ashapnair

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

OLD NEWSPAPERS

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: History lay brittle and moth-eaten in the sepia-toned newspapers, bundled inside a cool sheet of thin cloth-paper. They spoke of umpteen moments in history - when the ripples of a mutiny in Mumbai resonated in Kochi or the times when a Dewan towered a King in Travancore. Though looking torn and worn out, they possessed the ammunition to send an adrenaline rush through a history-monger.
The newspapers of yore, dating back to pre-Independence times, reached the State Archives office in the city on Thursday becoming the first-of-its-kind collection in its custody. Many of the names are unheard of, some little known and others familiar. There are nearly 42 newspapers, many of them in urgent need of a mending. From ‘Samadarshini’, which used to be published from Thiruvananthapuram in 1945 to ‘Gomathy’, which came out from Thrissur during the 1930s, fall in the bundle. The newspapers, which are an interesting collection throwing light on the development of print media in the State, were gifted to the State Archives by a family based in Thrissur.
The newspapers belonged to the collection of K Sreedhara Menon, who was a retired District Judge in Thrissur. Though he passed away in 1992, the collection was preserved by his wife Rukmini S Menon until recently, when their son U Ramesh, an archivist with State Bank in Kolkata, decided the papers should rest on the Archives racks and not lay moth-eaten in their house. At a function held in their house on Wednesday, they handed it over to Dr S Shivadasan, the head of the History Department in Sree Shankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady and Archives Director Rejikumar.
 ‘’We realised that it could be a major asset for research scholars. I asked my mother and she had no qualms about it,’’ is how Ramesh simplifies it. But the fact is, very few are willing to part with historical documents or manuscripts in their possession, going by the experiences of the Archives officials.
 ‘’It is a valuable possession as far as we are concerned. We have not had newspaper collections especially which throw light on the historical developments during the pre-Independence times. We will mend the papers and take steps to preserve them for the researchers who use our archives,’’ said Rejikumar.
 The most valuable information that has tumbled out of the collection is the news item in the paper ‘Gomathy’ which says that the after-effects of RIN (Royal Indian Navy) Mutiny was felt in Kochi too. ‘’There have been many studies done on RIN mutiny, especially one done under a project of ICHR is widely read. I think the Kerala connection was not highlighted in that study too. Until now, we had no proof on how the RIN mutiny was felt by Kerala,’’ said Shivadasan.
 Another interesting find among the pages of the newspapers is about the attack on Dewan C P Ramaswamy which happened in 1947. The news item in ‘Gomathy’ says his condition was grave.
 Of the bundle, some of the papers had appeared only on Saturdays like ‘Snehithan’ (from Thrissur) and some came out thrice a week like ‘Samadarshi’ from Thiruvananthapuram. ‘The Cochin Times’ which was brought out in the year 1945 was published only on Mondays and was edited by T R Ganapathy Iyer. Many of the Malayalam newspapers lavishly used English too, something oft-repeated in many pages. ‘Navalokam, Keralan, Malabar Mail, Bharati, Express’ and ‘Malayarajyam’ are some of the other yesteryear newspapers in the collection.

MARRIAGE

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A sex scandal does not remain in public glare for long, but the trauma inflicted upon the victim lasts longer. For once, the State Government has put in some serious thought about the rehabilitation of sexually- abused or used women and is all set to don the role of a guardian and see them off to a better life.
The Social Welfare Directorate has decided to make a planned intervention in the lives of such women, who were caught in sex traps and are now being sheltered in various institutions run by the Directorate. By intervention, the Directorate means giving them a new lease of life through marriage.
At the end of a thorough examination that lasted for weeks and after endless discussions with the women in various shelter homes across the State, officials in the Directorate have now listed out 33 victims who dream of a married life.
They belong to Thiruvananthapuram Mahila Mandiram, After Care Homes at Kollam and Kozhikode and the Kozhikode Short Stay Home. The Directorate declined to divulge any personal details of these women or the cases they are involved in.
The procedures had begun with a counselling programme where the women were convinced that a normal family life is still possible. Having collected the willingness of 33 women, the Directorate now plans to give newspaper advertisements to invite proposals just like any other responsible guardian.
“As if the mental trauma and media glare is not enough, the women are often abandoned by their respective families. Rehabilitation by means of imparting them a vocation has been going on for years, and in-between some victims have been married off too. But this is the first time we are making a mass, planned intervention to rehabilitate them through marriage,” said K K Mony, Joint Director, Social Welfare Directorate.
The financial, family and criminal background of the men coming forward will be scrutinised first and a screening of these applicants will be done.
The District Probation Officers will carry out an inquiry about the men which will be followed by an interaction with them by officials and the women.
The Directorate will then give trauma counselling and marital counselling to both parties. Even after the victim is settled in a new life, the Directorate will keep an eye on them and provide them with extension services, if needed

