In this feature story, we attempt to highlight the challenges faced by the lifeguards over the years, since the initiation of their service in Kovalam in 1986.
Founded in 1996 by Paul van Gelder and Werner Fynaerts, Sebastian Indian Social Projects (S.I.S.P.) is a non-profit organisation working with the socio-economically disadvantaged communities and populations in the coastal villages from Vizhinjam to Poovar.
The Banshees of Inisherin is writer-director Martin McDonagh’s fourth movie, following his much-acclaimed work in 2017, The Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Akin to his previous work, The Banshees… has received critical praise and is one of the leading contenders in several categories for the upcoming Academy Awards.
The following is an attempt to examine only a part of what the movie represents – centering on the dying relationship between its central characters. . .
When you climb up the stairs of Gudhaam, you are practically about to take a journey through the experiences and collections of Basheer. It’s a captivating blend of many things, best described by the place’s social media bio – “A place where antiques, art, music, books and food meet.”
“A good storyteller will be skilful in creating a good animation film. It’s about articulating the story in your mind in the most efficient way possible. People tend to dissociate books, movies, animation, etc. from actual life. There is a misconception that in animation there should always be a degree of exaggeration from reality to make it work for the viewers…”
Some photos and musings by Merin Paul, a former Content Manager based in Bangalore. She captured these scenes while travelling within the country- some photos evoked a chain of thoughts or an epiphany and some just spoke for themselves.
“I was part of several bullet & bike clubs and used to go on rides and trips often. But being a part of Dauntless Royal Explorers was different. This was me being responsible for all those who joined the club believing in my dream.”
“If a country wanted a region to accept it completely, then they had to adopt that place too with all their heart. When the permanent state in there was the military rule, was that even possible?”
“Our actions shouldn’t be materialistic. The result of this series is that many people have gone back to Ponnani in search of this ink. That ability to take people back, only an artist has.”
“I believe that architecture should always denote the time we live in.
An antique is an antique; you cannot fake an antique.”
When you try to copy an old structure just for that purpose, it creates unimaginative imitations…
“The incident affected me deeply. I had been pondering for a while about what I would do once I retired. It was clear to me now that I wanted to do something for children with special needs. So, I joined for a B. Ed course on special education at Bharathiar University, Tamil Nadu,” he looks back…
Dr. Kalesh Sadasivan is a wildlife photographer, researcher, ataxonomist and a surgeon by profession, hailing from Trivandrum, Kerala. He is a founding member of the nature NGO, TNHS. He has discovered and described more than a dozen new species from the Western Ghats, including frogs, reptiles, wasps, ants & odonates.
Khyrunnisa A. is an Indian author and columnist known popularly for her children’s fiction, particularly the book series – Butterfingers.
Khyrunnisa has a huge fan following, amongst children and adults alike, including renowned figures such as Ruskin Bond, Shashi Tharoor, V.V.S. Laxman and Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi!
“Getting to make music for a movie is a big aspiration for many musicians as cinema is such a popular medium in our country. For me, being part of a successful film was a massive dream. Even though I had worked on many films before that, Immanuel was special for me. It was the work of a popular director like Lal Jose, whose previous films featured such wonderful songs, and had an amazing cast including Mammootty and Fahadh Fazil. It gave me my career break too.”
Tamanna Sharma is a woman on a mission, working for the cause of environmental sustainability. Her journey has been interesting. She pursued journalism from Delhi University, became an activist and even founded a sustainable events company. Tamanna has learnt many lessons on the way to becoming the independent activist that she is today.
“For a batsman, any ball could be your last one; for a bowler, any ball could get you a wicket. That is the difference, Ramdas.” Odayamath Kodoth Ramdas, better known as O.K. Ramdas, quotes his captain and his mentor, as he recounts his cricketing career.
“I wanted to inspect the phenomenon along the lines of how human desire functions through not just psychological, but also social and cultural lenses. The fear that came along with the concept of wedding night for women had to be studied through the sexual politics in our society, particularly exploring the taboo of premarital sex and the ‘myth of virginity’,”
“The smallest distraction and you end up with just another edible concoction which tastes good, but will not be the perfect rasam. You have to be fully aware of what you are doing. This, in a nutshell, is the philosophy of rasam,”
“Even if the body washes ashore, it will be on the third day. That’s the law of the sea.”
It means that if you lose someone in the sea, then wait until the third day for the body to wash ashore.
If it doesn’t, then don’t wait any longer. Not for the body. Not for the person….
By Supriya “There was a rise in menstrual health movements in India in 2015. It was inside the varsity campuses across the country, with the students themselves grouping up and raising their voices,” narrates Arjun Unnikrishnan, the Executive Director of The Red Cycle. There had been repeated incidents of harassment on these campuses. “It was […]
By Bharath The COVID-19 pandemic that has been raging on for over a year now, and the second wave that has hit recently, has put a lot on Gokul Retnakar’s plate. He has a house under construction where he plans to move in soon with his wife and twin sons at Nanthancode, Thiruvananthapuram. Overseeing the work […]
By Supriya It had been a journey of trial and error for Maneesha Panicker, till her luxury experiential travel company Silk Route Escapes picked up well back home in Kochi, Kerala. Soon she left her full-time corporate job in New York and came back to concentrate on her company. “With a system of having experts […]
By Bharath Continued from Preserving the Past – Chapter 1 Understanding the Ancient Scripts The Malayalam scholar in Chako gained something much more valuable than just the art of preservation through her extensive work on manuscripts over the years – insight into the evolution of the language and its scripts. “Besides, to understand these scripts […]
By Girish Menon You may have recently come across articles like: At 13%, Economist Intelligence Unit Pegs India’s Growth In 2021 Higher Than IMF Western economies recovering faster than expected from Covid, says IMF UK GDP rose 0.4% in February China’s economy grows 18.3% in post-Covid comeback What […]
“The act of dancing holds various meanings personally, but perhaps most of all it’s a ‘political act’ for me,” reflects Amith, as he starts narrating his journey so far with Mohiniyattam.
By Bharath Any other year, a visit to St. Joseph’s college, Irinjalakkuda, Kerala on a Monday afternoon would’ve guaranteed the typical hustle and bustle and a range of voices cutting through the air. But being the “pandemic year”, 2020 has been different. The stillness of the afternoon has engulfed the college. The only contradiction seems […]
By Supriya “I am a Delhi girl,” archaeologist Disha Ahluwalia humbly declares. Disha dreamt of becoming an archaeologist, at a time when there were misconceptions and little knowledge about pursuing this profession. Even from her faculty members, she faced this disparity, while completing her Bachelor’s. “I remember telling a professor in college that I want […]
By Dennis Doggysthan: A world of the dogs, for the dogs and by the dogs, according to Sabari Girish Thampi, who runs the place. Sabari, a former corporate employee, is now leading a serene life here amidst rescued dogs in the outskirts of Arakere, Bengaluru, en route to the beautiful Nandi Hills. It is an […]
By Dennis Poonkulanji, a remote forest area in Pathanapuram, Kerala, has now turned into a birders’ paradise, thanks to Sreejith R. Birders across the country have started visiting the area quite regularly, inspired by Sreejith’s stunning shots of rare bird species found here, shared by him on his social media accounts. Sreejith works as the […]
By Dennis Former Managing Director for Mercedes-Benz in Nigeria, polo player, horse lover, an advocate of natural living, yoga practitioner, Tango dancer, surfer. There are many more superlatives for Shiju Sasidharan, a man who is finding his love for paddy farming and natural living in the woods of Punalur, Kerala. Shiju has undertaken the farming project […]
