Kerala

May 17 2013

Kerala Rocked Hard With Celeb Scandals

The past couple of days has seen Kerala and India (in the second case) rocked by two different scandals. The first one was regarding an actor Kalabhavan Mani allegedly assaulting two forest officers in the night. Mani is a mostly comedic actor who has also donned on a few more serious roles as a hero or villain and won a few state & a national award for his role as a blind street singer. He is known to be more down to earth than most actors and is also known for his charity work. However a couple of days ago he was in the news for all he wrong reasons. Apparently he was traveling with friends in a car when they were stopped by two officials for routine car checking. The actor responded violently when he was asked to open the boot of the car and he & his friend, a doctor, assaulted the two officers. The forest officials said that Mani was inebriated. The officers sustained injuries on the chest, hands, legs and eyes one of them more serious. They were admitted to the Chalakudy Taluk Hospital.

Jaya Gopinath, who was travelling with her husband Maliyekkal Gopinath and Mani, filed a complaint against the officials, complaining that the officials verbally abused her and misbehaved with her.The actor had gotten himself admitted to a hospital in his native Chalakudy. The police have registered cases against both Mani and the injured forest officials. The latest news is that Mani has gone into hiding immediately after the police registered a case against him under non-bailable sections of the IPC. A police team visited Mani’s new and ancestral houses at Chalakudy on Thursday to take him into custody in connection with the case, but he was found missing, said the police. However some friends of his say that he had left for Bangalore on Wednesday night to take part in the shooting of a Tamil Movie.

The second incident which happened a day later when former India Test bowler Sreesanth S. and two other players have been arrested by Delhi police on suspicion of spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League, sports officials said on Thursday. Sreesant is a fellow Keralite and a fellow resident of Cochin. The IPL is kinda like the English Premier League or any of the European leagues for cricket and features Indian & most of the top foreign players from nations like England, Australia, in 9 teams. Sreesant, who has been in controversial situations before, was immediately suspended from an ILP matches along with his Rajasthan Royals team-mates & co-conspirators Ankeet Chavan and Ajit Chandila and will face harsher actions if they are found guilty post a trial. Spot-fixing is the manipulation of individual incidents within a match which may not affect the outcome of the contest, most famously exposed in a London trial and jailing of three Pakistani cricketers in 2011.

Delhi’s police commissioner Neeraj Kumar alleged that the three Indian bowlers took money to concede a pre-determined number of runs in three different IPL matches. For 4m Indian rupees (£48,000) Sreesanth agreed to concede 13 or more runs in his second over of a May 9 match at Mohali, Kumar alleged. Sreesanth tucked a towel in his waistband to signal to a bookie, giving him enough time to “indulge in heavy betting”, the police chief said.

I’m not surprised in either case. The Indian film world has always been associated with corrupt politicians, underworld figures and lots of illegal activities going on. An actor with good connections misbehaving and thinking himself to be above the law is nothing news – Mani has had two other cases against him, both which were settled. Sreesanth is known for being arrogant and hot-headed and his antics have lost him more fans than he can ever know. And cricket & match-fixing is nothing new; this is India after all and corruption & illegal stuff is everyday news. Not surprised in that case either. It’s not the first match fixing scandal to rock cricket and it won’t be the last. And I couldn’t care much since I don’t watch it and I can’t stand the game.

There that’s my two cents worth!

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/digg_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/reddit_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/stumbleupon_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/delicious_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/blinklist_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/blogmarks_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/furl_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/newsvine_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/technorati_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/magnolia_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/google_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/myspace_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/facebook_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/yahoobuzz_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/mixx_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/twitter_48.png

http://awakeanddreaming.org/wp-content/plugins/sociofluid/images/meneame_48.png

By Roshan • Cochin, India, Kerala, Movies, Sports • 0

May 11 2013

Woods Manor’s New Pizzeria

Time to discover an all new pizza place in good ole Cochin. Woods Manor is a long established hotel in the city on MG Road. They used to have a cafe called the Sidewalk Cafe. Well that is no longer there and the took apart the place and rebuilt it as a semi-open cafe called Pizzeria. Yes it’s just called Pizzeria and it’s a good little pizza place with some sandwiches, burgers and stuff as well. After attending an engagement today, I left early as there was a huge crowd in this small house and arranged for my cousin and I to have a couple of beers and then we went to have pizza.

