KKAALLAA NNEEWWSS...Sri M.T.Vasudevan Nair. If a Malayali reader is asked to name three best...
Transcript of KKAALLAA NNEEWWSS...Sri M.T.Vasudevan Nair. If a Malayali reader is asked to name three best...
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The scent of early spring is now in the air despite
the weather continuing to throw occasional
surprises. After a brief period of hibernation, KALA
springs back to a new year of activities.
Yet another eventful KALA season has flown by.
Every year it seems hard to augment the
superlatives of the previous season. But KALA
never ceases to delight us.
Our Spring issue of KALA NEWS highlights among
other activities and notifications some of the
tremendous achievements and commendable work
by our members.
While the November Nadumuttam meeting
featured MT’s ‘ ’, the theme for 2012
KALA Literary Evening centred around ‘Friendship’. Our members have not only been active in various
fields of charity work, there have been wedding
bells and one young KALA member captured our
imagination by winning the ‘Face of Europe’.
Read more…
Events so far Nadumuttam
Literary Evening Wedding Bells
Charity work Career Moves
Face of Europe Obituary
Palmleaf Photo Gallery
Your ideas/suggestions for our KALA NEWS
Spring 2013
KKAALLAA NNEEWWSS
Please forward any news for KALA Newsletter to: [email protected] & [email protected]
FFoorrtthhccoommiinngg EEvveennttss
KALA AGM: Sat 16th Mar 2013
… followed by 1 ½ hours of entertainment, showcased
by our very own KALA talent.
Venue: Holywell Community centre, Tolpits Lane,
Watford, Herts WD18 9QD
Meeting: Sat 20th Apr 2013
Members are warmly invited to come along and join this
informal and thoroughly enjoyable day. You can either
actively participate or just sit back and listen to the
animated discussions. If, however you cannot be
present, we would be happy to discuss your thoughts
and feedback on the books below on your behalf.
Please email:
[email protected] or [email protected]
Books for discussion: ‘Ummachu’ by Urub and
‘Tale of Two States’ by Chetan Bhagat.
We look forward to your support!
(Venue/time will be communicated nearer the date)
KALA Walk/Cricket/Onam: Sun 25
th Aug 2013
Provisional date. We hope to combine these events.
KALA Annual Day: Sat 12th Oct 2013
(Event details will be confirmed at a later date)
See KALA Photos on our website: http://www.kala.org.uk/photogallery.html
Visit our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/KeralaArtsAndLiteraryAssoci
ation?fref=ts
Twitter account - https://twitter.com/uk_kala
KALA @uk_kala
Registered Charity: 1144122
KKeerraallaa AArrttss aanndd LLiitteerraarryy AAssssoocciiaattiioonn
Spring 2013
Spring 2013 KALA NEWS Features
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The film discussed was ‘22 Female Kottayam’, based on the stories of women from Kerala, seeking jobs abroad with attractive salaries and how they fall victims to the Visa Agencies, become rape victims and end up in prison. All participants found the discussions intellectually stimulating and interesting. Thanks for the hospitality provided by Santosh and Deepa hosting the evening and providing delicious food! Nadumuttam is progressing well and we hope new members will join the group. Next meeting is scheduled to take place on 20th April 2013.
Books for discussion: ‘Ummachu’ by Urub and ‘Two States’ by Chetan Bhagat.
Literary Evening On 8/12/2012 at Oakmere Community Centre, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire. The theme for the evening was “Friendship”. The evening started off with an introductory talk by the Literary Co-ordinator. A wide range of subjects was presented and debated.
The journey started from epics such as & തിരുക്കുറള് and covered the philosophic works of Confucius, Aristotle & Plato, poems & short
stories of K Kunchupillai & Chowallor Krishnankutty and culminated in participants’ own compositions and review of modern books such as ‘A Fine Balance’ by Rohinton Mistry & the ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ by Mark Hadden – all relating to the theme of ‘Friendship’.
The interactions and discussions between participants and audience made the evening very interesting and meaningful. KALA’s youngsters added a new dimension to the event by reading their own compositions, poems of famous authors and presenting the book, ‘Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins on PowerPoint.
KALA once again proved their tradition of delivering the event at a high standard. Well done all!
