Life and Culture

Children’s Folkgames  of Kerala: An  Introduction Dr Edward A Edezhath (edward.edezhath@gmail.com) When elders become nostalgic, they talk of their long-lost childhood. In this south Indian state of Kerala, they often talk of a not-so-long-past when children used to roam around in the fields or those hills, valleys and riverbanks, playing all sorts of games. Now much of the open spaces have disappeared from towns and villages and along with them those simple games as well. Reset the calendar to three or four decades back and a kid’s life was full of simple and enjoyable games of a variety of sorts. These games have almost completely vanished, but of late there have been sporadic efforts to revive them. There used to be a wide range of folk games played by the kids. The little children would sit in small circles, place their little palms in front of them, and one would start counting with a little rhyme in vernacular, “Athala, puththala, thavalachi”.  While all are e...

  The Role of Teachers in Promoting Social Commitment In the present-day crisis of values and lifestyle in public space, forming youth in civic consciousness and social commitment is important and, for this, teachers have a special role to play                                                                                    Dr. Edward Edezhath  (Edward.edezhath@gmail.com) It has become a cliché to speak of the crisis in contemporary times. Whether writing on the walls of time is good news or bad news the concern is mounting in the minds of people. It is pertinent to ask, ‘what is the prime concern in the public sphere?’ Today crisis, for sure, brings to mind the falling rupee. Down slide of the currency, rising pricing, crisis ...

  Kappiri Myth: a living remnant of Luso–Dutch encounter in Cochin Dr Edward A Edezhath (edward.edezhath@gmail.com) Cochin is a fascinating land. People from all over flocked to it from time immemorial. This was true when in the Middle Ages famous Italian traveler Nicolas Conti said “If China is where you make your money, then Cochin is surely the place to spend it” [1] . And it has not changed even now. For a recent art and culture extravaganza, the first of its kind in the country, Cochin was chosen. And people flocked to it in large numbers.   Whether to live here or not people from far and wide buy up apartments in Cochin. A recent survey said 55.4 million sq. ft. of living apartments and 6.3 million sq. ft. of commercial buildings were built in Cochin in the past 10 years [2] . Do people flock to this place because of its commercial or industrial prospects, or for its scenic beauty? More than all this this ancient city has some intriguing cultural magnetism. Mixed w...