Podcasts about Kerala

Send us a textKathy and Ramesh react to the trailer for BALTI, an 2025 Indian sports action film written and directed by debutant Unni Sivalingam. Produced by STK Frames and Binu George Alexander Productions, the film stars Shane Nigam, Shanthanu Bhagyaraj, and Preethi Asrani with Alphonse Puthren and Poornima Indrajith in supporting roles. Due to the film's setting in Kerala and Tamil Nadu, it contains dialogue in both Malayalam and Tamil languages. It marks Shanthanu's comeback in Malayalam cinema after 16 years.Support the show

In today's world of polarization, climate disruption, and rapid digital change, resilience is everything.On this episode of The Caring Economy, we sit down with Asha Varghese, President of the Caterpillar Foundation and Head of CSR at Caterpillar. Asha reflects on her journey from Kerala, India, to rural Kentucky, and how those experiences shaped her approach to corporate leadership and purpose.She shares how Caterpillar has given over $1 billion globally, supporting disaster recovery, education, and sustainability initiatives. We also discuss the future of work, the rise of AI, and why corporations must play a role in rebuilding trust and community resilience.Asha's story is a reminder that leadership isn't about grand gestures, it's about persistence, partnership, and impact over time.Listen in for lessons on how business can become a force for resilience in a fragile world.

Arundhati Roy's internationally best-selling novels include The God of Small Things and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness.  Her nonfiction works engage elegantly and passionately with class and power, among other issues.  Roy's new memoir, Mother Mary Comes to Me, examines her childhood in Kerala, India, and a mother whose commitment to justice and education made her a powerful force in the community – but whose volatility made for a challenging family life that included emotional abuse. On September 19, 2025, Arundhati Roy came to the Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco to read from her memoir and hold an on-stage conversation with journalist Deepa Fernandes. 

How can activists strike a balance between fighting for a cause and sustaining relationships with family, friends, and neighbors? In this episode John Mathias joins host Elena Sobrino to talk about Uncommon Cause: Living for Environmental Justice in Kerala (2024, University of California Press). Uncommon Cause follows environmental justice activists in Kerala, India, as they seek out, avoid, or strive to overcome conflicts between their causes and their community ties. John Mathias finds two contrasting approaches, each offering distinct possibilities for an activist life. One set of activists repudiates community ties and resists normative pressures; for them, environmental justice becomes a way of transcending all local identities and affiliations, even humanity itself. Other activists seek to ground their activism in community belonging, to fight for their own people. Each approach produces its own dilemmas and offers its own insights into ethical tensions we all face between taking a stand and standing with others. In sharing Kerala activists' diverse stories, Uncommon Cause offers a fresh perspective on environmental ethics, showing that environmentalism, even as it looks beyond merely human concerns, is still fundamentally about how we relate to other people. Elena Sobrino is an anthropologist studying the emotions and politics of environmental crises and currently working on a book about the Flint water crisis. She is a lecturer in the Science and Technology Studies program at Tufts University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/new-books-network

How can activists strike a balance between fighting for a cause and sustaining relationships with family, friends, and neighbors? In this episode John Mathias joins host Elena Sobrino to talk about Uncommon Cause: Living for Environmental Justice in Kerala (2024, University of California Press). Uncommon Cause follows environmental justice activists in Kerala, India, as they seek out, avoid, or strive to overcome conflicts between their causes and their community ties. John Mathias finds two contrasting approaches, each offering distinct possibilities for an activist life. One set of activists repudiates community ties and resists normative pressures; for them, environmental justice becomes a way of transcending all local identities and affiliations, even humanity itself. Other activists seek to ground their activism in community belonging, to fight for their own people. Each approach produces its own dilemmas and offers its own insights into ethical tensions we all face between taking a stand and standing with others. In sharing Kerala activists' diverse stories, Uncommon Cause offers a fresh perspective on environmental ethics, showing that environmentalism, even as it looks beyond merely human concerns, is still fundamentally about how we relate to other people. Elena Sobrino is an anthropologist studying the emotions and politics of environmental crises and currently working on a book about the Flint water crisis. She is a lecturer in the Science and Technology Studies program at Tufts University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/environmental-studies