EEvveennttss ssoo ffaarr……
On 24th Nov 2012 at Santosh & Deepa’s
house. The book discussed was by Sri M.T.Vasudevan Nair.
If a Malayali reader is asked to name three best novelists/short story writers during the past 60 years, no doubt they will converge on M.T.Vasudevan Nair, O.V.Vijayan and Anand. Each has his own narrative style and craft. Of the three, M.T. is the most popular, for he is not only a novelist/short story writer but also a script writer par excellence, film director (നിര്മാ ല്യം) and editor. Many consider MT’s as his Magnum Opus.
The Novel is based on Mahabharata. It depicts all characters as ordinary mortals, they have no divine powers. M.T. in his unique writing style portrays Bhima as a hero in this book.
M.T. took six years to complete the novel after journeying through several versions of Mahabharata and its studies. He narrates the incidents which led to the enmity between Bhima and Duryodhana. Even today it remains a best seller. When it was serialised in കല്ാ കൗമുദി weekly accompanied by Nampoothiri’s sketches, the readership suddenly increased by 40 - 50%.
No other testimony is required to qualify M.T. The master story teller of Malayalam. He has won several prizes and awards. In 1996 he won the prestigious award.
Characters like Krishna, Karna, Dhrona & Panchali were all topics of discussion on the day. However, the main focus was on the hero “Bhima” being born as the middle Pandava prince, his thoughts and frustrtations.
The first child is always ആ , the youngest the pet of the family, but the middle one? Other points discussed were the love triangle in his novels/short stories and portrayal of the female characters, most of them never had a life they longed for and end up leading an unhappy life!
Did you know? M.T. (മഠത്തില് വാ സുദദവന്നാ യര്) was awarded
India's 3rd
highest civilian honour ‘Padma Bhushan’ & the highest literary award in India ‘Jnanpith’
(KALA) UK is a registered charity with the objective of promoting the culture of Kerala for public benefit and social cohesion
Congratulations Dr Vijayanand who was
awarded Master of Science (MSc) in
Audiovestibular Medicine by the University
College London in 2012.
Dr Vijayanand is currently working as a
Consultant at Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Trust.
Congratulations Prof Gopalakrishnan Netuveli
who moved from Imperial College, London to the
Institute of Health and Human Development
(IHHD), University of East London as Professor of
Public Health. Prof Netuveli says he sees an
intersection between KALA and his work. IHHD
has pioneered in the use of art and culture in
producing health & he uses street plays and puppet
theatre in his latest project in the deprived areas of
Hyderabad. He continues his relationship with
Imperial College London as a visiting Professor
and also holds an honorary chair at University
College London.
Well done Jyoti Nayar and friends for
organising the “Gun and Knife” event for Awaz,
the women’s charity in Redbridge.
Congratulations Navin (son of KALA
members Ramachandran & Thankam) & Emma
(daughter of Nigel and Sally Bramall) who got
married on 15 Dec 2012 at Nonsuch Mansion,
Surrey.
Navin is a Consultant Radiologist at University
College Hospital, London & Emma is a Paediatric
Registrar currently on St Thomas Hospital
rotation.
Well done Dr Arun Kishore for his discreet yet
admirable work with ALDI (Association for
Learning Disabilities India), based in Trissur
District which helps student community with
learning difficulties. Dr Kishore says. “ALDI is an
organisation we set up in 1992 on a shoestring
budget and it continues to run on that budget today.
In its 20 year journey, we have been able to create
a ripple that has spread. The Govt of Kerala now
affords concessions for children with
specific learning difficulties. We believed that
parents are the best people to help their children
and hence trained the parents.” Dr Kishore
recommends the book ‘നിന്റെs ?’
Dr Kishore was formerly an Associate Professor of
Psychiatry, Medical College, Thrissur and
presently works as a Consultant Psychiatrist,
Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, UK.
For more info re: ALDI, go to:
http://www.aldi.org.in/index.html
Tell us what you think about the Newsletter: [email protected]& [email protected]
Spring 2013
AAllssoo iinn tthhee NNeewwss……
TThhee ‘‘FFaaccee ooff EEuurrooppee’’ Arathi Menon was crowned the winner of the beauty pageant ‘The Face of Europe’ in Disneyland, Paris in November 2012 after winning the London heats.
