October - 2011 by Projects Abroad

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October 2011

Volume 2, Issue 23 Sponsored by:

The Anglo Indian Community: Reinventing itself Plus: Indian and Spanish story tellers visit Madurai

EDITOR’S CORNER Editor

Contents October 2011 | Issue No. 23

I-conic Steve Jobs

Dr. Nandini Murali

EDITOR’S CORNER

Media Relations Officer Ezhil Elango Journalism Supervisor B. Pooja

I-conic Steve Jobs COVER STORY

02 Madurai’s Anglo Indian Community:

From Raj to Space Age Coordinator J. Venkatesh Technical Support T. Jesuraja

07 A Stranger in a Strange Land PEOPLE

08 Dr Nancy Francis:

Reporters and Designers

Voicing Anglo Indian Aspirations

Tara Fallon

WEEKEND WANDER

William Stinson Amedeo Bussi Anna-Dora Maron 2

FILM

Lisette Wouters Maxime Bailly Yoanna Nobel Nele Roessler William Goutard Anne-Marij De Koning Cover Picture Tara Fallon

10 Danish Delights ART

12 Let me Tell you a Story VILLAGE VOICES

15 Vilachery: The Village of Dolls YOUNG ACHIEVER

18 Praveen Pouraj: The Artist’s Way EVENTS

20 Madurai Symposium 2011: A platform for

Artisans and Development Professionals Sivakasi Projects Abroad Pvt. Ltd.,

CULTURE

22 An art, a culture, no fashion: Henna Contact: editor@maduraimessenger.org MADURAI MESSENGER No. 17, T.P.K Road Pasumalai Madurai – 625004 Tamil Nadu India Tel. 0452-2370269

EATING-OUT

24 Food: Sacred offering BOOK REVIEW

26 A City within Walls ORDINARY PEOPLE - EXTRAODINARY LIVES

28 Two Men in a Bookshop REVIVAL

30 In Tune with sa ri ga ma… FIRST IMPRESSIONS

32 Adopted by Madurai

switched on my Mac laptop as usual in the morning. The website of Apple computers filled my screen before directing me to Google. An intense picture of Steve Jobs, (1955-2011) the legendary co founder of Apple filled the screen. The wordless obituary had an elegiac elegance to it. In death, as in life, Steve Jobs loomed large. The proverbial lump in the throat choked me. I had not known Steve Jobs personally. I am no IT entrepreneur or gizmo freak. I am a recent Mac user, having started using one only three months back. Until then I was largely ignorant of Steve Jobs. Yet the news of his death created a void in me. It felt as if a close relative or a dear friend had passed away. And strangely, I was not the only one who felt such an aching loss. A senior journalist remarked that a friend of his had called him up to tell him of Job’s death. He then asked, “ Will they declare a holiday tomorrow?” Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook were clogged with obituaries and caused IT professionals to fear a breakdown. What was the mystique of Steve Jobs, hailed as the world’s greatest inventor after Thomas Edison, Leonardo da Vinci and branded as the “Michelangelo of our times?” An online chain mail declared, “Three apples have changed the world— Adam’s, Newton’s and Steve Jobs.” The son of adoptive parents and later a college drop out, Steve Jobs went on to become one of the most admired innovators whose repertoire included personal computers, mobile communications, music, movies, and modern culture. The tech visionary who co-founded Apple Computers in a garage in 1976, he had the courage to dream and do things differently. A highly quotable person, one of my favorite Steve Job quotes is his address to Stanford University students in 2005. He told them that as “Time is limited, don’t waste it by living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma, which is living with the result of some one else’s thinking. He encouraged students to “listen to their own inner voice” and not muffle it with the “noise of other’s opinions.” Most important, he urged them to have the “courage to follow your own heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” I can never forget the joy and excitement when I bought my Mac laptop and desktop. At first a hesitant user, I was soon amazed by its user friendliness simplicity, and elegance—a classic instance of form and function being complementary. The spare minimalist form of Apple products are said to be influenced by Job’s life long practice of Zen Buddhism. Steve Jobs is that he blended technology with humanism. There is a little bit of Steve Jobs in every Mac product—his inspiration and his lasting legacy.

Dr. nandini murali Editor

Madurai Messenger Cover Story October 2011

Madurai’s Anglo Indian Community: From Raj to Space Age “Nation builders!” Nicholas Francis, Director of Motherland Primary School, enthusiastically declares. “We are a community of nation builders!” It’s an apt description of the Anglo Indian community—a community that bridges the Raj with modern India; Tara Fallon on the community- long regarded as a relic of the British Raj- and its reinvention in a contemporary context.

Mrs. Coral Fernandez: A strong sense of vocation

By Tara Fallon UK.

Mr. Nicholas Francis

Mr. Gerard Alweyn

and the imposition of Hindi as a national language, the exodus continued throughout the 1950s and 60s and by the 90s, most had left with many Anglo-Indians still aspiring to leave. This, however, may now be coming to an end.

he Anglo Indians, combining the best of Britain and India, descendants of an Indian mother and a European father, have traditionally taken charge of what would become one of the best railway systems in the

world, the Post Office and infrastructure of India. Regarded as mostly European by the Indians and mostly Indian by the Europeans, by 1947 only 30,000 Anglo Indians remained throughout India, continuing a heritage of kedgeree

(an Anglo Indian cuisine consisting of cooked flaked fish, boiled rice, hard boiled eggs, curry powder and butter) and Christmas cake and a fierce sense of self-respect. Undermined by anxieties over lost reservations in their industries

Nicholas Francis is a leading social activist, who has written prolifically for several publications. He questions the current purpose of a nation-builder: now that India is an emergent superpower, what has become of his community? Unusual in that he has integrated well into the pan-Indian social arena, Francis rarely sees them as he attends a myriad of activist appointments. “They tend to live in their own world,” he points out, and this is reinforced by a culture that has developed its own standards in dress, food and religion. Anglo-Indians pride themselves on “being your best self,” including always being impeccably dressed in Western clothing. Perhaps rather more globally than Francis gives credit for, famous Anglo-Indians include the war heroes, the Keelor Brothers, sports personality Sebastian Coe and musicians, Cliff Richards and Freddie Mercury – quite a legacy for such a small

community! But segregation is at the core of Anglo-Indian identity. Is their isolation a strength or weakness? They are a strongly knit community: “This leaf, so complete in itself, Is only part of the tree, And this tree, so complete in itself, Is only part of the forest. And the forest runs down from the hill to the sea, And the sea, so complete in itself, Rests like a raindrop In the hand of God.” Ruskin Bond (1934-present) is one of the few current Anglo-Indian poets. His lines above sum up the way in which the Madurai Anglo-Indian community looks after itself. All of the elders interviewed for this piece, highly successful professionals themselves, expressed great drive when it came to ensuring the future of the community’s young people. Gerrard Alweyn, who has lived most of his 69 years in Madurai, expresses the same sense of unity as Bond: “What we should note from this is that we have also the grit to come up and shine. In this way, uplifting not just

ourselves alone but also our families, our community.” The individual is an integral part of the community.

Education: the face of the Future Education is the heart of this “shine” and it is the way in which the community has tackled its own educational needs that strengthens it. Mrs. Coral Fernandez, Vice-Principal of The Railway Schools, emphasizes the importance of education for the AngloIndian Community – largely achieved through their own efforts. Education has become the stronghold of the AngloIndians – once relying on allocation of jobs reserved from father to son, the community’s efforts to educate itself into new positions has had spectacular results: an Anglo-Indian English teacher is sought after in the length and breadth of the land for their superior linguistic skills. We sit on Mrs. Fernandez’ sofas, surrounded by images of Our Lady, resembling an Irish home much more closely than an Indian one. “It was a struggle for a long time, but now we are making our mark,” she tells

Madurai Messenger Cover Story October 2011

me. Her attention to her own career is characteristic of this ethos, she has initiated a primary school for boys and completed a MSc Biology in the company of her previous students. “I was the first Anglo Indian in Madurai to gain a postgraduate degree and my teachers were my former pupils – they asked me how on earth they were supposed to teach me now? My vocation is so strong, I ended up teaching them!” Her spectacular rise through the teaching ranks is also surely a continuation of this holistic approach: there is no mass production here, every student is an individual with strengths and weaknesses and many former students have achieved great careers through Fernandez’ personalized careers advice – she consistently advocates professionalisation and self-esteem above high salary and glamour.

