anchal

By Asha P Nair, Express News Service - THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Published: 05th July 2012 10:48 AM

Last Updated: 05th July 2012 10:48 AM

Resul Pookutty’s adventurous journey to the Oscar stage had begun from a nondescript village at Anchal in Kollam. But what more is Anchal’s claim to fame? In six months, we would know.
For the students of a modest school in this small town has kickstarted an innovative attempt to prepare a folklore encyclopaedia on Anchal, which will be released in the web soon.
The project has the blessings of Kerala IT@School Project and the Malayalam Wikimedia, the computer-savvy group behind the Malayalam version of wikipedia.
 The aim of the project is to create at least 50 or more leafs (‘thalu’) or documents on the topic which could be of global interest.
The students of Anchal West Higher Secondary School, who have undertaken the task, will upload it in the School Wiki at the same time it is released to the web. “It is a pilot project which we are attempting. There might be many things about the place which is known to local people but unknown to the world. A forgotten landmark, a hidden cave which dates back to pre-historic times, a traditional practitioner unknown to the world or a ritual which holds the key to an ancient heritage. It is the first time we are collaborating with such a project which is technology-driven, though it has a flavour of local history,” said IT@School Project Executive Director Abdul Nasar Kaipancherry.
The Malayalam Wikimedians are equally enthralled with the idea.
 The excellence shown by the Anchal West HSS in Malayalam computing and related projects is the reason why the project was kicked off here.
“Anchal is home to ‘kakarishi nadakam’. We hope to collect its script which has been handed down to generations via word of mouth. Then there are ‘kani’ tribal groups here, who are known for their folk songs. We plan either to audio record the songs or to write down its lyrics,” said Kannan Shanmugham, a Malayalam wikimedian associated with programme.
The students belonging to the Wiki club in the school will make use of their free hours to collect remnants of Anchal’s past.

And by December, the project might come to a fruitful end. The students plan to bring out a CD of their compilation and hand it over to the Anchal gramapanchayat.

BLOGSPOT

A link to kindness

By Asha P Nair

22nd September 2009 12:47 AM

Tamara, a 60-year-old worn out by cervical cancer but ever-radiant with a never-fading smile on her lips, might never have heard of a blog. But the reach of a blog, the power of words and, above all, the kind-heartedness of a few bloggers have touched the life of this destitute woman like never before.
 ‘Boologakarunyam’, a rare gesture on the blogs, has been doing its bit for the deprived, orphans, and homeless for the past few years. The blog has more than 50 members in the group and almost all of them are working in and blogging from UAE.
 Tamara’s story appeared in the blog last month and the group have been able to mobilise a considerable amount of money by now.
 Ragesh K.U. in Dubai, who was the first to launch the idea of such a blog, says that it’s been an enriching experience so far.
 One or two bloggers from the group would somehow make it a point to visit the person-in-need, make sure the circumstances are not fake, post the story and pool in funds.
 Binu M. Devasia, a physically-challenged boy in Mananthavady, was the first to experience the kindness of Boologakarunyam. He went on to publish his poetry collection later, thanks to a few bloggers who went all out to assist the boy.
 A Pulluvan family with three ill children in Malappuram, a youngster in Cheruvannoor whose two kidneys had failed him, a seven-year-old who had to undergo heart-valve operation in Thiruvananthapuram, a three-month-old girl with heart disease in Thrissur, Nalini and her son belonging to Chavara who had been in dire straits, the family of a man who had died in an accident in Sharjah... the group’s kind hands have reached many.
 Paul, who was battling with bone cancer in Thrissur, Mustafa from Malappuram, who is half-paralysed, but is an ardent reader, and Srijil, who was bitten by a snake, destroying his life, are some others who have been extended a helping hand and lots of goodwill by these bloggers.
 When cancer patient K.M. Sudheesh expressed his pain in words and came out with two books, the group urged fellow bloggers to buy them and help out the writer. The bloggers even posted a story to aid the victims of Bihar floods last year.
 Log on to boologakarunyam.blogspot.com, browse through the posts, and  by the time you log off, you would have decided to help out at least one fellow-being in pain and