How can activists strike a balance between fighting for a cause and sustaining relationships with family, friends, and neighbors? In this episode John Mathias joins host Elena Sobrino to talk about Uncommon Cause: Living for Environmental Justice in Kerala (2024, University of California Press). Uncommon Cause follows environmental justice activists in Kerala, India, as they seek out, avoid, or strive to overcome conflicts between their causes and their community ties. John Mathias finds two contrasting approaches, each offering distinct possibilities for an activist life. One set of activists repudiates community ties and resists normative pressures; for them, environmental justice becomes a way of transcending all local identities and affiliations, even humanity itself. Other activists seek to ground their activism in community belonging, to fight for their own people. Each approach produces its own dilemmas and offers its own insights into ethical tensions we all face between taking a stand and standing with others. In sharing Kerala activists' diverse stories, Uncommon Cause offers a fresh perspective on environmental ethics, showing that environmentalism, even as it looks beyond merely human concerns, is still fundamentally about how we relate to other people. Elena Sobrino is an anthropologist studying the emotions and politics of environmental crises and currently working on a book about the Flint water crisis. She is a lecturer in the Science and Technology Studies program at Tufts University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/anthropology

How can activists strike a balance between fighting for a cause and sustaining relationships with family, friends, and neighbors? In this episode John Mathias joins host Elena Sobrino to talk about Uncommon Cause: Living for Environmental Justice in Kerala (2024, University of California Press). Uncommon Cause follows environmental justice activists in Kerala, India, as they seek out, avoid, or strive to overcome conflicts between their causes and their community ties. John Mathias finds two contrasting approaches, each offering distinct possibilities for an activist life. One set of activists repudiates community ties and resists normative pressures; for them, environmental justice becomes a way of transcending all local identities and affiliations, even humanity itself. Other activists seek to ground their activism in community belonging, to fight for their own people. Each approach produces its own dilemmas and offers its own insights into ethical tensions we all face between taking a stand and standing with others. In sharing Kerala activists' diverse stories, Uncommon Cause offers a fresh perspective on environmental ethics, showing that environmentalism, even as it looks beyond merely human concerns, is still fundamentally about how we relate to other people. Elena Sobrino is an anthropologist studying the emotions and politics of environmental crises and currently working on a book about the Flint water crisis. She is a lecturer in the Science and Technology Studies program at Tufts University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/sociology

How can activists strike a balance between fighting for a cause and sustaining relationships with family, friends, and neighbors? In this episode John Mathias joins host Elena Sobrino to talk about Uncommon Cause: Living for Environmental Justice in Kerala (2024, University of California Press). Uncommon Cause follows environmental justice activists in Kerala, India, as they seek out, avoid, or strive to overcome conflicts between their causes and their community ties. John Mathias finds two contrasting approaches, each offering distinct possibilities for an activist life. One set of activists repudiates community ties and resists normative pressures; for them, environmental justice becomes a way of transcending all local identities and affiliations, even humanity itself. Other activists seek to ground their activism in community belonging, to fight for their own people. Each approach produces its own dilemmas and offers its own insights into ethical tensions we all face between taking a stand and standing with others. In sharing Kerala activists' diverse stories, Uncommon Cause offers a fresh perspective on environmental ethics, showing that environmentalism, even as it looks beyond merely human concerns, is still fundamentally about how we relate to other people. Elena Sobrino is an anthropologist studying the emotions and politics of environmental crises and currently working on a book about the Flint water crisis. She is a lecturer in the Science and Technology Studies program at Tufts University. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/south-asian-studies

https://theprint.in/politics/kerala-assembly-passes-resolution-against-sir-politics-of-exclusion-visible-in-bihar-says-pinarayi/2753462/    

Kallara Panchayath Pachathuruth" refers to a significant "pachathuruthu" (green island) project established within the Kallara Grama Panchayath, located in the Kottayam district of Kerala, India. This project, a state-recognized initiative by the Haritha Keralam Mission, received top honors in the local self-government category for its role in combating climate change and restoring the environment. The Kallara Panchayath's green island, situated on a 40-cent plot near SKV UP School, was developed under the Kallara Grama Panchayath's employment guarantee scheme and is maintained by various local stakeholders. 