Women: the Heart of the Community Women play a special role in the community and Francis is adamant that “the mother is the hub of the community.” From the older stereotypes noted by T. Samir Mukerjee (The Telegraph), when he wrote, “The beautiful Anglo-Indian women have left, leaving behind them a whisper of Ms. Chinelle

Ms. Chinelle: Greater Opportunities in Madurai

perfume, the touch of cool manicured hands, slow waltzes and memories of yesteryear.” To the modern career women interviewed for this piece or indeed to Gloria Berry, the first woman in Independent India to be decorated for supreme gallantry following her death when the “Kashmir Princess” (a chartered Air India flight which crashed mid air in 1955 following a bomb explosion) was sabotaged, one thing is clear: the woman occupies a leading role in the family. The mother is where you learn your attitudes towards life, the values that will inform your decisions and future success. Fernandez backs this up: “My mother was not allowed to go for higher education but in 1947, my father’s liquor license was taken away and our family went into decline. My mother strongly encouraged us to pursue education after this so we could have independence – ‘don’t wait for others to provide, she told us, go out and earn whatever you need’.” So it’s no surprise to note that the very first thing to catch one’s eye outside Nicholas Francis’ school, Motherland, is a sign declaiming, “The destiny of India is being shaped in her classrooms.” This ethos is repeated throughout AngloIndian community. Education in India is costly and some professions are outside the affordability of the Anglo-Indian

community who may also lack the right contacts to enter professions such as the more prestigious levels of medicine. Teaching and stenography for the girls, infrastructure jobs for the boys are stereotypes which a more modern Anglo-Indian community would like to get away from. Multi-national corporations currently favour India as a source of employment and AngloIndians fare well here. English is the first language of the Anglo-Indians and they have absorbed Western work values and a culture with which Western colleagues can feel at home. However, “we need to professionalise, but we need to inculcate more values,” Francis says, “Call centre jobs may provide good salaries, but it’s back-office work for some foreign country and it’s at the cost of health, family and marriage.” There is definitely more of an emphasis on women’s’ empowerment in recent years. Mrs. Fernandez and Mr. Francis both point to an increasing need to educate women, as men, both within the Anglo-Indian community and the wider Indian community, are looking for brides to match their own increasing education – and Anglo-Indians will be rather more ready than formerly to marry outside their community. Women have somewhat more freedom within

Nicholas Francis with the tiny tots!

this community – love marriages are normal, and women are freer to travel, even overseas.

as she’s happy to be back in Madurai, she admits to missing London’s well regulated traffic!

Chinelle, 25 years old, currently working for Projects Abroad, Madurai, and an ex-student of the Railway School, agrees – although she is from a family with strict values, her mother was encouraging when she went to London for four years to study for an MBA and helped her choose both country and course. “She wanted the best opportunity for me and she trusted me, “Chinelle says, “And, in fact, I’m so career focused that there was little time for me to do anything except study!”

Don’t misrepresent us!

Opportunities dried up post-recession Britain and Chinelle, despite her prestigious qualification, found herself in unchallenging back-office roles. She is glad to be back home – confident and with the excellent social skills Western companies prioritise, she has quickly found work, though she will be emigrating to Canada next year after her marriage. When pressed, much

There is little in the way of literature and art to represent Anglo-Indians, but lately there had been an emergence of film, partially representing Anglo-Indians. Both Mrs. Fernandez and Chinelle express disapproval over the new Tamil film Aadukalam (2011) – women’s empowerment is an achievement, but for a woman to elope with a man without her parents’ consent, as the lead actress does, remains inadmissible. Dignity is at the core of an Anglo-Indian woman’s being and both women feel this film has misrepresented them in the wider community. “We are not so restricted by rules and regulations, by serving the house or having to be back in the house at a certain time but this film portrays AngloIndians as frivolous, shabby in our dress and using smut in our language… I encourage my students in self-respect”

5 says Mrs. Fernandez. Chinelle adds, “The film portrays Anglo-Indian women as falling in love too easily – not even approved by the family – I’m upset with it.” Emigration remains something of a problem for the Anglo Indian community in Madurai. Many of Chinelle’s family have already immigrated to Australia over the past 25-30 years and all families will have relatives throughout USA, Europe and Australia. This flow is drying up, partially because of stricter visa regulations and partially because India’s economy is strengthening. “Why be a small leader in a big pool, when you could be a big leader in a smaller pool?” asks Francis and Madurai’s flow is diminished further by the rising costs of living in big cities like Hyderabad and Bangalore, traditional migrant routes for Madurai’s young. They are starting to return, called back by a “ mythic shadow under which I grew up… a narrative of flight and exile, the Indian glory of Those Days (moonlit dances, bootleg liquor,

Madurai Messenger Cover Story October 2011

“We have to always remember that the continued existence of our community depends on strong leadership, a leadership that could enlighten our community and inspire them so that they can have a sense of community pride and bond them together.”

elephants, tigers, steam trains and servants”(Glen Duncan).

Return of the Native

Despite their return, families have become smaller with increasing impact on those left behind, including the elderly, and health care for this group has become an issue. Mr. Francis reinforces what Mrs. Fernandez has previously said on the subject of self-respect “It’s about survival, so I don’t want to generalize… there’s no job security but going abroad is not necessarily a better deal. We need to live a life of dignity. Come back to your families at the cost of salary.” In the absence of the young, many old people are not able to live a normal life and the community is facing more poverty than before. 36 Chowringhee Lane is a 1981 film exploring some of the issues of isolation faced by the Anglo-Indian elderly as their social network disappears abroad, but like other films representing them, it meets a mixed reaction from its AngloIndian audience. “This wasn’t made by an Anglo-Indian,” criticizes Mr. Alweyn “We do have some cases of poverty and isolation among the elderly, but as a community, we take care of our elderly – we have a strong sense of values.” Misrepresentation by others, as we have already seen from their critique of Aadukalam is keenly felt by the AngloIndian community. Francis feels that the Anglo-Indian community has become less fun-loving, having absorbed the Westernised pursuit of high salaries at the cost of community values. However, the community still tends to meet up every week at Mass and functions organized around Christmas and Easter.

“The best time to visit us is at Christmas – we make the cake – its all about sharing, warmth, joy – and embracing the wider community too. We love to share this with our neighbours.’ Weddings, birthdays, funerals all also act as get-togethers for the community, everyone dressed in their best dresses and blazers, seeing who has created the best roast dinner, the best kedgeree. It includes preparing for an evening of fun at which most can perform on the guitar, the violin and the keyboard. Many can also dance traditional Western dance such as jive or waltz – entertaining but also reinforcing heritage, as the time is also used by young and old alike to discuss key issues and the future. It’s a useful time, as Mr Alweyn puts it, to ensure that youth is guided. Youth has to be “nurtured and groomed because our future lies in their hands. And as I always say we have to bring these youngsters to the fore, educate them about our culture, our heritage, our future.”

and partying and, of course, missing their own city and family, are starting to return. Even if they don’t have the wealth to buy their way into top professions, their entrepreneurial attitude can carve out new opportunity. For instance, Mr. Francis points towards public training as a gap in the market – why not utilize this nation building heritage and introduce the emergent Indian corporate world into the soft skills expected by the Western multinationals?

Building a New Nation “I don’t want to be too pessimistic,” says Mr. Francis. “We are vibrant despite the economic slowdown. We have so much potential. We can grow. If you fix your mind on something bigger, if you ask for a greater goal, you can have eternal life.” Mr Alweyn says, “We have to always remember that the continued existence of our community depends on strong leadership, a leadership that could enlighten our community and inspire them so that they can have a sense of community pride and bond then together.” The good news is that, with figureheads such as Nicholas Francis and Coral Fernandez leading the way, Anglo-Indians are well on the way to a return to prominence.

The good news is that many, like Chinelle, disillusioned with a Western crime rate and a culture of drinking

Did you know? The famous soup “Mulligatawny” is actually an Anglo-Indian dish! In 1947, Anglo-Indians were allowed to leave the country with only 10 pounds – everything else they possessed had to be left behind London’s top restaurant “Chutney Mary” serves Anglo-Indian food – be prepared to take out an overdraft for it! The history of the Anglo-Indian community us about 500 years old, and started with the Portuguese’ arrival in India

A Stranger in a Strange Land A near perfect post-Independence narrative about the angst of a community that is unsure of where it belongs. A brilliant portrayal by the late Jennifer Kendal, who in the Anglo Indian protagonist Violet Stoneham, poignantly captures the trauma of the Anglo Indian community in a rapidly modernizing nation, says Will Stinson who recommends watching the film with someone you love! By William Stinson, UK.

Chowringhee Lane addresses the common fear of growing old alone in the setting of Calcutta 30 years after the end of the Raj. Jennifer Kendal plays Violet Stoneham, an aging AngloIndian Calcuttan. Drifting through her daily routine of teaching Shakespeare, feeding her cat and reminiscing about the people she has lost in her life, we see the internal turmoil that is ruining her. As her monotonous schedule drags her ever closer to retirement, a chance encounter with an old pupil throws Violet into modern Calcutta. Narrated over the course of one year, Violet finally comes into contact with the reality of modern India. In the process, her judge of character and overwhelming sense of solitude are put to the test. Violet Stoneham is a stranger not only to the place she thought she knew, but also to the people that she naively trusts. Violet Stoneham has no one. No family, no friends, and nothing but vast, sprawling years of solitude ahead of her. In one way or another, every person Violet has ever cared for has gone. Eddie, Violet’s brother, is senile, looking forward to her visits in his care home simply because she brings him his favourite biscuits. Her fiancé was killed in the war, and her nephew works off of the coast of Hong Kong. Violet’s niece is alive and well, but has married and moved to Australia; Violet is offered to join her there but finds that her love for Calcutta holds her back. As she delves more deeply into the history of her existence, she questions her adoration for the city; is this place, with a liberated youth and nobody who cares for her, the city she once loved?

