Oldest Mosque

I had the opportunity to visit the oldest Mosque in the Indian subcontinent. Its not in North-India or Pakistan/Afghanistan/Bangladesh, but is in Kerala State; 'Gods own country'. This is the Cheraman Perumal Juma Masjid at Kodungallur. I reached here on my way from Peruvarum to Thrissur in November 2007. Its beside the National Highway(NH17) equidistant from both Kochi and Thrissur(about 35km north of Kochi and also south of Thrissur)

Kodungallur is a place of great historical importance and used to be known as 'Muziris'. This is the place where the other two Abrahamic traditions also, first reached India ie Christianity (Christ's apostle, St Thomas is said to have landed in Kodungallur in 52 AD, St.Thomas Church established by him houses ancient relics and is believed to the first Christian church in India) and Judaism(AD 378, possibly before that). I will write on the St Thomas Church and Kodungallur in detail later.



Cheraman Perumal Mosque is said to have been established in 629 AD, during Prophet Muhammad's lifetime by his disciple, Malik-Ibn-Dinar. It is the the second oldest Mosque in the world to offer Jumu'ah prayers (for the last 1,380 years). The first mosque ever built in the world is in Saudi-Arabia; the Quba Mosque (Quba' Masjid or Masjid al-Quba) just outside Medina and so is considered to be the oldest.

Uniqueness

I reached here around 17:00 hours and you can just see the sun setting behind the mosque in this photograph. ie this Mosque faces east and is probably the only Mosque in Kerala that face east unlike other mosques which usually face west. Another peculiarity is that the mosque has an ancient oil lamp which always burns and is believed to be more than a thousand years old. People of all religions bring oil for the lamp as offering. This is one of the few mosques in Kerala which allow entry for people of other religions. Another unique feature is that 'Vidyarambham' a traditional Hindu ritual initiation ritual marking the start of a child's learning is held here every year

Architecture and Traditions

The mosque is built in the traditional Kerala architectural style, similar to Hindu temples. Similar to Hindu tradition, the mosque uses brass oil lamps. The Rosewood-pulpit, from where the priest recites the prayers, is covered with carvings similar to the ones seen in Hindu architecture. A block of white marble in the mosque is believed to have been brought from Mecca.

The Mosque had many renovations and reconstructions (11th and 18th centuries and recently in 1974,1994 and 2001). The ground floor of the shrine is left untouched and is still preserved. The front portion of the first floor has been replaced with minarets, while the posterior side of the first floor is still intact(see below)


Legend

The popular legend is that a Chera king, Cheramanperumal of Kodungallor left for Mecca, embraced Islam, and accepted the name Thajudeen. He married the sister of then King of Jeddah. On his return trip, accompanied by many Islamic religious leaders, led by Malik-ibn-Dinar, he fell sick and passed away. But he had given letters for the team to proceed to Kodungallur. The visitors came to Kerala and handed over the letter from Cheraman Perumal to the reigning king, who gave all the facilities and support to establish their faith in the land. The king also helped to build the first Mosque at Kodungallur, by converting Arathali temple into a Juma-Masjid. However, 'Kerala Vyasan Kunjukuttan Thampuran' is of the opinion that an old Buddha temple was handed over to the Muslims to establish a mosque here.

History

'Keralolpathi' portrays Cheraman Perumal as a generic figurehead of the Chera Dynasty, along with a Chola Perumal and Pandi Perumal. Cheraman Perumal Bhaskara Ravi Varma was a king of the ancient Tamil-speaking Chera dynasty in the eighth Century AD. Kodungallur may have been his ancient capital. It is possible that the kings in those days were all called 'Cheraman Perumal'. ('Cheranad' for Kerala and 'Raja Perumal' means 'godly king')

All the records are folk tales and stories, and it gives a somewhat blurred historical picture about the origins of the ruling dynasty. The surviving manuscripts, such as Keralolpathi, Keralamahatmyam, and Perumpadapu Grandavari, are collections of myths and legends. Some historians doubt the reliability of these manuscripts due to the many discrepancies in it.

'Keralolpathi' says that the last and the famous Perumal king Cheraman Perumal ruled Kerala for 36 years. He left for Mecca by ship with Muslims who arrived at Kodungalloor (Cranganore) port. Before leaving for Mecca, he divided his kingdom between his nephews and sons. But it goes on emphatically to deny that Cheraman Perumal converted to Islam (sometimes conflated with Buddhism) and died while on pilgrimage, asserting that this was all done by a later king, one Banu Perumal.

The 'Perumpadapu Grandavari' says the last Thavazhi of Perumpadapu Swaroopam came into existence on the Kaliyuga day shodashangamsurajyam. Cheraman Perumal divided the land in half, 17 amsha north of Neeleshwaram & 17 amsha south, totaling 34 amsha, and gave his powers to nephews and sons. Thirty-four rajyas between Kanyakumari (Cape Comerin, now in Tamilnadu state) and Gokarna (now in Karnataka state) were given to the 'Thampuran' who was the daughter of the last niece of Cheraman Perumal.

There are two tombs, that of Habib-Ibn-Malik, son of Malik-Ibn-Dinar, and his wife/ sister Khumarriah inside the mosque, where Muslim priests light incense sticks, an Indian/Hindu tradition.

This Shrine stands as a testament of the religious tolerance and cultural harmony that exists in Kerala, similar to many other places of worship in this part of the world.

New Year Resolutions

New year resolutions are universal. Another new year, many resolutions... The fundamental question is do we really need such resolutions? The answer would be a partial yes ie we need 'resolutions' but not 'new year resolutions as such', I would say.

If you want to do something new or change direction or stop something you consider yourself to be unacceptable, then one don't have to look for a new year to put this into practice. You can start doing it at the very moment you have decided to take that resolution. So its better to have an attitude of 'now or never' rather than 'new-year or never'.

A lot of people think at 23:59 on December 31 (in their own respective 'time-zones', waiting for the count down for new year), that "this year is going to be different". I am going to stop this, I am going to start that, I will do this , wont do that etc"..But by January 2nd they would have taken a few off the list and by the end of January most would have disappeared and its back to square 1.

Most of the popular resolutions are regarding weight (loosing or gaining), Quitting smoking/ less alcohol, studying something new, waking up early, more exercise, saving money, studying regularly, reducing debt, time keeping etc. However, more than 80% would have dumped the list into the rubbish bin in a few days.

Its always better to set realistic goals. The person himself or her self would know deep in their mind whats achievable and what aren't. Therefore set measurable goals; for example 'I would reduce this much weight (1-2 pounds/ kilos) in this much time' and take one step at a time to achieve this. Some people may need constant support and encouragement from their dear and near to achieve these goals.