“I am a 2nd year medical student at Imperial College London. Although I do always make time for acting and dancing alongside my studies, I had never had any exposure to beauty pageants until this year when I decided to give it a go. I entered this competition on a whim and never expected to get through the first stage. ‘The Face of Europe’ was the first beauty pageant I had ever entered, so I was thrilled and very surprised when I won 1st place in the London heats. To then win the European final was amazing and totally unexpected.
“I am only 5 feet tall, so never thought that I had what it took to win a pageant, but ‘Face of Europe’ is very different from many other pageants as there is no height restriction. The judges really do look for the whole package, so my mum convinced me that I should apply and try it out. There were 40 girls from all over Europe, ranging in age from 17 to 30 years old, and I was up against tall, blonde girls who have spent a lifetime doing these pageants. While on stage, the judges asked what my ultimate goal in life is. I said I didn't restrict myself to one goal, instead I aim to simply be happy in whatever I do, and hopefully to achieve any goal I set myself. I think my dancing and drama skills helped me with the way I hold myself and hide my nerves and gave me an advantage. The judges on the day included representatives from Disneyland & the Headway East Kent charity, former X Factor star Chico who represented the Rainbow Child Foundation, plus last year's winner.
My prize included a ball gown and tiara, plus a safari holiday in Africa.
“I now hold the title of ‘Face of Europe 2012-2013’ and will have various duties to carry out over the year for fundraising and raising awareness for Face of Europe’s two charities. The charities are Headway East Kent, a charity for head injury sufferers, and The Rainbow Child Foundation, a charity raising money for children in the Third World. I visited one of Headway's events recently. It was wonderful to see how much of a difference our fundraising had made, and how much the charity helps the victims of head injury with rehabilitation and in achieving some normality in their everyday lives once more after a traumatic incident. “I have also done some acting and have appeared in TV shows including Crimewatch, The Bill and acted in the BBC1 spy drama ‘Hunted’ in October. I have a passion for both Medicine and drama, so my dream job would probably be appearing as a doctor in Holby City or ER!” Arathi is the daughter of Sudha and Jay Menon. Congratulations, Arathi!
OObbiittuuaarryy:: MMrr BBaallaa SSaannkkeerr
“The lyrics of the song Good Friends are hard to find… is without doubt what was running
through the minds of many who knew Mr Bala Sanker on hearing the news of the passing
away of their good friend on 12th December 2012. Mr Bala Sanker was associated with
KALA since it took root in 1996 and has been a strong supporter of its activities through
its growing years. Mr Bala Sanker was related to the celebrated
Malayalam writer, Shri VK Narayanankutty Nair, better known as VKN. Many of his friends
from all walks of life will sadly miss the true and genuine friendship they shared with
Mr Bala Sanker and share in the sadness of his family at their loss.” Dr Sukumaran Nair
KALA extends our heartfelt condolences to Mrs Ramani Bala Sanker and their daughter Geeta.
The Palm Leaf The March 2013 issue of Palm Leaf is based
on the theme of visual arts.
The issue is curated by Dr Seena Praveen,
Palm leaf’s Art Editor.
Contributions include
poetry by K Satchitanandan,
art history by Dr Nandakumar,
art criticism by N S Madhavan
among others.
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Have we missed out any news? If so, tell us: [email protected] & [email protected]
Spring 2013
KKAALLAA LLiitteerraarryy EEvveenniinngg
PPhhoottoo GGaalllleerryy
For enquiries /feedback re: KALA Newsletter,
please contact KALA News Editors:
Santha Krishnamurthy: [email protected] &
Mini Mohan: [email protected]
www.kala.org.uk
(KALA) UK is a registered charity with the objective of promoting the culture of Kerala for public benefit and social cohesion
Spring 2013
YYoouurr IIddeeaass MMaatttteerr
WWee iinnvviittee nneeww iiddeeaass oorr ssuuggggeessttiioonnss
ffoorr oouurr ffuuttuurree KKAALLAA NNEEWWSS iissssuueess..
PPlleeaassee ffoorrwwaarrdd yyoouurr ssuuggggeessttiioonnss ttoo tthhee ccoonnttaaccttss bbeellooww::
“A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one”
Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman