Online Resources: English Grammar
Learning English now is very easy as there are many reliable resources on the web which will help us any student of English irrespective of their level. Some selected websites has been given here.
www.englishtown.com
Englishtown is a reliable source in learning English professionally. Their trainers will give the students a holistic approach to language learning. They are giving training on Business English, Industry specific courses, TOEFEL& TOEIC.
public.wsu.edu/~brians/errors/index.html
The site gives a comprehensive list of common errors in English, which has been taken from Paul Brians' "Common Errors in English Usage." It is a guide where we can see almost all the issues addressed. The highlight is that some other good sources are also mentioned at the end.
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl
Anyone who wants to get an overall picture about language and style, I would suggest owl.english.purdue.edu. Along with grammar, the site provides instructions on general writing, research, teaching, ESL etc.
www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/
As we know, BBC is an authentic source regarding English language. For anyone who wants to learn Standard English, BBC is a must.
www.tolearnenglish.com/
Contrary to other language sites, what is attractive about this site is that it contains language games, jokes etc. Apart from that there is a discussion forum also.
www.drgrammar.org
The site, as the name shows is a doctor to treat our English diseases. It is maintained by UNI Department of Languages and Literatures.
grammar.quickanddirtytips.com
quickanddirtytips provides a lot of tips to improve English language skills. The site has a podcast version for all its lessons, which will help the learners listen and understand.
yourdictionary.com
yourdictionary.com is an authentic site on English usage. In this particular URL, the site is providing 5 most common errors in English. Correcting these errors will make ones writing perfect.
http://christchurchcitylibraries.com/kids/animals/malefemalechild/
This section of the site would be good for early learners of English, especially children. It is specially designed for kids, so following the link will make learning an entertaining experience.
www.enchantedlearning.com
As the previous site, this also helps the kids to learn some basic ideas in the language.
http://www.eslgold.com/grammar/basic_sentence.html
This link will help the learners to master sentence structure.
www.english-the-easy-way.com
Learning English is always easy as the site promises. It has different sections such as Grammar, Writing Skills, Academic Writing, Punctuation, Speaking English, Proofreading & Editing, Reading, Job Hunting, Writing Resumes, Vocabulary and so on.
www.englishpage.com
englishpage.com is good for understanding almost all topics in English. However, I would suggest this especially to improve tenses. The exercises given are very good to master the basic ideas of tense.
grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar
Referring different topics in different sites is always very monotonous, but if you check grammar.ccc.commnet.edu, then no need of another source at all.
www.world-english.org
If you are looking for activity oriented learning, there is no other best source than this. As they claim, it is "the one-stop resource for the English language and more..."
Monday, October 21, 2013
Friday, October 11, 2013
Teacher- A Facilitator, or a Tuglaq?
Every language teacher will have faced a situation where he/she felt himself/herself as the Great Tuglaq. Muhammd bin Tuglaq was a great ruler in India who made many revolutionary administrative reforms and most of them turned out to be tragic due to poor implementation. He wanted to make his rule more effective and had an eye for future changes, for example, his decision to change the capital to Delhi. However, his reforms did not bring about the desired effects as he was too haste and didn’t think about practical problems. Language teachers who want to make a difference are often face similar problems. As ELT trainers, most of us wanted our students to speak English fluently within a short period of time. This will create a totally reverse situation than we have ever imagined. This is so because language learning requires a longer period of time different from other disciplines. The situation becomes more difficult when the teaching methodology adopted in institutions does not focus on this aspect and give less importance to language learning. In most of the universities in Kerala, now the duration of teaching English is two semesters; in these two semesters, little or no importance is given to developing English language skills.
Teaching language can be more difficult in most situations as the students may not have the interest to learn the language. When language becomes just one subject, and the focus is given in getting more scores than really mastering the basic concepts, learning process will be the last activity in the classrooms.
ESL activities can be a double-edged weapon in such classrooms. The activities can motivate the students to learn the basic concepts well. Besides, the students will get real-time experience in situational-language learning; whereas this can have an adverse effect if the students are not interested in the activities, or did not understand the basic idea behind the activities, or if the instructor conducts the activities without much planning. In other words, the teachers should not be Tuglaqs.
So, what should be the role of the teacher in the classroom? Should he be a dictator as in the olden times (at least in my student years)? Or a friend who will encourage, motivate the student through friendly gestures? Or should he be both? In one method, teacher is a ‘facilitator’ by which it means “An individual who enables groups and organizations to work more effectively; to collaborate and achieve synergy. He or she is a 'content neutral' party who by not taking sides or expressing or advocating a point of view during the meeting, can advocate for fair, open, and inclusive procedures to accomplish the group's work" – (Doyle, Wikipedia). How far this idea of ‘content neutral’ works in an ESL classroom? Here, being ‘neutral’ doesn’t mean being passive. Like any other place, a classroom also consists of different types of audiences, hostile, critical, uninformed and sympathetic. Here, the facilitator needs to change his teaching strategy according to his audience. In other words, the overall picture is important and also understanding each and every individual in the classroom.
Teaching language can be more difficult in most situations as the students may not have the interest to learn the language. When language becomes just one subject, and the focus is given in getting more scores than really mastering the basic concepts, learning process will be the last activity in the classrooms.
So, what should be the role of the teacher in the classroom? Should he be a dictator as in the olden times (at least in my student years)? Or a friend who will encourage, motivate the student through friendly gestures? Or should he be both? In one method, teacher is a ‘facilitator’ by which it means “An individual who enables groups and organizations to work more effectively; to collaborate and achieve synergy. He or she is a 'content neutral' party who by not taking sides or expressing or advocating a point of view during the meeting, can advocate for fair, open, and inclusive procedures to accomplish the group's work" – (Doyle, Wikipedia). How far this idea of ‘content neutral’ works in an ESL classroom? Here, being ‘neutral’ doesn’t mean being passive. Like any other place, a classroom also consists of different types of audiences, hostile, critical, uninformed and sympathetic. Here, the facilitator needs to change his teaching strategy according to his audience. In other words, the overall picture is important and also understanding each and every individual in the classroom.
