Kerala Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

A reflection on the democratic path to socialism.

- by Richard Sandbrook
- •
- Socialism, Social Democracy, Kerala, Eduard Bernstein

Dear Teachers,
KUTO is pleased to release its 18-page news letter for this month. Feedback is most welcome. Here is the content list.:
RTI- Scope for Improvement - P 2
Salary Challenge: Unfortunate Step from Authorities - P 3,4
CMDRF: Collection from Students: P 5
Collection of Relief Material: P 5 (pls read campus as Camps)
Smoke and Fire from MSW: P 5
PG Admissions: Need for a White Paper: P 5
KUTO delegation meets the Chancellor: P 6
Fellowship for MPhil Scholars: Well done!: P 6
Congratulations to Achievers: P 7
Creative Corner (poem by Dr Vijayalakshmi): P7
Sarvakalasala Sarkar Vakuppalla: P8
Office Space for KUTO: A demand since 1995" P8
Personality Clashes between Teachers.: P9
Approved Journals: UGC is ‘back to square one’: P10
SBI Advices Action in case of Bank fraud: P10
JNU-Madapally College Dwandangal - by AShraf Kadakkal: P11
Facebook Post by Jon Samuel on Salary Challenge: P 12-15
Vanity Awards - The Hindu Report: P 16
Welcome to Freshers : p17
About KUTO : P18

In the decade since the last edition of this book was published,
many amendments were made by the Government. This edition incorporates all the amendments, rulings and decisions ordered by the Government upto date. Finance Department is most grateful to those who have taken the trouble to review/study/ research /practise contents of the previous editions of this volume and became the reason to improve the statutes of the State.

- by Karthik Kumar
- •
- India, Kerala, Governement

Moser, Heike. 2012. »Many ›Kūṭiyāṭṭams‹: Emotions and Rituals in Kerala’s Sanskrit Theatre between Tradition and Modernity«. In: Emotions in Rituals and Performances. South Asian and European Perspectives on Rituals and Performativity.... more

- by Heike Oberlin (Moser)
- •
- Performance Studies, Emotions, Sanskrit Drama, Kerala

This article is a reflection on empirical data gathered in an ethnographic study of masculinity in a designated slum in urban Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala. This gestures towards possible new scholarly projects for those interested in gender, development, or otherwise critically analysing the well-being of those marginalised in Kerala. This paper seeks to draw attention to processes of gendering specifically located in a slum. I put into dialogue “Kerala-specific” cultural studies, with its emphasis on the state’s political history, and masculinities studies at the interface of a liberalising state. I used the Kudumbashree development programme as an entry point to discuss development in Kerala, the quotidian experiences
of men in the slum and greater questions of value and ethics, all entangled with ideals of masculinity.
Examining masculinity in Kulamnagar brings to light facets of development, while liberalisation
informs new practices of embodying masculinity.

- by Lars Aaberg
- •
- Gender Studies, Development Studies, Globalization, Bodies and Culture

This article examines migration, styles of masculinity and male trajectories through the lifecycle in Kerala, South India, in a region with a long history of high migration, most lately to the Persian Gulf states. Ethnography suggests that migration may be integrated into wider identity projects and form part of local subjectivities. The article considers four important local categories: the gulfan migrant, typically an immature unmarried male; the kallan, a selfinterested maximizer or individualistic anti-social man; the pavam, an innocent good-guy, generous to the point of self-destruction; mature householder status, a successful, social, mature man holding substantial personal wealth, supporting many dependents and clients. Another theme to emerge is the relationship between masculinity and cash: migration appears as particularly relevant to masculinity in its enhanced relationship with money, an externalizable (detachable) form of masculine potency: maturity means being able to use such resources wisely.

- by Caroline Osella
- •
- Masculinity Studies, Masculinities, Migration Studies, India

Periyar Tiger Reserve, with an area of 777 sq km is the largest protected area in the high ranges of Kerala state. There are five tribal groups, namely Mannan, Paliyan, Urali, Malayarayan and Malampandaram with a total population of 2,166. An ethnobotanical study carried out among the tribal groups of Periyar Tiger Reserve revealed use of 15 plant species for ethnogynecological purposes.

