Professor Vijayalakshmi (centre) receiving the lifetime achievement award from Dr Kamala Selvaraj | Express
Vellore :
VIT University conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award on Professor M A Vijayalakshmi, Director of the Centre for Bio-separation Technologies (CBST) at the university for her contribution to research and academics in a function to mark the International Women’s Day on Monday. She received the award from the chief guest, Dr Kamala Selvaraj, a noted gynecologist, at a function held at the university campus.
72-year old veteran scientist Vijayalakshmi while dedicating the award to her colleagues and students, thanked the university for recognizing the ‘real woman’ in her that made her achieve several milestones in her long career. Her areas of expertise include ‘separation science’ and technology, molecular recognition, recombinant protein expression, immune-technology and bio-active molecules. A native of Batlagundu in Tamilnadu, she obtained her M Sc Chemistry from All India Institute of Chemistry in Calcutta, her Ph.D from the University of Burgundy in France and her D.Sc from Sweden. She was selected as one of the best young Indian scientists to meet Prime minister Indira Gandhi when the latter visited France in 1981.
Vijayalakshmi, who had evinced keen interest in separation technology, established the first molecular interaction lab at the University of Compiegne in France.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by V NarayanaMurthi / March 11th, 2015
Way back in 1921, Madras was the first legislature in British India to pass the women’s suffrage resolution by a considerable majority
As the vociferous battle for women’s freedom and equality rages on in the country, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the journey, in many ways, began in Madras.
Way back in 1921, Madras was the first legislature in British India to pass the women’s suffrage resolution by a considerable majority.
This meant that for the first time, women were recognised as ‘people’ by the State, thereby given the right to vote on the same condition as men.
As the news spread, the world was captivated by the women of Madras. Congratulatory messages poured in from across the world.
In The Hindu, dated July 2, 1921, Lady Constance Lytton, the renowned British suffrage activist, wrote, ‘Please offer the women of South India my most heartfelt congratulations on their winning the vote. I am thrilled and it seems like a dream the way the experience in our own Island (Britain) has borne wonderful fruit.’
Australia’s Women’s Service Guild, France’s Action Speciale de la Femme and the British Dominion Women’s Citizen Union too extended their greetings and hoped other provinces would soon follow suit. They did.
Within months, Bombay Presidency and the United Province passed similar resolutions.
Interestingly, it was the Madras Council’s resolution that reflected the most decisive mandate in comparison to others.
Of the 90-odd members present in the Council, 40 voted for the recommendation, 10 opposed it and 40 remained neutral.
Dorothy Jinarajadasa, of the Women’s Indian Association, who attended both the debates in Madras and Bombay recorded: ‘It took only an hour and a half of debate to show that the Madras Council was preponderously in favour of granting women suffrage. On the contrary, though Bombay is noted everywhere for the advanced education and free status of womanhood, it took three days of ‘hard verbal fighting’ to wear down the opposition.’
However, the news of women gaining the right to vote was not unanimously welcomed in Madras.
N. Subrahmanya Aiyar, in his column Impressions of the Week in The Hindu, sceptically described the resolution an attempt of foreign-inspired pseudo progressives to disturb the relative function of the sexes already perishing under the unhealthy modern influence.
Jayalalithaa, in 1989, became the first woman to be elected the leader of the Opposition. In 1991, being re-elected to the Assembly, she became the first woman, and the youngest, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu to serve a full term, from June 1991 to May 1996 — Photo: The Hindu Archives
Echoing similar disdain, a reader from Saidapet, in a letter to the editor, exclaimed, ‘It is not a matter of congratulations that the legislative council should have resolved to extend suffrage to Indian women. For progress, man must be both the controller in politics and civics. His sex stands for performance, conformity and therefore, for uniformity, essential for common good and justice.’
Captain (Dr.) Lakshmi Sahgal held command of the Rani Jhansi Regiment of Subhash Chandra Bose’s Indian National Army. She was the first Indian woman to contest the Presidential elections, in 2002, when A.P.J. Abdul Kalam was elected — Photo: The Hindu Archives / The Hindu
By taking the lead in swimming against the current, Madras laid the foundations for a tradition of progressive gender politics. Indomitable women leaders like Muthulakshmi Reddi, Lakshmi Sahgal, and Jayalalithaa are emblematic of the same.
Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddi was the one of the first women doctors of the country, the first woman member of the Madras Legislative Council, the first woman to be elected as its deputy chairperson, the first president of the Women’s Indian Association, and the first woman to be elected alderman of the Madras (now Chennai) Corporation — Photo: The Hindu Archives
THE MAKING OF HISTORY
1917: The Women’s Indian Association (WIA), with links to the women’s suffrage movement, is formed by Annie Besant, Dorothy Jinrajadasa and Margaret Cousins
1918: The Montagu-Chelmsford commission is sent by the British government to suggest changes to the franchise in India where the WIA, led by Sarojini Naidu, petitioned for women’s right to vote
1918: The Southborough Franchise Committee tours India to gather information. After accepting women’s petitions from just two provinces, it decides Indian women do not want the right to vote
1918-21: After dogged lobbying with the Joint Select Committee, the Parliament decides to leave the issue to be settled by elected legislatures
1921: Madras is among the first States to give women the right to vote
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Nitya Menon / Chennai – March 08th, 2015
In November, the Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited Australia, and it was after 28 years that an Indian prime minister visited the country. And, three months later here in Coimbatore, the Australian consul general for South India was discussing business opportunities in Australia with businessmen here.
On Thursday, the Rotary Club of Coimbatore in association with Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) organized an interaction between Sean Kelly, consul general, South India and the industrialists of the city.
Sarath Chandar, president of Indo-Australian Chamber of Commerce discussed the opportunities in the manufacturing and engineering sector. He, in his speech said, “The manufacturing industry is being outsourced in Australia, and India, especially Coimbatore that has global importance in the manufacturing sector can make use of the opportunity.” Sarath said that Coimbatore is also known for its engineering products and this, too was a growing market opportunity in Australia.
G Karthikeyan, president of Rotary Club of Coimbatore said, “Business in Australia was always a dream for many. But, we never dreamt of it till recently when our prime minister Narendra Modi visited Australia.”
He added, “This gives us motivation and hope that business opportunities can be made true.”
On the occasion, Sean Kelly, the Consul General for South India from Australia was conferred with the title ‘Kovai’s Grandson’. “Kelly’s grandfather was born in Coimbatore. And, this is the connection that he has with the city.
So, we decided to confer him with this title,” said G Karthikeyan, president of Rotary Club of Coimbatore to TOI.
Kelly in his interaction discussed the opportunities from different industry backgrounds. He said, “An interaction like this will help us think of business options.” He reiterated the difficulties of Australia in the manufacturing sector and hinted that the market had potential for business.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / March 06th, 2015
The mandapam housing the memorial to Dr. Sundara Reddy. / The Hindu
“You need permission,” says the watchman at Ramaniyam Sanjivini, a residential complex in Thiruvanmiyur, and despatches his assistant to call the secretary of the building association. I blink at the CCTV camera, hoping the secretary will take kindly to what he sees. Soon, a couple of dhoti-clad seniors walk toward me. “I need to photograph the memorials of Dr. Sundara Reddy and Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy,” I tell them. “Historian Narasiah told me I’d find the shrine and the memorials here.” They point to the round-about ahead; a few steps down and I’m face-to-face with the stone memorials — Dr. Sundara Reddy’s under a traditional mandapam and Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy’s out in the open air.
The memorial to Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy / The Hindu
Dr. Muthulakshmi Reddy deserves more than just an open stone plaque in a private property. Born in the princely state of Pudukkottai on July 30, 1886 to Narayanaswami Iyer and Chandramma (16), a devadasi, Muthulakshmi was one of eight siblings. An exceptionally bright child, she completed schooling from home, fought for higher education, and was admitted to college as the first girl student when the Maharaja passed an order for her to be enrolled. (She sat behind a screen visible to the teachers alone, and left the class while the boys remained seated.) She topped the Intermediate exams, refused to get married and insisted on doing medicine, a decision brought on by her mother’s cancer attack and death of a cousin during childbirth.