The most important aspect is how we can self inspect,reflect and revisit on these life style changes. ie if you go back to a past resolution that is unfulfilled, that will often make you disheartened. A better approach would be to act on the same resolution in a new way. This doesn't have to wait till a particular day like new year or beginning of a month but start this moment itself..Be confident, show (yourself and the world) what you are capable of and you will be amazed by the result. Imagine and visualize this positive feeling in your mind and slowly and steadily work towards the goal.

So my new year resolution is not have a new year resolution list, but achieve my realistic goals, one step at a time with dedication, determination, persistence and optimism....

Real crocodile tears

Just watched the programme 'Crocodile blues' in BBC. The programme is about Gharial, the world's oldest crocodilian, which is on the very edge of extinction. It evolved before dinosaurs, ie about 150 million years of existence and at present there are just about 200 wild breeding animals in the world! Most of the Gharials are almost confined to India, the majority in the Chambal river system. Gharials are fish eating reptiles which can grow to a length of about 20 feet long and about 1 tonne in weight.

Last winter about 10% (more than 100)of Gharials suddenly died in mysterious circumstances! How come one of evolution's most successful species suddenly perish? This programme is about finding the mystery regarding these deaths. The programme follows Rom Whitaker who is a living legend in Herpetology for the last 60 years. {He established the Centre for Herpetology, popularly known as the Madras Crocodile Bank, the Madras Snake Park and the Andaman and Nicobar Environment Trust (ANET)}.

Despite its immense size, Gharial is not a man-eater. It has thin, fragile jaws that makes it physically incapable of devouring any large animal, including a human being. The characteristic elongated snout shape varies with the age. The snout becomes progressively thinner as the Gharial gets older. The bulbous growth on the tip of the male's snout (a lump of cartilage) is called a 'ghara' (meaning 'pot'), present in mature individuals. The bulbous growth is used to generate a resonant hum during vocalization and it acts as a visual lure for attracting females

The detailed autopsy on these dead Gharials from Chambal river shows that internal organs are with in normal limits except some white powdery material and abnormal kidneys. Further analysis shows that the white powder is uric acid suggesting 'Gout' like illness. The acute renal failure raised the possibility of poisoning by metal pollutants. The search for the source of pollutant/ toxin leads Rom to river Yamuna.

The Yamuna is one of the most polluted rivers (carrying the industrial waste with it) in the country and Chambal is one of the cleanest river systems. It is more than likely that the toxins enter chambal-river-system where it meets Yamuna river.

The breeding at Madras crocodile bank was shown and the wonderful 'makeshift maternity ward'. The Gharials lay about 50 eggs, usually on a small sand hill at the river bed. It takes about 70-80 days for the eggs to hatch just before the arrival of the monsoon.

The inbred animals from Madras are released into the wild/ river. The small conservation project at Katarnia Ghat (Lucknow) was also shown. Rom also mentions here about Indian white-rumped vulture which suffered a near-extinction from ingesting the carrion of diclofenac (a pain-killer)treated cattle.

It is clear that the flora and fauna in India are facing tremendous pressure as a result of population migration, hunting and trapping for food and sport, global warming, rapid deforestation and industrialization. In fact, India contains 172 of IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) -designated threatened species. These include the Asiatic Lion, the Bengal tiger and the Indian white-rumped vulture. There are many conservation projects that aims to nurture these near-endangered species. I hope the success story of 'Project-tiger' is mirrored in conservation projects for other animals/birds too. If not, Gharial will be next on the long list of extinct animals from India.....

Hollywood in Trivandrum

There used to be only one cinema theatre in our student days that showed Hollywood movies in Trivandrum. The Sreekumar-Sreevishakh (SKSV) Complex at Thampanoor! I think anyone brought up in Trivandrum will have some wonderful memories of this place. Unlike now a days, before Y2k, English movies used to take sometime, before it is likely to be released in Kerala.

The theatre is located on the left side of the main road as we go from 'Overbridge' towards central railway station. If we continue a bit further we reach New theatre which also used to screen English movies. New Theatre is the largest in the state with a seating capacity of 1200.

All these 3 theatres along with Sree Padmanabha and the erstwhile Sree-Karthikeya at Pettah belonged to veteran director-producer Merryland P. Subramaniam. I remember vaguely going to Sreekumar to watch Bruce-Lee's 'Enter the dragon' with family, probably one of the first English movies I have seen.

Sreekumar is the bigger of the two cinemas. There is always a problem with parking at this complex as the space is limited. Students usually come to watch the movies in bikes or use the auto-rickshaw's or buses. The favourite timings for us are the 13:15 show and 15:30 show. As English movies are shorter in duration ( about 90-100 minutes, compared to Indian movies which are at least 2-3hours long) it is very convenient to 'adjust' this slot into our 'college schedule'. Various factors affect these adjustments: the main being which movie is shown, then comes the timings of our classes at college/university, how exciting or boring are the classes, the teacher who takes these classes, how strict they are, pocket money, 'who all' are coming to watch it etc etc.

I especially likes the snacks at the interval. The food is great here; you have a range to select from bickies, 'cool drinks', tea, coffee, samosa, peanuts, crisps, 'faluda'/ falooda, ice-creams, popcorns etc. Faludas used to be my favourite. 'Faludas' are in different colours usually made with rose syrup and vermicelli, tutti-frutti, sugar, ice cream along with either milk or water.

Sometimes when its interval in Sree-Vishakh we can have a peep into Sreekumar and watch bits and parts of the movie being shown there. I know that some of our friends take a ticket to watch the 13:15 English movie at Sreevishakh and after about 90 minutes(towards the end of the movie), somehow manage to slip into Sreekumar theatre and watch the second movie too! Two for the price of one..

I also remember a Kathakali statue on the wall at the staircase corridor and always liked to touch its prominent nose when ever I pass by...At the New-theatre there used to be a magnificent statue of an Elephant (Not sure whether its still there)

Other cinemas in Trivandrum also evoke fond and nostalgic memories. In fact Trivandrum city holds the maximum number of theatres in Kerala. It is said that there are 16 A-Class theatres within a radius of 3 km which makes the city an ideal place to hold Film Festivals.

The other theatre complexes are 'Dhanya-Ramya' (used to be called Srikanth and Kasthuri), 'Kairali-Sree' ( Kerala state government owned, the other being Kalabhavan at Vazhuthacaud), and SL- theatre complex (Athulya, Athira, Anjali and Aswathy). I remember very clearly, going with my family to watch Navodaya Appachan's Padayottam (inspired by 'The Mount of Monte Cristo' by Alexander Dumas), the first ingenious 70mm movie in India and also Richard Attenborough's Academy award winning movie 'Gandhi'.

There are a few theatres that changed names and were renovated under new management like MP theatre that became Sreebala and Shakthi theatre that became Kripa. The other major cinemas are Ajantha, Central and Parthas (relatively new one). There are a couple of old ones which I remember, but has never gone there, namely Chitra theatre and Shiva theatre that used to screen mainly Tamil movies....

