A Woman’s Voice: Saeeda Bano

August 27, 2024 ~ millennialmatriarchs ~ Leave a comment

Last week I wrote about All India Radio, the voice of the nation after India gained Independence. I also wrote about some of the newsreaders who literally gave voice to the news. The early decades were remembered by names that became synonymous with different programmes broadcast by AIR, including some well-loved women voices. Before them all, was Saeeda Bano, who was the first woman to read the news on AIR. A woman ahead of her times in more ways than one.

Photo source:https://www.knocksense.com/hindi/

Saeeda Bano was born in Bhopal in 1913. It was the period of British rule in India but local rulers still held sway in the numerous feudal kingdoms that made up India. Bhopal was unique in that it was a city that had been ruled by women (Nawab Begums) for four generations as there had been no male heirs to the throne. It was an unusually liberal environment where women’s education was encouraged and the hold of patriarchy was not as strong. When Saeeda was born, the last of the four Nawab Begums, Begum Sultan Jahan, a great reformer, was ruling Bhopal. She was very keen that women be educated and thereby be able to come out of the darkness of ignorance.

Saeeda’s father was supportive of the idea that girls should get as best a formal education as was possible at that time. Saeeda was sent to boarding school in Lucknow in 1925, and went on to do her graduation from Isabella Thoburn College in Lucknow. But that was as far as her family would allow. In spite of her fervent pleas, she was married off, still in her teens, to a highly-respected judge in Lucknow who was many years older. The plunge into a highly-confining world, shackled by social expectations and dos and don’ts was stifling to the lively young girl who was at all times expected to play the role of a dutiful wife, and adhere to repressive norms. However she stuck it out for almost 20 years, playing the role of wife and then mother to two sons, even as the stirrings of rebellion built up. In 1938 when a radio station was set up in Lucknow, Saeeda started participating in shows for women and children. As her domestic life became more turbulent, Saeeda began looking for a way out. She sent her application to what was then still BBC in Delhi for the post of newsreader. The application was accepted. This was the impetus that propelled her to leave her husband’s house and her husband, and move to Delhi. She put her older son in boarding school and arrived in Delhi with her younger son. She was alone, in a new city, about to make a new life for herself.

Saeeda and her son arrived in Delhi on 10 August 1947, and stayed with some family friends. She reported to All India Radio the next day, met the Director of news, and spent the entire day getting familiar with the premises and the world of broadcasting. The following day when she reported for work at the radio station, a weekly roster of her duties and timings had been prepared and was handed over to her. She was to reach AIR on the 13^th of August 1947 by 6 am and read the news bulletin in Urdu at 8 o’clock thereby becoming the ‘first female voice, news anchor of All India Radio’s Urdu news bulletins’.

As she recalled in her memoir: I was the first woman AIR considered good enough to read radio news. Prior to this, no woman had been employed by either the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) or AIR Delhi to work as a news broadcaster. Of course they had to train me and I was taught how to first introduce myself on air with my name and then start reading the bulletin.

Thus Saeeda Bano became the first woman newsreader on All India Radio, two days before India gained Independence. She was proud to be a member of the AIR team that broadcast, live, to the nation, the momentous transition of power.

While she broke barriers in broadcasting, Saeeda continued to face challenges as a single woman in a big city. She looked for accommodation, and moved to YMCA, after a struggle to obtain special permission to keep her son with her. Saeeda Bano grew with her job and went on to research and anchor other programmes also. But it was not all smooth sailing.

The dawn of Independence also unleashed the fury of violence in the aftermath of Partition. As a Muslim woman whose voice was becoming heard and known, she was the target of hate mail and threats. She was forced into taking refuge with other Muslim personalities of the time, and was witness to many distressing situations.

Perhaps the most distressing event that left a deep impression on her was the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. Saeeda Bano had in fact been to Birla House to listen to Gandhiji in person, on the very day that he was killed. She later wrote how she had felt a note of despair in his voice. The shock of his death was so great that she was unable to read the news that day, and the news director had to hurriedly change the shifts.

Saeeda Bano’s in-built reliance and ability to face challenges remained with her through her life. She retired as news reader from AIR in 1965, and was appointed as producer for AIR’s Urdu Service and continued till the 1970s. She passed away in 2001.

Saeeda Bano’s achievements are much greater than her ‘first’ as a newsreader. In 1994 she wrote her memoir Dagar Se Hat Kar in Urdu where she described the ups and downs of her life, candidly and without bitterness nor self-praise. She simply described herself as one of those people who “chose a road less travelled“. The book was translated into English by her granddaughter Shahana Raza and published in 2020 as Off the Beaten Track: The Story of my Unconventional Life.

Remembering her grandmother, Shahana described how Saeeda Bano or Bibi as she was affectionately called, was a woman who lived life on her own terms. She lived independently, and didn’t seek support from anyone, even in the lowest phases of her life. Her sheer determination always stood out, as she never looked back and regretted any of her decisions.

Today as so many women confidently anchor news and other shows, especially on the numerous television channels, they face their own challenges and new glass ceilings to break. But it is always humbling to remember and celebrate those who took the first steps in clearing untrodden paths.

–Mamata

“This is All India Radio”

August 15, 2024 ~ millennialmatriarchs ~ Leave a comment

“This is All India Radio, and here is the news read by Melville de Mello.” Nine p.m. and the family is gathered around the radio, as the deep baritone voice begins to read the news of the day–news from home and abroad; the only news that the nation absorbed and digested before retiring for the night. The radio was the meeting point for all generations, and the source of connection to national and international events. And indeed, it was All India Radio that defined this coming together.

Radio broadcasting services started in India during the British rule in 1922-23 under the initiative of the Bombay Presidency Radio Club. In 1927, the Indian Broadcasting Company (IBC) was set up as a private entity and was granted permission to operate two radio stations. On 23 July 1927 the IBC made the first ever radio broadcast in the country from the Bombay Station.This event marked the start of organised radio broadcasting in India. The Calcutta Radio Club came into existence five months later. IBC dissolved its operations on 1 March 1930; thereafter the Imperial Government took over the broadcasting operations. The Indian State Broadcasting Service (ISBS) was started on 1 April 1930 on an experimental basis for two years, and then permanently from May 1932. Eventually on 8 June 1936, it became what came to be known as All India Radio. It was also in 1936 that the first daily news bulletin was introduced.

All India Radio’s signature tune was synonymous with the name AIR. It was composed in 1936 by Walter Kaufmann, a Czech Jew who was one of the many Jewish refugees fleeing Nazi persecution in Europe who sought refuge in India. Kaufmann became the director of music at AIR. Kuaffman was a serious western music scholar and performer, but the tune he composed for AIR was based on the Indian raga Shivranjani. It remained the identity of AIR, and was the ‘pied piper’ tune that drew the millions of listeners to the radio as the broadcasts began.

