Media -Time to do away with Q & A interviews and redefining News

Following Jayalalitha’s death, Karan Thapar’s interview with J Jayalalithaa done in 2004 has been shared and discussed in social media and other media. Karan Thapar himself had written about that interview and how some questions just slipped from his tongue and made him miserable. Those who have analysed the interview will understand that the questions were a bit shallow and it was preceded by the statement- the’ press says’, or ‘press alleges’ or ‘the media said.’ This is the way most interviews are conducted on TV and also other media.

Perhaps, it is time to rethink about how to conduct interviews not only for the print media but also for broadcast media and online.

1.Why not stop Q & A: The traditional mode of interview is for the journo to ask questions- it may be factual questions, questions on policy, controversial questions. Although a minister, MLA or MP represents the people and has an upper hand or authority, he or she still is not the single source for all the answers related to an issue.  On the other hand, if it turns into a dialogue where the interviewer uses his knowledge, insight gained from the field to express his comments or allow viewers to send their views and get it aired, it makes sense. Party’s or coalitions views on specific topics can always be send as press release and published if it is so important.

However, this requires considerable reading and research by media and it is not that easy. However, if you go back to the Karan Thapar-Jayalalitha interview- both of them had sheets of paper before them but what was the information or data she wanted to tell. Was there any hard numbers or achievements she wanted to highlight?

Ultimately, a politician’s success should not be just confined to analyzing their victory, defeats in elections or even how people view them but by what changes they made to the State or the country. Is Tamilnadu better off than it was in the 1980’ and early 1990’s? Was Amma’s popularity due to the free sarees or subsidized rice she provided?  Has there been real industrial and economic growth and do investors feel happy with the State Administration? If the media has hard numbers or evidence related to this, it would have given any Chief Minister-whether it is Jayalalitha or Karunanidhi facing the camera a really tough time.

2. Going for TRP and popularity

Media being another business, news has also become a branded commodity. Each programme or a section in a news page may be designed in such a way as to attract maximum readership or TRP rating.

Thus Hard Talk may have a particular pattern of tough questions and answers that may put some leaders in a spot but most often as Jayalalitha says it doesn’t add any value to the viewer.

3.Looking at unusual patterns

The media makes news by pointing out something unusual somebody does. It has to find something unusual in people, events, leaders whether it is negative or positive. The doc who popularized ‘lateral thinking’, Edward de Bono,has pointed out this uniqueness of the media. That perhaps make them celebrate successes rather than find out why the majority fail.

4. Redifining News: News is not the traditional North-East-West-South concept of information coming from different directions. But it should try to answer questions that are relevant to the common man-whether it concerns the banking system, utilities, economic growth, performance of a government or a minister.

Remembering a 'sallapam' with Manju Warrier

By Sreekumar Raghavan
Last week,  Malayalam cine stars Dileep and Kavya Madhavan surprised many with their wedding held at Kochi which many close to them came to know only in the 11^th hour. There after social media was populated with supporters of Manju Warrier, who couldn’t digest the news of Dileep uniting in marriage with Kavya. Manju is yet to comment on the Dilip-Kavya wedding.

I remember the only interaction I had with Manju in 1998 along with my journalist friend Ashik who was freelancing for some publications. He was assigned to do a piece on Manju for a Bombay tabloid. I used to help him edit his copy and rework his intros as he was more comfortable with Malayalam than English. He requested me to accompany him for the interview with Manju at Pankaj Hotel. She had come there to perform at the Soorya Dance Festival and the meeting was arranged by Surya Krishnamurthy himself.

I remember going there at 8 am and Manju was dressed in a churidar looking more like a college girl. Her parents were there in the adjoining room. My friend plunged straight into the controversies in her career including the elopement from the sets of a film with the assistant director. He asked whether it was part of a move to give pre-release publicity to the film as some people claim. Manju was not surprised or taken aback by such questions. But her father intervened and said such questions can’t be allowed.

He had agreed to the interview only because Surya Krishnamurthy recommended and that no personal or controversial questions will be asked. The total time allotted was 30 minutes and Ashik still persisted with the questions concerning her affairs and rumors of marriage. Her father called me and said such personal questions should be avoided and the media should focus on her career. At this point of time marriage and all these affairs will only harm her career, he said. He felt her acting career would be totally upset by marriage.

After some time Ashik seemed to give up because of the frequent interventions and he also did not see any story in writing about her films and dance performances. I intervened once or twice to ask about her forthcoming films and also the dance performances. Very soon, her father announced that our time was up and they had to move on.

I had also not asked my friend what questions he would be asking but I felt the concerns of her parents were quite genuine. They had taken lot of pains to groom the artiste in Manju right from school days when she became Kalathilakam. The same year we interviewed Manju, she got married to Dileep.

I helped my friend write a short piece based on our meeting with Manju where the focus was on her upcoming films although we may have just mentioned about the controversies and her refusal to comment on it.

I forgot all about it until the other day when she began to be featured in the media following Dileep’s second marriage. What her father said has turned out to be true. She decided to marry when her career was at its peak and the Malayalam film viewers many times pleaded for her come back.

As I take my little daughter Diyah for various dance, music and sports performances, I realize a lifetime of hardwork and care Manju's parents took to groom a talented actress. She is back to the big screen again and let’s not put the spotlights again on her personal life but help her make it big again.

Chicken Puffs for Rs 250, the Economics Actor Anusree doesn't know

Some news sites reported about Actor Anusree’s shock and anguish over paying Rs 250 for chicken puffs, black tea Rs 80 and Rs 100 for Coffee at a restaurant in Thiruvananthapuram International Airport. When she posted this on her Facebook, several netizens protested against the Kitchen Restaurant that charged such high rates for snacks and beverages.

A Member of Parliament (MP) from Kerala is expected to raise the issue of this fleecing at the airport in Loksabha.

Actress Anusree's profile pix in FB and below her post related to Chicken Puffs

Those who have read Freakonomics, the best seller by Stephen J Dubner and Steven Levitt will understand that such premium pricing in some locations is not unusual and is quite universal. The places where you may have to shell out such premium prices for mineral water, food, beverages  are in cinema theatres, railway stations, airports, on flights,  beaches, tourist centres and five star hotels.

In these places, the seller has a monopoly, there won’t be any other seller offering at a competitive rate and the nearest seller may be a few kilometres away. Those who are thirsty or hungry need to pay higher rate at such places but if they can hold on and take the trouble to go a few kilometres they’ll get more variety fare at cheaper rates. It’s your choice.

There may be other factors behind the higher prices. The vendor who runs the restaurant at airports or railway stations may have paid a huge license fee to get a space there and may be paying higher rent compared to a similar place in the town or city. Remember, not many people will buy huge quantities of snacks or beverages in airports or five star hotels or inside flights.

In a flight you may have to shell out Rs 500 for a sandwich supplemented with ketchup or assortments whose actual value may be hardly Rs 50 or 75/-. Once a co-passenger in a Kingfisher flight from Bangalore told me he never thought food is not given free in budget flights but he chose not to buy despite being hungry as he was not willing to shell out Rs 500 for a small pack of food.

In Thiruvananthapuram International Airport, if the particular restaurant sells 100 pieces of puffs daily (quite unlikely), their earnings would Rs 25000 and sells hundred 100 cups of coffee(Rs 10000).  A business outlet in such a place needs to have atleast such volumes to justify their existence there – after all they need to meet A/c, higher rental, employee costs, raw material costs and their potential is limited to number of passengers who may choose to buy at this rate.

My wife who checked in at Taj Hotel in Chennai the other day said Idli, Vada and Tea for breakfast costs Rs 500 and she chose to go to a nearby local restaurant and got it for less than Rs 100. In fact, many people who stay in five star hotels don't eat from there unless it is sponsored by their company or somebody else.Why pay more if you can get better quality at very reasonable price from a way side dhaba?

Price is not cost + reasonable profit

Many people think, price of a product is just cost plus reasonable profit. But most often that is not the case. It is basically about how much the customer will be willing to bear and uniqueness of the product. Value rests in the mind of the buyer. You are the king, not the seller. 