The list is not complete without mentioning 2 theatres in our area ie SIMI theatre in Kumarapuram and Kalpana at Pattom. Both were my favourite due to the proximity to our home and also they both had some sort of nostalgic aura associated with it. Its sad that both are now closed......

ഇന്ത്യന്‍ കോഫി ഹൌസ്

Thampanoor ICH


Indian Coffee House or popularly known as ICH is one of my favourite coffee shops in Kerala. I remember dad taking all of us to the coffee house at medical college junction. There used to be two Coffee-houses at that time(one opposite the Casualty and the other near the petrol station/taxi stand. The second one is closed now and the one near Casualty is the only one that exists here.

My favourite food here is mutton cutlet and my favourite drink is rose milk (as a child). Masala dosa is also a popular item and the uniqueness of this is that they put beetroot also in the masala and whole stuff looks reddish rather than the usual yellow masala colour. Some people like that very much, though I am not a great fan of ICH masala-dosa; but I like the plain dosa here very much.


















The Shangumukham beach ICH( we went here in June 2007 as our flight to London via Colombo was delayed)

Steamed hot Coffee is the trade mark of this shop; having a cup of ICH-coffee is something one cannot experience any where in the world. Its not just the coffee but the whole atmosphere makes it a unique experience-the rich aroma, the strong flavour, the white cups and saucers, the classical uniform of the waiters and royal service gives us an unforgettable feeling.


ICH has strong presence across India in almost every city. The one in Calcutta (near Presidency college; a coffee-house, I very much want to visit someday) is quite famous historically because it used to be a popular hangout for the 'Bengali intelligentsia'

There are over 400 branches in India and the maximum number ( more than 50 are in Kerala). The Coffee Houses were started by the Coffee Board in early 1940s, during British rule. In the mid 1950s the Board closed down the Coffee Houses, due to a policy change. The thrown-out workers then took over the branches, under the leadership of A.K.G( Comrade: A.K Gopalan) and renamed the network as Indian Coffee House. The Coffee-house movement/society is wholly owned and managed by the employees. The movement marked its golden jubilee in the year 2007. The only published book on its history is written in Malayalam by Nadaakkal Parameswaran Pillai called 'Coffee Housinte Katha' or History of Coffee House

There is more to ICH than coffee and snacks. Its the meeting place of a number of people. A number of political and cultural movements have started from small meetings at the ICH. Its a rendezvous for Politicians, Students, Intellectuals, Writers, Artists, Lovers, Businessmen, Executives etc. I still remember that a lot of our student meetings at Medical College (social, political and cultural) used to take place at the ICH opposite Medical College Hospital casualty. "will meet you at 4:00at ICH" was a common phrase during our student days....



















ICH branch at east nada, Guruvayoor temple (note the name is written as India Coffee House rather than Indian Coffee House)

I got the following list of ICH branches in Kerala from the net. It was a bit odd to note that there are no branches for ICH, north of Thrissur especially in AKG's own place, Kannur!

Trivandrum

Kachery Junction, Attingal

Jyothi Building, Ulloor
Corporation Office Building, Tvm
M.L.A Hostel, Tvm
M.G.Road, Tvm
Secretariat,Tvm
Maveli Cafe,Thampanoor
Pazhavangadi, Tvm
Transport Bhavan, East Fort, Tvm
I.R.C Sanghumugham, Tvm
St.Jude medical Center,Karamana
Assembly Complex(Under ICH,MLA Hostel)
KOLLAM
Chinnakkada, Kollam
Pulamon Junction, Kottarakkara
PATHANAMTHITTA
M.C.Road, Thiruvalla
Municipal Junction, Pathanamthitta
ALAPPUZHA
Near K.S.R.T.C, Cherthala
Mullackal, Alappuzha
Palace Road, Alappuzha
N.T.P.C, Kayamkulam
Beach, Alappuzha
M.C.Road, Chengannur
Muttom Bazaar,Cherthala
Medical College,Vandanam,Alappuzha
Canteen,Alappuzha Beach(Under ICH,Mullakkal Branch)
KOTTAYAM
West Nada, Vaikom
Main Road, Pala
Paranani Arcade, Erattupetta
Mohana Shopping Complex K.K Road, Ponkunnam
Medical College Campus, Kottayam
T.B. Road, Kottayam
M.L.Road, Kottayam
M.C.Road,Near K.S.R.T.C ,Changanassery
Salim Complex, Perunna, Changanassery
ERNAKULAM
Kalady Junction, Perumbavoor
A.M Road, Kothamangalam
Cochin University Campus, Thrikkakkara
C.S Road, Ernakulam
Sudheendra Hospital, Ernakulam
D.H.Road, Ernakulam
Indiragandhi Co-op.Hospital, Kadavanthra
East Fort Gate, Thripunithura
High Court,Ernakulam
THRISSUR
Road South, Thrissur
P.O.Road, Thrissur
C.D.B North Bus Stand, Thrissur
East Nada, Guruvayoor
Herbret Road, Kunnamkulam
M.G.Kavu M.C.H, Thrissur1st
M.G.Kavu M.C.H, Thrissur2nd
J.M.H.Ist, Thrissur
J.M.H.IInd, Thrissur
By Pass Junction, Mannutthy
Kerala Agri University, Mannuthy
Muthuvanchira Towers N.H Road, Pattikkad
Nada Near Bus Stand, Irinjalakkuda
Municipal Office Compound ,Chalakkudy
Canteen,Patturaikkal.

Kolorful Kerala

This time when I visited Kerala, I noticed something peculiar and distinct. Most of the houses were painted in bright florescent colours. This is quite a marked difference from the Kerala I know. Usually homes in Kerala have white/light colour with the background provided by the natural beauty of coconut palms and lush green paddy fields and trees. In fact the term we use for painting a house used to be white-wash or വെള്ള or കുമ്മായം അടി .

I noted these florescent coloured homes through out the whole length of Kerala from Kannur to Trivandrum (yes, on my spiritual marathon!). This included almost all the buildings including average sized homes, big mansions, hotels and even some official buildings.

When I asked Karunakaran Uncle the reason for this he said that there was a popular advertisement recently in television (Idiot-box) which 'clicked' and that most people just started following this....

A phenomenal change from 'Gods own country' to 'Box own country'....

Shortest day

I like today, not because it is the shortest day of the year, but from today on wards days are going to get longer and better...till I came to UK never realised (or gave much thought)at the length of the day at home in Kerala.

Every day is similar in Kerala as we have 12 hours of day time and 12 hours of night all through the year, though I have noticed that on some days it gets darker earlier in December. It was when I went to Chandigarh (in June 1995) that I realised for the first time sun sets at around 8-9pm there.

