children in our country-side might have engaged in such recreations. These references indicate that broadcast of the human voice was not a novel idea. On the contrary, the challenge faced by scientists was to invent an instrument capable of broadcast.

Alexander Graham Bell of Scotland researched on how sound could be transmitted and received. He had researched for long on the telegraph, and it was not surprising that he thought of using electricity as the conducting force of sound had struck his mind.

In fact, Bell had invented the telephone during the course of his attempts to modify the telegraph. When he started his researches for telephone in the 1870's, nearly 30years had passed after telegraph had taken roots in society. Then, the Morse code consisting of dots and dashes was the basis of telegraph. For telegraph, there was heavy loss of time for decoding the message, besides the demand for service of experts for decoding or translating. In addition, the telegraph had not the capacity of exchanging so many messages simultaneously.

Bell, in joint efforts with Thomas Watson, tried to transmit sound with the help of electricity. He had clearly understood how the human ear identified sounds, and in 1874, he explained the working principle of the telephone. In 1875, Bell and Watson jointly developed an instrument that could transmit sound. They found that variation in sound effected corresponding variations in the electric flow. It also came to their mind that the telephone could become a reality only if an arrangement for recording these variations in the electric flow was developed. So they began their attempts to devise such an arrangement.

On 10th march 1876, Bell and Watson invented telephone. Earlier Telephones could be used only for exchanging conversation between people in adjacent rooms. Continued experiments by Bell and Watson enabled the distance to be enhanced by miles. In 1877, telephone wires extending upto a distance of 3 miles was set up.

During 1876 - 77, some professors who conducted research in the Brown University jointly produced a telephone of a smaller size. In1877, the Bell Telephone Company was established for industrial manufacture of telephones. In 1878 the first telephone exchange came into existence. In 1879 telephone subscribers started to be allotted 5 -digits numbers.

The field of telephones subsequently witnessed unforeseen development. Mobile cellular phones have become very common today. Besides, the videophone system, enabling the persons at both ends to see each other on a screen and to talk has become a reality.

By: Remya Krishnan

An Appreciation to the poem,''MIDDLE AGE''

2009-08-23T21:27:00.000+05:30

The Neglected Motherhood

The elegant poem written by the renowned Indian poetess, Kamala Das, speaks of the dismal state of a mother whose love is rejected by her son. She vividly depicts the loneliness and avoidness of the middle aged people. The poetess, develops the poem and picturizes the hard life of middle aged people through the hurted heart of a poor mother whose full fledged intimacy and motherhood are neglected by her son.

In the middle age, the children became critical and unfriendly by using harsh words towards their parents. Here, the mother is very anxious and alert about her son. But being in a self-thrilled fantasy world,the son finds no importance of his mother, unless for serving hot teas and pressing clothes regularly. The same time, the mother wants her child to be beside her in each moment as the life turned her more dependable towards the son. As the time, the son becomes an individual with a self sustaining personality, he starts breaking the affectionate hearts. The mother cannot scold and hug the son freely, instead she herself wraps all her pain within her and weeps secretly by touching the trifiles of the son. The adult ego makes him hating all the amusing plays and funs once made by the mother to enjoy the child. As he grows, he views them all with a deep aversion and a hatred heart. And also the son makes her remember that the time has come all its way to wind up the mother's useless dreams and expectations.

The short and excruciating poem of Kamala Das touched my heart so deeply. As I go through the lines, I could easily feel the doldrums of the middle age. To a woman, motherhood is a part of her feminine self that yearns for love and its fulfilment.But the harsh realities of the adolescent stage splashes it without any hesitation. The poem has a remarkable role in the modern society. The time, I finished reading, I could hear the cry of a poor hurted heart of a mother.

Love

2009-08-22T23:18:00.002+05:30

Love

Story behind successful life

Well what is a successful life? An important question that must be asked to yourself in this time of your college day I will give certain common option

1 to get good scorings in your exams
2 to get a higher salary job
3 to make money and reach the hill top where abani in now
4 to have a beautiful wife

Well choice is yours but I can guaranty one thing that every success will end up in your mind itself because joy and happiness of life starts from the heart and end up in the mind. Can you distinguish difference between mind and heart well in my view heart is the thing where your wishes or ambitions have there birth and mind is thing where it end up i.e. heart will always beat for something and when you achieve it, the mind will give you the sense of joy.

Well for a person successful life is a comfort life where even if there is no money or job then too if you a hope you life is a blockbuster success, in this section I am going to tell you about this hope.

Hope, all the hopes are based on a four letter world, you have most heard of i.e. simply love

You would have heard and read many articles on love. And recently in our mace campus itself I heard about two types of love

True love

Fake love

And also another type of love when a rocking hell boy making a girl more attracted to him wasting his whole semester and finally when he opens his heart she says. ”what….ah.ah..you r joking dude.we r just friends da “ well is this a true love or a fake one? But what ever it is, it is confusing.

Our campus itself is ruining the meaning of love. “Love is thrust and belief “, I read it in a magazine. But do you understand the meaning I will give an example take the case of armed men at the border they r thrusting each other in their every moves, well r they in love? Of course they r. they are betting their lives in each others thrust and love.

I think, you got an idea about what am I saying...

Well do you think why most of the arrange marriages are said to be successful than love marriages, answer is simple. All marriages can be success. If the couples can see himself or herself in the other one eyes .its not based on their looks or their wild behaviors which we may think to be odd. But if these odd seem to be okay with the guys so there will be love and love only. most of the relationships r based on the ideological similarities between a couple as an instant take a case of dude who like to work hard and earn money with that buy a brand new bmw . And without finishing a week he crushes it with his will we may think its mad and the lady whom he marry .her first wish to god will be to change her husband this madly behavior., but if she likes this strange behaviour it would be a pleasure full family life. We may feel bad about this mad family because we know the value of a bmw. But it’s their life and they have every right to enjoy it by crushing what ever think right.

Well another think I notice in our society is that even if couples r not satisfied with there life they r adjusting each other. I think this is the point where the success of arrange marriage lies well if couples can adjust and give honor and thrust each other then life is simple and no matter whether marriage is arranged or not.

By: Jaikishan T S