More than 6,000 specimens at the 105-year-old herbarium in the Institute of Forest Genetics and Tree Breeding (IFGTB) can now be accessed by the click of a mouse, as the institute plans to digitise it.
The digitisation will help preserve the fragile specimens, prone to damage due to constant physical handling.
The Fischer Herbarium, which was started in the year 1911 on the Forest Campus in R S Puram, was created as a repository to house the many collections made by British forest officer Cecil Ernest Claude Fischer. He had an extensive collection of specimens from the Nilgiris, Palanis, Coimbatore forest divisions, Seshachalam Hills and Ganjam District of Andhra Pradesh. The herbarium also houses century old collections by forest officers,T F Bourdillon and M Rama Rao from the Travancore presidency. The herbarium was brought under IFGTB’s control in 1988.
The herbarium, considered a national repository by the National Biodiversity Authority (NBA), contains 2,954 species, 254 families of plants and 1,257 genera, some of them as rare as the one by forest officer J R Drummond in 1879.
“The herbarium is visited by a lot of taxonomists and botanists. So, when they discover a unique species but have heard of similar looking species being present in a herbarium in another part of the country or world, they often have to physically visit the herbarium to cross check the facts,” said IFGTB director R S Prashanth. “But now they can cross-check with the image and data available online,” he said.
The digital herbarium, which can be accessed through the website www.frcherbarium.org, currently contains 6,231 of the total 23,000 specimens available with the IFGTB. “This digitisation was done by former librarian at the Kerala Forest and Research Institute K H Hussain,” said the head of the biodiversity division at IFGTB C Kunhikannan about the project which cost Rs 6 lakh.
“The website has uploaded the herbarium’s sheets and allows people to zoom into the image to take a closer look at the specimen and the officer’s own writings,” said Hussain. “We will be shortly applying for more funds to digitize the rest of the herbarium’s data,” said the director. The institute, however, admitted that they were yet to review all the data on the website and eliminate spelling errors that might have occurred since the data entry personnel were not taxonomists.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / April 13th, 2016
The state’s first synthetic skating track was inaugurated at the Svastika International Roller Sports Complex located on Kanuvai-Maruthamalai Link Road in Coimbatore on Monday. Set up by parents of children who represent the sport at state and national level and skating enthusiasts, the 200m synthetic track would now allow budding skaters to get training at home turf itself. The stadium is, however, still under construction.
The parents recalled how their children had to travel to neighbouring states such as Karnataka to practise on synthetic track, as both national and international competitions were held on such tracks. The state so far had only one cement track and one coata stone track. G Sreedhar, a parent involved in setting up the synthetic turf in the city, said, “My son has won at the national level. Since the city lacked enough infrastructure, we often had to travel to Pune or Bangalore for his training. So, we wanted an international-level facility for our children here in our own city.”
To realise this dream, parents and skating enthusiasts came together and formed a trust, Svastika trust, and collected funds for the same. The result is track called synthetic roller rink that was inaugurated on Monday.
N Sathyamoorthy, a professional skater who had represented the country at various international meets since 2006, would impart training to kids at this turf. “Our state has immense talent, but when it comes to national or international level meets, our children lack confidence as they have to skate on synthetic tracks over there. Having mostly practised on cement tracks, when they skate on synthetic tracks at these meets, the speed surprises them and they often under-perform. So, we wanted to give them infrastructure to ensure better performance,” said Sathyamoorthy. He would also train budding talents in the city.
Ganesh, whose son has represented the country at junior-level in various international meets, said taking his son to various cities for training wasn’t always affordable. “It will be easier for our children to train now. This was much needed for the development of the sport in the state,” Ganesh said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News Home> City> Coimbatore / TNN / April 12th, 2016
Salem Historical Society that works for the cause of protecting historical monuments in and around the district got a 100-year-old map of the district. At a function organised by Salem Historical Society and YMCA, SALEM 225, to mark the 225th year of establishing Salem district, the map was presented by Philip K. Mulley of Kotagiri in The Nilgiris who is a writer and historian, to J. Barnabas, general secretary of the society. The map prepared by Helio-Zinco Survey Office, Madras in 1916 depicts the boundaries of the Salem district which was one of the biggest district in the country and the first district to be formed in South India in April 4, 1792.