I remember the day I landed in London. It was peak of summer here in 1997, July. The Drive in Jim's car from Heathrow to Micheal's home in Acton was so surreal. It was about 9:00pm, but sun was shining giving an impression of about 4:00pm back home. I then realised that in UK, in summer, sun rises around 4:00 am and sets around 10:00pm. After a few months I also realised that things are just the opposite in Winter when daylight is just for a few hours from around 9:00am to 3:00 pm.

When I started working these wide variations became more and more pronounced. When we are doing an on-call in Summer, if there is a call at 3:00 am (almost always there will be one), after attending the patient it is difficult to go back to sleep (if we get a chance, though this is rare) in spite of covering the venetian-blinds and sliding under the duvet. Worse is in Winter, when it is dark when we start to the hospital in the morning and still dark when we finish in the evening!

I soon became accustomed to the British weather too ie it doesn't matter it is summer, winter, spring or autumn, it rains every time. I still remember a gentle man whom I met in London once told me "You cannot trust 3 W's in Britain; ie Work, Weather and Women"!

The beauty of test cricket

Last night I read Ian Chappell saying 'Expect an Australian win' and South Africa have proved the plaudits wrong..They have managed to upstage the 'number one' test team in the second highest chase in Test match history by scoring 414 runs in the 4th innings! Brilliant, simply brilliant!! Full marks to Graeme Smith and his men who showed the intent, attitude and belief that anything is possible in cricket...

South-Africa has matured as a team in the last few years (Under Smith's captaincy) and who can forget their wonderful chasing in that famous 2006 ODI against Australia(438 in 49.5 overs) at Johannesburg. I still remember Anju texting me from India after watching that match (http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/statsguru/engine/match/238200.html)..

Australia's Vulnerability is exposed especially in the bowling department after McGrath and Warne retirement. Their invincible label is cracking as I said before(http://adhvaitha.blogspot.com/2008/11/end-of-australian-domination.html).Its looking increasingly likely that one of the other top 3 teams could upstage them as number one test team and its only a matter of time before it happens...

The recent 387 run chase by India and now this record chase clearly shows that test match is here to stay and illustrates the beauty, excitement and unpredictability of the game....

Jesus through Hindu eyes

Last night went to the talk "Jesus through Hindu eyes" by Shaunaka Rishi Das. There was a good crowd considering the time of the year. Shaunaka is from Wexford, Ireland and is the director of Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies (http://www.ochs.org.uk/)

It was a very interesting session and Shaunaka in his characteristic style talked about Jesus, teachings and bible and how this could be seen/ interpreted from a 'Sanathana Dharma' point of view. He definitely has great knowledge of both faiths as he was brought up as a Catholic before. He talked about Jesus as a 'Bhaktha yogi'. Jesus is the face of god and asks us to face god similar to Lord Krishna. This was very much like the 'Dvaitha' form of Hindu teaching.

A lively discussion followed. There were lot of Young people asking questions and getting involved in the debate. The questions included the act of atonement, resurrection, final judgment, concept of heaven and hell, trinity etc... The explanations I thought were very good and to the point while giving a holistic view to the faiths.

53 temples in 2 weeks

Continuing with my title 'Lack of planning'...I went to Kerala this time in August for 2 weeks. The main reason to bring back Manikutty who has been there for the last 8 weeks and also to attend the 'Aryans of Kerala' meeting (School reunion) which we had arranged. Manikutty (though on holiday) was admitted to Sanathana School (as she loves going to school!) and its amazing how much the kids are taught at this age. 3 languages( Malayalam, Hindi, English), science, maths etc etc...

I also planned to visit a few temples (But never 50!). I went to Kannur to visit Chinthu's parents. Karunakaran uncle took me to 7 temples in Kannur..then it was a journey through the whole length of Kerala from north to south..Literally from Gokarnum (almost) to Kanyakumari. By the time I was at Kanyakumari district visiting the Shivalaya temples, I realised the count was in to the forties....by the time I flew back to UK it was 53 to be precise...:-)

These are the temples I covered; will write on each temple in detail later.....

1. Madayilpara Shiva
   
2. Devi temple
3. Hanuman temple
4. Parasshinikadavu
5. Thrichambaram
6. Raja Rajeshwara
   
7. Vaidyanatha
8. Perillasherry..then to Thrissur
9. Vadakumnathan
10. Paramekkavu
11. Thiruvambady
12. Navagraha temple (Chinmaya)
13. Mahavishnu temple
14. Guruvayoor
15. Mammiyoor..then to Ernakulam
16. Peruvaarum Naalambalam ie Shiva temple
17. Rama and Hanuman temple
    
18. Sreekrishna temple
19. Vettakkoru makan
20. Dakshina Mookambika
21. Ganapathy temple
22. Kodungalloor Devi temple...then to Trivandrum
23. Gowreeshapattom Shiva temple
24. Padmanabhaswamy temple
25. Mahaganapathy temple( MC)
26. Kumarapuram Ganapathy temple
27. Pampa temples
28. Shabarimala
29. Malikapuratthamma
30. Bhagavathy Kavu temple(MC)
31. Attukal Devi temple
32. Thozhuvancode Devi temple
33. Althara Bhagavathy
34. Hanuman temple(PMG)
35. Pazhavangadi Ganapathy temple
36. Gandhariamman Kovil
37. Thampanoor Ganapathy temple
38. Ulloor Sree Balasubramanya temple
39. Cheruvakkal Sreekrishnaswamy temple
40. Ambalamukku SreeKrishna swamy temple...to Kanyakumari
41. Thirumalai
42. Thikkurissi
43. Thrupparappu
44. Thirunandikkara
45. Ponmanai
46. Pannipakam
47. Padhmanabhapuram (Kalkulam)
48. Melangodu
49. Thriuvidaikkodu
50. Thiruvithankkodu
51. Thriupannikkodu
52. Thirunattalam and
    
53. Kumarakovil

So hows that? Not bad to accommodate 53 temples in a 2 week holiday......

Lack of Planning

I have sometimes felt that "lack of planning is the best planning". I can give a number of instances in my life when I did not have any agenda, took a decision based on instincts at the crucial moments and being successful.

The first instance of this would be when I was a 4 year old when my parents took me to Holy-Angels convent supposed to be one of the best private schools in the area/city at that time. I guess, I just didn't feel right there (Don't know what is planning at that age anyway!)and I cried and tried to run away from mother superior and other nuns. So my parents send me to Arya Central School(another private school), which I felt was one of the best outcomes, destiny had for me.

Again doing pre-degree course at MarIvanious college; my medical entrance, coming to UK etc. In fact, though I wanted to do higher medical training overseas, I never thought of coming to UK; I felt that I should go to US and so planned to do USMLE. Getting a quick place at Hyderabad (through Ramesh, one of the librarians at British library) for IELTS was another unplanned coincidence and subsequently meeting Michael (1996/97), who invited me to come to his place in London and take PLAB exam. A lot of people at that time 'advised' me to take PLAB in India (where it was supposed to start from 1998). Somehow felt 1997 is the right time and so flew to London without any major planning; but that turned out to be one of the best decisions in life.

