On an 'Onsite Vacation' in Sweden

It was a difficult exercise to take decision on whether or not to accept an onsite job offer to Sweden. Though the offer was with a relocation package for my entire family, there were many factors to be considered. It took around 2 months to finally decide, "yes.. let's go". Then we spent some time to prepare for the journey. It was always confusion whether it is a right move in life and is it the right time for it, especially a movement with the family.

An unexpected; yet wonderful frame captured from Lund, Sweden

It was the first international journey (Sep 2014) for my wife and children (5years and 1.5 years). I was going on a contract job at Ericsson in Lund. My friend Faisal also moved recently to Lund, Sweden on another job offer and it motivated us with a feeling that we have at least one close family to interact with. The main motives for relocation from Bangalore to Sweden were the last 9+ years of life in Bangalore itself. Personally I thought of experiencing a peaceful life in terms of public life; international professional experience, get out of traffic chaos, better social culture, get a feel of European work culture, learn more about Europe etc.

Finally with lots of planning and preparations, we landed Copenhagen airport, Denmark. It was a landing in a completely new place with family! Like most of the person reaching on onsite does, I converted the euro currency available with me to Danish Krona (DKK) and Swedish Krona (SEK). Europe is costly for foods and it took some effort for me to convince my son who wants some bread items, which he thought will be cheaper like in India. Finally we took some sandwich which cost 20DKK per piece. Europe is costly for buying any ready to consume food products from outside and one of the reasons for it is labour cost. We then hired a taxi to Lund, which is 50 Kms away from Copenhagen airport. Our car driver was an Arab origin and migrated to Denmark more than 10 years back, but we can’t expect them to speak English. I tried to ask him some things connecting simple English words like month, coming, job etc, but he couldn't make out those. Once we paid the taxi bill, we understood that we made our first mistake. There is an under ocean passage to cross from Denmark to Sweden and the toll in that road is considerably high. We should have taken the train service available from the airport itself to the city of Lund. But I didn't think about much of it since I have 6 luggage bags. I used to collect maximum information before going on trips, but I somehow missed this part, which cost me 12000 rupees equivalent Danish currency for half an hour journey.

Hanoon on the beach side

Journey is always a teacher, especially travelling to a new place, which educate you with many interesting surprises and knowledge, which we can surely benefit in the entire life.

Most of  the social institutions and public interaction systems/facilities are fully automated in sweden. Our Hotel Finn too is not different from it. It has an automatic checkin system where you have to give the booking number and scan your passport to finally automatically issue the room card from the machine. Here in Sweden, every single door access is automated and entry is controlled through a smart card or PIN number through keypad, this is true for houses, apartments or commercial buildings. Because of the food expenses, people opt for hotels with kitchen facility. Our hotel was at Dalbyvagen, which is 4 Kms away from Lund central station.

Another unexpected frame near the beach

Climate was a little cold, though it was summer time. Evenings and nights are colder and windy too. Some days there were rain too. On some days it was able to feel all kinds of climate in a single day. Misty early morning, sunny morning, cloudy noon, drizzling evening time and chilly nights. During september, the duration of day changes by 2 hours, which is unusual for Asia. The geographical location of Sweden caused this and round the year the duration and climate varies abruptly from minimum to maximum in extremes. Only thing is temperature won't go high since the country is near to north pole. In general all environmental parameters swings a lot across the day, across the month and through out the year.

Let me disclose the climax of the entire story. Though we thought of staying at Sweden for minimum 2 years, my contract was terminated in two weeks, as Ericsson shut down their modem group, where I was hired for. I had started looking for rental houses and was about decided upon, as the stay in hotel was arranged for only 2 weeks. But just after the two weeks, this unexpected news came and everything was unpredictable. My company was giving hope  that they will find out some other job some where in Europe or Sweden, which finally didn't happen. So we stayed for two weeks at Hotel Finn and returned back to India.

But the one month spent at Sweden was awesome, it was one of the best times in my life&that too with family. Experienced a lot of things, learned many things and I would say I was able to get a feel of what all I was planning to explore for. Let me share some things that I experienced in that one month,

1. Cool Life: Life here is peaceful. Everything is ordered and all happens as expected. There is no concept of being hurry or missing something, rather life is balanced in all aspects. I would say, you can enjoy your life as you appreciate what you are doing in each moment. The main reason why this is possible is, both person, public and the government are in tune to have a balanced environment around you. I am sure you will appreciate below items too.

Benz, MAN& Volvo buses on the roads

2. Smooth Public Life: There is no chaos in public. Even youngsters have a public sense and they make noises only inside hotels. Government has provided almost everything  for smooth public life like; bus system, cycle tracks, clear sign boards, automated toilets, strict traffic& parking rules, normalized house rents& hotel bills, lots of food chains, support for mother and family, medical support etc

It's not road -- Note the demarcation lines for cycles and walk in the foot path

3. Traffic and Transit system: Almost everyone in Lund will have a "jojo" card, which will be recharged monthly and rate rate depends on the areas you want to cover. There is a good frequency of buses across the various parts of Lund and buses strictly follows the timing. Most of the time, if you are late by half minute, you will miss the bus. The smart card need to be placed on the machine inside bus and with in one month you can have as many number of trips with in the allowed area. The frequency of buses decreases during night and the time table revises for winter time. The same card is valid for trains too for the area covered by your card.

4. Clean city: As per reports, 99% of the waste in this country gets recycled! You can feel it every where. Garbage is managed well so that you won't see any waste disposed any where. I have roamed around Lund and Malmo and even some outskirts, but I haven't seen any garbage on the road and some where inside some layouts.

And it is a fact that Norway ships tons of waste to Sweden to fuel the waste to energy plants in Sweden! Many places we can see there are automated systems to accept bottles and pay back 1 Krona to 3 Kronas based on the size of bottles. I have seen people coming with big cover of bottles, get money in a bill and use it for shopping.

5. Importance for Swedish language: Sweden is one of the European countries who promote English language. But their first preference is Swedish. We could see Swedish every where. All the labels on the food packets& bottles are completely in Swedish, there is absolutely no scope for english here. All place names on bus displays were in swedish. I went one of the primary schools to look for admission for my kid and out of 10 teachers available, only one teacher understand& talk English, and that too not fluently. In swedish schools (non international), english is not taught for the initial  years or so. one day I went to one library and I was surprised to see that, medical students were referring their medical books in swedish language. In the entire 3 storey library, there was only one or two shelves for english books, which is less than 1% ! Another unexpected thing was, the word church itself is not used across the country, the swedish word "kyrka" is used instead.

Steps are provided with ramps for prams

6. Family Life and benefits: Government support family& children. Mother gets paid for feeding the baby and child gets food allowance. There is high preference for children, women and elder people. We will lots of prams around and many of them will be double seater. And we lots of children and elder people in public. Inside buses there are ties and space for keeping prams. Elder people carry a wheeled baskets their own. Volvo buses tilt down to a side to allow prams, elder people to get in. In Stockholm, if you are carrying a child, you don't have to pay for ticket.

Attachable Baby box -- usually attached to cycle

7. Automated: It is almost 100% automated every where. I had mentioned about the door and other access systems. But the one I was really surprised was the way the book returns in the library was automated. One has to pace the book one by one in a conveyor belt and the system automatically detects the bar code and segregate based on the subject and direct it to the proper tray, which finally when filled can be taken and moved to a single shelf based on the subject. The effort of finding where to put back each book is completely eliminated in the process. Even the windows were automated that, based on the sun light and temperature, the ventilation is adjusted in the room.

Electric car charging point

Paid Bottle Collector

Automated library

Ads with detachable contact chits

Indoor plants every where

Inside one kids school

Lift with doors on each side. Both open in 0th& first floors, Selectively for other floors

Lund Islamic Cultural Centre with Mosque

8. Apples that you can collect by your hand under the apple tree: There are apples trees across Lund. There will minimum two/three apples trees if the it is a individual house. If you enter housing layouts, you will find lots of apple trees around and lots of apples that you can collect from roads itself. We could see both green and red apples in Lund. Some times we took permission from house owners and collected them under the tree inside the house compound.

Hanoon busy collecting 'real' apples

Pram is loaded with apples collected under the apple tree - frankly, we had tried apple curry

Stolen or lost the key so taken the possible!

9. Work culture: Culture in Sweden is generous, inclusive and attractive & for the same reason in work place too. Every individual is respected in work place and every one feel proud and recognized, be it a full time employee, part time employee or contractor. All of these people work together and there are very few items that are hidden from a contractor. I joined the modem team as a contractor and in the first week itself there was a detailed discussion on the history& road map ahead. This usually won't happen in Indian IT industry even if the association of a contractor is for a long period. Work places were more open and there was no cubes, and in my case, my manager's manager was sitting next to me. The desk were adjustable in vertical position also and my non technical manager used to work in standing position, she sits in chair only during meetings. For every team, there used to be a technical manager and a non-technical manager.My non technical manager used to have back to back one-on-ones through the days with all people in the team. Weekly team meet for a non technical team bonding meeting over tea/coffee, which they call 'Fika' in Swedish. Lunches were always exciting for me, since people open a lot than in India. Your managers, who are mostly Swedish or Europeans opens their heart and share a lot on their culture, personal life etc. One of the team member was working in the team as a contractor for more than 4 years.

10. Ethnic groups: There are many foreigners across Lund and Malmo. Students from various European and middle east countries study at Lund University & Malmo is inhabited by many people who migrated from various middle east countries. Middle east people cater many small shops called "Falafil" which serve various non vegetarian roles and other special food items. We can see many women as bus drivers with and without scarfs too.

Busy weekend market

11. Beaches: Malmo forms the boundary of Sweden and has various beaches. Beaches are clean and the surrounded by lawn. They are well maintained and proper arrangements are made with wooden planks towards the beach. People gather and bring food items, but every one takes care about cleaning their space.