SSA CORRUPTION

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), which had created a positive ambience in government schools, deviated from its course in the recent years; thanks to its officials, who knew not how to spent the elephantine funds coming their way.
There is possibly no other reason for the pleasure trips (in the guise of exposure trips), around 10, which were undertaken by various SSA officials in the past six months alone.
The shocking aspect is that many of the officials had gone on the trip in the month of March, when usually it’s stock-taking time for the SSA project - a time to wrap up the account books and evaluate and conceptualise old and new projects in schools.  Sample this: The office of the State Project Director (SPD) had remained inactive from March 6 to 12, when the administrative officials in the Directorate (including 12 clerks) were on tour.
They had gone to learn about the working of Himachal Pradesh SSA!
 Not just programme officers, IEDC officials, trainers and members of teachers’ organisations have, at many times (over the last few years), taken ‘exposure trips’.  This include the state representatives of the pro-Congress GSTU (Government School Teachers Union) which had petitioned the State Government against the fund utilisation in SSA leading to a Vigilance inquiry against the project in the state.  The reply given by SSA to a Right to Information application filed by M Shaji, of Mele Thampanoor here, says the exposure trip, which was taken out to Rajasthan in March had the representatives of 31 teachers’ organisations, including the president and secretary of the GSTU.
“The trip had cost Rs 4,18,971. Only KSTA and KSTU had kept away,’’ it says.   In January, the Learning and Enhancement Programme (LEP) coordinators (who are ordinary teachers) had taken out a trip to Kolkata and Darjeeling. That they travelled by flight reveals that they had availed of undeserving travel allowances.
In February, IEDC officials had undertaken a trip to North India. It is also found that the IEDC Resource Teachers team (more than 1,500 of them) had gone on trips during the period between January and May to places including Chennai, Mumbai and Bangalore.
The District Programme Officers had travelled to Ahmedabad, Udaipur and Jaipur (in flight) in January. The Thiruvananthapuram DPO had the privilege of being the part of the team of teachers’ organisations too. The trainers in Thiruvananthapuram went on a tour to other states in  March.
 If a wider span of time is taken into account, more cases would stumble out. Though some of the exposure trips had helped enhance the charecter  of the SSA, the 'pleasure trips’ on the other hand had given it a rotten look.

RVG

The year is 1958. Thiruvananthapuram turns venue for the State School Kalolsav for the first time. Sixteen-year-old Vijayagopal makes his first trip outside his little village in North Paravur to compete in the kalolsav. The venue was Thycaud Model LPS, where he signed up for extempore speech and ended up participating in elocution.
 It’s 2008. Thiruvananthapuram is once again the venue for Kalolsav and Vijayagopal returns to the old campus. But this time to judge a competition.
 And all the while Vijayagopal, now better known as R.V.G. Menon, was looking for a gallery class - where he had stood for elocution - which had rows of benches arranged, unlike his small classroom in North Paravur Government HS.
 For social scientist R.V.G. Menon, descending the steps of the Model School to judge a Malayalam essay writing competition was taking a trip down the years, exactly 50 golden years back.
 The district-level competitions in 1958 were held at the Manikyamangalam School in Ernakulam. ``I had participated in extempore speech, where a topic is given only five minutes beforehand for the participant to deliver a speech. When I came to Thiruvananthapuram for the state-level competitions, the item was changed to elocution. But I gave my best,’’ Menon recalls.
 But whether he won a prize, Menon does not clearly remember. ``I don’t remember who the judges were or who my fellow contestants were. But I do remember the elocution I gave. It was Abraham Lincoln’s famous Gettysburg Speech,’’ he says.
 It was much later, almost decades, that Menon came to know of his contemporaries in the 1958 kalolsav. ``I didn’t know that Yesudas and Jayachandran had participated in the kalolsav or that it was the first time that all districts were included. Back then, it was just enjoying the first distant trip of my life,’’ he recalls.
 Ask him about the first frame that enters his mind when reminded of his youth festival stint and he would say ``the big gallery class.’’ For a village boy, a gallery class in a city school was a big sight, he says.
 Then a student of class XI (now equivalent to SSLC), it was his last appearance in a kalolsav.
 Now, a member of various committees in the field of education and science, Menon is settled in the capital with his wife. On Wednesday, in between his role as a judge, Menon was seen tracking the corridors of the school, reliving some of the 1958 moments.