Another instance is meeting Andrea at the Oxford PICU who advised me to meet Sue to pursue my Genetics training. Infact getting into Oxford training rotation was sheer coincidence.

People say you cannot plan three things; Your birth, death and marriage. The first two you don't have any control, but may be third one you have a certain degree of control. But still we know a lot of instances where love/ marriage just happens between 2 individuals when it is least expected...so is life a coincidence and full of coincidences?

Ancient Indian/Vedic or spiritual and other mystical teachings insist on the fact that there is absolutely no coincidence in the world. That everything that occurs can be related to a prior cause or association, no matter how vast or how minute and trivial.

Generally when faced with a difficult decision, we try to come up with the best choice by carefully considering all of the options, maybe even resorting to lists and some people having lots of sleepless nights. Yesterday I read (from an article forwarded by Anju) that there is a scientific basis to all this...Recent studies have suggested that the best way to deal with complex decisions is not think about them at all—that unconscious thought will help us make the best choices.

So probably 'decision and planning' should be a combination of prescriptive( of what actions to take based on Logic), descriptive( ie the flaws in the way people do make a decision) and most importantly your gut feeling.....Trust your instincts, you will be right...

An unforgettable match and victory

An amazing cricket match; Who said twenty 20 will replace test cricket? Probably one of the best matches one could have imagined especially considering the uncertainties whether this test match would have happened at all in the first instance. Congrats to every one involved in the match..from administrators, security, Chennai crowd, officials, staff and players specifically England team who showed the determination and will to come back to Chennai for playing the tests after the unfortunate incidents at Mumbai 3 weeks ago. India emerged victorious, but I feel the real winner is cricket.

It was an enthralling five days of pure test cricket feast. Two centuries from Strauss in each innings, a gritty half century from Dhoni in the first innings, the 2-wicket over from Swann that broke India's backbone in the first innings, Collingwood's second innings timely century (that probably saved his place in the team) , Sehwag's amazing 83, Yuvi's 80+ and Sachin's 41st century. The MOM award was deservedly given to Veeru, though he missed out on a century provided the impetus, platform and more importantly the belief that India can and should go for a win rather than defend to save the match( as Dhoni himself admitted at the post match ceremony). But for Veeru this test may have ended in a draw or an England victory.

Dhoni has now won four out of four test matches as captain and as I have said before many times he is the right person for the job, forming the correct link between youth and experience in 'team-India'. As India won lot of people will forget the weak link in the present Indian side ie Rahul Dravid ('Media's darling') who will most likely get another chance at Mohali. Iam sure everyone knows that one cannot be in the team just because of impressive past records. Hope he comes good in the next test.

From England's point of view it is disappointing to have lost a test match that they dominated for about 70% of the time. They may have to rethink their strategy especially on the scoring rate and some key bowling options. However, I thought KP's captaincy was quite good and inspiring.

Two days ago (at stumps on third day) I thought England were in a very strong position and if India can turn the tables, India should be considered as the second best test team (after Australia). They did exactly that today..Well done India and well done England too who competed extremely well in this test except the last 4 sessions.

I hope we can expect another cracker of a test match at Mohali in 3 days time....

The epicentre

The epi-centre is defined as the point on earths surface where an earthquake or underground explosion originates. Iam not talking about the earthquake, but the epi-centre of terrorism in today's world; as the Indian Prime minister says about its neighbour, Pakistan.

This country which at the time of independence had all the ingredients to make a powerful state. It had fertile land, rivers, natural& human resources and above all the newly found nationalism as a result one common religion binding the people.

How come in six decades the country has gone from a potential powerful state to the 'rouge state' of the world. What has led Pakistan to being such a failed and lawless state in the world? Iam not a political or strategic analyst to answer that. As many analysts say this could be a contribution of factors including the virulent motives of the army, its blind Anti-India attitude, its proxy war against India and other countries, state or non-state terrorism (don't know what 'non-state actors' means as the present president of that country repeats all the time) or corruption and inefficiency of its rulers.

Madeline Albright, Former US Secretary of state says, Pakistan is an International migraine; "It has nuclear weapons, it has terrorism, extremists, corruption, very poor and it’s in a location that’s really, really important to us".

British prime minister, Gordon Brown says that three-quarters of the most serious terror plots being investigated by UK authorities have links to Pakistan.

Armed tribesmen supported by the army from Pakistan's north-west frontier province invaded Kashmir in October 1947. Since then Pakistan has lost 4 major wars against India. It also lost about half of its original state when Bangladesh was formed in 1971 going against the 'two-nation' theory propounded by the nation's founders that Hindus and Muslims were two separate nations by every definition, and therefore Muslims should have an autonomous homeland in the Muslim majority areas of British India. But in reality it was a partition between Hindus/Muslims and Sikhs in the north and eastern India. It didn't affect South India that much as North. The Muslims in the Indian Sub-continent were divided among the 3 countries ie one third each in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh(formerly east Pakistan). It has been the agenda of the Pakistan army that as they cannot win back the state of J&K, the alternative is to have state sponsored terrorism , though they deny this vehemently (as is the case with any statement against Pakistan) even in the presence of solid evidence.

Its interesting to read the cover story in Newsweek recently (July2008) about Pakistan...."The whole world knows that today no other country on earth is arguably more dangerous than Pakistan. It has everything Osama bin Laden could ask for: political instability, a trusted network of radical Islamists, an abundance of angry young anti-Western recruits, secluded training areas, access to state-of-the-art electronic technology, regular air service to the West and security services that don't always do what they're supposed to do. These Islamist fighters now operate relatively freely in cities like Karachi—a process the U.S. and Pakistani governments call "Talibanization."

Wikipedia says; The Islamic Republic of Pakistan has been branded frequently as a 'Haven for Terrorism', supporting terrorist organizations and is considered amongst the most dangerous nations in the world.

Pakistan is a "failed state" as Islamabad does not have complete control over its own territories and its land is being used by terrorists to launch attack against other nations.....But is it just Pakistan and its rulers or military to blame?

Everyone knows who first sowed/sown the seeds of hatred in British India by their "Divide and rule" policy. When the partition occurred eventually; why was it done in such a haste leaving about 1 million dead?...Wikipedia says "Partition was accompanied by one of the largest and most rapid population transfers in history, with 17.9 million people leaving their homes. Of these, only 14.5 million arrived, suggesting that 3.4 million went "missing"...

We cannot change history but we have to learn from the lessons it has given us. Isn't US/ former USSR responsible for the state of affairs in Pakistan at the moment in one way or another when they intervened in Afghanistan in the late 70's and early 80's for their own hidden motives... Infact almost every country has a responsibility in some way or other for Pakistan to be in the present state including India.

