Month: October 2010

വിദ്യാരംഭം – 17.10.2010

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വിദ്യാരംഭം – 17.10.2010

മഹാനവമി കാലത്ത് ഏറ്റവും പ്രധാനമായ ഒരു കാര്യമാണല്ലോ വിജയദശമി ദിവസ്സം നടത്തുന്ന വിദ്യാരംഭം. കൊച്ചു കുട്ടികളെ എഴുത്തിനിരുത്തുക എന്ന ചടങ്ങ് അന്നേ ദിവസം കേരളത്തിലും മറ്റു സംസ്ഥാനങ്ങളിലും വളരെ വിപുലമായ രീതിയില്‍ നടത്തി വരുന്നു. സാധാരണയായി അടുത്തുള്ള സരസ്വതി ക്ഷേത്രത്തില്‍ വച്ചാണ് ഈ ചടങ്ങ് കേമമായി നടത്തി വരുന്നതു. തൃശൂര്‍ ജില്ലയിലെ തിരുവള്ളക്കാവ്, തുഞ്ചന്‍ പറമ്പ്, പിന്നെ ശ്രീ മൂകാംബിക ക്ഷേത്രം എന്നിവിടങ്ങളില്‍ അന്നേ ദിവസ്സം ഈ ചടങ്ങിനു വലിയ തിരക്ക് കാണാറുണ്ട്. അമ്പലങ്ങളിലെ മേല്‍ശാന്തിമാരോ, ഗുരുനാഥന്‍മാരോ, തറവാട്ടിലെ കാരണവന്മാരോ മുന്‍കൈ എടുത്തു, അന്നേ ദിവസ്സം അക്ഷരമാലയിലെ ആദ്യാക്ഷരങ്ങള്‍ കുട്ടികളുടെ നാവില്‍ മോതിരം കൊണ്ടു എഴുതി അവരുടെ കൈ പിടിച്ചു മണലിലോ അരിമണിയിലോ എഴുതിക്കുന്നു.


സാധാരണയായി താഴെ കാണുന്ന വിധത്തില്‍ എഴുതി കൊണ്ടാണ് ഈ എഴുത്ത് അല്ലെങ്കില്‍ വിദ്യയുടെ അദ്ധ്യാക്ഷരം ചൊല്ലി കൊടുക്കല്‍ നടത്തുന്നത് :

ഓം
ഹരി ശ്രീ ഗണപതയേ നമ: അവിഘ്നമസ്തു

ഇതു ഏറ്റവും ചെറിയ കുട്ടികളുടെ നാവില്‍ എഴുതി തുടങ്ങുന്ന സമയത്തു. കുറച്ചു മുതിര്‍ന്നവര്‍ മേലെ എഴുതിയവ കൂടാതെ:

ഓം ശ്രീ ഗുരുഭ്യോ നമ:
ഓം ശ്രീ സരസ്വത്യൈ നമ:
എന്നിവയും, കൂടെ, മലയാളത്തിലെ അക്ഷരങ്ങളും (ഉദാഹരണത്തിന്)

പുറമെ, ഇംഗ്ലീഷ് അക്ഷരമാല ക്രമങ്ങളും കൂടാതെ, പൂജ്യം മുതല്‍ ഒന്‍പതു വരെയും, പിന്നെ മറ്റു ഭാഷകള്‍ അറിയുന്നു എങ്കില്‍ അവയിലെ അധ്യക്ഷരങ്ങളും അന്നേ ദിവസ്സം അരി മണിയിലോ മണലിലോ എഴുതാം. കൂടാതെ സന്ഗീതോപകരണങ്ങളും, വായ്പ്പാട്ട്, ചിത്രരചന, കഥയെഴുത്ത്‌ എന്നിങ്ങനെയുള്ള എല്ലാ കലാ വിരുതുകള്‍ക്കും അന്നേ ദിവസ്സം ഗുരുക്കന്മാരില്‍ നിന്നു ആരംഭം കുറിക്കുന്നത് ശുഭകരം ആണ്.

