𝑨𝒎𝒎𝒖'𝒔 𝑴𝒖𝒔𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒔!

As we commemorate Kerala Piravi Day today  November 1 st 2023, I feel incredibly proud of my grandfather K Madhavan Nair, who had a major role to play in its inception. Kerala was split between the autonomous regions of Malabar, Cochin, and Travancore before this merger. From Trichur to Kasargod, the northernmost parts of Kerala were part of the British Malabar Presidency. The southern part was governed by the sovereign State of Travancore, while the middle section was controlled by the princely State of Cochin. At the 1920 All India National Congress meeting in Nagpur, when discussions were taking place to strengthen the local Congress chapters on linguistic basis, my grandfather, the leader of the Malabar Pradesh Congress took the podium. He spent hours arguing that fundamental states like Kerala should be included in the struggle for independence and that Travancore, Cochin, and Malabar should be united into a single Congress party that would be known as Kerala Congress and not

Underlying principle in a Hindu temple is the belief that all things are one, that everything is connected. Ancient temples welcome you through 64-grid or 81-grid mathematically structured spaces, a network of art, pillars with carvings and statues that display and celebrate the four important and necessary principles of human life – the pursuit of artha (prosperity, wealth), kama (pleasure, love), dharma (virtues, ethical life) and moksha (release, self-knowledge). At the center of the temple, typically below and sometimes above or next to the idol, is mere hollow space with no decoration, symbolically representing  Purusa , the Supreme Principle, the sacred Universal, one without form, which is omnipresent, connects everything, and is the essence of everyone. A Hindu temple is meant to encourage reflection, facilitate purification of one's mind, and trigger the process of inner realization within.  The specific process is left to the devotee's school of belief. The p

  Oct 6th 2023. Today is my mother’s 9 th death anniversary .  If she was alive she would have been 93 years old. To honor her memory, I created this photo story of her beautiful life.  My mother sitting extreme left with her family   She was born in Kozhikode, Kerala on January 12, 1930, to Parappil Rukmini Amma and Ullattil Karunakara Menon. Her father worked for the British government as an officer. She had two sisters and a brother, the latter of whom went on to become one of the earliest ICS (IAS after independence) officials. Her father was a forward-thinking individual who enrolled all of his daughters in St. Joseph's, a convent run by irish nuns in Kozhikode for their academic studies. Standing second from right Her family relocated to Tirur, Kerala after her father retired as the Director Fisheries. She was an exceptionally bright student, and one of her classmates who later rose to prominence as a lawyer in the Supreme Court told me that he had to work extremely hard to

Every home in India from time immemorial has a tradition of lighting an oil lamp at dawn and at dusk known as Deepaaradhana. At homes some people burned lamps in front of God, while others lit lamps in front of Tulasi plant, in front of great rivers like River ganges and in some homes, individuals light the lamps either at dawn or at dusk. The majority of people view performing Deepaaradhana as an everyday routine that is passed through generations, yet like with everything else in Sanatana Dharma, there is a strong reason behind it. The most significant celebration that takes place in every temple is also the Deeparadhana.   Before the idol, modest lamps with a single flame to pyramidal towers with seven levels are waved, followed by the waving of camphor. Conches are blown and all of the bells sound when the deepam is presented to the idol, drawing everyone's attention to it. One light is typically lit in the sanctum sanctorum during the day, making it completely dark. How