No one seem to have a solution for how to 'normalise' the state of affairs in Pakistan. India definitely has a role to help Pakistan and the first aspect of this should be in how to increase the confidence and trust among the South-Asian neighbours

However, its up to Pakistan and its authorities to take the initiative and try to reign in the terrorists as early and effectively as they can; other wise it is likely to perish because, as in an earthquake everyone will be affected and has to suffer aftereffects, the greatest damage will be located at the epicenter.....

Lessons learned

Its more than a fortnight, since the Mumbai attacks. Let us see whats the aftermath; At least 188 people were killed in the attacks.Among the dead were 141 Indian civilians, 17 policemen and army and 30 foreign nationals from 10 countries ( and about 300 injured physically and many many more mentally and emotionally). The government has announced compensations; but the loss suffered by the individuals, relative and families are irreversible. At the end of the day common people (and the brave security forces) are on the loosing side. A few political heads rolled....

The Prime Minister apologised (in parliament) to the nation for not preventing “this dastardly act”, the new Home Minister rolled out a revamped internal security road map, the Leader of Opposition offered full support to the Government and the External Affairs Minister, while ruling out war as a solution, sent Pakistan a tough message that if it did not act against elements using its soil to target India“it will result in some sort of situation that we (Indians) do not want.”

I don't know what all that means??...

The lesson learned for the Indians is that they cannot take their life for granted (and this is true for any global citizen); but in India, specifically the government is not in a position to completely guarantee safety and security. The common people(not politicians) are at risk of terrorism from anywhere, but especially across the border at anytime irrespective of the place, religion, class or caste.

The new home minister announced a few measures to bolster internal security:

1. a national investigation agency would be set up
2. Vacancies in the country's intelligence agencies would be filled and they would be equipped with advanced equipment
3. a coastal command would be set up to secure India's 7,500km-long coastline
4. a total of 20 "counter-insurgency, anti-terrorism" schools would be set up in various parts of India to train to train police and security personnel
5. commando forces to be set up in the states
6. laws relating to terrorist acts would be beefed up
7. money laundering laws to be strengthened.

These are all good in theory and principle. But will this be practical? We have seen and heard many politicians saying this and that....I think the most important aspect in this whole saga is the urgent need for an introspection and change of attitude for the politicians. If India wants to prosper and flourish, to become an important power in the twenty first century and to ensure the safety of the homeland, I propose a few ideas:

1. Politicians to retire after a certain age
2. The minimum qualification of contesting in an election should be at least a graduation. I know that people who have haven't done formal school education has gone onto become great leaders; But times have changed and we have to change with time.
3. The 'VVIP' security and 'Z category' nonsense etc should come to an end!...instead these resources should be directed for the welfare and security of the common people.
4. Compulsory one year military training for all citizens especially youngsters...
5. More integration and communication of the various security services at the local, regional, national and international level.

India has suffered more than 4,000 terrorist attacks since 1970, with an average of about one killing per day. Has anyone thought why is that places/cities/countries in other parts of the world who have become victims of terror never had a repeat attack again? Why is Mumbai or Delhi or for that matter Indian cities targeted again and again?

The answer is that people learn from mistakes and put a plan in place for the prevention of such attacks. Iam sure there are many attacks that have been foiled in other parts of the world. But India has not learned and becomes a soft target again and again. This has to end..enough is enough..wake up everyone...defend our homeland....

Mumbai

It has been a terrible 24 hours (or more) for India. Mumbai is virtually a war zone, looks like a battle field. I started following the incidents from about 19:00hours from yesterday. Mumbai has been brutally attacked by 20 or so terrorists at 10 different locations; more than 100 people are said to be dead; among them about 6 foreigners and many taken hostage. It seems that the terrorists arrived in a boat from Arabian sea after having dropped from a mother-ship off the Indian coast. Most of the news channels around the world have been covering the incidents live with in-depth analysis of what has been taking place. How long will this continue? Hasn't human life got any value?

There will be a lot of questions asked in the next few days. Who are responsible? How can a bunch of people just come in a few boats and attack a country which claims to be the biggest democracy and boast of third largest armed forces in the world? What are the politicians and the government doing?

India is not a stranger to indiscriminate terror attacks. Such attacks have occurred regularly, and with steadily increasing frequency, in recent years. In this year itself there have been bomb blasts in many major cities of India that has left many dead. Mumbai, India's financial capital, has been targeted before. So why did the government not have a Crisis- Management team in place? The terrorists it seems knew exactly what they were doing; where to hit , how to move around the city and even the layout of each hotel probably better than the security forces. Is this an intelligence failure or a Coast guard failure or a security failure or a total failure of law and order in the state?


Countries and individuals are of mainly 2 types; some are proactive, some reactive (early or late!)...In this case I felt that the government and authorities were almost inactive (with due respect to all the security, police and other forces who are still trying to rescue the innocent lives). It took the government about 24 hours to even establish a help line! I remember a movie which I watched recently called 'Wednesday'. In this movie a common man who was sick of living in terror, decided to act as he felt that the government and police were inefficient to maintain the safety and security of common people. No wonder people start thinking along these lines; There is widespread shock, anger and sadness around; especially anger against the politicians. I hope the politicians and authorities start doing something for their country. This should be a wake up call for everyone and let episodes like this never be allowed to be repeated again.

FSS syndrome and Time

Friday- Saturday- Sunday (FSS) syndrome is a new kind of experience which I am going through since my arrival in UK.

I would define FSS syndrome as the physical, mental, emotional and physiological effects and changes in ones body and mind before and after the period spanning between 17:00hours on Friday till about 8:00 am the following morning of Monday..

I did my schooling and undergraduate education in India and never thought that much about week-end and week-days (WEWD). Of course I may have been very naive or may be that I thought everyday is more or less similar. Anyway I never had this concept. Since my arrival here I slowly started to understand that everything here revolves around the concept of weekday-weekend cycle and it seems that every person in the west is a 'victim' of this condition in one way or other.

Most people work very hard, just to relax over the week-end, recharge their batteries, then again back to Monday- Friday cycle.... I know a lot of people have butterflies in the stomach from Sunday morning and have sleepless or disturbed sleeping on Sunday nights, called by the popular term Sunday night syndrome. Some people like to sleep on &on, on Saturday and Sunday mornings with out getting out of bed till noon to 'over-compensate' this...

"For six days work may be done, but on the seventh day you shall have a holy day, a sabbath of complete rest to the Lord; whoever does any work on it shall be put to death-Holy bible Exodus 35.2; So this is not a new phenomenon. Also this is not just limited to the western world. I can see this process very much in India and other eastern countries too. In the Middle-east this is TF (Thursday-Friday syndrome) rather than FSS...