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Obama's Gandhi- A Blood Thirsty Devil?
The railway station with its colored bricks and people from various classes seemed as the mirror-image of everything the country was at that time; the white masters, their servants, the zamindars, and so on. An elderly lady was sitting anxiously in one of the compartments. She was alone and she couldn’t find anyone to help her buy some drinking water. Though there were so many other passengers in the same cabin, she couldn’t find any innocent faces there. Then, she saw a young man outside; she called him and gave some money and the bottle she had with her. As she waited for him, the train started moving. The fellow passengers started criticizing her for giving money to a completely strange man. However, she looked so calm. When the train moved a bit, the young man came running and gave her the bottled water and the remaining cash. He waved his hands as the train left. Then, the fellow passengers asked her, “How did you trust that completely stranger so much?” With a smile, she replied, “He was wearing khadi.”
I heard this story in a speech by Prof. Muhammad Ahammad. He was referring the trust people had for the Gandhians during the time of India’s freedom struggle. The people who were named as Gandhians were not just workers of Indian National Congress, but those who follow certain kind of lifestyle such as complete simplicity, vegetarianism, adherents of ahimsa, truthfulness, and always felt that serving fellow beings irrespective of caste, religion, race, nationality and so on is their duty. It was not limited to the followers of Gandhi in India alone, but all those who were influenced by his ideas such as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Aung San Suu Ki and so on. However, in the present day, Gandhians are people who wear khadi, except that nothing is similar with the old values and ideas. Politicians know the market value of Gandhi, but never take any care to follow the footsteps of Gandhi. Though it became a standard practice in India for politicians to wear khadi and conduct special programs on Gandhi Jayanthi, only to woo the people, it became a phenomenon outside India.
Barack Obama, for example, during and after the presidential election, shared how the ideas of Gandhi such as Satygraha influenced his life. Those who observed the way he is running his country will have to find a new meaning for the word “influence.”
The basic principle in which Gandhi built his political philosophy is ‘ahimsa’. Though ‘ahimsa’ is somewhat similar to non-violence, it is not as simple as that. Anyone who is following ‘ahimsa’ as his basic ideology can’t even think of violence. Further, Gandhi maintained the view that ‘both end and means should be pure’, contrary to the long-held view that ‘end justifies the means.’ 
In other words, in order to fight terrorism, a person influenced by Gandhi won’t send his army to kill people. He will not introduce a motion in the Senate to get permission to attack Syria. In other words, the policies of Obama clearly show that he does not have any respect for Gandhi or the ideas of Gandhi.
It is clear that Obama got elected as the president of the USA by creating an image about him- a black, influence by civil rights movement of Martin Luther King, ideas of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi. Of course, the reason for his success is mainly the ‘hope’ he tried to sell to the voters. The point is, if ‘hope’ was the commodity he tried to sell, Gandhi, Mandela, and King were the selling strategies. Later, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Alas, what is the meaning of peace then?
Image Courtesy:
exposing the truth
Google Images
Barack Obama, for example, during and after the presidential election, shared how the ideas of Gandhi such as Satygraha influenced his life. Those who observed the way he is running his country will have to find a new meaning for the word “influence.”
It is clear that Obama got elected as the president of the USA by creating an image about him- a black, influence by civil rights movement of Martin Luther King, ideas of Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi. Of course, the reason for his success is mainly the ‘hope’ he tried to sell to the voters. The point is, if ‘hope’ was the commodity he tried to sell, Gandhi, Mandela, and King were the selling strategies. Later, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Alas, what is the meaning of peace then?
Image Courtesy:
exposing the truth
Google Images
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Alarm Bells on Indian Democracy
Whether India ever had a good diplomatic stand on national and international affairs is a question that should be addressed. It can be argued that India had had a good reputation among the other countries during the time of Nehru as he envisaged NAM. Even later, India continued to go on in the same path.
However, on close scrutiny of whether it served any purpose to the nation, the uselessness of the entire affair will be revealed. While analyzing some of the recent instances, with India on the one side and some prominent or lesser prominent nations on the other, would show how poorly the nation’s interests have been served. We can see “nation’s interest” in its broad sense, but the narrow sense has never been served in certain cases, ranging from Italian Mariners’ eventful act of killing Indian fishermen in the Indian Ocean, Sarabjith Singh’s case in the Pakistan prison, the border disputes with China, and the surveillance of USA over other nations and the subsequent request of Snowden for shelter in India. These issues raise certain serious questions on whose interest is being served.
Still, the burden is on the White Man’s shoulders.
Two fishermen were allegedly killed by the Italian mariners from the ship, which anchored in the Indian coast. The Kerala Police arrested the mariners alleging them with the direct involvement in the incident. This had resulted in a serious diplomatic conflict between India and Italy.
When Italy firmly argued that the incident happened in the international waters, and subsequently held the view that the issue should be treated in the International Court, India theoretically defended the argument while bending in front of the white men. From the archbishop of one church to most senior members in the cabinet show their allegiances to Italy. Even now, no fair conduct has been taken on the matter.
Sarabjith Singh: A Victim of the Cat and Mouse Game called India-Pak Relations
Who was Sarabjith Singh? How did he reach Pakistan? What did India do for saving him? These are the questions, for which we may get innumerable answers. Right from the beginning, India and Sarabjith’s family held the view that he was a poor farmer from India who mistakenly crossed the border, and Pak army arrested him mistaking him to be a spy. However, he was charged for some of the blast cases in Pakistan and convicted for capital punishment. Later, he requested for President’s mercy. By this time, a cry for his safety started in India, but nothing happened until he was subjected to capital punishment. Here, also the nation failed to protect its citizen in other countries and it has been reported that thousands of Indians live in Pak prisons and other countries in the world, and the only information our country has about the matter, is their number, not their names, or any other details. And the nation is not trying to procure the details, either.
Border ties: Xenophobia?
