Just Jo

Moving on to Jocalling.com

2008-09-11T01:16:00.004+05:30

My blogging experience with Blogger has been quite good. But so far from the looks of it, Wordpress seems to be a better software. So I just got myself a new domain name and installed wordpress. From today onwards, I will be posting at the new location of Just Jo, http://www.jocalling.com. So please get your blogrolls, RSS feeds updated with the new information. Here is the new RSS Feed.

See you there!

Introducing Jessica

2008-09-08T20:25:00.006+05:30

Jessica is the daughter of my friend Balakrishna Varma (whose paintings have been showcased in this blog earlier) and my little sister. We have been planning to do a recording but never had the chance to do it. Last Saturday I hopped over to Avalon and got Jess to record this beautiful song which is her current favorite. And I was totally amazed by her wonderful voice and a beautiful, confident rendition! Well, it is not much surprising though because Jess' mother Shobha Varma is daughter of Gopalakrishna Iyer, who is Guru to the Karnatik Saxophone player Kadri Gopalnath. Shobha aunty is also the niece of the famous trio in Karnatik music - T V Gopalakrishnan, T V Ramani and T V Vasan.

Here is Jessica singing Kangal Irandaal from the Tamil movie Subramanyapuram. This is her very first recording. Let her know what you think.

Song: Kangal Irandaal

Movie: Subramanyapuram

Sung by: Jessica Yvonne Varma

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Track details

eSnips Social DNA

Jab Se Tere Naina - Saawariya (cover)

2008-09-05T20:15:00.005+05:30

Sanjay Leela Bhansali has given us so many musical gems through his movies. From Khamoshi to Devdas to Saawariya - it was a beautiful musical journey. He introduced another talented music director, Monty Sharma, through Saawariya and the music album has so many melodious songs (my most favorite song from the album is Thode Badmaash by Shreya Ghoshal). Here is my try at Jab Se Tere Naina, originally sung by Shaan.

Song: Jab Se Tere Naina
Movie: Saawariya
Music: Monty Sharma
Originally sung by: Shaan
Cover version by: Jo

Download the MP3 of this song here (4.41 MB)

Jabse Tere Naina (cover) at Muziboo.com

Ripping Off the Copycats

2008-09-05T19:42:00.001+05:30

See how Karan Thappar is ripping off the musical copycats from the Hindi music industry - Anu Malik and Pritam Chakraborthy and how desperately they are trying to defend themselves, Anu Malik even says "we are not the only ones" (so he shall not be blamed?).

Flicking off Flickr

2008-09-05T00:20:00.003+05:30

Stealing images from Flickr and using it without the photographer's permission are happening more often. I have been a victim to this practice when M A Shanavas stole my picture to use it for a book cover design by him. Then Hindustan Times published a stolen image from the popular blogger Nita. The latest victim is blogger Twilight Fairy and her Flickr image has been flicked by none other than Times of India!

I wrote about 3 mails in all, asking for (a very meagre) compensation for the damages done as well as credit. For one, I never got a response in written - but of course that would mean acknowledging the theft. When I called up, I was told that it is common practice to “use” free images from the net! Flabbergasted at the audacity of this all, I clearly asked whether TOI staff was blind or illiterate to not be able to make out the clearly written statement on my flickr stream and my copyright license, both of which stated that my images can NOT be used without my explicit permission - ALL rights reserved. This is plagiarism in its full glory.

What a shameless bunch of people we have in the media!

Update: Malayalam blogger Haree also had such an experience. Details and pictures here.

Ganesh Shloka by Sunil Koshy

2008-09-04T00:38:00.000+05:30

Sunil Koshy teams up with the Kannada music director Vijay Krishna for a Ganesh shloka. This short and sweet shloka will take you out of the world for a moment because of the excellent vocals of Koshy. Go and listen.

Chrome - Google's web browser is out now!

2008-09-03T00:32:00.002+05:30

Google's much awaited web browser Google Chrome is out now. Go, download and experiment.