When a coincidence brings her old pupil, Nandita Roy, back into Violets’ dull existence she sees it as a last ditch attempt at a life that is integrated with others. Nandita and her boyfriend, Samaresh Moitra, a poet, view Violet’s apartment as both a treasure chest of forgotten objects, and more importantly as a love nest. The social expectations of an unmarried couple are extremely conservative in India, compelling the couple to manipulate Violet for the use of her private space. Of course, this must not be known to Violet, and thus Samaresh claims to need the apartment to write his book. As the year goes by, Violet strikes an incredible friendship with the couple. Drinking until dawn, Samaresh declares his love for Violet’s gramophone. Hiccupping, Violet offers the music player as a wedding present, unknowingly catalysing Nandita and Samaresh’s marriage. After a few months of marriage, Violet hears not a word from the newlyweds. At Christmas, Violet bakes a cake and goes to Nandita and Samaresh’s house only to find that there is a party being held that she was not invited to. Violet has been exploited and manipulated by a new generation who hold little to no remorse for their actions. This deceit sharply awakens Violet to the true motivations of the couple; Violet is a tool that is no longer needed in the couples’ or anyone’s’ life. It is the absent characters of 36 Chowringhee Lane that give the film such gripping emotional depth. Beautifully shot dreamscapes and flashbacks all revolve around people who are no longer with Violet. As the

film ends, Violet befriends a stray dog and meanders into the heavy Calcuttan night. Two strays, not going anywhere in particular, is the perfect metaphoric ending for an astoundingly moving film. As the credits begin to roll, it is evident that the film is not only about Violet; 36 Chowringhee Lane is a metaphoric narrative of the plight of Anglo-Indians in a changing world. With rights over native Indians removed, Violet is just a brick in the wall for which there is no room. India is such a vast country, but it is her breadth of mind that hinders her integration into a rapidly modernising nation. A near perfect narrative on the obstacles we will all face as we age and lose the ones we care about most, Violet Stoneham is a stranger in a strange land. Watch this film with someone you love.

Madurai Messenger People October 2011

A wedding card designed by Dr.Nancy Francis

Dr Nancy Francis: Voicing Anglo Indian Aspirations Dr. Nancy FrancisThe Voice of the Community

“The doctor can forget faces, but the patients never forget the doctor.” College, Dr Nancy Francis completed her post graduation in anaesthesia from JIPMER (Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research), Puducherry. “I enjoy my work. I don’t like to go hospital shopping,” says Dr Nancy Francis, who has a special interest in obstetric and gynecologic anaesthesia. The anaesthesiologist says she often deals with patients with medical and surgical complications. According to her, 90 percent of the patients who come to the hospital are very complicated cases. However, with the aid of God, she has found the energy to be a good doctor. “The doctor can forget the faces, but the patients never forget the doctor.”

Indian First Dr. Nancy Francis is an Anglo-Indian. She, however, reckons that because she was born in India, she is an Indian first. Fluent in Tamil and Malayalam, besides English, Dr Nancy Francis believes that languages can bridge people and forge a friendship link. “What you give will come back to you.” Espousing the ideal that the world is one big community, she says that the Anglo Indian community, while retaining its roots, is also very open to Hindu culture.

As a member of the local chapter of the Anglo Indian community for nearly two decades and recently, its president, Dr Nancy Francis is determined to give a new impetus to the social service and community-centric work of the association.

By Amedeo Bussi Italy

Dr Nancy Francis, the feisty city-based anaesthesiologist was recently nominated as member of the state Legislative Assembly to represent the Anglo Indian community. The first member of the assembly from the Temple City, so impresses Amedeo Bussi with her wit and acumen that he comes away feeling that everyone would love to be her patient!

“G

od is my boss, that’s it,” declares Dr Nancy Francis, 56, Madurai-based anesthesiologist who represents the Anglo-Indian community in the Tamil Nadu state assembly. The President of the Anglo Indian Community, Madurai Branch firmly believes that everything comes from Him and will go back to Him. “He knows what we deserve, so that I took the decision to follow His will.” How? Through hard work and perseverance, of course!

Rooted in Personal History The anesthesiologist who has been working at Meenakshi

Commenting on the exodus of Anglo Indian migration, Dr Nancy Francis says that it was an outcome of the acute displacement, identity crisis (‘are we Indian’?) and non availability of jobs post-Independence. She even admits that she too thought of immigrating overseas—not once, but three times—and believes that she and her family were rejected because “God wanted” them “to be here.”

A Personal Milestone Mission Hospital and Research Centre since July 1992 is as well known for being frank and forthright as for her reputation as a skilled anesthesiologist. The youngest of six siblings, Dr Nancy Francis is an alumna of Sacred Heart Convent, Villupuram. Her mother’s struggle chronic asthma motivated her to become a doctor. Her father, Vincent Anthony Norakno, a bank employee, keenly supportive of his daughter’s aspirations, even took two post retirement jobs to support her education. The financial constraints were a blessing in disguise for she says it made her a life long “disciplinarian” for whom discipline and order became a way of life. Following her under graduation at Thanjavur Medical

On July 14, 2011, Dr Nancy Francis was nominated as a member of the Legislative Assembly to represent the Anglo-Indian community—a milestone in her life. With tremendous support from the hospital and family, Dr Nancy Francis continues to expertly juggle her varied roles and responsibilities such as a doctor, wife, mother, and participation in the political sphere with characteristic élan and ease. She doesn’t feel stressed because she says, “It becomes stressful only if you don’t enjoy it.” Her routine is packed. She wakes up at 4 a.m. to make sure that her younger daughter Michelle has done her homework,

then after household chores (she’s a great cook!) she’s off to work and she candidly admits that the only time to rest is on the way to work and the way back home! ‘Work is life’, is the mantra of this workaholic! Yet the versatile doctor also manages to squeeze in non medical passions such as being a member of the church choir, playing spiritual music on the keyboard and graphics design! The All India Anglo Indian Association, of which Dr Nancy Francis is the president, is headquartered in New Delhi and has branches in 71 cities. She is optimistic about the future of both India and her community. “The future is very good. “India has a lot of potential; I can see the country wanting to improve.” Dr Nancy Francis is equally certain that five years from now, the members of her community will occupy some of the highest positions because of the widespread importance of education in the community, thanks to parents who instill it as a value in their children. “Children are smart nowadays. You can’t force them to do what you desire. Keep God before you wherever you go so that all your decisions are monitored. He will not change,” declares Dr Nancy Francis as she effortlessly blends the sacred and the secular.

Madurai Messenger Weekend Wander October 2011

Danish Delights Wonderful Copenhagen, Denmark’s capital city is one of the most popular places to visit in Europe. Europeans call it “the Paris of Scandinavia,” because the city makes you feel as if you are in a fairytale, writes Anna-Dora Maron, a resident of Copenhagen

By Anna-Dora Maron

Tivoli Gardens: Europe’s famed Theme Park

Denmark.

Tivoli Gardens is currently the most visited theme park in Scandinavia and the third most visited in Europe with 4.5 million annual visitors. Tivoli Gardens is also the second oldest amusement park in the world. It opened in 1843. Beside the rides, Tivoli Gardens also offers a lot of performing arts which makes it an important place of the cultural scene in Copenhagen. The pantomime theatre is an open-air theatre also known for the design of the Royal Danish Theatre.

W 10

hat is Denmark known for, besides delicious milk products and LEGO? Hans Christian Andersen, the world’s most famous fairytale writer, of course! Copenhagen bears the marks of the pride of H.C. Andersen, no matter where you go. Streets, restaurants and even the famous Tivoli Gardens are inspired by the great writer.

Nyhavn: A Maritime Tradition No matter where you’d like to go in Copenhagen, you should always start at Nyhavn. Nyhavn is one of Copenhagen’s oldest harbors that dates back to the 17th century. In those days, Nyhavn was notorious as a hang out for roving sailors, girls of easy virtue and a host of dubious outlets, but today it is different. Today, Nyhavn is one of the most beautiful places in Copenhagen that offers a blend of interesting history, beautiful buildings, and waterways that make an amazing experience! In many of the old buildings along the canals there are lovely restaurants with diverse cuisine that include Italian, Danish smørrebrød, fish, a juicy steak or just a good draft beer. While in Nyhavn, the canal tours are a must. They give you an overview of Copenhagen, because it takes you to the most important places in the city. The canal tours take you to The New Opera, the Little Mermaid statue,

Normally, I would recommend that you end your tour on the walking street at Rådhuspladsen, which is the city hall of Copenhagen. If you go there during a year from now, you will get really disappointed. The area of the city hall is one big construction mess, because they are building a new track for the underground metro train. Instead, I would highly recommend that you walk a little bit further and then go to the famous Tivoli Gardens.

Nyhavn in spring season

Amalienborg Castle, Amalie Garden, Christian’s Harbour, Frelsers Church, The Black Diamond, The National Museum, Gammel Strand, Christiansborg Castle, Holmen’s Church, The National Bank and back to Nyhavn. If you are hungry after the canal tours, you can stroll down Bredgade where you find the very popular restaurant Mash which serves the best fish and French-fries in the city. The added attraction, of course, is the fully equipped cocktail bar at the trendy bar in the restaurant.

Europe’s Longest Pedestrian Shopping Area From Nyhavn, you can easily find your way to the walking street of Copenhagen. The walking street is the longest pedestrian shopping area in Europe and has all the stores you could wish for. Some of the stores are Illums Bolighus, Magasin du Nord, the Royal Copenhagen Porcelain Factory, LEGO

and several chain stores that are located along the strip. As you walk down the street, you experience a lot of street performances, music and various scents including roasted almonds, bakeries and pancake stalls. It is a shopper’s paradise by day, but in the evening, the walking street turns into a street full of different life and light. With plenty of sight seeing and shopping, it is easy to get lost in the area next to the walking street. Especially in the evenings, you find a lot of charming restaurants, music bars and discotheques. If you want to do some sightseeing near the walking street, you have plenty of opportunities. When you walk down the walking street, you pass by The Round Tower, which is one of the many architectural projects of Christian IV, the King of Denmark-Norway from 1588. On top of The Round Tower you have a beautiful view over most of Copenhagen and the sea in the distance.