July, 1957. An ordinary day in the state of Kerala, India. People walk down the streets doing their business and it begins to rain. Suddenly, people start to shout and run away in fear. Everything turns into a kind of horror movie. Because the rain drops that fall from the sky are bright red. And this is not a horror movie. It's all happening for real. Imagine the familiar view outside your window. What if you saw it gradually turn red? The clothes of people caught in the rain would change to pink. So what caused the red rain? There's a logical explanation for it. And for white rain, too. As well as for black rain. Wait, really? What other rain colors are there? Well, a green rain fell near Calcutta in the summer of 2002, and one day a brown rain fell in southern Russia. Let's find out more about these amazing natural phenomena. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to popular vlogger and reviewer Shazzam as he highlights the often-overlooked aspects of vlogging and reveals the reason for his relocation from Kerala.#callmeshazzam #starjam

This week on The Sound Kitchen, you'll hear the answer to the question about exoplanets.  There's “The Listener's Corner” with Paul Myers,  the new quiz and bonus questions, and a lovely musical dessert to finish it all off, so click the “Play” button above and enjoy!  Hello everyone! Welcome to The Sound Kitchen weekly podcast, published every Saturday here on our website, or wherever you get your podcasts. You'll hear the winner's names announced and the week's quiz question, along with all the other ingredients you've grown accustomed to: your letters and essays, “On This Day”, quirky facts and news, interviews, and great music … so be sure and listen every week. Erwan and I are busy cooking up special shows with your music requests, so get them in! Send your music requests to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr  Tell us why you like the piece of music, too – it makes it more interesting for us all! Facebook: Be sure to send your photos for the RFI English Listeners Forum banner to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr More tech news: Did you know we have a YouTube channel? Just go to YouTube and write RFI English in the search bar, and there we are! Be sure to subscribe to see all our videos. Would you like to learn French? RFI is here to help you! Our website “Le Français facile avec rfi” has news broadcasts in slow, simple French, as well as bilingual radio dramas (with real actors!) and exercises to practice what you have heard. Go to our website and get started! At the top of the page, click on “Test level”, and you'll be counseled on the best-suited activities for your level according to your score. Do not give up! As Lidwien van Dixhoorn, the head of “Le Français facile” service, told me: “Bathe your ears in the sound of the language, and eventually, you'll get it”. She should know – Lidwien is Dutch and came to France hardly able to say “bonjour” and now she heads this key RFI department – so stick with it! Be sure you check out our wonderful podcasts! In addition to the breaking news articles on our site, with in-depth analysis of current affairs in France and across the globe, we have several podcasts that will leave you hungry for more. There's Spotlight on France, Spotlight on Africa, the International Report, and of course, The Sound Kitchen. We also have an award-winning bilingual series - an old-time radio show, with actors (!) to help you learn French, called Les voisins du 12 bis. Remember, podcasts are radio, too! As you see, sound is still quite present in the RFI English service.  Please keep checking our website for updates on the latest from our excellent staff of journalists. You never know what we'll surprise you with! To listen to our podcasts from your PC, go to our website; you'll see “Podcasts” at the top of the page. You can either listen directly or subscribe and receive them directly on your mobile phone. To listen to our podcasts from your mobile phone, slide through the tabs just under the lead article (the first tab is “Headline News”) until you see “Podcasts”, and choose your show.   