Earthly Musings

Keralicious - Delicious Authentic naadan chicken curry with mouth watering Malabar parotta is a delightful indulgence of a gourmet seeking bliss in Kerala food outside Kerala.  New Delhi/NCR despite its huge Malayalee population has always missed out an eating joint that could serve that perfect  blend of authentic cuisine. Keralicious is a new venture in the business of serving authentic kerala style cuisine in NCR today.  Compact and cozy, the eatery at Gurugram has surprise in store for anyone seeking instant Nirvana in typically malayalee food spread.  Located at Supermart I, Gurugram Phase IV, Keralicious has its linkages with Zomato and local food delivery service operators. Price has been kept low to enable foodies to feast on an extensive fare which can also be ordered online too.

65 th National Film Awards National Film Awards have been announced.   Of all the film producing states,   Mollywood (a sobriquet for the Malayalam Film Industry) has bagged a number of awards this year.   The awards include Best Film on Social Issues to Aalorukkam produced by Jolly Lonappan and directed by V. C. Abhilash, Best Direction award to Jayaraj for the film Bhayanakam, the film also gets the award for best Cinematography (Cameraman: Nikhil S Praveen), Thondimuthalum Driksakshiyum is the best Malayalam Film this year.    The film has bagged the best supporting actor award to Fahad Fazil and also the best Screenplay (original) award to Sajeev Pazhoor. Best Playback singer award this year goes to legendary K. J. Yesudas for the song Poy Maranja Kalam in the Film Viswapoovarnam Mansoor.   Award for best production has been announced for Santosh Raman’s   ‘Take off’ for which actress Parvathy Menon has been given a Special Mention award by the Jury headed by veteran film

‘To preserve India’s endangered crafts heritage, the obvious solution is to ensure markets’ - Madhu Jain Madhu Jain is a craft revivalist and textile conservationist. Her forte lies in developing textiles in distinctive combinations of variant weaving traditions for creation of new textiles that are high on quality and design. Today she is recognised for her dedication towards the handloom sector. Her work in revitalizing and reinvigorating dying crafts has won her wide appreciation and international recognition.   Her Bamboo silk IKAT weave is the first of its kind in the world.   She has notably indicated Bamboo as the textile of future. Madhu Jain launched her career in 1987 with a mission to revive the Indian handlooms sector to further the cause of swadeshi.   Her contribution has been in serving the twin functions of adding to the nature fibres and textiles by revitalizing the handlooms industry and assuring livelihoods to the artisans segment.   She did this by combini

Niketa Fazal is a Nairobi based artist whose paintings evoke a sense of calm and deep introspection towards life and environment. An artist whose commitment towards environment seems as deep as her cultural roots, Niketa’s canvases have a soothing and therapeutic effect on the onlooker. Having studied Graphic Design in Birmingham, Niketa has been an Art Director for ten years.  She has her BFA from Kenyatta University and is now involved full time in art and painting.  Niketa’s paintings are mostly representational covering divergent themes spanning Nature, People and Urban development.  Her work has been showcased at several exhibitions including at UN Recreation Centre, Nairobi, ISK Nairobi besides innumerable pop-up shows at private residences. According to Niketa: I enjoy portraying moments in time, that have been part of my life experience in my art.  The ‘endangered animals’ series features animals found in the Nairobi National Park and my aim was to raise aware

Economic Survey  2018 (Highlights and concerns) 1. Large increase in registered indirect and direct taxpayers.   Dilly dallying rate of taxes according to whims and fancies of respective industries has in actuality lead to much less collections than anticipated. 2. Formal non-agricultural payroll much greater than believed. Indian agriculture reeling under reduction in net land area under staple crop cultivation, farmer suicides and adverse weather conditions leading to huge losses has majority of farm labour which is casual and unregistered. Instead of focusing on agricultural payroll the term has been twisted to non-agricultural payroll! 3. States' prosperity positively correlated with their international and inter-state trade. Focus has always been capital investments on larger states. Obviously the dividends reaped by such states on account of central investment is bound to reap returns. We should be talking of equitable distribution of wealth among smaller s