J. Barnabas, general secretary of the Salem Historical Society displays the century-old map of Salem district.– Photo: E. Lakshmi narayanan
The district that spread over 7,530 sq m comprised Salem, Namakkal, Dharmapuri, and Krishnagiri and was divided into three broad zones.
Mr. Mulley said that Malabar and Coimbatore were formed only after Salem district was formed.
He said that Alexander Reed was the first Collector of the district who served between 1792 and 1799.
David Cockburn, the Scottish Collector and who is known as ‘Father of Yercaud’ constructed five schools in the city during his period of service (1820-1829) at his own cost.
Robert Bruce Foote known as ‘Father of Indian Paleoarchaeology’ excavated tools used during Neolithic and Iron Age in Yercaud.
“They served for the development of the district and hence they were remembered till now,” he added.
Mr. Barnabas told The Hindu that 620 copies of the map were printed in 1916, and the century-old map available with the society was a rare collection.
He said that the map brought alive the erstwhile district and would help the youngsters know the past.
“The map would be laminated and placed in the society’s office,”Mr. Barnabas added.
During the celebration, the war medal of M. Israel, war veteran of First World Ward (1914-1919), group photo of intermediate class (1939-1941) of The Salem Municipal College and few rare pictures were on display.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by S.P. Saravanan / Salem – April 10th, 2016
Forgotten Past: “I am most satisfied about discovering the voice of the Indian soldier.” Raghavan in his New Delhi office. Photo: R.V. Moorthy / The Hindu
India was an unwilling participant in World War II, but those years provided the foundation for the Independence struggle.
Historian Srinath Raghavan in his latest book, India’s War: The Making of Modern South Asia, 1939-1945 (Allen Lane), details India’s contribution to World War II. The book explores the war’s impact on the Independence movement, how it was during this period that the Army saw its biggest expansion, and why this inquiry is important from a military history point of view.
Excerpts:
The book is called India’s war. Yet, not one Indian was consulted before Viceroy Linlithgow’s decision to enlist the Indian Army.
Even if India was an unwilling participant in the conflict, the conflict had huge implications for India. So, even if we were dragged into it kicking and screaming, those years turned out to be foundational for India in the Independence movement.
But still not India’s war. The Army was treated like bonded labourers, bundled off to fight without any say…
That’s not entirely the case. The Congress certainly opposed India’s participation because it wasn’t consulted, but others saw it as an opportunity. You had people like Ambedkar, who realised that for the Dalits, this was an opportunity for social mobility, to have their voices out. You also had Savarkar who said that this was a great opportunity for the Hindu community to get into the Army, which was dominated by the Sikhs and the Muslims.
Are you saying it was the war that gave these leaders and their ideologies their original prominence?
I think many of the ideological fault lines that we associate with 1947, in some sense, came to the fore during the war years, and that’s why we need to study them more closely. Because of what happens in the period 1935-1939 — you have the first elections under the Government of India Act, and Congress ministries are formed. It seemed as if the Congress was the most dominant force, and only Congress versus the British Raj played out. But then you had the war; the Congress was sidelined, and that cracked open the scenario for others who wanted their voices heard. So you had Jinnah coming into prominence with his demand, you had Ambedkar, you had Savarkar, and a number of others.
If you look at the books about India’s participation in World War II, especially Northeast India and the Malacca frontlines, they are titled the ‘forgotten war’ or the ‘forgotten Army’. Why is it important that they are not forgotten?
