I don’t think it’s a long or inordinate wait for a small loan from State Bank of Travancore.It’s a matter of more than two weeks of putting an application by me for a loan from the State Bank of Travancore , Calicut University Branch here. But in the present scenario of advancement of banking with application of IT, internet/core baking in the banking sector and large-scale competitiveness among the banks, I think each day is very significant and precious for the ‘much valued customer’ of the banks and for the ‘generous banks’ to serve the customers better or rather the best. Even along with the newspapers, I regularly come across the pamphlets of our bank for the easy availability of the various types of loans with a lower rate of interest.What a rapid change in our financial spheres from nearly a decade back, when the citizens feared to tread into the threshholds of the banks for a loan. But times have changed a lot much after with the liberalisation of the world economy. Now, we should bow our heads in awe of Janardhan Poojari, the former Union Minister for Finance, who opened the doors of commercial banks to the common man to a great extent.The tie-knoted bank people in the ivory tower has become a story of the past. The customer-friendly new generation banks have made much inroads into the savings and deposits spheres of the common men and entreprenures .
Why I should dig up all such contexts for a small loan? I have to share my thoughts, encounters and experiences with you with the intention that they would produce some good results and impact. I have been a customer of the SBT with our Calicut University Branch for more than two decades.I have already two loans with them with more than 10% interest, the re-payment of which is being made from my salary regularly every month by my employer. One is a housing loan, the EMI of which is nearly Rs.5000/- and the other is a vehicle loan, its EMI being Rs.2200/-A major chunk of the EMI goes to the interest segment of the loan , while the principle loan amount remaining there intact and unscathed for long, as long as you are a debtor. The tempo of more to the interest rate will continue to be be there.
The house loan I availed with the Bank exahusted with the completion of half of the work. So how to proceed further. I utilised the other resources at my disposal to pull on the sails. The prices of all materials have sky-rocketed. The crunch of finances was too alarming to proceed with the work, lest I should abruptily stop the work. What is the solution? My wife was not enthusiastic about the construction of the house at my place. So I didn’t want to take any support from her. There are avenues like LIC policy loans, KSFE Chitties or pawning our gold ornaments etc.
So I thought of having an additional housing loan to my present one with the SBT. I approached the Asst.Manager in charge of loans. It appeared to me a herculean task requiring all sorts of documents again, which I submitted to the Bank at the time of applying for the first loan. So I gave up that idea. How to generate nearly Rs.2 lakh, with which I could somehow manage my fulfilment of my ambition of having a house of my own. Remember the plight of a senior University staff with a take-home salary of more than Rs.10,000/- after all deductions and my wife having more than that of that much salary and the ways of our banks. So whats the next option. He suggested to apply for an AKSHAYA LOAN..which means you would be able to obtain 15 times of your net take-home salary from the Bank You would have to obtain a certificate from your employer that all the payments due to you from your employer would be through the overdraft account of the loan. That means you would be subjugated to the bank. No propriety or wise thoughts for the needy..I got the forms from him.
Next is the formalities with our Finance Branch. I got it done very soon. Mr.Ratnakumar, the energetic and considerate Assistant Registrar was very helpful in clearing the papers. Then, this has to be signed by our Registrar. There was no delay at all in getting the form endorsed by our Registrar Dr.T. K.Narayanan. I felt people at the helm should be so magnanimous, and helpful to their employees, like them. Everything went off smoothly with our office. The papers are now ready to be submitted to the Bank.
On 10th December morning, I gave the loan application to Mr.Radhakrishnan, the Asst.Manager of the Bank , who found them all okey. He told me that the loan would be sanctioned within some 2 weeks time . The papers have to be sent to the Zonal Office for clearance. I don’t know whether the Manager himself is empowered to do it.. Ok.everything is good, if its for a plausible purpose. I found him to be very nice and ameanable, like his predecessor, Mr.Ratnakaran. I approached him after one week, thinking that he would have simply said a time frame. But it has not come from the Zonal Office, he said . Let it come its way, I thought. Meanwhile, my wife, seeing my predicament, said “why should you go after it? You pawn my gold ornaments weighing nearly 40 to 50 soveriegns with the University housing society and take the amount” I didn’t rather want to use her gold.
On 22 nd , while on my way to the office, I stepped into the Bank again and met Mr.Radhakrishnan. If by luck I could get it, that would be really helpful for me because I’m leaving for my home tomorrow (23rd) on leave for a few days and I could get all the pending construction work done during this time. But still the loan was not forthcoming. He told all the Head office people were busy with the opening of some new branches and the papers are still pending with them! The Managing Director or somebody like that will be coming to the University Branch also on his way back after an inauguration function and calling on our Vice-Chancellor and presenting her with a bouquet. He too is busy on that account. I don’t know whether he or his Bank people knew that the Vice-Chancellor is here on a 4 year term and we the hapless customers have been with his Bank with all our earnigs for decades which they have gainfully loaned to the needy customers for higher rates of interest. Won’t our own good will and faith count more than it? I felt asking him . I don’t know whether he knew the reality. After all. for passing a paltry amount,as far as the bank is concerned ,are all such requirements and time necessary, especially in this time of much technological advancement in the banking sector?

