Gopika Ajayan
TheNewsMinute
Thiruvananthapuram, KL, India
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Past articles by Gopika:
For Laurie Baker’s birth centenary, Kerala architects come together to pay tribute
A hundred brick installations line the stretch between Palayam and Kowdiar in Thiruvananthapuram, as a tribute to the ‘Gandhi of Architecture’, the British-born Indian architect Lawrence Wilfred “Laurie” Baker. What is unique about these artworks is that the bricks used to create them are abandoned and half-burnt ones, which lakhs of women used to set up makeshift stoves for the famed Pongala… → Read More
He returned from Oman to start a business, but Kerala’s politics pushed him to death
Sarasamma has bottled up her sorrow. Just two weeks ago, her family was rejoicing as her 64-year-old husband Sugathan turned entrepreneur with a small automobile workshop at Vilakkodu at Kollam district in Kerala. Today, her husband is no more, and the initial capital invested in the business has all but vanished. → Read More
Ground report: The caste wall of Kerala is down, but lines have been deeply drawn
There is no one in the vicinity of Bhajana Madam temple, in Vadayambadi village. There are some four men scattered in an open plot of land, around which the then CPI-M government of Kerala, under EMS Namboodiripad, had set up three Dalit colonies. It hasn’t always been this quiet. In fact, as recently as January 21, Bhajana Madam was the scene of hectic action, as the state police arrived in… → Read More
Once admired, Kerala’s dying handloom tradition is badly in need of a revival
Kerala has a longstanding tradition of weaving and handloom production, dating back to hundreds of years, once known worldwide and applauded for its uniqueness. Over the years the industry has diminished; low wages and uncertainty in the employment pattern has left weavers in a state of total despair. Thousands of looms lie idle and the future of this age-old tradition looks bleak. K Sudhir,… → Read More
Ground report: How Kerala plans to be inclusive in its 2nd literacy revolution
A crowd of women flocked around the Saksharata (Literacy) Mission School, in Kadakkavoor gram panchayat in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday evening. Though their muddied clothes spoke of a day's long hard work in the fields, their faces bore no sign of weariness. → Read More
CPI (M) MLA Ariff sparks controversy for speaking against MR vaccine, IMA condemns
A few weeks ago, the Kerala government vigorously campaigned for the Measles-Rubella vaccination, even filing complaints against people who had spread misinformation about the vaccine. But now an MLA of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) has confessed that he was against vaccination and that anti-vaccination campaigners should have sent out their message more effectively. AM Ariff, the MLA… → Read More
30 years on, MBS Youth Choir in Kerala continues to uphold values of secularism, peace
As I enter Lenin Balavadi Hall in Thiruvananthapuram, I can hear the soft strains of ‘Qadam Qadam Badaye Ja’ fill the air. For three decades now, this hall has hosted members of the MBS Youth Choir – it has been named after MB Sreenivasan, fondly called MBS. The choir is well-known for being one of the pioneers when it came to mixing Indian classical and folk music with the harmonic convention… → Read More
Is this plausible? Over 50% south Indian women justify domestic violence, says survey
Nearly 84% of Telangana women who participated in a survey agree with domestic violence perpetrated against them. A majority of women surveyed in the state justified being hit or beaten by their husbands if they (the women) neglected the house or children, or showed disrespect for in-laws. The latest figures on attitudes towards spousal violence in India were released recently by the National… → Read More
Kerala animal welfare body may have to close due to opposition from a Congress leader and locals
“We have swum against the tides to build this rescue shelter for animals. The journey was hard-won. It is saddening that we still have to face so many struggles to run it,” says Latha Mohan, a board member of People for Animals (PFA), in Thiruvananthapuram. The journey of PFA, located in the outskirts of the city, in Kondodi, was never an easy one – be it raising funds, sheltering street… → Read More
Kerala animal welfare body may have to close due to stiff opposition from locals
“We have swum against the tides to build this rescue shelter for animals. The journey was hard-won. It is saddening that we still have to face so many struggles to run it,” says Latha Mohan, a board member of People for Animals (PFA), in Thiruvananthapuram. The journey of PFA, located in the outskirts of the city, in Kondodi, was never an easy one – be it raising funds, sheltering street… → Read More
