Trivandrum Life

[abhilashtvpm]

View from across the border

“The festival was good as we lit a lot of crackers. My new buddy's parents were very friendly and we had lots of fun,” said an excited Emma.
For Emma, Deepavali and the experience of interacting with an Indian family was something that she would always cherish.

Exchanging views

Emma is one among the 15 students from Ecole Active Bilingue Jeannine Manuel School, France, who are on a 15-day visit to the State as a part of the exchange programme with Trivandrum International School, Thiruvananthapuram, to study globalisation trends in the State. They were enjoying a home stay with the students at their houses for Deepavali and attending school sessions and cultural meet at the school where they were stationed for a cultural exchange with the students.

“The school also had organised a debate on the subject of globalisation where the students interacted with our students and also had class room sessions,” said Gayathri Rani, co-ordinator of the programme at the school.

For Leone and his school friends, the experience of Kerala went beyond the spicy food and the hot climate. Seeing a common man read a newspaper in front of the tea shop excited him.

The fact that “people here could name the ministers” of the Kerala Government and “talk at length about the political movements” took him by surprise. But he seemed yet to come to a decision as to how, even when there is a huge projected growth in the country, people seem to adjust with the various unorganised systems in the State and accept it as “part of the culture”.

For these students everything from the visit to the Kudumbashree Unit to celebrating Deepavali with their Indian counterparts — “the buddies” — at their houses seemed to give them real insights into what they had read in their textbooks. Their teachers Barry D'Souza and Marie Claude who are accompanying them in this trip agreed.

“They read about India in their text books every week. They wanted to visit India and experience this country,” said Marie. According to Barry, these interactions will help them to learn through experience and was a well thought plan to choose Kerala because of the impressive track records of the literacy rate and various people's movements.

The students would learn from their experience to appreciate the differences and gain perspectives of “this country whose people have a desire to move forward”.

Cultural perspectives

Lea Fuyduan giggles as she narrates her experience of being asked not to wear shorts by her buddy's mom. She is even more surprised about the restrictions on travelling for women in the State.

“I was told that girls cannot walk outside after 6.00 in the night because of security issues. I cannot think about the same happening in Paris,” added Lea. Her buddy's explanation about the bribes and corruption among the police officials was equally worrying for her.

However, the students were unanimous in their view that though the State is making progress, there is still wide gap between the rich and the poor.

The Hindu

[abhilashtvpm]

Like most teenagers, they loved going for long rides on their mean machines. They shared motorcycle stunt videos and the most adventurous of the gang even tried tricks like combo circles and rolling stoppies with surprisingly stunning results.

The name Ghost Ryderz suggested itself when the Nicolas Cage film with a similar name became a big hit. Today, the Thiruvananthapuram-based team is perhaps the number one stunt team in the country, having performed over 100 shows around the country.

One of their recent high-profile performances was in Delhi’s Rajpath, where theirs was a side show during the speed event involving the F1 racing car held ahead of the Indian Grand Prix.

“It is the most high profile road in the country and there will be security checks if you want to ride a motor cycle there,” says Mikhil Mohan of Ghost Ryderz.

The core team consists of two Kerala boys Mikhil (nicknamed Phenom) and Srikant Rajan (Brutus) and three Chennai boys, Abishek M. (Neo), Senthil Kumar (Dauntless) and Saravana (Damboy). All of them are in their twenties and spend their time either practising or touring different parts of the country to do shows.

The roads of Thiruvananthapuram are not exactly designed for stunt riding but Mikhil vouches that they have never been a public nuisance.

“Our practice sessions are held in controlled private areas, so there is no chance of causing any disturbance to the public. All our team members are very responsible riders on the roads, obeying all traffic rules and regulations,” he says.

Bajaj Pulsar is one of their sponsors and they use the company’s 220 bikes, which they say are the best available for performing stunts in India.

Stunt riding in India is less than a decade old, according to Mikhil. Launch of some good bikes and popularity of stunt videos on the Internet gave a boost to the ‘sport’ that was earlier considered a menace. Colleges started inviting the bikers to perform during their fests and this proved to be a shot in the arm.

For Ghost Ryderz, the biggest break came when they got involved in the first and second season of the reality show, Pulsar MTV Stunt Mania.