It has been observed by political philosophers that the national identity of Canada is shaped by their constant fear of their Big Brother, the US. As there are no real markers in the border between Canada and the US, the Canadians always fear a probable annexation by the US, which is termed as ‘garrison mentality’. Similar fear can be seen in the case of India and China also, but not without reasons. Though the present dispute deals with Arunachal Pradesh, India has problems with China over a long time. The Chinese still occupies some geographical areas of India under their control and nobody in India even bothers about this. The irony is that India is doing nothing to take back the occupied land, and is acting ignorance when similar cases are reported in the border area.
Edward Snowden, a Messiah of anarchy?
When India was labelled a third world nation, it had the guts to stand against the power blocks such as the USSR and the USA. During that time, India was the mediator among other third world nations. Together with Sukarno, Nasser, Tito, and Nkrumah, Panditji wrote a new chapter in the history of the world. However, when India became one of the potential members among power centres on the globe, it lost its influence among ‘small’ nations in the world.
Now, India is a mere puppet in the hands of the USA. This is evident when Snowden, a former employee of the USA hacked the security system of the country, and declared the country’s long term project to surveil the activities of other nations, including top diplomats to the common man. This project is known as “PRISM”. India is one among many nations, which was subjected to this constant surveillance.
When the leaders of the country heard about this, they expressed their “shock” and extreme “anguish”, but that’s all. Nothing was heard about India’s stand regarding this issue. Not just that, later, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange told the international media that India did not respond to the request from Snowden to get asylum in India.
These instances, of course there are many more similar cases, raise the question against the diplomatic policies of the country. Since the purpose of having diplomatic relations with other countries is to safeguard nation’s interest, in other words the interest of the people of the country, these recent developments are alarming.
PS:
This article has been formerly published in the college magazine "Framilothungatha Chithrangal", EMS Memorial College of Applied Science, Iritty.
However, on close scrutiny of whether it served any purpose to the nation, the uselessness of the entire affair will be revealed. While analyzing some of the recent instances, with India on the one side and some prominent or lesser prominent nations on the other, would show how poorly the nation’s interests have been served. We can see “nation’s interest” in its broad sense, but the narrow sense has never been served in certain cases, ranging from Italian Mariners’ eventful act of killing Indian fishermen in the Indian Ocean, Sarabjith Singh’s case in the Pakistan prison, the border disputes with China, and the surveillance of USA over other nations and the subsequent request of Snowden for shelter in India. These issues raise certain serious questions on whose interest is being served.
Still, the burden is on the White Man’s shoulders.
Two fishermen were allegedly killed by the Italian mariners from the ship, which anchored in the Indian coast. The Kerala Police arrested the mariners alleging them with the direct involvement in the incident. This had resulted in a serious diplomatic conflict between India and Italy.
When Italy firmly argued that the incident happened in the international waters, and subsequently held the view that the issue should be treated in the International Court, India theoretically defended the argument while bending in front of the white men. From the archbishop of one church to most senior members in the cabinet show their allegiances to Italy. Even now, no fair conduct has been taken on the matter.
Sarabjith Singh: A Victim of the Cat and Mouse Game called India-Pak Relations
Who was Sarabjith Singh? How did he reach Pakistan? What did India do for saving him? These are the questions, for which we may get innumerable answers. Right from the beginning, India and Sarabjith’s family held the view that he was a poor farmer from India who mistakenly crossed the border, and Pak army arrested him mistaking him to be a spy. However, he was charged for some of the blast cases in Pakistan and convicted for capital punishment. Later, he requested for President’s mercy. By this time, a cry for his safety started in India, but nothing happened until he was subjected to capital punishment. Here, also the nation failed to protect its citizen in other countries and it has been reported that thousands of Indians live in Pak prisons and other countries in the world, and the only information our country has about the matter, is their number, not their names, or any other details. And the nation is not trying to procure the details, either.
Border ties: Xenophobia?
It has been observed by political philosophers that the national identity of Canada is shaped by their constant fear of their Big Brother, the US. As there are no real markers in the border between Canada and the US, the Canadians always fear a probable annexation by the US, which is termed as ‘garrison mentality’. Similar fear can be seen in the case of India and China also, but not without reasons. Though the present dispute deals with Arunachal Pradesh, India has problems with China over a long time. The Chinese still occupies some geographical areas of India under their control and nobody in India even bothers about this. The irony is that India is doing nothing to take back the occupied land, and is acting ignorance when similar cases are reported in the border area.
Edward Snowden, a Messiah of anarchy?
When India was labelled a third world nation, it had the guts to stand against the power blocks such as the USSR and the USA. During that time, India was the mediator among other third world nations. Together with Sukarno, Nasser, Tito, and Nkrumah, Panditji wrote a new chapter in the history of the world. However, when India became one of the potential members among power centres on the globe, it lost its influence among ‘small’ nations in the world.
Now, India is a mere puppet in the hands of the USA. This is evident when Snowden, a former employee of the USA hacked the security system of the country, and declared the country’s long term project to surveil the activities of other nations, including top diplomats to the common man. This project is known as “PRISM”. India is one among many nations, which was subjected to this constant surveillance.
When the leaders of the country heard about this, they expressed their “shock” and extreme “anguish”, but that’s all. Nothing was heard about India’s stand regarding this issue. Not just that, later, Wikileaks founder Julian Assange told the international media that India did not respond to the request from Snowden to get asylum in India.
These instances, of course there are many more similar cases, raise the question against the diplomatic policies of the country. Since the purpose of having diplomatic relations with other countries is to safeguard nation’s interest, in other words the interest of the people of the country, these recent developments are alarming.
