92 year-old Andy Rooney, who delivered his last essay on '60 Minutes'; the reputed CBS magazine three weeks ago, was in the hospital on Tuesday after developing serious complications following a minor surgery. His family does not want to reveal his medical condition. It was on October 2nd that he gave his 1097th address- a moment he said he often dreaded. His fearlessness, style, humour and charm will live through journalistic history... Dear Andy, get well soon.
Prof. Dr. Alex Abraham Odikandathil
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Kakkanadan passed away.. obituaries in Manorama...
When I read Kakkanadan's works one after another while in the department in the early 80's my colleagues used to tease, asking me if I was researching in Kakkanadan.
In a way, I was: Babelinte(?) theerathu njangal irunnu, Orothaye orthappol njangal karanju... I was charmed with his style and ease of writing...
I just loved him; nay, love him. My heartfelt condolences! The gap he left in Malayalam is difficult to fill-
Prof. Dr. Alex Abraham Odikandathil
Alex Abraham, Chengannur, 19Oct'11 11:05:00
I have met kakkanadan with his family at the Bahrain airport just an year back.From his conversion with me, I learnt that, he is a good social human being with out any sort of artificiality. May his soul rest in peace.
C P Rajendran, Oman., 19Oct'11 10:57:10
Malayalathinu nashttam......
nijilvaidehi, Calicut, 19Oct'11 10:56:15
great personalty ..and simple life..my hearty condolence..
rajeev, dubai, 19Oct'11 10:56:08
One of our Our great and Excellent novelist and good human being. Its a huge loss all malayalees
Sreekumar, Kollam, 19Oct'11 10:52:18
Malayala sahithyathil aadhunikathakku thudakkamitta sahityakaran. My hearty Condolence.
Rakesh Thambiath, Saudi Arabia, 19Oct'11 10:49:57
In a way, I was: Babelinte(?) theerathu njangal irunnu, Orothaye orthappol njangal karanju... I was charmed with his style and ease of writing...
I just loved him; nay, love him. My heartfelt condolences! The gap he left in Malayalam is difficult to fill-
Prof. Dr. Alex Abraham Odikandathil
Alex Abraham, Chengannur, 19Oct'11 11:05:00
I have met kakkanadan with his family at the Bahrain airport just an year back.From his conversion with me, I learnt that, he is a good social human being with out any sort of artificiality. May his soul rest in peace.
C P Rajendran, Oman., 19Oct'11 10:57:10
Malayalathinu nashttam......
nijilvaidehi, Calicut, 19Oct'11 10:56:15
great personalty ..and simple life..my hearty condolence..
rajeev, dubai, 19Oct'11 10:56:08
One of our Our great and Excellent novelist and good human being. Its a huge loss all malayalees
Sreekumar, Kollam, 19Oct'11 10:52:18
Malayala sahithyathil aadhunikathakku thudakkamitta sahityakaran. My hearty Condolence.
Rakesh Thambiath, Saudi Arabia, 19Oct'11 10:49:57
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Hang on!
One day I decided to quit...
I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality...
I wanted to quit my life too. I went to the woods to have one last word with God.
"God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"
His answer surprised me.
"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"
"Yes", I replied.
"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of both.
I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew out of earth.
Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed.
But I did not quit on the bamboo".
"In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.
And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed.
But I did not quit on the bamboo".
"In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed.
But I would not quit. And the same in year four".
Then in the fifth year, a tiny sprout emerged from the earth.
Compared to the fern, it was seemingly small and insignificant.
But just six months later, the bamboo rose to over 90 feet tall.
It had spent the five years growing roots.
Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.
"I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.
Do you know, my child, that all the time you were struggling, you have actually been growing roots?
I would not quit on the bamboo... And I will never quit on you".
"Don't compare yourself with others", he said.
The bamboo has a different purpose than the fern to fulfill.
"Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high".
"How high should I rise?" I asked.
"How high would the bamboo rise?" he asked in turn.
"As high as it can?" I quipped.
"Exactly". He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."
I left the woods, realizing that God will never give up on me.
And He will never give up on you.Guaranteed!
Never regret a day in your life.
Good days give you happiness;
Bad days give you experience; Both are essentials to life.
Thanking you,
Love,
Adv. Alex Abraham Odikandathil
Bamboo: Eco-wonder of the world
-------------------------------
What is stronger than hardwood, can grow up to 4 feet a day, and survived the bombing in Hirsohima? That's bamboo.
But that's not all. Bamboo gives us clean air to breathe, consumes carbon dioxide and returns 35 percent more oxygen to the atmosphere than trees.