We didn't see any worship, but every one contributed to this beautiful piece - and no one toppled it

Hanoon with my friend's son Idin

Wooden walk way on the beach side

12. Self Sufficient: We Indian's have a feeling that US&UK has the power and they control the full world in every aspect. With this not so well thought notion, we have compromised all the aspects of our life to the western culture and even the government follow& mostly depend and adapt to policies of US, may be it's our food habits, the style of life, the range of products that we use etc. Whatever may be the reasons, European countries have the pride and confidence to stay away from this and form their on path on all aspects. I couldn't see much ads or shops of any of the well known US brands there in Sweden, rather they have their own or Nordic based brands for almost everything like,

Volvo -- cars, buses& trucks
IKEA -- Office& furniture
Electrolux -- Electrical items
Ericsson -- VLSI, cellular service etc
H&M -- Clothing
Nordea, Swedbank -- Banks

Tetra Pak -- Food packaging& processing
Tele2 -- Mobile Service
TrueCaller -- mobile phone community for mobiles
RUSTA -- Retail

Putting things in another way, you won't see the well known (reference: to us)& expected brands like Nike, Lee, Woodland etc any where in the shops. Sweden has proven that, another eco system is possible, with which yourself can benefit and progress in long run, than being a colony for other countries. When will we Indians start thinking in these lines?

Ericsson Lund Office without walls around - have seen walls only for Cemetery in Lund

The most beautiful flower I saw in life -- It is really glittering

Malmo Central Railway station

Garbage collection area outside apartments -- that trolley in picture is a normal seen there

13. Hotels and Super markets: You get restaurants of all cousins in Malmo. Lund being comparatively smaller, you get limited options, but manageable. But in both the places you will find lots of falafel shops where rolls and other middle east snacks are available. The good part is the rates across the hotels are normalized; even if you eat from a road side falafel shop or thai restaurant or take a Swedish meal or Italian pasta, the rates will be similar. There is nothing like, because the shop is inside a mall or in the central location, so that you have to pay some thing extra. And very notably, we can drink water from any where in Lund/Malmo, even from public taps. small hotels etc. Government has ensured the quality of water.

One of the frequently visited Cafe in Malmo - Famous for middle east food items

Hanoon - In best mood, expressing his feelings

14. Cycling: Sweden give a notable importance to cycling. There are cycle ways on both sides of the road. Around markets we can see big parking slots for cycles. There are people who carry fold-able cycles also. Adding to our surprise, between Lund and the Capital city (Stockholm), the distance is 650+ Km, but you can ride a bicycle across these cities! If you search on google maps, you will get the route details.

Cycles every where - This is the parking slots for cycles in Lund railway station

Better space utilization - movable book shelves, use the steering to get the space to move in

Inside the Lund library

Trolley with automatically sorted books

Malmo Mosque

One person collecting Gaza fund outside the mosque

Hanoon's vehicle during our trip

Yes.. it is Jelly fish

Lund Cathedral

Depended on this packet -- spent some time find this cheap one

Our Eid celebration at Faizal bai's house -- He is loving& helpful

Bus time schedule in every bus stop

Space for keeping prams

Vegetables and flowers inside a garden -- Well maintained

There are many other striking facts that I wanted to share, but to avoid getting this post still longer, let me list some of them - valuing&trusting each other in the public life, simple but elegant home ideas, social security etc.

Anyway, it was really an awesome one month stay and more over a nice learning experience with all kinds of practical scenarios which helped me to appreciate a sample of European culture. It has surely influenced me and family and hope to inculcate the perceived good manners from the public life into our personality& we thank Almighty for an unexpected chance to experience it.

ആദര്‍ശവും ആദര്‍ശവാദികളും

ലോക ചരിത്രത്തിലിന്നോളം മനുഷ്യ ജീവിതത്തെ സ്പര്‍ശിച്ച ഒരുപാട് ആശയ-ആദര്‍ശങ്ങള്‍ ആവിര്‍ഭവിച്ചിട്ടുണ്ട്. അവയില്‍ മനുഷ്യന്‍റെ ചിന്താമണ്ഡലത്തില്‍ മാത്രം രൂപം കൊണ്ടതായിട്ടുള്ളതും, അതേസമയം ദൈവികമായ അംശം സൂഷ്മാര്‍തഥത്തില്‍ തന്നെ അവകാശപ്പെടുന്നതുമായ ആശയങ്ങളുമുണ്ട്. മനുഷ്യ കരങ്ങളാല്‍ രൂപം കൊണ്ട ആശയങ്ങളില്‍ മിക്കവയും, മനുഷ്യ ജീവിതത്തിലെ  ഒരു പ്രത്യേക ഭാഗത്തെ മാത്രം കൈകാര്യം ചെയ്തുകൊണ്ട് ഉയര്‍ന്നു വന്നവയാണ്. ഓരോ കാലഘട്ടത്തിലുമുണ്ടായ സാമൂഹിക സാഹചര്യങ്ങളെ പരിമിതമായ മനുഷ്യ ചിന്തയുടെ പിന്‍ബലത്തില്‍ അപഗ്രഥിച്ച് ഒരാശയം രൂപപ്പെടുത്തുന്നതായാണ് നമുക്ക് ചരിത്ര വായനയില്‍നിന്നു മനസ്സിലാകുന്നത്‌. ഈയൊരു ഉദ്യമം മനുഷ്യ സമൂഹത്തിന്റെ പുരോഗതി എന്ന ലകഷ്യത്തെക്കാളുപരി, പല സന്ദര്‍ഭങ്ങളിലും, ഒരുപറ്റം ആളുകളുടെ ഇച്ഛകളേയും മനുഷ്യന്‍റെ മൃഗീയ ചേഷ്ടകളെയും  കയറൂരി വിടുന്നതിന്നും കാരണമായി. അതേസമയം, ദൈവിക പാശം അവകാശപ്പെടുന്ന ആശയങ്ങള്‍ മനുഷ്യന്റെ സകല മേഖലകളിലും നിര്‍ദേശങ്ങളുമായി കടന്നു വന്നതായിട്ടാണ് നമുക്ക് കാണാന്‍ കഴിയുക. ആശങ്ങള്‍ സമൂഹത്തിനു എന്താണ് നല്‍കേണ്ടത് എന്ന കാര്യത്തിലുള്ള അഭിപ്രായ വ്യത്യാസങ്ങളും ഇതിനൊക്കെ കാരണമായിട്ടുണ്ട്. 

എന്നിരിക്കിലും കാര്യഗൌരവത്തില്‍ മനുഷ്യന്‍റെ സാക്ഷാല്‍ ജീവല്‍ പ്രശ്നങ്ങള്‍ കൈകാര്യം ചെയ്യാന്‍ ശ്രമിച്ച, അവ എണ്ണത്തില്‍ ന്യൂനപക്ഷമാണെങ്കിലും, ആശയസംഹിതകളുണ്ട്‌. മുതലാളിത്തം, കമ്മ്യൂണിസം, ഇസ്ലാമിക ജീവിത വ്യവസ്ഥ എന്നിവ ഉദാഹരണം. ഈ ആശയങ്ങള്‍ മനുഷ്യന്‍റെ ഏതൊക്കെ ജീവല്‍ പ്രശ്നങ്ങളില്‍ ഇടപെട്ടു, സമൂഹത്തിലെ ഏതൊക്കെ ജനവിഭാഗങ്ങളുമായി സംവദിക്കാനുള്ള ശേഷി സ്വയമായി അവക്കുണ്ട്, ഈ ആശയസംഹിതകളെ മനുഷ്യ രാശി ഇതു രീതിയില്‍ അംഗീകരിച്ചു എന്നീ വിഷയങ്ങളില്‍ നമുക്കോരോരുത്തര്‍ക്കും അഭിപ്രായവ്യത്യാസങ്ങള്‍ ഉണ്ടാവാം. ഈ ആശയങ്ങളൊക്കെത്തന്നെയും വ്യക്തിയെന്ന ഒരസതിത്വത്തെ  ചില തത്വങ്ങളിലൂടെ ക്രമാനുഗതമായി  ഒരു സാമൂഹിക വ്യവസ്ഥിതിയിലേക്ക് എങ്ങിനെ വികാസം പ്രാപിക്കണം എന്ന ഒരു പ്രക്രിയ സമര്‍പ്പിക്കുന്നുണ്ട്. പ്രക്രിയയിലെ ഓരോ ഘടകങ്ങളും എത്രയളവില്‍ മൂര്‍ത്തീഭാവം കൈവരിക്കണം എന്ന കാര്യത്തിലും ആശയസംഹിതകള്‍ വ്യത്യസ്തത പുലര്‍ത്തുന്നുണ്ട്. 

മാനുഷിക മൂല്യങ്ങളില്‍ കാര്യമായ ശ്രാദ്ധ ചെലുത്താതെ ലാഭം നേടുക എന്നൊരു ലകഷ്യത്തിലേക്ക് സാമൂഹിക ഘടനയെ മാറ്റുന്ന തരത്തിലാണ് മുതലാളിത്തത്തിന്റെ പ്രായോഗിക രൂപം. ന്യൂനപക്ഷത്തിന്റെ സ്വാര്‍ഥമായ ഇച്ഛകള്‍ കൈവരിക്കുന്നതിനിടയില്‍ സംഭവിക്കുന്ന ഒരു ഭാഗികമായ ഉല്‍പ്പന്നം എന്ന അര്‍ത്ഥത്തില്‍ മാത്രമേ മുതലാളിത്ത കേന്ദ്രീകൃത വ്യവസ്ഥിതിയിലെ പുരോഗതിയെ കാണാന്‍ കഴിയുകയുള്ളൂ. അതിലുപരി സമൂഹത്തിലകിലം ചൂഴ്ന്നുനില്‍ക്കുന്ന ഓരോ വ്യക്തിയുടെയും വളര്‍ച്ചയെ അത് ലക്‌ഷ്യം വെക്കുന്നില്ല. 