GUIDANCE

Guidance centres scripting success stories

By Asha P Nair

05th September 2009 10:57 AM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  In a close-knit tribal society, where a father drinks and smokes and a mother takes to men and has sex in not-so-closed a manner, a child does not remain a child. They love forest than school, chose to hunt than study and opt drugs for books.
It was into this primitive scene in the tribal colonies of Kasargod that a group of trainers under the District SSA here, ventured into two years ago.
What happened then is slowly creating history.
Around 30 guidance centres in the two educational districts of Kasargod and Kanhangad have been scripting success stories in changing the attitude of adivasi children towards learning. The centres, mostly in tribal colonies, have now become a place of union for not just the children but adults too.
The centres, which act as a home away from home for adivasi kids to spent their evenings where a volunteer plays the role of a parent and guides them through learning, have now gained the blessings of the entire adivasi communities here.
“It’s been a long journey. We met with hurdles initially, for it was very difficult to earn their trust. These adivasi children have now gained confidence, learn from nature and fellow-beings, like to read, write and enjoy games. Which means they behave and live like other children, which seemed to have had its effect on their parents too,’’ said Subrahmanian, SSA District Programme Officer.
‘Deeptham,’ a two-hour documentary by the team of Kasargod District Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), has captured this journey in images. It makes a trip into the lives of adivasi students who have been touched and transformed by the entry of SC/ST guidance centres into their colonies. The documentary, just a month old, will now find its way to more panchayats and districts, in a bid to emphasise the importance of collaborative learning. It has also acted as a catalyst to SSA’s decision to open 1,000 neighbourhood learning centres in the state.
“It’s a first-hand introduction to adivasi life here, their jobs, difficulties, how they bring up their children, the lives of these children in families and in schools, how the local bodies have intervened to help the SSA and how these centres have shaped their future. It has interviews with these kids, volunteers, the tribal heads (moopan) and the parents. We thought it is such a novel effort, it must be documented,’’ said P K Jayarajan, trainer at Kasargod BRC who shot the video.
At the recently concluded workshop of SSA held in Thiruvananthapuram to train volunteers for neighbourhood learning centres, Deeptham earned its share of accolades in volumes. It is expected to be telecast shortly in a leading channel.
In 2007, SSA had started guidance centres for SC/ST students in three districts, Kasargod, Palakkad and Wayanad, as a pilot programme. However, these centres will now be known as `padanaveedu’ or neighbourhood learning centres. But the objectives shall remain the same.