During World War II radio was being used for Nazi propaganda and there was a strong need to counter it. Hence, the practice of broadcasting all news bulletins from one central newsroom started. Around 27 bulletins were being broadcasted every day during the war years. In a time when the press was supressed, and news censored, radio broadcasts from underground radio stations played a significant role. The radio was used by nationalists to share news about the real situation on the ground, spread the message of Swadeshi, and rally the people in the non-violent struggle against British rule. These radio broadcasts had an immense impact in rousing Indians and to step up the demands of Indian freedom in the pre-independence era. One such story on https://millennialmatriarchs.com/2021/10/07/gandhis-women-warriors-usha-mehta/

When India attained Independence on 15 August 1947, there were six radio stations: Delhi, Calcutta, Madras, Bombay, Tiruchirapalli, and Lucknow. In 1956 AIR formally adopted the name Akashvani. The word Akashvani which means ‘voice from the sky’ was derived from the title of Rabindranath Tagore’s poem written in 1938 for the inauguration of Calcutta All India radio’s shortwave transmission service. AIR and Akashvani were used interchangeably until 3 May 2023 when Akashvani became the exclusive name.

After Independence, AIR’s offerings began to expand beyond news and important announcements to a wide range of programmes—music, drama, live commentaries, and more. It was the primary source of news as well as entertainment. Radio continued to be the favourite companion of old and young, initially as the focal point of a household. With the advent of transistors, it became a trusty companion which accompanied wherever one went. It was the provider of songs, weather bulletins and live cricket scores. AIR’s simple listener-friendly format, its ABC of Authenticity, Brevity and Clarity became its USP. The news readers became household names, and the ultimate examples of proper diction and high quality commentary—from the Republic Day parade to cricket matches. The anchors of music programmes (today’s RJs) were popular idols with big fan clubs. Radio became a quintessential way of life for Indians.

This role is beautifully summed by Santosh Desai who grew up in the golden age of AIR: ‘All India Radio had many moods and played different kinds of roles in our lives. It was the official voice of state, the keeper of cultural standards, the chronicler of the times, the certifier of reality, the breathless commentator of the current, the receptacle of small desires of its viewers and an entertainer allowing escape into an imagined world.’

88 years after its first broadcast, AIR remains steadfast, with a widely expanded canvas. It is one of the largest broadcasting organisations in the world in terms of the number of languages of broadcast and the spectrum of socio-economic and cultural diversity it serves. AIR’s home service comprises of 591 broadcasting centres located across the country, covering nearly 90% of the country’s area and 98% of the total population. Terrestrially, AIR originates programming in 23 languages and 179 dialects.

Today as we once more salute the national flag to mark 77 years as an independent nation, it is a good time to remember that it was on AIR that the nation heard Jawaharlal Nehru’s emotional Tryst With Destiny speech, live at midnight of 14th August 1947. And when, for the first time when Nehru hoisted the Indian flag from the ramparts of the Red Fort in Delhi, it was the minute-to-minute narration that the proud nation followed on AIR.

Happy Independence Day!

–Mamata

Reviving Crafts: Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay

August 8, 2024 ~ millennialmatriarchs ~ Leave a comment

As the country gears up to celebrate India’s 77^th Independence Day, memories are revived of the significant events and persons in the unique movement that led India to her ‘tryst with destiny’ to become a free nation on 15 August 1947.

Among the innumerable individuals who contributed in different ways to reaching this momentous moment, is a name of a woman whose contributions were not limited to a single area, but spanned a wide range of fields, all of which coalesced into the empowerment and enrichment of the newly-independent nation. She was Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay—freedom fighter, actor, social activist, art connoisseur, and driving force behind the renaissance of Indian handlooms and handicrafts.

Kamaladevi’s interest in the area of crafts was nurtured in her childhood when she had participated in the creation of objects for the innumerable rituals, which were part of the daily life in many homes. She was drawn to the simplicity as well beauty in these everyday objects. But it was after she met Gandhiji that she understood this deep relationship between these objects and our daily lives. As she wrote: “How beneficial it was for us to live with them and make them an integral part of our daily existence”. She quoted Gandhiji: “Association is the essence of relationship which endears articles of everyday use to the user. This endearment finds a way of enhancing the aesthetic values in these articles, just as we love to dress up our loved ones, so we love to embellish our homes. Here, the Craftsman employs his ingenuity through creative imagination. We are mostly carried away by a finished product, may be excited by watching the process, but remain unmindful of the deep chords within us that are stimulated when we create something with our own hands. Therefore, in the Indian tradition, creation does not mean making novel and exotic articles to please one’s fancy, but endowing everything we use in our daily life with beauty. Therefore, nothing is created without a purpose”. Thus there was an inextricable link between form and function.

Khadi was more than a political symbol for Gandhiji; by making spinning an essential part of the process, he brought in respect for working with hands, and the act of creation, as well as a form of meditation and unification. Gandhiji also made the regeneration of crafts an integral part of the freedom movement. According to him, freedom was not to be defined in political and military terms only, but also in the social patterns that would lead to building inner personality, the spiritual content of the nation.

Kamaladevi was deeply moved by this philosophy. At the time, the long tradition of indigenous crafts was threatened by the rise of factory-made goods and mass production; many crafts were rapidly disappearing. For her, crafts revival and independence from British rule were interlinked agendas. Kamaladevi made it her mission to champion the cause of handicrafts and handlooms. She saw crafts not in isolation, but as a part of the rich fabric of our life involving all the creative expressions of people interwoven in their daily lives. She began at the grassroots, travelling to the remotest villages, getting to know the crafts people and understanding their issues. She formed crafts communities, involved the crafts people in training programmes, and opened up their work for a wider audience through exhibitions and exports of handicrafts. Thus she also supported the notion that crafts could have contemporary significance. Craftsmanship need not, however, be bound up wholly with tradition. While it continues to draw strength from the past, it has also to be tuned to the present, evolve a new relationship with the current flow of life.

Kamaladevi perceived that cottage industries had an important socio-economic and political role as these led to the decentralization of social and economic power, as well as providing employment and economic security to rural communities. Her efforts towards a crafts renaissance in India were multi-pronged. She made great efforts to rehabilitate women with craft-based livelihoods, in the refugee camps following Partition. She helped establish institutions and systems to empower artisans and to sustain their crafts: The Cottage Industries Board (CIB), the Indian Cooperative Union (ICU), the All India Handicrafts & Handloom Board, the Cottage Industries Emporium, Regional Design Centres, the Crafts Council of India (CCI), and the Crafts Museum, among others. She was appointed the chairperson of the All India Handicrafts Board in 1952.