കമ്മ്യൂനിസമാകട്ടെ, ഒരു കാലത്ത് പ്രകടമായി നിലനിന്നിരുന്ന  മുതലാളി- തൊഴിലാളി ബന്ധങ്ങളിലെ അസ്വാരസ്യങ്ങളെ സാമാന്യവല്‍ക്കരിച്ച്, മനുഷ്യന്‍റെ ഭാവി ജീവിതത്തില്‍ ഉണ്ടായിത്തീരുന്ന പ്രശ്നങ്ങളൊക്കെയും ഈയൊരു ബന്ധത്തിന്റെ അടിസ്ഥാനത്തിലാണ് പരിഹരിക്കേണ്ടത് എന്ന് തീരുമാനിച്ചു കളഞ്ഞു.  മാനുഷിക പ്രശ്നങ്ങളെ തരണം ചെയ്യാന്‍ ഉത്ഘടമായി ആഗ്രഹിച്ച്, മനുഷ്യന് എത്തിപ്പിടിക്കവുന്നെടത്തോളം നേടിയെടുത്ത്, പക്ഷെ ഒരു ഘട്ടത്തില്‍ അത് നിലനിര്‍ത്താന്‍ കഴിയാതിരിക്കുന്നതാണ് അതിന്‍റെ അനുഭവ സാകഷ്യം.കമ്മ്യൂണിസവും സൂഷ്മാര്ത്ഥത്തില്‍ വ്യവസ്ഥയില്‍ ഭാഗമാകുന്ന വ്യക്തിയെ സമൂഹത്തിനു വളര്‍ത്തുന്ന തരത്തില്‍ സംവിധാനം കാണാതിരുന്നത്  ഈയൊരു സൈദ്ധാന്തിക തകരാരിനു കാരണമായി മനസ്സിലാക്കാം. 

എന്നാല്‍ ഇസ്ലാമിക ജീവിത വ്യവസ്ഥ, സമൂഹത്തിന്റെ നിലനില്പ്പില്‍ വ്യക്തിക്കുള്ള സ്ഥാനം ശരിയായ അര്‍ത്ഥത്തില്‍ അടയാളപ്പെടുത്തുന്നുണ്ട്‌ എന്നാണ് മനസ്സിലാക്കാന്‍ കഴിഞ്ഞിട്ടുള്ളത്. വ്യക്തിയുടെ സ്വഭാവ ശുദ്ധി, കുടുംബങ്ങളിലൂടെ വളര്‍ന്നു പന്തലിച്ച്, ഒരു സാമൂഹിക വ്യവസ്ഥിതിയില്‍ എത്തിപ്പെടുന്നതായാണ്  ഇസ്ലാം വിഭാവനം ചെയ്യുന്നത്.  ഘട്ടം ഘട്ടമായുള്ള വളര്‍ച്ചയുടെ ഏതെങ്കിലും ഒരു ഘട്ടത്തില്‍, കഴിഞ്ഞ ഘട്ടത്തില്‍ ശുദധത നിലനിര്‍ത്തിയ ആദര്‍ശവാദികളോ  സംവിധാനങ്ങളോ, സ്വാര്‍ത്ഥമായ താല്പര്യങ്ങള്‍ക്ക് അടിപ്പെട്ടുകഴിഞ്ഞാല്‍; ആ ആശയത്തെ സ്ഥാപിക്കാന്‍ ആ വ്യക്തികള്‍ക്കോ സംവിധാനങ്ങള്‍ക്കോ കഴിയാതെപോകുകയായിരിക്കും ചെയ്യുക. 

ഇസ്ലാമിക ആദര്‍ശവാദി എന്ന് ഘോഷിച്ചു നടന്ന വ്യക്തിയെയോ, സംവിധാനത്തെയോ (സംഘടനകള്‍ ഉദാഹരണം) സംരക്ഷിക്കുന്നതിനായി ആ ഒരു ഘട്ടത്തില്‍  ഇസ്ലാമിക വ്യവസ്ഥക്ക് യാതൊരു ബാധ്യതയുമില്ല. കാരണം കറകളഞ്ഞ വ്യക്തിത്വ രൂപീകരണം മുന്നുപാധിയായി നിശ്ചയിച്ചും, അതിന്നു സഹായകമാവുന്ന നിയമ നിര്‍ദേശങ്ങളും ചട്ടക്കൂടും ആദിപടിമുതല്‍ തന്നെ ജീവിതത്തില്‍ പാലിക്കാന്‍ കല്പ്പിച്ചുമാണതിന്റെ ഒരു മനുഷ്യന്‍റെ ജീവിതത്തിലുള്ള  ഇടപെടലുകള്‍ ആരംഭിക്കുന്നതുതന്നെ. ഈവിധത്തില്‍ വളര്‍ത്തിക്കൊണ്ടു വന്ന ഒരു ആദര്‍ശവാദി ഒരു ഘട്ടത്തില്‍ ആശയം മുന്നോട്ടുവെക്കുന്ന തത്വങ്ങളില്‍ നിന്ന് പിന്മാറി ഗമിക്കുമ്പോള്‍ ഒരു പരിധി വരെ കടിഞ്ഞാണിടാന്‍,  ഇസ്‌ലാം പാകപ്പെടുത്തിയ ആശയത്തിലധിഷ്ടിതമായ സംവിധാനങ്ങള്‍ക്ക്  (സംഘടനക്ക്)  സാധിച്ചെന്നും വരാം. പക്ഷെ ഇതും ഒരു പരിധി വരെ മാത്രം. കടിഞ്ഞാണിടാന്‍ കഴിയുന്ന പരിധിയെന്നത് ആദര്‍ശവാദിയും-സംവിധാനവും പരസ്പര ഉഭയകക്ഷി താല്പര്യത്തോടെ അംഗീകരിക്കുന്ന അനുസരണം നിലനില്‍ക്കുന്നേടത്തോളം മാത്രമേയുള്ളൂ. ഈയൊര്‍തഥത്തില്‍   ആദര്‍ശവും ആദര്‍ശവാദിയും ഒരാദര്‍ശത്തിന്റെ സംസ്ഥാപനവുമെല്ലാം പരസ്പരം  സ്വതന്ത്രമായ അസ്തിത്വങ്ങളായി  ഇസ്‌ലാം കാണുന്നു.സ്വാഭാവികമായും വ്യവസ്ഥയുടെ സംസ്ഥാപനത്തിന് വേണ്ടി, തന്നാല്‍ കഴിയും വിധം സമാധാനപരമായ മാര്‍ഗങ്ങളിലൂടെ പരിശ്രമിക്കണം എന്നതിലുപരി, താന്‍ വിശ്വസിക്കുന്ന ആദര്‍ശം മുന്നോട്ടു വെക്കുന്ന വ്യവസ്ഥ ഈ ഭൂമിയില്‍ പുലര്‍ന്നാലെ തനിക്ക് മോക്ഷം കിട്ടുകയുള്ളൂ എന്ന് ഒരു ഇസ്‌ലാമിക ആദര്‍ശവാദി വിശ്വസിക്കുന്നില്ല. അതുകൊണ്ട് തന്നെ താന്‍ ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്ന അല്ലെങ്കില്‍ ഒരിക്കല്‍ സ്ഥാപിച്ചുകഴിഞ്ഞ വ്യവസ്ഥ പോലും അന്യായമായി, അവിഹിതമാര്‍ഗങ്ങളിലൂടെ നിലനിര്‍ത്തേണം എന്നും കരുതുന്നില്ല.

ഇസ്‌ലാമിക വ്യവസ്ഥയല്ലാതൊരു വ്യവസ്ഥയും ഇത്ര സൂഷ്മ തലത്തില്‍ മാനുഷിക ഇടപെടലുകളെ മനസ്സിലാക്കി പ്രക്രിയ രൂപപ്പെടുത്തിയില്ലെങ്കിലും; ഏതൊരു ആദര്‍ശത്തില്‍ വിശ്വസിക്കുന്ന "ശരിയായ" ആദര്‍ശവാദിക്കും - ഇന്ന് നിലനില്‍ക്കുന്ന മിഡില്‍ ഈസ്റ്റ് കേന്ദ്രീകരിച്ചുള്ള മുസ്‌ലീം രാജവാഴ്ച്ചകളെയും, ചൈനയില്‍ നടക്കുന്ന ഭീരുത്വതിലധിഷ്ടിതമായ ഗവണ്‍മെന്റിന്റെ ഞാണിമ്മേല്‍ കളികളേയും, സംവിധാനങ്ങളുടെയും അധികാരത്തിന്റെയും ഹുങ്കോടെ അരാജകത്വം പ്രവര്‍ത്തിക്കുന്ന മുതലാളിത്വ ശക്തികളെയും ഉള്‍ക്കൊള്ളാന്‍ കഴിയാത്തത്; ആ മേല്‍ പറഞ്ഞ തത്ത്വങ്ങള്‍ നൈസര്‍ഗികമായി എല്ലാവരിലും കുടികൊള്ളുന്നതിനാലായിരിക്കാം...

Two days trip to Hyderabad (Nov 2010)

I appreciate my wife for allowing me for a ‘bachelor trip’ with Faisal, Fayas, Niyas, Jafar to Hyderabad from Bangalore. The pack for Hyderabad trip was full of enthusiasts and cheerful ‘adventurous’ guys. From my past journeys, I had learned a big fact that, unless the pack is proper and prompt, the trip is going to be worrying. We collected details through Wikipedia and used google maps to get familiar with the Hyderabad city and routes.

Our friend Riyas bai’s family came in Bangalore and he couldn’t make to the trip. He was unhappy that we planned the trip at a time when he couldn’t come with us. But there was no choice, since we wanted to utilize the three day holiday during Diwali time. His mother and wife gave us a good dinner treat (Kottayam special) and even now, we don’t know if his old parents, brother and his spouse managed to have a reasonable dinner once we left.

After that wonderful dinner, we left to Hyderabad from Bangalore by 10.30PM (Nov 5^th  2010, Friday). I had filled petrol and started driving i10 through NH7. There was a heavy raining through out Bangalore city that evening, and we were a little afraid about the night journey through highways in rain. But thank God, after crossing Devanahalli, sky was clear and we could drive at 100Km/hr constantly. Understanding the unexpected turns, accepting the fact that mileage is going to be less, scared of surprising two ways and more over because of lack of confidence, I didn’t accelerate above 100Kms/hr.

