Light of the Lamp

Hi folks, I present you yet another article written by my Dad, Shri. S. Muthukrishna Iyer on the feasibility of changeover to Electric powered vehicles for which lot of proposals are put forward by our Government. This article got published in a local community magazine in Trivandrum. Please go through this and bring in your views. Thanks. Hurdles on the path of changeover to Electric Vehicles By S. Muthukrishna Iyer, Thiruvananthapuram (1) Preface Question: India government’s policy: ‘No sale of petrol/diesel fuelled 2/3 wheelers, cars, buses and trucks in our country after 2030’. Why so? Answer: During winter months, air pollution is beyond habitable level in metros, particularly in Delhi. Reasons are categorized under 3 heads, namely, stub burning after harvest, dust from construction related activities and vehicular pollution. For many years, CNG is used as fuel for some categories of vehicles in Delhi as per the directive of the Honorable Supreme Co...

Hello friends,                           After my last post 'Time' matters, the next topic I was planning and still in my books is something on 'Kerala Temples.' But like unplanned visitors, the instinct to write this one is sudden. So let me put some thoughts here.                                     Cricket is something which I used to follow with interest from my childhood and for a long time which included even test matches. By the time the cricket reduced from 50 overs to 20 overs i.e T-20 matches, my interest had gone down south. But I still watch T20 and IPL matches if not regularly. Be it T20 world cup or ICC world cup, our national team fighting against other countries' teams unites all Indians and stirs the patriotic feelings. If it is any match against Pakistan, it is like watching a war fought between two countries, tho...

Hello folks,                       Time does matter for most of us or one and all. For Indian children, it is vacation time which will get over in a couple of weeks. For the rest of Indians in and out of the country, it is another week of waiting in anticipation before the counting starts on May 23th, which is going to rewrite the Indian political scene. For somebody in my family, who is fast slipping away due to aggressive form of cancer, every moment counts, which depresses rest of us and makes us realize the value of each moment.                                                         Last week, I went to a watch repair shop to fix the broken glass frame of my watch. The problem did not get fixed and I was advised to go to the company's shop in another location. During my waiting time, I o...

Hi folks,                        Anybody out there remember probably the first mega serial aired by Doordarshan (Hindi) named Shanti in the year 1994? Iam sure many of the previous generations will still remember the first ever, iconic daily soap opera, which was broadcast in DD (Doordarshan) every afternoon on week days thus setting a trend. Before that, the Hindi serials used to be aired on a weekly basis. Serials like Hum Log, Buniyaad, Nukkad, Ramaayan, Mahabhaarat, Fauji, Circus( Fauji and Circus were serials which marked the acting career of Shah Rukh Khan before becoming the big-screen king), Byomkesh Bakshi, Shakthimaan, Bikram-Betaal, Kacche Dhoop, are just a few to name those once-a-week episode stories. One can understand how impatiently  viewers need to wait for one week to watch the next episode every time, which looks inconceivable at  the present. Barring the mythological and crime series, the story l...

Hi women, men,                              Ladies first!!! At least when one addresses as 'Ladies and gentlemen', and when a disaster strikes anywhere anytime, 'ladies and children' to be rescued first! Yep, ladies belong to weaker section and are still so today! It is so entrenched deep in our minds that we ladies ourselves feel there is nothing wrong in thinking like that! When the world celebrated International Women's Day on March 8th, was the day any different from rest of the days? Because it was a working day, for many women it was just another day of finishing the stressed up morning chores and rushing to the workplaces. How many men would have prepared to take over the never-ending chores just for that day? Even the womenfolk would not have let the men in  as the daily chores will not get over or come to a stand-still!                       ...

Hello everybody,                               The month of February that just passed us by is the month everybody would like to forget but will/should be remembered for many reasons. It was gone mostly unnoticed, but 2 Indian Air force pilots were killed on 1st, when the French built Mirage 2000 aircraft crashed just a few minutes after take-off at the HAL-airport in Bangalore. It did not create furor as these deaths are a part of those training sessions. But nevertheless, it is tragic like any other death.                               Just like any other February 14th being round the corner, people all over the world including India were getting ready to celebrate Valentine's day with their lovers/spouses or celebrating anyone/anything they love. Lots of forwards, cartoons, jokes were circulated during the day in various social media...

Hello friends,                                           I keep using the word 'mannerism' as to why I am not fond of a particular artiste/musician. But what exactly is the meaning of 'mannerism'? Cambridge dictionary defines the word as  something t hat a   person   does  repeatedly   with   their   face ,   hands , or  voice , and that they may not   realize   they are doing:                                                                    And of course, there are many other definitions to this word. Many of us like to discuss or point out why we do not like a particular cine artiste, because he kills the naturalism of acting with his acquired manneris...