India votes 2014: Can the electorate call for change from 'Pseudo-secular to 'secular'?

It is indeed interesting to watch the poll scene in India as the electorate gets prepared to cast their vote to send their representatives to the 16th Lok Sabha. Candidates are not running after the Aam Admi but after religious leaders perhaps to get their blessings and to influence a community under them. A welcome relief was Nandan Nilekani who decided to meet the Aam aadmi by travelling in buses and meeting people at their homes.

In the South Indian state of Kerala, Deen Kuriakose, a Youth Congress President and Idukki constituency candidate was virtually snubbed by Bishop Mathew Anikuzhikattil who also criticised outgoing MP PT Thomas and accused youth congress leaders for being arrogant and immature.

Leading comedian, Innocent contesting as CPM independent in Chalakudy constitutency also first went and met Christian religious leaders before beginning his campaign. Even as his name was proposed for LDF candidature, he met Catholic Archbishop of Thrissur Mar Andrews Thazhath and held talks with him. But Times of India said that he declined to divulge details of the talks.

Meanwhile, KPCC President V M Sudheeran sparked a row when he went to Nair Service Society (NSS) headquarters in Changanacherry in Central Kerala (Nairs represent upper class Hindus)- he didn't wait to meet its President Sukumaran Nair but went off in a hurry after paying tributes at Mannam Samadhi. It was considered improper and an insult to NSS.

One may wonder why religious leaders have say in politics when they should be confining themselves to religious and social activities. It was even evident in the case of Kasturi Rangan committee report which suggested several measures for the protection of Western Ghats. Several religious leaders also came out against this report which prima facie doesn't seem to have suggested eviction of existing houses or plantations identified as fragile and hence not permissible for human habitation.



Despite the 42nd Amendemnt of the Constitution declaring India as a secular republic, there is a strange intrusion of politics into religion and religion into politics. As some one jokingly put a Facebook book post: "I will only vote for a secular party but the candidate should be from my caste."

What the framers of Indian Constitution intended was not this kind of a secular India. People have the right to hold on to their religious beliefs and propagate them but State has not religion.

Policy makers at the centre considered minorities as vote banks and hence their appeasement caused Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS) and its political outfit, BJP to emerge stronger over the years, according to one theory.

I can't understand why such differences were allowed to crop up once we declared the nation as 'secular', That is where the Aam Admi party is giving hope to the electorate as their major objective is not appeasement or propagation of Hindutva but fight against corruption and bring in good governance.

Readers ar(e requested to air their views on this interesting issue either in comments section or could send their write up to sreekumsree@gmail.com)

Is the Indian System of academics a Boon or a Bane?

By Darshan Sreekumar

   The Indian system of academics, like CBSE and ICSE, focus on teaching every single subject available. This starts from Primary School. The students are forced to learn all the subjects on the pre-defined curriculum, whether they like it or not.  They don’t care if a student is incapable of grasping a particular subject (say, subject ‘X’). They just expect him/her to somehow study and pass the exam, and the student if he/she fails in the Subject’ X’ exam, is detained. The question we need to ask ourselves is- Is this the right way??

Definitely not.  Each one of us has strength and a weakness. Nobody is perfect. What Indian system measures is the perfection put into each subject. This is what the student is assessed on. That is not what should be done. The students’ strengths and weaknesses should be identified, and they should be judged according to the perfection of their strengths.  My dad, once told me about his classmate in high school, who was kicked out of school because he failed in languages. However, he had scored 100% in mathematics. This is what my dad said: “this guy was amazing... he could solve math problems from 10^th grade when he was in 6^th grade. Think of it!!! However, with the way our system judged him, he was considered as ‘utter failure’. This unnamed person, is currently doing some business of his own, and couldn't come up in life the way he would have if he were a mathematician. We lost a great mathematician because of our poor judgement.

