While many of them may miss the eclectic culture of Calcutta, there is no doubt among members of the cotton hub’s Bengali community that Coimbatore has now become their favourite city. This is the one community that has been able to maintain its own identity while blending in perfectly with the local community.
On a conservative estimate, more than 22,000 Bengalis hailing from upper and middle class families have settled down in the city. The city also plays host to numerous youths from districts outside Kolkata migrating to work in various industrial units and private firms in the area.
“Most of us have been living here since the 80s. We have made this our home and are totally comfortable here. The salubrious climate and the peaceful law and order situation makes it a better place to raise a family than Kolkata,” said Subrata Majumdher, Secretary, The Bengali Association, Coimbatore.
Majority of the city’s Bengalis are engaged in various business activities. However, the younger generation is opting for IT jobs in MNCs. According to Subrata Barik, another prominent member of the community, a major chunk of Bengalis are associated with gold manufacturing units. In fact Edayar Street in the old city area is lined up with numerous gold manufacturing units owned by members of the West Bengal community. However, the rest of the community is scattered across the city, especially in Saibaba Colony and Kavundampalayam.
“Majority of our community is associated with gold manufacturing business and our workers and gold craftsmen form an integral part of the sector in Coimbatore,” Barik added
Keeping their traditions alive, the community annually arranges elaborate Durga Puja celebrations in the city. The authenticity of the celebration is maintained as artisans from Bengal are hired and brought to Coimbatore and preparations are done from scratch including making the Durga idol.
“Durga Puja celebrations are always done with pomp and style with artisans and musicians specially brought from Calcutta to make the idols and perform for the crowd,” said Ayan Chatterjee, one of the founding members of the Bengali association here in the city.
However, the absence of an authentic Bengali outlet in the city is the one small grievance of the community.
Despite the numerous chat and snack stalls, the city still lacks an outlet that caters to Bengali tastes. However, members are hopeful that this will change very soon.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Coimbatore / by Binoy Valsan, TNN / April 07th, 2014
Anglos in the two localities have woken up to the yawning differences between them. Here’s how they drifted apart
Darla Jacob* likes hip-hop, Nancy Vincent* likes waltz. Darla likes hard rock, and Nancy, classical music. Darla punches codes and Nancy strings words, for a living.
They are cousins. They are Anglo-Indians. One lives in Pallavaram, and the other in Perambur.
Those outside the community tend to paint Anglo-Indians in one colour with a few variations of it. But the quintessentially Anglo-Indian qualities are vigorously reshaped by geography and nurture, and only a bewildering palette of colours can do justice to them. Every Anglo-Indian group is distinct from all others. The Pallavaram and Perambur groups, counted among the oldest in Chennai, seem to follow different muses. Interestingly, these muses are reported to be at drawn swords.
The Pallavaram Anglos claim they are less insular. Says Darla,“Don’t think I am biased because I am from Pallavaram. I think we blend in a lot better, when we are around non Anglo-Indian crowd. We too use the standard Anglo language like ‘what child’ and ‘what man’, but know when to tone it down.”
There is a theory that Anglo-Indian groups maintaining strong links with the Railways have managed to prevent traditions from being reshaped by the cross-winds of outside influences. Even now, when Anglo-Indians are moving to other countries at a rate that is causing concern to traditionalists, the Railways contributes considerably to the self-identity of the Anglos in Perambur.
In contrast, the Pallavaram Anglos have always had a tenuous link with the Railways with a majority of them employed in the Army. Veteran Lines, a famous Anglo-Indian locality in Pallavaram, was created for World World II veterans. Moreover, the Pallavaram group was among the earliest to turn to the private sector for jobs. To illustrate the point, successive generations of Anglos from Pallavaram were on the rolls of English Electric (now called AVERA), a private company.
“Following the end of the British Raj, Anglos in the southern settlements took up jobs in the private sector, while those in Perambur continued with the Railways and kept to their cliques,” says Mary Mathew*, a long-time resident of St. Thomas Mount and therefore has no axe to grind in this discussion. Ruth Carlton* says, “Yes, it is true. I believe we take a lot more pride in being Anglo-Indian than any other group. It is probably because Perambur was one of the earliest British settlements in Madras.”