Features include: [Via]

Tabbed browsing where each tab gets its own process, leading to faster and more stable browsing. If one tab crashes, the whole browser doesn’t go down with it
A distinct user interface that places tabs on top of the browser window instead of right below the address bar
An “incognito” mode that lets you browse the web in complete privacy because it doesn’t record any of your activity
A new JavaScript engine built from the ground up for speed
Malware and phishing lists that automatically update themselves and warn you of bad websites
A default homepage that displays your most commonly used sites and other personalized information

Michael Jackson turns 50

2008-09-02T22:40:00.005+05:30

Almost all of the people whom I met in the online and offline world started listening to English music by listening to a Michael Jackson song. The first English song that I can remember I heard in my early childhood was Beat It, the evergreen hit song from the album Thriller. It was played aloud in the record player of my neighbor. I did not know the lyrics, but I was stuck with the foot-thumping tune itself. And I sang along with my own lyrics, in a language which is yet to be identified. :-)

Michael Jackson was a household name and I don't know how it happened to be so. Even in a family like mine where there was no newspaper, television, radio or even electricity, we knew that Michael Jackson was a famous musician. And for us, he was the only "English" singer.

As I grew up and was in the 10th standard, I listened to Dangerous, another album by Michael Jackson. The friend who introduced that song to me was also my neighbor and I used to watch cable TV in his house. I saw many music videos among which I found MJ's videos so creative, almost movie like, and his moves were stunning. I became a huge fan and started following his music religiously. I bought one and all of his albums. I started collecting the lyrics of his songs and sang along. I even collected some of his old works with Jackson 5 and a duet collection with Diana Ross. When History was released, I was among the first few in my town to get it from the music stores.

Even though I moved on from MJ to other artistes, MJ's music was so influential. His lyrics were so intense, be it about love, romance, children, world peace or environment. His voice and music reflected the passion that he had for the themes he chosen for his songs. He was a complete entertainer. His music videos are unmatchable in the industry.

Despite of all this, Michael Jackson filled the news column for all the bad reasons. It seemed like the scandals one after another took his artistic creativity away. The last album from MJ, Invincible, was a total disappointment. The songs and arrangement was not anywhere close to the usual MJ standards. Then came the news of MJ's financial liabilities, his health issues, selling off Neverland ranch - there you see a legend falling down.

But even at this stage, Michael Jackson stands tall. In the history of music, he will stand next to Elvis Presley. I think even Presely don't deserve the first place because he has not experimented with music like MJ did. MJ brought out various musical forms and collaborated with musicians of many genres and most of them became popular hit songs. Amidst of all the personal problems that he goes through, his fans hope that he would return. And he gave them that hope on his 50th birthday, promising an upcoming album and world tours in the near future.

Michael Jackson, at 50, is still dear to his fans and music lovers around the world. Is it time for him to retire or would he make a worthy come back any soon? That is what his fans are waiting to see.

The Chinese Medal Factory

2008-09-01T20:01:00.003+05:30

If this is how China winning the Olympic gold medals, India is better off it. Agreed that out country doesn't provide enough even for those who love sports, but look at these pictures. It is not just the sport authorities, but the parents of these kids are also to be blamed for giving consent to torture their kids in the name of sports, just for them to have a better living (a colleague recently argued that what parents do for their children is not just purely out of love, but as an investment. How true!)

(Pictures via email)

Open Source Software Alternatives

2008-08-30T08:10:00.000+05:30

We had a discussion on FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) during one of the soft skills sessions in our organization. It was a very informative session on Open Source and it's advantages in the corporate environment etc. After the discussion, one of the colleagues sent an email with the alternative solutions for all the prominent softwares that we use everyday on proprietary operating system.

