This Tuesday, Ernakulathappan ground, Kochi shall stand as a venue hosting this year’s floral exhibition a.k.a flower show . The variants range from rare orchids to the 10 year old Bansai tree. Ernakulam District Agri-Horticulture Society is hosting the show this year and to make things more interesting, a wide range of entertainment programs have been scheduled too. Keep your eyes open for varieties of Phalenopsis and anthuriums this time. Medicinal and decorative flowers are mainly in the list. According to the organisers, Kerala Books and Publications (KPBS),Kakkanad, Vegetable and Fruit Promotion council, Kerala, Department of Agriculture, Navy, KERAFED and SHM Kerala will participate in the show. If u wanna share some of your gardening skill – fruits , just buzz up the organizers at 94471 88443 or 0484-2362738. Besides all these competitions will also be held in flower decorations on January 12, 13 and 14.

The Boomerang – Team Sam All Kerala Pool Championship will be held at the Boomerang Klub, 3^rd Floor, Oberon Mall, NH Byepass, Kochi-24 on Sunday, 8 January 2012. There will be categories for Men, Women, Under 18 & 15 years Juniors. Entry fees is Rs.250/- and matches will commence from 11:00 AM.

The tournament is being organised by the Boomerang Klub in association with Team Sam Academy.  This will be a ranking tournament. All participants will receive gift vouchers and winners will get trophies and certificates. For participation call 9846042421 or 0484-4058382.

Start pumpin up ppl, the 37th Kerala State Body Building Championship is scheduled to happen on the 13th and 14th of January 2012.  The venue of the mega event on 14th January, is decided to be at Rajiv Gandhi Indoor Stadium, Kadavanthara, Cochin. Whoah whoah, and better…
The event will not only have the competition, but also a colorful display of women fitness aerobics and various other cultural activities to give  an extra spark to the whole event. There will be over 500 competitors whose age groups differ from 14 yrs to 60 yrs, who had qualified in  various district level body building championships held at 14 different districts. The spectator count is expected to be a jaw-droppin 10,000. So come forth and see the dance of the machos.

The MEMU (Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit) train, which was allotted to the Kochi Railway station in the railway budgets of 2009-2010 and 2010-2011, completed its test run in Kochi. The trial run began last week, when the train started from Kochi and reached Kollam via Kayamkulam . It returned to Ernakulam on the next day morning before proceeding towards Kayamkulam via Kottyam. It completed the test run after returning to Ernakulam on the day after. It is yet to be announced whether the test run has been successful and if introducing the service would be feasible. It was initially decided to send the train back to Chennai without a test run, but this decision was later withdrawn, following widespread protests from various fronts. This Gallan sure hopes that the test-run turn results are positive and that we will be able to see the MEMU trains in Kochi soon. Just like how it is in Mumbi and Chennai.

The past few days have been filled with excitement for the book lovers in Kochi… Why? Because last week saw the 15^th Kochi International Book Festival come into full swing, attracting book lovers from all walks of life to the Ernakulathappan Ground where the fest is being held. The fest, which has been on from the 2^nd of December 2011, and which will be on till the 11^th, is more than just your average book fest; every single day during the fest, discussions, seminars and talks are organized involving eminent personalities from the fields of literature, politics, judiciary etc. The beauty of the book fest is that there is something for everyone; even the non-book lovers. The book lovers can gorge on endless collections of books, be those fiction, non-fiction, autobiographies, classics, novels etc. from various publishing houses like Penguin, DC Books, H&C, Current Books and many many more, all under one roof, spread out in various stalls. There are also stalls of various religious institutions selling sacred literature for the more spiritual Gallans. The tiny tots have not been left out of the fun. Most of the stalls have a special section devoted entirely to the reading needs of children. As for the non-book lovers, there are many stalls selling handbags, curios, paintings, key chains, jewelry etc. A stall selling paintings caught this Gallans attention, and warrants a special mention. The stall even sells miniature versions of their paintings to be used as bookmarks… Really cute!! And then there is always food to the rescue, a stall selling snacks and refreshments. Though visiting the fest was a pleasure as always, this year’s fest did not rise up to the Gallan’s expectations. Something was missing. But to be fair, it maybe that this Gallan visited in the morning, when the crowd was rather low and some of the stalls were yet to be opened. So if you like to visit exhibitions for the whole package-the crowd, the discussions and seminars, the excitement (like this Gallan)- then make sure to drop in only after 5pm or so when the fest really comes alive. But if you are looking for some quite time with the books, mornings would suit you better. But for a real book lover none of this would matter because the mere sight of the sea of books would be enough to keep him happy!!!  So Gallans do not miss out on this one. Make sure you drop in at Ernakulathappan Grounds before the 11^th of December before the fest ends.