Roy Rozario, a Railway employee and a man given to following Anglo-Indian proprieties, thinks Anglo-Indian associations in and around Perambur are more active than most others from the rest of city. As a result, initiatives to conduct traditional balls come more frequently from this part of the city.
As Anglos have an almost intrinsic love for music and dance, these cultural get-togethers help members of the community bond better. Do the differences between the Pallavaram and Perambur groups come to the fore?
“They do, but manifest in subtle ways – a snide remark here and a snarky look there,” says Brian Chatelier*.
Harry MacLure, a force working towards preserving the Anglo-Indian ethos, says there may be differences, but not strong enough to drive the groups decisively apart.
“Regular get-togethers are all it takes to help these groups appreciate each other better. Beyond these groups, there are people who are cut off from the community because work has led them into areas totally devoid of any Anglo-Indian influence. For example, due to employment in the IT sector, Anglo-Indians settle down in areas such as Velachery. Helping these people stay connected to the community is more of a worry than undoing the often imagined slights between any two Anglo-Indian groups,” says MacLure, who is editor of Anglos In The Wind, a community magazine.
Most of the younger Anglo-Indians from Pallavaram and Perumbur consider themselves free of prejudices that mark relations between the groups. They say the differences are not something to be frowned upon: they add variety to a community that is often presented in a single-tone colour.
*Names changed to keep Anglos from Perambur and Pallavaram from stepping on each other’s toes, quite literally at the next May Queen ball.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Society / Melange / by Susanna Myrtle Lazarus / Chennai – April 19th, 2014
Dr. P.V.A. Mohandas, Managing Director, MIOT Hospitals, Mallika Mohandas, Chairman, MIOT Hospitals, Dr. Prithvi Mohandas, Joint Managing Director and Dr. Barry D. Rosario of MIOT Hospitals on Thursday. / Photo: V. Ganesan. / The Hindu
In two separate events on Thursday, achievements of orthopaedics in the city were highlighted. While MIOT Hospital celebrated the performance of 30,000 joint replacement surgeries, Apollo Hospital called for a conference to talk about a specific total knee replacement procedure.
MIOT Hospital marked the performance of 20,000 hip replacements and 10,000 knee replacements and also opened a museum within its premises. The Museum of Arthroplasty (Joint Replacement) seeks to educate the public and patients on choosing long-lasting artificial joints. The museum has models of prosthesis used over the years. One of the earliest prosthesis — John Charnley prosthesis of 1963 — resulted in the first successful total hip arthroplasty , said P.V.A.Mohandas, founder and managing director of the hospital.
Barry J.M. D’Rosario, director, Centre for Knee Replacement Surgery and Computer Navigation, said, “Osteoarthritis is one of the main indicators for knee replacement, followed by rheumatoid arthritis and other causes such as post traumatic arthritis,” he added.
Many people under 40 are coming in for joint replacements, Prithvi Mohandas, joint managing director, said. “We need to ensure the artificial joint lasts a lifetime and the patient does not get admitted again,” he explained.
Apollo Hospitals
Meanwhile, a team of doctors at Apollo Hospitals have performed a total knee replacement with the help of ATTUNE Knee System and I Assist Navigation System on a 72-year-old patient.
The ATTUNE Knee System helps in re-creating the precision of human knee, allowing doctors to personalise the fit for each patient, while the I Assist Knee System is a computer-assisted stereotactic surgical instrument system that aids doctors in positioning of orthopaedic implant components.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Chennai / by Staff Reporter / Chennai – April 18th, 2014
There were a number of contenders for bowler of the month for March, but none could top Ravichandran Ashwin.
Imran Tahir finished as the top wicket taker of the World Twenty20, taking a wicket once every 10 balls.
Samuel Badree kicked dust in Sunil Narine’s eyes, Amit Mishra was a leg-spinning bundle of joy and Rangana Herath had one really rather good spell.
Even Dale Steyn could stake a claim after a very good run in the World T20.