After my leave, on 26th morning around 11 am (remember its the 17th day since I applied for the SBT Akshaya loan), I again approached Mr.Radhakrishnana again to know the fate of my loan application. Still, it has yet to get the clearance from the Calicut Zonal Office. He was magnanimous enough to tell me to approach the Branch Manager in the afternoon to request him to get in touch with the Zonal Office for its early clearance. I returned from the Calicut University Branch without much despair, but only with my anguish and wonder over the functioning of a banking system in the present times of recession and break-downs of financial institutions all over the world. Somehow, I can manage the amount, without bothering them much, I determined. All these take place when the State Bank of Travancore now celebrates its 25 splendid years of trust with their valued customers, like the hapless one like me

Incidently, I happened today to come across an ad in the newspaper offering instant loans.It was from a new generation bank (I don’t want to mention its name) .Out of curiosity, I called them up.They noted down my details like job, family, gross/ net home pay etc.They said, “keep your pay certificate and an undertaking from your employer, similar to the one you gave to SBT ready by evening/tomorrow. We’ll send our representative to you.Your application will be processed immediately and you can get the loan by tomorrow “What about the interest rate? I quipped. “In any case less than what you would have to pay to your nationalised bank.” . “And, of course, no hasseles and and no worries.” they said. Wait.I w’ll let you know. I said
I’m really surprised by the offer made by a leading new generation bank I’m bewildered. What I should. Whom I should bank..a bank with whom I have banking for long and a new generation bank that has come to my help in need?

Kodinhi is a sleepy hamlet in Malappuram district of Kerala state, some 15 kms away from our University (University of Calicut).The village, located in Nannambra panchayat,  should have remained as one of the rural, backward  and Muslim dominated towns here.The village has now caught national and international attention by having a large birth-rate  of twins. The number of pairs of twins born on the soil of Kodinhi with a population of less than 15000  has now crossed  the figure  200. The  birth rate of twins  is on a continuing note here.  The surprising concentration of twins in this village has triggered off  research by various individuals and institutions. The schools in the village and nearby places have dozens of pairs of twins studying for various classes, many of them identical and same sex.Many funny stories are doing rounds in the schools about the teachers finding it difficult to identify the twins.The local people too face similar piquant situation.The ‘identity crisis’ is not confined to schools alone.There are also jocks that the newly-wed couples of Kodinhi often mistake their partners for the other twins of the pairs in the beginning of their conjugal life!

The mammoth birth rate  of twins in the village still remains as a mystery coupled with curiosity for everyone. Research by scientific and biological teams has begun to unravel the mystery of the large scale birth of twins here.Recently, a national team of geneticists from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology , Hyderabad  visited  the village for studies. Such high birth-rates of twins have not  been reported from anywhere in the world, except certain places in Nigeria and Spain

The National Geographical Channel, the  international news agency, Reuters and Khaleej Times of UAE are also due to visit Kodinhi to record the interesting phenomina found here.

The genetic, biological,molecular ,heriditery and climatic factors of  the puzzling phenomina are the subject matter of the research on the multiple births at Kodinhi . Its  interesting to note that the women married off from Kodinhi and also married to the youth in Kodinhi too have been giving birth to twins. The first time known twins of the village are now 59 year old Kunhikadiya and Alavi ( female and male respectively). The youngest of the twin hierarchy here, born to Rubina-Nisar couple, are a boy and girl, Mohammed Imran and Fathima Hiba, who are turning 27 days on this day (Monday, 24.11.2008).There were instances of the birth of triplets also here.The latest case is that  Salma Beevi, wife of  Hassan has given birth to three baby girls three months ago.

While the strange and wonderful phenomina of extra-ordinary concentration of twin births in this village continues,  an in-depth study on the various factors to find out its causes has become highly essential.