Pricing (Price theory)  is an important topic in micro-economics and it is difficult to go into the nuances of it all in this blog.  I don’t expect Anusree , a talented actress of Diamond Necklace, Mahashinte Prathikaram and Oppam fame to know all these things related to economic theory but going by the huge number of shocked people who reacted to her FB post, I am worried a large majority doesn’t understand it at all- despite the fact that we are all consumers in one way or the other. 

Tailpiece: Anusree comes from film industry where super stars get crores of rupees from a single film and ordinary people who earn below Rs 500 per day queue up to watch them do all sort of stunts and drama!

  

Stray Dogs: Are we barking up the wrong tree?

I remember in my childhood in Thiruvananthapuram where I used to be chased by stray dogs when I went cycling near my house. Then you have no way out but pedal as fast as possible so that it won’t catch up with you. There is a famous joke which appeared in Reader’s Digest at that time. Someone sees a neighbor rushing and he says he has to catch the 4.30 Mail.  “If you see my bulldog you will catch the 4.15 express.”

How much adrenalin is pumped during such times when we face a ‘fight or flight’ situation?  Now the newspapers, television and social media is full of news about stray dogs and how it is becoming a menace to society.

(Photo Courtesy: www.kochousephchittilapilly.com)

These are the people fighting the issue out in the streets:
1) Maneka Gandhi , a union minister (for women and child development and nothing to do with animals!), animal lovers and ofcourse,Ranjini Haridas, a leading TV personality.

2) Kochouseph Chittilapilly, successful industrialist and philanthropist who believes a man’s life is more precious than the canine’s.

Most of the majority including the government seems to be onlookers in this fight.

There is some truth in what Kochouseph Chittilapilly’s argument that a powerful lobby led by pharma companies producing anti-rabies vaccine may be in the forefront supporting the animal rights group. Recently, our pet dog Zoe (Dasch) while playing bit my daughter Diyah’s fingers. We had taken Rabipur injection of one year validity for the pet and our Vet assured that there is nothing to worry. But since there was a wound we took her to the nearest private hospital and there the doc suggested we take five doses of Rabipur and also Human immuno globin which costs Rs 7000 or more. He said vaccines are not stored properly and there is a chance that my pet dog may have rabies.

Imagine if it were a stray dog that bit my daughter, how much will these hospitals extract from you capitalizing on our fear?

But Maneka Gandhi and people like Ranjini Haridas whether they are funded by any lobby or not are out of sync with reality. There are people who have been bitten once by a stray dog and perpetually in fear of the canines.  How gruesome it is to be bitten by a dog? How many of these animal lovers have suffered it?

The Solution

Some suggest sterilization of stray dogs, but that doesn’t address the issue of rabies. Some others advice killing them mercilessly whether infected or not.

The solution lies in setting up more animal shelters, killing only those badly infected and letting people adopt them after proper medical examination and certification. Not all people like the canines but if one in hundred homes adopted one dog, most of the bad news you hear on the streets would be a thing of the past. I need not emphasize all the good things that come with keeping pets more over dogs are good security guards keeping watch over you 24/7 365 days of the year.

(I welcome comments and opinions on this issue and will be glad to share in my blog-write to sreekumsree@gmail.com)

Handicap no hindrance for amazing feats

Anish Mohan based in the South Indian state of Kerala had high hopes when he attended an interview at Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after completing a diploma in instrumentation with top honors. However, fate had something else in store for him. On his way back home from the interview, he was run over by train losing his right hand and left leg.

Most people going through such setbacks lose all hope in life and become totally disappointed. Nothing could stop the dogged determination and will power of the 26 year old Anish who with the help of an artificial leg and hand managed to undertake the difficult Sabarimala Pilgirmage walking several kilometres and climbing 18 steps apart from driving a car on his own. He is now engaged in several activities for handicapped people or differently abled. He has urged the State Government to have separate parking lots space for differently abled people in public places.

Alexis Leon is now a familiar name for computer engineering students as most of them may have read atleast one of his best -selling books. After a brilliant academic career, Alexis got a good break in India’s premier IT company Tata Consultancy Services where he was blossoming as an ace software programmer when he was involved with a major road accident that crippled him for life. He was on his way to meet his fiancé and mother who had come Chennai for shopping for the wedding which was hardly a few weeks away. He was confined to the wheel chair for life but doctors helped him move his hands all the while this accident couldn’t dent his indomitable spirit. Now living with his brother, Alexis Leon continues to write amazing books which are a delight to read for IT students and enthusiasts. According to Alexis Leon, if he hadn’t become a paraplegic such good books may not have seen the light of the day.

We have any number of examples of people who have fought courageously a handicap which could have crippled their ambition and hopes but decided to fight courageously with a never-say- die attitude.
Sudha Chandran, a dancer who lost her leg in a car accident continued to dance using the Jaipur foot (artificial leg) became a household name with the release of the film Mayuri featuring her in the lead role as the dancer. In the film, Mayuri’s lover leaves her on seeing her handicapped after an accident but thereafter returns once she becomes famous. But Mayuri rejects her lover keeping her self respect intact. The film produced by the legendary South Indian film maker Ramoji Rao went on to become a success at the box office and remade in to several other languages.

In my childhood I was inspired by a former military employee who lost a leg while on a pilgrimage to Sabarimala. Using crutches he learned to walk with one feet and also climb on a bicycle and ride fast. It was a delight to see Appu Pillai cruise along with other cyclists on busy roads  and on steep roads he took the help of autorickshaw drivers who allowed him to hold the side bar of the rickshaw to enable him to overcome the steep road easier. He also started his own small shop selling sweets, juices, biscuits and fruits.

Lessons to live by
When an unfortunate incident makes you differently disabled,  not many people are able to overcome the adversities and get ahead  in life. Most often they had decided not to remain idle so that they are not dependent on somebody else either physically or financially or as Alexis Leon said if he had confined himself to bed for life, his parents and brothers who loved him dearly would have become crippled at heart.

Secondly, technology has made amazing strides to make life easier for differentl y disabled. But it takes determination, enthusiasm and courage to make use of these innovations as they may not be easy to use in the beginning. In the case of artificial Jaipur foot, it requires months of practice and also the user needs to undergo lot of pain before it can be adjusted for their requirements.

The handicapped people themselves have been in the forefront of making policy changes to help these public user public services such as buses and trains. Now many public transport buses have special seats reserved for such people and has lowered the height of floors. In many public places and commercial establishments, convenient parking space is reserved for different disabled. Most often the same people who required it had to lobby for it to get the facility mandated by government.

In many countries, government establishments have special quotas for these talented people to jobs according to their skill and talent.  If you look around, you can see healthy people giving lame excuses for not doing a job properly or blaming the government or  others for not able to become an achiever. It is most often our mindset that determines our future not our disability.

There is a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna in Mahabharatha on how to get ahead in tough times- ‘always look at how far you have come rather than how far you have to go. Always count your blessing, not what you are missing’.  According to Stephen Covey, only 10% of what happens is in our life is beyond our control – for eg. a bad behavior from someone, an accident, a setback in career or life, but the rest 90% is in our hands, how we respond or manage that determines things to come.

Fighting on the streets, TV & social media: Journos & Lawyers setting a bad precedent

For the past two weeks, the fight between lawyers and journos in Kerala High Court and District Court in Thiruvananthapuram is being discussed and analysed widely in social media, newspapers, TV and in public forums. I don’t have all the facts related to the incident but from what ever has appeared, I think much of the opinions expressed have been one-sided, negative and not useful to create an atmosphere of trust and goodwill between the warring factions.
If this trend continues the situation would be like the India-Pakistan dispute which never ends because some people never want it to happen.

Even leading newspapers such as the Malayala Manorama reported that the fights erupted with media men because of the reporting of the arrest of a government pleader for allegedly trying to molest a woman on the street.  Later discussions in TV have revealed that there has been simmering discontent among lawyers and journos that boiled over after the arrest of the government pleader. Media men have said that lawyers are not pleased when coverage of a case or about lawyers is not favorable to them.  Politicians, policemen and businessmen all have grudges against media when they are not happy with a report concerning them but it can’t be helped.

Some recent incidents that may have disrupted the good relations between media-men and legal fraternity :

1) Media reporting of government pleader’s arrest and its live coverage shown in TV. The Deccan Chronicle news about differences of opinion in High Court Advocates Association over how to handle the government pleader’s case which turned out to be false and subsequently apologies tended by the paper.