In the end, though, it was Ashwin who came up trumps. He took 11 wickets in the World T20 at an average of 11.27.
Although his performance in the final of the World T20 against SriLanka was somewhat underwhelming, he was superb overall. It’s not only his ability to take wickets that made him the top choice, but also his ability to stifle the scoring rate, forcing pressure to build and batsmen to lose their minds.
Not once in the entire tournament did he concede more than 30 runs and his 4-for-11 against Australia was fantastic to watch. There was also the carrom ball to dismiss Hashim Amla in the semi-final, a fantastic delivery that would fox any batsman in the world.
Ashwin is the kind of bowler who likes to experiment and who likes to keep on changing and learning. In the lead up to the World T20 during the Asia Cup, Ashwin had a new approach once again. After two average tours against South Africa and New Zealand, Ashwin had to try something, so he tried to model his action after Sunil Narine.
The results weren’t immediate, and he finished the tournament with nine wickets in four games at an average of 18.55. The change in action caused much criticism from some quarters. Maninder Singh was one of the most notable critics. He was quoted by The Times of India as saying the change in action could destroy Ashwin’s career.
” What is he trying to do? He was a wicket-taking bowler for us, but this is going to kill him. I don’t know how the coaches are allowing him to do this. Don’t forget Narine is a freak and his action has always been like that. If a spinner tries to copy Narine at the age of 25, he will not last in international cricket for too long. “
Ashwin, clearly not one for taking note of the naysayers, obviously wasn’t bothered. On the eve of the game against Australia, Ashwinrevealed why he was flirting with the newly adopted action. He was quoted by the Indian Express as saying:
” I want to do something different. I want to keep trying something—unless you try you don’t go and venture and find out what can work or not. I’d never bowled in full-sleeves before. So I wanted to see how it would feel. And I just wanted to see if you can get more revs on the ball if you can do a little bit with your elbow, as much as that is. That’s what it was all about. You can get a lot of advantage with these things—so why should I lag behind if someone else is getting a competitive edge? “
Brief change, innovation, foolish—call it what you want—Ashwin is clearly the type of player who always wants to push himself no matter what. His performance in the World T20 was down to some old-school spin bowling and his carrom ball. That ball, which made him so effective in the first place, proved to be his most potent weapon.
It’s not the first time Ashwin has tried something new; he has admitted in the past, as per ESPNCricinfo, that he uses tennis ball cricket to help him learn new tricks and improve his game.
Spinners are the most effective bowlers in T20 cricket. They are transformed in the format because batsmen are forced to attack instead of just being able to see out the overs. The bowlers likeAshwin who combine the ability to take wickets with the ability to stifle the runs deserve the most credit, though, and if that requires a little bit of innovation here and there, who are we to judge?
Data and stats via ESPNCricinfo.
source: http://www.bleacherreport.com / Bleacher Report / Home> Cricket> India / by Antoinette Muller, Featured Columnist / April 08th, 2014
Assiduous students of College of Engineering Guindy, Anna University, were all smiles on Thursday as they received awards from Arun C Bharath, Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Commissioner of Income Tax, Chennai, for their academic excellence in the current year. The additional controller’s office reported that 71 students from the undergraduate and postgraduate programmes were awarded endowment projects and scholarships.
Bharath, an alumni of the college, congratulated the students saying, “Although several colleges are affiliated to Anna University, CEG students stand out from the rest.” He advised the students to learn life skills that would aid in the development of the nation and more importantly, participate in the voting exercise.
“As students of a government institution, your engineering degree is subsidised by taxpayers’ money and hence you have a moral obligation to serve the country,” he said. With funny anecdotes, the civil servant shared incidents from his college life, which kept the audience in delight.
Registrar of Anna University S Ganesan made a lighter speech, comparing academic and cultural programmes of the college. On a serious note, he also informed that the college had published a number of scholarly papers and stood at the 76 percentile in the h-index, an index that attempts to measure both the productivity and impact of the published work of a scientist or scholar.
