Tomichan Matheikal's blog

In a village in Kerala, Mathew bought a cow.  It was a beautiful GM (genetically modified) creature which promised to yield enough milk to support Mathew’s basic needs.  Mathew had no needs more than the basic ones.  The only problem was that Mathew didn’t know how to milk a cow.  His very next neighbour on the western side was a man named Krishnan who was a velichapadu (oracle in a Hindu temple in Kerala) but was an adept at milking cows.  After all, one becomes a velichapadu only much after one becomes something else in life.  Krishnan was happy to get an opportunity to utilise his best skill.  He came early in the morning and went to the beautiful young cow who had delivered her first calf a  few days ago.  The moment he touched her udder the beautiful thing reacted.  One kick.  Krishnan fell on his bums and took a somersault by kinetic force.  “No problem, I’ll bring a sacred thread from the pujari (priest in a Hindu temple) and tie it on the neck of the cow an

The way to heaven is narrow...

A scene from rural Kerala

Arikuzha is a relatively small village in Kerala.   It is the village in which I was born and brought up.   The lush green that undulates in the rolling landscape is not unique to this village.   Kerala is blessed with the bounty of nature in many ways.   Hills and valleys, rivers and backwaters, and the whole coastal area on the west make the state a palette of variegated offering. Here are a few pictures from Arikuzha.   Road through the village River through the village Temple on the river bank Yesterday while I was walking along the village road I met an elderly person (74 years) who asked me whether I had any problem in my leg.   I was limping slightly due to the fracture I had suffered in my foot three months back.   I explained the matter to him.   In the afternoon he came to my home with a herbal medicine he prepared himself.   He advised me how to apply it on the foot and assured me that in 5 days time or even before that my limping would van

I'm continuing with more pictures from my home where much of the food is prepared in the backyard plots. It's all organic food; no artificial fertilisers or insecticides used. Yam Tapioca Tapioca was the staple food of Keralites in the bygone days, the era before McDonald, KFC, etc. Cattle feed Rain Kerala depends much on the monsoon for its water supply and even electricity supply.  The monsoon seems to have marked its beginning this year. May the showers bring a lot of blessings to the plants, animals, people... Let there be joy all around.

Sreesanth has a lot of fans in his home state of Kerala.  Some of his fans took out a procession to show their support as well as to solicit others’ sympathy.  A few of them seem to think that the cricketer is innocent.  The thinking of quite many of them,however, may deserve a serious scrutiny. That thinking was reflected in a TV programme presented by the Malayalam channel, Asianet, yesterday.  The crux of the programme’s argument is: There is rampant corruption in India.  There are politicians as well as others who make crores of rupees through fraudulent means.  Why single out Sreesanth?   There’s a similar issue being discussed in Kerala these days.  A Malayalam actor, Kalabhavan Mani, was involved in a drunken brawl with some forest guards.  Mani beat up some of the guards and is now absconding.  Yesterday the ADGP of Kerala’s Intelligence Bureau, T P Senkumar, came out with an interesting argument.  He asked whether the police would have dealt in the same way with a