2) Media reporting over the controversy of a legal advisor position given by the government to a senior advocate Mr Damodaran.

3) Media men getting access to details of a case and publishing judgment before lawyers get to know it.

4) Abuse of three senior women journalists at the Media Room including Preethy of Mathrubhumi.

5) Senior Advocate Ramkumar stating in Mathrubhumi News Super Prime Time that it was three women journalists who started the issue leading to fight between media and lawyers in High Court.

Soon after the open fight between journos and lawyers in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, Facebook was filled with posts that used the most derogatory language with both sides abusing each other blissfully forgetting that they are part of Judiciary that represents the third estate and press that is the fourth estate. Several people were eager to share the videos and photos that appeared in the press and social media – having a sadistic joy in discussing and spreading it.

Among the various opinion and analyses that came up after the incidents—Adv Jayashankar, Sebastian Paul, Adv Sivan Madathil, Adv Kaleeswaram Raj, Adv CP Udayabhanu, and Babu Bhaskar, veteran commentator- columnist (Read his column in Edit Page of Malayala Manorama dated June 25, 2016) stood out but not to forget the lone female voice from the legal fraternity- Adv  Sangeetha Lakshmana who took exception to the boycott call by High Court Advocates Association boldly stating that she would appear for her clients when the name is called.

The relevance of Third and Fourth Estate
The Indian Constitution has provided the framework of judiciary to examine disputes related to laws passed in Parliament and legislatures, and to try civil, criminal, and governmental cases. Freedom of the press is derived from Article 19 (1) of the Indian Constituition which gives the freedom of speech to citizens of India. The executive consisting of council of ministers and officials runs the government administration and are accountable to legislature and Parliament.

All new laws and constitutional amendments are passed by Parliament which is then sent for approval of the President and in State assemblies to the Governor.  Then we have the Police which is responsible for maintaining law and order again subject to rules and laws of the land. All the four estates have a meaningful role to play and what they do have an important bearing on the common man. Therefore, it goes without saying that our elected  legislators (members of parliament, assemblies and local panchayats, municipalities), ministers and officials, judiciary (judges and lawyers, supporting officials) and media (tv,radio, online, newspapers and magazines) should maintain the highest professional ethics and decorum in their day- to- day activities and when disputes arise between the estates.

Relevance of Media Relations Committee
The Supreme Court Chief Justice and Acting Chief Justice of Kerala High Court were quick in appealing to the warring factions to calm down and seek a solution through dialogue. Kerala Chief Minister also used his good offices to set up a Media Relations Committee in High Court having representation from legal and media fraternity although Babu Bhaskar pointed out that fewer members are there from the media. If you look at the Press Council- it’s mostly headed by people from the legal fraternity and not seasoned journalists.

The setting up of media relations committees is a welcome step and in future if all disputes between media, police and lawyers were first referred to it and settled there a war-like situation can be averted. Many media men doubted the utility of a committee as Police Media relations committee is dysfunctional for a long time.  It’s true that journos work under daily deadline pressure and some of them also face constant threats from politicians, government officials, businessmen, police, legal fraternity for exposing some misdoing. At the same time, it is the responsibility of newspaper managements to ensure that journos doing court reporting are of of high caliber who are capable of understanding and analyse the court rulings and procedures. The alleged violation of laws in reporting the arrest of government pleader could have been avoided if norms were adhered to by the Police and media men.

There should be a high level discussion between Chief Editors of newspapers , TV channels, Online portals with judges and lawyers , police representatives on the ethics to be followed in Court reporting and the code of conduct to be followed by all the stakeholders in the four estates or pillars of democracy.  Each pillar cannot do without the other and therefore why this unnecessary fighting. Let each member of these estates make use of the privilege to serve society rather than misuse it and cause trouble to common man which in turn lowers their esteem and public image.


Tailpiece:
Justice Abraham Mathew of Kerala High Court observed that the new laws  (probably passed by legislatures and Parliament) in vogue create the impression of a blind men seeing an elephant. It is because of ignorance of existing laws related to the new law that is creating problems, he said. (So now we know the need for strengthening all our pillars of democracy) if the citizens are to gain anything from them!

Vista: When talent meets opportunity at Rajagiri School

School children have a heavy load of books, assignments, assessments to go through from day one of every academic year- no matter whether it's dark clouds, rain, lightning or thunderstorm. No doubt their career fortunes are impacted by the number of A+, A’s in their report cards.

Globalisation has brought a new challenge to our school and college education. New job opportunities are now more in private sector than in government and more people may need to start new ventures rather than seek jobs as technically qualified and skilled people.



Children who finish school need to have multiple skills (sports, games, art, culture) apart from good academics to emerge successful in their career. Traditional school festivals that only assess singing, dancing or music skills may not suffice in such a scenario.

It is against this backdrop, that some institutions have come up with novel cultural festivals that bring out the best talent in children to fore front  and give them the much needed confidence regarding their capabilities. One such cultural event is Vista organized by Rajagiri Public School, Kalamassery.  Individual talent does matter but more importantly team building, leadership, sports man spirit will decide the true winners.Here's a peep at what is going to happen at Vista 2016:

Dance, Drama, music….puzzles, quizzes and more…

-How about enacting a character from Vaikam Mohammed Basheer’s literary works or a sing a folk song with harvest, festivals and Kerala tradition as the theme and test your knowledge of the state’s rich art, culture and films through MUTHUCHIPPI. These are not for the big boys though. Only Classses I & II are welcome.

-For slightly older students (Class III-V)- WORDSMITH gives the opportunity to test their competency in words, spellings, anagrams…authors, and if you are kid is fond of grammar rules, this is for you.

-Get the fear of mathematics out from your kids with PROBLEME DE MATHEMATICA- it’s filled with puzzles, riddles, quizzes and you need not be a tiny Ramanujam to take part in this though. Again only for Classes III to V).

-Heard of decathlon, marathon, biathlon … . if cycling, running and swmming is your forte, TRIATHLON would be ideal . All that you need bring is shorts, tees, canvas shoe, swimming and plenty of energy and enthusiasm. The bicycles are parked here.

- Chefs and needle masters have the FRILLS and THRILLS to prepare a tasty falooda with the ingredients provided and give that extra punch with the surprise ingredient provided.

- ALCHE MYSTERY- if reading the biographies of scientists are your passion, this game is for you.  And a good working model for making our surroundings greener would clinch you the prize.

For the big boys/girls:Classes IX to XII

-Do you mean business? Do millionaires, billioinaires excite and motivate you. You must be adept at marketing as well. What is your Profit Quotient is for the budding entrepreneurs and business leaders of tomorrow.
-Then for the artistic there are the street play –Theruvarangu and  La Symphonie D’Emotion for the rhythm, melody and harmony conscious.
-Save the Earth---that’s the only one we have. Use hip hop, contemporary dance to depict the challenges facing our planet in Bhumikkoru Kuda.

When and Where
With hardly a two weeks to go, kids should gear up fast-call 0484-2911202, 2911230 or www.rajagiri.ac.in for registration. Venue: Rajagiri Public School-Kalamassery. Organised by Rajagiri Public School, Parent Teacher Association.
 

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How to fight Obesity among kids?

If you randomly look at the kids coming out of school buses in any city, you are likely to find more oversized girls and boys in skirts and shorts than normal ones. Dr Abraham Paul, a renowned paediatrician in Kochi warns that rising obesity poses huge health risks later on in life including cardiovascular disease, diabetes and other life style diseases. In a recent interaction titled 'Know Your Child' with parents of Rajagiri Public School, he underscored the need to be vigilant against health hazards, learning disorders and inability to adjust with daily challenges that growing kids may face in the modern era.

I remember in my childhood days after a hard days study at school, we would come home, have some thing to eat and then straight away go to play—it could be badminton, cricket, kho-kho, or a game called ‘seventies’ or just run around catching each other. All the fancy fried foods now available in bakeries and super markets were unheard of those days. Obesity at that time may have been confined to less than five percent of the kids and that too because of genetic or hereditary factors than lack of physical activity.

Dr Abraham K Paul said that colas, samosas, burgers, fried foods, biscuits are all high calorie stuff that require heavy physical exercise to burn it out. For example, a samosa may require one hour cycling to burn the energy generated while 3 biscuits at a time would require one hour of swimming to neutralize it.