When the famed international freestyle stunt rider Chris Pfeiffer came and performed in India, Mikhil and his team members had the brilliant opportunity of performing along with him and learning a few tricks of the trade. Otherwise, all of them are self-taught stunt masters.

Mikhil claims that their team has a world record and two national records but they now want to make it official.

“We are in touch with the Guinness Book of World Records team and they have confirmed our participation. We will be attempting two records soon. We were able to surpass the record for these attempts many times during our practice sessions,” he says.

It is an all-male team now but Mikhil hopes that this would change. “As of now, there are no girls in the team. But it would be great if we can have a female stunt rider from India as women riding motorcycles is still a rarity in our country,” he says.

Deccan Chronicle

[abhilashtvpm]

Photos: Little Champs Gather To Remember Chacha Nehru















Courtesy Anjana George of Yentha

[abhilashtvpm]

Esteemed British authors are joining local star writers for the second Hay Festival Kerala in the elegant Kanakakunnu Palace.

Speaking at the inaugural Hay Festival Kerala last year the novelist, diplomat and local MP Shashi Tharoor recalled how a passion for literature had shaped his upbringing: “The nature of my early Kerala experience has been one of important literature, ideas and words… What my cousins were reading, thinking and being taught was what I was learning in expensive schools,” he said.

The relaxed and friendly atmosphere of Trivandrum, the city where the festival is based, reminded Tharoor of the Welsh borders town of Hay-on-Wye, and for years he encouraged his friend Peter Florence, director of the Hay Festival, to bring his event to the city.

This year the festival – held at Kanakakunnu Palace, once the seat of the Trivandrum royal family and now an elegant complex surrounded with spacious gardens – is poised to repeat the success of its first year.

Running from November 17-19, Simon Singh will speak on the Big Bang and alternative medicine; Anna Funder on her novel about anti-Nazis Germans, All That I Am; Andrew Miller on his French Revolution novel, Pure; and Germaine Greer on Shakespeare’s lovers.

Alongside them there will be a number of local authors, including the Malayalam poet K Satchidanandan, who by some accounts only narrowly missed out on the Nobel Prize this year.

The Telegraph

[abhilashtvpm]

As part of the ‘Germany and India 2011-2012: Infinite Opportunities’ programme, Goethe Zentrum Trivandrum is hosting the Minguet Quartet on November 20, 2011. The Minguet Quartet was founded in 1988 and is today made up of Ulrich Isfort (violin I), Annette Reisinger (violin II), Aroa Sorin (viola) and Matthias Diener (cello). The group takes its name from Pablo Minguet, an eighteenth-century Spanish philosopher who in his writings tried to make the fine arts accessible to the masses. The Minguet Quartet has the same intention.

The Minguet Quartet is today among the internationally most popular younger string quartets and performs at major European concert venues like the London Wigmore Hall, the Cologne and Berlin Philharmonie, the Auditorio in Madrid and Palau in Barcelona, the Alte Oper in Frankfurt, the Vienna Konzerthaus and the Amsterdam Concertgebouw. The Minguet Quartet promotes modern music by premiering numerous twenty-first-century compositions. They also play Classical and Romantic Music.

The four musicians were trained as soloists by celebrated teachers at international conservatories and studied chamber music at the Folkwang Hochschule in Essen and the Cologne College of Music. The Minguet Quartet plays on a unique set of 'antique' instruments, kindly given on permanent loan by the Stiftung Kunst und Kultur, Nord-Rhein-Westfalen.

Entry is free for this concert at the Co-Bank Towers in Thiruvananthapuram. For passes, please contact Goethe Zentrum Trivandrum.

Source

[ajithv]

It’s time for the Hay Festival Kerala again, as Thiruvananthapuram plays host to one of the biggest literary events that is held across the globe, from 17th to 19th November 2011.

For the second time ever after last year, Thiruvananthapuram plays host to the Hay Festival. Essentially a literary festival, it has been touted to be ‘a rare and wonderful meeting of complementary talents and ideas’. And it is Thiruvananthapuram that has been chosen as the much preferred destination again. “It felt like a natural home for the Hay Festival,” says Peter Florence, the founder and director of the festival. “We chose Kerala,especially Thiruvananthapuram, for its rich tradition of literary writing in Malayalam. We hope to spread its appeal gradually across borders,” says Lyndy Cook, executive director of the festival.