The route was,

Bangalore (0) - Chik Ballapur (57Km) - Anatpur (214Km) – Gooty (265Km) - Kurnool (332Km) – Hyderabad (546Km)

Road till Hyderabad city is smooth and well maintained, except some unexpected deviations. Though we had to pay tolls at four places those range from 50 -75 rupees, we could feel beauty of express way ride and comfort of long distance journey through the highway. On the way to Hyderabad, we couldn’t get a glimpse of what all are there on both sides of this high way, but while coming back, we realized that it’s all uninhabited open land. We can literally see kilometers of untouched land that shares the border with rocky hills. One can easily comprehend why Keralites protest against the so called express ways; we have a very special topography with a fascinating mix of farmland and houses having high population density, which make mapping of an express way difficult.

Wikipedia told us that, it will be a 8 hour journey, and personally I felt we are going to take more than that. But because of the astonishing condition of NH7, we reached Hyderabad at around 6.30AM (8 hours).We couldn’t find a reliable mosque near to the high way and we had our subah prayer on the walkway. As we entered the city, road became bad and lots of constructions were going on. Faizal bai switched on GPS in his phone and started guiding us. Since Charminar is near to the place we entered Hyderabad, we headed to there. We reached early in the morning and city was still waking up. NH7 go straight to place called Purana Phool and we have to take a round about and take the right. From there going straight for 1.7Km, after covering the last stretch of Laad Bazar, we hit Charminar.

Atmosphere and scene of the street around Charminar reminded us of Bangalore city market. We parked the car and walked to Meccaa masjid, just 50 meters away from the Charminar. Security measures are established at the masjid entrance after the bomb blast. There were people and some kids who fed pigeons with wheat and other unrecognized grains with in the masjid compounds. The long steps come after that which took us to a big open water tub. There is a vast open space for prayer and the main building of the masjid is some distance away from the steps. Pigeons were huge in number, which kept the masjid premises dirty with the bird drops. There is one college and hospital opposite to the masjid, but they are not maintained well and the walls and structures are ruined.

 

     

Every one was hungry and we found a hotel near to Mecca masjid. But unfortunately they gave us some old food which made us to have a pathetic break fast and unwanted introduction to Hyderabad cuisine. Malayali is the comrade of Malayalees… we took some snacks items from a malayali hotel near by. We had no clue of how we were going to get fresh and satisfy ‘preliminary morning needs’. We attempted to find out some reliable options for taking bath and using toilet, but didn’t find any thing near Charminar. We decided to go to Golconda Fort, which is on the other side. We thought we will find some other options on the way or at Golconda. We were moving through the old city and road were really pathetic. For a moment we scared whether we are going to have similar kind of roads for the entire two days of the trip. But the road became good and we entered the middle of the city. We were not sure about the route to Golconda and we wanted to find out some means to fresh up, which finally happened to violate a ‘no right turn’. Auto rickshaw drivers together with traffic police men encircled our car and started negotiations. Thank God, finally some how we managed to rescue from there. 

After 9Km journey, we reached a bus stand just near to the Golconda Fort. We were very happy to find a bath room and toilet run by Sulabh International at one corner of the bus stand. Golconda Fort is huge in size, many steps and levels to climb and so we decided to start the climb after friday prayer. We had a good bath, took lunch and went for prayer. By that time, there were a good number of tourists at the fort, taken care by Archeological Survey of India. Took a 5 rupees/person ticket and entered the fort. Though many parts of the fort are ruined, it is a mammoth structure, beautifully built and well maintained. There are huge rooms, arches, halls, one pond, one masjid, open theatre etc with in the fort. Building structure is made of huge rock blocks with minimal cementing. Some parts of the structure are inhabited by bats and the area is dark. At one level of the fort, garden and lawn occupies the open space. As we go above, the view from the top is amazing; we will get a 360 degree view of the Hyderabad city from there. Hyderabad city has many small hills and lush greenery. I never had a similar sight from any where in Bangalore. We spent around 3 hours in this fort and we had a feeling of an old era, we thought how people who lived in this fort managed to communicate between the entrance and the top.

We then went to Taramani Baradari, a tomb around 3 kilometers away from Golconda Fort. We went back to Charminar using the GPS, which took us through narrow and busy roads. The scene of the street that we saw in the morning had completely changed by this time. We decided to park the car at the starting of Laad Bazar and started walking. The street sell a mix of items and it was really crowded with people and vehicles. There is literally one masjid in each 100 meter distance on an average. Ladd Bazar is said to be famous for pearls. We stopped by a shop and saw a pearl chain. We wanted to meet SIO Hyderabad zonal president at his office and found the office after walking for a long time. He suggested having dinner from “Shadab Hotel” which is near to Charminar. We took Hyderabadi Mutton Biriyani from there. It was awesome. We observed that, Hyderabad hotels serve food in huge quantities, some time it breaks your calculation. We are not sure if it is part of the culture too.

Citizen response on the Hyderabad roads is worser than that of Bangalore. There are no strict one ways and we can expect two ways traffic on one ways. We noticed that most of the traffic signals were not working and police men were not doing a great job. Many times, we found difficulties in crossing the road.

It was Diwali night and the scene in the streets was terrific. Each and every shop keeper was contributing his share to the celebration by firing crackers and the entire streets were decorated with special lighting arrangements. Traffic was high and the people continued firing crackers on side of parking area and at the middle of the road. I felt that Hyderabadians are used to these kinds of activities on road that they manage to ride their vehicles even through these fire works. Many times crackers wee fired and thrown which happen to land at the bottom of vehicles, but it ‘managed to not cause any harm’. We walked through the streets for some time and went back to the SIO office for sleep.

Next day, we visited Ramoji Film city. RFC is well maintained and have some good gardens, but not worth the money paid. Then we went to see Hussain Sagar Lake at around 7PM. Today roads were wider and in good condition. City is vast compared to Bangalore. But the traffic and the citizen response on the road are same in all parts of the city. The scene around the lake at night is really good. Took a boat ride to the small island were statue of Buddha is erected. There are some gardens around Hussain Sagar Lake. We went to Lumbini Park only. Then we visited Birla Temple, which is built completely by marble. We knew that there are some Iranian hotels near to the Hussain Sagar, searched for some time, but couldn’t find them. Finally we went to Secunderabad and took dinner there. This time we took special thandoori roti and Hyderababi Chicken Biriyani. of course roti was large in size compared to the one we get in Bangalore and half family biriyani was enough to satisfy five of us. After a good dinner, we returned back to Bangalore.. Fayas bai took the control and drove the car at above 120Kms/hrs which finally helped us to reach Bangalore by 8AM on sunday. He is an expert and confident driver.

It was only after this trip I realized that we need to collect details about the cuisines of a place we are going to visit and find out the best place to taste it, before reaching there. We learned that we have many things to understand just from the eating habits, the kind of dishes one community eat, the ingredients used in the dish etc. Let me summarize the dishes we tasted.
(1) Hyderbad Biriyani (Shadab Hotel, Madina Complex, Lokkad Kote, Old Hyderabad)
(2) Lukmi, Kheema, Shikampur (Hotel Irshad, Lakkad Kote, Old Bangalore)
(3) Hyderbad Biriyani (Garden Restaurant, Secunderabad)

We couldn't taste the famous 'Hyderabadi Haleem'.. It is widely available during ramadan season, but there are a few hotel who supply this in other time also. But we couldn't reach a suitable hotel to have this. This is some thing that is pending in Hyderabad exploration.

It is really interesting to learn and compare people and culture. Every journey teach us some new things, adds some thing new to our experiences and more over broadens our pattern of understanding people and controlling the situations… after all, journey is a good teacher. It was a wonderful trip with my loving friends.

ഹൃദ്യം ഈ സംഗമം

പ്രവാസി മലയാളികളുടെതായി  ഒത്തിരി മത-കലാ സാഹിത്യ- സാംസ്കാരിക സംഘടനകള്‍ ബെങ്കളൂരില്‍ പ്രവര്‍ത്തിച്ചു വരുന്നു. വിഷയ വൈവിധ്യത്താലും ആഴത്തിലുള്ള പഠനം കൊണ്ടും ശ്രദ്ധേയമായ പല പരിപാടികളും സ്ഥിര സ്വഭാവത്തില്‍ മലയാള ഭാഷയില്‍ തന്നെ ഈ ചെറുതും വലുതുമായ കൂട്ടായ്മകള്‍ നടത്തിവരുന്നു. സാമൂഹ്യബോധവും വസ്തുതാപരമായി കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ അറിയണമെന്ന് ആഗ്രഹിക്കുന്നവര്‍ക്കും ഉപകാരപ്പെടുന്ന തരത്തില്‍ പരിപാടികള്‍ ക്രമീകരിക്കാന്‍ സംഘാടകര്‍ ശ്രദ്ധിക്കാറുണ്ട്. അന്യനെ അപരവല്‍ക്കരിച്ചും അവന്‍റെ ചിന്തകള്‍ക്ക് ചെവികൊടുക്കേണ്ടാതായിട്ടില്ല എന്ന മട്ടില്‍ സ്വന്തം ചിന്തയില്‍ അഭിരമിച്ച് കാലം കഴിക്കുന്ന ഇന്നത്തെ സവിശേഷ കാലഘട്ടത്തില്‍, ഇത്തരം വേദികളുടെ ലാളിത്യവും ആര്‍ക്കും എന്തഭിപ്രായവും തുറന്നു പറയാനുള്ള അവസരവും വളരെ ശ്രദ്ധേയമാണ്.