മലയാളം പഠിക്കണം എന്ന് താത്പര്യം ഉള്ളവര്‍ക്ക് താഴെ എഴുതിയ വെബ് സൈറ്റ് നല്ല ഒരു മാര്‍ഗ ദര്‍ശി ആണ്.

http://www.geocities.com/malatutor/

ജാതി മത ഭേദമെന്യേ എല്ലാവരിലും സരസ്വതി പ്രസാദം വളരട്ടെ.

രമേഷ് മേനോന്‍
17.10.2010

This entry was posted in Events - Mahanavami Maholsavam at Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple, Events - Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple, Events Covered and Reviews, Malayalam - Miscellaneous.

Indian sports glory reaches heights – My Letters – THE NATIONAL – Dt. 17.10.2010

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My Letters – THE NATIONAL – Dt. 17.10.2010 – Indian sports glory reaches heights

This entry was posted in Letters to the editor, Opinion 2010, The National.

Short Take – GULF TODAY – 16.10.2010 – Lost in E-World

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Short Take – GULF TODAY – 16.10.2010 – Lost in E-World

Lost in e-world

I was at a traffic signal adjacent to a prominent housing colony in our city. A child playing alone at the footpath, very adjacent to the road caught my attention suddenly.

When I looked around, I saw her mother immersed in a telephone conversation on her mobile. A few distances away, I saw her nanny, with a pet dog with its lace in one hand and she was too fully lost in her mobile world talking with someone.

From the looks of both of them, I realised, they were waiting for another child’s return from her school. I suddenly thought about the plight of the dog as well as of the little child. Both caretakers were totally away from the existence of these two wonderful living beings.

Are we all now lost in a mobile and e-world? Pure affection, once used to be there, seemed to be drifting away from our real life.

The signal turned green and I had to take time out from my thoughts and get back to the life ahead on road.

Ramesh Menon

This entry was posted in Gulf Today, Letters to the editor, Opinion 2010, Short Take.

Photo Speaks – Mahanavami Maholsavam at Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple

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Photo Speaks – Mahanavami Maholsavam at Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple

Lalitha Sahasranama japam by devotees from Anandappuram on the day of Poojaveppu.

Lamp decorations with different colors in front of the main nada.


A child devotee fully immersed in prayers.

Lighting the lamps at vilakkum madam

An enthralling performance of Thaymbaka by Kalpathi Balakrishnan and party. Huge crowd of devotees exited and enjoyed the peformance.

Photos provided by urakathammathiruvadiksethra upadeshakasamathi

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Events - Mahanavami Maholsavam at Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple, Events - Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple, Events Covered and Reviews, Photo Speaks.

Photo Speaks – Mahanavami Maholsavam at Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple

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Photo Speaks – Mahanavami Maholsavam at Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple

 

Photos provided by urakathammathiruvadiksethra upadeshakasamathi

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Events - Mahanavami Maholsavam at Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple, Events - Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple, Events Covered and Reviews.

Mind Speaks – Flowing against the flow – Do we really care for our nature

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Mind Speaks – Flowing against the flow – Do we really care for our nature

One of the most beautiful waterfalls in Kerala and for that matter in India, Athirappally and Vazhachal falls generate plenty of tourist interest. Any time you visit the falls, you will see tourists in plenty, including those from outside India. It is one of the most favorite spots amongst tourism promoters.

Athirappilly Falls is a part of Chalakudy river and it is approximately 80 feet in height. Athirappilly is easily reachable from Chalakudy by taking a vehicle for rent or by bus from the Chalakudy private bus terminal. This area is the only place in the Western Ghats where four endangered Hornbill species are seen. The Western Ghats is one of the most important biodiversity hot spot in the world.