ABUSE

Schoolchildren falling prey to abuses in Kerala

By Asha P Nair

14th March 2011 04:06 AM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The shocking incident in which girl students were sexually abused by a lottery agent in Kasargod is not an isolated one. Numerous girls, aged between 5 and 15, are falling prey to sexual and substance abuses in schools. A documentation of the cases attended by the helpdesk which was started recently for girls in government schools by the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan and Kerala Mahila Samakhya Society (KMSS) is a testimony to this.
It was only a few weeks ago that members of the KMSS had to pass through a tough time when they received a call to their helpline from a teacher in a government school in Kozhikode. The teacher had found strange marks on the arm of a class IX student, whose head was drooping and was showing mental uneasiness. It was a typical case of substance abuse. The girl, when questioned by the KMSS and the police, revealed the names of 20 other victims like her, all girls, studying in various government schools in Kozhikode. The police was able to trace some of the drug peddlers. ‘’It was possible because of the pro-active teacher who sensed the danger. This is the change that gender education for teachers has brought in. Teachers are not only ready for action, but also eager to take the risk,’’ says Seema Bhaskar, state coordinator of  KMSS.
The helpdesk was launched in the second half of 2010. Though a toll-free number was conceived, it is yet to materialise. As of now, it’s the KMSS office phone numbers that act as helpline numbers. So far, more than 23 cases were documented by the KMSS in which either arrests were made or the girls were rescued and rehabilitated.
In another incident in Kozhikode, a class IX student who was being abused by her father was rescued. In Kannur, a Plus-II student was being sexually exploited with the silent knowledge of her mother who led a wayward life. The girl is now in the safe hands of KMSS and pursuing her studies in Thiruvananthapuram. It was the Ernakulam DPO who alerted the KMSS activists of a case in the Aralam farm in which a class XI student was pregnant. She was also shifted to a safe refuge in the capital.
In Thazhekode, Perinthalmanna, school drop-outs in a tribal area who were being forced to prostitution were rescued by KMSS members last week. The victims were girls in the age group of 5-15. It was from Kannur that the lone case involving boys was reported. The boys, along with girl students, were being sexually harassed by their teacher. So far, helpdesks have been started in 1,712 schools across the state.
For the KMSS members, it’s a continuation of what they have been doing for the past three years. Even before the setting up of the help desk, the KMSS had begun its struggle to create awareness on the importance of gender education in school curriculum, especially gender sensitisation to teachers.
It was in 2008 that the gender education programme of KMSS was started. Modules for the programme were prepared and submitted to the Education Department to reach a consensus in various levels. District Resource Groups, which included BRC trainers, Social Welfare Department officers, high school teachers and the like were formed.
However, it was after joining hands with the SSA that the programme assumed its present form.
‘’We cannot go forward without addressing the fact that our boys and girls in schools are facing several mental and physical problems. If teachers cannot recognise and identify the problems, it is a major shortcoming of our educational system which should be rectified. Gender education is the best tool for this,’’ said a state programme officer of the SSA. SSA is also planning to launch online training on gender education for teachers for which modules are under preparation.

BLOGSWARA

Global effort in making music

By Asha P Nair

16th February 2009 12:22 AM

MUSIC and blogging - the most romantic pair ever born online. ‘Blogswara’, which started off as a collaborative musical endeavour by a couple of Indian bloggers, is a child born out of this love.
 The story begins from Thrissur. Joseph Thomas, who loves blogging and singing, meets similar minds online and the idea of a music blog is born.
 Initially, they sing for karaoke versions and post them in their own blogs.
 Then they wonder: Why not do some original music? Narayan Venkit, a blogger in the US, writes the lyrics, Ajith in Chennai does the orchestration and Jo (as Joseph is fondly called) renders his melodious voice. Their first song, ‘Vaazhvu Chezhikka...’ happens.
 Jo, who is presently working as a web-designer with a firm in Thiruvananthapuram, recalls the moments when their first album was launched, back in 2006. Version one (V1) of Blogswara (even the name was suggested by a blogger) had 11 songs, including a theme song.
 ``Everything was done online, without anyone seeing the other, for we were in different parts of the world, just the word Indian uniting us. And, of course, music. Bloggers did everything, including recording and mixing,’’ he says.
 When the bloggers decided to launch V2 of Blogswara, there was one major change. This time, they included non-bloggers too. But the music did not lose its intensity. ``The music is an interesting mix of rawness and finesse, and of tradition and modernism and post- modernism, and of our loves, hopes and desires,’’ Blogswara says in its own pages at http://www.blogswara.in.
 Last December, they released the V5 of Blogswara, for the first time including a Kannada song and wonderful instrumental music by a foreign musician Jerry Oviedo. The latest version saw as many as 15 new musicians becoming its part. The older versions had only carried Malayalam, Hindi and Tamil songs.
 Have they ever thought of bringing out their music in the market?
 ``We began Blogswara with the objective of providing a platform for amateur musicians online. Music here is freely distributed. No commercial aspects have so far entered our thoughts,’’ Jo says.
 But there are new ideas, he adds. As the team now gets ready to launch V6 of Blogswara, the ideas might get a shape. ``In the next version, we hope to include a video song too; visualisation of any of the songs in the album. And we also hope to take our songs to popular FM radios, so that our musicians get more encouragement,’’ Jo shares the dream of Blogswara.
 And may be one day, these online musicians will meet in person. As of now, they are united only through music, and their blog.
anil.asha@gmail.com