PS:
This article has been formerly published in the college magazine "Framilothungatha Chithrangal", EMS Memorial College of Applied Science, Iritty.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
Arjun, Phaalgun, Jishnu, Keeriti, Shwetvaahan....... and Srinivasan
I may agree with the conclusion and enjoyed the bitter satire also. But I have some differences with some ideas expressed, and also how Malayalies responded. Except Shashi Tharoor, and Srishanth's family, nobody openly or indirectly supported him during his bad days, because it is in the blood of Malayalies to feel jealous in the success of others. We never encourage individual success, whether it is Srisanth, or Prithviraj or Ranjini Haridas. These are the common targets of the virtual malayali, see FB posts about them. What they did wrong? They know what they are, what they want, how they can get it and that they have the ability to get it. It means Confidence, but Mallus( of course not Malayalis) consider it arrogance. I didn't react to the arrest of Sreesanth in the beginning time, but had doubt. Still I had doubt. I don't know whether he is engaged in the crime. If yes, hang him, no objection. But criticizing him for conducting Thulabhara in Guruvayour, for wearing some "sacred threads" in the hand, and criticizing his mother for conducting poojas when he played in the matches are irrelevant things to be talked about. As if, none of the Malayalis go to Guruvayur and do Thulabhara. Those who come to Guruvayur are from other planets. As if those who visit Shabari Mala are not at all Mallus. As is the one who conduct Poomoodal is not a Progressive Politician, as if the Mosque which is built for honouring the hair of the prophet is not in Kerala. If these things are done by the virtual Mallu alone, it can be forgiven, but the so called "revamped" police also doing the same thing. Evidences given to the press: Condom( as if having safe sex is bad), Ladies were with him ( as if it is a punishable crime to be with ladies), laptop ( as if only Sreesanth is having it), Smartphone( as if he is the one who invented it), money( he is a beggar arrested from the street), and hotel rooms allegedly booked in metros( oh my god) and he is said to have connections with the all powerful Davood (The Maharastrian Messiah of Indian cricket Almighty Sarath Pawar haven't even heard of Davood), and that too without evidence. So, Sreesanth is arrested, and then "evidences" are found, not in the other way, that too the POlice have been observing Sreesanth and his company from the beginning of the IPL( and now they got condoms, so what, you may say). And tell me, if I feel Sreesanth is a scapegoat, is it wrong?
I re-post the comment I have given to one of the posts soon after Sreesanth being arrested for spot-fixing mainly to show the continuous neglect of Southern players in India and also to highlight the prevalence of total corruption in the sports administration in India. It is not just that Sreesanth being denied justice and Srinivasan being escaped, but also include rejection of Arjuna Award to the prominent players such as Tom Joseph and Renjith Maheshwary. It is reaffirmed that sports in Indian sub-continent is only for the North Indian baboos and multi-millionaires, but not for players. When Sreesanth got life-time ban, Srinivasan is still controlling the board.
Tom Joseph has been nominated for Arjuna for nine times and rejected.
Renjith Maheshwari’s nomination was rejected because he had indeed failed a dope test in 2008 during a national meet in Kochi. In other words, even if he got an Olympics prize in future, he will not get any national recognition only because he failed a test in the past.
Sports Minister Jitendra Singh acted so well in the case of Tom Joseph, protecting the vote bank of Kerala. Though he is supposed to clean sports sector from the Kalmadis, he is singing in tunes with people like him. He has protected all the evils of India so well.
Anyone who observes these developments will see one point clearly. The rejection of nominations citing technicalities happens only in the case of Malayali sports stars. Why this happens?
Postscript:
In fact, Arjuna award is not at all suitable for us Malayalis. As per one story, the predecessors of most Malayalis fought in the Mahabharata war against Arjuna, and left North-India after the defeat of Duryodhana to escape from Arjuna. In other words, it is an epic-war!
I re-post the comment I have given to one of the posts soon after Sreesanth being arrested for spot-fixing mainly to show the continuous neglect of Southern players in India and also to highlight the prevalence of total corruption in the sports administration in India. It is not just that Sreesanth being denied justice and Srinivasan being escaped, but also include rejection of Arjuna Award to the prominent players such as Tom Joseph and Renjith Maheshwary. It is reaffirmed that sports in Indian sub-continent is only for the North Indian baboos and multi-millionaires, but not for players. When Sreesanth got life-time ban, Srinivasan is still controlling the board.
Tom Joseph has been nominated for Arjuna for nine times and rejected.
Sports Minister Jitendra Singh acted so well in the case of Tom Joseph, protecting the vote bank of Kerala. Though he is supposed to clean sports sector from the Kalmadis, he is singing in tunes with people like him. He has protected all the evils of India so well.
Anyone who observes these developments will see one point clearly. The rejection of nominations citing technicalities happens only in the case of Malayali sports stars. Why this happens?
Postscript:
In fact, Arjuna award is not at all suitable for us Malayalis. As per one story, the predecessors of most Malayalis fought in the Mahabharata war against Arjuna, and left North-India after the defeat of Duryodhana to escape from Arjuna. In other words, it is an epic-war!
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Nina Davuluri- Indian origin Miss America
Indian origin model Nina Davuluri won Miss America contest this year, which sparked negative responses from some people and it became sensational news in India.
The patriotic Indians became furious over the racist comments made by some through some social networking sites. But, why such a fuss? Surely, Miss America contest itself doesn’t aim at promoting Indian culture, but a celebration of Americanness. The values it propagate, the style they celebrate, the success they promote, everything is American. Of course, that doesn’t mean anyone can laugh at the model who won the price.
The point is, celebrating the success of Nina because of her Indian origin and denouncing it because of the same, both are wrong. If you are criticizing, criticize the very concept of beauty contest, which itself is racial. Who is determining ‘style’, whose ‘style’ is being judged and what is ‘style’ in their point of view? These are the questions that need to be asked.
One advantage of this controversy is that the event got a good market including the Indian peninsula. In other words, otherwise a local contest in one of the countries in the world became a hot topic in one of the most populated countries in the world, India.
The patriotic Indians became furious over the racist comments made by some through some social networking sites. But, why such a fuss? Surely, Miss America contest itself doesn’t aim at promoting Indian culture, but a celebration of Americanness. The values it propagate, the style they celebrate, the success they promote, everything is American. Of course, that doesn’t mean anyone can laugh at the model who won the price.
The point is, celebrating the success of Nina because of her Indian origin and denouncing it because of the same, both are wrong. If you are criticizing, criticize the very concept of beauty contest, which itself is racial. Who is determining ‘style’, whose ‘style’ is being judged and what is ‘style’ in their point of view? These are the questions that need to be asked.
One advantage of this controversy is that the event got a good market including the Indian peninsula. In other words, otherwise a local contest in one of the countries in the world became a hot topic in one of the most populated countries in the world, India.