- by Bijeshmon PP
- •
- Botany, Kerala

This book presents an in-depth analysis of key recommendations of the consecutive state finance commissions (SFCs) across states of India in the local and national perspective. It reviews the working of SFCs and their critical role in strengthening local governments, both Panchayats and municipalities in the various states. The volume attempts to identify some of the emerging issues related to the efficacy of SFC in fiscal decentralization. It appraises nearly eighty SFC reports and actions taken thereon by the respective State Governments with contextual analysis. Please see the link https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9789811622021#

A letter to editor of Mathrubhumi Weekly ( Malayalam) as appeared in the magazine on December 11, 2016. This was in response to an article by K Sahadevan on the role of tribes in Indian Freedom Struggle which appeared in Mathrubhumu Weekly on November 13, 2016. The letter questions the author's omission of the revolts of tribes of Wayanad in Kerala during the historiography of tribes in Indian freedom struggle. This is in line with the issue of subaltern studies, restricting themselves to central India- creating margins within margins. Further, the letter briefly mentions about the tribal revolts against British in 1793-1805 and in 1812.

- by Arun D Paul
- •
- Indigenous Studies, Kerala, Tribal Movements in India, Tribes of India

_'-s∏-Sp-Øp-∂-Xnepw Cu cN-\-Iƒ Hcp ]pXnb `mhp-IXzw apt∂m-p-sh-°p-∂pt≠m? ]®-°p-Xncbnse ""Poh¬ imkv {Xw'' F∂ ]w- ‡n-bn¬ {]Xy-£-s∏´ ""Nnºv '' F∂ teJ-\sØ ap≥\n-dpØn Cu At\z-j-W-Øn\v Bcw-w-Ip-dn-°m-\p-≈ sNdnsbmcp {ia-am-Wn-hnsS \S-Øp-∂-Xv .... more

This paper reviews the experience of creation and functioning of ward committees in urban local bodies in states of Kerala and Maharashtra. The 74th Constitutional Amendment Act provided for ward committees to be constituted in urban local bodies with more than 3 lakhs population. The ward committees were expected to act as an institutional space for participation of citizens in matters of urban local governance.
The state of Kerala has provided an elaborate legal and institutional framework for functioning of ward committees especially with regards to participation of citizens. This paper examines the functioning of ward committees in a municipal corporation in Kerala for the past decade and points out achievements and shortcomings in actual functioning of ward committees in the state.
The state of Maharashtra while legislating for ward committees in its municipal acts has not provided an elaborate legal framework. Ward committees in Mumbai Municipal Corporation was constituted only after judicial intervention. In 2009, the state enacted Community Participation Law, which is yet to be implemented. This paper questions the legal framework for ward committees in Maharashtra from the point of view of enabling participation of ordinary citizens in matters of urban governance.
In light of the experiences of both states with regard to ward committees, This paper concludes with issues for further discussion on citizen participation in urban governance and functioning of ward committees in India.

- by Yacoub Kuruvilla and +1
- •
- Urban Governance, Citizen participation, Kerala, Maharashtra

Kerala (Malayalam) is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-westIndia. It was formed on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganization Act by combining various Malayalam-speaking regions. The state has an area of 38,863 km 2 (15,005 sq mi) and is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast , Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Arabian Sea to the west. Thiruvananthapuram is the state capital; other major cities are Kochi (the financial and industrial hub) and Kozhikode. According to a survey by economics research firm Indicus Analytics, five of the ten most liveable cities in India are in Kerala. Kerala has the highest Human Development Index of all Indian states; its literacy rate of 93.91% is the highest of any Indian state, and a survey in 2005 by Transparency International ranked it as the least corrupt state. It is also ranked as India's cleanest state. Kerala has witnessed significant migration of its people, especially to the Persian Gulf countries during the Kerala Gulf boom, and its economy depends significantly on remittances from a large Malayali expatriate community. Kerala is an important international and internal tourist destination; the backwaters, beaches, Ayurvedic tourism, and tropical greenery are among its major attractions. National Geographic's Traveller magazine named Kerala as one of the "ten paradises of the world" and "50 must-see destinations of a lifetime"; Travel + Leisure listed it as "one of the 100 great trips for the 21st century".