Good food habits: Start Early
Dr Abraham Paul warns that undesirable food habits are learned from early childhood when parents try to force feed a child who refuses to eat. He advises parents to introduce vegetables, fruits and cereals at the age of nine months to one year. A child may not agree to eating fruits or vegetables at higher ages say, five, seven or ten if he or she hasn’t introduced to such food by the age of one. Parents have a tendency to force feed a child who refuses to eat there by creating stress. Slowly, the child learns to eat whenever it is stressed, thereby causing fat build up in the body.

In infant years, parents have a tendency to grind five or six food items into a paste and then push it in their throat. This will only lead to the child not getting a sense of taste for food and ability to chew food properly.

The rapid decline of play area, more emphasis on class room learning, more time in front of television while munching fried snacks all add to the unnecessary fat build up in kids, according to Dr Abraham Paul.  He suggests schools should provide four hours of physical activity every week and they should maintain a height, weight chart and look for obesity signals in children to initiate remedial action.

In many play schools and kindergarten, milk and biscuits are provided as snacks during first break in the morning and in the afternoon. This becomes habit forming and lead to fondness for refined food which are unhealthy because of preservatives, oil content and fat.

My daughter Diyah had the habit of asking for biscuits every day and now I told her about Dr Abraham Paul’s advice and atleast for a day she didn’t ask for new biscuits. We are not sure when she goes to another house, she may be offered biscuits and might eat.

The Solution
In the absence of play area and physical activity, kids can be prevented from becoming obese by avoiding calorie rich junk food and reduce TV watching. They could also be provided opportunities in indoor play, learning music, encouraging reading and so on.

Let’s not make  promising citizens of tomorrow end up popping pills, using insulin or going for early cardiac surgeries. Time to act is NOW.
(Please mail your suggestions/comments to sreekumsree@gmail.com or post it here itself)

What matters more for us – Indian identity or religious identity?

India by its Constitution is a secular, democratic republic. What is meant by that? Every person has a right to believe and worship his religion. Over a period of time, if we really went by the ideals of our Constitution we would have gone a step further and truly appreciated the good in other religions.
Lighting a lamp is considered sacred in Hinduism and in Christian functions you find candles are lit.

Islam doesn’t sanctify the lighting of the lamp and therefore some leaders of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) refused to light the traditional lamp during a government function in recent years- it included P K Kunhalikutty and E Ahmed, both ministers at State and Centre respectively at one point of time.  But recently at a function in Rajagiri School, Kochi, APM Mohammmed Hanish, an IAS officer and Secretary, Education lighted the lamp, so did V K Ibrahim Kunju, former Minister and MLA who attended the function.

A Lamp is considered to awaken our consciousness and shed the darkness of ignorance with the light of knowledge.In many houses, lighting the lamp in the morning and evening is a ritual and is considered to bring positive energy.

And now Shailaja Teacher, a CPM leader and Health Minster belonging to LDF government in Kerala has taken exception to the recital of a Hindu prayer during the state level celebration of International Day of Yoga on June 21 at the State Capital in Thiruvananthapuram. In Chandigarh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi described Yoga as not a religious tradition but a scientifically proven method to attain health and wellness.

I hope most Communists are atheists- so is Shailaja Teacher. She may have differences of opinion on the issue of reciting a prayer in the beginning of a Yoga programme but she shouldn’t have expressed it at the venue. It could be construed as disrespect to millions of believers in Hinduism in the same way she was arguing it could have hurt the sentiments of non-believers or followers of other religions who may have their own methods to attain concentration of the mind before a yoga session. Photos of her not being involved in the meditative session and looking angry was splashed in the newspapers and television. Sitting by her side was V S Sivakumar, MLA and a former minister in the State. If every citizen of India is keen on seeing Yoga as a scientific way of attaining health and wellness, will this public outburst by a Minister and leader help in any way?

Shailaja Teacher has pointed out that as per the Indian Constitution there are believers and non-believers.  But my reading of Article 25 reveals that Constitution is silent on non-believers or atheists. It doesn’t mention any such term. It only says Citizens and even aliens in India are free to profess, propagate their religious faith and State does not have any religion of its own. My interpretation is that the Constitution is silent on non-believers. It is only bothered about people who are keen to believe and profess a religion about which it is quite neutral but enough safeguards have been put so that there is no governmental promotion or funding of any religion and state the right to impose restrictions if their activity impinges on public order, morality,health, social welfare and reform …

What is more important nationality or religious identity?
I am coming back to the question raised in the beginning of this piece- are we truly secular? Are we Indians first or religion matters more.  A boy or girl of different caste or religion falls in love but when they decide to marry- obstacles start coming in front of them- either of them will have to convert to other religion if the marriage is to happen. 

Religion was no obstacle for them to fall in love, how come they become vital for married life? You are constantly reminded of your religion and caste as every government application form or a registration form to an educational institution carries question on religion and caste. I know a girl who applied to Christ University and stated her religion and love and truth. She was given admission and completed her course.

You go to a restaurant and order food—who are the people who work behind the scenes to make it- to what caste and religion they belong and even the waiter- do you ask his religion before you eat the food served?

Our framers of the Constitution allowed religious freedom with a good purpose- let the citizens find their own ways to be spiritually uplifted but possibly never wanted people to be identified with it even as it gave the freedom to publicly air their beliefs and practices.

With religion being a powerful force across the world, how did a minority non-believers or atheists come about? Is it because Karl Marx and his lineage believed that religion is the opium of the masses and was critical of it? Or is it because scientific reasoning and temper helped temper blind belief in religious practices? How come the large number of scientists adore the Indian scriptures and see the wisdom and see the omnipotent, ominiscient force that is invisible to us?

Understanding the role of Legislature, Executive, Judiciary, Fourth Estate

Most people agree that democracy is one of the best forms of governance compared to monarchy, dictatorship or military rule. India has more or less followed the British Parliament but has a written constitution unlike Britain.

The other day I was listening to an interview with G Sudhakaran, Minister for Public Works and Registration in Kerala State with senior journalist Hari S Kartha of Amritha TV. He pointed out the paramount importance of Constitution. Every law, every ruling and government order has ultimately pass this important test- whether it is constitutional or unconstitutional.

Recenly the Inspector General of Registration in Kerala issued an order stating that citizens are free to write documents pertaining to registration of will, sale deed, agreements and need not utilize the services of document writers. As in any other state there may be more about a lakh or more people dependent on this job for a living. They protested and the concerned Minister G Sudhakaran said it was not a ministerial ruling but within the power of IG to release such an order. It may be recalled that citizens are free to argue their case in court and not seek the help of advocates.

The power of Minister/Officials- The Executive
Many people think the minister in the state and central level has tremendous power and authority. They have all facilities. They rush about in state cars, are invited for functions, do foreign trips, are respected because they have some constitutional authority vested in them. However, if you look closely, the ministers still have some limitations. They can take policy decisions in consultation with cabinet and can make some key political appointments to top posts.  But government has its own rules and procedures that are laid down from time to time and are based on our constitution. These are implemented by various levels of officials (IAS, Gazetted and non-gazetted officials).

My mother has a building in Trivandrum where the first floor was not initially having separate door number. When assessment was made for separate door number, the new building tax was set at a higher rate. However, since my mother didn’t file an appeal within fifteen days, corporation officials refused to accept the appeal. But later on it was informed that any pending issues with any department can be redressed through Chief Minister’s Grievance Cell in the Secretariat.

My mother filed an appeal before CM and it was forwarded to the Local Administration Department and subsequently to Trivandrum Corporation. However, the Corporation officials said the appeal was not filed within 15 days and government has to condone the delay. A reply given by my mother to this government clarification was not acceptable. Thereafter, I met the officials of Local Administration Department (LAD) after six months when nothing was working out. They said the entire paper work was a waste of time and my mother needed to write a request to LAD Secretary to condone for the delay and make reassessment of tax. The LAD Secretary said people have a feeling that if they write to the Chief Minister or concerned minister, every issue can be solved. But there are some rules and procedures, executive authority lies with the concerned secretaries or officials. Once the application for condonement was moved things began to work swiftly. He himself admitted that many procedures and systems in government had no logic or was beyond common sense.

