COLUMNIST: S. ARAVINDAN NEELAKANDAN
Notes from the South
S.Aravindan Neelakandan is a social scientist working with an ecological NGO called Vivekananda Kendra -- Natural Resources Development Project in Nagercoil, at India's southern tip. His work involves research on traditional rural communities, as well as educating farmers on cost-effective technologies to boost their agricultural output. He holds a master's degree in economics from Madurai Kamaraj University and in psychology from Madras University. He writes articles on popular science, social and philosophical issues for local publications; an anthology of his articles has been published in a book in Tamil titled "God and 40 Hz."
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February 07, 2008Nagercoil, India — "Ram Rajya" is described as a society where a beautiful young girl decked in the finest gold jewels can walk on a deserted road at midnight, unmolested. Whenever someone tries to justify an attack on a woman because of her "provocative dress" I remember this definition of the ideal moral state.
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December 06, 2007Nagercoil, India — It seems that historical injustices permeate the existence of all humanity. What happens when a section of humanity is violently plucked from its motherland and transplanted to another region in dreadfully subhuman conditions?
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November 09, 2007Nagercoil, India — Deepavali is the Festival of Light celebrated by Indian religious traditions -- Vedic, Jain and Sikh. Multi-level mythologies and history have made the festival cherished in the memories and lives of the billion-strong Indian communities.
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September 20, 2007Nagercoil, India — Consider the following scenario: The Jordan government wants to lay down a road over a small hill that would fetch it some million dollars in profit. Laying down this road means knocking down a particular natural rock formation facing the direction of the
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August 16, 2007NAGERCOIL, India — At a function in the southern city of Madurai last Sunday, Sonia Gandhi praised the state of Tamil Nadu as a model state. On Tuesday, just one day before Independence Day, a dusty town in the district of Thirunelveli witnessed a ghastly scene -- a pitched
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July 19, 2007Nagercoil, India — This is the heart-rending story of a family, belonging to a religious minority, that has been torn apart by a theocratic state machinery that has lost its basic humanity. This is the story of a mother whose young child was snatched from her hands in the n
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July 05, 2007NAGERCOIL, India — Our guide was leaning on a walking stick and limping, yet he patiently led a couple of friends and me through more than 100 panels at an exhibition on Islam, held in Chennai (Madras). Suave and gentle, he explained skillfully how science vindicates Islam.
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June 28, 2007Nagercoil, India — The words "women activists" conjure up certain images in India -- the likes of author Arundathi Roy, social activist Medha Patkar and communist Brinda Karat. Leftist, pro-Islamic and anti-establishment, these activists always find themselves in the media
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June 07, 2007Nagercoil, India — A debate is raging about artistic freedom in India, which is supposedly under threat from Hindu nationalists. One eminent artist termed it the diktats of the "neo-Taliban" on society.
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May 17, 2007NAGERCOIL, India — India's earliest science magazine "Science Today," subsequently renamed "2001," eventually died a valiant death. It featured many memorable articles during its active publishing days.I vividly remember one issue where eminent Indian scientists, technolo
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May 03, 2007Nagercoil, India — Ian Malcolm is not exactly a lovable character in the novel "Jurassic Park." Even though he may be considered the alter-ego of the book's author, Michael Crichton, he comes across more as a doomsday prophet.
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March 29, 2007Nagercoil, India — The Discovery Channel recently aired a controversial documentary all over the world, titled the "Lost Tomb of Jesus." Well, not exactly all over the world.