- by Jignesh vidani
- •
- Kerala History, Kerala, Education in Kerala

The cultural and ritual performance of Theyyam in Northern Kerala, considered as a reflection of the war cry against the caste system and oppression, conducts subversion of the social hierarchy. The chosen deity by the performer for a transitory symbolisation expresses the collective outrage of the oppressed and exploited people. This research paper enquires about the anti-structural characteristics exhibited by the performance of Theyyam. In the context of Richard Schechner’s performance theory, it attempts to trace the characterisation of Mikhail Bakhtin’s carnivalesque, Victor Turner’s liminality and social drama in the transitional performance of Theyyam that mostly relies on interim separation and reintegration. The expression of antipathy to the hierarchy in Bakhtinian carnival, the anti-structural emphasis in Turnarian liminality, and the deconstructive-reconstructive stages in social drama elucidate the symbolic delineation of the performance of Theyyam. The analytical findi...

- by Raisun Mathew
- •
- Theatre Studies, Performance Studies, Literature, Liminality

This Malayalam article which appeared in Ezhuthu masika takes a historical-anthropological view of dowry and domestic violence in Kerala from the take-off point of increased incidents of domestic violence and dowry deaths during the covid pandemic. The article also examines the 'gender paradox' in Kerala and how education has not broken traditional patriarchal structures. Specific suggestions to remedy the situation are given at the end.

- by Linda Luiz
- •
- Gender Studies, Women's Studies, Domestic Violence, Gender

1. T M Krishna sings for harmony & KUTO’s fund-raising
2. A poem in support of T M Krishna’s stance: Krishna, Keep on Singing…
3. Allied/Relevant Subjects for Recruitment of Teachers
4. Message of the “പരിപത്രം”
5. Good Bye 'Urkund', Welcome ‘Turnitin’?
6. Publications
7. Hard Deadline - KUTO writes to authorities
8. Waiting, Waiting, Waiting...
9. UNI-STAR പ്രസിഡന്റ് എഴുതുന്നു: മൈത്രി സംഗീത സന്ധ്യയിലെ കൂട്ടായ്‌മ
10. A painting born in a night by Dr. Sreeranjini
11. Senate Elections: KUTO begins #Jayiche_Theeroo# Campaign: Renewed appeal to fellow teachers
12. A welcome step from authorities: Sabbatical Leave Comes into Practice
13. Failure to intimate Exam Postponement: Face saving steps for CSS Vice-Chairman
14. Media Scan

Recent scholarship on trans-oceanic exchanges between the Persian Gulf and South Asia has delved into previously neglected minutiae of everyday migrant life beyond labour. Combining ethnographic research and media content analyses, I build on this scholarship through a novel study of vernacular radio as a critical means of sustaining South Indian (Malayali) diasporic communities betwixt and between their home and host societies. This paper shows, firstly, the interwovenness of work and leisure in the everyday lives of Malayali migrants in Qatar; and secondly, the role played by radio listenership and production practices in crafting distinctive ethnolinguistic spatialities of sound (sabdam) via sonic connections that transcend the binary between being at home and abroad. Paying attention to sonic waves and networks that bind together radio stations and audiences in Qatar across work and home spaces, I argue that diasporic vernacular radio both reinforces and challenges notions of ‘Malayali-ness’ within the Gulf Malayali community (bandham) and beyond.

This paper is an exploration of cinematic memory as a resource for remembering large-scale Keralan migration to the Gulf since the late 1960s. The south Indian state of Kerala, which predominantly speaks Malayalam, is a major contributor to the migrant labour force in the Gulf region for the last five decades. However, until recently, the migrant figured in the public discourse of Kerala as an economic agent alone. There has been increasing instances of memorialising the Gulf in the Malayalam public sphere since the beginning of the 2000s which brings to light the subjective aspects of the Gulf migration. However, what is lost in these accounts is the simultaneity and interlinked nature of the two places. Cinema, on the other hand, offers resources to inscribe the mutuality of the two places in the collective memory of Kerala. Invoking Pierre Nora’s concept of places of memory, the paper looks at cinematic renditions of ‘Dubai’ as one such site of memory in the present when the imag...