RVG

FM BDAY

HER day begins at 3.45 a.m., hours before the city wakes up. And by the time the sun is up and shining, Anjali would have woken up half the city with her ‘kalakan’ voice. Almost a wake-up call for many.
Anjali Rajan, breakfast RJ at Club FM, has not missed her show, ‘kalakan recharge’, even once during the last one year. She sums up the whole of 365 days in one sentence when she says, ‘‘It’s been really lovely.’’
An animated Anjali during an interview is no different from the bubbly girl a listener visualises her during the show. The voice is fresh and alive, as usual.‘‘I have had cold and cough many times, but my listeners bear with me. After all, do we mind talking to friends with a cold? It’s the same here,’’she says.
In a job that requires cent percent active mind and body, how does she keep herself cool? ‘‘I reach office by 5a.m. and before my show starts at 7 a.m., I have lots of preparations to do. You can’t chat with listeners without having the stuff in you. I read the papers and see that the computers are ready to go on air without any technical flaws. And once on air, I talk naturally, otherwise you can’t connect with the listeners,’’she says.
And the golden moment? ‘‘When we visited a mental asylum as part of the show, a patient there greeted all of us, took a few steps and then returned to ask ‘Who among you is Anjali’. Well, a mentally unstable person memorising your voice and name in mind is the biggest response you can get,’’she smiles.
A native of Punalur, Anjali stays at Vanchiyur in the city. Though enrolled as a correspondence PG student of Public Relations and Management in Madurai Kamaraj University, RJing has left her with less time to brood over books.
So, not even bored once? ‘‘When you see things, you have a lot to tell people. Now I have a medium and I am enjoying it,’’Anjali bares her mind.
‘‘We are not those folks who just talk and make money. RJing is not that easy.’’ Vishnu, RJ at Radio Mirchi, is best with words. Exactly the way he is in his morning show ‘Hello Thiruvananthapuram.’
Like all other breakfast RJs, Vishnu has an early day. And a lot of preparations goes into making it a real day, he says. Like a little homework the previous day, a thorough reading of newspapers before the show, and of course presence of mind when on air.
‘‘But ultimately I talk of things that is top in my mind. But only keeping in mind, what and what not to say,’’Vishnu makes it clear.
As his show completes a year, Vishnu too has not missed even a single day in work. It’s been too good, is how he puts it. ‘‘Everyday has been a different experience, I got to learn new things. Almost like a kid going to new schools each day,’’he says.
A resident of Kowdiar, he says the pressure is a constant feature. But when the job is fun, there is no regret. ‘‘You can create so many pictures in the mind of the listener, which is real fun. Like the make-over we are planning to do as part of the first anniversary. Listeners would not have seen me, but when I say I have gone for a make-over, they would visualise me in thousands of ways. That’s the beauty of radio,’’Vishnu beams.
The only thing he had to part with ever since he left a job in Technopark to become RJ is his sleeping hours. ‘‘I was never an early riser. But since the last one year, I have been doing it regularly, which is too big a thing for me,’’he smiles.
So doesn’t he get bored, even  for a single moment? ‘‘Do you get bored talking to friends?’’ pat comes his reply.
For the D-day, Vishnu and his Radio Mirchi team is out hunting for the hottest ‘thattukada’ in town. Now isn’t that interesting?
‘Kidilam Firoz’ is a known name by now for all FM freaks. The 105 hour long campaign against use of drugs, which this breakfast RJ at Big FM, ventured into last year is not the only reason. It’s got to do with the way he connects with his listeners too.
‘‘Knowing the pulse of the listeners is most important. Where I have been getting 500 sms’ in my sms portal, it has almost multiplied into five times now. Because more people has begun to connect with me,’’he says.
Well, there is no secret. Other than a little homework and lots of creativity, he says. He deals with a show that is more utility linked. So allthat is left to do is give the necessary information in a buttered and sweetened flavour.
A former anchor of a TV game show, he left the big screen to RJ in a small space. Why? ‘‘In TV, all you need to do is memorize your part and do it well. In radio, your creativity is sharpened. You need to think of ways to present a daily show in the most variety of ways, which is the real bait,’’Firoz says.
So, how has the year been? ‘‘It’s not like wearing the same uniform and going to school. It’s like wearing colourful costumes each day. It’s been fun,’’his sound matches his excitement.
And it’s sound that he most often plays with. ‘‘If you have a good sound, that doesn’t mean you are a good RJ. You must know to modulate your voice, so as not to be repetitive. I can sit in my studio, and give the effect of wandering in a forest or got caught in a traffic, which depends on how you use the sound effects. That is more important,’’Firoz says.
A native of Venjaramoodu, he stays at Murinjapalam with his wife. Suraj Venjaramoodu has been his guru in the field of television. So, any plans to go Suraj’s way? ‘‘I have lots to do in radio, if I am to find a place among the best RJs of India. Let me achieve something here, and then I will think of new avenues,’’he says.
And adds,‘‘It’s a happening time in radio,’’which sums it all.
anil.asha@gmail.com