Wait! there's more! Because of its rapid growth and root structure, it can, in a very short time, reclaim land destroyed by overgrazing and over-building and clean the soil of toxins.
Plus, it grows so fast, that it can be harvested sustainably for thousands of products from chop sticks to mansions. What's not to love about bamboo?
I quit my job, my relationship, my spirituality...
I wanted to quit my life too. I went to the woods to have one last word with God.
"God", I said. "Can you give me one good reason not to quit?"
His answer surprised me.
"Look around", He said. "Do you see the fern and the bamboo?"
"Yes", I replied.
"When I planted the fern and the bamboo seeds, I took very good care of both.
I gave them light. I gave them water. The fern quickly grew out of earth.
Its brilliant green covered the floor. Yet nothing came from the bamboo seed.
But I did not quit on the bamboo".
"In the second year the fern grew more vibrant and plentiful.
And again, nothing came from the bamboo seed.
But I did not quit on the bamboo".
"In year three there was still nothing from the bamboo seed.
But I would not quit. And the same in year four".
Then in the fifth year, a tiny sprout emerged from the earth.
Compared to the fern, it was seemingly small and insignificant.
But just six months later, the bamboo rose to over 90 feet tall.
It had spent the five years growing roots.
Those roots made it strong and gave it what it needed to survive.
"I would not give any of my creations a challenge it could not handle.
Do you know, my child, that all the time you were struggling, you have actually been growing roots?
I would not quit on the bamboo... And I will never quit on you".
"Don't compare yourself with others", he said.
The bamboo has a different purpose than the fern to fulfill.
"Your time will come", God said to me. "You will rise high".
"How high should I rise?" I asked.
"How high would the bamboo rise?" he asked in turn.
"As high as it can?" I quipped.
"Exactly". He said, "Give me glory by rising as high as you can."
I left the woods, realizing that God will never give up on me.
And He will never give up on you.Guaranteed!
Never regret a day in your life.
Good days give you happiness;
Bad days give you experience; Both are essentials to life.
Thanking you,
Love,
Adv. Alex Abraham Odikandathil
Bamboo: Eco-wonder of the world
-------------------------------
What is stronger than hardwood, can grow up to 4 feet a day, and survived the bombing in Hirsohima? That's bamboo.
But that's not all. Bamboo gives us clean air to breathe, consumes carbon dioxide and returns 35 percent more oxygen to the atmosphere than trees.
Wait! there's more! Because of its rapid growth and root structure, it can, in a very short time, reclaim land destroyed by overgrazing and over-building and clean the soil of toxins.
Plus, it grows so fast, that it can be harvested sustainably for thousands of products from chop sticks to mansions. What's not to love about bamboo?
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Dear All
Recently a friend wrote to me, "I was told by a Chartered Accountant friend from Kerala that the average monthly income of a bishop amounts to anywhere between Rs. 30 lakhs to 45 lakhs or more". I dont know the truth in it, BUT...
“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread”, said Mahatma Gandhi. Now there are 963 million undernourished people in the world. That means one in nearly seven people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life. Hunger and malnutrition are in fact the number one risk to health worldwide: greater than AIDS- malaria- tuberculosis combined.
And you don't have to go all the way to Haiti or Nicaragua to see it.
Earth's problems can be solved only if we really want to do it and if we understand that after us will come our children and the children of our children who will need to live as good as we live today.
If you have the time (12 mts, 31 secs), please see this presentation and shed a tear for the unfortunate.
http://www.nidokidos.org/threads/69625-MEALS-READY-An-excellent-short-film
( you may have to copy it into your search bar and hit enter)
Thanking you,
Love,
Adv. Alex Abraham Odikandathil
“There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread”, said Mahatma Gandhi. Now there are 963 million undernourished people in the world. That means one in nearly seven people do not get enough food to be healthy and lead an active life. Hunger and malnutrition are in fact the number one risk to health worldwide: greater than AIDS- malaria- tuberculosis combined.
And you don't have to go all the way to Haiti or Nicaragua to see it.
Earth's problems can be solved only if we really want to do it and if we understand that after us will come our children and the children of our children who will need to live as good as we live today.
If you have the time (12 mts, 31 secs), please see this presentation and shed a tear for the unfortunate.
http://www.nidokidos.org/threads/69625-MEALS-READY-An-excellent-short-film
( you may have to copy it into your search bar and hit enter)
Thanking you,
Love,
Adv. Alex Abraham Odikandathil
Friday, October 7, 2011
RIP: Also of Old Beliefs, Dead Customs and Out-dated People.
Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes ...
the ones who see things differently--- they're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo...
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them...
because they change things...
They push the human race forward, and while those retarded may see them as the bad ones, we see the genius
in them because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.
Here I pay homage to one of them, the greatest 'dreamer-doer' of our times and of whom two centuries were fortunate to know.
Steve Jobs is his name. He said, "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything... all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure... these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogmas - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - he stressed.
So, here I endorse my heart-felt grief at the sad demise of Steve Jobs, the legendary co-founder and former chief executive of Apple Inc, who died on Wednesday after a long battle with cancer. History never can afford to forget this GREAT MAN.
Thanking you,
Love,
Prof. Dr. Alex Abraham Odikandathil
the ones who see things differently--- they're not fond of rules, and they have no respect for the status quo...
You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them...
because they change things...
They push the human race forward, and while those retarded may see them as the bad ones, we see the genius
in them because the people who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.
Here I pay homage to one of them, the greatest 'dreamer-doer' of our times and of whom two centuries were fortunate to know.
Steve Jobs is his name. He said, "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything... all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure... these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart."
“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogmas - which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.” - he stressed.
So, here I endorse my heart-felt grief at the sad demise of Steve Jobs, the legendary co-founder and former chief executive of Apple Inc, who died on Wednesday after a long battle with cancer. History never can afford to forget this GREAT MAN.
Thanking you,
Love,
Prof. Dr. Alex Abraham Odikandathil
Saturday, October 1, 2011
TV (NET) work?
On my return after a sojourn (only fourteen years!) abroad, I started looking for some engagement, besides my teaching profession, that will satisfy my taste in creativity and fulfill a mental urge yet to be satiated. It was then that a close friend of mine suggested the starting up of a new TV channel which will provide me with maximum exposure in addition. I regarded it an idea and a half.
That made me do some research and I'll tell you what I found. It may help the Mar Thoma Church in freeing itself from the agony of being ignorant about the pros and cons of the Channel Affair, especially so when I hear a lot of talk about its desire to start a new channel though it was earlier given out to be just a channel programme.
I started out by looking at the current scenario in Kerala with regard to the televised medium.
My inquiry revealed to me that there are 18 channels on the air in Kerala at the present time, broadcasting all sorts of programmes in Malayalam. Of those, 10 belong to the GEC (General Entertainment Channel) category, 5 in the NC (News Channel) category and 3 in the RC (Religious Channel) category.
Asianet, Surya TV, Asianet Plus, Kiran TV, Kairali TV, WE Channel (Kairali), JaiHind TV, Jeevan TV, YES TV (India Vision), and Amrita TV come under the head GEC.
AsiaNet News, India Vision, Manorama News TV, People TV (Kairali), and Reporter TV come under NC.
Shalom TV, Powervision TV and AYTV (owned by Bishop K.P. Yohannan) come under RC.
The two channels that are making commendable strides are AsiaNet and Surya. AsiaNet bags 400 crores and Surya takes 300 crores out of the total 780 crore Television Advertising Market in Kerala. The balance amount of 80 crores is snatched among the remaining 16 channels which struggle for their daily existence.
To make things worse, 7 more new channels are in the pipeline. They are Kerala Kaumudi, Mathrubhumi, Madhyamam, Manorama GEC, Janapriya (owned by K. Muraleedharan), an RSS- owned channel etc. That will increase the count to 25. Aren't they too many?
Having said that, let us now look how cost effective the channel spectrum is. Cost-defective may be a more apt word!
To start a channel, an investment of 25 to 50 crores is needed for software alone, ie. programme production, serials, films etc. Experts say that more than 100 crores will have to be expended before the 5th year is out. If a reasonable income is to come in after an year or so, the channel should have an excellent TPR (Television Program Rating). For that to happen, a channel will have to broadcast Cinemas (certainly not 'Snapaka Yohannan') and other Reality Shows. Can and will the Mar Thoma Church do that? ( there are people who ask what they will not do, I hear). Know that the current average satellite cost of a Malayalam cinema is anywhere from 75 lakhs to 2.5 crores.
Without this- viz. the airing of cinemas and reality shows- happening, the proposed Mar Thoma Channel will remain at the rock-bottom of the TPR, calculated through Television Audience Measuring. Be informed that the Jeevan TV of the Syrian Catholic Church, Amrutha of the Amrutananda Madom and Jai Hind of the Congress- all are struggling for existence. They are still alive only because they have the strong base of a funding group. You may remember how the Middle-east TV, started by Gulf Malayalees found its demise within a very short time.