- by Mohamed Shafeeq Karinkurayil
- •
- Film Studies, Political Science, Migration, Memory Studies

Italian Marxist thinker, Antonio Gramsci, who is well known for his works stressing on the importance of creating hegemonic projects against prevailing social structures, had written widely about 'Common Sense' in his Prison notebooks. According to Gramsci, common sense is everyday thinking which helps us in making sense of the things around us. It has a past and a tradition, and is therefore a product of history, which includes various political discourses. It is also constituted of contradictory components. It is constituted by notions which are formed by dominant interests as well as those which are counter-hegemonic. For example, the desire for a more equal world could be found within the common sense of an otherwise xenophobic and reactionary white working class individual. In short, within the common sense, there are components which can be used by proponents of both progressive as well as reactionary political formations to further their ends. Different political movements which have emerged in the USA as a result of the economic crisis are a telling point of this situation. While the progressive movements like " Occupy Wall Street " demanded an immediate resolution of the extremely in-egalitarian economic structure to resolve the crisis, reactionary formations like Tea party demanded the repealing of government subsidies to those individuals whom they believed were unfairly benefiting from it. Both movements were able to galvanize masses in their favour. The Shabrimala episode has also bought out similar options in front of political formations in Kerala. They can either appeal to the relatively egalitarian values present in the Malayali common sense, formed as a result of renaissance and Left wing movements, or to its reactionary patriarchal components. While the BJP unsurprisingly has decided to milk the opportunity for communal benefits, and thus appeal to reactionary components of the common sense, even the Congress has decided to join the bandwagon. Unlike the BJP, which is appealing merely to the Hindu population, the Congress has gone a step ahead and is appealing to believers at large, who according to them are facing attacks from the government run by atheists. On the other hand, the CPM and the other constituents of the LDF are presently involved in conducting large scale public gatherings not only in favour of the verdict, but also consistently reminding the Malayali public about renaissance movements in Kerala, its leaders, and how the steps taken by the Left at the moment is akin to these positions. Clearly, they are appealing to the progressive constituents of the common sense. In this context, let us examine the charges levied by the Congress against the CPM. These charges are to be treated with far more seriousness, because unlike the BJP,

- by Balu Sunilraj
- •
- Politics of Secularism, Secularism, Kerala, Indian National Congress
- by Pranav Sujay and +1
- •
- Disaster Management, Early Warning, Kerala, Public Policy
- by Jenson Joseph
- •
- Kerala, Malayalam Cinema

The University of Glasgow’s Malayalam summer course aims at providing the basics of Malayalam grammar for researchers interested in any field of study related to the rich cultural, textual, and linguistic heritage of the West Coast of South India. You might be struggling with performance manuals, palm leaf manuscripts, historical documents, or speech samples that form the database of your research on Temple Theatre, premodern knowledge systems, Indian Ocean history, or tribes of the Western Ghats. We are here to help you in acquiring the analytic tools for approaching your database and developing your research accordingly.

- by Ophira Gamliel
- •
- Languages and Linguistics, South Asian Studies, Linguistics, South India

The work, written in Malayalam language, is a study on the Brahmana texts of Vedic lietrature

- by Sundareswaran N.K
- •
- Vedic Sanskrit, Malayalam Literature, Vedic Philosophy, VEDA

The paper published in Santam magazine in July 2016 critically looks into the demonization of Tipu Sultan by the Parivar and some caste Hindu forces and "academic historians" in Kerala and probes the lasting legacy of Tipu in Malabar and in the modernisation of Kerala, relying on works written in Malayalam and English, from P K Balakrishnan to William Darlymple.