Tuesday, September 17, 2013
Cast Away- A Review
We both had done the math. Kelly added it all up and... knew she had to let me go. I added it up, and knew that I had... lost her. 'cos I was never gonna get off that island. I was gonna die there, totally alone. I was gonna get sick, or get injured or something. The only choice I had, the only thing I could control was when, and how, and where it was going to happen. So... I made a rope and I went up to the summit, to hang myself. I had to test it, you know? Of course. You know me. And the weight of the log, snapped the limb of the tree, so I-I - , I couldn't even kill myself the way I wanted to. I had power over “nothing”. And that's when this feeling came over me like a warm blanket. I knew, somehow, that I had to stay alive. Somehow. I had to keep breathing. Even though there was no reason to hope. And all my logic said that I would never see this place again. So that's what I did. I stayed alive. I kept breathing. And one day my logic was proven all wrong because the tide came in, and gave me a sail. And now, here I am. I'm back. In Memphis, talking to you. I have ice in my glass... And I've lost her all over again. I'm so sad that I don't have Kelly. But I'm so grateful that she was with me on that island. And I know what I have to do now. I gotta keep breathing. Because tomorrow the sun will rise. Who knows what the tide could bring? Chuck Noland, Cast Away
The movie Cast Away is one of the foremost among the genre called survival movie, a genre in which the main plot surrounds around a hero/heroine who is in a struggle for survival. In the movie, the hero Chuck Noland is an employee in FedEx. He is in a relationship when the movie begins. The action turns into a new dimension when the hero’s plane crashed and he landed in a lonely island. After a gap of some years, he reaches back to his home town safely.
First and foremost, Cast Away is a survival movie. In this genre, the plot goes around a single individual, here Chuck Noland. Mostly, other characters are insignificant, or will get only very few roles. One classic example will be Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe. Though it cannot be considered as an essential feature, absence of strong female characters can also be seen in these kinds of movies. In Cast Away also, the heroine gets only little bit of importance. When the psychological struggle of the hero gets more focus, the same mental struggle of the heroine is limited to one or two scenes. In other words, the hero is one who faces a real challenge, and overcome all these hazards with a strong will power, which is rare or even beyond human abilities, the heroine is submissive and accepts the suggestions of the society and marries another man due to social pressure ( in this movie). Therefore, we can say that the movie is ‘his’ struggle rather than ‘hers.’
Is it possible for someone to survive in a lonely island without human contact and nothing to eat? The answer depends on how we see the world. A normal man would consider it impossible to live without the help of anyone. Some others feel that if we have a strong will power and the help of god, anything is possible. However, living alone in an island without any connection with the ‘real world’ is impossible, in my opinion. A person, who gets into a totally unfamiliar world, a lonely island or in any other foreign place, cannot easily adapt to the newer changes. He will always try to analyze and contrast this alien/dream world with his ‘real world’. For this, he needs something to connect with his real world, an image, a photo or anything, to constantly reminds him of his real world where he can go back at once. This totem is very much important for remaining sane in this other world. In the movie, the football which Noland names as Mr. Wilson becomes his true companion.
Mr. Wilson helps his to connect with the real world, but once the hero arrives to his home town safely, this totem is no longer relevant. That’s why Mr. Wilson disappears in the sea when the hero goes back.
The movie is significant in other respects also. As discussed earlier, the movie is about ‘his story’. It is the story of a man who overcomes all the difficulties but finally becomes victorious. In other words, “it is possible, or everything is possible” if we have a mind to achieve it. The movie is the celebration of individual success, a success no one can thwart.
The movie Cast Away is one of the foremost among the genre called survival movie, a genre in which the main plot surrounds around a hero/heroine who is in a struggle for survival. In the movie, the hero Chuck Noland is an employee in FedEx. He is in a relationship when the movie begins. The action turns into a new dimension when the hero’s plane crashed and he landed in a lonely island. After a gap of some years, he reaches back to his home town safely.
First and foremost, Cast Away is a survival movie. In this genre, the plot goes around a single individual, here Chuck Noland. Mostly, other characters are insignificant, or will get only very few roles. One classic example will be Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe. Though it cannot be considered as an essential feature, absence of strong female characters can also be seen in these kinds of movies. In Cast Away also, the heroine gets only little bit of importance. When the psychological struggle of the hero gets more focus, the same mental struggle of the heroine is limited to one or two scenes. In other words, the hero is one who faces a real challenge, and overcome all these hazards with a strong will power, which is rare or even beyond human abilities, the heroine is submissive and accepts the suggestions of the society and marries another man due to social pressure ( in this movie). Therefore, we can say that the movie is ‘his’ struggle rather than ‘hers.’
Is it possible for someone to survive in a lonely island without human contact and nothing to eat? The answer depends on how we see the world. A normal man would consider it impossible to live without the help of anyone. Some others feel that if we have a strong will power and the help of god, anything is possible. However, living alone in an island without any connection with the ‘real world’ is impossible, in my opinion. A person, who gets into a totally unfamiliar world, a lonely island or in any other foreign place, cannot easily adapt to the newer changes. He will always try to analyze and contrast this alien/dream world with his ‘real world’. For this, he needs something to connect with his real world, an image, a photo or anything, to constantly reminds him of his real world where he can go back at once. This totem is very much important for remaining sane in this other world. In the movie, the football which Noland names as Mr. Wilson becomes his true companion.
The movie is significant in other respects also. As discussed earlier, the movie is about ‘his story’. It is the story of a man who overcomes all the difficulties but finally becomes victorious. In other words, “it is possible, or everything is possible” if we have a mind to achieve it. The movie is the celebration of individual success, a success no one can thwart.
Friday, September 13, 2013
Friday, 13th Narendra Modi as the Prime Minister
“Don't walk under any ladders, Don't break any mirrors, Don't spill any salt, And don't walk by any black cats. Happy Friday the 13th!”