12 years after Kerala lawyer's death, 'nature cure' hospital fined for gross ignorance
It was in 2005 that Vinayanandan, a lawyer based in Kozhikode, died while being treated at Nature Life Hospital at Ernakulam. His brother Thilakanandan still feels guilty that the family had sent the lawyer who was diabetic to this center run by naturopathist Dr Jacob Vadakkanchery also the founder director of Nature Life Hospital. → Read More
VT Balram attacks communist icon AKG for 'falling in love with 12-yr-old', stirs row
Thrithala Congress MLA VT Balram finds himself at the centre of a controversy yet again, this time for a comment on Communist icon and leader of opposition in the first Lok Sabha AK Gopalan (AKG). In a Facebook post on Friday, he questioned AKG’s moral character for marrying a woman who was several years younger to him, and that too, while he was still legally married to his first wife. → Read More
In the jungle lives Kareem: The story of a Kerala man who created 28 acres of forest
Kareem was a little boy when he watched huge fires engulf the hilltops from his small house. In the impact, even tall trees fell to the ground. Young Kareem did not quite like the sight of burnt twigs and branches, fallen trees and charred little creatures. He asked his mother who set the hill on fire? As he grew up he realised that it was the age-old agricultural practice of slash and burn. As… → Read More
Hate campaign against actor Parvathy, thousands target her upcoming movie 'My Story'
The cyber-attack on actor Parvathy for her remarks on Mammootty starrer ‘Kasaba’ seem to continue undeterred. The actor is now being subjected to a hate campaign with thousands of social media users targeting her new movie My Story. The hate campaign against her movie comes days after police nabbed two youngsters for sending obscene messages to the actor on social media. While one of the two men… → Read More
‘They said we were better off dead’: 2 trans women beaten up in Kerala by cops
Two transgender women were brutally assaulted in Kozhikode on December 27, allegedly by police officials who told them that they were better off dead. “We kept begging them to stop, telling them we would die if they kept beating us like that. They told us we were better off dead,” said Susmitha, one of the trans women attacked by the cops, along with her friend Mamta Jasmine. → Read More
Kerala school to take back students expelled for hug, after meeting with Shashi Tharoor
Finally, some positive news from the St Thomas Central School in Thiruvananthapuram, where two students were expelled for hugging each other on campus. The school has now decided to take the students back, after a meeting with MP Shashi Tharoor at his office in the Kerala capital. After TNM broke the story about the expulsion of the two students for a congratulatory hug during an Arts festival… → Read More
‘Against curfew for female students’: Deepa Nishant on Sree Kerala Varma hostel row
“Caged upbringing of students will always prove to be harmful. Students should be given their space to grow up into responsible adults.” This is the reaction of professor and activist Deepa Nishant, to a petition filed by a student at the Sree Kerala Varma college against regressive rules at the women’s hostels in the institution. Deepa, who also teaches at Sree Kerala Varma college, insists… → Read More
Meet Babiya, Kerala's 'vegetarian' crocodile who lives in a temple pond and loves rice
“You can come closer, son. It’s harmless and it won’t attack … It’s god’s own crocodile!” Chandrashekaran, an employee of the Sri Anandapadmanabha Swamy temple, tries to entice devotees. This lake temple in a small village called Ananthapura, in Kasaragod district, shot to fame when they claimed that they house a vegetarian crocodile, Babiya. They believe Babiya is a messenger of Lord… → Read More
TNM impact: St Thomas School tells CBSE to let boy expelled for hug write exams
On December 15, The News Minute broke the story of two students expelled from St Thomas Central School in Thiruvananthapuram after a boy was found giving his friend a congratulatory hug during the Arts festival in the school. The matter was then taken to the Secretary of the School and the management decided to hack the private Instagram of the students to gather ‘evidence’ against the teenagers. → Read More
On many nights, I cried to sleep: Teen girl expelled from school for a hug tells TNM
“I cried to sleep for many nights. I felt voiceless, felt like I could never speak up for myself.” These are the words of a 16-year-old girl who was expelled from her school for merely hugging her friend. Speaking out for the first time ever, Gayatri*, a Class 11 student of the St Thomas Central School in Kerala’s capital Thiruvananthapuram, recounted her trauma and the ordeal that she had to go… → Read More