kkaallaa nneewwss...sri m.t.vasudevan nair. if a malayali reader is asked to name three best...

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The scent of early spring is now in the air despite

the weather continuing to throw occasional

surprises. After a brief period of hibernation, KALA

springs back to a new year of activities.

Yet another eventful KALA season has flown by.

Every year it seems hard to augment the

superlatives of the previous season. But KALA

never ceases to delight us.

Our Spring issue of KALA NEWS highlights among

other activities and notifications some of the

tremendous achievements and commendable work

by our members.

While the November Nadumuttam meeting

featured MT’s ‘ ’, the theme for 2012

KALA Literary Evening centred around ‘Friendship’. Our members have not only been active in various

fields of charity work, there have been wedding

bells and one young KALA member captured our

imagination by winning the ‘Face of Europe’.

Read more…

Events so far Nadumuttam

Literary Evening Wedding Bells

Charity work Career Moves

Face of Europe Obituary

Palmleaf Photo Gallery

Your ideas/suggestions for our KALA NEWS

Spring 2013

KKAALLAA NNEEWWSS

Please forward any news for KALA Newsletter to: [email protected] & [email protected]

FFoorrtthhccoommiinngg EEvveennttss

KALA AGM: Sat 16th Mar 2013

… followed by 1 ½ hours of entertainment, showcased

by our very own KALA talent.

Venue: Holywell Community centre, Tolpits Lane,

Watford, Herts WD18 9QD

Meeting: Sat 20th Apr 2013

Members are warmly invited to come along and join this

informal and thoroughly enjoyable day. You can either

actively participate or just sit back and listen to the

animated discussions. If, however you cannot be

present, we would be happy to discuss your thoughts

and feedback on the books below on your behalf.

Please email:

[email protected] or [email protected]

Books for discussion: ‘Ummachu’ by Urub and

‘Tale of Two States’ by Chetan Bhagat.

We look forward to your support!

(Venue/time will be communicated nearer the date)

KALA Walk/Cricket/Onam: Sun 25

th Aug 2013

Provisional date. We hope to combine these events.

KALA Annual Day: Sat 12th Oct 2013

(Event details will be confirmed at a later date)

See KALA Photos on our website: http://www.kala.org.uk/photogallery.html

Visit our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/KeralaArtsAndLiteraryAssoci

ation?fref=ts

Twitter account - https://twitter.com/uk_kala

KALA @uk_kala

Registered Charity: 1144122

KKeerraallaa AArrttss aanndd LLiitteerraarryy AAssssoocciiaattiioonn

Spring 2013

Spring 2013 KALA NEWS Features

mailto:[email protected]



http://www.kala.org.uk/photogallery.html

http://www.facebook.com/KeralaArtsAndLiteraryAssociation?fref=ts

http://www.facebook.com/KeralaArtsAndLiteraryAssociation?fref=ts

https://twitter.com/uk_kala

.

The film discussed was ‘22 Female Kottayam’, based on the stories of women from Kerala, seeking jobs abroad with attractive salaries and how they fall victims to the Visa Agencies, become rape victims and end up in prison. All participants found the discussions intellectually stimulating and interesting. Thanks for the hospitality provided by Santosh and Deepa hosting the evening and providing delicious food! Nadumuttam is progressing well and we hope new members will join the group. Next meeting is scheduled to take place on 20th April 2013.

Books for discussion: ‘Ummachu’ by Urub and ‘Two States’ by Chetan Bhagat.

Literary Evening On 8/12/2012 at Oakmere Community Centre, Potters Bar, Hertfordshire. The theme for the evening was “Friendship”. The evening started off with an introductory talk by the Literary Co-ordinator. A wide range of subjects was presented and debated.

The journey started from epics such as & തിരുക്കുറള്‍ and covered the philosophic works of Confucius, Aristotle & Plato, poems & short

stories of K Kunchupillai & Chowallor Krishnankutty and culminated in participants’ own compositions and review of modern books such as ‘A Fine Balance’ by Rohinton Mistry & the ‘The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time’ by Mark Hadden – all relating to the theme of ‘Friendship’.

The interactions and discussions between participants and audience made the evening very interesting and meaningful. KALA’s youngsters added a new dimension to the event by reading their own compositions, poems of famous authors and presenting the book, ‘Hunger Games’ by Suzanne Collins on PowerPoint.

KALA once again proved their tradition of delivering the event at a high standard. Well done all!