Tivoli Gardens is famous for The Tivoli Boys Guard, a music ensemble of boys aged 8 to 16 years. They are dressed in uniforms that look like the Royal Danish Guard complete with bearskins. They give concerts, participate in parades, stand guard at the garden’s buildings and monuments on special occasions and represent the gardens at various events. Tivoli Gardens offers several rides for people of all ages. The most popular ride is the old wooden roller coaster that was built in 1914, but also some of the newest rides like the world’s tallest carousel called

Himmelskibet. The carousel is eighty meters high and offers panoramic views of the city.

Nørrebro: A Melting Pot If you are more interested in seeing the urban culture of Copenhagen, you should go to Nørrebro. This part of the city offers a lot of different and eccentric sights and experiences. You will find a lot of second hand shops, old fashioned record stores and hip restaurants. We call it “the home of hipsters.” Nørrebro is also the most multicultural part of the city with a large concentration of Middle Eastern immigrants. The area around Nørrebrogade is sometimes known as “Little Arabia.” This area is very interesting, because of the many Arabic shops like clothing shops, greengrocers, food shops and jewelry shops. If you want a quick meal while you visit Nørrebro, you should try a shawarma. A shawarma is Arabic bread that looks like pita bread with delicious meat, salad, chili and dressing. In case you are more into a Danish stimulation for your senses, you have plenty of opportunities to find a café or even a retro record store. Most of the record stores at Nørrebro have a café as well, where they sell delicious milkshakes and home baked cookies and sandwiches. In the evenings, Tempelbar is the place to be. Tempelbar is one of the few places in Copenhagen where you are allowed to smoke indoors. There are cheap beers, pool table and lots of

View of Copenhagen from The New Opera

happy people. If you want to listen to some modern music instead, the famous music bar RUST is just around the corner. At RUST, you will never get disappointed. There are a lot of good concerts with underground rock and many more. The entrance is 60 DKKR.

Vesterbro: The Hippest Place to Be Vesterbro has changed a lot in the last couple of years. Once, it was mostly known for its infamous red light district, but today it is one of the hippest places to be. The district is a walking distance from the city centre. At Vesterbrogade and Istedgade, you find several nice designer shops, record stores, second hand shops and art galleries. One of the most recommended places to eat is at the Nikolaos Stranga – conditori and Cakeaway on Boulevard 7. The owner of this café, Nikolaos, specialises in making cakes “a la minute”, which means he will make the cake exactly how you would like it. While you are waiting, you can drink an ecologic cup of coffee from Estate Coffee and eat French macaroons that are made with chocolate. If you want to relax and have a cup of coffee in the late afternoon, you should go to Din Nye Ven (means ‘your new friend’) on St. Peter Strait 34. Here you can drink coffee, play chess or football, read, listen to poetry and music or have a nice cocktail while looking at art. Everything is possible at Din Nye Ven. Copenhagen is the place to be, if you want to have a magical holiday in the colder North. Anything can happen in this amazing city.

Rådhuspladsen in the city centre

Madurai Messenger Arts October 2011

Let me Tell you

a Story

Lisette Wouters and Will Stinson are mesmerized by the story telling workshops anchored by Geeta Ramanujam of Kathalaya and Spanish story tellers Enrique Páez and Beatriz Montero, founders of the International Storytellers Network, who believe that storytelling is an imaginative medium that can be seamlessly integrated into the classroom to make learning joyful and meaningful for both the teacher and the taught. By Lisette Wouters, Nijmegen - Netherlands Will Stinson, Cambridge - England

teacher standing by the blackboard points her stick at the board. ‘Alexander the Great – ancient Greek king’, it says. With a high pitched voice she dictates: “Alexander the Great – ancient Greek king”. The children chorus: “Alexander the Great – ancient Greek king”. That’s all they learn about Alexander the Great. There are no stories, no pictures. There is no experience or empathy.

Beatriz Montero, The flamenco dancer

and read it.’ That’s how I started to stimulate reading.”

But there’s hope for the future. Geeta Ramanujam, a former history teacher from Bengaluru, wants to make a change. She introduces story telling in Indian schools. Instead of reciting the name of Alexander the Great, she tells amazing stories about him.

Teaching through Stories “I was a teacher myself, I taught history. But I found the lessons were boring, and I noticed the children weren’t interested and motivated. There was a huge gap between the teachers and the children. So I started telling them stories. I asked the children: ‘What if you were a Greek king today? What would you do? Where would you go?’ Then I told

Geeta Ramanujam gives the workshop

Geeta Ramanujam

them: ‘You know who this king was? He was Alexander the Great.’ That way, the children could empathize with the king, get to know him and become fascinated by him. That’s how I made learning fun and interesting.” Geeta became a popular teacher, but the school management wasn’t very happy with her way of teaching. “One day I got a call from the director, he

told me I had to work as a librarian from that moment on.” But she didn’t give up. “In the library, I noticed how children brought back books without even reading them. So I started to read the stories for the kids, because I loved reading myself. After a few pages, the children were really into the book, and didn’t want me to stop. But I did stop, and told the children, ‘If you want to know how the story goes, rent the book

One day, one of the parents suggested to Geeta about the possibility of her doing storytelling workshops. “I had been in education for 27 years then, and found this an interesting idea. With three others, I set up an organization called Kathalaya and started experimenting with storytelling. At first, schools were not interested. They were already overburdened with the curriculum and story telling didn’t figure in the exams. So I took a chance and said, “We will work for free for three months. After that, you decide if you want to take us on or not.” It was very difficult to open the teachers to a whole new way of teaching. But it’s amazing how some schools did believe in us eventually. We trained those teachers first, and they told the others about their experience.” Currently, Geeta has trained over 50,000 teachers. But she didn’t do it alone. “Finance also played a large part.

I got help from the Ashoka fellowship 2000 and the Indian Foundation for the Arts. They helped make Kathalaya possible.” Now Geeta travels around the world, to train teachers and set up academies for storytelling.

A Slice of Life One of the schools that has supported Geeta’s storytelling vision is the Mahatma Montessori School in Madurai. Geeta has brought Kathalaya to this school in the past, but today, she is joined by Spanish story tellers Enrique Páez and Beatriz Montero, founders of the International Storytellers Network. Their collaboration with the Kathalaya Trust is enabling their shared objective of establishing storytelling as an effective educational and cultural tool in all spheres of education. Geeta, Beatriz and Enrique found each other on the Internet. Two years ago, Enrique and Beatriz founded a storytelling network, to connect storytellers from all over the world. At this moment, the network has 920 story

tellers. They are not just story tellers, but also writers, illustrators, researchers, and other allied professionals. The network also organizes festivals, to spread information and meet each other. In 2010, at a festival in Brazil, they met Geeta, who was the first story teller to come all the way from India. They clicked immediately. Enrique and Beatriz are in India for the first time, to join Geeta in her storytelling workshops. The storytelling trio, through a series of imaginative workshops, showed teachers how to use story telling as a teaching tool to teach all subjects and thereby make it more enlivening and interesting for the children. Sitting as quietly as their students, the teachers listened attentively to Enrique Páez as he reveals the common pitfalls of creative writing. Enrique had asked the teachers to prepare a short story each, which they are invited to read aloud to their colleagues. After this, he provided feedback on how the narratives may be edited to create more coherent pieces. Creative writing, Enrique’s field

Madurai Messenger Arts October 2011

Children of the Mahatma school

Enrique Paez, writer

Vilachery:

The Village of Dolls She tells them, “Pick an imaginary apple from an imaginary tree, eat it, throw it away and stamp your feet!”

of expertise, is the basis of story telling. Sometimes, a teacher may want to tell a story but does not know how to express this to students effectively. Enrique showed them how to express themselves in writing using a structure, giving them the freedom to be creative within a limited framework. This was a strong foundation for the teachers to introduce performance of the story through voice and body language. Creating and refining the written story is only the beginning of story telling. In order to instruct the teachers on how to express a story using their voices, Geeta takes the floor. Asking the teachers to stand in a circle, Geeta starts leading the group in vocal exercises. Woops, growls and screams echo around the room as Geeta requests the voices of a tiger, a mosquito, or the sound of a babbling brook. These noises are the basis of telling a story in a dynamic and engaging way. In order to excite their students in the class room, the teachers must exploit their voices creatively and without restraint. By using different voices for different characters, the teachers learn how to make sounds using the belly. This will create a richer sound that the children are more likely to respond to. Being told a story is an experience; making children laugh is the sign of an effective and engaging story teller. The sounds that fill the room slowly morph into a surprisingly harmonized and competent choir.

As this beautiful sound slowly swells and fills the room, there are no longer teachers, instructors or journalists present. This harmony epitomizes the notion of story telling as freedom within limits; the only limit is the self. How loud are you willing to shout? How high can you squeak? Why not wail as if your own mother had died? It is when reality is brought to the classroom, instead of textbooks and exams, true education can begin. Geeta knows this, and this message did not need to be spoken; each teacher discovered it for themselves when they discovered their voices.