For Kamaladevi, crafts were not only a way of recognising the significance of one’s own culture but also, of developing a sense of appreciation of other world cultures as well. It was her inspiration that created the World Crafts Council in affiliation with UNESCO. The Crafts Councils became an instrument of the different governments across the world to reach to the masters of their traditions.

Besides her seminal contribution to the revival of handlooms and handicrafts Kamaladevi was instrumental in the creation of several other initiatives and institutions in the field of the performing arts, music, and fine arts, as well as the All India Women’s Conference (AIWC) a national organization of repute that worked for legislative reforms and women’s empowerment. She is remembered not just for espousing the cause of craftspeople, but as a person whose vision was that every human being should live a life of dignity; and one who wanted to enrich the lives of people irrespective of caste, creed or nationhood.

Among the many awards that she was bestowed, the most fitting was the Charles Eames’ Award which honoured her as the one individual, who had contributed to the Quality of Life in India in this era.

Almost a century after Kamaladevi sparked the renaissance in Indian handicrafts and handlooms the country continues to celebrate their creators. 7 August is marked as National Handloom Day to remind us of their contribution to the cultural and economic landscape of the country. The date also commemorates the launch of the Swadeshi Movement in 1905, which emphasized self-reliance and indigenous craftsmanship.

–Mamata

More on Kamaladevi: https://millennialmatriarchs.com/2021/03/30/multi-faceted-nation-builder-remembering-kamaladevi-chattopadhyay

Blending Two Cultures: Anglo-Indians

August 1, 2024 ~ millennialmatriarchs ~ Leave a comment

What do Ben Kingsley, Engelbert Humperdinck, Cliff Richard, Sebastian Coe and Derek O’Brien have in common? While they have each made a name in different spheres from entertainment to sport, they are all described by a common word ‘Anglo-Indian’.

This word which was more often heard when we were young, as compared with today, was used to refer broadly to people who were ‘anglicised’ in the way they looked, and the way they lived. They were often better English-language speakers, wore ‘western’ clothes and ate food that combined local as well as ‘foreign’ flavours. They appeared in literature as ‘gora memsaabs and sahebs’.

The term Anglo-Indian commonly refers to people with British and Indian parentage. Legally, it means Indian citizens who are of European descent on their father’s side – which means that their paternal ancestors could be British, French or Portuguese. Thus the history of this community is tied with the history of colonialism in India. It goes back to the 16^th century when the Portuguese colonised parts of India. It is believed that the Portuguese encouraged their soldiers to marry local women to “create a community that would be loyal to the colonisers, yet comfortable living in the colonies”. The offspring of these couples were called Luso-Indians, and then Eurasians. Later, the Dutch and British traders and colonists also adopted this strategy. In the early years East India Company employees and British officials who came to India left their families behind. The men had relationships with Indian women resulting in mixed-race children.

The East India Company directors in the seventeenth century paid one gold mohur as family allowance, for each child born to an Indian mother and a European father. Children with British or European fathers and Indian mothers were called “country-born” and included those with Portuguese, Dutch or French fathers. These offspring grew to become what was called the Anglo-Indian community, which was a kind of middle population between the British rulers and native subjects.

The term “Anglo-Indian” was first used by Warren Hastings in the eighteenth century to describe both the British in India and their Indian-born children. Once English women also started accompanying their men and living in India, the racial lines became more defined. In the nineteenth century the British in India still separated themselves from coloured people but accepted fairer (and often wealthier) people of dual heritage as “Anglo-Indian”. Darker (and usually poorer) people were given the name “Eurasian”. From 1791 the Anglo-Indians were debarred from the East India Company’s armies and many trained the armies of the Indian princes.

The Anglo-Indian identity originally developed out of this fusing together of eastern and western cultures. But this blending of cultures over time also became a source of discomfort and alienation. Historically, the community was discriminated against by the British for their skin colour and mixed race. They were also viewed with suspicion by native Indians because of their loyalty to the crown.

In the Indian census of 1911 the term ‘Anglo Indian’ was used as a category denoting persons of mixed ethnicity. Being defined as a separate group from both white Europeans and Indians had its advantages and disadvantages. They were put in a superior group from the general Indian population, but remained inferior to the white-skinned British. Within the group itself those with lighter skin had better access to white spaces and privileges. Many secured jobs on the British civil service, trade and industry. They were described as the wheels, the cranks and the levers of the Empire-building machinery. They were employed in large numbers to work on the railways, working in many associated fields from engine driver to fire-fighter. These “railway people” as they were called, lived in railway towns built for them by the British. Later it was the Anglo-Indian girls who were the forerunners in a number of professions, from being one the first air hostesses, to teachers, nurses and secretarial assistants who were skilled at their work. They also evolved their own culture with distinct style, cuisine, and music.

In the early 1930s Ernest Timothy McCluskie, an Anglo-Indian businessman from Calcutta, approached the erstwhile King of Ratu for a 10,000-acre land to establish a settlement, or ‘mooluk’ for the Anglo-Indian community. He was granted land about 65 km from Ranchi in what is now Jharkhand, on a perpetual lease. It was a beautiful location amidst forests and rivers and more than 400 Anglo-Indian families from across the country moved to settle there. Here they created a ‘mini England’ and lived a luxurious life. This continued till the mid-1960s. The lack of livelihood options, and adequate facilities for education and healthcare led to most of the people moving out, and McCluskieganj or the “Gunj” as it was called became a ghost town. Today this almost forgotten town has some educational institutions and is an out-of-the-way tourist spot.

In 1926 Henry Gidney, who had an Irish father and Indian mother founded the All India Anglo-Indian Association to represent and campaign for the interests of this mixed-race group.

The Government of India Act of 1935 defined an Anglo-Indian as “a person whose father or any of whose other male progenitors in the male line is or was of European descent but who is a native of India.”

When India attained freedom from British rule this community was placed in a dilemma. Those with lighter skin returned to Britain and gradually integrated into British society. Many also chose to migrate to other countries of the Commonwealth, especially Canada and Australia where they set down roots. Most of these immigrants went on to marry the within the population of those countries, and in a couple of generations were completely absorbed within the culture of the country where they had settled. However a section of the Anglo-Indian community continued to remain in India and like their immigrant fellows went on to marry Indians and gradually merge into the mainstream. However they also retained some of the characteristics of their distinct culture.

Meanwhile the All India Anglo-Indian Association, headed by Frank Anthony since 1942, lobbied for an official recognition of the group in India, and secured special provisions for Anglo-Indians in the constitution of the newly independent country. Article 366 of the Constitution defined Anglo-Indian as “a person whose father or any of whose other male progenitors in the male line is or was of European descent”. The key points of this definition were retained when Anglo-Indians were listed as an official minority group in India’s constitution in 1950. Two seats were reserved for Anglo-Indians in the Lok Sabha, and in the Legislative Assemblies of the States. These members were to be nominated by the President of India. The reservation continued until 2020 when the clause was amended, and the special status was removed.