Anti virus mail gateway:
http://www.bransoft.com/clammail/en/clammail.html

Anti-Virus:
http://www.clamwin.com

Office:
http://www.openoffice.org

MS Visio alternative:
http://dia-installer.sourceforge.net

GIMP (Photoshop alternative):
http://www.plasticbugs.com/blogimg/GIMPshop_0.1beta_Setup.exe
http://plasticbugs.com/?page_id=294
http://www.gimp.org/~tml/gimp/win32/

.NET:
http://www.mono-project.com/Main_Page
http://www.mono-project.com/ASP.NET
http://www.theserverside.net/news/thread.tss?thread_id=34139

Open Source for WIndows:
http://osswin.sourceforge.net

Free Ware for Windows:
http://onlythebestfreeware.com
http://f-spot.org/Main_Page

Desktop Publishing:
http://www.scribus.net

(Thanks to Shine Xavier for the info)

(Image courtesy: MasterNewMedia)

Kaa Karoon Sajni (cover)

2008-08-28T21:57:00.004+05:30

Kaa Karoon Sajni is one of my most favorite Hindi songs sung by Yesudas. I had posted this song earlier in 2005 or something, without karaoke. I recorded the song again yesterday and here it is for you to listen and comment. :-)

Movie Name: Swami (1977)
Singer: Yesudas KJ
Music Director: Rajesh Roshan
Lyrics: Rajendar Krishan
Year: 1977
Sung by: Jo

Download the song here (4.23 MB)

Kaa Karoon (cover) at Muziboo.com

Inkfruit - A new Indian startup

2008-08-27T22:04:00.001+05:30

The return of the web or Web 2.0 has given way to so many new start-ups and India is not far behind. So many Indian start-ups are coming up these days, in almost all fields. Inkfruit is such a start up by a couple of young Indians. They allow people to upload their T-shirt designs and get paid for it.

Inkfruit has an on-going weekly design contest with prize money of Rs. 20,000. Winners are chosen by popular votes and the winning designs are then screen printed on T-shirts. Then these T's are sold on their website. Thus all the T-shirt designs in their website are submitted by their members community. Their site was launched in December 2007 and they also maintain a blog.

They have some nice, creative designs in their inventory and also offers color and size choices for both men and women. So far the only draw back I see is that their website design and colors looks amateurish and doesn't have a web 2.0 feel. I hope they will do something about it.

United Desis - Desi Rap

2008-08-26T23:00:00.000+05:30

Band : United Desis
Album : Desi Game
Genre : Rap and Hip Hop
Label : BIG Music
Website : http://www.uniteddesis.com

I am not a huge fan of Rap/Hip-Hop music. I listen to only a couple of rap artists like Eminem or D12. I feel Rap music loses it's soul whenever it is sung by people other than African-Americans. When Rap is sung by the Afro-Americans, it has a strong power both in the lyrics and music. In India, we have had artists like Style-Bhai who claimed himself as a rap artist but has got nothing to do with rap. He was just a bhai with some strange style. Now we have Blazee who is doing good in the film music (thanks to A R Rahman) and have written songs like "Ban the Police" which was well received. One reason could be that Rap is not fit for the Indian audience. Many Desi musicians have understood this limitation and have adapted to fusion music, which would be the perfect solution to sell music both nationally and internationally.

And here comes United Desis, a Rap/Hip-Hop band that sings in both Punjabi, Hindi and English. Their music has a strong Bhangra influence too. The band consists of 3 people - Nipun P Deashpande, Amit S Modak and Rabbit Sack C where RSC is also the producer of the album. Their debut album Desi Game is released through BIG Music and has 15 songs in total. I think this is the first Indian Rap/Hip-Hop album that has come of age.

Out of 15 songs, I like 10 songs of this album. I think they could have done without those 5 songs which were not up to the mark and those 5 songs sounded so amateurish in this otherwise good album.

My favorite picks from this album:

Sohniye
One Vision
Ganda Bachcha
Your Eyes - Feat Kacy
B.D.
Bumpin In Da Club
This is How We
Lemme Be The One
Shake Shake Shake
Rap n Hip Hop - Outro

Desi Game is an album worth checking out if you like Rap/Hip-Hop/Bhangra Fusion music. This album will not dissapoint you as this is so far the best desi album in this genre. So grab your copies, visit the website of United Desis here and also check out one of their videos given below.