Teachers take note!  I save postcards and stamps from all over the world to send to you for your students. If you would like stamps and postcards for your students, just write and let me know. The address is english.service@rfi.fr  If you would like to donate stamps and postcards, feel free! Our address is listed below.  Independent RFI English Clubs: Be sure to always include Audrey Iattoni (audrey.iattoni@rfi.fr) from our Listener Relations department in all your RFI Club correspondence. Remember to copy me (thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr) when you write to her so that I know what is going on, too. N.B.: You do not need to send her your quiz answers! Email overload! This week's quiz: On 19 July, I asked you a question about RFI English journalist Dhananjay Khadilkar's video and article about the study of exoplanets, or extrasolar planets, which are planets outside of our solar system. As you read in Dhananjay's article “Swiss exoplanet pioneer reflects on Earth's place in the cosmos”, Didier Queloz, along with Michel Mayor, discovered the first exoplanet orbiting a solar-type star in 1995, which ushered in, as Dhananjay wrote, a new era in astronomy and planetary science. The two scientists won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for their work. Dhananjay met with Didier Queloz, who told him, and I quote: “Looking for exoplanets is essentially looking for us.” What did Professor Queloz mean by that? You were to send in the answer to this question: According to Queloz, what is the essential reason for studying other planets? The answer is, to quote Dhananjay Khadilkar's article: “In essence, by studying other planetary systems, scientists are holding up a mirror to our own. Are the conditions that led to Earth's habitability common or exceedingly rare? Is our solar system an outlier, or just one example among countless others?” In addition to the quiz question, there was the bonus question: “Is it up to the State, the government, to decide what is fair, or what is just?” Do you have a bonus question idea? Send it to us! The winners are: RFI Listeners Club member Dipita Chakrabarty from New Delhi, India. Dipita is also the winner of this week's bonus quiz. Congratulations, Dipita, on your double win. Also on the list of lucky winners is RFI Listeners Club member Pradip Basak from Kerala, India, and RFI English listeners Debashis Gope from West Bengal, India; Liton Rahaman Khan from Naogaon, Bangladesh, and Rashidul Bin Somor, the General Secretary of the Source of Knowledge Club, also in Naogaon. Congratulations winners! Here's the music you heard on this week's program: The allegro di molto from the Symphony No 38 in C Major (the “Echo” symphony) by Franz Joseph Haydn, performed by the Austro-Hungarian Haydn Orchestra conducted by Adam Fischer; “Space Ambient” produced by Space Relax; “The Flight of the Bumblebee” by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; “The Cakewalk” from Children's Corner by Claude Debussy, performed by the composer, and “Young at Heart” by Johnny Richards and Carolyn Leigh, sung by Connie Francis. Do you have a music request? Send it to thesoundkitchen@rfi.fr This week's question ... you must listen to the show to participate. After you've listened to the show, re-read Paul Myers' article “Dembélé and Bonmati win Ballon d'Or as PSG take team and coach prizes”, which will help you with the answer. You have until 20 October to enter this week's quiz; the winners will be announced on the 25 October podcast. When you enter, be sure to send your postal address with your answer, and if you have one, your RFI Listeners Club membership number. Send your answers to: english.service@rfi.fr or Susan Owensby RFI – The Sound Kitchen 80, rue Camille Desmoulins 92130 Issy-les-Moulineaux France Click here to find out how you can win a special Sound Kitchen prize. Click here to find out how you can become a member of the RFI Listeners Club, or form your own official RFI Club. 

