Author: जयकृष्णः | ജയകൃഷ്ണൻ

Monsoon

Andhra was the state that was badly hit by the heat wave. More than 1000 people died there. Now the south-west monsoon which started in Kerala on June 8th, has covered Karnataka and reached Andhra.
“Monsoon sets in over Andhra Pradesh”:http://www.rediff.com/news/2003/jun/16ap.htm
bq. Meteorological Centre Director C V V Bhadram told rediff.com the monsoon has covered the Rayalaseema region, most parts of Telangana, except Adilabad district, and south coastal Andhra Pradesh up to East Godavari district.

Back in L.A

I am back in Los Angeles. Since we had four pieces of luggage British Airways decided to leave two of them at Heathrow. They will be delivered at home tomorrow (within 24 hrs, that is the promise). This was the first time I travelled by British Airways and still I think Singapore Airlines is the best in terms of overall professional service.
Chennai airport has a new International Departure terminal, which is very spacious and has polite policemen.
Yesterday I was in Chennai, and it rained. The day I landed in Chennai from LA, it was the hottest day in 100 years. Now there is nothing more to see in life.
Blogging will resume in full swing from tomorrow.

Finally..

Finally it poured — the South-West monsoon. The first rains came on the morning of the 8th. It was a real good downpour. Today the whole day it did not rain, but a weak shower has started now at 10 PM here. The Met dept after watching the rain yesterday predicted that monsoon would hit the coast yesterday. After seeing that the rains were weak, it also added that the rains were weak.

Updates from Kerala

I have been travelling extensively in Kerala, both to the North and South. Everywhere there are posters asking people to boycott American and British products. There are also posters saying that we don’t need globalization. There is no poster which tells what Kerala needs.
There was an extensive and violent campaign against Coke and Pepsi. Today I read in “The Hindu” that for the first time, since its entry into India, Coke has registered a ‘modest profit’. So the only benefit of the Communist campaign has been that, lots of poor people who made a living selling Coke, Pepsi and other soft drinks, lost their daily wages for some time.

Who shot Mohammed Al-Dura

The June 2003 issue of Atlantic Monthly has an article by James Fellows titled “Who shot Mohammed Al-Dura”. Al-Dura is the little boy who was shot dead in the arms of his helpless father’s arms during an Israeli-Palestinian confrontation. Television cameras caught the final moments of his life, when the father and son were crouched behind a concrete barrel, and few moments later, Al-Dura, 12 years old was shot dead. This scene has been repeatedly played in the Arab media to rouse up passion. Many countries have issues stamps in his name and even Osama bin Laden has mentioned him in one his messages.
In this article, analyzing television footage, it establishes that the boy was not killed by Israeli bullets
bq. The fundamental point of the Israeli investigation—that the concrete barrel lay between the outpost and the boy, and no bullets had gone through the barrel—could be confirmed independently from news footage.
From the analysis, the article says that possibility that the boy was killed by Palestinians seems more plausible, as the boy was in their direct line of fire with nothing to obstruct the bullets. But since this article is the result of an Israeli investigation, no one will believe it, even though that appears to be the truth. According to the investigator in the case “The entire goal of the exercise, was to manufacture a child martyr”
Whatever may be the truth, the image has been successfully conveyed that Israelis are killers of innocent children.

Ban on campus politics

A student belonging to the student wing of the Communist Party did not have the required attendance. So the principal of the college did not let him write the exam. The student filed a case against the college. He also asked for a large amount of money for the “emotional damage”.
In a bold move, the High Court of Kerala said this on the case
* The principal has the right to ban college politics and no one can question his authority
* This does not violate any constitutional rights of the student
You have to have studied in Kerala to understand the importance of this statetemt. Politics runs in the blood of everyone here. In every college, elections are more important than studies. This results in violent fights, resulting the deaths of students. The colleges then get shutdown, and classes are lost. Many colleges are held hostages by Goonda gangs which are usually outsiders.
This is why I love the Kerala High Court.
A previous acheievement of Kerala High Court is banning of smoking in public places. It is now a crime for which you can be arrested without a warrant.

From Kerala

While boarding the British Airways flight to Chennai from LAX, I tried to tell the woman at the check-in counter, that my surname was Nair. I said that a few times. I told her I knew Elizabeth (Hurley). I have seen Austin Powers a dozen times. Still they did not upgrade me to First class.
The tamil actor Vijaykanth was in First Class. I am sure he got that by telling his surname was Nair.
The monsoon has not yet arrived here in Kerala. There were some pre-monsoon showers. Still June 1 is the expected date.