A Peaceful Bandh by VHP in Orissa

2008-08-25T23:53:00.004+05:30

Home Secretary Tarunkanti Mishra told media persons that he had been information about the two casualties. Mishra said the bandh called by the Sangh Parivar was 'total and by and large peaceful'. [Via]

And this is what happened in that total and by large peaceful Bandh:

A woman was burned to death inside a church
Over a dozen churches were torched
Police outposts attacked
Fourty houses were set ablaze
15 vehicles damaged

All of this during a 12 hour Bandh called on Monday in Orissa by the saffron brigade (VHP, supported by BJP) in protest against the killing of Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Laxmanananda Saraswati.

And who killed him? The Maoist rebels a.k.a Naxalites.

Then why burn Christians and their institutions? It is the Hindutva rule, silly! You are not supposed to make any sense under their rule. And not only that, the Swami Lakhananda Swaraswati, who was killed by Maoists, had himself called for such an action back in January itself so what better way is left for his followers to pay tribute to him?

“You are just burning tyres. How many Isai (Christian) houses and churches have you burnt? Without kranti (revolution) there can be no shanti (peace). Narendra Modi has done kranti in Gujarat, the reason why shanti’s there.”

Lakhanananda Saraswati, 82-year-old Sangh leader inciting his followers on his cell phone on December 25, from a medical centre in Daringbadi, Kandhamal district, in the presence of police and journalists. [Next stop Orissa - Tehelka]

(Image courtesy: sikhlionz.com)

Hindu Mohan Lal and Muslim Mammootty

2008-08-25T08:00:00.001+05:30

Mohan Lal and Mammootty are two iconic stars and even better actors of the Malayalam movie industry. Both of them have been staying in the industry for more than 30 years and the whole movie industry in Kerala revolves around them. But off late it has become very intolerable to see them dancing around with the girls of their daughters' age and churn out the same kind of characters which they have been playing for ages. That doesn't affect anything (except the producer's money at times) because they have a huge fan following in Kerala.

Malayalee usually makes fun of Tamilians for their blind star-worshiping and there are a number of stories about the Tamilian's love for their favorite stars. But in the recent years, the fans of Mammootty and Mohan Lal have become no different than their counter parts in Tamil Nadu or any other state in India. When a Mohan Lal movie releases, Mammootty fans would go to the theaters and make a mess and then Mohan Lal fans association members would handle the situation and it mostly ends up in a clash between the fans. Vice-versa happens when a Mammootty film gets released as well.

Mammootty's strongest fan base is in north Kerala where Muslims are a majority and Mohan Lal's is at Trivandrum, which is his hometown and the 'Nair lobby', as accused by actor Thilakan (Nair is an upper-caste sect), is very strong. These days the whole fan business is going on in the religious fundamentalist way. This has not become a state-wide phenomenon but I think we should notice such a change at its early stage.

A friend of mine who lives in a small village of Trivandrum gave me an example. He said the NDF members (NDF is a Muslim extremist organization in Kerala which is said to have ex-SIMI members) formed a fan club of Mammootty with Muslim youth. They erected a cut-out of Mammootty in a junction. Then came the local RSS members erected a cut-out of Mohan Lal with showing him wearing a saffron mundu, just next to the other one. It has almost lead to a clash too. There are other such small fan-wars going on in that area as well.

The danger of this whole thing is that when two hugely popular movie stars being celebrated as religious icons, it can take dangerous dimensions. NDF and RSS might be trying to cash in on youngsters in the name of celebrities, but there are a few things that might have made their job easier. Mohan Lal's comment on minority religions of India, for example. I am not saying this is only reason that made extremists to cash in on the youth, but this is one example of what can happen when the popular celebrities pass on irresponsible comment on sensitive issues.

I hope they realize this and do not endorse such groups in the name of fan associations. But when they are growing old and younger ones are competing around, what choice do they have other than playing such cheap games? :-)

(Image courtesy: Sify Movies)

Online file storage from Microsoft

2008-08-23T09:06:00.000+05:30

I just found out from a colleague that there is an online file storage and sharing service from Microsoft called Windows Live SkyDrive. They offer 5 GB of web space with options to create folders and sub folders and share your files. I have been using the service of 4shared (which offers 4 GB space already), but it is good to see such a service from Microsoft. However I think Microsoft is always a rabbit in the race of such online services compared to the other players in the area like Google or even some start-ups. I am wondering how can they afford to be so, in this age of changing technologies on a day-to-day basis.