KERALA JUNCTION | FICAVO | MEGA SHOW

Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka are set to gain the most from GST rate cuts and may see the steepest drop in inflation. PhonePe has filed IPO papers with Sebi for via the confidential route, seeking to raise around Rs 12,000 crore. Meanwhile, Apple has built a network of 17 equipment and tooling partners in India over the past two years, in a move to localise its supply chain.

Welcome to Top of the Morning by Mint.. I'm Nelson John and here are today's top stories. Trump Turns on India at UN Donald Trump used the UNGA stage to take two direct swipes at India. First, he boasted yet again about “stopping a war” between India and Pakistan — angling for that Nobel Peace Prize. India clarified it halted Operation Sindoor at Pakistan's request, not Washington's. Then came the sharper blow: accusing India and China of “funding Putin's war” by buying Russian oil. Tariffs on Indian imports are already at 50%, with threats of more to come. Modi has stayed silent, while Shashi Tharoor called Trump's moves “mercurial” — unpredictable today, possibly favorable tomorrow. Kerala Battles Brain-Eating Amoeba Kerala confirmed 80 cases and 21 deaths from amoebic meningoencephalitis, caused by Naegleria fowleri. It spreads when contaminated freshwater enters the nose. Authorities stress seawater, tap water, and chlorinated pools are safe. The state's focus is aggressive testing and chlorination, which is helping save lives. India's First Defence Plant in Africa Rajnath Singh inaugurated Tata's new defence facility in Morocco — India's first in Africa. The plant will produce WhAP 8x8 armoured vehicles for Morocco's Royal Army. More than a “Make in India” story, this is about India exporting defence technology and creating a global footprint. H-1B Hurdles Get Higher The US Homeland Security Dept plans to revamp the H-1B system, favoring higher-paid applicants over random selection. Coupled with Trump's $100,000 visa fee, this creates steep barriers for Indian engineers, especially entry-level talent. Swiggy Cashes Out of Rapido Swiggy sold its entire Rapido stake for ₹2,400 crore to Prosus and WestBridge, booking nearly 2.5x returns. Ironically, Rapido is now launching its own food delivery arm to rival Swiggy and Zomato. The windfall helps Swiggy offset heavy losses despite surging revenues. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rulo vuelve de París, a donde fue poco después de regresar de Newcastle, y está a punto de irse a Oviedo. Encuentra tiempo, sin embargo, para grabar este podcast, en el que reaparece “Eva Davant Pizzeria”. ¿Hay que hablar del Ronin para criticarlo o no hacerlo para no darle espacio? Adetunji no marca desde que se le mencionó y su sustituto en el Ballkani, en cambio, amenaza con dejar en nada sus registros de la liga kosovar. ¿Qué es la Super League de Kerala y por qué la mitad de sus entrenadores son españoles?

As November 21st approaches, Ramees is poised to take the stage in Los Angeles, representing not only Ireland but also carrying the flag for Kerala and India. His dedication to natural competition, despite the injuries, financial hurdles, and the sheer effort involved, makes him a true champion regardless of the final outcome.

 We had been on the North India tour with our Ashrams when one Bus broke down…. Because the buses were overloaded with people's baggage, music equipment, and too many passengers… So what, we had to sleep but where and to find a place for 300 people…? Still, we had been in Kerala only 800Km distance from the Ashram. After many phone calls, we got invited to stay at a Cotton factory…The laborers gave their accommodations to us. Imagine the huts were about 15 square meters big and accommodated about 5 to 7 people… 10 Ashram-people for each hut, we were used on that. - Plenty of space for us.In the middle of this premise is a luxury house decorated with marble and granite tilts, swimming pool… I was so disgusted by the exploiting of the laborers. And then the owner came with a big Mercedes, stopped in front of me and invited me to his house … I could not and rejected politely his offer. I turned away, even I didn't have any food for the rest of the day (I am eating only uncooked food).So what, I left the premise and asked where is the next village located?The guide said it is 15Km distance but he can ask the staff to bring me to the village… I said stubbornly, “Don't bother for me, I can walk” even it was very hot… After 500m walk, a motorcycle stopped and asked me where I am going… I said I want to go to the next village and buy some bananas… He said: “No problem, I will bring you to our village and we will serve you well…  We drove to his village and it was so poor, I hardly could see any bananas or vegetables. And normally you see in Indian, every small teashop is selling bananas… I thought the best is to go back and not to eat than to eat anything from the poor people…  But, how could I reject the invitation of the poor people…? This would be even worse!And then we went to every shop and collected every banana and vegetable and he asked is it enough… I could not stop him until I got every banana and cabbage, for free. I felt so guilty and had a bad consciousness. Hardly, I could stop me to cry.  He invited me to a tea special for me without sugar… And brought me back… I thanked him, thanked God and gave my blessing to him and his village.My Video: Episode8 Generosity https://youtu.be/vMFBFkplgz4My Audio: https://divinesuccess.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/Podcast1/Episode8-Generosity.mp3 

https://theprint.in/health/19-dead-in-9-months-brain-eating-amoeba-has-kerala-scrambling-for-answers-what-we-know-so-far/2745208/

