Travel Kerala

Kerala Kite Festival – 2010 Munambam Beach

Water Treat For Cochin! – Aqua Show

The India International Aqua Show, 2010, Kochi, is coming to the city in its fifth edition. If you have an aquarium, or plan to get one, be sure to visit the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium from February 12-16. It will have more than 150 stalls and over 10 pavilions. What can you see there? Everything about 0rnamental fish (both marine and freshwater) – aquariums, illuminations, aquarium plants, regulators, heaters, instruments, fish food and medicines and fish-related books and periodicals.

This Ornamental Fish & Accessories Exhibition and Trade Fair is being organised by the Department of Fisheries, Government of Kerala, along with the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. It will be a great chance for exhibiting and marketing fish, fish-related products and accessories.

There will be competitions for ornamental fish, on features such as breeding, innovative practices, technology and display, for breeders, amateurs and traders. You can also check out the exclusive pavilion for imported aquariums. Prizes will be given away during the show, with highlights on cultural and art performances during and after the prizes distribution.

This aqua show will benefit manufacturers and distributors of aquarium, aquarium accessories and related products. Those dealing in fish medicines, drugs, treatment chemicals, fish food, fishery products, publishers of fisheries-related literature, and exporters of ornamental fish will be able to promote their business as well as interact with government bodies and the public.

Source: www.aquashowkerala.com

Chalo God’s Own Country – Rajdhani Express Takes Kerala’s Hues

From January 17 on, when you board the 2431 Hazrat Nizamuddin-Thiruvananthapuram Rajdhani Express from Delhi, you’ll see Kerala’s colours all over the train. Yes, literally. As part of an advertising campaign by Kerala Tourism,the train’s exteriors – all its 17 coaches – are covered in bright vinyl graphics that showcase Kerala’s tourist attractions. You can see monuments, forts, art and dance forms and tourist sites from Kovalam to Kasargod on this canvas.

One can see beaches, backwaters, houseboats, hill stations, wildlife, and boat races. The captions are ‘Chalo Kerala’ in Hindi and ‘Go Kerala’ in English. This will run for 6 months, till June, 2010.  Kerala is the first state to try its hand at this unique form of advertising. More than half of India use the railways as its major means of transport. This will be a definite boost to that.

And it’s not just the passengers who will be enticed by this grand visual display, passing drivers, pedestrians, and onlookers, too, will come to know of Kerala and its beauty. Even international tourists use the trains to travel within the country, so this will showcase the state like no other campaign can. That, too, in a novel way.

Thekkady Lake Abuzz With Tourists

If Thekkady town were a person, I’d say he has a spring in his steps now. And there’s a mighty good reason for it.

Check out: http://www.hotelsthekkady.com/2010/01/thekkady-lake-alive-with-tourist-boats/

India’s Journey From Dominion To Republic – January 26

Every Indian remembers and observes 15 August as India’s Independence Day. In 1947, India obtained its Independence, but it was only on 26 January 1950, it became a sovereign Republic. The main attractions of the event celebrated every year are the unfurling of the Tricolour by the President, his address to the nation and the Republic Day Parade that follows. Besides these, bravery awards to armed personnel and civilians and police medals are given away on this day.

India’s Constitution – the largest in the world – came into force on this day. The seeds of a Republic were sowed at the Lahore session of the Indian National Congress on 31 December 1929. Pt Jawarhar Lal Nehru presided over it, and the members of the meeting pledged to mark January 26 as ‘Independence Day’. The session led to the Civil Disobedience Movement. It was in order to honour this day that India’s Republic Day is now observed on 26 January.

The country has made great strides in the 60 years of it being a sovereign secular Republic. The parade, floats and celebrations can be watched live on television. You can even send Republic day greetings online, watch specific videos as well as download patriotic songs and wallpapers from government web sites.

Hawkers Ruin Tourists’ Experience. What Can Be Done?

No tourist attraction or tourist city in India is free of hawkers. They can be found everywhere – from the Kovalam Beach in Kerala and Madurai Meenakshi Temple to the Taj Mahal and the Howrah Bridge in Kolkata. They sell everything from key chains and postcards to memory sticks and mobile phone chargers. Hawkers range from skinny 9-year-olds to haggard 70-year-olds. Their trick in pushing their wares and the way they jostle about in crowds to get your attention is amazing, to say the least. Forwards on a football field will be put to shame!

It’s true that the hawkers crowded on streets leading up to a temple, monument or any tourist spot can be quite revolting. Not only do most of them sell fake goods, some even ‘train’ young boys and girls to steal tourists’ belongings (read camera, purse and phone) while the older ones distracts the tourist(s).

But then again, don’t we all buy that li’l key chain from a tear-eyed girl, if only to help her get a square meal? Shooing away hawkers or ignoring them does not take away the problem. The government should take steps to clear streets and areas near tourist spots of hawkers as well as provide them with legitimate shop spaces to sell their wares. Why not have a welfare society or a common building for groups of hawkers to showcase their items than let them inundate the streets?

Also, tourists – both Indian and foreign – should be aware of their constant presence and be prepared to deal with them, if necessary. An idea about original and fake goods will help, too.

The Bold And Beautiful – Gold Souk, Cochin

Festival Of France

Bonjour India, an interactive installation by Clyde Chambot is open at the Kashi Art Gallery, till January 10. It is inspired by Heiner Muller’s play Hamlet-Machine, and portrays different layers of stories within one larger history.

It is organised by Alliance Francaise De Trivandrum.

Kochi Letters International Life 2010

Kochi Art and Letters Foundation is organizing Letters International Festival, in Ernakulam Town Hall, the first annual international cultural festival, first of this kind in Kerala. It will be open to the general public, authors, critical writers and just about any book lover!

It will be inaugurated by Writer C. Ayyappan on January 8. This festival will see intellectuals and academics opening seminars, interacting with students, conducting science programmes, and in discussions.

The avenues at the festival will give authors a chance to understand their readers, and how best to suit their writing for them. A common public discussion and thinking will aid publishers, authors as well as the readers. Prominent cultural activist and film maker Sashikumar and noted academic and thinker Dr Nizar Ahmed will be at the forefront of the activities.

“Thinking goes public” is an apt tagline for the festival that will be a convergence for thinkers, public, photographers, critics, writers and activists.

Here’s a list of the authors and participants of Kochi Life 2010:

Slavoj Zizek                        Gail Omvedt
C. Ayyappan                      Akeel Bilgrami
Prabhat Patnaik                C. K. Janu
J. Devika                              T. M. Yesudasan
Tejaswini Niranjana         Gopal Guru
Ram Rahman                      Kumar Shahani
Annapurna Garimella       Usha Zacharias
Javeed Alam

Slavoj Zizek	Gail Omvedt
C. Ayyappan	Akeel Bilgrami
Prabhat Patnaik	C. K. Janu
J. Devika	T. M. Yesudasan
Tejaswini Niranjana	Gopal Guru
Ram Rahman	Kumar Shahani
Annapurna Garimella	Usha Zacharias
Javeed Alam

The Great Indian Hornbill

The Great Indian Hornbill is the state bird of Kerala. It is also so for Sarawak in Malaysia. This beautiful bird is now found in the Western Ghats, Northeast India and the Asian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. It is bred in captivity in many countries, too.

Here’s an interesting story: William the hornbill was the Bombay Natural History Society’s own pet for 26 years! This “office canary” lived in a cage behind Millard’s chair in Phipson & Co.’s office for 26 years and died in 1920.

Also check out:

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

http://changlang.nic.in/namdapha.html