- by Ajay Sekher
- •
- Modernization, Kerala, History of Malabar, Tipu Sultan

The transformation of rural society and culture cannot be understood from a local perspective alone. Rural areas have nowadays come up as places for entertainment, leisure activities, and second homes and are seen as an alternative to urban residential areas. They reflect a cultural interest in rurality and locality in the larger society, which encourages new customs, practices and social demands. In examining the processes of transformation and redefinition of local identity, we will consider the heritage feature – more specifically food and gastronomy– as an element of tourist development at local level. Palm wine is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm tree such as the Palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and is common in various parts of Asia, Africa, Caribbean Islands and America. Palm wine production by small holders and individual farmers may become a source of regular household income that may economically be worth more than the value of timber sold. Kallu or toddy is a cheaply priced common man’s alcoholic drink. The aim of this paper is to find the potential of toddy to attract tourists in the rural areas of Kerala by finding out Mean, Frequency and Percentage using SPSS 25.0 and graphs are drawn from Excel 2010. Primary data collected through structured questionnaire from the domestic tourists in Kerala. Convenience sampling method was adapted by the researchers to select respondents. The researchers have used percentage and cross tabulation to analyze the data collected. Researchers have reached the conclusion that, toddy and its accompaniments are having potential to attract tourists in rural areas of Kerala.

- by Aashish Gupta
- •
- Tourism Studies, Food Science, Food and Nutrition, Wine Tourism

The present study is an attempt to examine the reading habits of postgraduate students in 'English Language and Literature' in the various colleges in Trivandrum City. The issues studied are sources for encouragement for reading, library using habits, convenience of library working hours, opinion on the adequacy of college library, book borrowing habit, average time spent on reading, reading while traveling, and causes that hinders reading. Out of a total of 250 students, 199 responded through questionnaire method. Results revealed that teachers are the source for encouragement for reading, lion share of students use library, for ¾ th of them library working hours convenient, collection is adequate for half of the respondents, lion share of the students have the habit of borrowing books from friends, average time spent on reading is 1-2 hours, majority reads while traveling. Further it is found that watching television and shortage of time are the two main causes that hinder reading.

- by KELPRO BULLETIN
- •
- English Literature, English language, Students, College Students

The Original techniques and processes of Kerala Mural Art Painting as Explained by KK Warrier. The original techniques are detailed in an ancient text called "Chitrasutram" which is part of 'Vishnudharmottara Puranam'. These original techniques have rarely been recorded and yet are great sources of knowledge and wisdom in the areas of Art, Culture, History, and even Science.

- by SOWBHAGYA VARMA HS
- •
- Art History, Architecture, Visual Culture, Painting

This study estimates the percentage of incidence of students who are categorised as Learning Disabled in schools of Kerala, along with estimating studying prevalence of students categorised by schools as mentally Retarded (MR), Visually Impaired (VI), Autism, ADHD and Orthopedically Impaired and investigates perceived difficulties of schools in facilitating the inclusive education of these children. The sample is 31 government and government aided schools drawn by simple random procedure from Kozhikode (n=14) and Malappuram (n=17) districts, covering 26382 students. There is variation among schools in prevalence of students with LD and other impairments. In a school of average size of 850, LD and other categories of SEN have near 40 students. In general, teachers categorise five per cent of students as belonging to SEN categories; half them being learning disabled (2.23%) and half belonging to MR, VI, Autism, ADHD, HI, and OI (2.53%). The rate of incidence of SEN children assessed by this study surely is less than what can be expected in the population, as the study considered share of the relevant age group who attend the school only. Implications are added.

As a commons institution, the padu system in Vallarpadam Island, Cochin, Kerala, defines the group of rights holders and resource boundaries and fishing sites. It is caste-specific, gear-specific (stake-nets) and species specific (shrimp). As used in Vallarpadam, and elsewhere in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, padu is characterized by the use of lottery for rotational access. The institution functions in providing equitable access, collective social responsibility, and rule-making and conflict resolution. The emergence of the institution in the study area is a response to change in markets and legislation in the 1970s. It may also be seen a response of fishing communities to keep their options open, that is, to be resilient. r

- by Elizabeth Chacko
- •
- Development, India, Marriage, Kerala

The book is a critical exposure and analysis of the Buddhist foundations of Kerala culture. The cultures of literacy, universal education, healthcare, martial arts, arts, architecture, music and performance, sculpture and painting along with a lot of folklore and popular cultural practices are contextualized in the long Buddhist period of Kerala that was part of the ancient Tamilakam from Asokan times to the middle ages. The global linkages of Kerala and the greater Sangam or Changam legacy of Kerala are also explored in the light of new Dhamma script discoveries from Pattanam and Keezhadi. Photographs and exclusive details are provided with an index of keywords and more than twenty detailed chapters of various facets of Kerala culture and history. It is also a pioneering work in trans disciplinary and multi disciplinary studies in Kerala culture and history. It is also part of a multi cultural and democratic new cultural historiography in Kerala coming up from the bottom.