Today the original Anglo-Indian community has dwindled considerably. New generations with Anglo-Indian roots have fully assimilated into the culture of the countries or communities that they have settled in. However in recent times there has been a growing curiosity among these to trace their ancestry and heritage. Today there are internet communities that are inviting people to contribute family histories and memories. Cookbooks with revived recipes of the distinctive dishes like Jalfrezi, country Captain Chicken and Railway Lamb Curry and pepper water are becoming popular. Community gatherings in places where there are still pockets of Anglo-Indian populations are an occasion for the elders to share reminiscences of childhood meals of yellow rice and meatball curry, lively dance parties and perhaps “the good old days.” There is a special celebration every year on 2 August which is as World Anglo-Indian Day. This was the day when the definition of Anglo-Indian featured for the first time as part of the India Act 1935.

–Mamata

Mangroves: Straddling Land and Sea

July 25, 2024 ~ millennialmatriarchs ~ Leave a comment

Vaulting strut roots crisscross one another, spikes of air breathing roots project from the mud, water casts a silvery shimmer on the underside of leaves…endless changing patterns. David Attenborough

Among the sandy and rocky shores of estuaries and muddy sea coasts, in places where any other tree would perish as a seedling, beneath daily tides and a salty diet, lives a special type of tree. These are the mangroves. There are many species of mangroves, but all are united by a common property: their tolerance to salt.

What makes these trees salt-resistant? Some mangroves take in sea water, extract the salt with special glands and secrete it from their leaves. Others have roots that filter out most of the salt even as it enters the tree. The remaining salt is stored in the oldest leaves of the tree—those that are about to fall. Thus the salt does little harm.

Mangrove trees have to adapt not only to living in salt water, but also to growing in continually shifting sandy soil which gives little scope for the trees to get a firm hold. Mangroves anchor themselves to the soil by sending out long roots from trunk and branches. These act as stilts to support the tree and prevent it from toppling over. The muddy water where they live contains very little oxygen, but the mangroves have an ingenious solution to this problem too. The trees send out a second air-breathing root system—not downwards, but poking up above the mud, like the snorkel of a diver!

The offspring of the mangroves are as remarkable as their parents. The seeds of most mangroves germinate on the tree, producing a pointed stem about a foot long, with roots and leaves just formed. If the juvenile plant drops into the water at low tide, the stem plummets into the mud below, and is ready to take root immediately. If the young plant is washed out to sea, it may eventually hit land—a sand bar or coral reef, and start to grow there. Someday, given the right conditions, this mangrove and its own offspring could start a mangrove swamp of their own.

In addition to the props that come down and the roots that poke up, the tangled roots at the base of the mangrove trap the silt and debris from the sea, as well as the trees’ own fallen leaves. Over time, this accumulation helps to create more land area around the mangrove trees. And a new habitat is created.

Mangrove swamps perform a very important role for the land and the ocean that they straddle. They provide vital breeding grounds and habitats for a wide variety of fish and crustaceans. The nutrient-rich soil provides food and shelter to innumerable organisms, including monkeys, deer and birds, and a source of nectar for honeybees. The fallen leaves provide shelter to tiny shelled creatures. Floating mangrove leaves provide a base for larval growth and micro fauna. The rotting leaves provide food for insects, reptiles and shellfish. These smaller creatures form food for the larger creatures that live or pass through the swamps. Many fish-eating birds come here for the abundant food and shelter. Mangroves support complex communities, where thousands of other species interact. It is a world teeming with biodiversity.

Mangroves also ensure food security for human beings. By sustaining fisheries and through the numerous forest produce they provide, mangroves also sustain local communities with food and livelihoods.

Mangroves nurture the seas and protect the land. Mangroves act as a form of natural coastal defence: reducing erosion, attenuating waves (including tsunamis) and reducing the height of storm surges. They protect coral reefs, sea grass beds and shipping lanes against siltation. They help control floods by catching and spreading high velocity flood waters and trap it amongst their roots. Thus they protect coastlines from erosion and extreme weather events, and contribute to water quality by filtering out nutrients and sediments. Mangrove soils are highly effective carbon sinks. They are among the most carbon-rich tropical ecosystems globally, and can contain more carbon per square metre than tropical rainforests. They also fight climate change – with global mangrove forests sequestering as much as 22.8 million tons of carbon each year.

Healthy mangrove ecosystems are vital for the wellbeing, food security, and protection of coastal communities worldwide. Mangroves are among the world’s most dynamic ecosystems, but increasing encroachment by development and industry means they are also among the most at risk.

All over the world mangroves are being degraded at an alarming rate. They are being destroyed at rates 3-5 times greater than average rates of forest loss. Multiple pressures are destroying these unique ecosystems which perform vital functions for both the terrestrial and marine habitats that they nurture and protect.

Mangroves are exploited, directly or indirectly, for food, timber, medicines, honey, charcoal, and fisheries. There is tremendous pressure on the areas where they grow due to increasing population and its demands. One of the main threats to mangroves is from habitat destruction for coastal development and aquaculture. Mangroves have been converted into salt pans, aquaculture ponds or paddy fields. Rising sea levels are a longer-term challenge.

Pollution and over-exploitation are also reducing the ecosystem services provided by mangroves. Changes in local water conditions caused by upstream dams, irrigation and pollution have led to the loss of many mangroves. Mangroves are often used for dumping waste, including plastics that do not degrade, harming both these ecosystems and the species living there. The accumulation of marine debris can alter the physical and chemical composition of sediments.

Mangrove swamps are called ‘mangals’ in India. About 50 species of mangrove trees are found in our mangals. The maximum number of mangrove species have been reported from the Orissa coast. The best mangrove formations in India occur in the Sundarbans in the Bay of Bengal, and in the Andaman and Nicobar islands. The Sundarbans is believed to be the largest single block of tidal mangrove forests in the world where all the species of Indian mangroves are represented. Sundarbans has been designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. However these unique ecosystems are under as much threat as those across the world.

The earth and humanity simply cannot afford to lose these vital ecosystems.

In recognition of this the General Conference of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has declared the International Day for the Conservation of the Mangrove Ecosystem to be celebrated on 26 July every year. The day aims to raise awareness of the importance of mangrove ecosystems as “a unique, special and vulnerable ecosystem” and to promote solutions for their sustainable management, conservation and uses. There are several international as well as national initiatives that are working towards these solutions. This day is a reminder of the pivotal role of mangroves in preserving ecosystems.