In some cases a gentle push from the concerned minister or private secretary can help matters but mostly it’s not the case.

The Ministers have the right to formulate policies. For eg. the decision to close down liquor bars in Kerala and restrict it to five start hotels was a policy decision.  So was the decision to close down arrack distillation and sales. Whether more money should be allocated to government schools, hospitals and public utilities are done by the Finance Ministry but they are based on requests that come from various departments or ministries. There are also checks and balances here. The Finance Minister has to get the budget approved by the legislature or parliament – which basically contains a large number of proposals for new projects or existing projects.

The Legislature
it is the supreme law making body in the state and large number of new bills may come before it every session and they are discussed, analysed and put to vote. The elected representatives bring a variety of issues facing their particular constituency before the government for redressal and the minister is briefed by the concerned departments and a reply is given. Amendments to existing rules and acts, allegations of corruption, red tapism,nepotism in departments are also brought to the notice of the legislature by the legislators. The Governor’s Address (although he is only a titular head) to legislature spells out what the government intends to do in various areas concerned the citizens and also its key policy views. When a government says its policy is against conversion of agriculture land for commercial purposes any deviation in this regard may be questioned by the Opposition. The Right to Information Act, Anti –Defection Bill for legislators were all brought to bring more transparency and responsibility  for officials.

The Judiciary
The judiciary has a vital role of examining whether a particular act passed by legislature or parliament is as per statutes laid down in the Constitution. That again brings to the fore the supremacy of our Constitution.  Nothing on this land can violate it.  The judges also examine each case and issue based on whether a particular rule applies to it and whether it is constitutional or not. In recent times, judicial activism has come to the forefront and sometimes they seem to trespass into legislature and executive functions. However, it could also be because judiciary has to intervene when legislature and executive don’t rise upto the requirements of the public in certain issues.

The National Green Tribunal established as per the National Green Tribunal Act 2010 of Parliament has the power to issue directives that are related to water, air pollution, biodiversity, environment protection and so on. Recently it issued a directive that in Kerala diesel vehicles above 2000 cc engine capacity and more than 10 years old should not ply on the roads in select cities. The State Government has gone on appeal as several of its buses are much older and also Motor Vehicles Department had collected road tax for 15 years which means there will be huge fund requirement for refund of tax. This issue came up because all these years we promoted diesel vehicles subsidizing diesel fuel . This killed the petrol vehicles industry and also there was no incentive to move to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or LPG. The resulting pollution has forced the NGT to issue directives to limit the use of diesel vehicles.

The Fourth Estate –Press
In a democracy, free and impartial press has a big role to play in basically providing information to public. Their power comes from Article 19 (1) of Constitution with respect to Freedom of Speech and right to information but there are enough safeguards to protect an individual or institution from defamation, libel,slander etc.  Accredited journalists are provided freedom of movement and entry in key institutions to enable easier access to officials and information.

Democracy-Theory and Practice

Ideally, democracy should work fine because there is a well-defined constitution, institutions and procedures. Then there is the press to function as the watchdog and judiciary to examine cases related to constitution, crime, civil issues. But it also requires men and women of impeccable character, education, vision and outlook to hold top positions of ministers, secretaries, directors. The other day, Anup Kurivilla John, IPS, Superintendent of Police (SP), National Investigation Agency  pointed out that public service to which he belongs is indeed a noble profession to pursue. That explains why having an LLB degree from National Law School, Banaglore and thereafter an LLM from Harvard University,

Recently we saw young IAS officers in Kerala taking up cudgels against established business houses. Many people came to know of the power of Chief Election Commissioner only after T N Seshan donned the mantle so was the case with Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) when Vinod Rai was at the helm.

There are some who feel  C Achutha Menon was the best Chief Minister that Kerala ever had but some others also point to the vision and leadership qualities of K Karunakaran which was unparalled. The nation was also fortunate to have A P J Abdul Kalam as its President.

It is an ideal mixture of law abiding citizens, right policy decisions by government, timely framing of rules by legislature/parliament, judiciary that is not hampered by lack of judges and infrastructure in view of large number of pending cases, the media that performs the informative and watchdog role and above all faster adoption of e-governance that will make democracy worthier.///ENDS

Who’s a Sports expert- a minister or someone who loves Sport?

I was prompted to write this piece after seeing bombarding of trolls against Kerala Sports Minister E P Jayarajan’s comment on boxer Mohammed Ali. How come the Minister didn’t know about Mohammed Ali? Or what was the need for Manorama News to elicit the views of our sports minister on Mohammed Ali? Wouldn’t it have been easier to find a person knowledgeable in boxing, a boxer or someone who has observed Mohammed Ali’s career to comment? How many of us are eager to hear what Sports Minister E P Jayarajan has to say on Mohammed Ali unless he is a boxer himself or known to be knowledgeable about boxing?

I think there should be a serious rethink in channels on how to identify experts in various field to talk on a news break or development. I remember Narottam Puri, the ace cricket commentator of 1970’s and 1980’s who was a friendly figure in both Doordarshan and AIR. He had statistics at the tip of his tongue and knew the game well. He was not a cricketer but a practicing ENT Surgeon who found spare time to indulge in his favourite hobby. His father was also a commentator, Devraj Puri and his father was his role model in commentary. What distinguished him from an average commentator was his passion for the game and his job.

In my childhood,when there was no TV or cable, we were glued to our radios to hear cricket updates . For a complete story of what happened we had to rely on the likes of R Mohan of The Hindu, Rajan Bala of the  Indian Express whose writing was interspersed with quotes from literature and most often they so graphic in their writing that we used to read and re-read it. They were not mere reporters but had a passion for the game and its rules.

Similarly I have found lot of people who closely follow global football and cricket and whose knowledge of the game has astounded me.  Manorama News or other leading channels will never take the pains to identify them or project them. It is always better to go behind popular names and titles- who is going to question them.

By the same yardstick, if something happens to Bill Gates our news anchors will ring up our Industry Minister and ask his views which I am sure would be another big disaster unless he is an IT expert himself. This is not journalism. As a former journo, I am pained to see the depths to which our journos are falling. Journos are also not infallible. Sometimes they learn through trial and error. I was once stumped when a senior businessmen in travel industry asked me who are the people who have done something for Kerala’s Tourism? I didn’t have a clear answer and the names I gave were all wrong. Then he talked about Late Minister PS Srinivasan, Jose Dominic (CGH), E Chandrasekharan Nair and so on.  Later on, I interviewed Jose Dominic for a story on Commodity Tourism thanks to  K C Chandrahasan  of Kerala Travels who opened my eyes.

Later doing agri- commodity stories, I understood that the most knowledgeable people were farmers and not scientists and researchers in our universities who drew fat salaries.  There was no one who knew cardamom and pepper in India as much as Sebastian Joseph, who developed the high yielding njallani variety that revolutionized cardamom cultivation in Idukki. I had the good fortune to meet him and was instrumental in getting him a Life Time Achievement Award from Spices Board. How many channels or newspapers have gone to him for his views on spices cultivation in his life time? He was not a PhD holder but stopped studies in 4^th standard.

This is the age of specialization. If you ask an IT specialist any topic related to IT he may not be able to answer. It’s not their fault. Also if you ask a physician or a surgeon a query, he may not be able to help unless it is his field of specialization. A cardiologist is not likely to know the latest advances in ortho surgery or opthamology.

The duty of a journalist is not to just expose some wrong doing or go behind gossip but do something that creates value to society. A journo is not a specialist but most often a generalist but that doesn’t prevent them from finding experts in an area and do stories with them. That is the minimum they can do to minimize their own lack of knowledge being transferred to hapless readers.

The E P Jayarajan incident or Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan incidents are all eye openers to not only journos but to the public as well- don’t laugh over the ignorance of someone but search for experts who can enlighten you! 

Twin objective of exercise- building body and mental muscles

By Aswathy Visweswaran**

Early morning scene in cities- stadiums, parks, and roads are all alive much before the rising sun. You will find young men, women, old men and women either walking, jogging or do stretching excercises. If you quiz them you could get some common reasons why they have all hit the road early in the morning:

-High Cholesterol
- Blood pressure
-Blood sugar
-Over Weight (Body Mass Index -BMI over 26)
-Belly fat, thigh fat
-Knee Pain, back pain

Still others rush to the nearest gym – do cycling, treadmill, bench press, take the dumb bells, take weights and so on. Their intention most probably could be to build muscles and keep fit.