In Madras, she met Sarojini Naidu at Dr. Nanjunda Rao’s Mylapore bungalow, and with her attended Annie Besant’s speeches at Adyar, and was drawn to the Home Rule Movement. Having stood first in her Medical degree (MB & ChM) exam, she worked at the Women and Children’s Hospital in Egmore, the first lady house surgeon in Madras’ medical history. She married Dr. Sundara Reddy in 1913.
Meeting the kids in Dr. Vardappa Naidu’s Destitute Home for Boys and Girls on her child’s Vidyabhyasam Day, she vowed to help them. When her youngest sister died of cancer, Muthulakshmi decided to do all she could to tackle the disease. Foregoing her handsome practice, she went to London with her husband and two boys for PG studies. In June 1926, she attended the International Congress of Women in Paris as India’s representative. When she returned, the Women’s Indian Association proposed her name for the Legislative Council and she became the first woman legislator in the Council. She was also the first alderwoman between 1937 and 1939. During her time, the Council passed a resolution giving the right of franchise to women. Her association with a home run by Sister Subbulakshmi brought her close to the plight of women and children, and she piloted the legislation preventing child marriage. Her bill for abolition of the devadasi system was passed after much debate in February, 1929. In 1937, she moved a bill for Inam lands to be given to devadasis. In 1930, when a batch of seven freed devadasi girls were refused accommodation in Madras hostels, she started the Avvai Home to house and train children and young girls, selling her jewellery for its basic facilities. She organised the first Vigilance Association, Rescue Home for Women and supported the Children’s Aid Society.
She resigned from the Council when Gandhiji was arrested in 1929-30. She was then editing Stri Dharma, a journal promoting the national movement. She went as a delegate to London to depose before the Lothian Committee on Franchise and to Chicago to attend the International Congress of Women. In 1935, MMC moved a resolution for a specialised hospital for cancer, but she had to wait to see it happen. After constant campaigning, she collected Rs. 2 lakh and established the Cancer Institute in 1955. She was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956. In 1967, she spoke for half-an-hour at the Golden Jubilee celebrations of Women’s Indian Association, her last public speech. She passed away on July 22, 1968.
How did the plaque get there? The land belonged to Dr. Reddy and her son lived there, said Narasiah. After he passed away, the builder purchased it. While researching on Dr. Reddy, Narasiah came to know of the memorial at the residential complex. “I showed Sridhar of Ramaniyam the memorials at the site, and requested him to preserve them along with a shrine where the Reddys used to pray.” It turned out he had already promised Dr. Shantha of the Cancer Institute the memorials would be left untouched. “Dr. Shantha visits it often to see that it is well-maintained,” said the seniors.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Geeta Padmanabhan / March 03rd, 2015
The dam constructed by Parakrama Pandian in Kuruvithurai. Photo: Special Arrangement
Inscriptions dating back to 12th Century, found along river Vaigai, talk about the efficient water management system devised by the Pandiya Kings
With summer round the corner, most of us are already worried about water scarcity this season. Experts have done their bit by sounding the alarm on the depleting water table. But have you ever wondered how are ancestors used, managed and conserved this elixir of life?
When it comes to effective conservation, distribution and management of water, one cannot dispense the role of King Karikal Chola, who built the Grand Anaicut across River Cauvery. There are several historical evidences to prove that ancient Tamil rulers had effective water management systems in place in their respective kingdoms.
The Pandiya kings constructed check dams across River Vaigai. King Maravarman Arikesari, also known as Koon Pandiyan, who ruled Madurai during Seventh century built a check dam across Vaigai and named it after himself. It is near the Kuruvikaran Salai road and archaeologists have found a stone inscription there. Likewise, King Parakrama Pandiyan constructed a check dam Sitranai in Kuruvithurai near Madurai. He also extracted granite from the nearby hill Kuruvikal and built a stone quarry. Stone inscriptions in Kuruvithurai Perumal Temple record this.
The stone inscription in the Kuruvithurai Perumal Temple. Photo: Special Arrangement
In the olden days, exclusive groups were constituted for the upkeep of the water bodies. These were theyeri variyam (lake board) and kalingu variyam (sluice board). According to B. Thirumalai and R. Sivakumar, authors of ‘Vaiyai Thadam Thedi’, the landmark ruling of Sri Vallabha Pandiyan, who established the riparian rights of the lower ayacut farmers, is remembered even today. “The case of a landlord cutting off the main channel by digging a channel upstream and depriving farmers of the lower areas was brought to the King,” says Sivakumar.