Bonding through Stories Kathalaya is not only focused on training teachers how to tell a story as a way of education; reaching the children through story telling is just as essential. The next morning, in the same room as the teacher’s harmonic epiphany, hundreds of students gather from the younger grades to be inspired by Geeta and Beatriz Montero. Geeta tells three stories to the children, using all the skills she showed the teachers the day before. After her stunning performance, using the most incredible voices for the characters of birds, lions and spiders, Beatriz begins. As a Spaniard, Beatriz has chosen to incorporate Flamenco into her performances. This traditional Spanish dance is fiery, energetic and stimulating for both the performer and audience. Today, there is no audience;

as soon as Beatriz takes to the stage, she shouts “Wa!” and demands a response of “Ah!” from the children. Singing a Spanish song, stamping her feet and clapping, Beatriz bellows, “Wa!” and a deafening roar of “Ah!” is returned. The song finishes and Beatriz begins to clap a Flamenco rhythm. The children join; Beatriz shouts “Olé!” and the children holler it straight back to her. As the rhythm continues, Beatriz gets the children on the feet. She tells them, “Pick an imaginary apple from an imaginary tree, eat it, throw it away and stamp your feet!” The children eagerly oblige as Beatriz continues to clap and stamp her feet. This is the final sphere of story telling: body language. Beatriz’ use of Flamenco engages children, and this is easily transferable to the classroom. The shouts and clapping are coordinated and controlled by Beatriz at all times. When she tells them, the children are quiet. This performance brilliantly shows Kathalaya’s alternative way of reaching children and involving them in an exciting yet controlled manner. Currently, Kathalaya is establishing story telling academies all over the world. They aim to offer adults the opportunity to come into contact with story telling. This shows that, for Geeta and the International Storytellers Network, story telling is a way of living, not just a way of education.

Projects Abroad Journalism volunteers saunter around Vilachery and discover a village that prides itself on its heritage of handmade dolls. Doll making is a way of life; the soul of the village. Their repertoire includes not only the ever popular golu bommai for Navarathri but also Nativity scenes. By Maxime Bailly Paris, France.

rriving in Vilachery, there is a confused silence: where are all the people? A cat minces past us as we step out of the rickshaw, a few heads peep out of open doorways, and a small child laughs and points at us. Apart from one small coffee stand and a few curious inhabitants, the village seems almost deserted. The heat has driven most people indoors, and one select group of older men to

drink on the street before lunchtime. Asking for the president of the village, we are given conflicting directions of which we make no sense. After a few minutes of bewildering translations, we come to realize that the people of the village are joking with us. The humorous eccentricity that greets us on our arrival leaves us with a thirst to discover more about the people of Vilachery.

Madurai Messenger Village Voices October 2011

Place

The locals of the village

An Assortment of Dolls

Vilachery is located in Madurai district in Tamil Nadu. It’s a small village situated 10 kilometers from Madurai city centre and 7 kilometers from the periphery of Madurai, a ten to fifteen minutes drive.

If you want to buy a Golu Bommai, prices start at Rs. 10 and end at Rs. 5000 for a five feet tall Ganesh.

Population

Consisting of around 60 families, Vilachery has around 500 inhabitants.

Problems

As with all places in the world, Vilachery does face some problems. In October and November, the monsoon restricts the amount of production in the village. However, this is not unique to Vilachery; people simply adapt their work around the rains. The main problem facing the village is its heavy reliance on the success of one business, the doll makers, in order to keep the village in trade and economic growth. If the quality of the clay in the village decreases, so will the demand for dolls, thus dragging the village into poverty.

Production and Labour

The main production output of Vilachery is doll making. One family has been creating dolls for over half a century. This business is the heart of Vilachery, with high demands from all inhabitants of the village and beyond. Whilst this business only employs thirteen people, its reputation is renowned and respected. Export of dolls goes as far as the Tamil regions of Malaysia and Singapore. Even though this high demand from international clients would compel most businesses to find a more convenient location, it is the excellent quality of clay found in Vilachery that keeps the business going in the village.

Health and education is a slight problem in Vilachery, but the proximity to Madurai’s many hospitals makes it possible for them to get the best medical treatment. Similarly, a short bus ride into southern Madurai makes it possible for children to access the nearest school.

The men of Vilachery are few and far between on a weekday morning; the main employment for men is found in the agricultural landscape which surrounds the village. Several carts slowly trickle through the centre of the village carrying workers, crops and livestock. For women, work is centered in the domestic sphere. Whilst the men toil away in the fields, the women cook, clean and look after their children. For the inhabitants of Vilachery, gender plays an important role in which type of employment it is deemed suitable for a person to be in.

People

Vijaya Lakshmi, 45, and Rajendren, 60, are the owners of a doll business in Vilachery. Lakshmi told us about the process of making dolls and the history of their business. They started the business with clay pots, which soon grew due to a high demand from the Hindu population for Golu Bommai. These are statues of Hindu gods and goddesses used in ceremonies and festivals as well as home worship.

object. Furthermore, they had to modify the facial expressions to make more welcoming and ‘alive’ faces. The dolls have to smile so that people are more inclined to buy.

Prospects & Promise

The Banner of the Shop

Vijayalakshmi and Rajendran in their shop

Ten employees are working for them making 50 dolls every day from a selection of 5000 moulds. Three other employees paint the dolls, which takes another day. Last day is needed to dry the doll. In total, it takes three days before a doll is finished. There are three different materials using which a doll is made: wood, clay and paper. All these materials for the doll making must be bought in Madurai city centre. Types of models include Hindu gods and goddesses, agricultural scenes, Christian nativity scenes and the Virgin Mary, as well as angels.

Vijaya told us that there is not one doll that sells the most because each doll stands for something else like luck, education or money. Only during the Navarathiri, or “nine holy nights”, a Hindu festival during which people display a different Golu Bommai outside their homes each day, these specific Navarathiri dolls are popular items on sale. The festival lasts nine days because of the Hindu goddess Durgai. Durgai has nine different avatars, and each day one is celebrated. On the 10th day, Durgai kills a giant and evil creature that marks the conclusion of the festival.

When its not festival time, Lakshmi and Rajendran can pursue their own interests more freely, as long as they still cater to their customers’ demands. Other objects they produce include money boxes, magic water jugs and complex compositions of weddings, feasts and farms, which include numerous dolls. The main barrier during this doll making is the monsoon in October and November. During the monsoon, it’s difficult for them to use the clay because it’s too wet to use. Therefore, they start

making the dolls during the summer season, so that they have enough dolls to sell during the monsoon. Another difficulty is the painting, because each doll needs a different emotion. Vijaya said: “It is a pure art, you have to work with interest and perfection.” The skill it takes to capture a subtle expression on the face of a god is a secret to which the couple has found the key. The only thing they will reveal of this secret is that one “must work with skill”. In order to capture the emotion of a certain god, great skill is needed to give symbolic importance to an

Often the children of the doll makers take over the business when their parents get too old to run it. So most of them start working at the doll business at a young age, helping their parents and learning the techniques of doll making. Although Vijaya told us she didn’t push her children to help them with their business, they are all working at the place where the dolls are produced, to eventually take over the business. Vilachery’s proximity to Madurai gives the village the best of both worlds; it is not being left behind by new developments, but it still retains its independent status as a village. The international exportation of dolls from the village is extremely beneficial to all of Vilachery’s inhabitants. Although it is only one business, it affects the village as a whole. The growth of doll making in Vilachery makes the soul of the village stronger.

Madurai Messenger Young Achiever October 2011

Praveen Pouraj:

The Artist’s Way Artist Praveen Kumar Pouraj, owner of Kiruku Graphic design studio, the first of its kind in Temple City, shares his world with Madurai Messenger. He talks about his personal work as an artist and the barriers along the artist’s way. He also tells us about the differences between his art and graphic design. The fact that his father is a respected doctor in the city, made it more difficult for his parents to accept his work right away. But Praveen persisted in following his heart. Currently he is in pursuit of realizing this vision, the vision that one day, Madurai will know more about art and its worth.

Satish Suman Behera; I feel that there is a big gap between designers in the company where I was working. Now i want to bridge the gap between designers and the clients. That is working out well now.

By Yoanna Nobel, Netherlands.

Conversation with Praveen Pouraj I learned how to live my life through art 18

What is your main reason for not pursuing a formal education in art? Art, for me, was never a hobby. I learned everything through art. How to live my life, how to communicate with people. I cannot classify art as just related to painting or just related to hobby. That’s why I like to put that under the umbrella of creativity.

How did your parents react to your choice of profession? That’s a good question. My father is a doctor, so of course there were reactions. I would like to call myself a self-learning artist. My father put me into Mahatma Montessori School. My father was not practicing in Madurai but in a village nearby where he was a successful doctor, who naturally wanted me to become a doctor. At that time, he didn’t realize that it would be some kind of setup like this. Now my father is trying to read newspapers and some art magazines and trying to know more about what it is. I guess I’m kind of happy with that.

What inspires you the most?

Corporate identities

A lot of things actually. But if I have to name a few then it would be an elephant, the Buddha, actually everything…

We have constant consultations with the client during the design process. The final call is always with the client, they have to like it, even when the designer is not really satisfied with the design.

But mostly from the things that have happened in my own life, all small little things. the guides that I get from nowhere, you can call it spirituality…

Because spirituality, uniqueness and aesthetics all comes together in art? That’s right! I AM A CONCEPT ARTIST

Can you tell us something about your work? I’m a concept artist, I do the concept of a design. I’m also the one who goes to meet the clients. My business and creative partner Satish Behera takes care of the design management, the most crucial part. Satish takes care of the design, and talking with the designers, and also prepares the briefing for the designers.