Why do Excercise?

It is a fact that with more mechanization, computerization many of us are glued to some computerized device, forced to sit for more hours and leading a sedentary life even at home. Not to forget the high fat, high cholesterol, high protein diets, oil foods that clog your arteries or high fat deposits on your tummy. No wonder many succumb to first minor heart attack before 40's. Without exercise you are likely to be unhealthy and witness some of the symptoms given above.

Contrary to popular perception exercise is not only for building body muscles but also mental muscles. According to Chris Paley, author of Unthink (Coronet, UK ,2014). exercise is also beneficial for self –restraint. It helps in dealing with distractions, less TV watching, willingness to wash dishes at home and so on.

Is Exercise alone enough?

If you do one hour of exercise and increase your food intake especially sugar, oily foods, and fat, whatever gains made are quickly offset.  Health and fitness requires moderate exercise and balanced diet as opposed to dieting or starving. Balanced diet- is a mix of vitamins, proteins, minerals, fat,anti-oxidants …

There are others who are lazy and try out quick slim formulas sold either as capsules, powders or compounds from over the counter (OTC) in medical shops and super markets.  They are marketed as herbal, ayurvedic or natural products, whatever it means.

The harm created by dieting need not be over stressed- it leads to deprivation of essential nutrients in the body, lack of oxygen flow to cells, and overall weakness. Their role models are the the ones who appear on TV, banner ads in newspapers and magazines.

NB: If you are excercising or doing regular workouts, it is better to get the advice of dietician or nutritionists on what to eat before and after the workout.

#Advantages of Exercise
- lowers heart rate
-lower blood pressure
- lowers probability of cancer in women (endometrial cancer, liver cancer, ovarian cancer,bladder cancer, blood cancer)

-improves physical and mental alertness
-helps in weight management
-helps in toning of muscles.

The popularity of Dance-Fitness
Many people get lazy with morning walks and jogging after a few weeks or months, gets disappointed with workouts in the gym, still others who shell out INR 15000 to 25000 to have exercise machines or treadmills at home, only to give up after the initial enthusiasm is over. In many homes, they become the favourite hanging place for your Tees, vests and briefs in bedroom and balacony!

It’s when many people give dance –fitness a try. Zumba has emerged as one of the top favourites as it appeals to all age groups from Kids to old age – Kids Zumba (7-11), Jr Kids Zumba (5-7), Zumba (18-50), Zumba Gold (50 years and above), Zumba Toning (to keep muscles in shape), Aqua Zumba. Zumba is a Latin American dance-fitness program that integrates the best of dance forms Salsa, Cumbia, Regaetton, Merengue accompanied by entertaining global music. Beto Perez is the creator of Zumba Fitness formula that keeps your mind, body agile and brings an amazing change in your lifestyles. Zumba burns upto 800 calories an hour. Aerobics continues to appeal to all age groups due to its scientific methods and music based workouts.

Wishing you all success in health, wellness efforts!

(NB: Those having heart, asthma, ortho or other medical problems needs to first consult a doctor before joining for any fitness program).

(Aswathy Visweswaran is a pharmacist turned Zumba Fitness instructor well-versed in diet and nutrition. She is the co-founder of Beats 'n' Steps, a dance fitness studio in Kalamassery, Kochi and mother of two children). For any suggestions and queries- write to beatsnsteps@gmail.com or call Prasanth-9895611537)

**(Edited by Sreekumar Raghavan)

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Painting without Brush,Ladders and Horses

Those who have seen a house being painted knows how messy a work it is. First the painters put on the work clothes. Use sand paper/emery paper or stone to clean to scratch the surface to a smooth finish. This will bring all sorts of dusts, old cracked or peeled paint on the floor and the room will be filled with smoke.

Next they use two buckets to mix the paint using a stick or by hand. For height they need the ladder or a contraption which in Malayalam is called “Kuthira” (horse). In high rise buildings they put up bamboo poles which are tied to each other in layers horizontally and vertically for doing exterior work. They place a plank at suitable heights to sit or stand and paint.

Once the painters complete  the whole process their pants and shirt will be messed up with paint and if they don’t wear a cap, their heads will also be quite colorful.

Traditional painting is indeed labour intensive activity. If you are painting your home where you are presently living you need to move certain furniture and utensils or cover them up with cloth or paper. Who doesn’t want a less messier, less laborious and more cleaner way of painting?

High tech is in –Now paint without a Brush

When robots have entered medical surgery and house cleaning, it is quite natural that painting industry would also witness the introduction of high tech equipments. It has already happened thanks to Berger which has launched its super-fast, high tech and efficient Express Painting service.

#Sanding Machine: Instead of a sand paper or stone, they use a sanding machine to clean the wall surface. It has got a speed regulator and a vacuum suction bag where all the peeled paint and dirt is deposited. It is fairly long and can be used on walls and celing. For use on corner walls rotating handles round parts can be replaced to enable smooth movement and cleaning.

#Multipurpose Mixer: For mixing paint untouched by hand, they have a speed-variable multi purpose mixer which looks like an enlarged version of a cream mixer  we use to make cake dough. It can be used to mix putty as well as wall paint. All you need is to put the requisite paint or putty in a bucket, pour sufficient water and place the mixer in it and regulate the speed as required.

# Auto Paint Roller: Instead of brush, painters have started using rollers which do not leave behind any marks on the surface unlike brush. Now Berger has introduced the auto roller to make the actual paint job much easier and say good bye to four-inch brush. It has got a body, roller head, extension pipe, inlet pipe for paint and speed control knob. When suction pipe is connected to the paint container, it draws paint when the machine is switched on. It and the roller will be filled with paint and the machine is ready to start its work. The advantage of auto roller is speed, uniform finish and less labour time.

#Jet Washer not the hose: To clean the exterior walls, why not use the express jet washer instead of the normal hose which can put only at a single speed?  It is a versatile machine with high pressure pipes, spray gun, suction pipe and strainer and comes with a higher pressure washer unit. There is a pressure regulator to control water pressure.

#Automatic sprayer: Then there is the automatic sprayer  that gives a uniform finish on water-based and oil based paints on walls.

You no longer need so many brushes of various sizes to paint! All you need is a paint and a surface!

(For details contact Dulux Paints dealer: Katticaran Paints, Palarivattom & Vytilla Ph:9349413517)

Indian Contemporary Dance: From the floor to air with dexterity

If you think dance was all about body movements, eye movements, mudras and accompanying song and music, you may be out of sync with the contemporary! If you have learnt Kerala’s unique martial art Kalaripayettu, you can use it not only for self defence or for attack. If you have a passion for dance, this martial art would be just right to blend into contemporary style.

If the name Daksha Sheth crops up in any discussion of contemporary there is nothing to be surprised. Daksha, an exponent of Kathak  (having trained under the legendary Birju Maharaj) and Mayurbhanj Chhau combined Kalaripayettu, aerial and rope techniques to take the dance to new heights. Her equally illustrious daughter Isha Shervani performed in Subash Ghai’s Kisna (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZogcmNls0FY, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zVynNDtvR9Q) and several other films. She mesmerized the world with her horror acts, Argentine Tango, Aerial Lyra acts and several others in the immensely popular reality show Jhalak Dhikla Ja aired in Colors Channel.





Isha Shervani from the production Shiva Shakti (Pic Courtesy: Ishashervani.com)
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Kochiites are now fortunate to have Pratheep Kumar, a versatile contemporary dancer trained under Daksha Sheth and was associated with it for over 10 years and held performances in USA and UK. He dropped out of college while in Trivandrum to pursue his passion-dance.

Kalaripayettu training under his uncle helped him become swift in his body movements and flexibility.  The beauty of contemporary dance is in not giving undue weight or strain on any part of the body especially the knees, Pratheep says. The weight is balanced on the toes and the tip of the leg. His performance in May 2015 at the Kerala History Museum titled Dance Affair organized by TheFloor was indeed a delight to watch. The Floor has been in the forefront bringing contemporary dancers for workshops in recent times.