If you look at much of the way our history is taught, and the way the public imagines the 1940s, it is basically about the Congress party resigning, the Cripps Mission failing, and then you talk about post-war developments leading up to Independence. So the 1940s are remembered for this march to Independence and Partition that came as a cost of it. The war never really comes into focus. What I wanted to do was say, if you put the war in the front and at the centre and study its impact, then much of the 1940s becomes much clearer and explains why we ended up with what happened on August 15, 1947. Without the war, it is unlikely that the Muslim League would have gained prominence vis-a-vis the Congress in order to push through their demand for a separate country.
You don’t often refer to yourself in your books, but here you speak of your own regiment and how it fought. Do you think there is a bigger need to acknowledge this part of World War II as India’s war, for the Army’s sake?
To begin with, it is important from a military history point of view. This period marked the biggest expansion the Indian Army saw. For a generation of people, now forgotten, the war was foundational for their lives. They travelled abroad for the first time, served in very difficult conditions. I don’t think I would have even got into the subject but for my own military background; I may not have written it but for the fact that I served in the Rajputana Rifles regiment that features prominently in the book. When you have two and a half million Indians in uniform and many more millions recruited for war-related activity, how can we just forget that story? The Indian Army has got caught in the middle of this. If you are a ‘nationalist’, you will see the Army as an instrument of British control; a force of collaborators. But most of the Army was deeply nationalist. Others want to portray the anti-British movement as a subaltern revolution led by the peasantry, yet what was the Indian Army if not made up of the peasants and poorer classes? So, why ignore this side?
Finally, let’s remember that along with Partition, the Indian Army was partitioned as well. Companies that fought together in those wars were subsequently made to fight each other, beginning with the first Kashmir war. As a result, World War II dropped out of the picture. Because now both the Indian and Pakistani armies wanted to play up the stories of their valour against each other, to suit their independent national interests, and not some war that was a collaborative effort. One of the things I mention in the book is that there is a 25-volume official history of the war, and it had to be compiled by a combined inter-services effort from both India and Pakistan, right? But acknowledging this joint history has become very difficult, and very inconvenient, to both countries.
In his memoirs, President Pranab Mukherjee writes that he was against attending commemorations for World War II because it was an insult to the Independence movement, and particularly to Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, whose Indian National Army fought against British forces.
I very strongly disagree with that view. Netaji and the INA’s effort were quite important, no doubt. I do bring out in the book that the INA’s importance was not really about military contribution, but political impact. It had about 25,000 soldiers, prisoners of war captured by the Japanese, who went over to form Netaji’s Army. The Indian Army was about a hundred times larger, 2.5 million Indians. So why should we only valorise 25,000 people and try to say that recognising the others is somehow a denigration of national history? That’s the lens I am trying to move beyond. Just because some people were in the Army doesn’t mean they wanted British rule. Many fought simply because it was a job; others needed access to food.
There’s an interesting point in the book when Chiang Kai-shek comes to meet the Indian leadership and asks them to support the war because the soldiers won’t be able to fight if they feel they do not have the country’s backing. Why was that significant?
One of the other forgotten parts of our history is that one of the biggest alliances was that of the Indian and Chinese armies during the war. Once the Japanese captured Burma, the land routes were cut off, much of the Indian Army’s mandate was to enable the nationalist Chinese Army to be supplied to fight. Much of the aerodrome-building across Northeast India was to supply the nationalist Chinese. Given the turn we took later, we must realise there is a pre-history too. India and China both emerged from the crucible of World War II. The idea that Asian nations which have come out of colonialism will have a shared future goes back to then. Of course, things didn’t work out that way, and we tend to forget this.
Most wars end the empire of the defeated side. Would you say that World War II was unique because it ended the empire of the winning side, the British?
I think it was clear even at the time that World War II would change the world forever… I think the key point is that the British lost the empire not just because they were weakened by the war, but because they lost the Indian Army’s support by the end of it, which was their instrument of control. That’s what the impact of the INA mutiny was, to show that the British could raise this massive Army, but that it could turn on them too. People like Churchill had even questioned the expansion of the Indian Army and said: “Someday it is going to shoot us in the back”.