ഡയലോഗ് സെന്‍റെര്‍ ബെങ്കളൂര്‍ ചാപ്റ്ററും അത്തരത്തില്‍ ആശയ സംവാദങ്ങളെയും അഭിപ്രായ കൈമാറ്റങ്ങളെയും ഉള്ളുതുറന്ന് പ്രോത്സാഹിപ്പിക്കുകയും അതിനുതകുന്ന രീതിയില്‍ പരിപാടികള്‍ ആസൂത്രണം ചെയ്തുവരുന്നതുമായ ഒരു ഉദ്യമമാണ്. കഴിഞ്ഞ 2 വര്‍ഷങ്ങളില്‍ (2008,2009) വളരെ വിപുലമായി തന്നെ നോമ്പുകാലങ്ങളില്‍ ബാംഗ്ലൂരില്‍ പ്രവര്‍ത്തിക്കുന്ന വിവിധ മലയാളി സംഘടനകളുടെ നേതാക്കളെ പങ്കെടുപ്പിച്ചുകൊണ്ട് ഒരു ഇഫ്താര്‍ സംഗമം നടത്തിവരുന്നു. ക്ഷണിക്കപ്പെട്ടവരുടെ ശ്രേഷ്ടമായ സാന്നിദ്ധ്യവും സഹകരണവും പരിപാടികളെ ജീവസുറ്റതാക്കി. അതിന്‍റെ തുടര്‍ച്ചയെന്നോണം കഴിഞ്ഞ ചെറിയപെരുന്നാളിനോടനുബന്ധിച്ച് ഒക്ടോബര്‍ രണ്ടിന് (OCT 2nd 2010) ബെങ്കളൂര്‍ കോള്‍സ് പാര്‍ക്ക് ഹിറ സെന്‍റെറില്‍ വെച്ച് ഈദ് സംഗമം നടന്നു. കേവലമായ ആശംസാ കൈമാറ്റത്തിനും പ്രകീര്‍ത്തിപ്പെടുത്തലുകള്‍ക്കുമപ്പുരം ഓരോ പ്രതിനിധിയും തങ്ങളുടേതായ ചിന്തകളും അഭിപ്രായങ്ങളും സദസ്സിനോട് പങ്കുവെച്ചു. പലപ്പോഴും അഭിപ്രായങ്ങള്‍ മറ്റു ചിലരുടെ അഭിപ്രായങ്ങളോട് വിയോജിക്കുന്നവയായിരുന്നെങ്കിലും, സൂഷ്മത പുലര്‍ത്തിയും പ്രതിപക്ഷ ബഹുമാനം കാത്തുസൂക്ഷിച്ചും പ്രതികരണങ്ങളെ ക്രമീകരിച്ച് നിര്‍ത്തിയത് സംഗമത്തെ സംവാദ വേദിയാക്കി.

മത ജാതി ഭേതമന്യേ എല്ലാവര്ക്കും നന്മവരണമെന്ന അതിയായ ആഗ്രഹം ഓരോരുത്തരുടെയും വാക്കുകളില്‍ പ്രതിഫലിക്കുന്നുണ്ടായിരുന്നു. സമൂഹത്തിന്റെ സുരക്ഷിതമായ നിലനില്‍പ്പിനെയും  കെട്ടുറപ്പുള്ള ഒരു നല്ല നാളെയും  സ്വപ്നം കാണുന്നവരെ  ഈരനനിയ്ക്കുകയും കണ്ണിനു കുളിര്മാപകര്‍ത്തുകയും ചെയ്ത ഒരു സായാഹ്നമായിരുന്നു അത്. പരിപാടിയില്‍ ഡയലോഗ് സെന്‍റെര്‍ കേരള സെക്രട്ടറി NM അബ്ദുറഹിമാന്‍ അദ്ധ്യക്ഷത വഹിച്ചു. സോളിഡാരിറ്റി കേരള കൂടിയാലോചന സമിതി അംഗം T മുഹമ്മദ്‌ വേളം ആമുഖ പ്രഭാഷണം നടത്തി. പരിപാടിയില്‍ സംബന്ധിച്ച് സാജന്‍ ജോര്‍ജ് (ഗ്ലോബല്‍ കൌണ്‍സില്‍ ഓഫ് ഇന്ത്യന്‍ ക്രിസ്ത്യന്‍സ് ), സുശീലന്‍,മഞ്ജിത്ത് കുമാര്‍ (ശാന്തിഗിരി ആശ്രമം), രാമചന്ദ്രന്‍ പാലേരി(NSS), ക കുഞ്ഞപ്പന്‍ (CPCA), TM ശ്രീധര്‍(ആശാന്‍ സ്റ്റഡി സെന്‍റെര്‍), ഡെന്നിസ് പോള്‍ (ദൂരവാണി നഗര്‍ കേരള സമാജം), RV ആചാരി (KKTF), KC രാജന്‍, K സുധാകരന്‍ (ശ്രീനാരായണ സമിതി), K.R കിഷോര്‍ (വികാസ് സാംസ്കാരിക വേദി), J. M ജയചന്ദ്രന്‍ (ബെങ്കളൂര് മലയാളി റൈറ്റേഴ്സ് ഫോറം), ജഗേഷ് (കലാ സാംസ്കാരിക വേദി ), തലവടി ഗോപാലകൃഷ്ണന്‍ (ബോധി സാംസ്കാരിക വേദി),A ഗോപിനാഥ് (കാരുണ്യ) എന്നിവര്‍ സംസാരിച്ചു. ഡയലോഗ് സെന്‍റെര്‍ ബെങ്കളൂര് കണ്‍വീനര്‍ നിസാര്‍ ഇബ്രാഹിം സ്വാഗതവും സെക്രട്ടറി റിയാസ് നന്ദിയും പറഞ്ഞു.

ഗതി

ആഴ്ച്ചയില്‍ ഏഴില്‍ രണ്ടുകിഴിച്ച്
ബാക്കി ദിനമത്രെയും
ശീതീകരിച്ച അന്തരീക്ഷത്തിലിരുന്ന്‍
തൊലി വെളുത്ത് ജീര്‍ണിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു.

നിരന്തരം പ്രത്യേകം ക്രമീകരിക്കപ്പെട്ട
ചുറ്റുപാടുകള്‍ മാത്രം ശീലിച്ച്
അവസ്ഥക്കാനുസാരം പ്രതികരിക്കാനറിയാതെ
ശരീരമത്രയും ക്ഷയിച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു.

വെയിലിന്റെ ചൂടും ഗാംഭീര്യവും
വിയര്‍പ്പിന്റെ ഈര്‍പ്പവും ഗന്ധവും
മനസ്സിനിന്ന്‍ അസഹ്യമായ്‌
തോന്നിത്തുടങ്ങിയിരിക്കുന്നു.

അസന്തുലിത നിലപാടുകളും
മൂര്‍ച്ച കുറഞ്ഞ ദൃഡബോധവും
അള്ളിപ്പിടിച്ച ശീലങ്ങളായ് പരിണമിച്ച്
എന്നെ കീഴ്പ്പെടുത്തിയിരിക്കുന്നു.

പരീക്ഷണം

പരീക്ഷണങ്ങളാല്‍  വരിഞ്ഞുമുറുകിയ ജീവിതം.അപ്രതീക്ഷിതമായ് ജീവിതപ്പാതയില്‍ വന്നുവീഴും വിഷമസന്ധികള്‍.തിരിഞ്ഞു നോട്ടങ്ങള്‍ക്കും കൂട്ടിക്കിഴിക്കലുകള്‍ക്കും ബോധ്യപ്പെടുത്താന്‍ കഴിയാത്ത, കുസൃതിതോന്നും പരീക്ഷണങ്ങള്‍. ലോകത്താരും   ഇതുവരെ വളര്‍ത്തിയെടുത്തില്ലാത്തത്ര  ഊഷ്മളമാണെന്നു  സ്വയം വിധിയെഴുതി ആത്മാര്‍ത്ഥമായ് വിശ്വസിച്ച, എന്‍റെ അമ്മയുമായുള്ള സ്നേഹ ബന്ധത്തിലും പരീക്ഷണം കണ്ണുവെച്ചിരിക്കുന്നു. കാര്യകാരണങ്ങള്‍ ഇഴപിരിച്ചെടുത്തപ്പോഴാണ് അമ്മയുമായുള്ള സ്നേഹബന്ധത്തെയല്ല, എന്‍റെ ആത്മാര്‍ത്ഥതയെയാണ് പരീക്ഷണം ചോദ്യം ചെയ്തതെന്ന് മനസ്സിലായത്.മനുഷ്യന്‍റെ മനസ്സിനു സ്ഥിരത നല്‍കുന്ന ആത്മാര്‍ത്ഥതയെയും  ദൃഡവിശ്വാസത്തെയും  പരീക്ഷണം എപ്പോഴും പിന്തുടരും...

ചാറ്റല്‍ മഴ

സ്വത്വ ബോധം അവനെ  പെരുമഴയില്‍ ഇറങ്ങി നടക്കാന്‍ അനുവദിച്ചില്ല. കരുതലോടെ മഴ തോരാന്‍ കാത്തിരുന്നവന്‍,പെരുമഴ ചാറ്റല്‍ മഴയായ് പരിണമിച്ചതും ഇറങ്ങിനടക്കാന്‍ തുടങ്ങി. അല്ലെങ്കിലും ചാറ്റല്‍ മഴക്ക് വസ്ത്രത്തിന്‍റെ മറ ചാടിക്കടന്ന് ദേഹത്തെ അസ്വസ്ഥപ്പെടുത്താന്‍ കഴിയില്ലല്ലോ.

മഴ ബാക്കിവെച്ച കുളിര്‍കാറ്റാസ്വദിച്ച് നടന്നു നീങ്ങവെ മഴ തുള്ളികളുടെ ഗന്ധവും ഭാരവും മാറിയതും,ചാറ്റല്‍ മഴ ക്രമേണ പെരുമഴയായ് പരിണമിച്ചതും തിരിച്ചറിഞ്ഞില്ല. അവന്‍ സസൂഷ്മം പാത്തുവെച്ച ഇടങ്ങളില്‍ വെള്ളം കയറിക്കൂടിയതും, സ്വന്തം ദേഹത്തെ കുളിരണിയിച്ചതും അറിഞ്ഞില്ല.


ഉമ്മറ കോലായിലേക്ക് കാലെടുത്തുവെച്ച്  വെളിയിലെ തോരാമഴയെക്കുറിച്ചാലോചിച്ചപ്പോഴാണ് ദേഹം വല്ലാതെ തണുത്ത് വിറച്ചും  മൂര്‍ദ്ധാവില്‍ വെള്ളമിറങ്ങിയും  സ്വന്തം സമനില തന്നെ തെറ്റിപ്പോയെന്ന് അവന്‍ മനസ്സിലാക്കിയത്. പക്ഷെ അപ്പോഴേക്കും പനിയും ജലദോഷവും അവനെ കീഴടക്കിയിരുന്നു.


