My humble tribute to Kakkanadan

It was at the age of fourteen that I read Japana Pukayila, a classic (off course, for a ninth standard student at that time it was a classic) work from George Varghese Kakkanadan, a legendary writer who mesmerized many generations with his eccentric work. Later, while I was studying in my pre-degree, I borrowed some books from ‘Yamuna’- the one and only library in my remote village, was sponsored by the Gram Panchayath. I got few other books of Kakkanadan, which often seemed like a bold rebellion against the harsh realities of life or the brush -off of the rigid line of morality that prevailed in the then society.

While I was studying for degree, I got thousands of Malayalam books from my college. They were considered as an addiction of youths of the 70’s and 80’s, thus I too got mesmerized with the magic of words. Apart from my political activities, I spent more in the libraries. Sometimes I bunked my literature and political science classes to catch up with some reading in the library.

By that time, my preferences ranged from O.V.Vijayan to Madavikutty, Sanjayen to Mukundan, Muhammed Basheer to Sakkariya. But to be frank, among all these authors I always admired Kakkanadan. This could be because of his way of expressing emotions or even his realistic language that depicted the reality very well.

Later, when I was doing my post graduation, I was able to create a collection of many of his books with my small income, which I earned by giving private tuitions. His works had a great impinge on the younger generation of Malayalam readers, which, triggered with full of realism and crazy boldness.

His exceptional works such as Ushnamekhala, Vasoori, Japana Pukayila, Kakkanadante Priyakathakal, Saakshi, Orotha, Kambolam, Parangimala and others were known as a trend setter in Malayalam literature. Most of his works bump in to a kind of adroitness in terms of value and tradition.

Many acclaims and awards came naturally to Kakkanadan. His Orotha, which depicts the story of Minachil River and a small village named Chorppukkal won him the 1984 Kerala Sahithya Akademi award. He got Kendra Sahithya academy award in 2005 for his masterpiece Parangimala. His lucid and radiant language attracted people from all walks of life and presented him with the Balamaniamma award, Padma Prabha award and Muttath Varkey award.

Finally the truth is that we lost that charming story teller once and for all… And that itself made an empty space in the realistic crown of Malayalam literature.

Kakkanadan is a rare genius to be known by his name, with his work and through his alluring language; he left behind a fertile legacy for the generations to come, May his soul rest in peace.

Three angels bag the Nobel for Peace

In his 1895 will, award creator Alfred Nobel gave only vague guidelines for the peace prize, saying it should honor "work for fraternity between nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses.

"This year the Norwegian Nobel Committee has decided that the Nobel peace prize for 2011 is to be divided in three equal parts between Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah gbowee and Tawakkul Karman for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for womens’s rights to full participation in peace- building work

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf 

Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is the first woman to win a free presidential election in Africa. Sirleaf, a former World Bank economist known as the "Iron Lady" by opponents, was seen as a reformer and peacemaker in Liberia when she took office as the President.

Since her inauguration in 2006, she has contributed to securing peace in Liberia, to promoting economic and social development, and to strengthening the position of women. Sirleaf was born in Monrovia and studied economics and accounts at college of West Africa. At the age of 17 she married James Sirleaf and went to US for higher studies. After gaining a Master of Public Administration degree, she returned to her native Liberia to work under the government of William Tolbert. She got the Vice President ticket of the Liberian Action Party in the 1985 elections, thus paved her way to the politics.

Tawakkul Karman

Tawakkul Karman is a leader of anti-government protests in Yemen. She is the first Arab woman to win the peace prize. She has played a leading part in the struggle for women’s rights and for democracy and peace in Yemen.

Karman, mother of three, now lives in the capital Sanaa. She is a journalist and member of the Islamic party Al-Islah and heads the human rights group Women Journalists without Chains. Her father is a former legal affairs minister under Saleh.

Leymah Gbowee

Leymah Gbowee of Liberia, who campaigned against the use of rape as a weapon in her country's brutal civil war, ensured women’s participation in elections. She mobilized and organized women across ethnic and religious dividing lines to bring an end to the long war in Liberia.

Gbowee was born in central Liberia. During the time of first Liberian civil war, she moved to Monrovia at the age of 17. She trained as a trauma counselor and worked with the ex-child soldiers of Charles Taylors army.

In 2003, Gbowee led hundreds of female protesters through Monrovia to demand swift disarmament of fighters who preyed on women during her country's near-constant civil war.

Gbowee, mother of six, works in Ghana's capital as the director of Women Peace and Security Network Africa.

Last year's peace prize went to imprisoned Chinese human rights activist Liu Xiaobo for his non violent struggle for fundamental human rights in China.

Well done …you done it!!

Hosur to Hollywood - A street kid’s journey

Denied even the banal comforts of childhood, having endured suffering that we the middle-class can only contemplate in anodyne smugness, he has become an eponymous figure for orphans everywhere. The aptly-titled Superman and the School of Necessity, a short film directed by UK-based film-maker Debs Gardner-Paterson of the We are all Rwandans fame, has catapulted Abhisurya, all of 10 years old, from suburban obscurity to instant recognition, at least among the art and cinema cognoscenti worldwide.

The orphan from the nondescript Hosur village on the outskirts of Bangalore plays the lead role in the acclaimed movie about the travails of out-of-school children, which was screened last night at the Nashville Film Festival in the USA. Yet, Abhisurya’s life story is more than just an 80-minute ticket to a potential Hollywood blockbuster.