You are now seen as a master of the archives through each of your books. What was the biggest challenge during your research for India’s war?
To be honest, I began this book thinking I could do most of my research in India itself. Unfortunately, that’s not the case. I found that the National Archives don’t even have a clear record of the war period. They don’t even have a catalogue for the military department during the war, so a lot of the military details came from the British Library and other archives. But what I feel most satisfied about was my effort to discover the voice of the Indian soldier.
suhasini.h@thehindu.co.in
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Opinion> Comments / by Suhasini Haidar / April 10th, 2016
The first project director of the erstwhile Madras Atomic Power Project (now Madras Atomic Power Station) Myneni Hari Prasad Rao passed away at a private hospital on Tuesday.
He was 88.
A recipient of the Padma Shri award in 1984 for his outstanding contributions to the field of Science and Technology, Rao is survived by three daughters and a son.
Rao served three decades in the Department of Atomic Energy.
He was specially appointed by the then Nuclear Power Board for the Construction and Commissioning of Madras Atomic Power Station and he was the pioneer in Construction and Commissioning of both the units of Madras Atomic Power Project.
Later he served as Executive Director of Nuclear Power Board for three years.
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Tamil Nadu / by Express News Service / April 06th, 2016
P. Selvam, a faculty member of the International Research Centre, Kalasalingam University, Krishnankoil, has been made a Fellow of International Society for Noni Sciences by International Society for Noni Sciences.
The fellowship is in recognition of Dr. Selvam’s contribution to research in medicinal plant Morinda Citrifolia L Noni and its ability to cure cancer.
Chancellor K. Sridharan, Director Sasi Anand and Vice- Chancellor S. Saravana Sankar congratulated him for the recognition, according to a release.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> National> Tamil Nadu / by Special Correspondent / Virudhunagar – April 07th, 2016
Pradeep Chakravarthy, a London School of Economics graduate, has been organising heritage tours in Tamil Nadu since 2014. | Ratheesh Sundaram
When President Pranab Mukherjee inaugurated the Muziris Heritage Project (MHP) in February in Thrissur district’s Kodungaloor, he called it the largest conservation effort in the country. The project was initiated by Kerala Department of Tourism to conserve historical monuments and museums, and to boost tourism. In Chennai, Abhimanyu Prakashrao—representing eight generations of the Buchi Babu family, the first family of Madras cricket—upheld the legacy by restoring the colonial 250-year-old Luz House, owned by Buchi Babu’s father Moddaverapu Dera Venkataswami Naidu, dubash to Parry & Co in the 19th century. In neighbouring Puducherry, the state government joined hands with the Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) in 2014 to restore 21 heritage buildings in the city. From February 5-7, the former French colony also witnessed the second edition of the Pondicherry Heritage Festival.
MHP was launched in 2006 as a heritage conservation initiative. Muziris Muziris, or Muchiri Pattanam, was one of the earliest ports in India, an entry point of varied cultures to India and finds mention in the Sangam literature. P J Cherian, chairman of the Kerala Council for Historical Research (KCHR), who led the excavation of the port, says it is time that historians studied Muziris as a Periyar Valley Civilisation. The Spice Route project is another heritage tourism initiative by the Kerala government.
Other stakeholders in the legacy pie are keeping the momentum going with heritage hotels in offbeat places such as Tranquebar aka Taramgambadi into Tamil Nadu. Heritage tours are tapping unexplored places that are teeming with history.
Heritage is slowly getting its due in south India, and leading from the front are Tamil Nadu and Puducherry, the twin citadels of history, art and culture.
Sunaina Mandeen co-founded People for Pondicherry Heritage to preserve and protect the town’s architectural and cultural heritage. | G Pattabiraman
Last year, under the Ministry of Urban Development’s National Heritage Development Augmentation Yojana (Hriday), the Centre had sanctioned Rs.23 crore for Kancheepuram and Rs.22.3 crore for Velankanni for development and improvement of heritage sites over the next two years. In 2014, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa had announced a subsidy of Rs.16.82 crore for 60 of the 64 heritage towns in the state.