EEvveennttss ssoo ffaarr……

On 24th Nov 2012 at Santosh & Deepa’s

house. The book discussed was by Sri M.T.Vasudevan Nair.

If a Malayali reader is asked to name three best novelists/short story writers during the past 60 years, no doubt they will converge on M.T.Vasudevan Nair, O.V.Vijayan and Anand. Each has his own narrative style and craft. Of the three, M.T. is the most popular, for he is not only a novelist/short story writer but also a script writer par excellence, film director (നിര്മാ ല്യം) and editor. Many consider MT’s as his Magnum Opus.

The Novel is based on Mahabharata. It depicts all characters as ordinary mortals, they have no divine powers. M.T. in his unique writing style portrays Bhima as a hero in this book.

M.T. took six years to complete the novel after journeying through several versions of Mahabharata and its studies. He narrates the incidents which led to the enmity between Bhima and Duryodhana. Even today it remains a best seller. When it was serialised in കല്ാ കൗമുദി weekly accompanied by Nampoothiri’s sketches, the readership suddenly increased by 40 - 50%.

No other testimony is required to qualify M.T. The master story teller of Malayalam. He has won several prizes and awards. In 1996 he won the prestigious award.

Characters like Krishna, Karna, Dhrona & Panchali were all topics of discussion on the day. However, the main focus was on the hero “Bhima” being born as the middle Pandava prince, his thoughts and frustrtations.

The first child is always ആ , the youngest the pet of the family, but the middle one? Other points discussed were the love triangle in his novels/short stories and portrayal of the female characters, most of them never had a life they longed for and end up leading an unhappy life!

Did you know? M.T. (മഠത്തില്‍‍ വാ സുദദവന്‍‍‍നാ യര്‍) was awarded

India's 3rd

highest civilian honour ‘Padma Bhushan’ & the highest literary award in India ‘Jnanpith’

(KALA) UK is a registered charity with the objective of promoting the culture of Kerala for public benefit and social cohesion

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jnanpith_Award

Congratulations Dr Vijayanand who was

awarded Master of Science (MSc) in

Audiovestibular Medicine by the University

College London in 2012.

Dr Vijayanand is currently working as a

Consultant at Barnet and Chase Farm NHS Trust.

Congratulations Prof Gopalakrishnan Netuveli

who moved from Imperial College, London to the

Institute of Health and Human Development

(IHHD), University of East London as Professor of

Public Health. Prof Netuveli says he sees an

intersection between KALA and his work. IHHD

has pioneered in the use of art and culture in

producing health & he uses street plays and puppet

theatre in his latest project in the deprived areas of

Hyderabad. He continues his relationship with

Imperial College London as a visiting Professor

and also holds an honorary chair at University

College London.

Well done Jyoti Nayar and friends for

organising the “Gun and Knife” event for Awaz,

the women’s charity in Redbridge.

Congratulations Navin (son of KALA

members Ramachandran & Thankam) & Emma

(daughter of Nigel and Sally Bramall) who got

married on 15 Dec 2012 at Nonsuch Mansion,

Surrey.

Navin is a Consultant Radiologist at University

College Hospital, London & Emma is a Paediatric

Registrar currently on St Thomas Hospital

rotation.

Well done Dr Arun Kishore for his discreet yet

admirable work with ALDI (Association for

Learning Disabilities India), based in Trissur

District which helps student community with

learning difficulties. Dr Kishore says. “ALDI is an

organisation we set up in 1992 on a shoestring

budget and it continues to run on that budget today.

In its 20 year journey, we have been able to create

a ripple that has spread. The Govt of Kerala now

affords concessions for children with

specific learning difficulties. We believed that

parents are the best people to help their children

and hence trained the parents.” Dr Kishore

recommends the book ‘നിന്റെs ?’

Dr Kishore was formerly an Associate Professor of

Psychiatry, Medical College, Thrissur and

presently works as a Consultant Psychiatrist,

Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, UK.

For more info re: ALDI, go to:

http://www.aldi.org.in/index.html

Tell us what you think about the Newsletter: [email protected]& [email protected]

Spring 2013

AAllssoo iinn tthhee NNeewwss……

http://www.aldi.org.in/index.html


TThhee ‘‘FFaaccee ooff EEuurrooppee’’ Arathi Menon was crowned the winner of the beauty pageant ‘The Face of Europe’ in Disneyland, Paris in November 2012 after winning the London heats.