“The practice of creating a water body to help people has been there for ages,” says C. Santhalingam. Secretary, Pandya Nadu Centre for Historical Research. Tamil Brahmi inscriptions recovered from Nadumuthalaikulam near Vikkramangalam give evidence of existence of a 2000-year-old man-made lake. “Kings created water bodies and collected land tax from people. Pallavas constructed lakes across their kingdom and named the lakes after them. Some of the man-made lakes are Chithiramega Thadagam and Vairamega Thadagam,” he says.
There were also several lakes like the Thoosi Mamandoor Yeri near Kanchipuram, the biggest of the lot. “The rulers did not end with that. They appointed guards to stop people from polluting and created a corpus fund for the maintenance of the water body. The board used the money to desilt the lake and to distribute food and clothes for victims of floods. They also let the lake on contract for fishing and for ferrying people on coracles to generate funds. Many rich people also donated liberally,” he says.
“For effective distribution there are different types of sluice gates like Pulikan madai (which has three outlets). Depending upon the storage the water is released through these outlets. The one with seven outlets is located near Srivilliputhur. It is constructed by the Koon Pandiyan and to control the flow a pillar is erected at the centre of the main sluice gate,” he says.
Lakes were given much importance in those days. They were quoted in Sangam literature to identify the geographical division of that place, like the Madakulakeezh which refers to the land irrigated by the Madakulam Lake.
“Predominantly an agrarian community dependent on water source, our ancestors knew the importance of conserving water. They were farsighted, sensitive to environmental issues and better equipped than the current times,” concludes Santhalingam.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by T. Saravanan / Madurai – March 04th, 2015
Sam Paul at Jonah’s goes to Japan. Photo: M. Karunakaran / The Hindu
From educational institutions and restaurants to gyms and styling salons, Sam Paul has ventured into a slew of businesses. The city businessman tells why he’s always looking for new frontiers to conquer.
There are two men, employed by Sam Paul, who look after newspaper clippings.
Every morning, Sam wakes up at 7, fits in an hour of exercise and then, sits down to scan the local papers. Since 2004, from the first mention of the launch of Casa Piccola in Chennai, he’s collected about 500 news clippings of himself. He often makes it to the papers for something or the other; news about the latest Toni & Guy store launch, party pictures, involvement in charity activities and social, news about his acting venture in the upcoming movie Patra… even the smallest mention, he clips, files, indexes and laminates. “We need some cheap thrills, no?” laughs Sam.
The reason he values these clippings and takes such care in making sure they are preserved is because, he says, he treasures the recognition and appreciation that comes his way. “This is achievement! I am well-heeled — I own a house, I drive a Porsche. I have good people working for me. What else do I need?”
Sam, who has been the reason for the arrival of many big brands in the city, schooled here. He holds a Bachelors and Masters degree in Engineering and followed it up with a doctorate from College of Engineering, Guindy. He started working with his father, helping manage educational institutions owned by the family, had many grand business ideas which his father disagreed to and eventually, was asked to leave home for being too rebellious.
Relentless, Sam worked to prove himself, sleeping on the floor of his friend’s place in the meantime. Using the money he earned, and then some, he opened Casa Piccola in 2004, which was all the rage those days. “I just wanted to show my father that I was capable of earning my own money. But from there to where I am right now, it’s all God’s grace. Nothing else.”
Over a decade later, he has chiselled an identity for himself as a restaurateur in Chennai. He manages Crimson Chakra, Haagen-Dazs and Jonah’s Bistro. His latest, Jonah’s goes to Japan, in collaboration with Momoyama, introduces an Asian twist to the existing European menu designed by ‘MADChef’ Kaushik. “Right now, I’m tripping on Japanese,” grins Sam.