I’m guessing they have a chef who has had some proper training in making pizzas because they are really serious about the pizzas here and they are really good. Really like the image on the front. Their furniture isn’t as good and they should replace them. It’s also a little too hot and no washroom in the near vicinity (you have to go to the main part of the building and then go past their normal restaurant to the washroom).

The pizzas are delicious. My cousin Sujith had a Chilli Prawn pizza – prawn as he was on a sea food roll for the week.

I had the Cajun Spiced Chicken pizza. Both were delicious and the thin crust were crunchy and everything was really good. We had Sprints (kinda like a very bad local imitation of Sprite) to wash them down.

Great pizzas – however they took almost 25 minutes to acknowledge us for the bill. No waiter or manager was around for a while even though there were one other table occupied at this late afternoon hour (we went in at 4:15 pm). If they improve some aspects of their service, this will be one great place for some slices.

By Roshan • Cochin, Food, Kerala, Photos • 3

Apr 19 2013

The 7Up Ad That Has Some Keralites In A Huff

This is the 7up ad that has Malayalees in a huff. I watched it. It’s not making fun of Kerala or Malayalees. It’s not making fun of Kathakali. It’s not making fun of anything or anybody and you shouldn’t get offended by it for that. What you should get offended by is that it’s a stupid song, it’s a dumb ad, it’s an idiotic dancing and this is the standard that ads in India have lowered themselves too. Be offended as it is a low standard ad. 7up should fire their ad makers for the low quality ad. And untwist your knickers!

On that note I’m gonna drink a 7up!

By Roshan • India, Kerala, Television, Video Clip • 0

Apr 14 2013

A Kerala Power & Weather Rant

Time for a climate related & government & Kerala rant. I hate this weather. We are so screwed. Let me start by reminding you that in my part of the world we have just two seasons : monsoon and heat. Call it summer, call it whatever; it’s just heat & fucking humidity. When it rains it can rain a lot and I kind of like that. Then there’s a brief period in January early February when it’s a little bit more pleasant with the early mornings and late evenings being a bit cooler but then bang we come to the end of Feb and March and it’s fucking hot. Energy sapping, sweat inducing, moisture robbing heat & humidity. That’s what we have now and it’s annoying as hell.

Kerala depends on Hydo-Electric plants for the majority of the electricity with the dams and the water level in Iddukki being a constant topic of discussion for all Keralites. We depend on the rains for providing that water and usually we have a heavy monsoon that takes care of the supply of water needed for the power demands of the state. Last year the monsoon was weak and we didn’t get much water. Whenever this happens we have scheduled power cuts in weekly rotation timings each evening to save electricity usually for 30 minutes a day and between the peak hours of 6pm and 10pm. With that scheduled power cuts they also sometimes have unscheduled power cuts during the day in certain areas depending on the whims & fancies of the deranged assholes working at the controls – or so it seems! This past year it has been bad. 1 hour power cut a day, 30 minutes in the morning and 30 in the evening. Starts from 6am to 10am and 6pm to 10pm. And now we have unscheduled power cuts during the day as well.

And for the past few days we have 2 hour power cuts a day – scheduled! Yes 2 hours a day. This week my area has been having the power cuts for 30 minutes each at 7am, 9am, 1pm and 8pm. And yesterday the motherfuckers cut the power to my area 3 extra times in the evening for who knows what reasons. It just kept going off and coming back on – looks like like someone at the controls at KSEB was either having fits or rolling around on the controls having sex! Man, woman or animal – I’m not sure! KSEB is run by incompetent shemales who can’t distinguish between power sockets their own assholes! Plugs might go in anywhere, in any hole!