In Puducherry, fondly called Pondy, which boasts of a unique Franco-Tamil heritage, attempts towards heritage conservation have been ongoing with some heritage homes being converted into cafés, restaurants and hotels. But it was the collapse of the 144-year-old Marie town hall building in 2014 that made the townspeople aware that all was not well with their famed heritage. “After the Marie building came down, people got together and a spontaneous movement was formed, called ‘People for Pondicherry Heritage’. A week after the collapse, a candle-lit tribute to Marie was organised,” says 63-year-old Sunaina Mandeen, co-founder of People for Pondicherry Heritage.
Ashok Panda, co-convener of INTACH, Puducherry chapter, has helped convert homes and buildings into heritage hotels. | G Pattabiraman
Conserving the heritage of this beautiful sea-side town is high on the Puducherry government’s agenda. “Two years ago, the government, which owns 30 heritage buildings, agreed to partner with INTACH to restore 21 buildings. Five or six buildings have been restored, with two to be restored this year,” says Ashok Panda, co-convener of INTACH, Puducherry chapter. With its team of 10 architects and restoration experts, INTACH has converted homes and buildings into heritage hotels such as Hotel Orient, Hotel Gratitude, Maison Perumal and La Maison Tamoule, and has restored 25 Tamil homes on Vysial Street. Hotel Orient was restored at a cost of `60 lakh and Hotel Gratitude for Rs.1 crore. For Maison Perumal and La Maison Tamoule, INTACH suggested the design.
Private players, especially those who endorse heritage preservation, are making a beeline for Puducherry, with many of them taking over ancient places and converting them into heritage hotels. Palais de Mahe on Rue de Bussy, a shining example of French colonial architecture with high ceilings and a yellow-white facade, owes its existence as a heritage hotel since 2013 to CGH Earth. In 2009, the group had restored an old Tamil house, Maison Perumal, at a cost of `2 crore. “Each of our properties has its own special charm and character. Palais de Mahe in the French quarter is very French, while Maison Perumal has a distinct Tamil character,” says Sam John, manager of Maison Perumal.
A hundred km away from the former French enclave, pioneers in the heritage architectural-restoration-for-reuse Neemrana Hotels honed in on Tharangambadi, which housed a Danish colony from 1620 to 1845. In Tamil Nadu, Neemrana’s 2004 project was the Bungalow on the Beach, an 18th-century Danish colonial house that belonged to the governor of Danish India, followed by Naik House and Gate House. On the Neemrana cards is another heritage hotel, Thamgam House.
In the neighbouring capital, a bit of Chennai’s vast architectural heritage was saved when the 17th century Luz House opened its doors to the public in 2014. “Luz House was in ruins for 40 years, except when it functioned as a L’Oreal heritage spa. I suggested to my father that we could transform Luz House to earn revenue,” says Abhimanyu Prakashrao, whose family owns the Dutch colonial bungalow. With an investment of Rs.50 lakh for restoration, the risk paid off for this MBA graduate. They have been doing well by letting it out for events and weddings. “We plan to start a small café, an eight- or 10-roomed hotel next. So far, only a third of the house is open to the public,” says Prakashrao.
Abhimanyu Prakashrao upheld the family legacy by restoring the 17th century Luz House in one of Chennai’s oldest areas, Mylapore, in 2014. | R Satish Babu
Bengaluru has its share of old bungalows, with many remodelled to create a new entity. The late 19th century colonial structure in Basavanagudi houses an antique home-furnishing boutique, Basava Ambara. When Venkataram Reddy heard in 2009 that the outhouse and a section of the mansion owned by the M Mahadevan family was available for rent, he took it. The bungalow is home to the Mahadevan family, and houses The Rogue Elephant, a café integrated into the boutique.