Well, if this is how it goes, I wouldn't be surprised if India’s development goes at a slow pace. We need to encourage students to pursue what they are capable of and what they love doing. This is the only way we can boost our development. In India, most parents force students to take up Medicine or Engineering as their subject in college. Why?? Just because they think it is the most paid job available. Seriously people... Think!!!  Those times are long gone!  This is the time of entrepreneurs and innovators. In today’s fast world only innovations can survive.  I'm not saying that students who are wholeheartedly interested in engineering/medicine should be pulled back.

This is the beginning of a new world. A world, where life is fast and systematic. In order to keep up, we have to change our academic system and our stereotypic minds. This is not only for individual development, but for the development of the entire nation.  We HAVE to opt for a change.  It’s up to the people to decide what they want, and I’m saying that this modern and ideal academic system is what we should try to implement.



This article was written by my son, Darshan, who is a 15-year old high school student... an avid music enthusiast, learning drums, guitar, and vocals. He  also has a passion for photography and technology. 

Music and Sound: Be your own Resul Pookutty!

By Sreekumar Raghavan
If you love hearing music, you can do so while working on your computer or even while reading and doing household chores. Tired of listening to music from Youtube using coventional headphones which was causing pain on my ears, pulled it out from the jack. Why not use the single jack head phone and connect it to green audio jack on the front of your PC?

To listen to or record music you needn't be a Oscar award winning Resul Pookutty or for that matter know anything about acoustics or physics. I tried it out with amazing results. All you need is a Realtek Audio and desire to listen to some good music.  If you are listening to your favourite classical Hindi song of Kishore Kumar you could perhaps opt for a 'room' atmosphere and select 'bass' or 'party' mood appropriate for the song. If you are listening to a rock or jazz, you have the option of 'auditorium' or concert hall and 'Rock' and 'Pop' settings.

For Chitti Babu's 'Temple Bells', rendering on Veena: 'Auditorium' and 'Classical' effect were just right while a Rafi melody was more melodious with a 'soft' and Rooom setting. Salil da's Chemmeen hits can have the appropriate 'sea' effect created in RealTek.

If you want to feel like Pookutty moving some tabs up and down, you have that too: Wave, S/W Synth, Front and Rear settings which can be adjusted to suit your taste.If you are recording with a micro phone, you have the option to adjust line, CD, microphone volume and do some + and - with stereo mixing.

When you do these with the basic features of RealTek, you learn what digitisation can do to music- both vocal and instrumental. Then you understand even an average singer's rendering can be made powerful at the backend with some intelligent technology.

Why buy iPhone, when you have better options??

by Darshan Sreekumar.

The apple iPhone, is pretty much like its name. It’s just an apple. People prefer to buy apples instead of bananas or gooseberries (which are much more nutritious) just because the apples look cool and are expensive. Same way, people prefer to buy apple Inc. products because they look cool and are expensive. There are many companies like Sony, Nokia, HTC, etc. which offer way better phones with bigger, sharper displays, better durability, faster processors, and better cameras, all at a much lower price. However, due to the iPhone’s high price and cool looks, it has become a sign of wealth and style. This attracts buyers from all sides. Personally, I prefer Sony Xperia Z1 over an Apple iPhone 5, because the Z1 is bigger, faster, user friendly, more durable (water, dust, and shock resistant) and is comparatively less expensive. The iPhone is not durable. All it takes is a strong bump, and the next thing you know, you're picking up iPhone pieces from the ground. Another main demerit of iPhone is its connectivity issues. You can’t send to/ receive from another non-Apple device via Bluetooth.

iPhone’s Wi-Fi hotspot can be accessed by another Apple product only . This is a quite a disadvantage when other phones in the market can connect to, send to, and receive from, any other device (except Apple products, of course). The other day, I was looking at Nexus 5 and Moto G, both from Google. These phones look cool, are lightning fast, and have crisp displays and mind blowing cameras. However, the mere fact that they are not expensive puts them behind the iPhone. What most people look for is something to show off with. When you have an iPhone, it highlights the fact you are rich enough to afford an expensive iPhone.

