Musings from Antique Origins

View from Chenganda bridge,Cherthala , adjacent to home I t is holiday season for the students and kids in Kerala. How they await with fancied anticipation the mid summer holidays! Normally the vacation starts from the 1st of April and extends upto the 31st of May when the onset of the south west monsoons is announced. The summer has started, but the greenery is seen all around. It is also the season for ripened mangoes. Vishu , the second most important festival of Kerala Hindus is celebrated during the middle of April, most often on the fourteenth. Harvests are over and Easter is round the corner. Astronomically, Vishu falls around the Vernal Equinox, the day when the duration of the day and the night is equal over this part of the globe. As per Indian astrology, Vishu signifies the sun’s movement to the first zodiac sign called Mesha Raasi . In various names, the festival is known all over India. For example, in north India, the Punjabis celebrate it as Baisakhi . In these recessio...

The Indian Parliament T he general elections fever is catching up everywhere in India. All the print and visual media have focused its equipments on the candidates and their details. Every day we hear interesting stories of fundamentalist speeches, greed, lies and shamelessness of some of these candidates. All unholy alliances seem to happen around. In spite of the proclaimed fight on religious fundamentalism, all major political parties select the candidates based on the religion, caste and money power. Apparently, the goons, thieves and anti social elements are enjoying a field day. Every party needs them; they have many axes to grind and many weapons to hide. Some of the candidates and even political parties conveniently forget that” he who sups with the devil should have a long spoon.” Thanks to T.N.Seshan, the redoubtable former election commissioner of India, the candidates strive hard to declare their assets. Many candidates are multi millionaires apparently spending all their...

Padmasree Professor Dr. R. Ananthakrishnan (1911-1999) I happened to be one among the many of my generation who was not fortunate to join a career for which I studied. I did my post graduation in Meteorology from the CUSAT (Cochin University of Science and Technology) and despite a first rank and some options to pursue my research in some of the great universities in India and abroad ended up in the banking service. Going forward, I had my field days and I did have my regrets too. I belonged to the first batch of the course from 1975-77 started by the University and had chosen it because I thought it would improve my chances of landing with a good job and hence retraced from a course in Physics which I had planned earlier. Author in 1976 at University In retrospect, the decision was good at least due to one reason that I was to study under a great sage in the form of Padmasree Professor Dr.R. Ananthakrishnan. Dr.Ananthakrishnan was a disciple of the Nobel laureate Sir C. V.Raman and...

Ronnie Biggs (photo from The Guardian daily) It is very intriguing to think of crime and punishment. While crime can be better understood based on the generally applied moral and ethical standards, the punishment leaves many questions unanswered. The title from the immortal work of Fyodor Dostoevsky was borrowed on seeing an article that appeared in the Guardian daily of today. Much has been written on the Great Train Robbery of 1963 and a famous film was made on the incident. It was a £2.6 million train robbery committed by a 15 member gang in England. The post office train carrying much cash was driven to another track and loads of cash was transported to waiting cars. Most of the stolen money was never recovered even though thirteen of the gang were arrested, imprisoned and sentenced for long jail terms. Ronnie Biggs, one of the gang members got the sentence of 30 years in prison but escaped through a jail break after 15 months in the jail. He was at large for the next eight years,...

Sir Mirza Ismail, Diwan of Mysore visiting Railway Staion Service Centre, Mysore circa 1930s- Photo from personal collection of Murali Sir Mirza Mohammed Ismail (1883-1959) belonged to the rare class of great administrators who served various princely states under British India with great distinction. The quality of administration of the princely states had been greatly contributed by men of exceptional caliber like him. Sardar K.M. Panikkar, who was the Diwan of Patiala and Bikaner, was the first Indian ever to get a scholarship to Christchurch and only the second after Romesh Chandra Dutt to get an Oxford first. In the Viceroy’s journal of Lord Wavell, Sir C.P.Ramaswamy Iyer, Diwan of Travancore was mentioned as “one of the cleverest men in India”. In 1945, the American Ambassador wrote to the Secretary of State about Sir Syed Mirza Ismail that he “had not met anyone else in India, either Indian or European, who was in his class”. Born in 1883, Sir Mirza’s remarkable career had i...

Rawat Jodh Singh II of Salumber(r 1866-1901) I happened to come across a rare and old cabinet size photograph of Rawat Jodh Singh II of Salumber. Majestic in appearance and with an apparent disfiguration of his right eye, he aroused my curiosity about himself and Salumber, an erstwhile princely state of India. Rawat Jodh Singh II of Salumber was born in 1833 in Bambora and reigned Salumber between 1866 and 1901. He was the adopted son of Rawat Kesri Singh II of Salumber. A rubber stamp on the back of this vintage cabinet photo shows that he was photographed by Mohan Lall of Oodeypoor. Salumber was under the princely state of Udaipur and was the estate of Kunwar Khandal Singh. In 1901, it had a population of over 31000 and comprised of 237 villages. The ruler bore the title of 'Rawat', and held first rank amongst the nobles of Mewar. He was the first of the sixteen Umraos or senior feudal barons who had the privilege to wait upon the Maharajah of Udaipur. Salumber later became ...

Storming of the Bastille courtesy: www.powellhistory.com/art/Painting/French_Rev It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of light, it was the season of darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven ------- ( Charles Dickens in the beginning of The Tale of Two Cities ) These prophetic words of Dickens apply to our times as much as it described the times of the French revolution of the closing years of 18th century. A misty morning , 8 am on the 1st January 2009, Deira, Dubai The dawn of the New Year 2009 was quite cloudy and gloomy in Dubai both physically and metaphorically. I walked out for breakfast and even at 8 am the sun had not started shining. All these thoughts about gloom come to me because I am very anxious about th...