- by Ajay Sekher
- •
- Buddhism, Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Kerala History

അറബി ഭാഷ ഇന്ത്യയിൽ എന്ന വിഷയത്തിൽ കണ്ണൂർ സർവകലാശാലയിലെ എച്ച്.ആർ.ഡി.സി. യിൽ അവതരിപ്പിച്ച പേപ്പറിൻറെ ഒരു സംക്ഷിപ്‌ത രൂപമാണ് ഇവിടെ ചേർക്കുന്നത്.
1. അറബി ഒരു അന്താരഷ്‌ട്ര ഭാഷ
2. അറബി ഭാഷയുടെ പ്രത്യേകതകള്‍
3. അറബി സാഹിത്യത്തിൻറെ വളര്‍ച്ച
4. അറബി ഭാഷ ഇന്ത്യയിൽ
5. ഇന്ത്യയിലെ അറബ് പത്രപ്രവർത്തനം
6. അറബി ഭാഷ കേരളത്തിൽ
7. കേരളത്തിലെ അറബി പത്ര പ്രസിദ്ധീകരണങ്ങള്‍
എന്നീ വിഷയങ്ങളിൽ ആണ് ചർച്ച നടന്നത്.

Kerala's widely acclaimed land reform failed to yield social equality. This article analyzes Kerala's land question from the perspective of social equity and shows that even after the much touted land reform, land inequality in the state stands very high, whether measured in terms of overall distribution inequality or social inequality. The land reform, along with other factors, resulted in the preponderance of small and marginal holdings. In the social front, the marginalized communities still stand at the bottom of land ownership. The persisting inequality in land ownership has significant stakes in the upward mobility of the margin-alized groups. The study reveals that land ownership is an important variable affecting the educational level of households and that land reform in the state widened the opportunities for occupational mobility among the marginalized groups.

- by Yadu C R
- •
- Agrarian Studies, Social Mobility, Land reform, Kerala
- by S Prema
- •
- Endangered Languages, Language Endangerment, Dravidian Linguistics, Kerala

The paper critically re-evaluates the polyphonic and multicultural legacies of Kerala renaissance with reference to the democratic thought and social actions by the pioneers of Kerala modernity like the guru, Sahodaran, Poykayil Appachan and John Dharma Teerthar a disciple of the guru. The key accent of Kerala renaissance modernity is a powerful and radical rejection of the Ramraj where Sambuka is killed. Another democratic dimension is the rejection of Varnasrama and the upholding of freedom of opinion and religion in particular. These multicultural foundations of Kerala could be used as a site of resistance against the current hegemonic tendencies of homogenization and the totalitarian project in India at the second coming of Hindutva and its elitist cultural Nationalism.

- by Ajay Sekher
- •
- Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism, Fascism, Cultural Nationalism

Brief of my PhD Thesis (cover page, intro abstract & table of content) submitted in French in 2010 - Keywords: mudiyettu, mutiyettu, mudhiyettu, Hindu worship, goddess Kali, Bhadrakali, darikavadham, ritual performing art, ritual... more

- by Marianne Pasty-Abdul Wahid
- •
- South India, Possession, Kerala, Smallpox

article about the film achanurangathaveedu

- by Geedha Fyodor
- •
- Film Studies, Gay Politics, Kerala, Malayalam Films
- by Nanda Kumar
- •
- Groundwater, Malayalam, Kerala