At the launch of the restaurant, Sam bustles about, greeting old friends and making new ones. He’s a people’s person; no doubt about it. He says he has the knack to identify the right ones too. “My greatest asset is that my staff have remained with me… it’s important to have the right people,” says Sam, adding that the same men who worked at Casa Piccola are cooking up a storm in Jonah’s kitchen too.
As the dishes stream out, Sam talks about the peasant origins of the beef goulash, fusses over the amount of fish in the seafood broth and insists that the chicken parmigiana would pair better with mashed potato, as opposed to spaghetti. “I’ve been doing this since 2004, you start to know a little by now,” chuckles the foodie.
This, however, is not all that he knows. In 2010, sometime in between opening new restaurants, managing educational institutions and being responsible for the mushrooming of Toni & Guy outlets in the city, he got bored of all that he was doing and bounded off to study law at the Government Law College. “I was 32 years old at that time, and I sat with these boys who were 18-19 years old and studied for three years. In fact, I got debarred for six months for not having enough attendance,” laughs Sam. He now practises law at the High Court and works with N. Chandrasekaran, Special Public Prosecutor for CBI cases.
That hardly confines him from juggling other things though: Sam just acted in a film and is producing another. He’s looking to do some celebrity DJing born out of a love for music and the request of a few friends. Keeping in line with body building titles that Sam won when he was in University, he launched a new project last month — Slam, the fitness studio. He is further looking to expand the Jonah’s brand and working to bring Doner Kebab to India, because, he says, “I am very particular about my kebabs.”
“That’s the greatest thing in life: to be able to do what you want. If I want to do something, I just have to think of the way to do it professionally… it’s all about God’s grace and having the right people by your side.” smiles the 37-year-old.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus / by Raveena Joseph / March 03rd, 2015
Satyajit Ray astonished me at our first meeting. I had trotted out various Santiniketan connections I expected him to know. He looked at me for a moment while I felt his brain darting through the lanes and bylanes of the genealogical network. Then he said, “You must be related to Bussa Susheila Das!” It was the last name I expected to hear from the Maestro. Bussamami – whose death last week, three years short of a century, must be counted a merciful release – was the most fashionable, Anglicized and probably richest of my relatives. In georgette and furs, sporting a long cigarette-holder, she was a vision of elegant grandeur, the Last Burra Memsahib. When I told her about Ray, she said, “It must be because of Keshub Sen!”
If so, the Brahmo Samaj meant more to Ray than anyone imagined. Although neither Bussamami nor her husband, Mohie R. Das, had set foot in a Brahmo temple for many years, she was Brahmananda Keshub Chunder Sen’s great granddaughter. She was also the great granddaughter of General Sir Edward Barnes, India’s commander-in-chief and governor of Ceylon. That connection was embarrassingly highlighted when Bussamami stayed with us in Singapore. On the day she arrived, the afternoon tabloid, New Paper, which normally confined itself to sensational local tidbits, went to town with an unexpected cover story on Barnes and his Ceylonese mistress. As governor, he lived in what is today Colombo’s Mount Lavinia Hotel from which a secret underground tunnel snaked away to his inamorata’s dwelling. Bussamami wasn’t disconcerted.
She had flown in wearing a saree. It was her habitual garb when travelling abroad she explained. “I get better service.” At one time people laughingly called her “Susheila please!” because of her strenuous but unsuccessful efforts to banish the Bussa nickname. She was indignant when a British Indian woman in Singapore asked why she didn’t have a British passport. “Why should I?” she retorted. “India is my home. I’m Indian. I have property there.” The patrial clause in British immigration law would at once have granted her British citizenship. But people like her didn’t need to emigrate to raise their living standards or become Westernized. They easily did both in India. Her sister, Moneesha Chaudhuri, whose husband was the first Indian head of Andrew Yule, the biggest British managing agency in India, and an army chief’s brother, was also like that. She once refused the then whites-only Saturday Club’s invitation to play the piano in a concert under her English mother’s maiden name. “After all, you could pass for English,” they pleaded. She didn’t take it as a compliment.