Daksha’s new language and idiom in Indian contemporary dance is now being taken up by an enthusiastic team of trainers like Pratheep and Santosh (both at Mamangam), trained in Kalaripayettu, Bharatanatyam, and Ballet. Pratheep who has been trained in Indian Contemporary is eager to learn western contemporary that incorporates elements of Ballet and gymnastics. Renowned actress Rima Kallingal, founder of Mamangam is herself a contemporary dancer, which many people may not know.

India’s film industry – Bollywood only briefly experimented with contemporary dance thanks to Isha but for the most gave us a choreographed Bollywood dance that had a mix of classical, semi-classical and western themes.

Western contemporary has a long tradition set by such stalwarts of the 1800’s as Isadora Duncan, Ruth St Denis and Ted Shawn. Indian contemporary is still evolving and should catch on with the younger generation. It takes real courage to experiment and bring new ideas into existing art forms. That makes Daksha unique while most dancers are mere followers of a particular tradition.

When I recently met the legendary Resul Pookutty after a gap of two decades, he asked me what icontemporary dance is all about. I told about my daughter initiation in both Kalari and Contemporary. I didn’t have a clear answer to his question then. But it has stirred a curiosity to know more. With each experimentation, the skillful dancers are stretching its possibilities a bit more.

References:Western Contemporary: http://www.worlddanceheritage.org/jazz-contemporary-difference/
Indian Contemporary: www.ishashervani.com & www.dakshasheth.com

(To learn more about Contemporary Dance classes, call Prasanth@ Beats ‘n’ Steps- 9895611537)

The delight of White Wash, theCoir Brush and Tom Sawyers wit!

I remember my childhood days in Trivandrum living in a tiled house with small rooms, wooden cross railings that were painted in blue and walls that were white washed. Painting was not a costly affair in those days but it required some expertise to prepare the white wash- prepared from quicklime. I remember smoke coming out when water is poured over it.

Once they made the mixture, they cleaned the walls spraying water and scrubb it clean with coir pith not the stones or sand paper used now.

There were no brushes with fancy wooden handles and bristles but only brushes made with coir that were used to paint the fences.  It was a delight to see the painters do their job, to reach the top of the building or the room, they used small and big ladders made of bamboo.  It seemed so easy when they deftly moved their coir brushes along the walls. This process was done only once in two or three years and it was nice to see our house after this and it was favored because of its antibacterial properties.


In tiled houses, both interiors and exteriors were white washed, the contrast was given to the building by tiles, doors and windows that used to be painted either blue or with wooden varnish.

I was fond of painting thinking it was an easy job any way! But the problem was I was not good in the strokes so brush marks would be visible on the walls. But with some practice I could do it without anyone else seeing it, except my brother and a few neighbourhood friends.  I was afraid my father wouldn’t like my study time to be occupied with whitewash!

At school, it was fun to learn the English text which had the story of Tom Sawyer who cleverly white washed the walls while he munched the apples and flew the kites his friends gave in return for allowing them  to do the whitewashing.

It required the literary genius of Mark Twain to pen those lines-Tom Sawyer surveyed the fence, 30 yards nine feet high to be white washed. On a cheerful Saturday morning when locusts were in full bloom, there was happiness all round, Tom felt his life was hollow and existence a burden!

But he did it reluctantly and by the time his dreaded friend Ben arrived he was busy moving the brush with gentle strokes. He surveyed the last touch with the eye of an artist.

In my childhood days, enamel paints weren’t that popular – the only colors we could get was black, white and blue. Sometimes, when the painter failed to turn up as promised, my mother would ask me to try my hand at painting the metal gate with two colors black and white. Again preparing the surface was the most difficult thing to do. There should not be any rust or unevenness which had to be smoothened with sand paper. Turpentine or sometimes kerosene was used as a thinner to make it easier to paint.

When our old house was extended and renovated, the paint market had more offerings by way of cement paint (the famous brand was Snowcem) which used to be sold in sacks with choice of colors. It was also better at warding off fungus growth, algae growth in exterior walls and gave a modern look. Enamel paint with different color choices began to be used in wooden doors and windows too.

Distemper and emulsion paint came much later and initially only the rich could afford to distemper their walls. The advantage was that stains or dirt could be wiped away and keeping the surface looking new for a longer time.

Three years ago when we build our home Mercury in Palarivattom in Kochi – the paint industry had seen through many technological changes-  now we have textured walls, exterior paints that can withstand algae and fungus and thousands of shades to choose from the color palette.

As I observed recently in my friend Beena Katticaran’s paint shop -when there is the color drum to mix, any shade is created within a matter of minutes. The paint majors Dulux and Asian Paints are providing complete painting solutions from choosing colors, providing services of specialists painters and textured walls. Now kids rooms have all the cartoon characters, living rooms can have Arabian desert or nature themes to choose from. Tools have also changed, the brush is no longer the symbol but the paint rollers which give a uniform finish to the surface.

Paints have protected our houses and given a character to it whether it was the whitewashed walls of Tom Sawyer era or the emulsified exteriors of today!

In sync with Resul Pookutty, the Master of Sound

Tuesday  (Jan 12, 2016) morning turned out to be a memorable day in my life as I happened to re-connect with my long lost friend (no Soulmate!) Resul Pookutty after a gap of two decades at the lobby of Marriot Hotel, near Cochin Intl Airport.  We spent over 40 minutes reviving old memories and reviving thoughts about various things including films, family and living in general.


Resul repeatedly asked me, “Why you didn’t contact me all these years. As a celebrity it wouldn’t have been difficult to get in touch with me -isn’t it true that you didn’t.”  Seeing my confused look and my statement  that everything has its own time to happen, he added “ I did try but somehow couldn’t connect and all these years I have been looking for you and didn’t know whom to ask”  Interestingly, those close to me following the development  including my wife Aswathy said I appear like the character Barber Balan played by veteran actor and director Srinivasan in the movie Katha Parayumbol !

I put the picture of our re-union in FaceBook the same day and there was quick response from friends and acquaintances some curious to know about our friendship and others who were surprised to know about my interest in foraying into film industry through film editing from Film and Television Institute (FTII), Pune.

Now the Flashback
Some time in December of 1990, one fine morning I boarded the Kanyakumari –Mumbai train in sleeper class to Pune with the aim of trying my luck in film editing at FTII. I was among several aspirants travelling in the same train in different compartments having cleared the written test and had to appear for a week’s orientation programme, write tests again and appear for interview. The selection was based on our cumulative performance assessed after the interview.

The aspirants in other compartments were Resul Pookutty whom most of you might have heard of only after he became a celebrity. Then there was Suresh Pai, now a veteran award winning film editor in Mumbai, Sriram Kothandaraman (Cinematographer), Mahesh (Director), Vinod from School of Drama  and few others who boarded from different parts of Kerala. I met Resul only in Pune railway station and instantly liked his humor and ability to establish rapport very easily.

Thereafter, for the next one week, Resul was the person who made our days and nights eventful with his delightful jokes and pranks he played on others in the hostel. But it was very evident after a few days that most of us wouldn’t make it to FTII as several experienced people trying for second and third time were there and performing well in group discussions and tests. For the interview, I remember  veteran director, K G George was a member o f the panel. Then there was the head of Film Editing Department Mr Rao and John Sankaramangalam, film director and dean of FTII. George asked me why I wanted to become a film editor. I said I read about many films rescued at the editing table including Chemeen and the vital role I could play in helping create good movies and documentaries. At that time I had already joined for journalism course at Kerala University and George felt I would be better off continuing there as my core skill seemed to be in writing but having no exposure to drama or films. He said if I felt the urge to do films, I could try next year. My analytical depth of classical films was also not commendable, George said.

Most of the first time aspirants returned in a bus to Mangalore having failed to gain entry and thereafter some of us boarded the Parasuram express to Thiruvannthapuram. But the now popular cinematographer of Bollywood Santosh Thundiyil from Chenganachery (or Chengannur) gained entry that year and I think it was his second or third attempt. He was a very jovial character but I couldn't get close to him as much as I did with Suresh Pai, Raman and Pookutty. I remember meeting him later on in one or two film festivals.