Pramod

Mahe or Mayyazhi is a small and calm town situated on the west coast of Indian peninsula. Sandwiched between the Calicut and Cannanore districts in Kerala state, Mahe, appearing to be a part of Kerala, belongs to the Union Territory of Pondicherry. While travelling from the northern end of Kerala to the southern part and vice-versa, one has to go through Mahe.The travel to this direction from north starts from Mangalore, Cannanore, Tellicherry, Mahe , Badagara and so on. Mahe catches the eyes of the travellers due to its serene atmosphere and charming ancient monuments .

This picturesque former French town has an area of 9 Sq.Kms with a population of over 36,ooo. In fact, some of Mahe citizens have citizenship in France also and they vote in the periodical French elections. The intense political rivalries and clashes in the nearby Tellicherry, which are of a constant nature, never have an impact on the citizens of Mahe. They live in total unison and peace.

Despite all its credits and advantages, what brings Mahe more popularity or rather notoriety is literally the easy and free flow of liquor here. At the entry points to Mahe from two directions of Vatakara and Tellicherry, the long row of liquor shops begin.The smell of liquor pervades through the air and fill the surroundings of the town. You can find umpteen number of liquor shops and bars on either side of the national highway passing through the town. Big hoardings of liquors of different brands adore the liquor shops-cum-bars,soliciting the customers of various hues.

Mahe with a population of more than 36000 has, on a rough finger counting, nearly 100 shops. As against the actual annual requirement of 51 lorry loads of liquor, about 1,000 to 1500 lorry loads are imported into the nine-square-kilometre region situated adjacent to Kerala. Literally, liquor is flowing through this small town.Here, the prices of liquor are very low, compared to the prices prevailing in the neighbouring state of Kerala. For a paltry sum of Rs.150/- one can get a full-bottle of a choice brand, which costs three times its price in the nearby retail shop in Tellicherry or Vatakara.If you are still lavish, you can visit the bar attached to the shop and consume half bottle liquor with a sumptous food for Rs.100/-.Thats Mahe and its main attraction.

On one evening last week, I happened to have a stop-over at Mahe on my way back from cannanore to Calicut. I made a round-up of the city to have a glimpse of the liquor business. I was wonder-struck to see the very brisk liquor business going on there.I found a large number of people standing in front of the shops to buy liquor.All the bars in the town were packed to the full. The customers who had swarmed the shops and bars were mostly youth, all in a highly inebriated state.

I was quite concerned and alarmed over the social and economic decadence of a region where the liquor reigns the rule.I enquired from the local people about the far-reaching implications and evils brought about by the free liquor trade.They said all the efforts to bridle the flourishing liquor trade by the prohibition activists and organisations have found no results.The trade continues unabated, pushing the people to the peril. The youth from nearby places like Vatakara, Tellicherry are mostly affected, having fallen prey to the tentacles of liquor barons.

I watched Mahe throught that evening. Its charmness and calmness have transformed to grim revelry and chaoes . The famous Mayyazhi puzha ( Recall Mumundan’s famous novel ‘Mayyazhipuzhaude Theerangalil’) was flowing silently, pretending that she was not knowing whats happening on her shores. The St.Therase’s statue in the famous Mahe church in the heart of the town was standing as a mute witness to all the unholy happenings around it. I also had found 2 or 3 de-addiction centres little away from Mahe, an inevitable fall-out of a degradation of a denigrated society. I left Mahe in utter grief and despair and with prayers for its well-being sooner or later.

Pramod

Meet Mr.Mohammed Kutty alias Bava Vaidyar, a simple and unassuming man of 65 years from Feroke here. He is a miraculous healer for the snake-bite victims here in Calicut and nearby areas. when the modern allopathic medicines failed to give succoor and life to victims of bites of poisonous snakes, it was the indigenous natural medicines prepared by Vaidyar that gave re-birth to them. Thanks to his powerful medicines, many people have survived the deadly snake-bites.

The life of Mr. Vaidyar is fully dedicated to the cause of providing relief and life to the people in distress and agony. He is not after publicity. The people who got re-birth at his precise and immaculate hands have words of high esteem and appreciation to the uncanny capabilities of the healing touch of this man. The true testimony of his silent healing powers come from his benefactors.No media has given any coverage to this extra-ordinary man. The instances of his life saving are spread from mouth to mouth of those who got relief from him.