അവളോടുള്ള അനുരാഗം ചാറ്റല്‍ മഴയായ് പൊടിഞ്ഞ് പ്രണയ  പെരുമഴയായ് പെയ്ത് സുബോധത്തെ മയക്കിക്കിടത്തി സ്വന്തം ആത്മാവിനെ കീഴടക്കി നശിപ്പിച്ചതെങ്ങിനെയെന്ന് ഇപ്പോള്‍ അവന്നു ബോധ്യമായി...

Conical motion using two stepper motors

Conical motion can be performed using two stepper motors. The assembly is shown in the figure above. Steps are,

Step1: rotate motor B so that the rod is in an inclined position when we look from the top.
Step2: move the rod down so that vacuum pump assembly can pick the page and hold.
Step3: move the rod up by turning motor A in the opposite direction.
Step4: actuate motor B and rotate so that rod moves to the other side.
Step5: move the rod down if needed

Figure below shows the steps.

Kalam Sakshi

Theekkanal moodiya vazhiyiloode
Ekanthanay nadannu neengunnu njan
Neerum mizhikalum novum hridayavum
Tharattu pattay ormakalum.

Innite vidhikale vyakkanikkan padupettu njan
Bhoothakalatheyorthu vithumbi njan
Jeevithathile avasthakale koottikkizhikkan parishramichu njan
Orupadu swayam samskaranathinu idamundennu ariyunnu njan.

Vidhiye nam pazhikkaranu pathiv
Daivam manushyanil adichelppikkunnathu pole
Ente vidhiyil enikku pangundo?
Orikkalum swayam chodikkatha chodyamanithu.

Kanappetta, Vilappetta chodyagal nam chodikkarilla
Swayam marachuvechu odiyolikkunnu nam
Yadarthyangalkku nere kannadach
Nerine kallamakkan kinanju shramikkunna manushyan
Ethra nikr-shtan, ahangari
Swayam illathakunna balahena swathwam.

Varthamana kriyakalkk bhaviye niyanthrikkam
Prabhavakendrathil ninnum kathamakale uyarunna prakambanam pole
Kriyakalkkadharamaya manassinte avasthayanu mukyam
Manassakshiyude vyakthamaya bodhyamanu manadhandam
Manassinte vyavaharam vidhiyil swatheenam cheluthunu
Swantham jeevithathil pachayaya yadharthyamay thelinjukanunnu
Ithu jagatheesharante niyama-manu
Kalamanu sakshi, en jeevithamanu sakthi.

Vendathe veruthe pedikkunna manass
Munkaruthalennonam sathyathil ninnu puram thirinju nilkkunnu
'Sathaya'thinu koochuvilangukalilla
Prathikara vanchjana mu-tti-nikkunna swathwam
Avaganaye prathikarathode neridunna 'Sathyam'.

Sathyathinu vashyamaya sundaramaya manamundu
Pinthudarnnal, kurayathe thulumbunna manamundu
Nerine nenjilettuka nam
Ethoravasthayilum athinay poruthikkondirikkuka
Athirukalillathe Sathyathe Pinthudarnnukondirikkukka...

Bubbling Mind

Life is felt to be full of contradictions, uncertainties, unfinished decisions, strange thoughts, loneliness, continuously changing judgments, unsatisfied partitioning and utilization of time and effort, suspected prioritization and vacuumed sections of entire life… still I am pleasant, healthy, stout, energetic, active and confident, which reveals my contradictory life. I am scared of things happening around the mind, the third eye. Weak mind crushes on feeble reasons. I don’t know if the feelings are positive or encouraging. may be the deeper
thoughts and meanings read and stitched on all matters weigh a lot and affect the senses of mind. It is always hard to accommodate and deal with diversity in life… sections of life always cross link each other, even after prioritizing the execution neatly. I don't really know if the priorities are pleasing and have a good future. Thinking patterns dances with a complex rhythm behind, having an unknown wavelength... suppressed waves comes behind as echoes and do peaking sometimes, I see them as the remains of past, the learning of past and a moment to be calm and realizing. I shape those peaks, blunt the sharp edges and hardness so that next time it comes, it won’t hurt me much. There is really no one else other than God to whom we can express the ripples of mind, the great reader of thought patterns… putting things in his hand is the best intelligent decision one can do. The great happiness we feel even at these kinds of agitating moments.

Treks around Chikmangalore

It was 16th and 17th June 2007 that we chose for our Student Islamic Organization (SIO) meequath tour to "somewhere" in Karnataka. Initially plan was to trek around Madikeri in coorg and because of heavy rains prevailing there; we decided to go to Chikmangalore, which is near to coorg. Mudassir bai was our ameer (leader) of the trip who has the prime responsibility to lead the pack of 36. We started friday evening at around 11.30pm and bus stopped once in between at some place at around 3am... by the time the sun is about to rise, we were about to reach Chikmangalur. But we couldn't see any mosque on the way so had to do thayammum [doing cleaning with mud] and do our subah prayer inside the bus. It was wonderful and first experience for me of having a congregational prayer from inside the bus. Also prayers like this will really touch our hearts positively.

Reached Chikmangalore by 6.30 in the morning. Everyone had sound sleep it seems and everyone was in a thrill to explore the nature. We roamed around the city in small groups just to get a feel of the town. Chikmangalur is very small town, looks clean and calm. There are many tourists’ places near and far to this city. We freshened up from a masjid and we had enough time to take a peaceful breakfast. we started by 10am only and the weather was cloudy with no sun shine... we decided to go to Abbe falls(Hebbe falls) which is around 40Km away from Chikmangalur.once we came out of the city, roads become narrow and bad with patches, but it gave a wildness tune to the journey.. People had already started to return home from paddy fields and other lands after their work... many fields found to be ploughed and kept open with out any on going cultivation in it.. for a moment i happened to glance at the current situation of my village and understood the similarity of its past and the present scene i am having in front of me... I remember how cattle egrets roamed around the cows while they were on the fields and now I had to come to Chikmangalore to see such a scene!!! i felt so moved to see the man controlling his cows, pushing hard on the bar with his muddy foot to break the clay blocks, once I had enjoyed this when I was on the way to my primary schools.

Scene in front was amazing.. though trees hide the front view, hills are huge enough to reveal their elegance and beauty in the cloudy morning... hills were really shining in the limited sun light available and moving snow felt to have added to their beauty. some times we could see the hills very near and feel the plumage of them, the uniformity and diversity in their arrangement, the wildness in the trees occupied, new born tender leaves of the tall trees etc. It was a great feeling of acquiring the magic of the nature spread over the horizon with a 2cm eye, which revealed the creator and sustainer of the worlds. Sure these beautiful "big monuments" will stand as a witness for divinity. We had to take a diversion from the main roads to go to Abbe falls and we need to still travel 10Kms.. Bus was going very slow through the road surrounded by tea plantations. On the way we stopped at one place, from were the horizon is limited only by the hills...we traveled further and it started drizzling and strong wind was blowing...

Once we got down from the bus, we divided ourselves to three groups and started climbing down the hill. Wind was blowing wildly at the top and as we climbed down, we felt the force dwindling as we move... but the path was sloppy, slippery with rumbles and rocky. after this initial path, the route was open and fine with less vegetation around the way. later the scene changed to coffee plantations at one side and forest at the other side... and here comes the fourth stage, the wildness of the nature. We had to climb down the slippery mud which has more than 60 degrees of slope, there was hardly no targets for our foots to step on to control the forward movement and here the intermediate trees were also less. the way was surrounded by a good jungle... then we could see a barrier which had been kept down to the earth by some trekkers... the fifth part of the trek was still interesting slope increased further to more than 70 degrees and definitely there is no grip other than the shoe grip. I believe every member of the pack was thinking or formulating their own tactics to tackle the challenge and people even discussed about it. Since it is rainy season, there are enough leeches and by this time people have started looking inside their socks.. and most of the people are new to leech stories and the power of it...see how we are away from the nature... it is a wonderful creature with many abilities, it's attack is slow and steady without any harm, we wont even know if it is there own our body or not. the first process in any leech bite is application of a chemical substance which will prevent clotting of blood, this will ensure continues flow of blood and it has a special hook antenna that it put in to the vein and the more interesting part is how it finds the location of veins correctly. amazing, the creature of almighty God. Now comes the sixth part of the trek, journey through the side of a stream, we could hear the sound of the fall from here. we crossed the stream three times, we got lot of sweaty small mangos on the way, which was enough to satisfy all of us...at last we saw the fall which was around 168 meters height in two stages. We took around one and half hours to reach here after getting down from the bus.

we cant see the first stage from the bottom of the fall. There had enough water to have a satisfying bath and we took it... we climbed up the fall to some extend over the slippery rocks to explore the shower like arrangement there. Believe me the force of the falling water thread over the rock was strong enough to destabilize our head and uncontrol the flow of water to our ears. water made loud sound, water drops sprinkled around and cold climate motivated us... nature keeps perplexing us with its charming forms... we felt the rocks were too slippery and some of us I had to pay them back two times for checking them for once, and my second injury was enough to harm my tongue. We spent more than a hour there and by that time, rain started to shower. we took our shelter under a rock which had enough space to accommodate more than one third of us. Leech biting became an interesting this by this time and people started help each other get out of them. there were people who kind of raced in leech biting and counting their bites... i feel that we are helpless if two leeches bite simultaneously, we become panic and we can't just do any thing... see how helpless we are ourselves.. May be God teach ourselves some lessons that looked to be silly, but holds immense principles. We took less time to come back.. we had our lunch at 5'o clock from the place we started our trek. Wind became more vigorous and risky and we had to offer our prayer from inside the bus. We returned to chikmangalore and stayed there.