(Image courtesy: Windows Live SkyDrive)

May Maasame (cover)

2008-08-22T01:03:00.006+05:30

It has been more than 3 weeks now since I have sung or posted any song. Weekdays are busy and the weekends are made for sleeping and taking care of the things back at home, so not getting much time to put into music. But I can promise that something is cooking and hope to bring it out by the year end.

Here is a song for the time being, an unplugged version of a Malayalam song, from the recently released movie My Mother's Laptop.

Song: May Maasame
Movie: My Mother's Laptop
Music: Sreevalsan J Menon
Original singer: Amal
Cover by: Jo

May Maasame at Muziboo.com

Download MP3 here (3.10 MB)

Vote for Mike

2008-08-20T22:08:00.002+05:30

My friend Mike has put together a funny video for a contest in which he is participating. When everybody made serious videos about Shadow Boxing, Mike took it lightly and made this hilarious video! Watch it and if you like vote for him in this page. You will see his name as Mike VanSteenkiste (on the left hand side of the page) and just check the box next to his name and scroll down and click vote now. Your votes will help him win a trip to Hawaii. :-)

Find more videos like this on BJPENN.COM

Aftermath of the textbook controversy

2008-08-19T21:09:00.003+05:30

So the 7th standard textbook controversy in Kerala seems to have come to an end. The Communist government has agreed to change the contents of the controversial 7th standard social science chapter. The Congress and Muslim League also seems to have mellowed down their tones against the textbook, after an innocent school teacher lost his life during a protest by Muslim Youth League in a cluster training session. But Arch Bishops are still not cooled down as they would be losing a chance to bring down the Communist government, after the call for second liberation struggle had failed (they do not see that the Communists are already bringing themselves down from the power).

So what do we have after all said and done, after all "for" and "against" textbook speeches? We have the ordinary children going to the state-sponsored educational labs called "state-syllabus schools". The rich and the elite can afford to give good education to their children at ICSE and CBSE schools while the ordinary people have to resort to state-syllabus schools. What most of us do not see is the plight of these children. Be it DPEP, or such controversial textbooks and such controversial educational reforms, it is these children who have to suffer. And what does await them when they complete their higher secondary education and go to college? They have to compete with the children who comes from the elite CBSE and ICSE schools who are better educated and who speak better English. Many of the kids who come from state-syllabus schools begin to feel inferior at this point and for many, it affects their studies.

Many of us Keralites are not bothered about this poor situation that exists in our state-syllabus schools even if we have studied in such schools. Because those among us who have fought with the environmental challenges in such schools and have succeeded to overcome it's limitations, send our children to CBSE or ICSE schools for better education. So the matter again concerns the lowest strate of the society and thus go un-noticed.

(Image courtesy: Campusaccess.com)

Life without a cell phone

2008-08-18T14:23:00.003+05:30

I never thought that life without a cell phone could be so out-of-the-world. My cell phone had water damage after the team outing to Estuary Islands at Poovar. I gave it in the service center to repair and even after a week, they don't have a clue of how to fix it. Then I borrowed my sister's cell phone and when the power drained out, it stopped working and my cell phone charger would not work with it. What a wonderful week! As a result I missed attending Blogcamp Kerala, an event that I was so excitedly waiting for, due to the lack of proper communication.

But I am to be blamed for this mess partly. I did not sync my phone with PC and lost all the contacts. I could have kept a phone book handy, and I was planning to do the same a couple of weeks back, but did not do it. Another thing is that I could not get online on the weekend as usually I rely on the mobile GPRS connectivity when I am at home on weekends. This affected checking emails and replying to them. And third, I got my friends worried as they could not get in touch when I was supposed to communicate with them. Some of them came home and others were about to come [good thing about this is that it is nice to know that there are friends who care :-)].