What separates Karnataka’s capital from the capital of the Vijayanagara kings, Hampi, is 350 km. Known for its beautiful ruins, Hampi and its surrounding areas—such as Anegundi—get many tourists. Shama Pawar, founder of the Kishkinda Trust, has been restoring the ruins of Anegundi and promoting its art and culture for the last two decades. “We have done lot of documentation about the ruins and monuments that are not covered under the government agencies. There is a mantapa with 64 pillars in the Tungabhadra river, with each showing 64 kinds of skills. The mantapa surfaces only during summer when the river water is low,” she says.
That heritage is an invaluable asset has manifested in people getting together and working towards its preservation. Sharmila Ganesan, co-convener of INTACH, Tamil Nadu, started Friends of Heritage Sites (FOHS) in 2014. “We wanted to involve the local community for they are stakeholders too, and often resort to vandalising properties,” says Ganesan. For their pilot project in 2015, they honed in on Mamallapuram to revive the ancient Pallava art and train local sculptors. “We commissioned six garden sculptures adhering to Pallava art and conducted a heritage workshop for middle-school kids,” she says. The organisation also conducts heritage tours every year.
Tamil Nadu’s heritage lies in its 36,000 temples. Chennai-based author and historian Pradeep Chakravarthy, says, “As a seven-year-old I used to visit temples and that impacted me.” Chakravarthy began organising heritage tours in 2014 on a friend’s suggestion. “We picked Tirunelveli as I knew the lay of the land. During the trip, we visited the house of an old zamindar family,” says the London School of Economics graduate. Trips to Vellore and Pudukottai have been planned for this year. “I am looking for a Tamil Jain family in Vellore to host us for an ‘ahimsa’ lunch,” he adds.
Sabita Radhakrishna revived the 1,000-year-old Kodalli Karuppur sari worn by the ranis of Thanjavur up to the 19th century. | R Satish Babu
Not just architectural heritage, the revival of textile and arts heritage has come in for scrutiny. Writer, columnist, foodie and playwright Sabita Radhakrishna, who has worked with textiles for the last 30 years, says, “I wanted to revive the Kodalli Karuppur sari, which has 1,000 years of history. It was made exclusively for the ranis of Thanjavur up to the 19th century. With government support and help of a master weaver and a painter from Kalahasti, Andhra Pradesh, we spearheaded the revival campaign last year.” In June 2015, Radhakrishna started the 60 handloom sari pact in which one wore only handloom sarees 60 times.
Sambaji Rajah Bhonsale, a royal descendant of the Maratha rulers and a Thanjavur painting expert, imparted training to 100 women in the art. | Ratheesh Sundaram
Heritage art such as the Tanjore (Thanjavur) paintings has also got a shot in the arm. Last year, along with a few other painting experts, B Sambaji Rajah Bhonsale, a royal descendant of the Maratha rulers and a Thanjavur painting expert, imparted training to 100 women on an initiative by CM Jayalalithaa. The women were paid Rs.2,000 each as stipend.
Thanjavur’s rich cultural past is also being revived by Prakriti Foundation, an organisation started by Chennai-based businessman-turned-culture czar Ranvir Shah.
Meera Krishnan of Prakriti Foundation has restored 50 panels at Devashriya Mandapam in the Thyagarajaswamy temple in Thiruvarur. | R Satish Babu
“We are looking to restore the Kalyana Mahal Chhatram at Thiruvaiyaru into a heritage centre,” says Meera Krishnan, programme coordinator for Prakriti Foundation. Its first project in 2008 was to restore 50 panels at the Devashriya Mandapam in the Thyagarajaswamy temple in Thiruvarur. Each year in March, Prakriti organises the Sacred Music Festival on the banks of the Cauvery river at Thiruvaiyaru, 12 km away from Thanjavur and the birth place of the legendary poet-saint Thyagaraja. Next on their agenda is to build a hostel for students of the music college there.
