Judo Rathnam with actor Rajinikanth in a Tamil film. / DC
Vellore:
Stunt master Judo Rathnam of Gudiyattam, who performed stunts for more than 1,500 films, has now found time to pen his biography in Tamil — Thamaraikulam Mudhal Thalainagaram Varai which is set be released on May 3 in Chennai.
“Thamaraikulam was my first film in which I appeared in a small role, and Thalainagaram was my last film, though I am working for two or three films now. Modern Theatres Sundaram gave me the chance to become stunt master in Vallavan Oruvan, Vallavanukku Vallavan and many other films produced in the late ‘60s and ‘70s. I wanted to write my memoirs and it took two years to share them with the public,” said K.K. Rathnam, who was given the title ‘Judo’ by Modern Theatres owner T.R. Sundaram.
Rathnam has done 49 films with Rajini, 16 with Kamal Hassan, 69 with Kannada Rajkumar, 4 with Amitabh Bachchan, 16 with NTR and had worked in a couple of English films. But, he laments, he didn’t get to work with MGR.
“Writer Manohar has written dramatically the instances in my life. As I found the work tedious, I wanted to give up the idea of writing half-way, but my wife R. Govindammal (73) forced me to complete the book.”
His wife Govindammal interrupts, “My husband is very shy. I used to ask him to act in films, but he was adamant about stunt direction.” Rathnam (84) is still agile because he does yoga every day. He has eight, well-settled children.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / by N. Thygarajan , DC / April 27th, 2013
The Sangam-era Tamil classic, Kuruntokai, has now broken down yet another language barrier. Young Assamese poet Bijoy Sankar Barman, after a struggle of nine years, has managed to translate this classic anthology of 3rd Century Tamil poems to Assamese.
“Beautiful poems from Kuruntokai has enthralled me. I am happy that now our people can also taste the classical Tamil text,” Barman told Express on the sidelines of Northeast and Southern Young Writers’ Meet organised by Sahitya Akademi here on Saturday.
Barman, whose poems had been translated in many other languages, including Bengali, Hindi and Kannada, first came across A K Ramanujam’s English translation of Kuruntokai.
“When I read the poems, I was surprised to find the ecology, love and human relationship that was described in them, happened to be similar to ours,” said the 33-year-old writer, an employee of the postal department in Guwahati.
Since then, Barman began collecting more details about the Tamil classic.
While he depended mostly on Ramanujam’s translation work of Kuruntokai and other Tamil classics for understanding the Tamil literary tradition, he also read the Sahitya Akademi’s publication on ancient Indian literature.
“For the next nine years, I was re-reading the translations of Kuruntokai to understand the depths of the poems, the expressions of love, the emotions explained by the colours in the poems, before deciding to translate them,” said Barman, who already won the prestigious Munin Barkataki Award.
Currently pursuing a PhD on tribal myths of Assam, Barman feels that the Tamil folk tradition had a lot of similarities with Assamese.
“I am planning to read more classics in Tamil in the near future,” he said, adding that the government should take steps to translate southern Indian literary works to north-eastern languages as it would encourage more people in India towards cross-cultural studies.
Stressing similar points, Karabi Deka Hazarika, an eminent Assamese writer, addressing the writers at the meet, said, “Translation is the only means through which a glimpse of the literary merits of the writings of these areas can be brought within the comprehension of the readers of other linguistic groups.”
Readers of northeastern India had very little opportunity to taste the literary beauty of the writings in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada or Malayalam.
“In Assam, we have lots of translations from Bangla literature, which is an easy target for the translators. But, the same is not happening in the field of Tamil, Telegu or Malayalam literature,” she pointed out.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Gokul Vannan / ENS – Madurai / April 28th, 2013
Vignettes From The Past At The Bhoomeswarar Temple. / Photo: Anusha Parthasarathy / The Hindu
We walk through the dusty lanes of the ancient port town of Marakkanam and discover salt mounds and layers of history
So, we fancy ourselves as relic hunters. Since leather pants and utility belts won’t go too well when you’re hunting for history in rural Tamil Nadu (on the brink of a sweltering summer), we stick to capris and cotton tops. About 30-odd kms before Puducherrry, just as we’re breezing through the ECR, the salt in the air mingles with the wind in our hair. We have reached our destination; Marakkanam.
At first sight, it doesn’t look like there’s much to this town. Bullock carts block traffic, two-wheelers whiz past carrying huge loads and there seems to be no conceivable way to the sea, even if this is an ancient trade port and now, a fishing village. But soon, we discover there’s more to Marakkanam.
