The tech-savvy youth not owning any mobile phone

It would have been way back in 2011, for the first time, that i met this person wearing a long kurta, with an unshaved face and not properly combed hair, in the bus plying to Ernakulam and return, and at bus stops. After having met him frequently, i made friendship with him, and casually asked him for his contact number. When he said he did not have a mobile phone, my initial thought was that he was kidding me and did not want to share his contact number with me.

On our journey back to our native place from Ernakulam, we used to engage in discussions on philosophical, technological, scientific and political matters. He is found to be very knowledgeable and well read on so many topics. 

Yes, it would be quite amusing to have an encounter with a person who is fully updated with all knowledge of electronic and communication spheres, yet still doesn't possess a mobile phone. He is Sooraj Kamal, currently pursuing his PhD in Underwater Acoustics in Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT).

Corporate Social Responsibility - nothing but Corporates just succumbing to the law of the land

Is social responsibility something to be forced? Why then companies make so much of clamor for the CSR activities that are being carried out as per the law of the country and looking out for all possible publicity? Why do they need publicity to follow certain law in order to do business in this country?

The first country in the world to enforce Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)  is India, following an amendment to the Companies Act, 2013 in April 2014. As per the law envisaged, the Corporates can invest their profits in areas such as education, poverty, gender equality, and hunger as part of any CSR compliance.

Multi Super Specialty Hospitals mushrooming in Kochi, is a sign of healthy society?

Kerala not being an industrial state and primarily being an agrarian society, whenever we have a discussion about visible development, the first thing, perhaps, we point out is the number of multi super specialty hospitals that we have in Kochi, which is better known as the business capital of Kerala.  The multi super specialty hospitals are mushrooming in Kochi like never before. To name the major ones in Kochi are Lakeshore Hospital, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences, Aster Medcity, Lisie Hospital, Lourdes Hospital, Medical Trust Hospital, Ernakulam Medical Centre, Apollo hospital and the last one added to the long list of multi super specialty hospitals in Kochi is Rajagiri Hospital.

Junk food and health problems

We live in a fast moving world, as the end result of industrialization, modernization and globalization. There is so much of buzz happening around, which keeps us puzzled, flabbergasted, shocked, surprised with a ‘wow’ feeling, pushing us into a world of fantasies. In order to cope with the fast moving world, we automatically, rather willfully got adapted to the new, lifestyle, trends, fashion, culture, innovation, shopping styles, gadgets, technology and food culture that the modern world offers. We follow them that we shall not be left behind in this race; we shall not be looked down and be termed as ‘aboriginals’. We always love to be perceived modern and fully updated with what modern world can offer us. 

“Great preachers are not great doers”

Absolutely, there is no skepticism that the current Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi, is one of the greatest preachers that the Independent India has ever seen. Bharathiya Janatha Party has been greatly indebted to Narendra Modi’s rhetoric skills for its great victory in 2014 general election. After Indira Gandhi, Narendra Modi was the only prime minister who gave a marathon speech, which lasted for 65 minutes, without the aid of a paper or teleprompter, on Independence Day at the Red Fort in 2014, which was his first independence speech as the Prime Minister of India. 

It's okay being late - a lesson learnt on the day of my wedding

How it would sound, the thing you hate the most happening on your big day? Being a man of punctuality, i expect others to be punctual. Though it was not intentional, on the day of our wedding my life partner taught me that it is okay being late sometimes.

The marriage of my twin brother and I was scheduled on Monday, April 18, 2016 at 10.30 am. My brother's bride reached before time from her place, which was 24 kms away from the Church. As one bride and the party came, 9 priests who came to officiate the wedding went to the sacristy at 10.25 am to vest the vestments not knowing that the second bride and the party had not reached yet. 

Get him married to a girl to be responsible

When a man, in his youth, becomes prodigal and irresponsible, living a life totally against the wish of his parents and societal commitments, as a last remedy, the parents from Indian conservative society will decide to get him married to a girl. The parents believe that once a girl comes to his life, he will become moral, modest and responsible. The girl is believed to play vital and inspiring roles in his life, giving an option either to perish completely or to come back to life as a responsible person, learning his lessons in the hard ways.

It’s not 7, but only 6 sacraments for women in Catholic Church; Ordination being insinuated only for men

Catholic Church has always been criticized for being patriarchal in nature, where women (nuns) hardly get any role to play in its administrative positions. Catholic Church can satirically be defined as; Church of the men, for the men and by the men, where men (priests) enjoy all the powers and privileges. Church expects the women to play the role of ‘Pious Women’ as narrated in the Holy Bible, remaining in prayers, contemplation, obedience, and performing the designated domestic and social roles. 

The ex-seminarian factor providing more weightage in marriage market???

Though there are dozens of parameters that are considered on high priority when it comes to arranged marriages, character gets precedence along with family background, educational qualification and profession of the bride-groom. The character is not so easily discernible and visible like the latter at a given point of time.

There are investigative techniques used by the girl's family to examine where the potential bridge-groom is coming from, about his family, his parents, siblings, educational background, financial stability, profession, designation and how much salary he draws. Their findings are based on facts and physical evidences, which are available right in front of them.

Falling short of 2 turns to complete quarter century in official girl-meetings

It has been perceived that arranged marriage is always a difficult affair compared to love marriage. For arranged marriage everything has to get meticulously arranged even bride and bridegroom, whereas in love marriage, with love everything gets automatically arranged.

In the current cultural, economical, social, religious, and political background, arranged marriage has been a very hot affair. Now the trend is love cum arranged marriage. In arranged marriage, the potential bridegroom has to do his home works, which include sending 'request' and 'like' on matrimonial sites based on the received and accepted requests and has to go to the girl's home for official girl-meeting. Mine had been a marathon girl-meeting spanning over two years, touching the number 23.

Family: - Truly a Heaven on earth

Family is the supreme abode of all the virtues, perhaps love and mercy are the two virtues that decorate all other virtues and make the house the best place to live in. Love and mercy can be said as the two sides of one coin, which is complimenting each other and without the other one can’t exist. At home, mother is the epitome of love and mercy, out of her fragrance of love and mercy; the virtues are getting spread in the family. The inculcation of all these virtues and values are happening from the family in the early childhood of a person, and make a person, human being with sympathy and empathy. 

Solar - Saritha episodes – a chronicle believed to be have a plot and written in a context

It is said that nothing happens in a vacuum, in order to occur something there should be clear framework in a given time and space. Though my political inclination has been for the ruling United Democratic Alliance (UDF), in the wake of series of Solar – Saritha episodes, I, being a common man of the state, am forced to believe that the whole solar scam centered on Saritha S. Nair is a chronicle that is believed to be have a clear plot and written in the political context of the state.