Because Kiruku works with quite a big team of freelancers, the assignment will be given to the person who is right for the job. If I can’t do it, then I will just push it down to my colleague. If my requirement comes, than I step in. To be clear, my art work is completely separate from the work in the design studio, in terms of the design, when the works comes. This is purely because being a commercial thing it depends on the clients’ requirement and the way the designers work. They are specialists fine tuned to delivering this kind of work. As an artist, I can go to a certain part, for example the illustrations, or concept or something. But other than that, the work will be taking over by the designer team.

How do you approach your clients? To be clearer on this, this is not through my efforts, this goes through the design-part. The design studio is a place

where the specialist designers from all over the country work. You try to communicate with your clients, get the work done and deliver it. So this aspect is totally separate from the art.

But during the whole designing process, do you make the decisions about the brands or logos, together? Do you work as a team? Well, actually Satish (Praveen’s colleague) takes care of the design part. When it is a logo, we have a big team from all over the country, I know their work and we also have design meetings.

First you study the work they do, and then you provide the service for them? Yes that’s right. We meet clients and talk to them to see how we can meet their needs. The problem is that most of the time the clients don’t even know what they want. The client is the one who comes with the ideas, they take the final call. Because they are the ones who are going to use it, so they must like it.

What do you do when your client is not happy with the results? They often are happy with it and accept it because we may think that its good,

but it may not be good for them. Actually you exchange ideas. They have the final call but they are also open to new ideas. Of course, it depends on the client.

“Madurai on a platform of design awareness “

Do you share assignments as a team? If I can’t do it, then I will just push it down to my colleague. If my requirement comes, then I step in. I have my art things separately. In terms of the design, when the works com its purely because it is a commercial thing it depends on the clients requirement and the way the designers work they are specialists for the delivering of work. As an artist, I can go to a certain part, for example the illustrations, or concept or something. But other than that, the work will be taken over by the team of designers.

Because their work is very abstract? Actually, yes!

Do you feel that your work is being taken seriously? Do the people respect what you do? People do think that creativity is for yourself, that you do this for yourself. In India, the designer’s world is something really new. Even in metros this is new. They don’t understand what it means,

they don’t understand what art means, so this is very new for them. Sometimes people ask me what I do for living, and if I tell them that I’m a designer, they wonder if am a fashion designer!

So they don’t understand? There is not much awareness.

So your challenge is to create awareness? People don’t understand art or design, or why it is so expensive. That’s why we give workshops, to make them aware about art, about design.

How do you see yourself five years from now? As an artist, I cannot see that far. But in the terms of graphic design, I see Madurai on the platform of design awareness. We plan to do workshops, seminars, to do more for the city to make it artistically aware and responsive to art.

Madurai Messenger Events October 2011

Madurai Symposium 2011: A platform for Artisans and Development Professionals A symposium conducted by the Madura-based development NGO, DHAN Foundation, attempts to bring artisans, development professionals and the general public together by highlighting livelihood opportunities for the rural poor in a contemporary context. By William Goutard, France. The Exhibition going on in Full Swing!

(DHAN), try to influence the policy of the state for farmers, but also try to transmit know-how concerned with water management and environmental issues.

Supported by all agricultural concerns in India such as agricultural banks, government, and major industry groups, the DHAN is trying to eradicate poverty in rural India.

They bring culture techniques and other new technologies, through events like this symposium – for instance, an artificial lake was designed to provide powerful nutritional supplement for cows. Only made from organic waste, it is a simple and eco-friendly solution to the farmers.

Climatic factors are the main cause for poverty in rural India. 70 percent of agricultural workers are dependent on rain. DHAN offers financial solutions to agricultural workers particularly through micro-credit and insurance to divide the

Also, the DHAN Foundation aids the formation of small interdependent groups comprising of 12 people. Each one forms a link in a chain of support. For instance, a group of 12 women who work in different capacities with honey

Terracotta Products

Visitors at the Event

symposium was held in Madurai from the 14th to the 18th of September, 2011. It was open to all Madurai professionals wishing to share their experiences through various conferences. It also had a wider audience wishing to explore the various products made in DHAN (Development

of Humane Action) Foundation. Each day there were more than 300 professionals and over 2000 visitors to the symposium The economy of India is the ninth largest in the world. With a growth of almost 10 percent and expanding

by more than one billion people, the country is required to address many challenges within a stipulated period of time. 50 percent of the population work in the agricultural sector but they represent only 20 percent of the country’s wealth. Associations such as the “Development of Humane Action”

seasonal risk. These are initiatives that could help eliminate most of the large share of rural poverty.

receive financial assistance from DHAN and are able to make a living. It is through dozens of such programs that the DHAN hopes to eradicate artisanal poverty in India. The symposium offered several livelihood opportunities for artisans, films to raise awareness among stakeholders, communities and the general public on various development initiatives and interventions. Folk artistes performed cultural programs to exhibit their talents. In addition, the symposium exposed the public to the talents and creativity of poor communities and, through an exhibition, to artisanal crafts made by them. The Artificial Lake

Madurai Messenger Culture October 2011

An art, a culture, no fashion: Henna

she specialised in mehendi. From the time she got married and moved to Madurai, she works at home.

A brief Distinction between the North and the South

Henna has a long tradition in India. Either for coloring hair or on the hands and feet for beautiful designs, which is called Mehendi. Henna is an important part of Indian culture. Nele Roessler on the trail of the hennaculture in India and of her own experiences to get a mehendi. By Nele Roessler, Germany.

T 22

he dark green paste has a cooling effect on my skin. In the room, which is air-conditioned, it is almost too cold. Within minutes, a pattern is on my hand. It is being refined to make it look beautiful. At first, I only recognize circles; soon it unfolds into a flower. It feels like my body would be a canvas for the work of an artist.

Special Mehendis for special occasions Next to the young woman, who is doing my mehendi, stands Chitra. She is a trainer at the “Vinitha’s Beauty Parlour”. “Applying henna on the hair and mehendi on the hand brings down the body temperature,” she explains. Mehendis are made mainly with the powder from the crushed leaves of the henna plant, which is native to the tropics and subtropics. It is also used to dye wool, leather and nails. If you mix the powder with eucalyptus or mehendi oil, tea powder, citric acid and a liquid, the paste to draw a mehendi is formed.

Mehendi- Its Origin Meanwhile, Chitra, the trainer in the beauty parlor ‘“Vinitha’s,’”, explained to me that mehendis have originated in Persia and then spread to India, the Arabian Peninsula and North Africa. This is also the reason why there are different mehendi types as arabic, traditional and modern mehendi. Mehendis are a symbol of satisfaction and happiness. Therefore, they are

Mrs. Vinitha Jain

in demand for special occasions like weddings, pregnancies, functions or religious festivals.It is especially symbolic of celebration during diwali (The festival of Lights). In the North, there are also special patterns for special occasions. For example, the paisley (mango pattern) is used for marriages because they show happiness. However, it can also simply be worn even on non-festive ocassions. Normally you have it on your hands, arms and feet, but especially in the North, sometimes it is on other parts of the body like around the navel. For special days, most women prefer mehendi professionals to apply mehendi for them, but on any other day, most women paint one themselves at home. It is like cooking: You can go out for eating, but you can also cook for yourself at home. The lines of my professional mehendi become more and more like a real pattern with flowers and leaves. Rachna Mohanal, the owner of ‘Rachna’s Beauty Studio’, says that she likes the aroma of a mehendi best when it can stay for three days. So when I smell mine, the aroma reminds me of a forest where it has just rained.

The training Mehendi professionals who work from home are in great demand during weddings. Nazeema Gamlal is one of them. “On some days, I need to put

Vinitha Jain, who is also a native of Mumbai, declared that mehendi is more prevalent in North India than in the South. In the North, there is no wedding without it. For her marriage, it took around seven hours to do it on herself. However, this can now happen in two hours. Another difference is that the men in the North had also a small one, although often only one line. “Because they are hairy,” Vinitha says, adding a grin. “Traditionally, in South India, mehendis were just made up of lines and circles on the palm. Only in the last ten years, the scenario had changed and there are more designs similar to those in North India,” says Rachna Mohanal.

What is mehendi? The pattern on my hand is finished. The dark paste is fixed with lemon juice and then has to dry for six hours, so that the paint can move deeper into the skin. It stays until about three weeks. I look at my hand and think of the statement of Rachna Mohanal who owns the beauty parlour “Rachna’s Beauty Studio”. “Mehendi is an art.” If I look on the elegant lines of my pattern, I absolutely agree. For Veena, it’s a hobby that she was always in love with. She does not want it on herself because she feels it is satisfying enough. She likes to do the drawings, the patterns come easily to her. “When I see a hand, I know what design will suit them,” she says. “Creating is the main thing, only drawing would be boring,” says Nazeema Gulam. For Vinitha Jain, the owner of “Vinitha’s”, Mehendi is “a culture rather than fashion.” But she also does not like it on herself as it takes too long.If I think about that I now cannot use my hand for six hours, because the paste has to try, I can understand her already.

Henna – An Effective Hair Dye The powder of the henna plant has been used for 6,000 years as a hair dyeing agent. “In Europe, colouring the hair with henna has increased in the last few years,” says Vinitha Jain. She explains that the use of henna for dying the hair has decreased, because there are chemical dyes in the market now. “With natural henna, you can only get red hues. But women in South India like black hair.” However, in the North it is just as much used as in the past. “But still, I prefer henna, because I am a traditional old lady,” says Vinitha Jain with a smile.