If you take one of the smaller routes just off the main roads and drive down, you see yourself stranded in the middle of mountains of rock salt; these shimmering mounds reflect light and are an absolute sight at close range. And just beyond this mound, you glimpse the panoramic world of salt pans. Square grids with salt mounds in between; people working in groups, the motor chugging along and at a distance, the traffic whirring past at breakneck speed; for a surreal moment, you wonder if you’re stuck in a Murakami novel before a thimble of salt brings you crashing back to reality.
Vignettes From The Coast The salt pans. / Photo: Anusha Parthasarathy / The Hindu
Just beyond the salt pans are boat shops. While it’s rather odd to catch fishing boats stranded on land, you’ll find carpenters and others hard at work to put them back in the waters. Boat repair work shops are big in this area.
This brings one to Marakkanam’s significance as an ancient sea port. In the Sangam age, a lot of trade was being carried out with the Greek and Roman kingdoms. Among the major ports around this time that Ptolemy mentions are Mylarphan (Mylapore), Poduke (Arikamedu), Soptana (Marakanam), and even Comari (Kanyakumari). This port even features in Tamil works such as Sirupaanaattruppadaiand Perumpaanaattruppadai as Eyirpattinam.
In an excavation that took place in 2005-2006 near the Bhoomeswarar temple copper coins, terracotta pipes, copper rings, porcelain shards and iron objects dating to medieval periods were unearthed. We’re trying to find the excavation site (or its remains) but the flower seller outside the Bhoomeswarar temple throws us off course. “The only thing that’s been dug out here and cleaned recently was the temple tank,” she says dismissively, before trying to sell us jasmine flowers.
The temple seemed a more inviting option, even if the sanctum sanctorum remained closed in the afternoon. While the outer façade seems like it was painted recently, the interiors inside wear their age on their sleeve. Built during the Chola period, the intricate stone carvings on the pillars and its weary walls are reminders of another age. There are smaller enclosures inside and any lover of mythology and religion can spend hours dissecting the many stories of Shiva that are etched on them.
Outside the temple, we find a rundown façade that is shrouded in overgrown foliage. The old chariot platform lies in ruins, its arches mere bricks holding themselves together. “In the old days, people would climb up there to enter the ther,” the flower seller pipes up again, holding up a jasmine garland hopefully. But we walk away with a shake of our heads, our hunt coming to a close.
***
Getting There
Marakkanam is about 120 km from Chennai and 35 km from Puducherry. It can be reached by bus or car.
What Not To Miss
The salt pans are a must see. Also visit the Boomeshwarar temple.
Where To Stay
Puducherry, Mahabalipuram and Chennai have good accommodation.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Travel / by Anusha Parthasarthy / April 25th, 2013
Stone inscription during the period of third Kulothunga Cholan, which were discovered at Sankaranmalai situated at Chithalavai panchayat near Manayanur | Express Photo
Stone quarrying activities in the vicinity of the Sankaranmalai hill located at Sankaranmalai of Chithalavai panchayat near Mayanur here, has threatened the 900-year-old historic later Chola period era inscriptions found here.
Locals here complain that large quantities of stones required for road-laying work nearby, was quarried from this hill. This would add to the damage of the ancient inscriptions if quarrying continued, besides spoiling the ecology of the place, they fear.
The inscriptions of Kulothanga-III of the 12th century, portraying his decree was discovered recently in the Sankaranmalai hill. The hill also boasts of a Siva temple at its top, which contains inscriptions of Kulothunga-III and the Pandya King, Veera Pandyan. The Sankaranmalai hill is situated at Madukarai, the boundary of the erstwhile Chera and Chola territory. Karur, earlier called as Thattaiyur, was under the rule of chieftain Kallingarayan, who was a representative of King Kulothanga in 1190 AD.
Inscriptions engraved in the rocks explain the devotional care of the Chola and Pandya kings to maintain the dilapidated Siva temple on top of the hill, and to regulate religious work. The inscriptions throw light on the religious and cultural practices of Tamils, besides the administrative system and the history of the period.
The Chola king who ruled from his capital at Thanjavur had ordered Kallingarayan to maintain and regularly perform religious rituals in the temple. It shows the works were handed over by Kallingarayan to Katchirayan, a chief of this particular location.The inscriptions composed of 42 lines embedded on a vertical rock facing south of Sankaranmalai says that in 1190 AD, the reign of Kulothunga-III, the historic temple located at Sankaranmalai was dilapidated. The inscription also has the orders of the King to maintain the temple by collecting taxes and proceeds from the wetlands, drylands, ponds, gardens, wells and trees within its boundaries, to provide sweets, fruits, and food to the temple and to perform rituals. For oil offering such as sesame and mango; taxes for coconut tree, palm tree, oil crusher and rock could be levied, states the King’s order.
