English
Message from the Leader of the Opposition
Editorial
A year has passed since Covid19 was first detected in Wuhan, China. The world is still reeling within the grip of this unprecedented and unpredictable crisis. While in countries like America and India, thousands of lives are being lost every single day, we are...
Introduction to Symposium
Freedom of expression is regarded as the most significant fundamental right of a citizen in a democratic society. This right is of paramount importance as far as writers are concerned. Since “Pen is mightier than the sword’, writers have a very vital role to play in...
Writers should fulfill their social obligation
Let me preface this piece by disclosing that I am not a writer. But as someone with an interest in politics, and having run as a candidate in a state election, I have thought a great deal about this topic. George Orwell, in “Why I Write,” asserts that “the opinion...
Writers and the political process
Writers should fulfill their social obligation by participating directly and actively in the political process in a democratic society”. This is not a topic that would have occurred to me; still I will attempt to respond. As human beings, we all have a view on topical...
The Impact of COVID-19 Crisis on Indian Economy
Coronavirus was first detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The precious lives of thousands of people were lost. The virus named Covid -19 spread to Europe and the U S. In India, the first Covid positive case was reported in Kerala in January 2020. By this time,...
COVID-19 and Environmental Impacts
Prelude The World Health Organisation declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus as a global pandemic on 11 March 2020. As at the time of writing this article, we are approaching the first (hopefully last) anniversary of the identification of COVID-19 virus in...
COVID-19 and Psychological Side Effects
The effects of COVID-19 have been multi-faceted – the impacts on mankind have been profound – be it economic, health, social etc. There are considerable psychological influences related to all these. Registered Psychologist Donna Theeyatt spoke to Keralanaadam...
How will COVID-19 shape us?
Previous pandemics, the Great Depression and more recent world crises such as 9/11 and the 2008 global financial crisis have had huge ramifications on individual lives and society. So too, COVID-19 will leave its indelible mark on habits and attitudes based on the...
Learning during the Pandemic
The year 2020, a historic one, is almost at its end. What started with ravaging bushfires across Australia soon moved into a global pandemic. Humanity was caught off guard like never before. It affected every aspect of life as we know it. It was even more so for those...
Blindsided by 20:20 – LAX > LHR > SYD
2019 December 31st, London: Celebrated New Year’s Eve with friends, full of merriment, hope and optimism about the new and possible clear-sightedness that a year titled 2020 could bring. Blissfully unaware that in under three months, life as we know it, would be...
Wedding Realities of a Malayalee Girl
Getting married is a stage in life that is expected for a Malayalee girl. From when you are young, your community and family are all anticipating the day you fall into the arms of your husband. However, no one likes to talk about the realities of being a female in our...
Science Process Skills
In the 2019 edition of Keralanadam, I published an article dealing with three aspects related to this topic. They were: (1) What is science about? (2) Science process skills in relation to the scientific method and (3) Observation and Classification. Let me elaborate...
Middle Age Saga – Second Phase of Life
“Try to be surrounded by flowers and little children; keep your trust in God when you struggle to beat middle age crisis. Don’t allow anger, depression or anxiety to rule over you”, my mum used to babble in my teens! As a teen and as a vibrant youth, I never...
Karma – The theory of action and reaction as per the ancient scriptures
Most of us have heard about Newton's third law of Physics – for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. In a broad sense, the law of Karma also works the same way. It is a spiritual law that essentially states that good karma – deeds – begets good...
Yeaay Australia
“Yeaaaaayyh Ausraaliaaa…”, my soon-to-be-six-year-old son yelled at the top of his voice as he sensed our aircraft descending and saw the modestly lit Sydney skyline at about 9 PM on 21 October, a year ago. His childish exuberance broke what was close to a pin-drop...
It’s All in The Words
A Window When I was in Year 7, first year of high school in NSW Australia, a teacher who was also the School Principal decided to give us a taste of Science and English. We were about twelve or thirteen. He said he was going to define 'window' in scientific terms. I...
The Silver Bracelet*
*(This tale, inspired by the 5th century moral epic Tamil poem, “Silappatikaram”, is a very liberal re-telling of that classic) In a time when citizens expected their rulers to govern wisely, a tall, dark woman called Amrita and her handsome husband Manju lived in a...
The Scent of Motherhood
“Mamma, Riju baba’s crying.” “Rock her. I’m coming. Pass me the headband and stop whining, Ragi.” “Mammaaaa, Riju fell down!” Riju fell down. So, I should go to her and pick her up and sing her a lullaby and whisper sweet things to her. I should scold Ragu. So, I do....
My Room
It is four-walled, my room. A window sealed with glass closed in with space defined by brick and lime. A room, not distinctive like any other you can find in a suburban house sitting pretty on a tree-lined street. There was a time when the walls were real,...
Bleeding Smile
I saw her floating along, like a feather in the air. Spying on the hills and valleys, whispering to the flowery alleys, sharing a secret to her allies. Again she swam along the sky. As her acquaintances passed by, she smiled, to everyone on the way. She smiled...
Unity in Victory, Follower’s Plea
Unity in Victory Motherland, Hindustan, You hold your people up, keep the land full of life. Now war has taken its toll, Tell me, why was it ever essential? The blood of my brothers and sisters scar, Mind penetrated with a thousand knives. But no, unity is key,...
Journey of the Anonymous – Angel of Jakarta
The girl playing around me had only one small card, possibly from some bin. She sat down every minute to scratch it with a white stone and then put it back in her toybox, which also contained some caram coins. Her most exciting game was to take all of them out – four...
Feedback
I greatly admire & appreciate the efforts put by Jacob & team to bring out Kerala Naadam. I was privileged to have my Malayalam story and cartoons published in Kerala Naadam . I greatly appreciate Jacob's efforts to get me a copy in Canberra too. Talking about...
Feedback
Dear Jacob Thank you for inviting me to comment on this magazine (Kerala Naadam 2019). I can only comment on its English content, as I am not of the Malayalee community. I have known Jacob for many years and we have discussed many topics. I am impressed with his...