His eyes are wise beyond his years, a lifetime of suffering subsumed in that crinkly smile and spontaneous laughter. Already aware of how ephemeral things can be, he addresses his new-found prominence with a wry humour and ironic detachment that most adults would envy. “They told me to act, I told them I had no idea of what they are talking about. Then Manjula aunty (a crew member of the film) told me to visualise her as my mother and to speak, which I did. Next, I was taken to a village where the shooting was done. At the end, the English-aunty told me that my performance was very good,” Abhisurya says matter-of-factly.

Lauding him, the film’s co-producer Swaroop Kanchi said: “He has done a great job. He has received great reviews on the blogs after the film festival. We are exploring the option of making it a full-length feature film.”

THE EPICAL JOURNEY 

His tryst with filmdom was accidental. It started when Debs visited Bosco Mane, an NGO that works for street children, two months ago looking for a child artiste. 

“They told me to act, I told them I had no idea of what they are talking about. Then Manjula aunty (a crew member of the film) told me to visualise her as my mother and to speak, which I did. Next, I was taken to a village where the shooting was done. At the end, the English-aunty told me that my performance was good,” Abhisurya says matter-of-factly. 

LESSONS FROM LIFE

Ironically, the jolly 10-year-old who refuses to go to school in reel life, in fact, was deprived of education in reality and forced into child labour. Working for 14 hours in a powerloom and getting thrashed regularly, Abhisurya yearned to go to school. He grew up prematurely, teased by the neighbourhood boys for having an alcoholic as a father. At eight, when he returned from school one day, he saw his mother lying on the floor, her eyes closed forever.

“She was dead and all that I can remember about her are images of her unloading sand from a rickety tractor. I never saw my father again,” Abhisurya told Bangalore Mirror, fighting back tears.

Abhisurya and his younger sister Kamala then went to live with their grandparents, who in turn packed them off to a relative’s house in Bangalore’s Tavarekere area.

After an year of schooling, he was pulled out and sent to a powerloom factory in the vicinity. “I used to work from 7:30 am to 9 pm every day and used to earn Rs 500 per week. I gave Rs 400 to my caretakers and left the remaining Rs 100 with the factory owner as my saving.

But all hell broke loose when the factory suffered losses. The owner told me not to come to work, but my caretakers presumed I had become lazy and they used to thrash me everyday,” he recalls.

A SAMARITAN STEPS IN

But he saw a ray of hope when a neighbour, whom he calls Rita aunty, decided to hand him back to his grandparents. But his troubles did not end and soon, unable to stand it anymore, Abhisurya ran away from home.

Designing the dreams…

With her inspirational lifestory, through which she proves that sky is the limit, 13-year old Sreelakshmi Suresh is now the CEO of two firms and the toast of the international web designing community.  

“Computer is my best friend even from my early childhood. When I heard about a boy who developed a website, and my parents told me that I too can do like that, I stepped into the world of web designing”. 

At the age of three she started using computer; she began designing websites at the age of six, designed her schools website at the age of eight, now she is the CEO of two firms and the only member of the Association of American Webmasters under 18 years of age.

Don’t think that this is just another tall story. The name Sreelakshmi Suresh subsumed all the above labeled attributes and much more. Sreelakshmi, like her peers, likes to play with friends and watch cartoon channels. But what made her different is nothing but her passion for websites.

Sreelakshmi Suresh is the daughter of Adv. Suresh Menon, lawyer at the Calicut Bar, and Viju Suresh. Now she is studying in 9 th standard at Presentation Higher Secondary School, Calicut. This little prodigy has already designed and developed more than 50 websites.

Her tryst with the web designing triggered even from early childhood. It all started at the age of three, when her father Suresh Menon showed her a websites designed by a young boy and told her if she is interested she can also do it, thus paved the way for Sreelakshmi in to the world of web designing.

“My father showed me a website designed by a boy and told me that I too can do like that; I stepped into the world of web designing” says Sreelakshmi. “Since my school did not have an official site, I took it as a challenge to design one, I designed my first website for my school www.presentationhss.com while I was 8 years old”, she added. The website provides information about the school and it allows parent to seek reports on their children.

Lauding her, the Presentation school headmistress Sister Roselit said: “She is an inspiration for grown-ups as well. I must say our school is blessed to have such a talent”.

Awards are nothing new to Sreelakshmi. She could probably be the youngest webmaster girl in the world but the Association of American Webmasters, which enrolled her as a member, testifies that she is its youngest and the only member below 18.

“We found your website to be very professional for a young lady of your age. You have a bright future ahead of you with web design” AAW chief executive officer Donna Snyder notes in her membership approval letter.

In 2008, she started her own web designing company eDesign Technologies, which offers a full circle approach in website design and web development. 

She became the Jt. Managing partner of Online Pixel Traders in 2009. She also works as the CEO of a media publishing firm-Transmute Media Solutions. 

This little genius has already won more than 40 national and international awards such as Global Internet Directories Gold Award, the Golden Web Award, Association of National Webmasters Merit Award, National child Award for the exceptional achievement, Lions International Young Achiever Award, Rotary International Young Achiever Award, Swadeshi Science Congress Excellence Award etc.

In 2008, she won the National Child Award for exceptional Achievement, the highest award in India for children, instituted by the Government of India.

The websites, which Sreelakshmi designed, speak for it self about her omnifarious concern in each and every details of the development process. Her discernments and the lucid attitude of mind are probably could help her on the nick of the time to take an apt decision as CEO.

For Sreelakshmi, studies are still her first priority, but she is sure that it does not deter her pet dreams- to develop an operating system which is more user friendly than any OS available at present.

With a virtuous smile, that always adorns her face, this little genius remembering us if we are confident that we are competent and prepared to work hard, we can achieve anything.

… Kudos to Sreelashmi, she proves that age is no more a big deal for achieving great things. 

This appeared in GenNext India