I have no idea when the state is going to have it’s power issues and their shit back together. I know some other states have it really bad but the problem is that this state is so complacent with a bunch of old, uneducated & corrupt men who are just interested in filling their pockets and don’t care about progress. We should have gone to solar power a long time ago and not depend on the rains as much as we have. Imagine if we had both options and Kerala could actually move forward. But no! Screw your parties, screw your politicians, fuck the Kochi metro talks and all that shit!

By Roshan • Cochin, India, Kerala, Ramblings • 2

Mar 26 2013

RIP Sukumari

Malayalam cinema lost an iconic figure and an extremel talented and beloved actress as Sukumari passed away today. The 74 year old versatile character & comedic actress passed away at a private hospital in Chennai following a heart attack. The veteran star of Tamil and Malayalam cinema was admitted to the hospital for burn injuries that she suffered a month ago.

Sukumari has acted in Malayalam and Tamil films mainly since she was 10 years old. She was born in Nagercoil, Tamilnadu in 1940. Sukumari is a first cousin of the Travancore Sisters, Lalitha, Padmini and Ragini (their mothers are sisters). The total number of her films is presumed to be about 2500. She has also done movies in Telugu as well. In 2003, she was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India for her contributions towards the arts. In 2010, she won the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in Namma Gramam (2010), a bilingual in Tamil and Malayalam.

She has donned the role of mother, grandmother, aunt and many other to various actors in the stardom. My first memory and fondest is of her in the Anglo-Indian and oddly named Miss Dick called Dickammayi by the other characters in Boeing Boeing, a moody chef whose ex-military husband eloped and married her sister. Similarly my next favourite character that she portrayed was as Maggie Aunty in Vandanam.

She will be sorely missed for her acting talent and her comedic presence. RIP Dickammayee!

By Roshan • India, Kerala, Movies • 0

Mar 19 2013

The Kids Are Alright!

Right next to my office building is an Upper Primary school run by the government. It looks more like a cleaner cowshed really, right in the center of the plot. On both sides of the school building is the playground – on the left side the boys play and on the right side the girls play. I don’t think that this is meant to be segregated this way but it just so happens that on the left side are what seems to be a version of a football field cum cricket pitch. There are two goal posts that I can see on one end – what looks like goal posts as there is no netting.

On the right side of the building the girls play on swings, see saws, a kind of carousel and I also see a few kids reading under the huge tree that offers a lot of shade. The girls seem to be going at a more leisurely pace during their break while the boys are in aggressive games of cricket almost everyday. The school hasn’t provided them with proper equipment so the boys make due with what I assume are sticks of plastic or bamboo and not proper cricket bats. No pads or caps and they play with a rubber ball – bright blue!! I’m two floors above yet I can see that bright blue. And the kids bowl underarm while the batsmen or batboys use all their might to swing at the balls toss to them. The fieldsmen run and jump and lunge to catch them.

As always across schools throughout the state, the players are quite serious about their game. Today there seems to be a lot of caught outs! One frustrated player threw his ‘bat’ 50 feet away in disgust as he was out within a minute of joining the game. Two boys at the far end were cracking jokes to each other – that’s what it seems like, cause they keep going off into fits of laughter, doubling over in the hilarity. I don’t see any teachers or gym teachers during these sessions. Reminds me of my childhood days in school although we played a lot more football than cricket in our school grounds.

By Roshan • Cochin, Kerala, Sports • 0

Mar 4 2013

India’s Biggest Shopping Mall 2B Opened

Lulu Shopping Mall is a shopping mall that is to opened on the 10th of March in the Cochin neighbourhood of Edapally. It will be one of the largest malls in Asia and is built on an area of 16, 98,261 sq ft, with total area for mall alone at 300,000 square metres (3,200,000 sq ft) and the remaining portion for a premium five-star hotel managed by JW Marriott Hotels. It is anticipated to be the largest mall in India with 1.6 million square feet of Gross Leasable Area, beating the Phoenix mall of Mumbai which has a GLA of 1.34 million square feet. More than 360 outlets including food courts, restaurants, family entertainment zones and a seven-screen multiplex will all come together to make Lulu Shopping. The estimated cost for this project is more than 1500 crore rupees. The mall is run, managed and set up by the EMKE group, a business group with interests in Middle East, Africa and Asia and who’s staff have strong ties to Kerala.