Different types My mehendi dries and the paste is slowly beginning to fall out. I am curious to see how it looks and try to scrape a little of the paste. In Europe, in the last few years, the Moroccan mehendi has become widespread. It is arabic mehendi, so it has dark contour lines. The dark color is produced by chemicals. In contrast to that, traditional mehendis are natural and the color depends on the body temperature of a person. The more the heat, the more darker it will become. Another type is the modern mehendi, which is done with the use of beads, strings and stones and that is called the Zardoshi Mehendi.

The future of mehendi Even if mehendi has a long tradition in india, it is still a growing field, says Nazeema Gulam’s husband. “Everybody wants to be an engineer or a doctor, but this is art,” he says.” It makes us travel back in time. Six hours later, I scraped off my mehendi paste with a spoon. The pattern has such a bright red color. Even though I liked my hand with the black mehendi paste best, I’m looking forward to three weeks with my new mehendi.

mehendis for up to 100-200 guests, especially during marriages,” she explains. Therefore, they have five assistants, all professionally trained. Most mehendi professionals are trained in a beauty parlor and also have more training. “To be able to draw mehendi designs requires a lot of practice,” says Vinitha Jain, the owner of the beauty parlour ‘Vinitha’s’. Nazeema Gulam, who works at home, has attended some classes but, she feels she has learnt more on her own. Another person who has found an opportunity to put her skills to practice is Veena. She is originally from Mumbai, and later trained in a beauty parlor and it was there that A modern mehendi

The finished mehendi with the paste on

Madurai Messenger Eating Out October 2011

Food: Sacred offering

Shank Wala Restaurant in Madurai has been serving traditional North Indian cuisine for more than fifty years. Proprietor Ramlal runs this unique restaurant based on the principle that values customer satisfaction over profit. Besides its gastronomic value, Shankwala also bridges the North and South of India

Ramlal, however, is certain that food must be both “healthy and tasty.” Hence, from the health point of view, particularly diabetes and high levels of cholesterol, he is particular that food prepared at Shankwala is with minimum oil and spice.

Ramlal - The Man behind the Show

Germany.

The Beginning On the plates, are delicious-looking chapattis next to different coloured dhals in green, red and yellow. The famous fluffy chapatti, the good service and authentic food are Brand Shankwala. It is around midday and the hotel fills up quickly. “A minimum of 50 to 60 people come here every day. Sometimes, we even serve 100 customers,” says Ramlal, the person behind the show. “If they have had this food once, they want to have it again and again.” Interestingly, bonding

Customers enjoying their meal

Service with a Smile

By Nele Roessler,

he moment you reach the famous Nalli Silks in Jadamuni Koil Street, your nostrils are assailed by the aroma of North Indian Food. The aroma wafts from the famous Rajasthani restaurant Shank Wala, just around the corner. The restaurant, through its years of service, is a bridge between South and North India.

”The main difference in food is that more wheat is used in the North than in the South, as South Indians are mostly rice eaters,”

over food, several guests have become really good friends over the years. Every employee of Shankwala is a relative of Ramlal from the North. It all began when Ramlal’s father Sardar Mal, relocated from his cozy village, Jalor in Rajasthan, to Chennai in search of employment. Initially, he faced a series of problems such as the language barrier, culture and practices of the people in South India and procurement of raw materials. In the early years, they sourced raw material from Chennai. But now the scenario has changed. Ramlal procures all the raw materials needed for his business from the local shops in the heart of the city. Even though his father opened this restaurant in Madurai in 1952 primarily to offer food to the North Indian pilgrims, a majority of the customers today are South Indians. In 1957, his father decided to name the restaurant: Shank Wala. This means “One who owns the shell of God.” His

father chose the name because everyday he worshipped by offering the shell as a sacred object. While Ramlal’s wife, who is originally from the North, serves us delicious tea – North Indian-style, he talks about food.

Reduce Oil, Increase longevity! ”The main difference in food is that more wheat is used in the North than in the South, as South Indians are mostly rice eaters,” explains Ramlal. Also North Indian food is spicier, even though too much spice is not healthy. Another important reason was that in a region like Rajasthan, where wars were common, the liberal use of spices acted as a preservative. Unlike the south, where people use gingelly oil as a cooking medium, in the North, the most preferred cooking medium is mustard oil.

Although Ramlal’s father and ancestors were from Rajasthan, Ramlal is a Maduraiite at heart. Madurai is his heritage; he was born here and does not want to leave the city. But he never regretted continuing his father’s business because providing food is like a service to him, which meant satisfying a large number of people. We could see the pride on Ramlal’s face as he talked about his father. Ramlal’s greatest motivation and role model is his father, who taught him the secret of pleasing people and capturing their hearts by serving homely, healthy food and at the same time, concentrating on running a business which is primarily commercial and maintaining the image of the hotel. Among the qualities he admired most in his father were his determination and hard work. Besides, his father was a very generous man who provided free food for Sanyasis (Saints) when they were on a pilgrimage. Ramlal still follows his father’s practice. The quality of food is non negotiable for Ramlal. “I never compromise with quality”. For him, food is an offering to God, so it has to be treated with respect. The food at Shankwala is testimony to these sacred principles. It’s obvious in the tasty food and the beeline of customers who visit the restaurant regularly.

Delicious and healthy- Shankwala ensures both!

The Mouth watering Chapatis!

Madurai Messenger Book Review October 2011

A City within Walls Spanish writer Ildefonso Falconesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; stunning historical novel set in fourteenth century Barcelona is about what it means to be human and free. Set against the backdrop of the construction of a cathedral in turbulent times, the compelling story of the main character Arnau Esanyol is not to be missed writes Anne-Marij de Koning By Anne-Marij De Koning, Netherlands.

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n the 14th century, Catalonia (one of the 17 autonomic regions in Spain) finds itself at crossroads. Rich traders are taking over power from the feudal nobility who traditionally wielded power in Catalonia. According to local law, the ones who succeed in staying a year and one day within the city walls of Barcelona without getting caught by the Spanish Inquisition (an institution established in the 14th century to fight heresy and was mainly controlled by the order of the Dominics, a ecclesiastic tribunal that was in charge of maintaining Catholic Orthodoxy) during that time become free humans. After living in hiding for one year and one day and in fear of being found out, Arnau grows up in the sparkling centre of Barcelona where a Cathedral, the Santa Maria del mar, is under construction. The Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones, 53, Spanish lawyer and writer, is a historical novel set in Barcelona in the 14th century. Today Santa Maria del Mar (The Cathedral of the Sea) is the heart of the trendiest district of Barcelona: El Borne. But in the 14th century, it was a cathedral for sea men, who lived in La Ribera, close to the harbour and close to the centre of the city. In 1320, the cathedral was built stone by stone from stones from the Montejuic (a hill located in Barcelona) by many of the townsmen

The Cathedral of the Sea

The Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones, 53, Spanish lawyer and writer, is a historical novel set in Barcelona in the 14th century. of the Ribera Quarter (a neighborhood in Barcelona near the Santa Maria del Mar) in 55 years. The cathedral is the backdrop where the story of Arnau Estanyol takes place. Arnau faces a lot difficulties and conflicts, like forbidden love, poverty, the plague, death and war. The beauty about this story is that, you see young Arnau and Barcelona growing up together in turbulent times for Catalonia. Both of them develop into something beautiful during the 14th century. Despite a lot of sorrow and conflicts, you see Barcelona flourish into a beautiful city and Arnau Estanyol, who was born as a serf, gradually ascend the social ladder to the highest rungâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;the nobility. Although Ildefonso Falcones is sometimes too melodramatic and shows little evidence of psychological depth, the well crafted sequence of plot makes The Cathedral of After The Cathedral of the Sea, Ildefonso Falcones published his Second book The hand of Fatima in 2009.

the Sea an exciting book from the beginning to end. For example, Ildefonso Falcones beautifully portrays the forbidden love between Aledis and Arnau. Its beautiful how he describes the moment they first meet: the shy Aledis and Arnau being overwhelmed by her beauty. Ildefonso Falcones portrays different angles of life in Barcelona in the 14th century through the interesting and exciting historical context as a backdrop for the story. The description of the social environment of Catalonian farmers, artisans, traders, money-changers and nobility, political plots and social and religious contradictions are vivid. The Cathedral of the Sea is not just a story about the construction of a beautiful church, the Santa Maria del Mar and the stunning recreation of medieval Barcelona, but also the harsh life of its main character, Arnau Estanyol that makes each pages an invigorating experience, and the

backdrop of the political and social conflicts during that time. These different aspects in The Cathedral of the Sea makes each page is an invigorating experience. Though set in a distant past, The Cathedral of the Sea by Ildefonso Falcones is distinctly modern: concerned with what it means to be a man, father, son and, most of all, what it means to be free. The Cathedral of the Sea is an intensely readable and stirring novel. Fascinating and compelling, the story of Arnau Estanyol is one not to be missed. The Cathedral of the Sea was published in 2006 in Spain and won a few awards including the 2006 Silver Euskadi Prize for the best Spanish novel, the 2007 QuĂŠ Leer Prize for best Spanish language book of the year, and the prestigious Italian award, Giovanni Boccaccio, for the best foreign author of 2007.