One of the problems with this WEWD cycle specially for a full time worker (ie from Monday- Friday 9:00-17:00) is that everything comes to a halt after 5:00pm during week days. The only time they can do the shopping and other activities like Banking, post office etc is on Saturday. Thank god, in the last few years because of the Sunday Trading Act(a UK law governing a shop's right to trade on a Sunday) bigger shops open for 6 hours on Sundays.

It seems that in UK all we know is Monday morning ie starting a new week and before we realise it is Friday and then the same WEWD cycle. How fast time moves....or is it just normal? I remember recently reading an article on time. 'Clock time' may be about minutes and hours, but 'Real Time' is down to how we experience it, which differs from person to person depending on what we're doing.

A child's school day(9:00-15:30) is like a 20-hour day for an adult. Children are experiencing everything for the first time, all their experiences are new. They also have an incredibly intense vision of the world, an amazing fresh perception. Children are amazingly awake to the world around us, so it seems time passes slowly for them. This is Perceptual theory first put forward William James. Also according to the theory of relativity, time is related to a lot of factors; its not absolute. So I think its all about our perception.

I remember as a child everything seems to be going slow especially each academic year at school. Everyone will be waiting for the summer holidays in each academic year and when we are through a few weeks (into the holidays) , think that the time is going slow and that we want to get back to the new year at school (for new books, new labels, new uniform , pen/pencils etc etc), some how as an adult we have fewer new experiences and so probably time goes too fast. Older people also tend to have fewer new experiences and this may be a reason why it feels like time is going fast.....It may be that Children don't have much responsibility and so feel like there is more time. Also an year is a long period for a child while for an adult it is too short!

If you have a meeting in London, rather than driving (though I love driving), its always better to take a train as one can get some work done or may be meet new people. In a long haul flight we can get 'more time' than our next seat sleeping passenger if we do something, even reading a book/ news paper.

So change your daily routines, bring in novelty, have new experiences. For example if you are an early riser try to do more at night and sleep late. For me who is a late sleeper and a late riser the best advice to follow would be....as the old saying goes..Early to bed and early to rise makes a man (and woman) healthy, wealthy, wise and may be slow down time too!!!

Growing clout?

Just now read an interesting article in BBC. ie The Indian navy has been given formal approval by the United Nations to go after pirate ships in Somali waters.

The background to this is that 2 days ago, on Tuesday, an Indian warship sank a suspected Somali pirate vessel after it opened fire on it in the Gulf of Aden. Piracy incidents have surged off the Somali coast. A number of Indian crews have been on ships hijacked by pirates.

I was thinking can United nations give authority to a member country to patrol another countries coast? Yes, I understand that it will be under certain circumstances that Indian warships can enter Somali waters. Buts still critics can draw comparisons between this and what is happening at present in the world especially Afghanistan and Iraq, though on a different scale....

Switch on your brains, ICC/BCCI

Common...Switch on the flood lights! I am wondering why can't the BCCI and ICC have that rule in place for the third one-day at Kanpur today. It was an even match considering how brutally England were beaten in the last 2 games in the ODI series. India now leads the 7 match series 3-0.

When a match is organised in Kanpur at this time of the year the organisers should have some sense that it will be foggy/dark in the evening by 16:00 hours. They should have made it a day/night match or else made the provision of switching on the lights in case of bad-light. One might imagine that the ICC would have learned the lesson from last world cup final debacle in Windies when Srilanka was made to bat for 3 overs in pitch-black darkness..

I am not sure whether carrying on the game with lights switched on, would have changed the result (other than the fact that India's win would have been in terms of number of wickets rather than 16 runs by Duckworth-Lewis method); but this would have given the English team a chance to fight and may be given them a chance to an unlikely victory making it 2-1 rather than 3-0 at this point in the series.

At least Pietersen and mates can be reassured by the fact that the margins of Indian victories have been coming down steadily ie 158 runs, 54 runs and now 16 runs. This may be due to the fact that this English team at last may be coming to terms with the opposition, the conditions and, perhaps most importantly, themselves (after the loss of 20 million dollars at Stanford match with Windies).

The end of Australian Domination

Australia ended a disastrous tour to India having lost the series 2-0 and the Border-Gavaskar Trophy. Does this mean the beginning of the end of Australian Domination or does it mean that other teams are catching up with them? It is clear that India has made tremendous progress in the last few years, specifically after 2000 under the leadership of Saurav Ganguly. He is the first Indian Captain who raised the profile of Indian Crickets image overseas by building a team with both experience and youthfulness by his astute qualities, leadership skills and killer instinct (which I thought India was lacking previously though individual players like Kapil Dev, Srikkanth etc exhibited this from time to time)

Under Ganguly's captaincy India won 11 Tests overseas including matches in Sri Lanka, West Indies, England, Australia and Pakistan. India's success abroad has continued even after Ganguly's tenure ended with the torch being handed over to Dhoni after a short 'delay' when Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble were captains

"Winning at any cost", the Australian way, was simply lacking in this series. There may have been many reasons behind this, but the decision of Ponting to use his spinners on Sunday - and then watching them ease the pressure on India - instead of looking for a quick kill and thinking of the consequences later cost them the test , the series and the coveted Border-Gavaskar trophy.

I always considered Steve Waugh as a much better captain than Ponting, but loosing one series doesn't make Ponting a bad captain either. I am sure Ponting will be back to his winning ways when Australia start their series against New-Zealand later this month. However, this series win by India will give a lot of confidence to other test playing nations to take on Australia whose "invincible label" is cracking especially after the retirement of Warne, Mcgrath and Gilchrist. Saying that even when these players were playing for Australia, India have always been a headache to Australians as they have lost 3 of their 4 test series in India in the last decade....

Oh Boy! America My America!!

Barack Obama has been chosen as the new president elect of US. What a resounding and convincing victory! This is probably one US presidential election that the whole world had been following with keen interest. It was clear watching the television-result-saga into early hours of morning, that Obama is going to be the first non-white president of US when he will be sworn in on Jan 20, 2009.

Obama has been a ray of hope to the whole world and specifically the US where its been bad news after bad news in every field. In his own words after the victory"America is a place where all things are possible and the "dream of our founders" is alive; "It's been a long time coming but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America"

The whole world it seems hoped and prayed for his victory. In fact a recent BBC poll showed that all the 22 countries that took part in the poll wanted Obama to be the president of US. Everyone hopes that he will improve the situation in US and also its relations with other countries in today's multipolar world.

Amma 2008

Amma was in London on October 26-28th. On 25th there was the AR Rahman music evening at Rasa Restaurant at Holiday Inn, near Kings Cross; Santhi was waiting for us there. Divya and Sumesh too came with us. It took us a bit of time to reach Kings Cross because of the heavy central London traffic on a Friday. Parked our car just outside the hotel. The music night had already began when we reached there. The hall is rather small and so sound effects were not great. I would say the music was average; but Manoj's tabla and Suraj's performance were great. The food was good too...

