A Village Of Twins

Hello are you Krishnan? No I am Ramesh, Krishnan's brother. Hi Gopanna how are you. Sorry I am Shaju, Gopanna's younger brother. Everytime I try to greet a person in this small but green village in Kerala – it turns out to be other person.
Turn a corner in Kodinhi village, and if you have seen one child you will probably run into its double soon after. In this community of 2,000 families there are 250 sets of twins. In 2008 alone, of the 300 families who had children, 15 pairs were born, a rate at least six times higher than the average for the country. India has one of the lowest twinning rates in the world, but Kodinhi is close to the top of the global twinning league.
Krishnan Sribiju, a doctor at the Tirurangadi Taluk hospital, just outside the village, said the number of twins born was increasing year by year. In the past five years, up to 60 pairs had been born, and the 250 pairs who had been registered understated the true total.
The high number of children with indistinguishable features makes life difficult for teachers. Abhi, 16, standing beside his brother, said: "I comb my hair to the right and he combs his hair to the left. I also have a mark on my neck. Apart from these differences there is nothing else."
"It's an amazing phenomenon to see a medical marvel occurring in such a localised place where the people are not exposed to any kinds of harmful drugs or harmful chemicals," said lKrishnan Sribiju who is studying the twin phenomenon.
Pathummakutty and Kunhipathutty, 65, are the oldest surviving twins in the village, with both only having a single name like many people in the village.
The youngest are Rifa Ayesha and Ritha Ayesha, born June 10.
Pathummakutty said being a twin was not always easy. She recalls how her family struggled financially when she was a child but laughs about the many times people would get mixed up between her and her twin sister.
At the local school, 15-year-old Salmabi said teachers often confused her for her twin sister and she was once reprimanded for something that her twin did.
"It happens all the time," the students pipe in chorus.
Sribiju said scientists were still trying to unravel the mystery of the high number of twin births, believing there must be something in the environment that is causing this such as something in the water.
Some locals also believe it is to do with the water as Kodinji is surrounded by water in the fields and during the monsoon season it becomes inaccessible due to heavy rains.
Most of the twins are non-identical, which means that the mothers are producing extra eggs that are fertilised at the same time. Identical twins develop from a single embryo that splits after fertilisation.
The National Geographic is planning an hour-long documentary with a working title ‘Twin Town.’ Paul Nelson, producer-director of the documentary, says it will be a genuine attempt to get to the bottom of the matter.

TV9 Sweeps NT awards in Delhi

I was one of the panelist for Indiantelevision.com seminar on Telugu News Industry. After the discussion - indiantelevision NT awards were held where TV9 swept 12 awards.
Below is an article published in www.indiantelevision.com about the panel discussion I participated.

Telugu TV news market needs to consolidate amid clutter
Indiantelevision.com Team
(30 March 2009 1:20 pm)

NEW DELHI: Consolidation is the only way forward to beat the clutter in the Telugu news channel space, senior industry experts said.

With 12 Telugu channels crowding the marketplace and jostling for a share of the Rs 1 billion ad market, there can be space for only the top three players in the long run. Distribution costs are also wreaking havoc as politicians and real estate owners are busy launching news channels.

“The news consumption in Andhra Pradesh is much higher as the state witnessed many events in 2009. A lot of infrastructure and political players are pumping money which can create ripples in the market. TV9, however, sits pretty with an almost 50 per cent share in revenues,” said TV9 Editor - Input Dinesh Akula, while speaking at the NT Awards summit.

The session, "The Telugu News Titans," was moderated by Indiantelevision.com founder and Editor-in-Chief Anil Wanvari.

Having invested Rs 1 billion in setting up the infrastructur (including HD), Saakshi TV will take longer to break even. Saakshi TV marketing director Rani Reddy, however, said there is no political affiliation and the news operations is run like an independent business. Incidentally, Saakshi TV comes from the house of Saakshi Telugu daily owned by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, son of former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy.

“We launched during recession and we came with our eyes open. We invested on HD because we wanted to be ready for the future. The newspaper business is run as a profitable venture. We have the same approach in the TV news segment,” said Rani Reddy.

Talking about the slowdown and non-serious players in the market, HMTV’s Editor-in-Chief K Ramchandran Murthy accepted that they had not anticipated the market would get so cluttered. "We are in the serious news business and staying away from any type of sensationalism. We believe that will lead to our success," he said.