On 13th Friday, 2013, the BJP Parliamentary Board has ‘unanimously’ declared Narendra Modi as their prime ministerial candidate. As the old guards became useless and most of the second-level leaders do not have mass support, Modi’s succession is easily predicted, and political observers were curious only to know when it will happen. However, what message this action gives to the people of India. One easy answer is Modi can lead India to the path of development, as he did in Gujarath ( as he did everything else in Gujarath, including the riot!). But we need to ask the disturbing question, how Modi’s concept of development is different from that of his counter-part, i.e., the Congress.
Evidently, he is not against multi-national corporations, wooing capital flow from the other countries, or anything like that. In other words, his idea of development is in no way different from that of his opponents. But, one difference maybe that he will be stricter in implementing the plans and programs. His dictatorial style won’t be suitable to a multi-cultural society like India.
Let us hope for the best!
On 13th Friday, 2013, the BJP Parliamentary Board has ‘unanimously’ declared Narendra Modi as their prime ministerial candidate. As the old guards became useless and most of the second-level leaders do not have mass support, Modi’s succession is easily predicted, and political observers were curious only to know when it will happen. However, what message this action gives to the people of India. One easy answer is Modi can lead India to the path of development, as he did in Gujarath ( as he did everything else in Gujarath, including the riot!). But we need to ask the disturbing question, how Modi’s concept of development is different from that of his counter-part, i.e., the Congress.
Evidently, he is not against multi-national corporations, wooing capital flow from the other countries, or anything like that. In other words, his idea of development is in no way different from that of his opponents. But, one difference maybe that he will be stricter in implementing the plans and programs. His dictatorial style won’t be suitable to a multi-cultural society like India.
Let us hope for the best!
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
"Drink Alcohol, Be Healthy!"
However, I cannot find fault with the governmental system because we are living in a country where a religious document such as the Sama-Veda talked about different ways to make liquor. The govt is trying to revive the ancient civilization by forming an institution such as KSBC, and the people are just supporting that endeavor of the govt!
For further reading, see here and here.
Saturday, August 31, 2013
Ummaachu- The Saga of a Brave Woman
Ummaachu by UroobMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ummaachu (Beloved) is a novel written by famous Malayalam writer Uroob (P.C. Kuttikrishnan). Uroob (1915 – 1979) was considered as one of the most important among the progressive writers in Kerala, along with Vaikom Mohammed Basheer, Thakazhi Shivashankara Pillai, Karoor Neelakanta Pillai, S.K. Pottekkatt, and Keshava Dev. As most writers of the period, his writings portrayed the life of the people of Kerala during the time of Independent Struggle, including the social, political and cultural dimensions. We can see the Kerala during the early period of 1950s, especially in a novel like Ummaachu.
Ummaachu is predominently a love story, or stories covering generations. In the first generation, the protagonist Ummaachu is in love with Mayan, who has no social status, income, and he is an orphan. Due to family pressure, she is forced to marry Beeran, another childhood friend of Ummaachu. Beeran is the only son of a wealthy man, so Ummaachu’s family cannot think otherwise, except but to marry off her with the wealthy scion. However, her mind already accepted Beeran, but as she is a woman who has no voice in the family, she marries Beeran. Beeran leaves the village soon after the marriage and became a wealthy man in Wayanad, Malabar. He comes back after a few years and meets Ummaachu. He finds that he still has a place in her heart, which makes him in an ecstatic mindset, and as a result, he kills Beeran at night. Later, he gets married with Ummaachu, and accepts Abdu, son of Beeran in Ummaachu, as his own son. He with the help of his close associate Chaappunni Nair, manages to build a happy home there, and he has two boys in Ummaachu, Marakkar and Hydrose. In his later life, in old age, he feels guilty over the murder of Beeran and commits suicide.
Another love story that can be seen in the novel is between Abdu, elder son of Ummaachu and Chinnammu, daughter of Chaappunni Nair. This narration shows the bold stand of the author as having an affair between a Muslim man and a Hindu woman even in literature can create a hostile reaction from the readers in a sensitive place such as Kerala, where even now the issue of “love jihad” spurs controversy. However, as the predominant concern of the novelist is the importance of strong relationships among human beings irrespective of caste, creed and religion, this twist is unavoidable. This in a way shows the nationalist concerns of the author, that of an India where human relationship is built based on human feelings and concerns rather than religion. This idea is further developed as Abdu became an active participant of Congress party and in the assertion of Chinnammu that “we are not against people”.
The novel further explores the life of people in Kerala during the 1950s. The inequalities and superstitions in the life of both Hindus and Muslims are shown in the work. It is a Kerala where inequalities in the name of caste can be seen, where women were being out casted, where polygamy was prevalent.
Apart from the nationalist concerns of the author, powerful critique of social injustice, the novelist also narrated the intricate mental struggle each character has gone through. Ummaachu at first is forced to marry a man whom she doesn’t love, and later she gets married with the man who killed her husband. This situation puts her in a difficult situation as a struggle goes on between Abdu, her son in the first marriage and her husband, Mayan. She cannot leave Abdu or Mayan. The condition of Abdu is also filled with emotional turmoil. He has to live with the man who killed his father, a Hamlet like situation. The same ‘to be or not to be’ question can be seen here. Due to the emotional trauma, Mayan commits suicide. Again, Ummaachu has to see the ‘cold war’ between her sons, Abdu on the one hand and Marakkar and Abdu on the other.
The language used to narrate the novel is also of greater importance. Any writer who wants to narrate the story of Muslim community in Kerala will face this challenge, the challenge of selecting the language, as the dialect used by the Muslim community in Kerala is in contrast with other regions, or communities. I am of the opinion that the linguistic difference is based on the geographical difference rather than religious. Any native Hindu in the Malabar area can understand the language of Muslims. However, we cannot neglect the fact that a variant of Malayalam known as “Mappila Malayalam” was prevalent in Malabar. Vaikkom Muhammad Basheer was one of the rare creed of writers who got immortality by being able to record the features of this language variant. Though Uroob used this style in the novel, the determining style is that of Standard Malayalam.
Overall, we can say that Ummachu is a saga (a narrative telling the adventures of a hero or a family) of a woman who determined to change her destiny by questioning the dogmas of the society.