【欢迎订阅】 每天早上5:30，准时更新。 【阅读原文】 标题：How divorce camps give women hope and healing正文：On the bus making its way through Kerala to the misty hills of Vagamon, 15 women, many wearing hijabs and dupattas, with colourful shirts pulled over jeans, hum a melodious tune, clapping and swaying.知识点：misty /ˈmɪsti/（英式）/ˈmɪsti/（美式），adj.full of, covered with, or consisting of mist; (of a person's eyes, vision, etc.) not clear, as if covered with mist多雾的；被薄雾笼罩的；（眼睛、视线等）模糊的，朦胧的• The hills were hidden in mist• Her eyes grew misty when she talked about her childhood.（谈起童年时，她的眼神变得朦胧。）获取外刊的完整原文以及精讲笔记，请关注微信公众号「早安英文」，回复“外刊”即可。更多有意思的英语干货等着你！ 【节目介绍】 《早安英文-每日外刊精读》，带你精读最新外刊，了解国际最热事件：分析语法结构，拆解长难句，最接地气的翻译，还有重点词汇讲解。 所有选题均来自于《经济学人》《纽约时报》《华尔街日报》《华盛顿邮报》《大西洋月刊》《科学杂志》《国家地理》等国际一线外刊。 【适合谁听】 1、关注时事热点新闻，想要学习最新最潮流英文表达的英文学习者 2、任何想通过地道英文提高听、说、读、写能力的英文学习者 3、想快速掌握表达，有出国学习和旅游计划的英语爱好者 4、参加各类英语考试的应试者（如大学英语四六级、托福雅思、考研等） 【你将获得】 1、超过1000篇外刊精读课程，拓展丰富语言表达和文化背景 2、逐词、逐句精确讲解，系统掌握英语词汇、听力、阅读和语法 3、每期内附学习笔记，包含全文注释、长难句解析、疑难语法点等，帮助扫除阅读障碍。