Second day, we started a little earlier, by 9am. We rocketed to Z-point which is in Kemmangudi hills. The route is almost similar to yesterdays but the weather was shiny bright morning... I took my seat in the cabin of the bus to have a taste and better feel of the route. Could see people waiting for the bus for a long time, and Anwar told me that some times it even takes hours to catch a bus in these types of interior areas. I felt that he too liked to enjoy and explore nature more closely than others, he shared some his thoughts too on his exploration. there had fascinating hair pins bends on the route with a top of vast cultivation lands down the valley. we could clearly spot the divisions made in it and the difference in cultivation... after that the route was nearly horizontal and later we started climbing the hills one to another through roads. we could feel how we are tackling the height and the depth of the valleys...the route is being cut over the curvature of the hills with sharp bends because of scary steep valleys..it is almost like feeling the shape of the hills, really wonderful feeling!!!

we reached the place, it is also called kr hills. we had to walk some 3kms to reach the Z-point. the initial part is very easy and striaght forward with a good jungle around the road... then the path becomes narrow with astonishingly arted rocks on the right side and steep valley on the left side..in some places, steepness is such that we can't see the bottom of the valley as such. Water seen to be coming in drops from the rocke in one area and there is a small waterfall too. then we had to take a zigzag path because the slope was almost 90 degrees. the path is like going 45 degrees in vertical plane, going back straight and then moving forward at some angle... felt like an inverted 'Z'. we could feel the height of the location from the force of the wind and towards the end of the journey to the peak, the height increased drastically and so the wind speed. we reached the top and grouped there.. wind was too wild that it tended to take us along with it and the risk was the peak has lesser surface area. some times some us had to keep sitting on the ground to save ourselves from the stormy wind. this was my first experience of a wind having this much air flow force... that too is a sign of almighty God and the disability of man. Praise the Lord!!!

I was more scared about climbing down the initial part of the hill... my shoes had already gave a signal about it's inability to save me and indicated that myself had to take full care. there is a beautiful green cattle feeding land down the peak, but it is almost not accessible from the top since it is very steep. we returned from there and gathered in garden called "rock garden" to discuss some things about leaders of world Islamic movements and had our prayer from there. after taking our lunch, we returned to Chikmangalore..on the way we went to Kallathi falls, we found many people drinking there in the falls and we couldn't take a bath. we continued our journey to Chikmangalore and reached there by 6pm. we took 3hours rest there and started to Bangalore. we had our dinner from Hasan and we met my brother and his friends there. we reached Bangalore on Monday 2am.

Chikmangalore trip is my first two day trekking experience and I enjoyed it in the full true sense. Intention of the trip was clear among all of the members of the pack and for me it is for the first time that I am in to a pack having a uniform spirit like this. The team was calm and understanding each other even though the pack was more than 35. I thank God for having a wonderful trek like this with lots of everlasting natural sittings and good moments...

Starting with AVR microcontrollers: Code to burning

Microcontrollers are widely used in the electronics design arena, whatever may be the application we have. With the continuing competition among the microcontroller devices, more and more software and utilities are coming in to picture. Microcontrollers have drastically changed the design approach of an electronics engineer. In today’s world, even a so called complex design can be realized with minimum time, effort and resources. Microcontrollers are loaded with all resources in the form of on chip peripherals, both analog and digital; utilizing them effectively is the only design aspect that a designer has to do.

I have been using 8051 family of microcontrollers starting from 2002. There had been lost of effort, money and search I put to prototype one design using a microcontroller, finding the intended microcontroller in market, more than that getting the programmer, selecting suitable easy development environment etc. I remember when I bought an 8051 microcontroller programmer for 2400/- rupees. Things has been changed drastically nowadays, in the sense, resources are available right at our finger tips with less cost and full documentation. It was in May '06 that I seriously searched and thought about AVR microcontrollers. They really amazing in the sense, blessed with plenty of on chip functions, freely available development/ debug tools, plenty of articles and sample projects etc. A simple example for AVR's power is, most of them come with onchip 10 bit ADCs. They really help you to design your system fast and aviod much of the integration work, so that you can concentarte on the actual design problem. They have In System Programming (ISP) capability too, that really help during the initial stages of development of a design, where you will download the code to the flash many times. Else we have to take the chip out of the circuit and put in an external programmer.

I have woked with ATMEGA8515 and ATMEGA32 AVR microcontrollers. My main design was an Automatic Incubator using ATMEGA32, that used many on chip facilities of AVR. Out of them, the on chip I2C facility was the important one that I utilized much. It helped me to speed up interfacing of thermometer chips with the AVR. The negative side of the game is the device cost. But I think that can be balanced if we look at the utility of the device. If you are going for a uC+ADC design, compared it with a single AVR device with built in ADC.

Resources:

1. Development Environment:

WinAVR I use C programming with WinAVR for code development. WinAVR contains different tools for code development and debug. Programmers notepad is an easy to use coding environment and it is a continuesly upgrading free software. C compiler used by WinAVR is avr-gcc. It has built in definitions and macros for onchip peripherals and their access. This ease the code development very much, we need to concentrate only on the high level implementation. Currently I am using WinAVR 20070525 release. Latest WinAVR release can be downloaded at http://sourceforge.net/projects/winavr/. Lets go through the code development steps.

I. Download WinAVR to your HDD and install it to a suitable location
II. For every project you develop using WinAVR, you need to keep a Makefile along with it, which will specify or hold the details about the project like, device used, name of C file, frequency of operation etc. It is better to keep the Makefile in the directory where your C code resides. Some of the important fields are

# MCU name
MCU = atmega8535
#Proseccor frequency
F_CPU = 12000000
# Output format. (can be srec, ihex, binary)
FORMAT = ihex
# Target file name (without extension).
TARGET = nokia_3310_lcd
# List C source files here. (C dependencies are automatically generated.)
SRC = $(TARGET).c

III. write your C program using Programmers notepad and compile it Use Tools -> Makeall
IV. Output window will show the warning and errors, if any. else it will show that *.hex file has been generated successfully. This file is in intel hex format and this is to be downloaded to avr flash.

2. Programmer/ Programmer software:

Initially I started with PonyProg which used parallel for ISP. Look at http://www.lancos.com/prog.html for AVR ISP (STK200/300) parallel port interface[ If you plan one, download atleast 2.06C version of Pony programmer software] It is very easy to build with fewer components and easy to use too. It comes with its own programming software. I was really satisfied with it, but I found problems with parallel port when I used in other PCs. It requires some parallel port settings to work it properly, that I couldn't summarize till now. So I thought of looking for an ISP USB programmer for AVR. I could find one design from http://www.fischl.de/usbasp . Thought of trying once, and believe me or not it took less time to develop this programmer compared to my first parallel port programmer. I used PonyProg to program the ATMEGA8 present in the USB programmer. USB driver and README files are available to download at the above mentioned webpage.

I have incorporated one 28 pin IC socket and one 40pin ZIF socket with a common crystal for both. The above figure shows only 28 pin socket. I have also provided a 6pin male connector on the board which can be utilized to use the programmer for ISP purpose. I didn't provide any separate power supply for the board, else I am directly powering from USB. I couldn't find 68 ohm resistor in my component box so I used two 150 ohm resistors in parallel to form 75ohms. Also, I used 3.3V zener instead of 3.8V zener as prescribed in the above webpage. Other than these connections that are intended for USB, all others are straight forward. Going forward, I am planning to use USB code to utilize for my future projects to give PC access to the microcontroller system through USB. So we can configure settings, transfer data etc between PC and the design board. My practical Programmer circuit is shown in the first figure.

To download the hex file to flash, go to the folder where avrdude is available[…/WinAVR/bin/], run avrdude -c usbasp -p atmega8 -U flash:w:main.hex

3. AVR devices are available at,

Universal Electronics
#4, Mandi Veerappa Lane
Silver Jubilee Park Road
Parallel to Sardar Patrapa(S.P) Road
Bangalore 560 002PH:080-22238686,080-41140023

4. Sample project

http://www.circuitcellar.com/avr2006/winners/AT2951.htmI would suggest to use AVR for your newer designs. Surely that will help you much all through out your design phases.

I am happy to share and discuss designs with you if you like to do... Happy designing!!!

Bird and Butterfly Resources

Some quick bird resources on internet

1. List of Indian birds http://www.princeton.edu/~vivekt/indbird.html
2. Photographs of birds http://www.orientalbirdimages.org/index.php
3. Indian Birds news letter http://www.indianbirds.in/
4. Threatened birds of India - RED Data book http://www.rdb.or.id/country.php?op=find&id=3/
5. Bird Life international http://www.birdlife.org/
6. Taxonomy browser http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/Taxonomy/tax.html/
7. Birding in India http://www.birding.in/
8. Sound of Birds http://worlddmc.ohiolink.edu/media/borror/blbLogin

For Butterflies

1. Check list of butterflies of Kerala http://www.greenexplorer.com/content/view/24/
2. Check list of peninsular india butterflies http://www.bio.utexas.edu/grad/krushnamegh/Moorings/ButterflyChecklist.htm
3. Photo of Indian Butterflies
http://www.bio.utexas.edu/grad/krushnamegh/Moorings/PhotographyIndianButt.htm

Ooty Tour

It was last year christmas holidays that we chose for our Ooty trip from Bangalore. Ooty is around 284 Km away from Bangalore. We started by 4.30 in the morning on 23rd Dec 2006 in Ratheesh’s car. Ooty road takes a diversion from Gundalpettu [Bangalor-Mysore-Gundalpettu] and then goes through Bandipur National Park. We could see deers, peacocks, elephants, monkeys and lion tailed macaque. Road through the jungle is not too bad. We were in full spirit to spot wild animals and photograph them. It was by 10.30 am we reached Theppekkadu. From here we can take two routes, they are kind of parallel routes.

Route1: through Masinagudi which is 7Km away from Theppekkadu. Road in this route is narrow some times, contains 36 hair pin bends and most interestingly 40 to 50 degree slop in those bends! This route is open from 6pm to 8pm after that it is closed to ensure easy crossing for the wild animals. But there won’t be any lorries carrying luggage in this route and the road is also good. There are many scenic spots in this route, mainly hills and valleys.

Route2: This route touches Goodalur and later we knew that roads are in too bad conditions, we really thanked God that we took route1.

First view point in the Masinagudi route is Bison Valley viewpoint. This view point is very near to the main road and it is at one the steep bends. We could see three hills tending to join and form a wonderful valley there. Though the weather is not good to form water falls, some water streams were distinguished in background because of the colour difference from green. There is a small “traffic island” from which we can view the surrounding, nothing was viewable towards the bottom since thick rocks and tree leaves hidden the sight.