IGNOU FM

IGNOU to set up FM stations in T’Puram, Kochi

By Asha P Nair

01st August 2009 11:01 AM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: How about learning your lessons listening to the radio? The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) is all set to make the age-old radio an educational tool by starting FM stations at its campuses in Thiruvananthapuram and Kochi.
Named ‘Gyan Vani’, the FM radio is purely to air educational programmes including live radio counselling. While IGNOU will have an agreement signed with All-India Radio for its transmission in Thiruvananthapuram, it will have its own facilities installed at the Kochi campus.
Though IGNOU had kickstarted a massive programme to start FM stations across the country for wider reach as earlier as 2002, it is for the first time that Kerala ranks among the prospective places for setting up FM stations.
It is keeping in tune with the FM boom in the State that the IGNOU has embarked on such a venture.”We have audio CDs of our classes which will be aired. Every information that our students want to know - their examination schedules, new courses, dates of their classes - all these will be announced through Gyan Vani. It is in the installation stage and will be functional shortly,” said B Sukumar, IGNOU Regional Director.
Though a final decision on the total hours of transmission is yet to be taken, it is expected to be on air for at least six hours. Apart from live interactions with teachers for clearing doubts, campus programmes, and information capsules, IGNOU has plans to tie up with the local educational institutions too. In this way, a more elaborate and comprehensive package of educational programmes can be anticipated with the FM radio available within 80km radius, Sukumar said.
The IGNOU had tied up with the AIR four years back to air a live radio counselling programme for one hour which used to be attended by an administration expert and two subject experts. The programme was well-received among the student community and even rural students who had nothing to do with the IGNOU campus, used to call up for interaction. However, it was discontinued subsequently.
With the FM stations to be launched now, the IGNOU hopes to reinstate its relationship with the student community once again.

CAREER

Guiding them to new career paths

By Asha P.Nair

27th April 2010 07:43 AM

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:  They may be spending the best days of their lives in closed homes; a far cry from the life led by a normal teenager. But hundreds of inmates of various shelter homes in the State have been thrown open a ray of hope to steer their lives to safe shores.
 The Social Welfare Directorate is all set to organise a massive career guidance programme for inmates of shelter homes in the state. The concept has all the support from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) and is being implemented by a Delhi-based NGO, Etasha Society.
 It is the positive response that they received last year when a pilot programme was initiated in Thiruvananthapuram that enthused the Directorate to take up the mission in a bigger way.
 Teenagers, who are on the verge of taking a new direction with regard to their education, are the lucky ones who would be benefited by the novel step. As many as 150 inmates, both boys and girls, hailing from all districts would be given guidance in choosing the best for their future, at the three-day workshops to be organised at the regional level in Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram and Kozhikode.  
``These children do not have the exposure to the outside world and knowledge of new avenues as other children of their age have. A little help in choosing their individual paths based on their attitude and aptitude would take them a long way. Besides, the children are also excited to be part of it. It will be held before the examination results are out in May so that the children are ready with their options by then,’’ said K.K.Mony,
Additional Director, Social Welfare Directorate.  Etasha, the NGO which did the pilot programme last year, has similar assignments in other states including Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.
It employs a scientific mode of evaluating the attitude, skill and inclinations of the teenagers, enabling them to choose a desired area where they can excel.
 ``We give them exercises where their tastes are known and aptitude is tested. We have charted out nearly 400 career avenues for them to choose. At the end of the programme, the children would be able to choose a minimum of three areas which matches their taste. Then, we help them to proceed with their chosen areas,’’ said Meenakshi Nayar, president of Etasha, from Delhi.  According to her, a scientific approach to career guidance is not even employed by leading schools. Which means the Directorate, by organising the programme would be helping the disadvantaged youth to choose a better future, something that normal teenagers in the state miss.