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A version of this essay was published by rediff.com at https://www.rediff.com/news/column/rajeev-srinivasan-us-farm-distress-real-reason-for-trumps-tariff-tantrums/20250916.htmThere is breaking news that the trade talks between the US and India are on again. This means I was probably right that the harrumphing by President Trump and company was an opening gambit meant to soften India up for a deal that was beneficial to the US.The whole “India is funding Russia's war effort by buying oil” meme sounded like a red herring right from the beginning, because of the very many reasons why it is not true. Now the real underlying reason behind the full-court press by Trump aides Navarro et al seems to have surfaced: it is to strong-arm India into rescuing the American farmer.It was an off-hand comment by an aide that gave away the farm (so to speak): US Commerce Secretary Lutnick's assertion that India does not buy any corn from the US, in a September 14th interview to a US TV channel called Axios. Now this puts a whole new spin on things, because there is a crisis in US farming. No nation can afford to hurt its farmers, for both commercial, and perhaps more importantly, social and cultural reasons. We have seen how Japan subsidizes its uncompetitive rice farmers because rice is so central to its traditional culture. We have seen (at least in the days when I still used to read the magazine) the Economist commenting on “wine lakes” and “butter mountains”, that is, excessive production of agricultural products in Europe. Much the same in the US.If you over-produce, you need to find a buyer. That is the crux of the matter right now: the US used to sell 24 million metric tons of soyabeans, for example, to China every year, but after the tariff threats against it, China entirely switched its purchases to Brazil. So there's a “soy mountain” in the US, and bankruptcies are mounting. This is serious. On the one hand, the US has lost its pre-eminence in industry to China through foolishly allowing the slipping away of its entire productive capacity to that country in the pursuit of the elusive “China price”. Now, it is on the brink of losing its pre-eminence in agriculture as well, and that can lead to the loss of food security, and a host of other, surprisingly large, side-effects. I summarized the whole problem in a tweet:It is indeed a systemic problem with many unintended consequences. On farm distress, there are several indicators: increased bankruptcies and farm liquidations/auctions, reduced farm loan repayment rates, and lower values for farmland, although farm profits have gone up temporarily because of US Department of Agriculture ad-hoc aid, not higher prices.There are several reasons for this collapse: but the biggest is buyer power. Because of over-production and global surpluses, prices have fallen for many crops; and as mentioned above, the wholesale move of Chinese demand away from the US has left overflowing silos with no prospect of sales in sight. Result: prices fall sharply.I have often felt that buyer power (one of Michael Porter's famed “Five Forces”) is underestimated by many. Here it is in action. India seems to not understand that it is a big buyer of many commodities, and that gives it market power; so exercise it. On the contrary, India seems to view itself as a supplicant to big sellers. Not quite.What the US appears to be doing is to force India to be “the buyer of last resort”, on whom their products can be dumped: after all, I suspect the idea is, 1.4 billion people have to eat something, so why not eat American corn? There's a certain perverse logic to this, especially if you remember the PL-480 days when American corn was indeed an emergency food supply to food-deficit India: cornflour is to this day called “American mav” in Kerala. But I am pretty sure Lutnick has no idea of all this.What is exercising the Trump lot is the fact that most of the farms are in solidly-Republican midwestern states (Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Wisconsin). I remember driving through many of them on a 4,000-mile Boston-San Francisco road trip: there's nothing but cornfields for miles and miles. And they could be a disaster for Trump in the mid-term elections in 2026.Conversely, it does not occur to Trump aides that no Indian politician can afford to alienate his small farmers by bringing in American farm products, not to mention the cultural sensitivity to dairy products from er… non-veg cows. In an India that is largely self-sufficient in foodgrains these days, there is very little benefit in buying large quantities of foreign products. As an example, imports of oilseeds from ASEAN has decimated coconut farmers in Kerala.The Iowa governor has been in India twice, once in late 2024, and once just last weekend, trying to induce Indians to buy corn. Similarly, the governor of Nebraska was in Japan this month trying to sell them ethanol from corn. This is interesting: I wonder if the sudden enthusiasm in India for E20 ethanol blended petrol has something to do with US pressure.I am not a fan of ethanol blended petrol, because I think hybrid electric-petrol vehicles are a safer, better-tested alternative. But if the GoI is intent on E20, it may be better to buy corn ethanol from the US than to over-exploit water resources in India to grow sugarcane for the same. And maybe, just maybe, it will get Trump to back off from the shrill tariff cacophony.But to go back to my tweet above, there are a lot of other reasons for India to be wary of American farm products. The gigantic subsidies in the US Farm Bill (of the order of $20 billion a year) encourages farmers to over-produce (corn mountains for example). This ends up being converted to High-Fructose Corn Syrup, which is then added to virtually every food product: just read the labels in US supermarkets.I personally have seen the obesity epidemic in the US from the 1970s: people have become grossly fat, and diabetes levels, especially in inner-city ghettos of black and brown people, have gone through the roof as a result of all this sugar. #BigFood, that is all the packaged-food companies and fast-food companies, have engendered this transition, partly because of grossly manipulated "scientific" studies that blamed saturated fat and cholesterol.The culprit, it turns out, was always excessive sugar in the diet. But in the meantime #BigMedicine and #BigPharma took full advantage by selling statins as cholesterol-lowering drugs, and now the new panacea is Ozempic-class weight-loss drugs. However, objective studies show that despite the US spending enormous amounts on healthcare (about 20% of GDP), the health outcomes are mediocre, and often worse than other high-income countries.None of this makes it a good idea to import US farm products wholesale. What is worse, though, is the agricultural ecosystem which includes Genetically Modified Organisms. It depends on large-scale use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. The Terminator Seed is terrifying: a Monsanto can turn off next year's crop by refusing to sell new seeds, which is literally the “kill switch”. What you harvested this year will not germinate! Fiendishly clever, indeed!Given all this, and despite the critical importance of agri-products in both US politics and economics, it is a bad idea for India to be bullied into taking the stuff on board. India would be buying new problems, and its native intellectual property is what needs to be husbanded.There has already been tremendous erosion or digestion without recompense of these valuable IPs. A lot of traditional Indian rice variants have been spirited away to the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines; similarly A2 zebu, humped Indian cattle, have been decimated in India by Amul and others importing A1 Jersey-type cattle. Ironically zebu breeds like Bramah are thriving in Texas, Brazil etc. No need to let IP loss happen again.It remains my belief that agricultural and dairy products are a red line for India that no Indian politician can cross. Sorry, Secretary Lutnick.Here is the AI-generated Malayalam podcast from notebookLM.google.com:1375 words, 15 Sept 2025 updated 16 Sept 2025 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com/subscribe