Vaidyar’s family has been in the field of traditional treatment of poison-related ailments, especially the snake-bites, for the last so many decades. When there was no modern medicine, the medicines made by the family from the rare medicinal plants found on the mountains and hills were used for the treatment of the snake-bite victims. The same formulae is still adopted by Vaidyar for the treatment even now. Its a constant and difficult task to collect the dwindling medicinal plants from various far-off places, all single-handedly done by Vaidyar. The great tradion of the miraculous healing set by his great grand father Kalanthankutty Vaidyar, is still being pursued by Vaidyar literally with his magic wand.

Vaidyar has so far treated hundreds of snake- bite victimes and brought them back to life. In fact, he has broght back to life many snake-bite victims, who were given up by the alternative system of medicine. Many supposedly dead persons of snake-bites were re-lived by Vaidyar. He has cured the victims of bites of venmous snakes, like viper, cobra, python, cornsnakes etc. He never takes any fees from the victims. The entire treatment is free of cost. It seems he fulfills certain obligation to the humanity by means of his self-less service.He attributes all his healing powers and capabilities to the God.

I  have a known classic example of his life-saving mission officer. Mr.Vijayan, who was working as a Circle Inspector of Police of Nallalam was bitten by a viper one day around 7pm near the Feroke Guest House. Instead of rushing  him to the nearby Calicut Medical College, he was taken to Vaidyar by some local people. The medicines applied on his wounds and also given to him found good results after some 5 to 6 hours. He opened his eyes around 1 am . Mr.Vijayn still recalls the treatment and acknowledges with gratitude that but for the treatment by Vaidyar, he says he would not have survived. He still maintains good friendship with Vaidyar who he says has given him re-birth.

The treatment of Vaidyar is not confined to snake-bites alone. He also treats with his natural medicines for skin-diseases, especially soriasis, asthama and jaundice. Many people have benefited from his treatment, all at a faster pace.

Further, Vaidyar has made elaborate research on all natural methods of treatment. As a result, he is making a SOLID MERCURY BALL( RASAMANI) after long and continous efforts, blending all traditional medicines and  mercury with divine prowess derived from intense prayers. The usage of this ball on the body will ward off all misfortunes, dangers and calamities from your life. This will also bring about happiness, prospirity and peace in your life, says Vaidyar.

The miraculous healer may not be knowing about this post, but he still remains a good friend and saviour of hapless victims of  deadly snake-bites.

Pramod

Dr.T.K.Ramachandran, an eminent scholar and a Lecturer of our Department passed away on 21.07.2008. For quite some time, Teekey, as he was fondly called, had not been keeping well. He had not been coming to the Department since its re-opening in June due to ill-health. Last week only, the Department received a letter from him informing of the fixing of the Ph.D viva-voce of a student under his guideship on 22nd September.This itself shows how concerned he was about his academic pursuits and activities even when he was not well.

Towards the fag end of his life, this versatile literary critic and a marxian theoretician was living in a life of seclusion.An ardent revolutionarist of late 1970s, Teekey was a classic example of a true marxian ideologist, wedded to the cause of proletarianism and humanity. He also fought the religious chauvinists and communalism.

On knowing about the news of his death, I went to Cochin with Dr.B.Sreedevi, our HOD, Dr.Moideenkutty of Arabic Dept, Librarian Jayasree and three of our students to attend his funeral.We were there in the sad moments of an irreparable loss until he was laid to rest at the Ravipuram cemetry. Though he is no more, Teekey lives in our minds, of his students, colleagues and the society. His memory never fades from us.

Im giving below the condolence message on his demise released by my Department today

The meeting of the teachers, staff and students of the Department of English and other staff of the University of Calicut express our deep sense of grief at the sad and untimely demise of Dr.T.K. Ramachandran, Lecturer of English Department on 21.07.2008.

Dr.T.K. Ramachandran was a scholar, literary activist, theoritician, writer and teacher of great eminence, who left an indelible mark on the various academic , literary and social works he was involved in. He was a well-known social and literary activist, prolific writer, endearing teacher, loving colleague and above all a good friend and magnificent person with humane qualities. He was also a literary critic endowed with progressive perceptions and ideologies.

His departure is a great loss to the Department of English, Universityof Calicut, academic community, particularly of English teachers and students and also to the literary world. .His contibutions and services to the world of letters and society will be gratefully remembered.

We convey our profound condolences to the bereaved family of our departed colleague.

We also convey our sincere gratitude to the faculty members, students and staff of other departments on the campus, who have joined us in this hour of sorrow.