C Chellappan, dean, College of Engineering, and K Ilamparuthi, chairman, faculty of Civil Engineering, presided over the programme.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Express News Service – Chennai / April 12th, 2014
Vaidyanatha Iyer Road in Shenoy Nagar is named after a great son of Madurai – A Vaidyanatha Iyer (1890 – 1955). Other city landmarks that are named after Iyer are Mela Vaidyanathapuram near Thathaneri and Keezha Vaidyanathapuram near Mahaboobpalayam. His statue, which is installed near the Meenakshi Temple, recalls his leadership in securing the entry of dalits to the popular temple on July 8, 1939. This act earned the wrath of the orthodox Brahmins who excommunicated him from his community. Known popularly as Madurai Iyer, he worked tirelessly for the upliftment of dalits.
Though belonging to Thanjavur, the Iyer family moved to Madurai during his childhood. Iyer studied at the Sethupathi School in Madurai, and later in Madura College. After graduating in Law he started his own practice and soon rose to become one of the reputed lawyers of his time.
Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi, Iyer participated in the Indian Freedom Movement and took up the cause of dalits. Mu Chidambara Bharathy (54), provincial Congress committee member and state convener of the OBC wing of Congress in Madurai, said Iyer and his wife Akilandammal worked in the slums on weekends. Over a period, they turned out to be the foremost champions of dalits in the city. Iyer organized the historical temple entry movement which is commemorated ever year here.
“As he led the dalits into Meenakshi temple, orthodox Brahmins locked the temple for three days. They installed “Balameenakshi’ (Infant Meenkshi) on Tamil Sangam Road and filed a court case against the temple entry. C Rajagopalachari, the premier of Madras Presidency, intervened and passed a special ordinance turning temple entries legal. “Rajaji’s special ordinance could be termed as an achievement of Iyer because the government led by him collapsed shortly and the temple entry bill would have not come up later,” Bharathy mentioned.
“When Iyer passed away in 1955, dalits thronged the funeral in large numbers and mourned his death more than others,” he remembered.
As MLA representing Melur from 1946 to 1951 he was popular, especially among dalits in the constituency. The Harijan Sevalaya in Shenoy Nagar came up during the joint efforts of Iyer, noted Gandhian N M R Subburaman, woman Congress leader Thayammal and the TVS Group. N Pandurangan, a 77-year-old Congress functionary residing in Shenoy Nagar, said the free hostel for dalit students benefitted many. Former Tamil Nadu Minister P Kakkan and former Melur MP Maruthiah were its inmates.
“When Shenoy Nagar was created in 1951, the streets there were named after Iyer and Kakkan. TVS Group used to operate buses on the wide streets there,” Pandurangan recalled. “Iyer was a simple man and stood for the cause of dalits till his last breath,” he noted.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / J. Arockiaraj -TNN / April 13th, 2014
Marking the completion of 160 years of the Indian Railways, the Madurai railway division has organised a photo exhibition with a set of 28 posters narrating the history, heritage and salient features. The exhibition, which began on Sunday will go up to April 2 and is arranged at the concourse area of the eastern entry.
Addressing reporters, divisional railway manager, A K Rastogi who inaugurated the exhibition said the photo exhibition showcases the evolution and growth of the Indian Railways from 1853. The exhibition is divided into topics such as interesting information on Indian Railways; evolution and heritage; cultural significance and the resources displaying its indigenous production units which keep the railways self-sufficient among others.
The segment of interesting facts contains information like 11,000 trains plying across the country on any given day carrying 2.20 crore people. With 63,940 km track route, it is the fourth largest in the world connecting people across the country as well as the backbone of the economic growth.
The heritage and evolution part shows the picture of the first train that chugged between Bombay and Thane – the 34 km stretch – in 1853 and its earlier versions of coaches hauled by bullocks. The consecutive pictures show how the railways transformed from steam engines to electric locomotives at present.
The pictures under the title Railways connecting cultures, show that how the tracks traverse across the cultures in the country with a special mention of Vivek Express, the longest train connecting Kanyakumari with Dibrugarh in Assam. The train covering 4,200 km connects Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa, West Bengal, Bihar and Assam in its 82-hour journey.