Kalhatty waterfalls is 2Km away from Bison Valley view point. There wasn’t water in this fall and so we didn’t get down there to trial our fate. Time was nearing 11.30, sky was clear and weather getting colder and colder as we passed each hair pin bends. We stopped near a hotel named “Rock Picnic”, the view from here was superb, and on the hill in right side, we saw large number of houses arranged in rhythm. I had collected some data about Ooty and the people living there, so I was keen to know more about those houses. A malayali is running that hotel and we met Pratheesh from Manjeri who is working in that hotel. He said that Badagas are the main residents of this area of Uthagamandalam, and the east side is inhabited by Todas. Badagas live in villages and these villages are called “hatti” in their Badaga language. Pratheesh said that those groups of houses are hattis – he told me their names too. Ekkuni, Ullathi and Melullathi. There are more than 100 Badaga hattis in Ooty. They are mostly farmers and cultivate carrots mainly. Pratheesh said that from one acre of carrot they will earn one lakh as profit, and this is with in three months time. We took our lunch from there and resumed journey by 1.30 pm.

After covering 8 Km we reached Thalakkada by 1.45 pm. We decided to see Pycara lake which is 16 Km away from this place. Upper lake view is 2 Km away from Thalakkada and the way to the lake is steep enough that we can’t control our steps. Next point was Film shooting point, which is a sloppy hill with a vast view over the horizon. Towards the other side of the hill, there is a valley with uniform curvature. The beauty lies in its uniformity and structure. By the time we descended the hill, it was 3.50 pm. We reached Pycara by 4.20pm. We went for boating there for 20 minutes. That experience was not that much as we expected. All of us dreamt a speed boat, but we could hire only motor boat. Even then we could feel the depth of the lake and its serenity… Heard that this lake has inclined muddy bed, so lake has more depth towards the centre. This lake is a part of Kamraj sagar power station reservoir.

Second day, we decided to explore in and around Coonor. We started by 8.30 in the morning from the hotel, where we stayed last night. Route to Coonor was picturesque, has good road compared to first day, lots of valleys enclosed with mist, plenty of tea plantations on the way and could see different ‘Hatties’ as we moved. Most of the time we had the direct and deep view of the scenes with a pleasing cold wind. The heritage train track is laid along this route. With in 45 minutes we reached Coonor. We had break fast from there. Coonor is a small town.

Our next plan was to go to Catherine falls. We passed Kottabettu, which is 12Km away from Coonor. In this route, there are bends where we stopped and enjoyed the wide scene. We can’t capture the loveliness on this scene in a camera as the view is more than 180 degrees. By 11 am we reached Kottagiri after covering 8Km from Kottabettu. We have to take the right diversion from Donnigton, which is a junction in Kottagiri town along Kottanad route. We had to travel 10Km more to reach Catherine falls from this junction. Then the road takes a right diversion from Aravenu. This place has a Hatti named Aravenu Hatti. Road was steep and covered with mist. We stopped here and there, that we reached Catherine falls by 12.30. We walked one and half kilometers through the tea plantations to reach the falls. Thanks to not having a direct road to this falls, the fall is clean and felt as unexplored by most of the tourists. Mavukkara tea estate is the main estate here. At 2.15 pm, we returned from Catherine falls.

Roads to Kotttanad is the best of all that we took till that time, surrounded by tea estates which are well maintained and beautified to a certain extent. Canopy of the plantations and trees in the valley which shined in the evening cold sun light was a fantastic view. It is sure that they are spending huge money for the maintenance of the estate.

We reached Kottanad view point at 4.15pm. The view from this point is ultimate and the view angle is more than 200 degrees. We could see Moyar river, a pale grey mark in green background, flowing down through the thick forest. The lighting effect showed that there are many small hills surrounding this river. Rangaswamy peak is the main attraction from this view point, which is the fifth highest peak in the Nilgris [1786 meters]. This peak is 30 Km away from Kottagiri. We spent 45 minutes at this view point.

At 5’o clock we started our return journey to Ooty. There is a direct route to Ooty [19Km] from Kottabettu, with out touching Coonor. We took that way; this route was misty and too dark. We reached Ooty by 8.30pm.

We returned Bangalore on the next day. The trip was incredible with lots of good natural sightings and nostalgia. Nature really calm us and bless with an overwhelming feel in which we can’t fully realise the magic it shows. We are eager to attain and experience more and more as we explore this nature.

Hadees Resources

Hadees are words or approvals or resctriction from Prophet Muhammed [PBUH]. After Quran, Hadees has got the highest authority in Islamic law. Hadees are explanations and commentry of the vast topics covered in Quran. It also depicts how to pratically apply a book of laws - Quran. Some useful links for hadees

1. Translation of Sahih Muslim http://www.mekkaoui.net/MaktabaIslamya/haditENG/SahihMuslim/Menu.htm
2. Translation of Malik's Muwatta http://www.mekkaoui.net/MaktabaIslamya/haditENG/MaliksMuwatta/menu.htm
3. Translation of Sahih Bukhari
http://www.mekkaoui.net/MaktabaIslamya/haditENG/SahihBukhari/menu.htm

Vermicompost - economical way of Kitchen waste management

Vermicompost is an earth worm based waste degrading system, which can be easily setup in houses with a reasonable cost. Most popular earth worm species used for this purpose are Brandling Worms (Eisenia foetida), Redworms (Lumbricus rubellus) and Eudrilus eugeniae. We have setup a small vermicompost system at our home using Eudrilus eugeniae earth worm species. They cost 500 rupees for one kilogram.

Let’s discuss the construction, factors to be noted and maintenance of the system.

Container: It can be plastic, earth pot (best), cement pot, metal etc. Idea is the container shouldn’t contaminate the system, or shouldn’t degrade and produce toxic substances which will kill the worms. Problem with plastic containers will be, container become too hot during summer days that can seriously affect worm’s life.

Size and Shape: If the container is in rectangular shape, recommended size is max, two foot height, 3 foot width and there is no restriction for the length. If the container is round in shape, it can have a diameter of half meter.

Construction: Form a bed of basic layer using dried coconut husk (chakiri) in the container, next layering is with cow dung [optional] and then put the earth worms over that. Don’t use any mud or sand. Provide a tap to discharge vermiwash out of the container. Provide a barrier using water to prevent ants and other creatures entering the container. Initial weight of the waste, charging to the container is to be of half the weight of the worms. That is if you put one kilogram earth worm, initial waste can weigh 500 grams. Once they stabilize you can put waste of the same weight as that of worms.

Cover the top of the container with a chicken net, to prevent rat and other creatures entering the container. This will also help to provide sufficient aeration. Below picture shows a simple vermicompost structure.

Temperature and moisture: Temperature has to be between 20 to 29 degrees. Good moisture content has to be ensured in the container. Pour water depending on the need.

Bedding and how to put the wastes: Bedding means the living medium for the worms. Earth worms can degrade kitchen waste, paper [ensure that your papers don’t contain toxic elements like coated foils etc] cloths (degradable – cotton), dried leaves, remains of meat etc. Basically we can put all degradable substances. Dumping waste directly to the system is not advised, else keep the waste in your waste basket for one day, and let it soften. To reduce odor from the container, add both green matter (nitrogen conteant) and brown matter [carbon content- paper and dried leaves] to the container. Adding carbon will reduce degradation considerably.

Usage of Vermiwash and compost: Vermiwash is a good fertilizer with rich enzymes content than can be sprayed directly on leaves. Vegetable plants and ornamental plants will absorb this very fast since their leaves are soft. Spraying Vermiwash will increase colour of flowers. Vermicompost can be applied like any fertilizer for all plants.

Ramanagaram Trip

Last Saturday[2nd Dec,2006] we, a group of 12, went on a trip to Ramanagaram. The spot is around 50 kilometer away from Banagalore city along Mysore road. We started by 12.30 pm from Bangalore and reached Basavana Pura by 2’o clock. The trip was “outsourced” and so our organizer Lalit had arranged lunch at the base camp Thimayya Academy. We played volleyball for one hour; it was my longest volleyball practice. After that we did Obstacle River crossing, sorry there was no water underneath, but we could experience a flavor of what and how people do that.

Along with our instructor, we went for chimney climbing. The location is full of rocks and shrubs. Those rocks are too gigantic in size and attractive in shape. We could see huge rocks tempting to fall down. It was adventurous to walk and jump form rock to rock along with the thorny plants. Some times rocks revenged me pretending that they are strong enough to hold my foot steps, but they toppled when I stepped on them. There is a special spot for chimney climbing. This activity was an unexpected one. There are two parallel rocks separated by around 50cms, we have to climb up between those rocks using our arms, back, knees and legs… execution algorithm is some thing like this… lock yourself using foot and knees and move up by putting weight on your palms along with sliding on your back. My shirt torn as it pressed over the rough rock. There was a man who protect us from falling down, he hold the thread which is tied to our waist. The separation between the rocks is more at the top and it was difficult and interesting to tackle the last step.

Next item was rappelling. By this time, sun had shut off its lights, but moon was there as a torch for us. It was almost full moon. The location and the arrangement of the rock are too cute. The rock is almost 150 foot in height and rough. First interesting thing is that, there is a sloppy way to climb up the rock. Once we reach there, we put ourselves to a seat belt kind of thing, which will be hooked to a long rope running down the rock to the ground. Instructor created a free-lock arrangement with the rope which we can control while we move down. Arrangement was done to do this two at a time. We have to lean back and apply force back to move down the rock. I was really amazed at the way human tackle difficulties with tactics. Here the idea was some tricks with knots. If we want to stop on the way down, we have to just hold the thread allocated to your left and right arms. And the scariest moment was when I started my descending where we gradually change from horizontal orientation to vertical orientation.

Next item was the most dreamt one when I decided to go to Ramanagaram…night trekking. We decided to walk through the reserved forest. We had two torches with us along with some good “torchy” mobiles. Instructor led the pack, it was around 7 pm by that time and it was completely dark. Instructor cautioned us that Ramanagaram is famous for snakes especially vipers. The path was full of shrubs and bamboos. Though we couldn’t see any animals and creatures, we enjoyed the walk, since we expected anything in front of us at each moment. We walked for around 45 minutes and at last we reached near the base camp. Time was 8.30 pm.

Compared to Coorg trek, this time the scene was of rocky touch, looks like they are balancing the earth in some way. And their surface is clean without any plants on them, which felt that they are proud and rough.