Singaporeans found it intriguing that Bussamami and I were related twice over. She and my mother were second cousins, great granddaughters of Annada Charan Khastagir, who presided over an All-India National Conference session in 1883, preparatory to the Indian National Congress being launched two years later. Her husband, Mohiemama, and my mother were first cousins, grandchildren of Bihari Lal Gupta, who was responsible for the Ilbert Bill, which led to the AINC and INC. She and her husband being related, the marriage presented difficulties: one version for which I can’t vouch was they went to French Chandernagore for the registration.
Mohiemama’s father, S.R. Das, founded Doon School. He himself was the first Indian head of Mackinnon Mackenzie, the Inchcape shipping giant. When he joined Mackinnon’s exalted band of covenanted hands (UK-based officers who had signed a contract with the company) in England, the Numbers One, Two and Three were known in inverse order as Three, Two and One. Those figures indicated their monthly salary in lakhs of rupees. Mohiemama’s ways were upper-class English, the legacy of public school in Britain and Cambridge. My son, Deep, quoted Bussamami in this newspaper (“Learning To Speak Like The Masters”, October 13, 2004) as saying when asked if her husband went to Mill Hill or Millfield school, “Mill Hill of course. Millfield was only for the post-war nouveau riche!” Being dark and heavily built, he borrowed a turban from Maharaja Sawai Man Singh II of Jaipur – husband of the beautiful Gayatri Devi, who was Bussamami’s cousin – to visit America in the Fifties. He enjoyed describing how he clamped the turban on his head before entering restaurants in the American Deep South.
They settled down in a gracious villa called Faraway in remote Coonoor. But their world straddled Calcutta, Darjeeling, Hong Kong, London and the south of France. Or rather, small gilded niches in all these places, with extensions to Simla, Colombo and Singapore. World War II and the 300 Club had lent zest to their cosmopolitan set. Not everyone could come to grips with this dizzy diversity. Raj Thapar, wife of Seminar magazine’s Romesh Thapar, betrayed her own provincialism by dismissing Bussamami in All These Years as “an erstwhile crooner”. Yes, she, Moneeshamashi and their only brother K.C. (Bhaiya or Kacy) Sen were all gifted musicians. In her youth, Bussamami had indeed given music lessons in Calcutta, and Moneeshamashi continued to do so for free at St Paul’s School, Darjeeling. But the sleaziness that Thapar’s comment sought to convey just didn’t go with the Ingabanga (Satyendranath Tagore’s term for Anglicized Bengalis) elite.
Kacy called his delightful memoirs The Absolute Anglo-Indian. He wasn’t “a person whose father or any of whose other male progenitors in the male line is or was of European descent, but who is a native of India”, which is how the Government of India Act, 1935, defines Anglo-Indian. Nevertheless, his was the culture of the Rangers Club, Grail Club and the club of which he says “if ever there was a place that separated the men from the boys, and no angels feared to tread, it was the good old Golden Slipper”. I was struck as a child by his imaginative wedding invitation, “Bridgette and I are going to be married at the Golden Slipper Club.” His Cavaliers was a popular band. He frequently compered at the Oberoi Grand Hotel’s open-air Scherezade night club, which occupied the space now taken up by the swimming pool.
He provided Ray with Devika Halder aka Vicky Redwood for Mahanagar “over a cup of tea on the verandah” of his flat. The voice off-screen in Mahanagar was Devika’s, but the song was a ballad, Time Gave Me No Chance, he had composed in his rowing days. Major Sharat Kumar Roy of the American army was an unusual wartime buddy and surely the only Indian to be commemorated by a mountain in Greenland: he discovered Mount Sharat. Laced into the light-hearted banter of Sen’s memoirs was the fear that the “Absolute Anglo-Indian” would become the “Obsolete Anglo-Indian”.
Bussamami built personal bridges to very different milieus. Cooch Behar, Mayurbhanj, Jaipur, Nandgaon and other royals, some also descendants of Keshub Sen, were relatives and intimates. When I mentioned the novelist, Maurice Dekobra, she told me she had known him as the Paris-born, Maurice Tessier. Axel Khan, whom I met as India’s ambassador in pre-unification Berlin, was another old friend. Rumer Godden produced a flood of memories, which were borne out by Ann Chisholm’s biography, Rumer Godden: A Storyteller’s Life. Her apology for arriving late for dinner with my wife and I in our Calcutta flat was that she had got lost in the suburban lanes to Kanan’s house. Kanan who? She meant the legendary star, Kanan Devi, whom the young Bussamami had taught her dancing steps in the Thirties. They had remained friends ever since.