The heritage section also includes luxury trains such as Palace on Wheels, Golden Chariot and the Deccan Odyssey. The last segment of the exhibition displays the assets of railways like Chittaranjan Locomotive Works (CLW), Diesel Locomotive Works, Varanasi (DLW), Integral Coach Factory (ICF) Chennai, Rail Coach Factory (RCF) Kapurthala and Rail Wheel Factory (RWF), Bangalore.
One of the pictures shows the international collaborations of Indian Railways at Tanzania, Iraq, Sri Lanka and Mozambique and the export of locomotives to countries like Vietnam, Tanzania, Mali, Senegal, Togo and Sri .
The exhibition is open from 8.30am to 6pm and entry for the visitors is free.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Madurai / TNN / March 31st, 2014
In his heyday, Mr. Evers also remembers being the master of ceremonies at a function in Thiruvayaru, considered the birthplace of Carnatic music./ Photo: R.M. Rajarathinam / The Hindu
George Evers has been the anchor at hundreds of Anglo-Indian weddings and social events since the 1960s. He tells Nahla Nainar how he became an accidental emcee
No Anglo-Indian wedding or social gathering in Tiruchi has been complete without George Evers as the master of ceremonies. Despite emceeing nearly 900 weddings however, Mr. Evers is hesitant to call it a profession.
“Emceeing came accidentally into my life,” says Mr. Evers, 77, as his dog Molly and wife Doreen give him company at their home in Karumandapam. The then-Southern Railways clerk was asked to take over as master of ceremonies from a colleague who had emigrated to England in 1962, and since then, has been “stuck into it,” till as recently as 2014’s New Year party.
“Even now, when I say I’ve gone too old, people want me to host their functions. I have emceed functions of several generations of families, mainly as a friendly gesture. I can’t call it a profession as such, because I didn’t really earn money from it. After I stopped working in 1995, people began to think that ‘Uncle has retired, maybe he requires some money,’ and they’d pay me something. But all along, I’ve never quoted any rate for my work,” says Mr. Evers.
In his heyday, Mr. Evers also remembers being the master of ceremonies at a function in Thiruvayaru, considered the birthplace of Carnatic music. “My main advantage was that I could sing with the orchestra. Whenever the band boys would run out of songs, for the Railway Institute’s ballroom dances for instance, I’d take the microphone and belt out a few numbers to keep the patrons happy,” he says.
Busy calendar
Working in the Railways let him keep up his alternative job as his rail-pass helped out in the commuting. “Sometimes, I used to be sent conveyance, but mostly I’d just hop on and off the trains – I’ve been to functions in Madurai, Erode, Villipuram, Nagapattinam and so many other places. I made a lot of friends during these occasions. I really enjoyed what I did, and of course, it was because my wife was very co-operative. Doreen sacrificed a lot to just let me do this.”
Such was his popularity that Mr. Evers was persuaded to return as an emcee after a stroke in 2004 paralysed the left side of his body for over a year. “I don’t think I’ll be up to it this year, because my eyesight has weakened,” he rues.
Nostalgia
Mr. Evers grows nostalgic when he speaks of his childhood, as the ninth born of a family of five boys and five girls. “My father Isaac Martin Evers was a railway guard. He had no knowledge of his parents, but my Dad did tell me he studied in Adyar (Chennai) at St. Patrick’s convent school. My mother’s father was Irish,” says Mr. Evers.
The young George Evers started kindergarten at the Madurai Railway School, and then, when his father retired in 1944, the clan shifted to Mannarpuram, Tiruchi. “Since 1944, I had my schooling in Campion (Anglo-Indian Higher Secondary School) and finished Matriculation in 1954,” he says. “I joined the Railways in 1957 as a commercial clerk, with my first posting at Dhanushkodi.”
Mr. Evers shifted back to Tiruchi after marriage to Doreen, his neighbour in Mannarpuram, in 1962 and has stayed on here since then.