P.S: If you are on a shoe string budget(like this Gallan ALWAYS is ) and are hoping to spot the Blossoms book stall which offers very steep discounts on the books, there is some bad news for you. The Blossoms has decided to give this year’s book fest a miss and are conducting their own fest (books at a discount of 20%-80%), near the building of Kalyan Silks. This one warrants a visit too…

For details, visit KIBF’s official page.

Drinking is almost a birthright to the average ‘malayalee’ male. Unlike in other parts of India, where drinking is frowned upon, it has gained a certain degree of acceptability in Kerala. So, it does not come as a surprise to anyone that a large section of the population of Kerala faces drinking problems. What is shocking though is the fact that even teenagers are taking to drinks in a big way. So, to curb alcoholism in Kerala, the Kochi Cooperative Hospital has tied up with a UK based Birmingham and Solihull NHS trust. The trust will provide training to over 150 doctors on alcohol abuse and in the early detection of alcoholism. The trust has been successful in bringing down alcohol consumption in UK hopes to repeat the feat in Kerala, where alcoholism is on the rise.

A very remarkable initiative indeed, thinks this Gallan, especially considering the fact that, guys as young as fifteen are exposed to drinks. This Gallan recalls how a once friend remarked that if the child grows up witnessing his father drinking, he finds drinking acceptable. This is exactly the root of the problem; the fact that drinking is so deeply embedded in our culture. Peer pressure is also a big initiator to the teenagers. Most young guys have their sip with their friends, just for the heck of it. But the problem arises when this becomes an addiction. Then there is what this Gallan likes to call the “cool-effect”; teenagers who get drunk for the fear of not being accepted into the crowd and who want to look cool by drinking. This is a very dangerous trend. This Gallan understands that drinking is a personal choice. But at the same time, it would be unwise to turn a blind eye to the harmful effects of alcoholism. Alcohol paralyses not just the body, but also the mind. Drinking during occasions is understandable, but to drink for the sake for drinking is again, very dangerous. So, for the sake of our young generation, this Gallan hopes that this novel venture of the Cooperative Hospital is successful. And to all the alcoholics, just give this a thought… Is this the legacy you want to leave behind for your children and the future generation? Surely not…

Join hands with ‘Whitesugar‘ as they go live on the 2nd of December 2011, Friday, at the DH Ground, Kochi! This time, ‘Oru Meeshakaryam‘ by the Whitesugar is all set to raise their voice against the Tamil Nadu Government’s stand towards the Mullaperiyar Dam issue. Its been a while since we Gallans have been waiting to see such initiatives from any of the who’s who in the city and with this show, ‘Whitesugar’ is gonna stand upto our expectations of being a responsible public figure. kudos, people!  So joining hands with ‘Whitesugar’ is this Gallan, and shouting out loud together to “SAVE MULLAPERIYAR! SAVE KERALA! “

So, see you all at the DH ground on Friday, 2nd of December, 2011 at sharp 4:00 PM.

]]> http://kochigallan.com/featured/oru-meeshakaryam-on-death-row/feed/ 0 http://kochigallan.com/featured/ghost-ryderz-in-kochi-tour-de-india/ http://kochigallan.com/featured/ghost-ryderz-in-kochi-tour-de-india/#comments Fri, 25 Nov 2011 13:32:35 +0000 Kochi Gallan http://kochigallan.com/?p=9800 Tweet

Pulsar Stuntmania has skitched its way back with the idea of drifting around India, with India’s most wonderful stunting team, (yes…. yes.. now let this gallan say it..) the Ghost Ryderz. (like DuH.. ) and yes ppl, the reason why we’re puttin this up, is coz Kochi is on the list..!!

December 17th… Oberon Mall.. and this much is all you’ll wait to read, and we know it.. They’re also performing at Hyderabad, Pune, Nagpur, Chennai, Coimbatore, Lucknow, and Mysore from where the fame goes on vrroooom…!

DC Books has opened an exclusive store for Penguin books @ Bay Pride Mall on Marine Drive. The store will market all of Penguin publishings in India and popular titles abroad. It was inaugurated on Tuesday in the presence of CEO, Penguin Books & CEO, DC Books. This is only the second such store for Penguin in India, the other one being in Bangalore. In keeping with true Gallan tradition, I’m sure we will welcome this novelty with the same enthusiasm as we have for everything new! It just might turn out to be the next HEP place to hang out, with a book and a view of the Arabian Sea!

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