–Mamata

A MURDER OF CROWS

July 18, 2024 ~ millennialmatriarchs ~ Leave a comment

A few days ago our champa tree was the venue for an impromptu gathering of crows. They descended literally out of the blue and within flapping seconds, settled onto the branches and commenced a raucous chorus. What a “cawcaphony” I said to myself and peeped out to investigate the cause of the assembly. It turned out that there was a dead crow not far from the tree, and the incident was being marked with a suitable mourning from its clan. Quite spontaneously, I remembered that the collective noun for a group of crows is called a ‘murder’ of crows. Well here I was witness to a murder of crows in action!

Why this descriptor? The term is believed to have originated in England in the 15^th century, and was linked to old folk tales and superstitions. In the Middle Ages, collective nouns were often given to animals based not only on their behaviour but also on superstitions or prevalent attitudes towards them.

One among these was the belief that crows will come together to decide the fate of another crow (a court of crows?). Another belief was that the appearance of crows was an omen of death. Yet another, based on the fact that crows are scavengers and were thought to circle over areas where animals and people were expected to die. A more scientific reason for his may be that crows are opportunistic feeders and will eat everything–carrion, small animals, insects, or crops, and thus find their way to wherever these may be available.

In fact, crows, though often considered to be pests, and generally irritating, are a highly intelligent and social species. They have the ability to create and use tools, they have been known to solve multi-step puzzles. They are extremely social birds that flock together and also have an ability to learn from each other.

Another interesting aspect of crow communities is that they have been shown to recognize their dead and hold “funerals” for dead individuals, something that has only been observed in a few other species including elephants, dolphins and some primates. This could be an unsettling scene for observers, (probably what I witnessed) but scientists believe this is a way by which they communicate to their fellow crows about potential threats to be avoided.

Besides ‘funerals’ why do crows flock together? For many reasons. Crow are smart and adaptable, and gathering in large groups is often both a solution to a problem and a social benefit. Communal foraging strengthens social bonds and hierarchies within the crow community as well as efficiency. Communal roosting provides safety from predators and establishes social bonds, social learning and information.

The ‘cawcaphony’ also has its reasons. Loud and distinctive cawing is used to convey messages about food locations, to call others for support in defending their territory, or to alert the flock of approaching predators. There are specific caws for different types of danger. As well as caws, crows have softer calls which are used within family groups.

Yes crows are a part of our lives, generally around, but not really headline grabbers. Until recently, when crows have been in the news. And this time the news is about a literal “murder of crows”. The target of this planned execution is the Indian house crow Corvus splendens, whose population is being systematically eliminated in Kenya.

The story of the crow in Kenya goes back to the 1880s when it is believed that the first few pairs of Corvus splendens arrived on the island of Zanzibar by ship. One story goes that a breeding pair was presented to the Sultan of Zanzibar as a gift from an Indian dignitary. Another account believes that the scavenging crows were brought to the island in a bid to clean up the garbage. The introduced species soon gained a foothold not only on the island, but also spread to nearby mainland countries like Tanzania and Kenya. Showcasing all their traits of intelligence, adaptability and resourcefulness, the crow population grew rapidly and began to not just scavenge but also raid crops and poultry farms, as well as food sources in urban areas. By 1917, House crows were officially declared as ‘pests’ by the local authorities.

The House crow reached Kenya in 1947, and since then its numbers have exploded. The growing human population, both local and tourists (tourism is the mainstay of Kenyan economy) has led to growing waste sites with mounds of garbage. The municipal authorities have not been able to efficiently manage the waste. This has led to a huge proliferation of crows who not only feed on the garbage but have also learned to mob eating places and swoop up food from diners’ plates.

Besides the pestering of humans, conservationists are concerned that the overwhelming numbers of crows are driving out many smaller indigenous species of birds, impacting biodiversity. With decline in indigenous bird species, pests and insects begin to proliferate, impacting local flora as well as crop plants. This is one more case of how invasive species can impact local ecosystems.

The Kenyan government undertook a programme to control the invasive bird species twenty years ago. While this helped reduce the crow population for some time, the resilient species bounced back with an exponential rise in numbers. In the past there this menace has been addressed with the baiting of food with Starlicide, a slow-acting poison to tackle the crow menace. This time the Kenyan government is planning to use all methods, including this, to eliminate a million crows by the end of the year. A sad, but perhaps unavoidable, murder of crows.

And just last week was the news that the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to kill half a million Barred owls across the states of California, Washington and Oregon over the next ten years. This is because the population of Barred owls is crowding out its less aggressive relative the Northern spotted owl which is an endangered species. This news has sparked of several debates. While this is not a case of an invasive species, it is a case of one species becoming dominant, to the detriment of other species. There is also the moral issue of killing one species to protect another. Perhaps it will take a ‘parliament of owls’ to resolve the case!

Bicycle Marathon: Le Tour de France

July 11, 2024 ~ millennialmatriarchs ~ Leave a comment

The countdown has begun for the Paris Olympics which are scheduled to begin on 26 July. Even as athletes from around the world are in the final stages of their preparation in pursuit of the prized medals, another historic sports event closely associated with France is already underway. This is the famous Tour de France, a grueling marathon race that pushes riders and their bicycles to superhuman limits. The 111^th edition of this event made its start or Grand Depart from Florence in Italy on 29 June this year. The riders made their way to France where they added extra sparks to the already high Olympic fervor.

What is today considered to be the greatest annual bicycle race in the world, watched by millions around the world, the Tour the France has curious origins. The idea for the race came from George Lefevre a journalist with a sports magazine called L’Auto whose readership was falling. He convinced his editor that the publicity generated by such a race, including the prize money of 20,000 Francs, would attract attention and boost sales. Henri Desgrange, the director-editor of L’Auto and a former champion cyclist himself, loved the idea and gave the go ahead.

The first race was held in 1903. It had 60 riders and the circular route, to be covered in six stages, was 2428 km long. Riders rode as individuals, who were not allowed to receive any help along the way. They rode over unpaved roads on single speed bikes, without helmets, even at night. They had to carry out their own repairs if required; some rode with spare tires and tubes wrapped around their torso. Lefevre covered the tour, following by rail, bus and bike, and sent daily reports to the newspaper. By the time the race ended L’Auto’s circulation had soared. The first winner of the Tour the France was Maurice Garin, a part-time chimney sweep, who reached the finishing point three hours before the other racers, a record unbroken even today.

The race became an annual feature, and its rules evolved. In its early years the riders were predominantly French but within just ten years the race went international, attracting cyclists from many countries, eager to meet the gruelling challenges that the race offered. Over the years several mountain stages through the Alps and the Pyrenees were included. The annual race has retained its uninterrupted popularity over a century. The only times that the race did not take place was during the World Wars (1915-18 and 1940-46). In 2020 it was postponed due to the pandemic, but took place from August 29 to September 20.