The memories that the couple share of Tiruchi hearken back to a time when there were few automobiles on the roads. “Most of the children used to walk to school, Campion for the boys and St. Joseph’s convent for the girls,” says Mr. Evers. “Some boys used to even walk all the way from Golden Rock (Ponmalai) if they had missed the 8.30 a.m. Students’ Special train. It was good, kept us healthy. Besides, there were no buses or cars crowding the roads then. Motorbikes were still rare, and owning a bicycle was a luxury,” he adds.
“My parents put us boys in boarding at Campion because they felt it would make us independent and disciplined,” says Mr. Evers.
At home, the lifestyle had an Indian flavour with a Western finish. “We’d have dosai and chutney for breakfast, but bread, butter and jam was always there on the table,” recalls Mr. Evers.
“Our Western culture and our fluency in English helped Anglo-Indians secure jobs in the Railways, Customs and Telephone departments,” says Mr. Evers. “But as the years go by, I feel our community has become more Indian. After all, if you are going to live in Tamil Nadu, you’ve got be a Tamilian, you can’t live like a Britisher.”
As in the case of many Anglo-Indian families, inter-racial marriages have become common. “Even within my own family, my daughters-in-law are Tamilian,” says Mr. Evers. “We don’t have the custom of arranging marriages in our community. In my case, my mother and father had nothing to do with our marriage. I had seen Doreen and fallen in love with her and we had to get permission from her parents to get married. Our parents just set the date,” says Mr. Evers with a twinkle in his eye.
The days ahead
The abolition of job quotas for the Anglo-Indians in the 1960s led to an exodus that continues today. “In Tiruchi, I think around 3000-4000 families have stayed on, though many people left for United Kingdom and Australia in the 1970s and ’80s,” says Mr. Evers, who is a member of both the Campion Old Boys Association, Melbourne and All India Anglo Indian Association.
“We never used to get huge salaries like today,” says Mr. Evers, adding that he was earning Rs. 2500 when he retired. “But we were able to keep the wolf from the door, because the commodities were not so costly then.”
The Evers have six children (five sons of whom the eldest passed away in 2001 and a daughter), and six grandchildren. So would Mr. Evers be doing the honours as emcee at his grandchildren’s weddings?
“If God spares us,” laughs Mrs. Doreen as her husband smiles at the suggestion.
Dancing the nights away
Mr. George Evers on how dance has defined Anglo-Indian social life in Tiruchi
“The Railway Institute the Head Post Office was converted by Europeans into a dance hall. They used to have regular dances there, with live band on stage.
“To know how to dance became part of the culture. And if you didn’t know how to dance, there was no point in going to the Railway Institute, because you’d just have to sit down.
“There used to be many styles of dancing – slow fox trot, fox trot, waltz, rock and roll – all that used to be called ballroom dancing.
“People don’t patronise Western dance now like they used to, even during the festive season. Another main reason is that the children have to go back to school on January 2, which makes it tough for parents who want to dance away the night on New Year’s Day. They can’t stay up late and then rush to get the children ready for school the next day.
“This New Year’s ball was very disappointing. In 1967, there used to be no less than 800 people in the hall, and there would be at least 300-400 couples on the floor, dancing. But on the first of this year, there were only four-five couples on the floor.
“In those days they’d dance till six in the morning, and even when I’d tell them to go home, they’ll plead ‘one more song’, ‘one more song’. So I came up with a solution: I’d tell the band boys to play the national anthem!
“Everybody would stand to attention, and couldn’t ask for more. That became my signature closing tradition.”
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Features> MetroPlus> Society / by Nahla Nainar / Tiruchirapalli – April 05th, 2014
Mugaiyur village in Villupuram district (native place of slain soldier V.Anthony Nirmal Viji) is abound with ex-servicemen and personnel serving in defence services./ Photo: T. Singaravelou / The Hindu
For a population of 5,000, there are over 600 soldiers
For hearing exploits of soldiers on the war front, one must go to Mugaiyur village. The otherwise non-descript place tucked away in a corner of the Thirukkoilur block in Villupuram district is full of war veterans and serving defence personnel.
What is unique about the village is that the patriotic fervour and nationalism seem to be naturally running in the veins of the young and the old, and, men and women. It has acted as a trigger to inspire more and more residents of Mugaiyur to join the Army.