On 26th morning we went to Alexandra palace. This time rather than Darshan tokens( which were already given away by the time we reached there) we were given different coloured cards. The idea was that if time permits we Amma would give us Darshan in the morning; otherwise it will be in the evening. Met Prasad and family, who did not want to stay too long as Kannan was getting upset. Nitin and family had also come. All of them were very overwhelmed with emotions after the Darshan especially his parents.

Amma asked all of us to sit near her after Darshan. Somehow just sitting there or spending time in her presence gives a nice feeling. Santhi had come as I insisted. But Amma on seeing him asked Santhi to stand near her for some time. He stood there for rest of Darshan that morning. Amma also told him to be there that evening. Met Renuka chechi; She is a Swamini who works as a supervisor in one of Amma's institutions in Perumbavoor (originally from Kannur). She had relatives in Grimsby too. In the afternoon we went to the washing area and did seva by washing all the waste plates. Amma's Prabhashanam in the evening was as usual in simple words. Stayed at Sumesh's flat that evening.

The next day too we went to Alexandra palace. I did not plan to go there, but just felt like seeing Amma again. Bhavani Chechi kindly gave us darshan tokens when I told her that we will be returning that evening and are not staying for Devi-bhava the next day. Darshan was great and when Amma was returning after the morning Darshan at around 17:00 hours, she came and stopped near me and asked how I was and asked specifically about Santhi! Vava at that time asked about Arathy

That evening we did Seva at the food stall. Manikutty was helping with serving the sweets! It was a nice feeling just being there. Mani took her new friend Eve (from Scotland) to the stage and was seen chatting to Amma. She gave Amma the pictures she had drawn. It seems she asked Amma whether she could stay with Amma for ever!! Amma just smiled back.....
Reached Leicester well past mid-night....

"May the tree of our life
Be firmly rooted in the soil of love,
Let good deeds be the leaves on that tree.
May words of kindness form its flowers
And may peace be its fruits"

Amma

Over the Moon

India successfully launched Chandrayaan-1. Its a major achievement for Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO). It is a time for jubilation for all Indians and specifically the scientific community of India and they are cherishing every moment of it with the successful launch. In two weeks time the robotic probe will reach the lunar orbit (about 100 km).It will orbit the Moon, compiling a 3-D atlas of the lunar surface and mapping the distribution of elements and minerals.

ISRO revealed that Chandrayaan-1 is only the beginning, and that the mission, which is expected to last for two years, will be followed by Chandrayaan-2, which will go even further, by landing on the Moon, and continue exploration with a rover. India’s plans don’t stop here, and in the future, the ISRO also hopes it will be able to send an unmanned spacecraft to Mars and beyond (to asteroids and comets, and even one to study the Sun). Mr Madhavan Nair Chairman of ISRO announced that they plan to send a man to space in 2015. For the time being, the Moon awaits......

Unlike the lunar and space race in the 60's and 70's that was probably exploratory or for supremacy (between erstwhile Soviet Union and US), the present spike of interest in moon exploration (especially from Europe, Japan and China) is more commercial, scientific and even has tactical implications. It is to find out what is there on the moon, and whether technologies can be developed on earth to make rewarding use of lunar resources.The presence of helium-3, believed to be a clean and excellent fuel of the future is just one of the reasons why countries want to literally, reach for the moon. The Moon may well hold hidden tales about the early history of the Solar System, its evolution and of the crucial period when life emerged on the Earth.

The Chandrayaan-1 lunar probe marks an effort by ISRO to go beyond the Vikram Sarabhai dream (Father of Indian Space Program) — a first step in taking on the challenges of deep space exploration. ISRO is setting a trend in space exploration by demonstrating the fact that we are all one world ie "Vasudeva Kudumbakam" (the entire creation of God is one family). It is exemplified by the fact that the mission includes five ISRO payloads and six payloads from other international space agencies including NASA, ESA and the Bulgarian Aerospace Agency, which are being carried free of cost. Congrats to all the scientists and people behind this successful venture. I conclude with the words of Professor Vikram Sarabhai (1919-1971)

"There are some who question the relevance of space activities in a developing nation. To us, there is no ambiguity of purpose. We do not have the fantasy of competing with the economically advanced nations in the exploration of the moon or the planets or manned space-flight. But we are convinced that if we are to play a meaningful role nationally, and in the community of nations, we must be second to none in the application of advanced technologies to the real problems of man and society. "

Mohanlal and Suraaj show

The feedback from the Mohanlal show (termed Mohanlal Daily Delight show 2008- Europe) was that it was average.We went with Sunil and family and it at Royal Concert Hall, Nottingham. One of the reasons why people said it is average because most of the malayali homes at present have Satellite TV and have watched the skits and other similar performances before.

Generally, I liked the programme especially the performance of Suraj Venjarumoodu. He was the star of the show. Mohanlal was also impressive. It was a great feeling watching a legend perform on stage at a liveshow.In dance performances Mohanlal was very flexible and his movements were very subtle and elegant. However, the lip singing was quite evident, though he tried to make it up with his acting performanc. The female artists ie Jyotirmayi and Lakshmi Gopalaswamy were good. Meera Nandan, Jagadish, Mukesh, Afzal and Vineeth were average.

320...in great style

India recorded their biggest test- cricket victory today (in terms of runs). They crushed the test champions, Australia by a huge margin of 320 runs. It was an emphatic win, outplaying the Aussies in batting, bowling, fielding and captaincy, consistently over 5 days. Australia have lost before but it's been a long time since they were so comprehensively taken apart. India is the only team in the last 10 years who has stood up to Australia and such a result was imminent.

MS Dhoni rightly deserves the man of the match award, though potentially it could have been given to any of the nine players with the possible exception of Dravid and Laxman. It was a great team effort ably led by the captain from the front. As I had said in one of my previous blogs, Dhoni is the man for Indian Cricket at the moment and there should be no hesitation in making him Team India's test captain (http://pradeepcvasudevan.blogspot.com/2008/08/msd.html). Congrats to whole team and management and specifically Kris Srikkanth who in my opinion took some sensible decisions in team selection and went for a right mix of experience combined with youth.......

Hanuman Temple

"manojapam marutha thulyavegam

jithendriyam budhimaatham varishtam

vaathatmajam vanaraayutha mukhyam

srirama dhuutham shirasa namami"

I first went to the PMG Hanuman temple (near Vikas Bhavan and Kerala Legislative Assembly building) during my school days. I used to offer my prayers at the temple, every Thursday during my Pre-degree and MBBS days. The temple used to be a small one during those days; but it has expanded and changed tremendously over the last 10 years and has grown into one of the most important places of worship in Trivandrum.

The Temple was consecrated for the benefit of the soldiers (of Travancore army)to offer prayers in the 1850's. The main offerings are 'vadamala', 'vettamala' and cheese. Pushpabhishekham is also a "nercha" (an offering).