ADITI ROY

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Aditi is just like the movie she has made. Many-layered. Though she very meekly and timidly takes you through the film she has made, the conviction of a first-timer on her long-cherished dream reflects in her eyes. She has not made her first film, she has lived her dream, she vows.
Aditi Roy, the Bengali debutante director whose film is one of the two from India to have made it into the competition segment of the 16th edition of IFFK (the other being ‘Delhi in a Day’ by Prashant Nair) leaves one touched by her unassuming ways. To make a film,’Abhosheshey’ (At the End of it All), which is a pure narration of a mother-son relationship in a rather realistic manner at the age of 30 probably snatches away the last bit of childhood from a woman.
Aditi tells us that she had first listened to the story of Abhosheshey five years back, when she was still a film student. Neel Mitra, the creative producer of the movie, who also wrote the story, had narrated it to her. She knew it was her film, instantly.Three years later, she and Neel sat together writing the screenplay. While Neel was sure the protagonist would be done by none other than actress Roopa Ganguly, Aditi had cast Ankur Khanna for the son’s role in her mind. They fought healthily over the cast, upon the details and about the music.  But it only brought them closer to their dream.
“We were not going to employ any gimmicks. We wanted to tell it plain and clear. And real. So finding a producer was a hard task,’’ Aditi recalls. It was then the duo met Anil B.Dev of Deb’s Entertainment House who loved their story. Neel being a film consultant moves around the mainstream and parallel cinema with equal ease. She was so adamant on casting Roopa that they waited for almost two years to get the actress on board. And last year they were ready for the go.
The story is the son’s discovery of his mother, of who he has no memories and who he would never again meet. The son returns to Kolkata to find why her mother had chosen her roots over her relationships. He was at her place to do away with her belongings after her death, but realises words, moments, people and places have a lot more meaning in life than they appear, even after one’s death.
“Many people who watched the movie told us they felt like going to their homes after watching it. We have dealt with Kolkata as a character, though very objectively,’’ Neel chips in. The locations are real and majority of shots are handheld. The past and present has been interwoven for a treatment that is non linear.
Though IFFK would set the stage for an Asian premiere of the film, many bigwigs in Bengali cinema who have already seen the movie have loved it which gives the duo much confidence. We ask Aditi what her father Ajoy Roy a documentary filmmaker thought about her movie.
“He is proud of the film and me, though he would not say it to me and goes around telling the whole world,’’ tears well up in her eyes as she hurriedly wipes it off. Suddenly, we knew why this girl could make ‘Abhosheshey’.  
Catch her movie at Kairali on Tuesday.

ashapnair

Tuesday, March 5, 2013

OLD NEWSPAPERS

Read history as the old newspapers reported

MARRIAGE

Govt to come to the aid of sexually-abused women

SSA CORRUPTION

Officials' pleasure trips dent SSA’s reputation

RVG

Judging the past

RVG

Judging the past

FM BDAY

Happy Birthday!

ADITI ROY

A many-layered, moving tale