The village hogged the limelight when its “proud son of the soil” V. Anthony Nirmal Viji (31), a Lance Naik in Artillery 111 Rocket Regiment, was killed by terrorists at Jammu recently. By laying down his life, he has become the hero of the place and it is most likely that he would become part of the folklore too.
For a village with a population of about 5,000, there are no less than 600 soldiers. Some of them have tagged on the prefix ex-servicemen to their names for, they had served in the India-China war, the India-Pakistan war and the recent Kargil war.
Elevated ranks
A few of them occupied elevated ranks such as Captains and Junior Commissioned Officers. They are proud to be seen in their starched uniforms decorated with medals. They were seen strutting here and there, regulating the mourners who had turned up for the funeral of Viji.
Unlike in other mourning places the village looked different on the day the body arrived there. A. Lourdusamy and Irudhayanathan, ex-servicemen, told this correspondent that the village had the long tradition of swelling the ranks of the military from the days of World War II. Therefore, for generations, they were willingly joining the Army, with the fullest support of women.
The boys in turn got inspired by the elders, and from young age, they start equipping themselves for the task.
While the elderly persons had acquired remarkable brisk gait in their walks thanks to the strict regimen in the Army, the youths look like ramrods with erecting chest and bulging biceps.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> National> TamiNadu / by Special Correspondent / Villipuram – March 31st, 2014
Students explaining the newly developed solar hybrid bike to their faculty members. / The Hindu
They are justifying the need for application-oriented studies
From simplifying tasks in fields such as agriculture to improving infrastructure to cost-efficient models, students of engineering colleges in and around the city are developing innovative projects, justifying the growing need for application-oriented studies.
A Solar-Assisted Hybrid Bike developed by Mechanical Engineering students from Kamaraj College of Engineering is one such shining example. The students, K. Abdur Rahmaan Siddik, P. Saran Raj and M. Bharathi Raja, developed the model on a second-hand motorbike with the assistance of R. Manikumar, a faculty.
“In the wake of frequent petrol price hikes, we wanted to develop some cost-effective hybrid model of a bike,” says Mr.Raja, one of the developers of the hybrid bike which costs less than Rs.40,000.
“We have applied for a patent as well,” he adds.
The developers say that the rider will have the option of using either battery-run front-wheel drive or petrol-engine-run back-wheel drive. “During the day time, the battery is charged by solar panels and at nights by the dynamo connected to the rear wheel,” they explain.
Ragul Kumar, a final year Civil Engineering student of KLN College of Information Technology, is in the process of developing a movable ruler.
“The multi-speciality ruler can be used to draw linear dimensions, angular measurements, preliminary building plan drawing, tabulations and as trisquare, T-square and longer dimension ruler,” he defines.
K. Ramesh, a faculty of the college, who is guiding Mr.Kumar says that the movable ruler will be very useful for school students as well.
“Rulers are mostly developed in China. When our student came up with the idea, we extended our help. Some of our students also did a project on solar panel road and we have applied it on our campus to test its efficiency before applying for patent,” he states.
Velammal College of Engineering and Technology has a Centre for Innovation and Product Development, which has supported projects such as a saline water alarm system and children-friendly toilet system.
“We assist students who bring in ideas with faculty guidance,” says P. Rajesh Kanna, faculty advisor of the centre.
A Green Robot, which will assist farmers in ploughing land and harvesting banana, is currently being developed at the centre.
“It took six months for the students to develop the prototype of the robot and it will cost half the price of models available in the markets,” says N. Dinesh Kumar, a faculty member.
The students, who developed the robot, are now in Punjab to present their project at a competition, he adds.
M. Palaninatha Raja, Registrar of Thiagarajar College of Engineering, says that a few months ago students developed a solar rickshaw, funded by Madurai Municipal Corporation.
“Multinational corporate firms are conducting a series of contests, encouraging the students to develop innovative models. Our students have won several contests,” he concludes.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> News> Cities> Madurai / by M. Vandhana / Madurai – March 25th, 2014