Today the Tour de France route covers over 3,500 km, over a period of three weeks mainly in July. The mountainous terrain and the summer heat demands the greatest stamina and endurance levels.

The race consists of day-long sections known as stages. Each individual participant has his finish time aggregated daily to determine the overall winner at the end of the day. Individual race times are aggregated to determine the overall winner at the end of the race. The rider with the lowest overall time wins the race.

The rider who has the lowest cumulative time to complete a stage gets to wear the Tour de France maillot jaune (yellow jersey) the next day. The yellow jersey which was introduced in 1919, is the most sought-after symbol which indicates the special status of the wearer as the previous day’s leader. It is clearly visible as the riders whiz past, and the mailliot jaune is cheered on by the crowds that line the route.

There are also other colour jerseys to indicate other achievements. The green jersey was created in 1953 to recognise the rider who wins the race’s points competition. The white jersey with red polka dots, created in 1975, is awarded to the rider who amasses the most points from the numerous categorized climbs throughout the race. The white jersey awarded since 1975, is given to the rider (below 26 years) with the best overall standing to complete the race.

From a largely national attraction when was first launched in France, today the Tour de France has become the world’s largest annual multi-day sporting event, drawing millions of fans from across the globe, and watched by billions across the globe. Fans travel from across the globe to catch a glimpse of the world’s best cyclists. Besides lining the streets to cheer the riders as they speed through cities, towns and villages, there are also enthusiasts that camp along the high mountain routes. These become a community in themselves, as they enjoy the local scenery and explore the surroundings as they wait for the pelaton (the main body of cyclists) to arrive.

A lot has changed since the first Tour de France in 1903 which started with a 20,000 Franc prize. This year the overall leader will receive 500,000 Euros. The 2024 Tour de France will cover 3,492 kilometres in 21 stages, starting in Florence (Italy) and ending for the first time in Nice. There are expected to be 22 professional teams taking part this year, each with eight cyclists. They will be riding state-of-the-art bicycles carbon fibre bikes that weigh about seven kg, and they will have a choice of styles for different stages: flat, mountain and time trial. Each team will have access to spare bikes, clothing, food and drink in support cars, and as well as by a personal backroom staff masseurs, dietician and chefs (riders need to eat up to 7,000 calories a day – three times what average humans burn in a day).

With Paris on the eve of the opening of the Olympic Games on 26 July, there will be no room for the Tour de France’s traditional final stage finish on the Champs-Elysées in Paris. Instead the race will finish in Nice – the first time it has ever finished outside the French capital. However the race will certainly get the adrenalin flowing, which will merge with the bigger spectacle of the Olympics.

–Mamata

Sweet Celebration

July 4, 2024 ~ millennialmatriarchs ~ Leave a comment

Time was, when cakes and pastries were not as ubiquitous as they are today. Indian sweets (most often made at home) marked every occasion. A rare treat was the gift of a bar of chocolate, for a birthday, a good exam result, or a sweet sixteen romance. The purple wrapping gave the bar a special identity as a Cadbury chocolate. So much so that Cadbury became the synonym for any chocolate!

Today the market offers a wide choice of chocolates from ‘imported’ to ‘artisanal’ custom-made ones. Chocolate hampers have replaced the traditional mithai boxes as gifts for all occasions. While Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was once the daydream of every child, today children are spoilt for choice. And as a tribute to this, the world celebrates Chocolate Day on 7 July every year.

This is a good occasion to go back in history to follow the story of this universal favourite. The history goes back at least 2,500 years or more. While the cocoa bean plant may have been growing in the wild for centuries, it is believed to have been first domesticated by the Olmec Indians somewhere near southern Mexico. But in a large part of its early history, these beans were used to make a beverage. This was a bitter drink, a far cry from the ‘hot chocolate’ we know today. Moving further south, the cacao tree became part of the Mayan culture where it was known as cacahuaquchtl, and the bitter drink made from the beans was called xocoatl. This could have been the root of the word ‘chocolate’. The tree continued to migrate on to South America, through trade between the Mayans and the Aztecs for whom xocoatl continued to be the drink. Both the Mayans and Aztecs believed the cacao bean had magical, or even divine, properties, suitable for use in the most sacred rituals of birth, marriage and death. The Latin word for the cocoa tree Theobroma cacao means ‘food of the gods’.

It was the Spanish adventurers who carried the seeds back to Spain from South America. By then cocoa seeds had become an integral part of trade and commerce, even being used as currency. The seeds also transferred the tradition of the drink to this part of the world. By the late 1500s the drink became a favourite in the Spanish court. Other Europeans trading with South America brought back the beans to Italy and France. The bitterness of the drink was offset by adding cane sugar, and spices such as vanilla and cinnamon to suit the European palate. The trend moved to England where the first coffee house selling the drink opened in 1657.

By the 17th century chocolate, believed to have nutritious, medicinal and even aphrodisiac properties was a fashionable drink throughout Europe. But it was expensive because of its elaborate production process. In 1828, a Dutch chemist discovered a way to remove about half the natural fat (Cacao butter) from the liquid cacao, and pulverizing what remained and treating it with alkaline salts to cut the bitter taste. The process became known as ‘Dutch processing’ and the powder produced was called ‘Dutch cocoa’. This was what led to the creation of the early form of solid chocolate.

Meanwhile, in England a young Quaker named John Cadbury opened a grocery shop in Birmingham. John believed that alcohol was the main cause of poverty, and his shop offered alternatives such as tea, coffee and other provisions. Among other things he sold cocoa and drinking chocolate, which he prepared himself using a pestle and mortar. By 1842 John was selling 11 kinds of cocoa and 16 kinds of drinking chocolate. Soon John’s brother Benjamin joined the company to form Cadbury Brothers of Birmingham. The Cadbury brothers opened an office in London and received a Royal Warrant as manufacturers of chocolate and cocoa to Queen Victoria in 1854. The business was taken over by John’s sons George and Richard who continued to expand the product line. Cadbury’s Cocoa Essence, which was advertised as ‘absolutely pure and therefore best’, was an all-natural product made with pure cocoa butter and no starchy ingredients. Cocoa Essence was the beginning of chocolate as we know it today.

In 1847 Joseph Fry of JS Fry and Sons in England discovered that by adding extra cacao butter to liquid chocolate, he could make a mouldable chocolate paste. This led to the first modern chocolate bar. Cacao the drink took on a new form that would go on to become its better known avatar—chocolate that one could bite and chew.