On the content front, Zee 24 Ghantalu channel head Shailesh Reddy said that as the Telugu industry is mainly cinema and entertainment driven, the viewer wants to watch news in a movie style format. “When there are so many players, you have to do more value addition. Let the viewer decide if it is news in entertaining format or sensationalism,” he said.

Akula raised the concern that there are copycats in the market and there is no innovation. “Some players just copy the graphics and tickers even. What can you do? We need training centres to teach journalism. Lots of people with no understanding have become journalists overnight and are getting obscene salaries,” he pointed out.

Distribution is a big hindrance. Said Murthy, "Some MSOs are even dictating content. They threaten to block the channel if you show any news against their political connections."

THE LINK: http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k10/mar/mar220.php

An actress is here to stay!

All my communications with one of the upcominng and talented actresses of south is through FaceBook. We invited her for live interviews in our news studio couple of times but never had an opportunity to sit and have a face to face interaction. The only similarity between me the actress is the book which we both like – A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mishtry.
Ladies and gentlemen – let me introduce – PRIYA ANAND. A promising face in tollywood who is armed with passion towards acting despite not having a formal training in acting. Dipped in the essense of Tamilian, Andhrite and Maharashtrian blood – this damsel shows confidence to leave strong impression in the canvas of acting. Her mother is from Chennai – father is from Hyderabad with Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtrian links – Priya is brought up in USA and now stays with grand parents in Chennai.
Opps – suddenly I realised that I have another similarity with Priya – she majored in communications and later did business journalism.
I completely agree with her when she says that she is the girl next door. She is carefree yet vibrant. She is cool yet confident. She is simple yet attractive. She is extrovert yet candid.
She flew from USA to India – aim was to be an assistant director but eventually star shinned and she became a star. An actress with spice and twinkle in her eyes. From Tamil movies to Telugu. Short time – long jump. Performance in Leader was liked and appreciated. She dubbed for herself. Simple – because she wants people to know her visuals with her voice. A complete package. Soulful performance. I am told she will not let anyone dub for her.
For those who want to woo Priya. Some secrets – She doesn't like big things. Small things can move her. Flowers! Of course she loves.
For those who want to make her fall in love – some more secrets- She likes compatibility and a person with integrity. She has a special liking for those who are passionate towards work.
Talking about her hobbies – social networking – facebook and twitting. Travelling but more into rural areas. Audio books so that she can hear while makeup and other activities. Books keep her positive.
Foody – prawn biryani and of course the Hyderabadi biryani too....so she is not a vegetarian. And so no PETA calender shoot for her.
During shoots she takes down notes for her diary and also pens fun experiences but doesn't share. STRANGE.
She is active in movies since 2009. Vaamanan and Pugaippadam are Tamil movies she did and of course Leader with Daggupati Rana. Her new movie – Rama Rama Krishna Krishna is being shot while another telugu-tamil movie Putham Pudhu Kaalai is in pre-production and is likely to hit screen in 2011.


According to a fanclub website: FAN RATINGS

Looks: Drop-Dead Gorgeous
Ratings: 5.00/5

Talent: Exceptional
Ratings: 4.50/5

Sex Appeal: Hot
Ratings: 4.50/5

Star Power: Mega Star
Ratings: 4.50/5
 

"India has a role to play as a strong US ally"

United States believes India has a role to play as a strong U.S. ally and partner across a range of global challenges, from economic dislocation to energy security, climate change, the spread of deadly weapons and terrorism. The blocks on the road of the civilian nuclear deal between states and India is also nearing to clearance.
In an exclusive interview Hyderabad – Assistant Secretary of State Robert Blake said the both countries feel that they have a significant opportunity now to take the strategic partnership to the next level. Blake said the US and India are working very closely, especially after the 26/11, in confronting the common enemy.
On nuclear deal, Blake said that both countries are making good progress though still certain things are to be done. Some negotiations are going on and things are moving in right direction.
On why US is insisting on third party mediation on Kashmir issue, Blake categorically denied it and added that the matter has to be bilaterally solved between the two countries.
Interestingly, United States does not want India to involve in security issues of Afghanistan as it may lead to complications in the South Asian region. However, the civilian help extended by India is well appreciated by the states. Blake who is in-charge of South and Central Asian Affairs in the State Department maintained that 1.2 billion dollar assitance from India in civilian sector in Afghanistan is appreciated as India is working closely in Afghanistan’s development.
To a question on US softening its stand on Taliban, he said in his judgment many Taliban fighters were opportunistic and not fighting out of any conviction. They are fighting because Taliban are paying them better remuneration than they could get from agriculture or other occupations. Therefore, if the livelihood opportunities with higher returns could be developed, they would give up fighting.
"The threat to American troops and the Indian contractors and workers in Afghanistan is coming from Tahreek-e-Taliban, Pakistan (TTP) that is based in Swat, South Waziristan and Queta. Pakistan has to make concerted efforts to tackle this danger", he said.The US is helping Pakistan, the same way it is doing with Afghanistan, in improving the security situation, educational and health facilities and build up economic opportunities so as to lure away people from falling into the hands of militants. For this reason, it is giving that country a heavy annual dose of $1.5 billion in civil aid, he explained.
Blake was in Hyderabad over the weekend. He had arrived in the city via Chennai after a visit to Sri Lanka. A senior career diplomat, he has served in India and Sri Lanka before being appointed as Assistant Secretary of State.