As many as 320 international and national brands have a presence in the mall, out of which 46 are coming to the state for the first time. According to officials, about 30 new brands including Walt Disney and Barbie (Mattel) will come to the mall soon. The first Mac Donald Restaurant in Kerala will be opened at Lulu Mall. The mall will have an indoor ice-skating rink, a 5-D cinema hall, bowling alleys, water rides and electronic games. The mall provides a parking area for over 3,000 vehicles. As soon as it opens Lulu Mall is expected to have huge crowds of people thronging to it’s many stores and facilities and be a landmark for the city & suburb. he mall expects about 50,000 visitors a day and the expected monthly revenue is `80-`100 crore, said the officials.

The complex will house, among many others:

Lulu Hyper Market (2 Levels)
a 3500-seated Food Court that has 18 multi-cuisine kitchens and three fine restaurants
71,000 sq ft, 8-screen multiplex with fabulous computer games, bowling alleys, rides, and amusement
Expansively spread check-out counters
Ample parking space that can easily accommodate up to 3000 vehicles
Money exchange centres
Bank counters & ATMs
16 pairs of escalators, travelators, elevators, and lifts
Spacious corridors
Large glass central atrium with translucent roof
Facilities for the disabled
Easy access and exit

Lulu Hypermarket on the ground floor having an area of 25,800 square metres (278,000 sq ft) selling fresh, frozen, canned food, fruits and vegetables, along with butchery, bakery, hot food counters etc. Lulu Department Store on the First floor with 13,500 square metres (145,000 sq ft) of shop floor selling non food items like garments, footwear, luggage, white goods, cosmetics, electronic goods etc. International home furnishing store of area 49,500 square metres (533,000 sq ft). Gross leasable retail space over 19,800 square metres (213,000 sq ft).

I know that you westerns in the US, UK, Canada, Germany etc etc are used to big malls but for us here this is the biggest deal ever! We have smaller malls that are mostly wannabes and they don’t have much in the form of entertainment – except for shopping and some dinning. We are all excited for the international brands as well.

By Roshan • Cochin, India, Kerala • 4

Feb 16 2013

She Rides A Bike & Beats Up Eve-Teasers

As a part of One Billion Rising Campaign, which creates awareness about violence on women, Shangumugham beach was witness to a gathering of women and girls at 6 pm on Thursday. One Billion Rising began as a call to action based on the staggering statistic that 1 in 3 women on the planet will be beaten or raped during her lifetime. With the world population at 7 billion, this adds up to more than one billion women and girls. College student Amrutha Mohan led a bike rally. And on a day that saw a celebration & declaration for women all over to stand up for themselves, an incident occurred later that day that solidified that event.

At 10:30 pm at night in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram, the four men who accosted a group of women to pass lewd comments about them must have thought they would get home scot free. Unfortunately, they didn’t gamble on one aspect, one of the women Amrita happened to be a trained practitioner of ancient martial art Kalaripayayuttu. Amruta described how she had gone out for snack to a local eatery with her parents and some family friends when a government vehicle stopped near them and the four men inside the vehicle made some comments about the women present there. Since her father and his friend had stepped away to get food, a bold Amruta confronted them and after a brief exchange of words the vehicle sped away leaving her shouting after them to return and face her if they had courage. After some time the men in the vehicle reportedly returned and got into a scuffle with Amruta’s father at which point it became too much for the martial arts expert and she stepped in and took on the men, in the manner she knew best.