So finally I went ahead and bought a new smart phone - Sony Ericsson P1i. It has loads of features which I am yet to learn and master but it looks like a good solution for all my needs.

(Image courtesy: Unwiredview.com)

Anju needs our help

2008-08-16T11:00:00.000+05:30

This is an appeal to donate for Miss Anju Mohan, a 16 yr old girl diagnosed with poor growth since early childhood. This medical condition is due to Growth Hormone Deficiency. The treatment was deferred because her family couldnt afford it. Growth hormone is the principal hormone influencing growth, and children with GH deficiency remain very short unless treated at the right time. Since she is from a very poor family (parents are unemployed due to health problems) she can not afford further treatment. With the help of others they managed to give her GH treatment but stopped due to lack of funds after 6 months. She is in 12th std now yet her height is only that of child studying in 2 nd std. Since she is so short, she can not even carry her school bag.

She needs to take 24 units/week of GH in daily divided doses. One unit cost Indian Rupees 322/- and around Rs 4,01,856/- for a year's treatment. With this treatment, she can gain 10-12 cm height in a year. If you have any queries regarding her illness/treatment/donation, you can contact her doctor:

Dr. Mini G Pillai,
Consultant Endocrinologist,
PVS Memorial hospital,
Kaloor, Kochi- 682017.
PH: 0484-23454 51/52/71/60 Ext.544
FAX: 0484-2348239

Please consider this as an urgent appeal for donation and kindly help her with whatever financial assistance possible from your side. Her account details are as given below:

Miss Anju Mohan,
A/c No. 121 3010 00 66 795,
Federal Bank,
Maneed Branch,
Nechoor (PO),
Ernakulam (Dt),
Kerala- 686664,
India.

Independence Day

2008-08-15T13:00:00.000+05:30

Rulers changed.
Rules changed.
But Freedom still remain as a mere word for many.

On this independence Day, support the cause of tribals and dalits of Chengara struggle. Sign the online petition.

Holophonic sound

2008-08-14T20:49:00.004+05:30

I have just come across some audio files which are made of holophonic sound. It is so amazing! You get to experience the 3d surround audio in your stereo headphones. How cool is that!If the movie makers and DVD makers provide a holophonic audio channel in the movies watching the movie with a stereo headset is going to be an amazing experience.

Here are some audio examples:

1) Sound samples
2) Barbershop - this is the most amazing one. Just close your eyes when you play this. And tell me if you couldn't help but smile at least once.

Developed in the 1980s by Hugo Zuccarelli, Holophonic Sound uses the same "multiple exposure" premise as that used to create holographic images ("holograms"). Holophonic Sound is produced by recording the interference pattern generated when the original recorded signal is combined with an inaudible digital reference signal. The recorded sound produced is so realistic, some people claim they can smell sulphur when they listen to a holophonic recording of someone striking a match! [Via]

(Thanks to Arun for the info)

Live Music Banned in Bangalore

2008-08-13T19:58:00.002+05:30

Bangalore is a celebrated haven for the night owls, liberal souls and music freaks. But what it seems is that some of it is going to end. At least for those who enjoyed the live bands in the pubs, lounges and discos of Bangalore, the latest decision by the law enforcement forces of Bangalore comes as a shock.

The decision is so stupid that they allow recorded music to be played, but not live music as live music would make people dance. I really don't understand what good it is going to do. This decision is going to seriously affect the various live music bands and musicians in Bangalore. And they have started the protests.

Bangaloreans protest as police ban live performances of bands in pubs in the city. Live music performances including karaokes have been banned in the city which has not gone down too well with the DJs and musicians in the city.

Noted writer and artiste Girish Karnad reacting strongly to the ban imposed, said, "You can listen to recorded music, and you cannot listen to live music is something which is not understandable. How can the police say that listening to music in a club and having a drink lead to crime. This has nothing to do with the live band. The attitude of the police should be questioned here."