“I am a 2nd year medical student at Imperial College London. Although I do always make time for acting and dancing alongside my studies, I had never had any exposure to beauty pageants until this year when I decided to give it a go. I entered this competition on a whim and never expected to get through the first stage. ‘The Face of Europe’ was the first beauty pageant I had ever entered, so I was thrilled and very surprised when I won 1st place in the London heats. To then win the European final was amazing and totally unexpected.

“I am only 5 feet tall, so never thought that I had what it took to win a pageant, but ‘Face of Europe’ is very different from many other pageants as there is no height restriction. The judges really do look for the whole package, so my mum convinced me that I should apply and try it out. There were 40 girls from all over Europe, ranging in age from 17 to 30 years old, and I was up against tall, blonde girls who have spent a lifetime doing these pageants. While on stage, the judges asked what my ultimate goal in life is. I said I didn't restrict myself to one goal, instead I aim to simply be happy in whatever I do, and hopefully to achieve any goal I set myself. I think my dancing and drama skills helped me with the way I hold myself and hide my nerves and gave me an advantage. The judges on the day included representatives from Disneyland & the Headway East Kent charity, former X Factor star Chico who represented the Rainbow Child Foundation, plus last year's winner.

My prize included a ball gown and tiara, plus a safari holiday in Africa.

“I now hold the title of ‘Face of Europe 2012-2013’ and will have various duties to carry out over the year for fundraising and raising awareness for Face of Europe’s two charities. The charities are Headway East Kent, a charity for head injury sufferers, and The Rainbow Child Foundation, a charity raising money for children in the Third World. I visited one of Headway's events recently. It was wonderful to see how much of a difference our fundraising had made, and how much the charity helps the victims of head injury with rehabilitation and in achieving some normality in their everyday lives once more after a traumatic incident. “I have also done some acting and have appeared in TV shows including Crimewatch, The Bill and acted in the BBC1 spy drama ‘Hunted’ in October. I have a passion for both Medicine and drama, so my dream job would probably be appearing as a doctor in Holby City or ER!” Arathi is the daughter of Sudha and Jay Menon. Congratulations, Arathi!

OObbiittuuaarryy:: MMrr BBaallaa SSaannkkeerr

“The lyrics of the song Good Friends are hard to find… is without doubt what was running

through the minds of many who knew Mr Bala Sanker on hearing the news of the passing

away of their good friend on 12th December 2012. Mr Bala Sanker was associated with

KALA since it took root in 1996 and has been a strong supporter of its activities through

its growing years. Mr Bala Sanker was related to the celebrated

Malayalam writer, Shri VK Narayanankutty Nair, better known as VKN. Many of his friends

from all walks of life will sadly miss the true and genuine friendship they shared with

Mr Bala Sanker and share in the sadness of his family at their loss.” Dr Sukumaran Nair

KALA extends our heartfelt condolences to Mrs Ramani Bala Sanker and their daughter Geeta.

The Palm Leaf The March 2013 issue of Palm Leaf is based

on the theme of visual arts.

The issue is curated by Dr Seena Praveen,

Palm leaf’s Art Editor.

Contributions include

poetry by K Satchitanandan,

art history by Dr Nandakumar,

art criticism by N S Madhavan

among others.

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Have we missed out any news? If so, tell us: [email protected] & [email protected]

Spring 2013

KKAALLAA LLiitteerraarryy EEvveenniinngg

PPhhoottoo GGaalllleerryy



For enquiries /feedback re: KALA Newsletter,

please contact KALA News Editors:

Santha Krishnamurthy: [email protected] &

Mini Mohan: [email protected]

www.kala.org.uk

(KALA) UK is a registered charity with the objective of promoting the culture of Kerala for public benefit and social cohesion

Spring 2013

YYoouurr IIddeeaass MMaatttteerr

WWee iinnvviittee nneeww iiddeeaass oorr ssuuggggeessttiioonnss

ffoorr oouurr ffuuttuurree KKAALLAA NNEEWWSS iissssuueess..

PPlleeaassee ffoorrwwaarrdd yyoouurr ssuuggggeessttiioonnss ttoo tthhee ccoonnttaaccttss bbeellooww::

“A mediocre idea that generates enthusiasm will go further than a great idea that inspires no one”

Mary Kay Ash, American businesswoman



kkaallaa nneewwss...sri m.t.vasudevan nair. if a malayali reader is asked to name three best...

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