As per the order of Kallingarayan, Avur Kanakan, the accountant, could engrave it on the stones and metals. He could cultivate the temple lands placing four trisulam around the temple lands – inscripted by Katchirayen and Viluparaiyan.
In 1196 AD, Kallingarayen reviewed the functioning of the temple and was satisfied with its maintenance. Then he had engraved the accomplishment of the order announced by the Chola king.
At the bedrock of the hill, inscriptions engraved by the Pandya king during 1218 AD can be found.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by S Godson Wisely Dass / ENS – Karur / April 05th, 2013
A group of engineering students at SRM University in Chennai—one of the country’s top engineering schools—have invented a set of high-tech electrified underwear to prevent rape.
In the wake of India’s “rape epidemic ” which has rocked the country and sent tourism plummeting by as much as 25 percent (35 percent among women), the students decided to take matters into their own hands with a set of underwear that can electrocute attackers while protecting the wearer.
As a progressive American guy, it’s tempting to dismiss the anti-rape undies as misguided and inadvertently reinforcing the “rape culture” that tacitly places responsibility on women and their clothes in addressing violence. It’s tempting to suggest they just go have a SlutWalk and tell men it’s their responsibility not to be rapists, end of story.
But I’m not an Indian woman living in the middle of a rape epidemic, so I have no idea what I’m talking about.
Two of the women in the student group who invented the electric underwear are women who think that the danger calls for a more immediate defense than protest and slow cultural change. The group said :
After stepping into the real, cruel world we realised that our smile could not last for long as the threat to our purity and integrity always lingered on. Lawmakers take ages to come up with just laws and even after that, women are unsafe. Hence, we have initiated the idea of self-defence which protects the women from domestic, social and workplace harassment.
The underwear, called Society Harnessing Equipment (SHE), deploys a 3,800kV charge to anyone touching the outside of the underwear while protecting the wearer with a polymer lining. It’s also equipped with GPS and can notify cops in real-time in the event of an attack, supplying them with the victim’s location through the GPS.
“The shocks can be emitted up to 82 times,” the group says. “This could give women freedom from situations faced in public places.”
source: http://www.deathandtaxesmag.com / Home> News / by Alex Moore / April 2013
Later this month Mahendra Singh Dhoni is going to receive a peculiar gift — 30 pillows bearing personalised notes and good luck messages from cricket-crazy fans in Chennai.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Chennai’s Express Avenue mall was a forum for the fans of the Chennai Super Kings to meet and show off their talents, at a promotional event organised by Gulf Oil, the champion team’s sponsor.
While the fans did not need too much cajoling to take to the stage and entertain shoppers at the mall, thousands of people walked up to the pillows and signed them. ‘Dhoni, my superhero’, ‘I love you, MSD’ were prominent messages on the pillows, branded with the CSK emblem.
“The pillow concept is themed on our current TV advertisement that has become very popular. The ad plays on the fact that our products are long-life lubricants that take care of your vehicle for a long, long time. The response has been great so far, especially since we also have a lucky draw contest, wherein five lucky fans will get to meet the Chennai Super Kings team at a meet and greet session when they come to the city,” said Ravi Chawla, president and COO of Gulf Oil.
Attempting a mall activation to attract youngsters in a city that loves cricket almost as much as shopping seems to have paid off — the stage was never left empty, with groups of young boys shaking a leg to typical Madras-kuthu, others attempting break dance, mimcry or beatboxing.
“This is our third year of association with CSK. The team is young and vibrant and they are the champions. CSK not only has a massive fan following across the country, but the Tamil Nadu market is important for us. We will continue such novel promotions at other cities CSK visits to play matches, like Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore,” Chawla said.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / Express News Service – Chennai / April 04th, 2013
Scores of leaders of political parties and artistes paid their homage to media baron and sports administrator B. Sivanthi Adityan, who passed away on Friday. The body of 76-year-old owner of popular Tamil daily “Dina Thanthi,” was taken in a procession from his Poes Garden residence to the electric crematorium at Besant Nagar where it was consigned to flames.
Earlier, a steady stream of mourners paid their last respects to the Padmashri recipient who was also an industrialist, educationist, philanthropist besides being associated with Indian Olympic Association and various other sport bodies.
President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Governor K. Rosaiah and chief minister J. Jayalalithaa were among those who condoled the demise of Adityan.