NO TOILET! NO BRIDE!

The mothers of Haryana have a simple message for men who call on their daughters: “No toilet, no bride.”

The slogan - often lengthened in Hindi to “If you don't have a proper lavatory in your house, don't even think about marrying my daughter” - has been plastered across villages in the region as part of a drive to boost the number of pukka facilities. In a country where more households have TV sets than lavatories, it is one of the most successful efforts to combat the chronic shortage of proper plumbing.

In India it is estimated that more than 660 million people still defaecate in the open - a big cause of a host of diseases, from diarrhoea to polio. It is women, activists say, who suffer the most. “Women who must go outside have to do so before sunrise or after nightfall so they can't be seen,” said Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh, which has built toilets for ten million Indians, and the recipient of this year's Stockholm Water Prize for developing ecofriendly and cheap lavatories to help to improve public health.

Suresh Devi, 52, a resident of Shahar Malpur village near Panipat, about 100 km from New Delhi, had been forced to defecate in the open till not so long ago, as there was no toilet in her home. But when her daughter got married, she made sure the bride had a toilet in her new home.

"My in-laws did not have a toilet at home and nor did my parents. Everybody at home used to go to the fields for defecation. We never had a toilet at home until the village panchayat (council) got one made last year.

"When I got my youngest daughter Sonia married off I made sure that there was a toilet in the household. After all one has to look after hygiene," Suresh, a member of a family that is below the poverty line, said.

"Our daughter will be married only to a family that has a toilet at home. This slogan dramatically decreased the percentage of people holding out against the construction of new toilets," chuckled 70-year-old Satwant Kaur of Khanpur Koliyan, a village in the neighbouring Kurukshetra district, about 150 km from the national capital.

It has been nearly four years since the Haryana government embarked on a campaign to create awareness about sanitation among the masses through radio jingles, television advertisements, posters and banners.

Walls in many villages have been painted with slogans in Hindi reading - "Na byahun beti us ghar mein jismein na ho shauchalaya (Won't get my daughter married into a household which does not have a toilet)."

Women's rights activists call the program a revolution as it spreads across India's vast and largely impoverished rural areas.

Meanwhile, bachelor guys are having a tough time here.

"I will have to work hard to afford a toilet. We won't get any bride if we don't have one now," said Rajesh Singh, 24, who is hoping to marry soon. Neem tree branches hung in the doorway of his parents' home, a sign of pride for a family with sons. "I won't be offended when the woman I like asks for a toilet."

Emotional fans of YSR giving up lives

ATTACHMENT AND emotions towards politicians are common in the country like India. But giving up life for their beloved leader is something unprecedented. But South India is known for it. Earlier it was MG Ramchandran, the chief minister of Tamil Nadu – popularly known as MGR and now Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Y S Rajasekhar Reddy also called YSR broke all the records.

In an exceptional show of love for any politician in the history on India – at least 141 people have (including suicides) because they were unable to bear the trauma of the loss of their leader and Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy. While on December 27, 1987 – 30 people committed suicide and lakhs tonsured their heads across Tamil Nadu following the demise of MGR

Similarly, many people tried to self immolate and commit suicide when AIADMK leader Jayalalitha was arrested and also during the arrest of DMK supreme M Karunanidhi such reports came to fore.