Traditionally, the built form of any region is derived for the beneficial aspect of the climate and to reduce the impact of unfavorable conditions. Kerala, the land on the southwest coast of India, has a characteristic Warm-Humid climate because of its geographic settings. The presence of high amount of moisture in the atmosphere for major part of the year causes thermal discomfort as there is less evaporation, resulting in perspiration. This becomes more acute in summer when the air temperature is close to or higher than the body temperature. In the traditional buildings of Kerala, which evolved through ages, the influence of internal courtyards is found to be highly effective in providing a comfortable indoor environment. The authors have conducted a smoke study to understand the influence of internal courtyard in inducing a constant and continuous air flow in traditional buildings of Kerala. This paper illustrates briefly the need for climate responsive design of buildings, the effect of internal courtyards in traditional buildings of Kerala and an investigation in a selected traditional building based on smoke study to analyze the flow of air through the interiors to achieve better thermal comfort.

- by balaaji rajendran
- •
- Architecture, Climate, Traditional Architecture, Kerala

https://www.harrassowitz-verlag.de/title_6419.ahtml
The book is written for researchers interested in the study of Kerala’s language, literature, history, and culture. It outlines the grammar of Malayalam in consideration of up-to-date theoretical linguistics alongside grammatical categories developed by Malayalam grammarians in the 19th century and based on Old Tamil and Sanskrit grammars. The book approaches Malayalam from a holistic perspective in referring to regional language variations, while describing the standardized linguistic register. The sample sentences demonstrating grammatical categories and rules are mostly drawn from actual speech samples. Reading practices draw upon Vaikom Muhammad Basheer’s Pattuma’s Goat and Sooranad Ravi’s prose adaptation of The Story of Niliyamma’s Apotheosis, aiming to expose the learners to various aspects of Kerala culture.
Additionally, the book includes three chapters on Old Malayalam morphology, demonstrated by verses from classical compositions such as the Uṇṇunīlisandeśam and the Kṛṣṇagātha, as well as regional literary traditions–a Teyyam song, Arabic- and Jewish-Malayalam verses, and Syriac Malayalam prose–for exposing the learners to the literary traditions in Malayalam dialects and religiolects. Ten indices follow with charts of kinship terms, verbal and nominal forms, a glossary, and bibliographical references. The book is thus an invitation for an in-depth engagement with the study of Kerala’s lush linguistic landscape and diverse literary culture past and present.

- by Ophira Gamliel
- •
- Languages and Linguistics, Indian studies, South Asian Studies, Malayalam

Kerala is ranked second in percentage of urban population in major states of the country. In the context of rapid urbanization in Kerala, this paper outlines challenges that local governments will have to face. This paper also explores potential solutions for creating the necessary administrative and financial powers for local governments to meet these challenges, particularly rationale for constituting Town Panchayats in Kerala.

- by Yacoub Kuruvilla
- •
- Local Government, Urbanisation, Kerala, Census-2011 findings

This Malayalam article attempts to make visible the phenomenon of housework, which has remained invisible in much of social life, social science discourse and policymaking. The secondary status accorded to housework and its implications for individuals, society and women as a group are analysed here. The significance of this at a national-international level, the necessity of including housework in national income accounting and the relevance of further studies in this area are touched upon.

- by Linda Luiz
- •
- Gender Studies, Development Economics, Social Policy, Development Studies

Kerala Economy recently witnessed signs of a significant structural change. Share of primary
and tertiary sectors in state’s income are decreasing and that of secondary sector is increasing
(Government of Kerala 2013a). If we look at the annual sectoral growth rate of Kerala’s Gross
State Domestic Product (GSDP), it can be seen that,secondary sector showed the highest rate of
growth (18.83 per cent in 2012-13 at constant prices) followed by tertiary sector (5.46 per cent)
and primary sector (4 per cent). The ‘push factor’ for the growth of the secondary sector is the
growth in construction sector. Growth of Kerala’s construction sector increased to 25.4 (at
constant prices) per cent in 2012-13 from 9.21 per cent in 2011-12. (Government of Kerala
2013a). This study is an attempt to present a holistic picture about Kerala’s construction boom,
which can act as a potential game changer in shaping Kerala’s future economic landscape.

- by Raju John
- •
- Infrastructure, Kerala