Resul also didn’t fare well in the interview and tests and went back to continue his LLB course at Govt Law College, Thiruvananthapuram and I continued with my journalism programme. Resul and Sriram Kothandaraman were determined to work hard and get into FTII next year. They went to libraries to read books on films, literature, never missed film festivals and kept preparing for their eventual entry into an institution that would catapult them to fame. Suresh Pai also attempted next year and got entry into film editing.

Resul was staying in the Law College hostel which was close to my house. And in the evenings when I felt bored I would walk to his hostel and find other friends like Sriram with him and we may go for a walk, have tea and snacks and talk about films or crack jokes.  With Resul around there was no scarcity for it. Sometimes, Resul came to my house and spend some time- he was I think amazed by the books I read – classical and modern fiction, current affairs, philosophy- Rajaneesh and also much talked about writers such as Kushwant Singh and Shobha De. I also had latest magazines taken from the library –Economist, Time, Newsweek which he used to glance through.

He said every time he meets Shobha De he remembers me because he heard about her books and writings for the first time from me.

We celebrated the entry in the second attempt by Resul, Sriram and Suresh Pai and they used to keep in touch ocasionally through letters or phone throughout their tenure at FTII. I remember while in his last year at FTII, Resul came for a break and badly wanted to meet Krishnan Unni , veteran sound recordist at Chitranjali Studio and I think he met him. Once, he jokingly said in the presence of Sriram– we are struggling now, it’s not easy to get assignments in Mumbai but one day you will write about us!

The other day when we met, he asked, “ Why you haven’t written about me so far?”. I am fulfilling that task now.

In journalism , since 1993 I had to struggle to get my first break and succeeded only in 1995 in The Financial Express. Till then I was mostly doing freelancing and worked for around eight months with Balarama Creative Unit in Kottayam where the greatest achievement was the rapport I established with late N M Mohanan, the visionary editor who was behind the success of both Poompata and Balarama. His characters Luttapi and Mayavi are now the favourite of every child.

In parallel, as I was struggling to get good media jobs, Resul, Sriram and others were struggling it out in Mumbai having no films to work on. Suresh Pai was their solace as he worked for a TV channel as editor and earned some money. I came to know of these developments through common friends in Mumbai and once or twice before my marriage in 1997, I remember meeting Resul a few times in Thiruvananthapuram . I forgot to invite any of the FTII groups for my wedding and thereafter I continued with my achievements and struggles in the media industry having won an award in 2001 but for the most part unable to realize my full potential anywhere.

Thereafter I lost touch with this group altogether but heard about some of the good work being done by Suresh Pai and Resul. And I knew considering their hardwork and overall merits they would go onto become celebrities but Oscar was something unexpected.

I didn’t feel like contacting Resul after that because one never knows how he might have changed after becoming a celebrity.  But I had fond memories of him and always thought I would bump against him in some meeting or the other or in the airport. It didn’t happen. I made my son Darshan read his autobiography-Sounding off and told him about our friendship.  I was part of the Kanyakumari-Mumbai journey Resul first undertook to FTII in December 1990 and I could recall each incident mentioned in it. But I was missing in the narrative. I put this in an FB post in 2012 and while in Commodity Online I wrote a year-end piece mentioning Slumdog Millionaire, the relevance of the film, my association with Resul Pookutty. Unfortunately, he didn’t google my name all these years, otherwise, it would have caught his attention.

Recently, the FB post of 2012 showing the cover of Resul’ book wherein I mentioned about the omission of me from the book was posted again in memories in Facebook. It was seen by my wife's uncle  M R Pradeep Kumar (Editor of Balarama) who shared it with Resul. He immediately got in touch with me and immediately that rapport was reestablished. He was in Kochi that day morning but was back in Mumbai when he called me. He promised to meet any day between January 10 and 12 and that’s how the meeting finally took place. It was warm and cordial in the presence of a family friend of mine and an upcoming music programmer Raihan.

He talked about the insecurities of film industry, lamented about not getting a good project after Slumdog Millionaire and in general about the problems faced by sound engineers. We also talked briefly about our old friends and family. I remember he was well read in Malayalam literature especially the classics of Vaikam Mohammed Basheer and his book mentions Hunthrapi Bussato several times. Whether it is literature, drama, people, music, sound,childhood experiences, films or just about anything in life, Resul has a strange way of observing it and coming up with something we didn't notice. He is still a child at heart.

Resul has agreed to include me in the second edition of Sounding off and its Malayalam original version. I am looking forward to it. And curious what he has to say about me!

Father as a proactive parent

When it comes to marriage and parenting there are always lots of issues to be discussed in the media and in open forums but no consensus probably emerges. The traditional view was that husband would bring all the money needed for the family by going out for work while the wife would look after the household and children.

With nuclear families consisting of father, mother and maximum two to three children becoming the norm and wife also becoming a bread-earner, the need for the father to take a proactive rather than a passive role in parenting has emerged.

Women are seen to be good at multi-tasking -managing the children, household work, job or business, and also look after husband’s requirements.  In some families, the father assumes no role in supporting children’s studies, their physical and emotional needs as it is considered the domain of the mother. In some cases, his busy job schedule or business is cited as a reason for the passive role taken by the father.

Both Father and Mother are role models
I remember my childhood days. I looked upon my father, a state government employee,  as a role model in the meticulous way he drafted letters, handled office files, helped someone who was finding it difficult to get the work done from his office, as was his punctuality. Whatever, his other shortcomings, I imbibed an important lesson regarding work. Even now as I write and complete an article, I verify it a few times for spelling, grammatical errors before sending it for publication or uploading in my blog. If I am too tired, I get it done by someone else.

Likewise, I admired my mother (also a government official) for juggling life between office, home and sometimes hospital when my father used to be admitted for heart ailments as was her ability to manage people to get things done. Our parents are also human and also not perfect having their own shortcomings but we tend to ignore them and get inspired by the positive qualities they possessed.

This goes on to prove that children are watching each of our activity very closely than we assume.  Therefore, how we behave with our colleagues, friends, neighbours, relatives and how we regard our work and business all have a bearing on the development of the personality of the child. I remember, in Rajagiri  Public School in Kochi where my daughter studies, I have been an active member of Parent Teacher Association (PTA) for the past three years. But most parents are unwilling to volunteer for any activity citing either lack of time or inability to take any responsibility. Then the management and teachers naturally ask a very pertinent question:  You want your children to take leadership roles, be outstanding and successful in school and career. But by not taking a leadership role when an opportunity comes right in front of you, are you giving the right message to your children?

Husband is your partner, not boss

Recently, my wife Aswathy reminded me when we quaraled , “Hey, you are not my boss but an equal partner in a relationship. “ I realized it was quite true. (The fact is that we are really good friends, that’s another story!)

Traditional view still having some religious approval is that husband should be considered the boss and wife the subordinate. The other day I attended the wedding of my neighbor in a church in Kochi belonging to Latin Catholic. There the priest said the wife would serve the husband and he shall always love her. And the children born to them should be seen as God’s children.

You might have heard of Kahlil Gibran’s famous quote repeated across the world by speakers and writers : Your Children are not your Children. They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself. .. they  come through you, but not from you. And though they are with you yet they belong not to you. You may give them your love but not your thoughts…..

If we see children as life’s continuum happening through us for a noble cause, we would treat our children differently than if we considered it as our own property.

Family,the basic unit

Family is the basic unit in society- our first friend, supporters, teachers and philosophers are all our parents. Happy families are built on the foundation of happy marriages based on unconditional love, understanding and mutual trust.  If the husband is seen constantly ridiculing or critcising his wife in front of their children, it will have negative impact on them.

The purpose of elaborate arrangements for marriage in Churches in Christian, Muslim marriages, or solemnized by the community in the case of Hindus, is to instill the importance of marriage and how to keep the relationship divine among the couples. It is through their union, new offsprings are born and subsequently inherit their wealth and wisdom.

Even while respecting the sermons in Churches or differing views religion may have on marriages. I personally think the modern paradigm of an equal partner relationship in marriage would be more appropriate. If couples are aware of their equal roles in all aspects related to marriage including children, finances, savings, managing household matters, it would put equal responsibility on both the partners to make the relationship work.

Happy families in turn lead to happy children and who go on to become responsible citizens.

(The author, an award winning media professional, is happily married to Aswathy, a pharmacist turned Zumba fitness professional and they have two kids-Darshan  (16) and Diyah (7))