It was only when she took on the men that others present there came to assist them, Amruta said. On the basis of her complaint, one Manoj, 32, a Nedumangad resident, was nabbed and presented before the court. Though there were reports that the abusers were travelling in a government department car, police are yet to confirm it. On a day when the ‘One Billion Rising’ campaign sought to highlight the plight of women in India and improve their condition, Amruta perhaps stands out for her courage and standing up for herself. From her childhood itself, Amrutha has been learning Kalaripayattu and Karate. She is also a passionate bike rider and had used the Harley Davidson owned by her uncle for some time and now owns a Bajaj Avenger.

By Roshan • India, Kerala • 2

Jan 23 2013

No Power, No Power

The power was out for a long time today. Apparently it was in the paper (not in the Indian Express which is what I read but it was mentioned in the Malayalam Manoram which I do not read) that there would be electrical work being done and hence from 11:30 am – 5pm we had no power at home (ofcourse we also had the 30 minutes power cut in the morning at 7am). Oh I guess I should also let non-Malayalees (or even just non-Indians) know that here in Kerala we have a 60 minute power cut scheduled for us on a weekly basis i.e same time every day for a week. The 60 minutes is split into two so 30 minutes in the morning between 6am and 10am and another 30 minutes in the evening between 6pm and 10:30pm. This ofcourse is because India still depends almost solely on the hydro electric projects (there are 2 diesel power plants and a solitary wind power plant but that’s it) and when the rains fail to supply us with enough water for the dams, we get power cuts to regulate the power supply until the next monsoon is done.

Oh and Kerala gets it’s power from the Kerala State Electricity Board (otherwise knows as incompetent doofus dinkus assholes corporation board). So we have the 30 minute scheduled power cut in the morning at 7am as it is supposed to be this week and then it goes out at 11:30 am and comes back at 5 pm. And then it goes out at 6pm for a few more minutes and instead of 9:30pm as it scheduled for this week, the evening power cut goes out at 8pm! Fuckers at KSEB doing as they please! For once I would like to go to their office and cut their power without prior information! Bastards!

By Roshan • Cochin, Kerala, Personal, Ramblings • 0

Jan 7 2013

Indefinite Bus Strike In Kerala

The indefinite bus strike launched by private bus workers since midnight demanding wage hike has hit the mobility of people across the state. Starting from today we have an almost total strike for buses as the state run KSRTC has failed to run additional services (as usual the government fails to help the public when it is needed) and they have used more buses for the Sabirmala area for devotees & pilgrims in that area. Reports from various districts said the impact of the strike was severe in northern and central districts, where people depend heavily on private buses for their movement.

All bus workers unions affiliated to major central trade unions including CITU, INTUC and BMS, are participating in the strike demanding an immediate payment of 50 per cent interim relief. Union leaders said the workers were “compelled” to launch the strike, causing difficulty to the people, as bus owners had refused to honour a commitment on pay increase made during a tripartite negotiation three months back. Therefore a heavy rush was seen by people in the available KSRTC buses in the cities, like in Cochin.

To make matters worse government offices will come to a standstill from tomorrow after employees and teaches start an indefinite strike seeking withdrawal of the government decision to introduce contributory pension. A section of KSRTC employees too have supported the strike and will protest from 6 am to 6 pm tomorrow. Wonderful, just wonderful my dear Keralites.

Emerging Kerala my ass! We can’t even get to work properly.

By Roshan • Cochin, Kerala • 0

Dec 15 2012

Suicide-Murder In Alappuzha

One of the worst stories you can read about in this state happened this week. A middle-aged father allegedly hacked to death the mother of his daughter’s lover at Punapra near coastal district Alappuzha in south Indian state Kerala within hours of the girl committing suicide after he rejected the young man’s plea to marry her.

This is how the story goes as reported – 21 year old mason was in love with this 17 year old girl and they wanted to get married. He approached the girl’s parents for her hand in marriage and apparently went over to her house with a mangal sutra in his hand. The parents would not give their daughter to him in marriage now; they said that the two lovers should wait for a year until the girl turns 18 and then they could get married.