But the aftermath of YSR’s death is something unheard of in any part of the world.
One hundred and fifteen people died of cardiac failure and another 26 committed suicide after the chief minister died in a tragic helicopter crash deep in the Nallamala jungle.

While 42 people died on the first day (Thursday) soon after news of YSR’s death reached them, the toll went up to 141 on Friday as many could not bear the shock of their leader’s demise. All TV news channels beamed live the funeral procession and last rites, throwing people into a state of what psychologists described as "mass hysteria".

Psychiatrists explain the unprecedented number of deaths to the slow build-up of mental trauma and suppression of emotions over a period of 24 to 48 hours. The news of YSR’s helicopter disappearing was flashed on Wednesday afternoon and this caused mental agony and tension to his admirers. This state continued for a full day, heightening the trauma.

"People are attracted to leaders not only by their policies and programmes, but also by their personalities, the way they speak, dress and talk to them. This gradually creates a sort of hero worship and, when something tragic happens, they cannot bear the loss. This leads to mass hysteria," said renowned psychiatrist Dr Ella Rao. Se said there would have been mass violence had the news broken suddenly. "Now people are killing themselves.

In case the news of death emerged the same day, people would have resorted to violence, killing others. They would have made someone their target of attack and would have taken to the streets."

Despite appeals to the people by chief minister K. Rosaiah and YSR’s son, Kadapa MP Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, to not resort to suicide, the death roll kept increasing on Friday.

Twenty-three people died due to shock in Warangal district, while in East Godavari 14 people succumbed to shock and two committed suicide. Six people died in Krishna and three in Adilabad. In Narsapuram in West Godavari district, an MRPS activist climbed up a cell tower and threatened to end his life if Mr Jagan Mohan Reddy was not made chief minister.

The toll, district-wise, is Nalgonda 11, Medak 11, Mahbubnagar six, Karimnagar eight, West Godavari three, Prakasam six, Nellore and Chittoor seven each, Visakhapatnam five, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam five each, Hyderabad three and Nizamabad seven.

In Kadapa, a head constable died of a heart attack after watching the funeral procession on TV. The constable was a fan of Rajasekhar Reddy. He had been upset for the last two days

Once More Removed

Grit, determination and sheer focus helped 26-year-old Shundell Prasad to trace her family tree back to the 1800s. The process took her a tedious three years.
New York-based Indo-Guyanese film maker, Shundell Prasad, was at her final year in New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts when she decided to make a film on something she was always curious about— her identity.
She traveled three continents in search of her roots. “It is a great feeling to know about one’s roots,” she revealed.
Her journey to trace her roots in now in the form of a documentary film – Once more removed- a journey back to India.
When asked why she wanted to find her roots – prompt came the reply from her – “I started researching this film while I was still in university, simply because I wanted to know why I looked Indian, but did not have any connections or ties with India.
"I am a descendent of the people who were transported from India 150 years ago to inhabit what was then known as British Guyana, as indentured servants for the British Empire," she said.
Prasad's journey in the film begins from Queens, NY and then to the sweltering sugar cane fields of Guyana.
"I have managed to exhume my forefather's 19th Century ship records from the massive vaults of Guyana's record room. These records were a huge discovery, as they became my navigational map back to India."
She further says: "My expedition into mapping the pattern of migration backwards to India's remote villages is very exciting. Based on the information extracted from the ship records, we pursue India's northeastern belt. We travel to the two main areas in India that were part of Indian Sepoy Mutiny of 1857: Bihar and East Uttar Pradesh."
"In Bihar, I found my roots in Muzaffarpur. In Uttar Pradesh, I found relatives of my father in Azamgarh. It is here, in India, that I am graciously welcomed back to my ancestral homeland. It is stranger than fiction to come face to face with my relatives who live in dire poverty. It is here that I realize the spirit and dignity of these people," said Prasad.
Prasad was six when her parents immigrated from Guyana to the US, making her a second-generation Guyanese. However, given that her forefathers were migrant settlers in Guyana from India, makes Prasad an Indo- Guyanese. “Knowing I was a Guyanese of Indian origin created a lot of conflict about my identity,” says Prasad. “ I was also fascinated about India and where I came from in India.” She adds that neither her parents nor her grandparents had the answers to the questions she posed about her true identity.
"It was stranger than fiction to come face to face with my relatives who live in dire poverty. It was here that I realised how removed I had become", she says. The documentary has a 90-minute product for the world to see