DMK chief M Karunanidhi, Union ministers G.K. Vasan and Jayanthi Natarajan, MDMK chief Vaiko, DMDK Leader Vijayakant, CPI state secretary D. Pandian, CPI (M) state secretary G. Ramakrishnan, TNCC president B. Gnanadesikan and BJP president Pon Radhakrishnan were among those who paid floral tributes to Adityan at his residence.
Members of film fraternity including superstar Rajni, actor-politician R. Sarathkumar, Sivakumar, director Bharatirajaa and music director Illaiaraja also paid their last respects.
In his message to Malathi Adityan, wife of Sivanthi Adityan, Mukherjee said his contribution to society as a philanthropist and educationist would always be remembered.
Expressing profound grief, Manmohan Singh said the country had lost a true champion of the media, who believed that journalism was meant to serve the common man’s need for information.
Rosaiah said, “I am deeply shocked and grieved to hear about the demise of B. Sivanthi Adityan…his death is an irreparable loss to media and to sports in particular.”
In her message, Ms. Jayalalithaa said Adityan’s demise was a huge loss to journalism and sports. The Indian Newspaper Society too paid rich tributes to B. S. Adityan who was one of its past presidents.
source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com / Deccan Chronicle / Home> News> Current Affairs / DC / April 2qst, 2013
Moving away from black, brown, tan and burgundy leathers, here is a line-up of leather products with floral and tribal art-work that will be on display at Hotel B R Mathsya, T Nagar. Designed and created by Nandini Sharma, this expo will display products like handbags, clutch purses, travel pouches, decorative boxes, executive folders, mobile pouches and photo frames.
Nandini has used a variety of materials such as leather, felt, tissue, hand-woven fabrics, decorative motifs, beads, stones and hand-painted leather appliqués, and combined them with a creative twist to make useful products for homes and offices.
The products will be on display on April 5 and 6 (Friday and Saturday) from 3 pm to 8 pm at the hotel’s conference hall and part of the proceeds will be donated for a noble cause towards the development of under-privileged women and children.
For further information, call 98410 58101.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Services – Chennai / April 04th, 2013
Pierre Fournier, Consul General of France, Puducherry, releases the Braille edition of ‘Kutti Elavarasan’ and A. Chermathai, secretary, IAB, receives the first copy at Sundararajanpatti on Wednesday /. Photo: S. James / The Hindu
‘Kutti Ilavarasan’ given away to 40 institutions across the State
“One sees clearly only with the heart because what is essential is invisible to the eye,” says a fox to the little prince in the French classic The Little Prince. True to those words, a group of children who could see everything with their hearts but nothing with their eyes had gathered at the Indian Association for the Blind (IAB) at Sundararajanpatti near here on Wednesday for the release of a Braille edition of the book translated into Tamil.
Pierrre Fournier, Consul General of France at Puducherry, released the Braille edition and A. Chermathai, secretary, IAB, received the first copy. Ms. Chermathai, 62, was among the first batch of visually challenged people who benefited from rehabilitation programmes conducted by the IAB during its inception in 1985. She worked as a government school teacher for long and associated herself with the IAB after her retirement.
The IAB was founded by S.M.A. Jinnah, a visionary who lacked the use of his eyes since the age of 13. It was administered by a managing committee comprising 13 members, six of whom were visually challenged women and three visually challenged men.
It runs a higher secondary school and assists the visually challenged in gaining education from Standard I to post-graduation. It also helps them become self-reliant and employable.
The association joined hands with United Way of Chennai, a philanthropic organisation, to start the IAB-UWC Finishing School aimed at assisting visually challenged youth seeking employment. The school was also inaugurated on Wednesday in the presence of Shyamala Ashok, Executive Director, UWC. K.N. Subramanian, Lead District Manager, Canara Bank, participated in the function and distributed CD players to visually challenged students of Standard IX.
The CD players were donated by Ability International Charitable Trust in the United States. C. Rama Subramanian, a renowned psychiatrist and also the president of IAB, said that the Braille edition of the French book, translated into Tamil with the title ‘Kutti Ilavarasan,’ would be distributed in 40 institutions, including 10 schools, 10 colleges and 10 organisations involved in rehabilitation of the visually challenged in the State.
S. Ramakrishnan of Cre-A publications in Chennai had taken the initiative to bring out the Braille edition of the book in Tamil. Appreciating the effort, the Consul General said that it was one of the greatest books of the century which almost every French citizen, including himself, knew by heart. It had been translated into more than 200 languages and around 14 crore copies of it had been sold since it was published in 1943.