The boy insisted that they get married immediately and refused to take no for an answer much to the anger of the girl’s father. The father forbade the two to meet and chased the boy away and locked his daughter in her room. Later when the parents went to check on the girl they found that she had hanged herself from a ceiling fan and was declared dead at a hospital where she was rushed to. The distraught father went to the boys house and only finding his mother there, hacked the lady to death. He was arrested the next evening after locals alerted them on seeing him coming out of the house with a blood stained knife.

What a messy story? How stupid of the boy & the girl – what was the hurry in marrying at the ages of 21 & 17? And if the father of the girl says to wait for a year how idiotic can their reactions be? Not nearly mature enough to get married, it ended in tragedy.

By Roshan • India, Kerala • 1

Dec 11 2012

Grilled Hens, No Coop Needed

Taken almost a month ago at a Arabian restaurant called Burfis near my place that I go to a couple of times a month. They are known for their Shawarmas but I find that their grilled chicken in the Al Faham style is just excellent. They are made just right and I enjoy them with some porottas.

By Roshan • Cochin, Food, Kerala, Photos • 2

Dec 10 2012

Hit By The Bus Strike

Today the people of the state of Kerala had to endure another one of those miserable strikes. The private bus worker’s unions had called a strike a couple of days ago, to be held on the 10th of December. Why? Well in lieu of the petrol & diesel prices going up in recent weeks the private bus owners group held a strike as they wanted to raise the prices of the bus tickets, especially the minimum charge from Rs.5 to Rs.6. Initially the state government did not agree so the strike took place. Predictably after a day the government agreed to increasing the bus tickets rates and the strike ended after 24 hours. In effect I now pay Rs.9 instead of the Rs.7 I was paying to travel from home to the office.

However we had another strike today related to the same incident. The bus workers union (drivers, conductors and door checkers – why the fuck do we need so many people operating a single bus?) were not happy as even though the bus fare was increased, their salaries weren’t. They demanded a good pay hike, which is standard across all the unions and bus owners, as the rates of commodities have been increased. It wasn’t done and so they held a strike today. So no private buses! Great, big fucking great! The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation runs it’s own buses but they are few and far between and worse thing is that there are so few that run from my place to my job in Kakkanad. So I waited for 45 minutes this morning in the hot sun waiting for a bus and on finding the only one completely filled with people like sardines in a can, I took an auto just to reach to the office on time. I was 20 minutes late and poorer by Rs 160.

I left the office early to try and get home quickly but wasn’t able to get into a bus. The couple of ones that were going in my direction were packed like crazy. I waited and I waited and then got an auto to Palaraviattom -> Rs.60. I waited some more, then had a cup of coffee and waited some more and finally at 7pm gave up and took another auto and came home. Rs.100 poorer! Tired, needing a shower and hating this stupid state and it’s people and it’s unions and it’s striking mentality.

By Roshan • Cochin, Kerala, Personal • 0

Dec 8 2012

December Is Hot & We Have Mosquitoes!

Simple, Free Image and File Hosting at MediaFire It’s December and even if we here in South India don’t get a winter season – no snow, no ice and not even cold weather – and it’s usually just warm, this year it is really bad! Last year we had mornings that were cool with a little bit of morning mist. By mid morning it would be warm and kinda normal but it wasn’t that hot during December-January. This year not so much!

This year it’s mostly hot with more heat piling up. It’s quite sunny and hot these days, from say around 9 am till evening 6pm when atleast the sun goes down – and it is getting darker than usual this month. I’ll give the season atleast that much. But the evenings are worse cause I can’t keep the windows open. It’s hot and sweaty and even if there isn’t much of a breeze I’d love to be able to keep the windows open but I can’t because of all these damn mosquitoes! I’m finding it hard to sleep at night because of them bastard vampire insects buzzing around me all night long, going into my nostrils, my ears and flying into my face and biting me all over. I guess I’m going to have to get some mosquito repellent (I’m allergic to most of them) sooner rather than later.

Damn, I hate Kacheripady when it comes to mosquitoes. Having lived in a place that didn’t a problem for 19 years and then moving here to find that this is a mosquito haven, ugh! And the heat, shit we’re all gonna need personal airconditioner packs some day soon! Global warming – and to think there are idiots who think that global warming is a myth!! Don’t they read the papers, morons? This is all because of mankind being irresponsible and having causes depletion in the ozone layer.