Now the Cadbury brothers had a new form of chocolate to offer, and they became so successful that they stopped selling other items. A master confectioner Frederic Kinchelman was appointed to share his recipe and production secrets with Cadbury workers. This resulted in Cadbury producing chocolate in a variety of forms and combinations. By 1868, Cadbury’s boxes of chocolate candies became very popular in England. In 1879 the brothers moved their manufacturing operations to a larger facility four miles south of Birmingham at Bournville. The factory and area became known as the ‘factory in a garden’ which provided a safe and healthy environment for their employees to live and work. Cadbury manufactured its first milk chocolate in 1897. By the turn of the century, the Bournville factory employed 2,600 people and Cadbury was incorporated as a limited company. Cadbury’s most iconic chocolate Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate was launched in 1905.

During World War I, more than 2,000 of Cadbury’s male employees joined the Armed Forces. Cadbury supported the war effort, sending warm clothing, books and chocolate to the soldiers. When the workers returned, they were able to return to work, take educational courses, and injured or ill employees were also looked after. During this period overseas trade increased, and Cadbury opened its first overseas factory near Hobart, Tasmania. In 1919 Cadbury merged with JS Fry & Sons, once a market leader in chocolate.

In 1920 the purple and gold Cadbury wrapper was introduced as a tribute to Queen Victoria. For many years Cadbury claimed exclusive rights to use that shade of purple. The original Cadbury logo depicted a stylized cacao tree interwoven with the Cadbury name. This was replaced, in 1921, with the cursive script logo which was inspired by the signature of William Cadbury, the founder’s grandson. With some simplification, it was adopted as the worldwide logo in the 1970s and continues to be its identity.

In the 1930s, Cadburys became the leading chocolate manufacturer in the United Kingdom. Cadbury also supported the war effort during World War II by converting parts of its factory into workrooms to manufacture equipment like milling machines for rifle factories. During the two wars chocolate was a scarce luxury but Cadbury supported workers and soldiers with chocolate in care packages to keep the morale high.

In 1969 Cadbury merged with Schweppes, a well-known British brand that manufactured carbonated mineral water and soft drinks, to form Cadbury Schweppes. Cadbury Schweppes went on to become the largest confectionery company in the world, employing more than 70,000 employees. Today it is believed to be the second-largest confectionery brand in the world.

Cadbury was first launched in India in 1948. It had a rocky start as it tried to find a foothold in a culture where traditional mithais were firmly ensconced. It was only in the mid-1990s that a series of attention-catching advertisements helped in creating a brand which was promoted as the symbol of celebration for all occasions and all ages. Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate became the benchmark for other chocolates in India.

Once there was simply Cadbury. Now there are exclusive chocolatiers. Whatever one’s pick, chocolate is always celebrated!

–Mamata

Happy Birthday To You!

June 27, 2024 ~ millennialmatriarchs ~ Leave a comment

This month we had a family get together bringing together members from different parts of the world, as well as different generations. It was also an occasion to celebrate together, several birthdays of the gathered family members—from the first birthday to the seventieth birthday. Topping up all the celebrations including cake-cutting and candle blowing, was a lusty rendering of the song Happy Birthday to You.

It is quite incredible how this song has transcended time and space to become a universal symbol of birthday celebrations. It is said to be the most frequently-sung English song in the world. And it is sung quite comfortably by people who may otherwise not know any other word of English. What most people do not know is that this song has an interesting history which dates back over a hundred years.

The creators were Patty and Mildred Hill, two sisters who were kindergarten teachers in Louisville, Kentucky, USA. Patty was not just a teacher, she was one of the pioneers who introduced what was then, a progressive philosophy of early childhood education in America. She stressed that in the early years supporting creativity, and social and emotional development of children were as important as academic learning. This could be provided by good kindergartens. The Hill sisters themselves grew up in a progressive family which supported and encouraged the daughters to have a complete education and have a career—both unconventional approaches for that period. Their parents believed that children should be free to play and follow their own pursuits as well as learn the value of hard work. Growing up in such a home had a profound influence on Patty whose future career choice would manifest her beliefs on the kind of education every child deserved. She had a strong commitment to and the importance of self-determination in activity, especially in childhood, as a means of empowering individuals to overcome social and economic disadvantages.

Patty Hill graduated from Louisville Collegiate Institute in 1887 after which she joined the Louisville Kindergarten Training School where the students were encouraged to experiment with different classroom techniques. Patty Hill began her kindergarten work as a teacher, and then became director of the Louisville Free Kindergarten Association in Kentucky in 1893. During her time at the Louisville Kindergarten Training Schools, Hill was very active in the Kindergarten Movement. She participated in numerous conferences and organized events that discussed alternative methods of early childhood education. She developed curricula that encouraged children to learn through play, music, free play, and contact with nature. The Louisville Kindergarten Training Schools became famous in the United States as the centre of innovative ideas about early childhood education. In 1906 Patty was appointed to the faculty of Columbia University Teachers College, where she taught for the next 30 years. There she developed a curriculum that emphasized the importance of a child’s first-hand contact with nature for creative expression. In 1908 she was elected president of the International Kindergarten Union. In 1924 Patty helped to found the Institute of Child Welfare Research at Columbia and also promoted the extension of nursery schools through her work with the National Association for Nursery Education, which she helped to organize in 1925.

Patty Hill served on the faculty of Teachers College at Columbia University until she retired in 1935. After her retirement she continued to give lectures and public speeches until her death in 1946 in New York City.

Despite her significant contribution to early childhood education, Patty’s claim to fame however lies more in her links with the Happy Birthday Song. In early 1893, when she was at Louisville Kindergarten Training Schools, Patty and her sister Mildred, who was a pianist and performer, composed a simple 4-line song for the kindergarten students which had “words and emotions and ideas” that they felt were suitable for the limited musical ability of a young child. Patti wrote the words and Mildred composed the score. It had only six notes, six words, and four lines, three of them the same. They would work at night on the tune, and the next morning try out the song in the classroom. The lyrics were simple: “Good morning to you / Good morning to you / Good morning, dear children / Good morning to all.” The tune had a simple, repetitive beat, and was easy for children to follow. They tested the song with their young students until they found a combination that children caught onto easily, as they enjoyed the words as well as the rhythm.

The sisters published Good Morning in 1893 in a book of sheet music called Song Stories for Children, which they copyrighted and exhibited that year at the World’s Fair in Chicago.

How did the words ‘Good Morning’ transform into Happy Birthday, even as the tune remained the same? There are many theories, of which one is that the sisters themselves changed the words at a birthday party that they attended. In fact, the tune was amenable to easy exchange of words, and children at the Louisville Experimental Kindergarten School where Patty taught would substitute the words with Goodbye to You, Happy Vacation to You, and other variations.

By 1924, the song appeared in another songbook edited by Robert Coleman with the Hill sisters’ original lyrics as the first verse, and “Happy Birthday to You” as the second. As the song started to appear more in print, it caught on like wildfire and became hugely popular from coast-to-coast. It began to be used in movies and Broadway musicals. Ironically the sisters never published or copyrighted the lyrics to Happy Birthday to You.