Madurai Messenger Ordinary People-Extradinary Lives October 2011

Two Men in a Bookshop

“If you own a bookstore in the city, you have to go in search of customers; but in an airport, it is just the opposite; people come in search of your bookshop.”

By Amedeo, Italy. Mr.Nagarajan looks on as Polly shares his views

Nagarajan and Polly successfully manage Prakash Book store in the Madurai airport. Around 100-150 customers visit the bookshop daily, a figure that amazes Italian Amedeo Bussi, who declares that the reading habit is on the wane in Europe, with the advent of the electronic media like the Internet, TV and films!

off. On the contrary, in the city people are more engaged with their own work. “It is really important that you serve people well; because only if you serve them well, they will come in search of you,” adds Nagarajan. In fact the airport bookstore attracts around 100-150 customers per day which is a good business for them. Besides books, they also merchandise soft drinks, chocolates, biscuits, and toys. Nagarajan’s business partner, Polly, has worked for the past 22 years at the Madurai airport, initially in the house keeping department and later in the entry ticket counter. In 2006, he joined L. Nagarajan and he simply loves being behind the counter in the bookshop. “Books are like my friends,” he says. Polly likes this job not only because of the access to knowledge and information but also because he loves to hang about with customers. He likes reading in Tamil and Malayalam and admits that he does not read in English.

f you ever get a chance to go to the Madurai airport, be sure to visit the tiny little book shop there. When I went there, I didn’t expect anything special, but once I got inside, I found an interesting bookshop managed by two men: Polly and L. Nagarajan.

types of customers and also to meet their reading demands. In 1989, convinced that he had the experience needed to start a retail bookshop, Nagarajan established an independent bookshop at the Madurai airport.

L. Nagarajan is the proud owner of the shop. “I like my job. I’m enjoying the experiences that I have at the bookstore every day. My job is interesting.”

According to Nagarajan, owning a bookshop in the city is more difficult that having one in the airport. “If you own a bookstore in the city, you have to go in search of customers; but in an airport, it is just the opposite; people come in search of your bookshop.” People who come to the airport have more time to visit the bookshop when they are waiting for their flights to take

It all began in 1980, when Nagarajan met the Higgin Bothams manager and got to work in the Higgin Bothams bookshop in the airport. It was a good opportunity to gain insight into various

Nagarajan faced several challenges in setting up the bookshop. Initially, there weren’t many passengers in the airport unlike today, and so the business took time to take off. He often faced financial difficulties, but thanks to his determination and the support of his family, he found a way out. On a typical day, their work is to “make the customers feel at home.” Sometimes it could be really hard because they have to satisfy customers and readers, to understand their needs and to deliver the books to customers at the right time. For instance, many passengers place special orders for books to be procured from Chennai within a stipulated time when they would come back to the airport on another journey. . The airport bookshop usually works from 7 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. and then 12.00 pm to 8.30 p.m. In case flights are delayed, the shop is open to meet customer needs. Before leaving, I asked Nagarajan and Polly for their best pick for me. Their recommendation: Novels in English by Indian writers, which according to them, are well written. I, of course, feel that such books would also help me to know India better.

Mr.L.Nagarajan- The Proud Owner! Books-The Storehouse of Knowledge!

Madurai Messenger Revival October 2011

In Tune with sa ri ga ma… Born in Madurai, the leading Carnatic musician MS Subbulakshmi, or MS to her fans, needs no introduction. But does today’s younger generation still know her and her music? Lisette Wouters finds out when she attends the workshop ‘How to build a Rasika’ at the TVS Lakshmi school where children are taught how to listen appreciate Carnatic music and thereby and keep the music alive. By Lisette Wouters, Netherlands. Singer Vijay Shiva -Full Concentration!

workshops for the school children. Vijay Siva is a professional Carnatic musician who knew MS Subbulakshmi personally and learnt some songs directly from her. He often conducts workshops on Carnatic music in his hometown Chennai. Today he is at the Lakshmi School in Madurai, where a large group of eager students are ready to experience a piece of their own cultural heritage. “Every Carnatic song has a beginning, middle and end: pallavi, anupallavi and saranam respectively”, explains Vijay Shiva as he begins his workshop. He explains to the children how they can distinguish these three parts in a song. “When the tone and rhythm of a song change, another part of the song begins. At the end of the song, the composer always adds his name, like a signature. Then you will know the song is ending.” As Vijay starts singing one of MS’s beautiful songs, the children raise their hands when they hear the transition from the pallavi to the anupallavi. All hands rise approximately at the same time, and Vijay nods contented, giving his eager students a big smile.

“R

aise your hand if you know a song by MS Subbulakshmi,” Carnatic Musician Vijay Shiva asks the large group of 12 to 15 year old children. Only a few hands rise. Princes and heads of state have bowed to the music of MS Subbulakshmi, but today’s Indian youth, brought up with pop, rock and jazz music, don’t seem to know how to appreciate the traditional songs of their own culture anymore. “Today’s Indian music industry is very much related to the film industry.

Carnatic songs are rare in films, so the youth isn’t exposed to it. That’s why they don’t know the traditional songs anymore,” Aravind Shankar from INTACH (Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage) explains.

held for the fourth consecutive year, marking MS’s 95th birthday this year. Apart from musical tributes and homage to MS, the festival also engaged the younger generation meaningfully with Carnatic music through the workshop.

So, as a part of the annual festival ‘Madura Geetham’ to commemorate the music of MS on her birthday (September 16), INTACH, Madurai organized a workshop ‘Build a Rasika’, meaning ‘Build a connoisseur,’ this year. Madura Geetham is a music festival to remember and honor MS Subbulakshmi,

“Carnatic music is an ancient heritage, so it’s really important to keep it alive,” Aravind explains. “But if we want the younger generation to appreciate it, they first have to understand how to listen to it”. That’s why INTACH asked Vijay Siva, professional Carnatic musician, to conduct one of his

While singing a Carnatic song, Vijay always pats his knee with his right hand. It’s time to explain to the children why he does this. “All Carnatic songs have a rhythm, but they are not all the same. For example, we have songs with a rhythm of three, five or seven beats”. He teaches the children the two basics rhythms, and adds the complicated one with seven beats. The children clap and learn, and when the time is right, he let’s them guess the right rhythm as he sings his songs. The last basic part the children should know, are the notes. “There are seven types of notes in Carnatic music: Sa, Ri, Ga, Ma, Pa, Tha and Ne. With these types of notes you can create all sorts of ragas. Carnatic songs”. The important point is that all notes can be sung in a high pitch and in a low pitch voice, which can bring more variation to the ragas. “With this basic knowledge of structure, rhythm, notes and tones, anybody can compose their own Carnatic song,” Vijay inspires the children. “From here on, it’s up to your own creativity. You have to experiment and vary with

notes, rhythms, tones, speed and instruments,” he motivates them. To show them what he means, he asks the children to give him some notes. With those notes, he creates his own song, choosing a rhythm, a tone and a speed. “And it’s also important that the people who play the instruments use their creativity,” he ads at last. That the children learned a lot today is obvious when Vijay confronts them with a pile of complicated questions at the end of the workshop. The children’s motivation and eagerness to learn is obvious when they answer every question correctly. That pleases Vijay Shiva tangibly. He has accomplished his task for today: the children got a taste of their own culture. The music of MS Subbulakshmi, the Nightingale of India, will live on…

Active Participation

Madurai Messenger First Impression October 2011

Adopted by Madurai Overwhelmed by the generosity and warmth of the people of Madurai, William Stinson from England, confesses that the real culture shock for him was the genuine friendliness and compassion of the people of the city—a shocking discovery for a person from a country where people do not even look at each other! By William Stinson, UK.

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s I stepped off the plane at Madurai airport, each of my senses were seized by what I later learned to be the thing I love most about India; it’s incomparable essence. The combination of new smells, sounds, and impenetrable heat were of such calibre that my whole body was, at first, in shock. However, from my initial research of Tamil Nadu, I had prepared myself for this. What I could not prepare myself for was the unprecedented generosity, kindness, and beautiful gestures I received from people that had every right to ignore my presence. Before I had even reached my guesthouse, I felt part of the Indian family. After spending a day and a night recovering from my long journey from London, I ventured into the heart of Madurai. As I stepped out of the auto rickshaw outside the Meenakshi temple, my heart was racing for two reasons. Firstly, for the twenty-minute journey through Madurai’s violent storm of traffic, and secondly, for the beauty and tranquility of the temple and its’ surrounding streets. Although this place was a far cry from the metallic skyscrapers of London, the smiles and questions that greeted me from every direction made me feel like I belonged here as much as I do in England. Venturing into the tailor’s market, I came across a stall selling scarves and blankets. My senses were awakened once again, as they were at the airport, and I could not take my eyes off of the consideration and care taken over these beautiful garments. The shopkeeper took my hand in hers and led me through stacks of material, referring to me as ‘brother’. This is the moment I realized that the people of Madurai, and of India, were not only allowing me into their country, but also into their hearts. Although most people refer to culture shock when they encounter a place that is completely alien to them, I have found the real culture shock to be the overwhelming friendliness of the Indian people. In my country, nobody looks at each other. Here, I am treated with such interest, respect and compassion, that it feels as though I have already been adopted by Madurai. Never before have I had such a humbling, and also awakening, experience as encountering the people of Tamil Nadu.

Smiling Away! Dress materials - Looks inviting!