Tombs are as much part of the southern heritage as temples, and the Qutb Shahi tombs in Hyderabad representing a blend of Persian, Pashtun and Hindi architecture, are the only necropolis in the world where the members of seven generations of one royal dynasty are buried. They are also Hyderabad’s oldest heritage structures. In 2013, Agha Khan Trust for Culture (AKTC) took up the task of their restoration at a cost of `100 crore over a 10-year period. Conservationist architect and project director of AKTC Ratish Nanda says, “Our ambition is long-term preservation of this 450-year-old heritage structure.”
Chennai celebrates its heritage and 377-year-old history with the Madras Day celebration since 2004. Journalist and historian Vincent D’souza, who ideated the festival, keeps it pithy when it comes to heritage conservation. “If you are proud of your heritage, you will treat it with respect, not vandalise or spit on it,” he says.
With inputs from Saumesh Thimbath,Chetana Divya Vasudev, Amit S Upadhye and Saima Afreen
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Magazine / by Sunita Raghu / April 02nd, 2016
The women weave about two baskets a day; everything from cutting to colouring is done by hand.
Chennai :
What do a handwoven palm-leaf basket and issues of deep-seated negligence and heritage have in common? In this case, it is the small hamlet of Pulicat, where these baskets are made. The baskets are woven by local women and marketed in the city by organisations like AARDE Foundation, an NGO working towards the conservation of natural and built heritage in Pulicat.
What’s interesting is the two-fold purpose of these colourful handicrafts: besides being an important form of livelihood for the town, AARDE founder Xavier Benedict’s goal is to draw attention to the issues facing Pulicat through these handicrafts.
“Pulicat is a unique place and has three kinds of heritage — cultural, manmade and the natural heritage. Though all are important, cultural heritage, including crafts, is the only factor that can easily be made attractive to visitors and marketed to improve the economy, ” explains Xavier. “Most of them rely on fishing and boat-making. Boating for tourists used to be an additional source but it was banned after a boat capsized. Alcoholism is also a problem. So women are the crucial link to improving livelihood.”
The journey began with post-tsunami relief work at Pulicat. Performing arts like kattaikoothu and textiles like kalamkari, muslin and palm-leaf weaving were a part of the vanishing cultural heritage. Besides, this is the built heritage. “There are lakhs of monuments that are not protected by the Archeological Survey of India. When we went to Pulicat, we saw the numerous abandoned structures that are dilapidated. So we began working on documenting and raising awareness,” says Benedict.
Sadly, even as such attempts were going on, one of the structures, Our Lady of Glory Church, built in 1515 AD by the Portugese, was demolished in 2009 to be replaced by a new church. A few years later, another beautiful temple, the Adi Narayanana Perumal Temple was also demolished to make way for a new temple. “The temple had a unique construction style that was uncommon in South India. Today, it is gone,” he says. “The protection is often arbitrary — some structures are protected under the ASI but some are being destroyed. We are asking for the entire town to be made into a heritage site.”
Natural heritage is equally important, with the Pulicat Lake being the second largest brackish water lake in India, supporting lakhs of migratory birds and also crucial for draining of excess water during rains.
The lake is under threat from pollution and development, and activists like Benedict are trying to petition to protect it under an inter-governmental treaty for wetlands called Ramsar. Since such concepts of conservation are not easy to convey, he believes that tapping a craft like palm-leaf weaving, can help especially when you add colours and make new designs, and market the product.
Around 85 women between ages 25 to 60 years are employed by AARDE, and work every day at a workshop in the town. “Initially, some of the women, most of them Muslims, were hesitant to come out. But now, many come. Last week, we even had our first set of products woven by a man,” says Sophie, Benedict’s wife, who handles the marketing.
The women are paid a monthly wage, and all proceeds go to the women except overheads like transport and raw material. Usually, the women make one or two baskets a day depending on the complexity. Everything is done by hand, from cutting to colouring. “One woman is now 70 and says she will not reveal her special technique even to her daughter until she retires. The women have also taken to technology, and send me pictures from their children’s phones every night through WhatsApp,” she smiles.