This year’s Hay Festival, international writers include Jung Chang, Rukmini Nair, Germaine Greer, K. Satchidanandan, Simon Armitage, Anita Nair, Dr.Shashi Tharoor, Arundhati Subramaniam, Anna Funder, Arvind Krishna Mehrotra, Anupama Raju and many other compelling and entertaining speakers are participating.

Source

[Bharath85]

Capital's First RR Ghost



cc @ EISk fb

[Ajaypp]

Originally Posted by Bharath85

Capital's First RR Ghost

cc @ EISk fb

What a beaut! Wonder what the plate number on this one will be. I understand that a Bentley or two would be hitting the Capital's streets soon.

[Bharath85]

Originally Posted by Ajaypp

What a beaut! Wonder what the plate number on this one will be. I understand that a Bentley or two would be hitting the Capital's streets soon.

Most probably BE-1

[ajith_124]

@Bharath
Awesome!!! Thanks a ton

[shabeermandri]

Thanks Bharath .

[dpkanu]

After the Hay Festival, a five-day dance fest is all set to thrill the capital city starting Wednesday. Chief Minister Oommen Chandy will inaugurate the Natanagramam Natyolsavam at the Nishagandhi Auditorium at 5.30 pm on Wednesday. Organised by the Guru Gopinath Natana Gramam under the Department of Cultural Affairs, the five-day dance fest will feature noted dancers from across the country.

There will be two performances every evening. The festival will open with ‘Kerala Natanam’ by the dancers of the Guru Gopinath Natana Gramam after the inaugural function. It will be followed by a Kathak performance by Pandit Rajendra Gangani.

On November 24, the Folklore Academy will stage ‘Irula’ dance at 6 pm, which will be followed by a Bharatanatyam performance by Lavanya Anand at 7 pm.
The performances on November 25 include Duryodhanavadham Kathakali by Margi, Thiruvananthapuram, and Bharatanatyam by Gayatri Subrahmaniam. An Ottan Thullal performance by Guru Gopinath Natanagramam Balakrishnan will be followed by Bharatanatyam by Maithili Prakash on November 26.
On November 27, the final day of the fest, Meenakshi Sreenivasan will perform Bharatanatyam, followed by a performance by Thiruvananthapuram Tharang.
The festival also features an exhibition by the National Dance Museum, a handicrafts exhibition and a trade fair on the Kanakakkunnu Fair Ground.

EB

[binujoseph]

Originally Posted by Bharath85

Most probably BE-1

Seems the reg no is BD 1818 .
Source FB.

[ajithv]

BD 1818 is alloted to MD,Nikunjam Constructions

[rajkrish]

Ramkumar had seen this car and told me .

Originally Posted by ajithv

BD 1818 is alloted to Sree Dhanya Homes

[Bharath85]

BD-1818 is a Rolls Royce as per Kerala MVD website.So as there is no other RR here must be the same one.

[Abhijithh92]

Originally Posted by Bharath85

BD-1818 is a Rolls Royce as per Kerala MVD website.So as there is no other RR here must be the same one.

well one more rolls royce s comin to tvm. And its a rr phantom. The owner was the one who went to benley but turned out for a roller. So only rolls s comin to tvm and sadly no bentley. :-(
But we can be happy that we'll be havin the first rolls royce phantom in kerala.

[Bharath85]

Originally Posted by Abhijithh92

well one more rolls royce s comin to tvm. And its a rr phantom. The owner was the one who went to benley but turned out for a roller. So only rolls s comin to tvm and sadly no bentley. :-(
But we can be happy that we'll be havin the first rolls royce phantom in kerala.

whos the owner??

[binujoseph]

Originally Posted by ajithv

BD 1818 is alloted to MD,Nikunjam Constructions

Are you sure ?

Originally Posted by Bharath85

whos the owner??

It was first rumoured that nikunjam ordered a phantom and the Hotelier a ghost.

[ajithv]

Originally Posted by binujoseph

Are you sure ?

See these.





Hope the doubt is cleared now