At this juncture, the question as to why the Orthodox and Jacobte churches- who are by far richer than the Mar Thoma Church- never jumped into the turmoil of starting a tv channel makes sense.
A friend humourously said that we would need 10 channels now and 3 more within the next 3 months to defend our bishops against various charges. Even if we admit that for the sake of argument, tell me how many Marthomites are there among the total 50 lakhs of Cable TV/ Dish TV subscribers at present (a negligible number, right?) and how many of them will switch to a channel getting started by the Mar Thoma Church? (undoubtedly electro-microscopic, right?)
Notwithstanding, it may be noted that the modern generation- irrespective of caste, colour or creed- turns to Face Book, Orkut, My Space, Linked In, Twitter and such other social sites for giving expression to their ideas, likes and dislikes...
Thanking you,
Love,
Adv. Alex Abraham Odikandathil
That made me do some research and I'll tell you what I found. It may help the Mar Thoma Church in freeing itself from the agony of being ignorant about the pros and cons of the Channel Affair, especially so when I hear a lot of talk about its desire to start a new channel though it was earlier given out to be just a channel programme.
I started out by looking at the current scenario in Kerala with regard to the televised medium.
My inquiry revealed to me that there are 18 channels on the air in Kerala at the present time, broadcasting all sorts of programmes in Malayalam. Of those, 10 belong to the GEC (General Entertainment Channel) category, 5 in the NC (News Channel) category and 3 in the RC (Religious Channel) category.
Asianet, Surya TV, Asianet Plus, Kiran TV, Kairali TV, WE Channel (Kairali), JaiHind TV, Jeevan TV, YES TV (India Vision), and Amrita TV come under the head GEC.
AsiaNet News, India Vision, Manorama News TV, People TV (Kairali), and Reporter TV come under NC.
Shalom TV, Powervision TV and AYTV (owned by Bishop K.P. Yohannan) come under RC.
The two channels that are making commendable strides are AsiaNet and Surya. AsiaNet bags 400 crores and Surya takes 300 crores out of the total 780 crore Television Advertising Market in Kerala. The balance amount of 80 crores is snatched among the remaining 16 channels which struggle for their daily existence.
To make things worse, 7 more new channels are in the pipeline. They are Kerala Kaumudi, Mathrubhumi, Madhyamam, Manorama GEC, Janapriya (owned by K. Muraleedharan), an RSS- owned channel etc. That will increase the count to 25. Aren't they too many?
Having said that, let us now look how cost effective the channel spectrum is. Cost-defective may be a more apt word!
To start a channel, an investment of 25 to 50 crores is needed for software alone, ie. programme production, serials, films etc. Experts say that more than 100 crores will have to be expended before the 5th year is out. If a reasonable income is to come in after an year or so, the channel should have an excellent TPR (Television Program Rating). For that to happen, a channel will have to broadcast Cinemas (certainly not 'Snapaka Yohannan') and other Reality Shows. Can and will the Mar Thoma Church do that? ( there are people who ask what they will not do, I hear). Know that the current average satellite cost of a Malayalam cinema is anywhere from 75 lakhs to 2.5 crores.
Without this- viz. the airing of cinemas and reality shows- happening, the proposed Mar Thoma Channel will remain at the rock-bottom of the TPR, calculated through Television Audience Measuring. Be informed that the Jeevan TV of the Syrian Catholic Church, Amrutha of the Amrutananda Madom and Jai Hind of the Congress- all are struggling for existence. They are still alive only because they have the strong base of a funding group. You may remember how the Middle-east TV, started by Gulf Malayalees found its demise within a very short time.
At this juncture, the question as to why the Orthodox and Jacobte churches- who are by far richer than the Mar Thoma Church- never jumped into the turmoil of starting a tv channel makes sense.
A friend humourously said that we would need 10 channels now and 3 more within the next 3 months to defend our bishops against various charges. Even if we admit that for the sake of argument, tell me how many Marthomites are there among the total 50 lakhs of Cable TV/ Dish TV subscribers at present (a negligible number, right?) and how many of them will switch to a channel getting started by the Mar Thoma Church? (undoubtedly electro-microscopic, right?)
Notwithstanding, it may be noted that the modern generation- irrespective of caste, colour or creed- turns to Face Book, Orkut, My Space, Linked In, Twitter and such other social sites for giving expression to their ideas, likes and dislikes...
Thanking you,
Love,
Adv. Alex Abraham Odikandathil
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