Meanwhile, the police insist that they are just following the Karnataka Excise licence rule which does not permit gambling, get-togethers, dancing or any live band performances in places serving liquor.

In view of the ban, a protest is being held in the city against the ban which has also resulted in a loss for restaurants and pubs. [Now, ban on live bands in Bangalore pubs - Times of India]

(Info via forum by Nithya Dayal)

Chengara - Need Justice for the Poor and Tribals

2008-08-12T21:17:00.006+05:30

So Abhinav Bindra won the gold medal and made India proud. There has been no such moment in the recent days that I felt as overwhelmed as I heard our national anthem being played in the Olympics venue and a cool, calm and composed Bindra stood there with heads straight.

When shared this joy, a colleague asked what do we have to be so proud about. That Abhinav with the support of his wealthy family had good training and worked on his own and won the medal on his own? What did the nation give him to share the piece of glory? What is the nation doing for the sportsmen/women who cannot afford the luxury of Hi-Fi training? The questions left me speechless. Because just a couple of days back I saw a Malayali athlete's home on TV. A hut-like house that seemed it would collapse at anytime and she is competing in Olympics. What is the nation doing for these sons and daughters?

Then after a little while another colleague comes to my desk and ask if he can talk for a few minutes. "Do you know what is happening in Chengara right now?". I said I heard about that place and didn't know much more. Actually there are so many of such struggles going on in the enlightened land of Kerala. Struggles which the mainstream media fails or do not want to notice. "Women are being raped", he said. And that too just a couple of hours back.

Let me ask that question to you, my dear readers of this blog - Do you know what Chengara struggle is about?

To cut it short, the Chengara struggle is a movement by landless Dalits, Adivasis and other marginalised peoples to gain ownership of land that began on 4th August 2007 in the southern plantation belt of Pathanamthitta, in Kerala state. It is a fight to re-claim ownership of land that has been part of a long standing promise of the Government. To this end about 5000 families totaling around 24,000 people from different parts of the region have moved on to the Harrison Malayalam Private Ltd estate, building tents with poles and plastic sheets to establish the struggle front. The impugned land was a part of a leasehold to Harrison Malayalam Ltd, which expired in 1985 and no rents have been paid to the State exchequer since. The struggle is also a statement against illegal encroachment of land that ought to belong to the people by a corporate entity for commercial purposes with the tacit support of the State machinery.

And what is happening there right now?

Complete blockade of food, medicines and other essentials for a dignified life to the people in the protest camps including women and children for over 10 days, by the CPI (M), affiliate organizations and hired henchmen of Harrison Malayalam Ltd, leading to starvation and prevalence of diseases in the protest camps.
Continuing sexual harassment of the women in the protest camps including rape of four women activists of SJVSV by trade union leaders affiliated to the CPI (M) as an attempt to demoralize the agitation. Also there are other trade unions involved in this like INTUC (of Congress) and BMS (of BJP).
Physical intimidation of the protesters and solidarity supporters

Children are dying with no food, women are being raped - but hey, what do we care? It is those Adivasis (tribals) that we are talking about. They are no vote banks so politicians do not have any interest in them. They are not educated, so it is easy to fool them. So this is our chance, the so called progressive society that has the highest literacy rate in India!

I always thought that these things would not happen in Kerala. Any other state in India but not here, I thought. But the power hungry corporate-Communists of these days are breaking the very social system that once their leaders were dying to build up. You talk about it and you are called a Naxalite sympathiser.

Anyways, I am happy of at least one thing. That there is at least this one young techie who got his eyes almost wet when he talked of the tribal women being raped and whose eyes lit with anger. Who said he wants to pool in money and see ways of bringing food to those who are starving there in Chengara. It is in the people like him that I have the utmost hope of humanity. Meanwhile, just wait and see how soon Nandigram is going to repeat in Kerala.

Lal Salaam comrades. Well done. You are just wiping out yourselves, tarnishing the image of leaders like AKG, losing your supporters and the moral grounds, but you don't even know that.

Related Links:

IndiaVision TV Report on Chengara land struggle
Women are raped in Chengara - IndiaVision TV report