“I am delighted to release the Tamil Braille edition on the 70th anniversary of the book’s publication. It is written for the child within an adult,” he said.
Mr. Subramanian applauded the work of IAB and said that it had been mandatory for all banks to provide education loans to visually challenged students who had successfully completed Standard XII. “We are also providing financial assistance to those who want to be self-employed,” he said.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Madurai / by Special Correspondent / April 04th, 2013
At Tadka Talk / Photos: R. Shivaji Rao / The Hindu
THE RELUCTANT GOURMET.
We board the train at Chintadripet. Desolate and dimly lit, the station looks like the perfect setting for a fight scene. Trains always make me think of ‘Bread-Omelette’. However, the only thing we find on the local trains are phone numbers, scrawled across the walls in thick red and black marker. After staring at the ‘call me’ messages fixedly, my colleague snaps open her chic Miu-Miu handbag and starts writing them down. I look at her with horror. “This has to be the worst way to find a boyfriend — ever,” I snap. She punches my arm angrily. “Of course I’m not going to date them,” she shudders. “But we should call all the numbers anyway. Think of what a great story it will make.” Ah. Investigative research. I finally agree to help. A crowd collects to watch. Ah Velachery. Always an adventure!
We’re headed to Chef Jugesh Arora’s new Tadka Talk. Racing out of the station, we take an auto and plunge into Velachery’s open drains, pungent cows and boisterous traffic. Then we stop on a quiet side street and walk into a restful space, flooded with natural light and the scent of fresh herbs. The interiors are quiet and calming, with clean lines and a restrained use of colour. But what cheers us up the most are the martini glasses filled with chilled ‘Ambi kiwi panna,’ a refreshing mix of raw mango, kiwi and cumin.
At Tadka Talk / Photos: R. Shivaji Rao / The Hindu
Tadka Talk offers vegetarian and vegan Punjabi food in a new avatar. Punjabi food, of course, has always been popular, with its cream-laden curries, ghee-drenched naans and meaty kebabs. However, the style of cooking that exploded in India is designed to appeal to mass market. It borrowed items from North West Frontier cuisine, lifted recipes from the roadside dhabas and sneaked in more spice, all to exaggerate flavours, colour and taste.
While this was a great way to introduce these flavours to the mass market, it also means that by now the heavy ‘Punjabi’ food we eat at most popular restaurants is very different from the food Punjabis eat at home. Chef Arora’s mission is to get back to his roots, rediscover the cuisine, and then reinterpret it for a contemporary audience looking for food that is light, healthy and stylish.
As we eat delicately grilled bhutte kebabs, where the natural sweetness of the corn is tempered by the fierce heat of green chillies, Chef Arora explains why he’s so determined to promote home-style cooking. “Punjabi food is never heavy,” he says, “We don’t use cream in our daily food. Most of our cooking is done in mustard oil. Everyone uses dal makhni as an example of heavy Punjabi food, because it’s full of white butter. But it’s actually from Afghanistan!” He adds that his wife, Deepa, has worked with him on the recipes. “It’s all typical home food, which we have made even lighter. Instead of frying, we use the tandoor and grill… We also use lot of fresh nutritious ingredients…” He holds up a tray of fragrant mustard. “It’s grown right here in the restaurant, takes about six days to sprout and we use it in our cooking. “
Our pillowy rectangles of paneer tikka are accompanied by a tangle of yellow, orange and red peppers scattered with sprigs of delicious fresh mustard. It’s followed by a flat spiced mushroom cappuccino, thin and afloat with cinnamon. Fortunately the meal bounces back with our main course. A steaming emerald-green Amritsari version of sarson da saag, blending mustard leaves with radish, spinach and dill leaves. It’s served with the traditional makki ki roti, a bowl of grated jaggery and home churned butter: dangerously delicious. “We might need to come to Velachery more often,” I whisper to my colleague.
Then the parathas arrive. Flaky and flecked with methi. We eat them with pindi channa, spiked with dried pomegranate. “Hmmm. Maybe we should come this side more often,” says the colleague, spooning up cool creamy raita flavoured with roasted cumin.
I know what the real lure is. She’s spotted dessert. Velvety phirni freckled with nuts. Blistering gulab jamus. And spongy rasmalai in saffron soaked milk.
And now if you’ll excuse me, I have some phone calls to make.
Tadka Talk is at Velacity by Purpletree, 6&7 Ramagiri Extension, Opposite TCS, Taramani Velachery Link Road. A meal for two is roughly Rs 500. Call 4321 3838 / 4321 3939.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Columns> The Reluctunt Gourmet / by Shonali Muthalaly / April 04th, 2013