By Roshan • Cochin, India, Kerala • 0

Dec 3 2012

Rogue Tiger Killed In Wayanad

A male tiger which was causing havoc in the Wayanad district of Kerala was shot dead near the Wayanad Wildlife Sanctuary on Sunday. The forest officials shot dead the beast which apparently had been attacking domestic animals of the human settlement near the sanctuary. The rogue tiger had been on a cattle killing spree in the panchayat for the last 16 days. The 12 year old wild cat killed as many as 14 domestic animals – including 4 cows and a buffalo and was spotted at a private coffee plantation at 8:15 am. Under pressure from the locals and their political representatives, a team of forest officials with the help of their counterparts from Karnataka have been trying to capture the tiger for the last one week.

The personnel had placed four cages with live baits in different places but could not capture the beast. They even placed surveillance cameras and used trained elephants to tour the forest areas. On Sunday morning, the forest team spotted the tiger and shot a tranquilizer dart. But it could not tame the tiger. So they fired another one, following which the animal turned against the team. Sanctuary wildlife warden S Sreekumar said at this stage the team, comprising veterinary surgeons, had little option but to fire the killer shot.

A couple of weeks back, a 15-year old tiger, which had stayed into Thirunelly and killed four cows, was trapped in a cage by the forest officials and later released it on the Kerala-Karnataka border. I dunno how I feel about this – I mean I find tigers to be beautiful creatures and they be killed off especially as there are less and less of them. But humans need to do what they have to, to protect themselves and their property/lifestock from anything that can cause it harm or loss. And they did try to tranquilize it but it didn’t work out. Still a sad fact though.

By Roshan • India, Kerala • 0

Nov 15 2012

Kaloor Junction

By Roshan • Cochin, India, Kerala, Photos • 0

Oct 22 2012

Lightning In The Skies

Here’s a photo I took of lightning in the skies above Kacheripady, Cochin today.

By Roshan • Cochin, India, Kerala, Photos • 4

Oct 17 2012

Commodity To Be Sold Off To Highest Bidder

I don’t get why parents in Kerala and for the most of the rest of India have such an attitude as far as their daughters are concerned. It’s as if having a daughter is like a big burden and they can’t wait till the girl is of marriageable age so they can quickly find some schmuck to push her onto and wash their hands of the matter altogether – putting Pontius Pilot to shame! This is so ridiculous that it is still happening in 2012 and in towns and cities – not just villages and rural areas but in the fucking urban areas!

One of my trainees, she is just 21 years old and will only turn 22 towards the end of December. She just completed her college degree in 2012 and had joined for her first job. A month after she started work she went back home for the weekend to find out that her marriage is already being fixed and that it will take place in a few short weeks. The reason is that the guy, who is 10 years older, works in one of the Gulf countries and only has leave for a few weeks. His parents had met this girl’s parents and got the entire thing arranged. So she called the HR and said that she will not be continuing work as she will be needing leave for the wedding and her family does not want her to work after the wedding, atleast for sometime. When she came to the office to do her final formalities, it took her a while to recall the groom’s name – she had only met him once! 3 weeks later, she got married.

And now another girl, her close friend infact, another trainee of mine, went home for the weekend and her father said that she looks tired and pale and little thin. If she is to get married in a few months (nothing is fixed as yet) she will need to maintain herself. What is she a fucking car? Dad’s think like that – “Oh she is getting thin. Need to plump herself up a bit before showing her off to some prospective grooms and families before she gets married”. She only turns 22 in November! Is she a commodity to be advertised and sold off? I see no differences in matrimonial ads and ebay/Amazon listings for devices and products! New, old, unused, still in factory condition, never been fucked, virgin, hymen intact and all that fucking shit!

I can’t believe how pissed off I have become on hearing such news. I vow, if I ever have a daughter, I will never ever treat her as a commodity or a burden!