The falls situated amongst thick forestation, filled with a wealth of wild life and plantations. They include special plants, trees and even butterflies, and varieties of birds. The area also has good fairly large presence of wild elephants, deers and monkeys, who at times, visit the road towards the falls. The same stretch extends towards Tamilnadu and easy route to Pollachi connecting Chalakudi. In order to prevent accidents and for the safety of the animals as well as the road users, traffic at night is restricted on this road.
It is one of the best feeling you every get as you go nearer to the falls. From the top as well as the side extension slippery pathway reaching the downside of it. One has to be cautious not to go nearer to the edge, if on top and also get closer to the falls, if viewing from down. There are forest guards posted to monitor erring visitors, whose life may be in danger, due to a slippery rock, or due to sudden increase of water flow due to water level adjustments happening at the dam above or even due to big timber blocks being washed down from the mountain tops as a result of heavy rain.

//www.youtube.com/get_player

In most cases, the visiting tourists are obedient and they silently enjoy the beauty and have a quality time at a very nominal visiting charge and then return. However, you may get to see some unruly crowd who may break glass bottles on the rocks or throw away plastic bottles deep inside the forest.
Do they really care about the safety and harmonious continuity of their fellow beings or even the silent living beings around? Realistically speaking no. It is very interesting to walk around the falls and forest nearby with support of guides and you may get to see several wild animals.
However, a look around during a recent visit and a walk through the deeper side of the falls downside invited our attention to the area being used a free dumping ground for plastic bottles and other trash.

I can never conclude this write up about this beautiful place and some of the regular faces I get to meet each time I visit. They are in plenty, and although surrounded by waterfalls, they too have to rely on the water droplet and stream of water from the spills and falls. The opportunities and experiences we get watching them are enormous.
For example, the click above. The first one resulted in me getting into the first five of the Malayala Manorama Jeevajalam competition in 2008.
It is time we start caring about our mother nature and perennial source of water. It is precious and rate at which it is depleting is faster than the one that which takes the bottle you throw to reach the ground.
Enjoy the beauty of the falls from the down and the stream of water travelling towards it and along with the flow, or rather against the bigger flows. In a way, we have to unite to do the same to keep our environment neat and clean.

//www.youtube.com/get_player

Access to clean water is not just a human rights issue. It’s an environmental issue. An animal welfare issue. A sustainability issue. Water is a global issue, and it affects all of us. Care should be taken by all to preserve the serene nature and all efforts should be taken to keep it as clean and safe possible for all inhabitants around.

Ramesh Menon
Abu Dhabi
This blog is created as part of the Blog Action Day 2010 – Water

 

This entry was posted in Mind Speaks, My videos.

Blog Action Day 2010 – 15 October 2010 – Theme – Water

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Dear Friends,
If interesting, you may register your blog and create a post related to the above theme in your blog and link it to this blog initiative. The post should be published only on 15th October 2010

http://blogactionday.change.org/

Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action.

Our goal

First and last, the purpose of Blog Action Day is to create a discussion. We ask bloggers to take a single day out of their schedule and focus it on an important issue.

By doing so on the same day, the blogging community effectively changes the conversation on the web and focuses audiences around the globe on that issue.

Out of this discussion naturally flow ideas, advice, plans, and action. In 2007 with the theme of the environment, we saw bloggers running environmental experiments, detailing innovative ideas on creating sustainable practices, and focusing their audience’s attention on organizations and companies promoting green agendas. In 2008 we covered the theme of poverty, and similarly focused the blogging community’s energies around discussing the wide breadth of the issue from many perspectives and identifying innovative and unexpected solutions. Last year, the conversation around climate change brought our voices around the globe to discuss an issue that threatens us all and mobilized tens of thousands of people to get more involved in the movement for a more sustainable future. This year, with the theme of Water, we are eager to shed light on this often-overlooked topic.

For safety reasons, while registering, you can have a different password than your normal ones.

Regards,

Ramesh Menon
Abu Dhabi

This entry was posted in Events Covered and Reviews.

Photo Speaks – Mahanavami Maholsavam at Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple, Thrissur

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Photo Speaks – Mahanavami Maholsavam at Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple, Thrissur

“Kulavazha acceptance and ripening process” – one of the important ceremonial ritual part of the Mahanavami Maholsavam at Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple was performed by Vyloor Bhavadasa Warrier on 13th October 2010 morning. It marked the start of the decoration process of the temple premises with ripened banana bunches during the final days of the navarathri. The banana bunches, almost all types available and cultivated in Kerala now, are offered by the residents of Urakam Desham and farmers from nearby villages for this ceremony. They are then kept in specially made cells inside the Eastern gopuram of the temple and processed and prepared within two days. Then, the Western entrance of the temple and the Saraswathi Mandamp will be beautifully decorated on 15th October 2010 on Durgashtami day. This unique and extremely beautiful decoration, seen only at Urakam Ammathiruvadi temple, will remain till Vijayadashmi day (17th October 2010). On this auspicious day, special poojas performed during the morning shiveli, and then they will be offered as prasadam to the residents and devotees who presented them to Ammathiruvadi.

It is extremely auspicious to visit the temple during the three days, especially on Vijayadashami day and receive this prasadam. Devotees from all over Kerala visit the temple on this auspicious day. Devotees from Tamilnadu, Karnatak and Andra Pradesh on their way to Sabarimala temple make it a point to visit and take darshan of Amma Thiruvadi temple during this time.

If you have an opportunity, do visit Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple during this Mahanavami. Important dates to visit during Mahanavami – 15th October to 17th October 2010.

Photos provided by urakathammathiruvadiksethra upadeshakasamathi

This entry was posted in Clicks and writes, Events - Mahanavami Maholsavam at Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple, Events - Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple, Events Covered and Reviews, Photo Speaks.

Rise of wealth brings more indebtedness – My Letters – THE NATIONAL – Dt. 13.10.2010

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My Letters – THE NATIONAL – Dt. 13.10.2010 – Rise of wealth brings more indebtedness

Rise of wealth brings more indebtedness
Last Updated: Oct 13, 2010

A reader questions the long-term viability of many airlines in the Gulf region.

Karim Sahib / AFP

next photoprevious photo

I refer to the front page news article Wealth of the UAE has tripled in the past decade (October 10). While I am happy to read that the wealth of UAE residents has tripled, I was touched in the same article that the residents have also quadrupled their indebtedness. These statistics are indications of a giant killer, already in action, and waiting for more action in the coming months. As the demand for credit cards and loans grew a couple of years ago, consumers and banks equally cashed in on the booming market. There was a plentiful availability of credit facilities provided by the banks without any real credit checks.

Without any insights about what would be the impact on the overall customer base, many banks rearranged their credit policies including the interest rate on lending, card usage and payment periods. Mounting interest for delayed payments have severely affected customers. This explains the increased overall debt figures currently prevailing. Any realistic analysis will show the result of these changes initiated to rescue bank funds which were depleted due to wrong financial investments in local and international markets.

Customer confidence in banks and their lending policies has taken a deep dive and it will take a lot of restructuring of the prevailing credit policies for confidence to return. It is time for banks to have competent financial advisers placed within their lending and collection departments before they offer credit to customers and before collection agents proceed with actions against hapless customers.

Ramesh Menon, Abu Dhabi

To read it in original, please visit THE NATIONAL online.

This entry was posted in Letters to the editor, Opinion 2010, The National.

Photo Speaks – Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple – Navarathri programmes 2010

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Photo Speaks – Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple – Navarathri programmes 2010

Pancharatna keerthana alaapanam by Thrissur M Ramakrishnan

Photos provided by urakathammathiruvadiksethra upadeshakasamathi

This entry was posted in Events - Mahanavami Maholsavam at Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple, Events - Urakam Ammathiruvadi Temple, Events Covered and Reviews, Photo Speaks.