Society

A Medical Miracle in Travancore You Won’t Find in History Books

The village shimmered in colors and a delirious commotion. It was the annual Thiruvathira festival in the Bhagavathy temple at Kadakkal – a remote village in Travancore in the 1930s.

Far from the madding crowd, yet in the thick of it, walked a young man, recently…

A Bengal in Kerala

In 2016, it must be safe to say that an abiding gift of Indian Communism is its most accented cultural snobs. The Bengali and the Malayalee, long abbreviated to just the Bong and the Mallu in hostel rooms, college canteens, press clubs and now exalted into diplomatic parties and corporate dos.

The Celebration of Crime

The gory and disturbing visual of four youngsters beating another to death in broad daylight a few days ago has gone viral. It is there in all smart phones in Kerala; and on all news channels.

Four youngsters beating another to death while someone shot the whole action without any attempt…

Now Running: Kerala’s Worst Political Tamasha Ever

When I pick up newspapers or switch on news channels these days, I can’t but wonder about the unfathomable depths that our political system has plunged into.

Not so long ago, politics in Kerala was different. Political parties in our state had a certain level of decency. Even bitter…

Sinking Lives of Munroe Thuruthu

Sixty-five-year old Achamma’s day begins with a wade through the saline water that fills her bedroom and kitchen.

She spends the initial hours of the day draining the water that has permeated her three-room house. The walls are perpetually damp with paint peeling off. The few furniture…

Sinking Lives of Munroe Thuruthu -- In Photos

A walk around Munroe Thuruthu’s affected areas reveals a grim picture: Many houses have sunk, the earth devouring their foundation. A number of them are abandoned. School children wade through muddy waters with their sandals in hand. To reach the houses, you have to carefully tip-toe on coconut…

Conditioned to Survive  

As the crude oil price keeps dropping like Arctic temps, and the talks of a prolonged slump snowballing, an uneasy pall of gloom looms large over the millions of Malayalees in the Arabian Gulf. 

Thousands have lost their jobs in the oil and related industries. Experts say the region is…

Kerala Elections 2016: `Don’t Put up Candidates Who Can’t Even Walk’

In a few months, we will have another election upon us in Kerala. This election is a very significant one for us, because for the first time in many decades, there is a possibility to have a hung assembly after the polls. If the Bharatiya Janata Party or any group involving the BJP gets around 4…

Come Home to the Stares: The Inescapable Gaze of Malayalee Men

"A week in Kerala! Bliss!" gushes the Project Lead while approving my leave. "Don’t forget to get us banana chips and cozy-code halwa!" Chirpy colleague cranes her neck from across the cubicle. "It’s Ko-zhi-kode! Not cozy-code! Say 'zha' and I will get you beef fry, not just chips!,"…

The Possibility of Kerala’s First Hung Assembly in 50 Years Is Very Much Real

For generations, Malayalees have seen two political fronts alternately taking control of their state. But elections this year could well throw up a surprise – a hung assembly.

After the polls slated for the second quarter, the ruling Congress party led United Democratic Front and rival…

A Writing Problem

About two months ago, when students of the Government Oriental Higher Secondary School at Edathanattukara in Palakkad began preparing ground for a medicinal plant garden, they found scores of used plastic pens strewn around.

Vipin C.G., a chemistry teacher who noticed the pens, wanted to highlight…

Interview: Affordable Healthcare, Infrastructure Biggest Problems, Chandy Says

It’s well over 10 at night, but Oommen Chandy still has visitors lined up at Cliff House, his official residence in Thiruvananthapuram. The chief minister patiently listens to a group of party workers clad in the trademark white Khadi before calling us in. His daughter hands him over some tablets…

Chandy Is Worried -- Prohibition Could Open Hooch Tap

Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who ordered the closure of bars in Kerala, said he is worried about the possibility of a surge in illicit liquor trade, as authorities work toward total prohibition in a state grappling with rampant alcoholism. 

“We haven’t had the problem of…

Discovering Myself by Getting Lost in City of Joy

``You have to leave the city of your comfort and go into the wilderness of your intuition. What you'll discover will be wonderful. What you'll discover is yourself.'' - Alan Alda 

Let me put that quote in the right context: I am an 18-year-old Malayalee girl whose…

Kanjirapally, Canada & Saudi Arabia: Unlikely Brothers-in-Alms in Oil Crisis

As geographic diversity goes, few places in the world can be as dissimilar as Canada’s Alberta province, the hill town of Kanjirapally in Kerala and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

But the Rocky Mountains of Alberta, the granite stone-rich hills of Kanjirapally and the breathtaking sand…

Mixed up Data, Long Queues Make Picture Grim for Boozy Kerala

Are Keralites the biggest boozers in India? Statistics over the past few years have pegged the state as the biggest consumer of alcohol in the country, with some data suggesting that the per capita liquor usage is double the national average. The Supreme Court, in its verdict upholding the government…

A Call to the Righteous

Ever since I wrote Theekkadal Katanju Thirumadhuram (the fictional biography of the Father of Malayalam Language) I am under no-holds-barred attack from an organization called the Ezhuthassan Samajam, a caste-based outfit falsely claiming to represent the whole of a miniscule community in Kerala.…