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Friday, August 30, 2013
Fight Superstition
Do you think we need to ban 'Satan Seva', Jyothisham' and other superstitions in the country?
Monday, August 26, 2013
The Kaleidoscopic Vision in Black Hawk Down
Reviewing movies is something which I never attempted before; it is not that they are not worth talking about, but there are only few movies which will compel you to talk out something. Black Hawk Down (2011) is a movie like that, especially in the contemporary scenario, where the world police, the USA is trying for a war against Syria. In other words, it’s the time I saw the movie that compelled me to write this, rather than the movie itself. Whenever any conflicts happen in the other nations, the US Govt takes it granted that it is their duty to intervene in the issue, often with the justifications such as to ‘save democracy, war on terror’ and so on. Though we can find a ‘colonialist ideology’ in the approaches of the ‘self-declared savior of the world’, it has been criticized often that the US Govt has some special interests such as oil, arms trade, etc in the move. During the time of Iraq war, the armed forces reiterated the claim that Saddam Hussain had had ‘weapons of mass destruction’. In the same way, in order to interfere in the Syrian Civil War, they are alleging that the Syrian forces have used ‘chemical weapons’ in the war. In fact, the US often makes these kinds of allegations without much scrutiny. American films also cater to these ideas of the US Govt, for which the best example is the movie, Black Hawk Down.
The movie was based on an actual event happened during the Somalian Civil War in which the US forces tried to capture the Somali warlord Mohammad Farrah Aidid. The movie celebrates American heroism even at the time of great difficulties. One dialogue in the movie shows the ideal of the common American soldier:
Hoot: When I go home people'll ask me, "Hey Hoot, why do you do it man? What, you some kinda war junkie?" You know what I'll say? I won't say a goddamn word. Why? They won't understand. They won't understand why we do it. They won't understand that it's about the men next to you, and that's it. That's all it is.”
When the American soldiers are portrayed as the symbols of courage, brotherhood, and men of great ideals, their opponents are the epitome of cruelty, brutality, savagery and even their women take weapons to kill the angels in the world, the American soldier.
At one instance, the Somali leader, Atto says to the general “You shouldn't have come here. This is a civil war. This is our war, not yours.” Then, the general, General Garrison replies, “300,000 dead and counting. That's not a war Mr. Atto. That's genocide.” If we applies the same logic on what the Americans did in the Iraq or Afghan war, we can see the same ideology working.
The narration is one-sided; we can easily see the construction of the ‘other’ and the ‘self’ in the movie. When each soldier getting killed by the Somali is shown with great sentiment and extreme feelings, the Americans killing the Somalis were being justified, since they are eliminating the ‘evil’. When the American soldier is portrayed as a gentleman in his captivity, the opposing war leader is shown as arrogant and brute. See his conversation,
Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan: You Americans don't smoke anymore. You live long, dull and uninteresting lives.
[Durant is being interrogated]
Durant: My government will never negotiate for me.
Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan: Then perhaps you and I can negotiate, huh? Soldier to Soldier.
Durant: I am not in charge
Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan: Course not, you have the power to kill, but not negotiate. In Somalia, Killing is Negotiation.
Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan: Do you think if you get General Aidid, we will simply put down our weapons and adopt American democracy? That the killing will stop? We know this. Without victory, there will be no peace. There will always be killing, see? This is how things are in our world.
The American soldiers are still possessing what we call the ‘white-man’s burden’, thinking that it is their duty to civilize the exotic, Asian-African tribes. The character Eversmann at one point declares, “Look, these people, they have no jobs, no food, no education, no future. I just figure that we have two things we can do. Help, or we can sit back and watch a country destroy itself on CNN. Right?” This is the justification, I believe, each American man has to defend the US intervention in the affairs of other nations, right?
The movie was based on an actual event happened during the Somalian Civil War in which the US forces tried to capture the Somali warlord Mohammad Farrah Aidid. The movie celebrates American heroism even at the time of great difficulties. One dialogue in the movie shows the ideal of the common American soldier:
Hoot: When I go home people'll ask me, "Hey Hoot, why do you do it man? What, you some kinda war junkie?" You know what I'll say? I won't say a goddamn word. Why? They won't understand. They won't understand why we do it. They won't understand that it's about the men next to you, and that's it. That's all it is.”
When the American soldiers are portrayed as the symbols of courage, brotherhood, and men of great ideals, their opponents are the epitome of cruelty, brutality, savagery and even their women take weapons to kill the angels in the world, the American soldier.
At one instance, the Somali leader, Atto says to the general “You shouldn't have come here. This is a civil war. This is our war, not yours.” Then, the general, General Garrison replies, “300,000 dead and counting. That's not a war Mr. Atto. That's genocide.” If we applies the same logic on what the Americans did in the Iraq or Afghan war, we can see the same ideology working.
The narration is one-sided; we can easily see the construction of the ‘other’ and the ‘self’ in the movie. When each soldier getting killed by the Somali is shown with great sentiment and extreme feelings, the Americans killing the Somalis were being justified, since they are eliminating the ‘evil’. When the American soldier is portrayed as a gentleman in his captivity, the opposing war leader is shown as arrogant and brute. See his conversation,
Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan: You Americans don't smoke anymore. You live long, dull and uninteresting lives.
[Durant is being interrogated]
Durant: My government will never negotiate for me.
Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan: Then perhaps you and I can negotiate, huh? Soldier to Soldier.
Durant: I am not in charge
Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan: Course not, you have the power to kill, but not negotiate. In Somalia, Killing is Negotiation.
Abdullah 'Firimbi' Hassan: Do you think if you get General Aidid, we will simply put down our weapons and adopt American democracy? That the killing will stop? We know this. Without victory, there will be no peace. There will always be killing, see? This is how things are in our world.
The American soldiers are still possessing what we call the ‘white-man’s burden’, thinking that it is their duty to civilize the exotic, Asian-African tribes. The character Eversmann at one point declares, “Look, these people, they have no jobs, no food, no education, no future. I just figure that we have two things we can do. Help, or we can sit back and watch a country destroy itself on CNN. Right?” This is the justification, I believe, each American man has to defend the US intervention in the affairs of other nations, right?
