A BEAUTIFUL CHURCH

Atham procession at Tripunithura took almost two hours to finish. It was a hot day and I wanted to rest for a while. As I walked I came across this beautiful church. This is not the first time I am seeing this church.I have driven in front of this church several times when I was working and traveling from Kochi to Kottayam. But at that time I had no time or patience to stop and see.I was busy with my work, running around to achieve my business targets, training sales executives in the field and there were problems to be solved. I was always in a rush and had no time to spare for such fine things in life.In fact I thought the whole world was spinning on my shoulders.

I saw a vacant chair in the shade of the church. I went in,sat on the chair and looked around.It was a cute little church. The more I looked around the more I appreciated the finer aspects of this church. I understand that the local king in those days gave the land, money and craftsmen to build this church according to local taste, culture and tradition. The result is this lovely church. The modern churches are grand, imposing, spacious and a large amount of money is being spent to build them. But they are not beautiful in the real sense of the word.

The name of this church is ST.MARY’S SYRIAN JACOBITE CHURCH.

Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.

END OF CWG

The Commonwealth Games came to an end with a very colorful ceremony, brilliant lighting, laser display, pulsating music, lovely singing and dancing. Mike Fenner, Chairman of the CWG, summed it all up by saying that it was an exceptional experience.

The next day Prime Minister set up a committee to enquire into the issues of the CWG and the report is to be submitted within three months. I am sure the murky affairs of corrupt people will be brought to light and the guilty will be punished

I could not go to Delhi to see the Common Wealth Games. The next best thing I did was to sit in front of my TV and watch the games. The advantage of watching games in the TV is that one can see different disciplines sitting in the comfort one’s house besides one can get close up views. Of course I could not resist the temptation of taking some photos and post them here for those who didn’t see the games. These are only some photos of the closing ceremony.

XIX COMMONWEALTH GAMES,NEW DELHI

The Commonwealth Games at New Delhi is going on successfully and we Indians are proud of the magnificent arrangements and the efficient conduct of the games. It is heart warming to see that till date we are in second position in the medals tally above England and Canada.

Initially there was considerable criticism about the arrangements at the games village and also about the misuse of funds and massive curruption apart from the inefficiency of the government departments and apathy of sports officials to provide proper, clean accommodation to the athletes. This would have gone unnoticed but for the media uproar and massive accusations by sports officials from other participating countries. Finally, the Prime Minister had to intervene, pull up the officials and set right things on a war footing. I am sure there will be an enquiry and the guilty will be given exemplary punishment because the currupt officials were putting the country's honor,prestige and pride at stake.

This reminded me of my own bitter experience with regard to accommodation provided by the sports officials when I took part in Inter District Athletic meet as a 4oo meters hurdler long time ago when I was a student of Loyola College,Chennai. I qualified at the local meet and was selected for the inter district meet at Vellore. At Vellore I was put in a dormitory without any bed or fan but infested with mosquitoes. I could not sleep the whole night and as a result when I ran the race the next day it was impossible to concentrate and tripped over the third hurdle and fell. That was the end of my race and my dream of getting selected for the State level meet became dust.

It looks like the apathy and callousness of the sports officials towards athletes have not changed even after so many years. I hope at least now their attitude will change for the better.

ANOTHER RAJASTHANI DANCE IN KOCHI

As I said in one of my earlier posts that Rajasthan Tourism Department held an exhibition in Kochi and trained dancers from Rajhastan performed some dances.Here is another dance performed by them which I watched with fascination.

Ex Avery India staff get together

The ex AVERY India employees comprising of sales,service and office staff had a together last Saturday evening. It was a joyous occasion and we were thrilled to meet each other after many years.We exchanged notes about our present activities,our family and our children.We also remembered those who passed away.

This was the first get together and we could not get all the ex employees in Kerala for this celebration. We decided to meet on a regular basis and rope in others we did not get this time.

Since the lighting in the room was not good the photos did not turn out clear.

RAJASTHAN DANCE IN KOCHI

There was an exhibition conducted by the Tourism Dept. of Rajasthan in Kochi.Rajasthan is a State in India.Here are some bits and pieces of information about the State of Rajasthan.

Rajasthan is famous for the majestic forts, intricately carved temples and decorated havelis, which were built by Rajput kings in previous ages, they were the soul of pre-Muslim era Rajasthan. Jantar Mantar, Dilwara Temples, Chittorgarh Fort, Lake Palace, City Palaces, Jaisalmer Havelis are part of the true architectural heritage of India. Jaipur, the Pink City, is noted for the ancient houses made of a type of sand stone dominated by a pink hue. At Ajmer, the white marble Bara-dari on the Anasagar lake is exquisite. Jain Temples dot Rajasthan from north to south and east to west. Dilwara Temples of Mount Abu, Ranakpur Temple dedicated to Lord Adinath near Udaipur, Jain temples in the fort complexes of Chittor, Jaisalmer and Kumbhalgarh, Lodarva Jain temples, Bhandasar Temple of Bikaner are some of the best examples.

The Ghoomar dance from Udaipur and Kalbeliya dance of Jaisalmer have gained international recognition. Folk music is a vital part of Rajasthani culture. Kathputali, Bhopa, Chang, Teratali, Ghindar, Kachchhighori, Tejaji etc. are the examples of the traditional Rajasthani culture. Folk songs are commonly ballads which relate heroic deeds and love stories; and religious or devotional songs known as bhajans and banis (often accompanied by musical instruments like dholak, sitar, sarangi etc.) are also sung.

The main religious festivals are Deepawali, Holi, Gangaur, Teej, Gogaji, Shri Devnarayan Jayanti, Makar Sankranti and Janmashtami, as the main religion is Hinduism. Rajasthan's desert festival is celebrated with great zest and zeal. This festival is held once a year during winter. Dressed in brilliantly hued costumes, the people of the desert dance and sing haunting ballads of valor, romance and tragedy. There are fairs with snake charmers, puppeteers, acrobats and folk performers. Camels, of course, play a stellar role in this festival.

Rajasthan is also noted for National Parks and Wildlife Sanctuaries. There are four national park and wildlife sanctuaries named the Keoladeo National Park of Bharatpur, Sariska Tiger Reserve of Alwar, Ranthambore National Park of Sawai Madhopur, and Desert National Park of Jaisalmer.

In connection with the exhibition some typical dances of Rajastan were performed by trained dancers from Rajasthan. I am posting some photos of one dance which I witnessed for your visual pleasure.Please click on the photos for a larger view.

ATHAM PROCESSION,THRIPUNITHURA--PART TWO

This is the second installment of Atham Procession scenes at Thripunithura for your visual pleasure.Enjoy:)