Baskets, boxes and trays
Palm-leaf weaving is a part of cultural heritage in Pulicat. It is marketed by AARDE and the profits go directly to the women. The range includes baskets, boxes, pouches and trays. Bulk orders for functions are also taken. For details, visit www.aarde.in
source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Chennai / by Archita Suryanarayanan / April 02nd, 2016
The first indigenous airconditioned 12-car rake (EMU) designed and manufactured for Mumbai suburban network at the Integral Coach Factory, Perambur, was flagged off on Thursday. The train was flagged off by the general manager Ashok Agarwal in the furnishing division of the factory at 5.30pm.
He also flagged off a conventional coach – one of the eight that was turned out today – to mark manufacture of 2000th coach by the factory in the financial year 2015-16. ICF manufactured a record 2005 coaches this year.
An official said, “The airconditioned suburban rake will be moved to Southern Railway’s yard probably on Monday for checks and certification required to attach it to a locomotive for shifting to Mumbai. The rake shows that we are ready to make airconditioned suburban trains which can be on a par with metro rail rakes made by foreign companies.”
The first rake with two driver motor cars and 2 non-driver motor cars with eight trailers will be put up for trials on Western Railway. Green signal will be given only after observing rake in service for three months. If the trials are successful in Mumbai, production of the remaining nine airconditioned rakes will begin.
The EMU train set has several features, including a 15-tonne roof-mounted package units for air and a 15-tonne AC will provide cooling in six coaches. A/C will cut off when temperature reaches 23 degrees Celsius and switch on at 25degree centigrade. Fans are also provided.
The stainless steel body coach has electrically operated automatic sliding doors, air-tight gangways in all trailer coaches, wide and large double-seated glass windows for panoramic view and GPS-based LED display for passenger information and announcement system.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India /News Home> City> Chennai / by U. Tejonmayam / TNN / March 31st, 2016
Veteran playback singer P. Susheela. File photo: Thulasi Kakkat / The Hindu
‘The queen of melodies’ has been officially credited by Guinness Book of Records for singing 17, 695 songs in 12 Indian languages.
Renowned playback singer P. Susheela Mohan, who has won many awards and earned accolades in a career spanning five decades, has added two more to her awards cabinet.
She has now been recognised by both the Guinness Book of World Records and Asia Book of Records for singing most number of songs in Indian languages. The usually reticent singer met journalists in Chennai on Tuesday to celebrate her new award.
While Guinness Book of Records has officially credited her for singing 17, 695 songs (solo, duet and chorus backed songs) in twelve Indian languages, Asia Book of Records has recognised her for singing close to 17, 330 songs.
Speaking about the awards, P. Susheela reminded everyone present that the adjudicators had only considered songs she had song from 1960s. “Please remember that I started singing from 1951,” she said.
None of this would have been possible without the work of her fans, who, by setting up psusheela.org, painstakingly catalogued the songs that she has sung over the last few decades and sent it to the adjudicators of the award.
Reflecting on the recognition, the singer said that she views it as an acknowledgement of her hard work. “There is a lot of hard work that has gone behind this achievement. Today, with so many television channels and newspapers, a talented singer can shine through quickly. But when I was singing, it was very slow and I had work my way up , step by step,” she said.
Crediting her husband for her success, she said that her husband, a doctor, was a corner stone in her life. “He fell in love with my voice and sacrificed his life so that I have a great career in playback singing,” she said.
She was candid in her response when asked why she had never considered a career in acting. “I was offered a chance to act by several directors, but I refused saying that I wouldn’t want to act even if I was paid a crore,” she said, adding, “My heart was in music.”
When asked why she is not singing anymore, the singer said that she would love to sing in movies if someone offered a good song. When she was nudged by journalists to sing her favourite song, she ended the press conference by singing Ennai pada sonnal, enna paada thondrum from Pudhiya Paravai, a hit song of 1964.
source: http://www.thehindu.com / The Hindu / Home> Entertainment / by Udhav Naig / Chennai – March 29th, 2016