There followed a long and complex battle of claims for copyright and licencing of the song. None of the legal battles produced a conclusive verdict on the song’s authorship or ownership. In the 1930s, the Hill sisters won the copyright for the song as it appeared in a songbook for children published by The Summy Co. But in 1988 Warner Communications acquired the rights to the tune. This meant that anyone who wanted to use the song in a movie or TV show would have to pay thousands of dollars. To avoid the high royalty fees, many movies and TV shows figured out creative ways to portray birthday celebration scenes without actually using the ‘Happy Birthday’ song. Despite this, at one time, Warner/Chappell Music was earning as much as $2 million per year in licensing fees from the birthday song.

In 2016, a group of artists and filmmakers filed a lawsuit which challenged Warner’s claim to the copyright of the happy birthday song, and claimed that they should not be allowed to charge licensing fees for use of the musical work. Warner Music Group lost the case, and as part of the class settlement, the company had to pay $14 million to people and organizations that had paid royalties to use “Happy Birthday” since 1949.

As of 2016, the famous Happy Birthday Song is in the public domain, meaning that it can be sung anywhere. The next time we sing Happy Birthday to You to celebrate a birthday, let’s also celebrate its interesting roots and long history.

–Mamata

Father of the Library Movement: PN Panicker

June 20, 2024 ~ millennialmatriarchs ~ Leave a comment

The last few days, newspapers have been carrying a number of pieces promoting the joy of reading physical books, in an age when the printed word is rapidly being buried under the digital avalanche. As a person who has never abandoned the physical avatars, these reminders of the very different experience of physically turning the pages of a ‘real’ book make me smile! All this hype culminated with the announcement of National Reading Day on 19 June.

I have written frequently about books, and was aware of a couple of international days of books, and reading. However this was the first time that National Reading Day was taking up so much column space. I was naturally curious to know more about this day. And I discovered that there is much more behind this day than reading. It is the story of a man with a mission, who laid the foundation of the library movement in India.

Puthuvayil Narayana Panicker was born on 1 March 1909 to Govinda Pillai and Janaki Amma at Neelamperoor in Kerala. As a youth he used to read the daily newspapers to groups of illiterate people of different ages. He began his career as a teacher, but moved beyond his designated duties to set up the Sanadanadhramam Library in 1926, in a small room provided by the local cooperative society in his village. This was the first step in what was to become beginning of a life-long passion and mission with a simple but powerful message: Vayichu Valaruku meaning Read and Grow.

Panicker held Mahatma Gandhi in very high esteem; and like him, felt that illiteracy was a curse and a shame. He believed in a holistic approach to human resources development, the foundation of which was literacy. Towards this, Panicker initiated a literacy movement across the state. He also believed that libraries could provide a stable scaffolding for encouraging and sustaining the literacy movement. He made the literacy movement into a cultural movement where people could feel the emotional connect with the library in their village or town, just as they connected with their place or worship or school or college. Libraries created by this movement later became the nerve centres of local social and cultural activities; children would come and read, older people would gather to meet and discuss issues relevant to them. When he visited a leprosy sanatorium at Nooranad, the inmates requested him to set up a library there. The library was established as LS Library on 1 July 1949. It was one of the first libraries in the district and housed a unique collection including over 25000 books and rare palm-leaf manuscripts. It was extensively used by the sanatorium residents as well as visiting researchers and scholars.

Panicker led the formation of Thiruvithaamkoor Granthsala Sangham (Travancore Library Association) in 1945 with 47 rural libraries. The slogan of the organization was Read and Grow. He travelled to Kerala villages proclaiming the value of reading and succeeded in bringing some 6000 libraries in his network. The Travancore Library Association expanded to become Kerala Granthasala Sangham (KGS) in 1956. KGS was awarded the UNESCO Nadezha K. Krupskaya Literacy Prize in 1975.

Panicker was the General Secretary of Sangham for 32 years, until 1977, when it was taken over by the State Government and it became the Kerala State Library Council.

In 1977 Panicker founded the Kerala Association for Non-formal Education and Development (KANFED) with the objective to help universalize education by stepping up propaganda for it, and by the institution of non-formal education activities supplementary to the formal education system. This led to the establishment of institutes for research and training in all aspects of non-formal education, publishing houses for the production of literacy materials, and centres for the eradication of illiteracy.

These were operationalized through Committees which were set up in all districts of the state at Block and Panchayat levels to organize, conduct and supervise literacy centres; Regional Resource Centres were set up to store books, teaching aids and other materials necessary for adult education and make them available at all literacy centres.

Primers for beginners, and books and periodicals and other useful material such a maps and wall charts for neo-literates were prepared through workshops for young writers, and published. The Primers included Alphabet Primer, Science Primer, Health Primer, as well as Primer for Women, Prier for Agriculturists, and Primer for Tribals. There were books on agriculture and animal husbandry; books on health and hygiene, and books for neo-literates. There were also biographies of inspiring national and international personalities, as well as books describing civic institutions, rights and duties, and promoting scientific temperament.

Resource material for adult literacy workers, instructors, project officers and organizers was supported and supplemented with seminars, workshops and training. Plans for monitoring and evaluation of the literacy centres were also included.

Panicker’s vision and the state-wide mission of KANFED played a significant role in Kerala’s successful literacy movement–the Sakshara Keralam Movement. The first 100 percent literate city in India, and first 100 percent literate district have been from Kerala. Kerala was also the first state to attain 100 percent primary education. Some of the oldest colleges, schools and libraries of the country are also situated in Kerala.

In addition to literacy centres, Panicker also took keen interest in promoting Agricultural Books Corners, The Friendship Village Movement (Sauhrdagramam), and Reading Programmes for Families.

The life-long crusader for literacy and libraries passed away on 19 June 1995. Since 1996, this day is marked as Vayanadinam (Reading Day) in Kerala. It is a reminder to encourage the movement to promote a culture of reading, to inculcate the habit of reading and promote book-mindedness among school children, youth as well as the underprivileged population of the country. The Department of Education, Kerala also observes Vayana Varam Week (Reading Week) from June 19 to June 25 in schools across the state.

The Department of Posts honoured PN Panicker by issuing a commemorative postage stamp on 21 June 2004.

In 2017 PM Narendra Modi declared June 19, Kerala’s Reading Day as National Reading Day in India. The following month is also observed as National Reading Month.

The PN Panicker Foundation continues the mission to enhance lives and livelihoods through various targeted initiatives ranging from education, skill development, health, and need based programmes with the efficient use of technology. In keeping with the need of the hour, it is supporting digital learning in rural areas and has established thousands of home digital libraries across the state. PN Panicker’s vision continues to guide and inspire the new generations.

–Mamata