Think about Micromax and Xolo, which make cool phones at low prices, but aren’t noticed because they are not “popular”.

Google’s Android OS, used by many smartphone manufacturers today, is much more versatile, user friendly, and can perform more activities than Apple’s iOS.

The iOS has its limitations and cannot be customized beyond a limit, unlike Android which has no limitations, and can be customized to any extent. The only advantage of owning an iPhone is that you can show off. Nothing more, nothing less.

If anyone asked me to recommend a mobile phone manufacturer, I’m pretty sure my answer would be “Go for Sony, Nokia, HTC, Google or Samsung. But definitely not Apple”.

Please note: I mean to criticize no Apple products other than iPhone. I find iMac, MacBook, and iPod very useful, sensible, and impressive.

This article was written by my son, Darshan, who is a 15-year old high school student... an avid music enthusiast, learning drums, guitar, and vocals. He also has a passion for photography, technology.

Animal stereotypes in stories: My cat is adventurous!

Do animals have the characteristics attributed to it in stories that we tell our children? Is fox so cunning? Or for that matter the crocodile? Is elephant as intelligent or ants naughty?

Such stereotypes have found a place in children's literature and they get repeated again and again- it gets entrenched in our minds.

One of the bed time stories I weaved for Diyah the other day has a Pussy cat as the central character who is adventurous.

There was a pussy cat that liked to climb trees no matter what the height. The granpa and grandma in the house was scared of it. They woudl often shout: 'Pussy you will fall down." It fell several times, but landed on all fours and escaped injury.

On a this day, the cat wasn't lucky. It slipped  from a coconut tree into a nearby well. Tiger the dog began to bark inviting the attention of every one. Grandpa and Grandma rushed to the well to find Pussy hanging by its forelegs about to fall.Grandpa and grandpa shouted loud, "Pussy in the well" while the Tiger continued to bark.

Balu, a 8 year old boy staying next house came running with two poles. It helped support Pussy hind legs with one pole and kept the other one on top so that it can release its fore legs and catch on to it. All those gathered around slowly pulled the poles up while Pussy balanced its legs in two poles.

And soon the Pussy was out of the well and ran to the front of the house. Grandpa was eager to scold him but Balu said let it take a well deserved rest. All those gathered showered praise on Balu for saving the Pussy.

But there was no stopping the adventurous Pussy much to the dismay of the grandma and g

randpa.Meanwhile, I found Diyah fast asleep as the story ended.

An evening at Cafe` Papaya

By Darshan Sreekumar

Hey Guys, This is the review of Café Papaya, located at Palarivattom, Cochin.

Well, it was just another Saturday morning and my dad was going through ‘The Hindu’ newspaper, when a news column caught his attention. A Finnish musician named Rasmus Pailos was performing at Café Papaya. We had never heard of Café Papaya, and upon enquiry, we found that it was just a two minute walk from our house. We went there a few minutes before 8pm, when the programme was supposed to start. The place was mind blowing!!  A totally contemporary design, blended with modern art and a library. A wonderful, mesmerizing description of the café stands beside the entrance. “We have designed this place with the intention of reviving the 80’s nostalgic atmosphere, and the concept of listening to music over a cup of coffee,” says promoter Jithu.  The moment the door closes behind you, all personal concepts of time stand still.

A heavenly ambience is created using dim incandescent bulbs. A mini theatre sits there, awaiting keen musicians.

A small but diverse menu filled with delicious salads, cakes, and beverages, both hot and cold. It goes easy on your wallet too..!!  The library and the living room- inspired styling make you feel the comforts of your home.  Best of all, Papaya expects more of a family crowd than a bachelor crowd.

(The author is my Son, a high school student and avid music enthusiast, learning drums and guitar)