The real burra memsahib didn’t need to keep up appearances. Neither did she have to try to be stylish. To adapt the Comte de Buffon, the style was the woman herself. There won’t be another like her.
source: http://www.telegraphindia.com / The Telegraph, Calcutta / Front Page> Story / by Sunanda K. Datta-Ray / Saturday – February 28th, 2015
The cacophony inside the Theosophical Society is of a different sort. Birdcalls of unusual kinds, the pattering of a squirrel and even a mongoose, the crackling of dry leaves and a bicycle whirring past. Inside the prayer hall, people are paying a silent tribute to the statue of Henry Steele Olcott, the co-founder and first president of the Theosophical Society. Opposite the statue, a plaque reads ‘There is no religion higher than truth.’
Every year, the Society celebrates Olcott’s death anniversary on February 17 as ‘Adyar Day’, as a homage to all the known and unknown people who contributed to the Society. From 1882 when the campus first came up on 28 acres, the now 250-acre Society has been celebrating Adyar Day since 1922. The day also marks the death anniversary of J Krishnamurthy, the renowned Indian philosopher and teacher who used to be part of the Theosophical Society.
Tributes were paid to the first president of the Theosophical Society, on Tuesday
Formed initially in New York city by Colonel Olcott and Madam Blavatsky, the society with its headquarters in the heart of Adyar began to advance theosophy, the seeking of knowledge of the presumed mysteries of being and nature.
Pic: Albin Mathew
The campus was developed with a vast amount of vegetation, in order to lend the atmosphere of calm, and the silence in the campus blocks the visitors of the outside world.
When Harihara Raghavan, the general manager of the Society refers to ‘Adyar’, he refers to the Theosophical Society. “Adyar is an oasis of peace, with the calls of birds, the river and the voices of silence,” he says. “When the Society began, Adyar was not even a part of Chennai, it was part of Chengalpet,” he adds. “South Madras has developed because of the Theosophical Society and Guindy Park.”
The sprawling campus, with the trees, the quaint buildings like the dispensary and a post office, and the representative monuments from many religions is a life away from the city. “We get around 600 visitors every day. Many of them come to just walk around — it is not necessary that everyone needs to understand what the Society stands for.”
The Society has worked towards the cause of education right from its conception. “Colonel Olcott has done much for the upliftment of the downtrodden. He started five schools to reach out to the children from those castes who were not allowed in regular schools,” says Raghavan. The Olcott Memorial School is still completely free for all students.
Today, Adyar has become a busy commercial hub and the river is not the pristine waterbody it was meant to be. But the society sits tranquil, cut off from the chaos of the surroundings, paying tribute to its founders in its own way.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Archita Suryanarayanan / February 18th, 2015
Dr Sujatha Srinivasan with her students|Albin Mathew
For those expecting a serious looking individual with a starchy manner and an intimidating persona are in for a pleasant surprise when one encounters Dr Sujatha Srinivasan who greets you with a hearty handshake and an all-embracing smile. Chatting nineteen to a dozen, she leads to the lab where her students are at work. She explains, “We are in the process of developing assistive devices for people affected by locomotor impairments. These people can lead independent lives via the use of orthotic, prosthetic and other assistive devices.”
Srinivasan is an associate professor and head of the Rehabilitation Research and Development Centre (R2D2) in IIT-Madras. The centre is Srinivasan’s ‘brainchild’. She is a BTech (Mechanical) from Indian Institute of Technology-Madras. After graduation in 1991, Srinivasan worked in Christian Medical College, Vellore in the area of bio-mechanics. Later, she spent 15 years in the US, of which eight was spent in working in prosthetic industry. Declining lucrative job offers from reputed companies in India and abroad, Srinivasan felt her ‘call in life’ was research and development in the field of bio-engineering, to focus on a unique environment for assistive device development to provide for the country’s rehabilitation needs. With this in mind, she returned to India in 2008.