Friday, August 23, 2013
Colossus by Kakkanadan- A novel which is still significant
Colossus by KakkanadanMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
Colossus is a Malayalam novel written by the modernist writer George Varghese Kakkanadan.
"Known for ushering in a whiff of modernism in Malayalam novels in the 1960s, novelist George Varghese Kakkanadan .... was a great storyteller who charmed readers through challenging Malayalam writing styles of the time.
It all began 50 years ago in New Delhi where he was having a cushy job in Railways. But he saw his stint with Railways a part of the journey to his cherished destination: a novelist. And when he felt that he reached the destination after a 10-year journey, he disembarked from Railways.
He himself had once said that he found Railways uncertain and so sought a way out to take him to the tracks of writing. Though he had started writing much before the railway stint and even wrote the novel Vasoori, it was his second novel Sakshi that brought him laurels.
The book had a great impact on the younger generation of Malayalam readers and was credited with breaking new grounds in Malayalam literature. Though labelled by his readers as a ‘formidable ultramodern Malayalam writer,' Kakkanadan himself was of the view that modernism in literature has no convincing rationale.
Style of writing
During an interview with The Hindu several years ago, he said 'the writings of Shakespeare, Tolstoy, and even Kalidasan had all the ingredients which work to make a literary creation modern. It is just my style of writing which was interpreted by readers as modern.'
There were times when he completed a novel within two months. The first two were followed by Ushnamekhala, Ajnathayude Thazhvara, Parankimala, Ezham Mudra, Edavapathi, Barsaathi, Ee Naikaluday Lokam, and Orodha, which won him the 1984 Kerala Sahithya Akademi award. Then came Mazha Nizhal Pradesham, Colossus, and other short-story collections.
The compulsive writer began to experience ‘inertia' with the publication of Colossus. A cataract operation in 1998 and diabetes led to the disinclination though there was no dearth of ideas. During the interview, he said his magnum opus was yet to come and that he was working on two novels.
One of them he named as Kshatriyan, which he said would be his own story and his swan song. 'Its publication will take time since I do not want to compromise on quality'. But fate had it that Kakkanadan had to finish his journey without completing it.
Though he had the opportunity to closely know veteran Communist leaders and his house was a hideout for leaders such as M.N. Govindan Nair and T.V. Thomas during the days when communists were hounded, Kakkanadan had said that he was never impressed by Communism and that he never had any political leanings.
'I believe in God, but it confuses me when someone asks me to indentify the God I believe.' In his words, the members of all religions are fundamentalists, but it is when these fundamentalists get converted into fanatics that they thirst for each others blood.
Kakkanadan had admitted with pride that the Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky had a tremendous influence on him and his works. But his source of inspiration was life itself. He was of the opinion that young Malayalam writers are writings and Malayalam literature as such would grow richer through them." (The Hindu, October 19, 2011
Updated: October 19, 2011 18:20 IST)
The noun 'Colossus' means "someone or something that is extremely big or extremely important"; it must be originated from the great statue 'Colossus of Rhodes' which was built in one of the Greek villages Greece in the past.
The story is that Rudrabhairavan was born as the son of Rudranandan and his mother was a 'devadasi'. During his birth time itself there were bad omen as in the time of Duryodhana's birth. The sorcerer predicted that the son will bring him fortune and trained the child all the ideas to acquire power. And at last, the son became the prime minister of India by practising what his father professed. However, during the journey, he understood the meaninglessness of the whole venture and tried to deviate from the path. At last, both the father and the son died during a blast which happened in the Ashram of his father, maybe as predicted by his father.
The novel is significant in the sense that it shows the decay of the political system of India. The historic time period of the novel is from the Gandhian struggle to Nehru's rule. Indirectly, the novelist mentions the struggle by Gandhi, his assassination, Netaji's case, Nehru's rule and his deviation from his professed path, and the unending struggle for power in which leaders started having illicit relations with concubines and anti-national powers.
Though the theme and the way he narrates the events are of greater importance, the criticism he made is not that much sharp as that of O.V. Vijayan as he did in his Dharmapuranam, or so I felt. Even then, the novelist was successful in capturing the decay in the system.
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Monday, August 19, 2013
A Short- Visit to Kushal Nagar, Karnataka
Last Sunday, along with my friends Geo, Dills and Jinju, I made a journey to the Tibetan settlement in Kushal Nagar, Karnataka. Someone said, “Focus on the journey, not the destination.” In our trip, it does not mean the place which we visited is a bad one; instead it is an important place because of the cultural and political significance of the area. However, as we did not plan the trip, we could not spend much time, barely half an hour in the destination. 
There is somewhat 100 kilometers from Iritty to Kushal Nagar; even though we did not have any idea about the distance or the condition of the roads, we started the journey in motor bicycles from the presumption that we can reach there within two hours. Chilling rain, poor roads turned the drive a miserable one. 
We started at 11.30 and reached there at 4 pm. On the way, as the condition of roads was really bad in some places, we fell from the bike and had to buy a new pair of jeans for my friend. Once we reached Kushal Nagar, we went to a hotel to have food (had Chicken Biriyani in fact!). As the rain became stronger and we need to get back to our homes as soon as possible (Geo had to reach Kottiyoor), we returned from the Golden Temple after spending barely half an hour. 
We took some photos, of course, and could see some nice girls (one of the objective of the game), it was not that much satisfactory. The return trip was awful. It was raining! Though the rain stopped pouring after sometime, light mist started clouding the road through the forest. However, we slowly came down through the cloudy forest. Once we reached the Karnataka check post, it was around 7.45. The policemen in the check post demanded the documents such as driving license, which unfortunately only one of us had at the time. The officer then said, he won’t let us pass the road without the document. He asked us to pay INR 1000 as compensation, but after some ‘bargaining’ we paid INR 200 and left. We reached Iritty somewhat at 8.30. There weren’t any buses at that time to Peravoor-Kottiyoor route, so our friends, Dills and Jinju took us to Peravoor; from there Geo went to his home and me in my home.
