Musings from Antique Origins

It was in December 1987 that we moved to Kochi from Trivandrum. I was then a dashing young blade and the branch manager of a nationalized bank in Ernakulum. I was also the father of a baby girl, who graduated in Architecture with honours from the University of Nottingham a fortnight ago. Along with Madhu, my bosom friend of 4 decades, we went to Taj Malabar hotel in Wellington Island to welcome the New Year. Those days,        Indian Rupee was still strong, and was trading at Rs 14.80 per US Dollar. Good salaries were only in four digits and hence the New Year dinner at Taj was only Rs 250 per head. I remember that south Indian film star Kamal Hasan was there to welcome the New Year. English writer Jayasree Mishra (Remember, Ancient Promises ) known to us as Rani was there in resplendent dress and I remember that she won a prize for that on that night. Since then, much water has flowed under the bridges all over the country and the world. Ever...

O f late, any news about the corruption in public life in India is drawing much attention. Hitherto, most of us had resigned to our fates and consoled ourselves believing that the institutionalized form of corruption is here to stay and the so called intelligentsia can not do much about it. Thanks to people like Anna Hazare, Vinod Rai, Julian Assange and innumerable functionaries in various places like the judiciary, our pessimism is gradually waning like snow in the sunshine. What is probably desired in India is perhaps not to introduce new laws but the implementation of the existing laws with a heavy hand to ensure punitive action.  Of course, many modifications in existing laws may be required for this. Last week, the hedge fund tycoon Raj Rajaratnam of the Galleon Group who was convicted by a court in US for 11 years in prison was also made to pay 63 Million US Dollars as penalties. There are additional civil penalties of US Dollar  97 Million also being ...

A s I walked through the Ranga Pillai Street in Pondicherry, I asked my colleague if he knew the reason why the street was so named. Thankfully, he had heard of this colourful personality Ananda Ranga Pillai of French India who lived during the tumultuous times of the mid 18 th century when both the English and the French tried hard to have its foothold over South India. 18th century engraving of French Pondicherry Ananda Ranga Pillai (1709-61) was the first secretary and adviser of the French East India Company in Pondicherry during the early decades of the 18 th century. He was the “Dubash” or the translator and commercial representative of the French Governors, notably that of Joseph Francois Dupleix with whom he had a very personal rapport throughout his life. His private diary written in Tamil and covering the period from 1736 to 1761 is an amazing record of personal, historical, political and social matters during those momentous years of South Indian history. We shou...

Chalukya king Rajaraja Narendra (AD 1018-61) Rajahmundry is a town on the banks of river Godavari. Travelers from South India going to the North may have noticed the railway bridge across Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. The Godavari Rail Bridge is 2.75 kilometers long and is reportedly Asia's second longest road-cum-rail bridge crossing a water body, after Japan's Kansai International Airport Sky Gate. By the way, the Vembanad Rail Bridge in Kerala used only for goods traffic is the longest rail bridge in India. I visited Rajahmundry in the first week of August as part of my official work and the intervening Sunday was used to get a feel of the place. My visits to areas of interests were made more enjoyable in the company of my colleague from Hyderabad Mr.Dhananjay Ram –who had formerly served as the Managing Director of Andhra Bank Financial Services Ltd and as the Secretary to the Banking Service Recruitment Board- and his vivacious son Vijay, a software Engineer wi...

Amazing figurine from the Museum complex, Meenakshi temple, Madurai Chola bronzes at the Museum complex Inside the Museum complex, Meenakshi temple Shiva Parvati , Inside temple complex, Madurai Another statuette North gate , from the temple complex Old painting from museum complex View of Thirumala Naicker's Palace built in 1636 AD designed by an Italian architect Madurai is famous for hand made cotton Sungudi sarees. Sunset over Madurai skyline Roman Catholic, Sacred Heart church at Idaikattur, built in 1888 Stained glass paintings of angels at the church, made in France Royal Emblem at the entrance to Ramnad Palace , Ramanathapuram Entrance to Ramnad Palace , Ramanathapuram Tripunithura,South India 31st July 2011

Matsya Avatar of Vishnu- Dasavatharam Temple, Srirangam- O fficial trips often take me to different parts of South India, outside Kerala. If a Sunday falls in between during the visit, I generally look out for places of historical interests. Last month, I was among the ruins of Hampi, in Karnataka on the Anniversary Day our wedding and after a fortnight when my birthday came, I was at the Salar Jung Museum in Hyderabad. Obviously, these were taken with a pinch of salt by Sindhu, my wife of 28 years. This time it was my turn to visit various places in Trichy- Tiruchirappalli - and Tanjore – Thanjavur- in Tamil Nadu. While the full fury of the south west monsoon lashed across Kerala, I was in the hotter climate of Tanjore on the summer solstice day of 21 st June when the rays of the sun were perpendicular heralding the summer in the northern hemisphere. Timeless sculptures of Srirangam Sri Ranganatha Swamy temple, Srirangam: Its history dating back to millennia, Srirangam t...