“Multiple sclerosis, amputations due to diabetes and aging are some of the common factors where patients are compelled to spend the rest of their lives in wheel chairs. Here we design physically related devices that keep the differently abled comfortable while allowing them mobility. For example, a polycentric knee allows bending, provides stability while walking. The device is externally used and is made of stainless steel and aluminium. Further, prolonged use of the wheelchair comes with serious side-effects like pressure sores. In view of this, we have developed a standing wheel chair which by rotating the lever the patient can stand for some time. We have developed it from scratch,” she admits proudly. Further, they have devised chairs that are mobilised by the children with cerebral palsy where motor skills are affected and for those with different kinds of disability. Since these children cannot use their hands to rotate the wheels of the chair, they have come up with this new technology—a body-motion controlled wheel chair—in which the chair moves in the direction the child moves.
The ‘Saathi Walker’ is another device developed to help children with no physical stability—the walker supports the child when it walks. Apart from all these devices, the most unique is the ‘Swimming Pool Lift’, an electric chair that gently drops the patient into the pool and lifts the patient back to the top. This was inspired by Madhavi Latha, a polio-inflicted banker, who when given up by doctors was advised to try hydro-therapy and went on to become a paralympic swimming champion in 2012. “Of course, we are trying to develop the chair manually as electricity comes with its own hazards and power in our country is a luxury!” she opines. Though the centre has adopted the concept of developing prosthetics from the West, they have changed the geometry to suit Indian terrain and are also looking at additional features like adding a rotator to the chair so that the patient can sit cross-legged on the floor.
Any initial struggles in setting up the centre? “Not much,” she replies, adding, “When the idea was first suggested to the IIT, they were very supportive. Regarding funding, TTK Prestige Co. chairman T T Jagannathan have helped us enormously; Society for Biomedical Technology and other organisations have helped considerably too. Phoenix Medical Systems has been constructively supportive in manufacturing wheel chairs of high quality at affordable prices. TTK Prestige is also our potential manufacturer with the same goal in mind.” About challenges, she says: “Trying to develop the product with a floating population of students who move on once the study course is complete is difficult as the new ones do not want to complete what someone else started. But we have overcome that now by employing them here on a salary basis.” Srinivasan aims at functionality and affordability to develop quality devices at affordable costs for all. The centre works in parallel with manufacturers to modify designs to suit easily available materials and are also working with NGOs and established manufacturers to commercialise the designs at affordable prices. Ananth from the Mechanical Engineering Department is seen working diligently on the computer and on the table is a pair of stainless steel device meant for the knees. He plans to open his own manufacturing company in conjunction with the R&D centre, while Vivek with a masters degree is satisfied with and encouraged by the research work at the centre.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> LifeStyle> Health / by Uma Balasubramaniam / February 21st, 2015
Veterinary College and Research Institute, Tirunelveli in co-ordination with Agricultural Technology Management Agency conducted a ‘farm-field school’ on ‘improved animal husbandry practices’ at Kalakkudi near Manur for six weeks from last January 7.
A total of 25 progressive farmers from Manur block benefited. Faculties of VC & RI conducted demonstrations including preparation of concentrate feed, conservation of fodder – silage making, cultivation of Co-4 feed, using the milking machine, de-worming and de-ticking for sheep and goat and oral pellet vaccination for Ranikhet disease in desi birds for the select team of beneficiaries.
In the valedictory function on Thursday at Kalakkudi, S. Prathaban, Dean of VC &RI released the training manual, distributed certificates and inputs package consisting of TANUVAS Smart Mineral Mixture, video lessons on dairy farming, sheep and goat farming and desi fowl rearing to the beneficiaries.
In his address, Dr. Prathaban stressed the importance of using scientific techniques in livestock farming to reduce production cost.
V. Saraswathi, Assistant Director of Agriculture, Manur block, narrated the activities of ATMA scheme. C. Manivanan, Professor and Head, Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension Education, VC & RI, Tirunelveli presented a report on the farm field school.
S. Senthilkumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Veterinary and Animal Husbandry Extension Education, and Manivannan, a progressive farmer from Kalakkudi, also spoke.
Importance of using scientific techniques in livestock farming stressed
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / Tirunelveli – February 22nd, 2015