‘It is vanishingly rare for a writer to both confront the ugliness of humanity and still search for its beauty. Roy is that rare writer.' – Naomi Klein Arundhati Roy is one of today's most esteemed public intellectuals. The author of novels including the Booker Prize-winning The God of Small Things, Roy is equally respected as a political essayist. Her words on topics from the COVID-19 pandemic to the plight of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi have helped define public discourse in India and beyond. In September 2025 Roy came to the Intelligence Squared stage for two exclusive events. Combining the signature scale, sweep and depth of her novels, and the passion, political clarity and warmth of her essays, Roy drew on the themes of her new memoir for a compelling exploration of her life and work. Born out of the onrush of memories and feelings provoked by her mother Mary's death, Mother Mary Comes to Me is Roy's telling of her own story from childhood to the present, from Kerala to Delhi. An ode to freedom, a tribute to thorny love and savage grace, it is a memoir like no other. The event was a rare opportunity to hear from one of the greatest writers of our generation. --- If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

 To lit up your incense sticks and to demand peace and stillness?Or to sit in a busy market and find bliss and peace even in the garbage place?Yes, this is possible, but not without God! Meditation and a personal God relationship are fitting perfectly …Because then it is is much easier to meditate with the help of God.I remember when we were traveling through India with our Ashram… There is in the North of Kerala a holly river and it was filled with Billions of mosquitoes… I never have seen so many mosquitoes in my life even when I was trekking through the rain forest…We stopped there and I wanted directly to leave… I didn't have any mosquito repellent and I was even too proud to use mosquito repellent… No way!Even in Bombay I never used malaria prophylaxes or mosquito repellent and the mosquitoes love my sweet blood… Bombay was dreadful with so many mosquitoes… What to do? Our Guru, as usual, didn't care and we had to follow up.We should sleep in a tent with 300 people laying one body close to the next, like canned sardines. The mosquitoes had party time and we suffer time… How should I protect me or sleep and even I could not do so… And the expectations of the swamis were huge, how such mediation freak will react under these circumstances? I saw no chances… the mosquitoes were biting me like crazy … and I had no mosquito net… I got so desperately …I met the expectation of the people to be mad as usual…I put off my shirt, left the tent and meditated for hours outside… And no single mosquito was biting me!!!!!! I was in a high meditation state…And then I slept on the ground outside and again no mosquito was biting me… And in the morning all the people had mosquito bites like crazy but my body was spared! Guess and that was the blessing of God… Because God controls everything.How could I meditate, even I was totally desperate. I am a normal guy with much more fears than anybody else… and that I can prove again and again!Tell me that … It is not possible. But for God is everything possible!!!!Remember that !!!!My Video: Episode7 What is meditation? https://youtu.be/gpqZy0QDJ-IMy Audio: https://divinesuccess.net/wp-content/uploads/2021/Podcast.B/Episode-7-What-is-meditation.mp3

‘It is vanishingly rare for a writer to both confront the ugliness of humanity and still search for its beauty. Roy is that rare writer.' – Naomi Klein Arundhati Roy is one of today's most esteemed public intellectuals. The author of novels including the Booker Prize-winning The God of Small Things, Roy is equally respected as a political essayist. Her words on topics from the COVID-19 pandemic to the plight of India under Prime Minister Narendra Modi have helped define public discourse in India and beyond. In September 2025 Roy came to the Intelligence Squared stage for two exclusive events. Combining the signature scale, sweep and depth of her novels, and the passion, political clarity and warmth of her essays, Roy drew on the themes of her new memoir for a compelling exploration of her life and work. Born out of the onrush of memories and feelings provoked by her mother Mary's death, Mother Mary Comes to Me is Roy's telling of her own story from childhood to the present, from Kerala to Delhi. An ode to freedom, a tribute to thorny love and savage grace, it is a memoir like no other. The event was a rare opportunity to hear from one of the greatest writers of our generation. --- This is the first instalment of a two-part episode. If you'd like to become a Member and get access to all our full ad free conversations, plus all of our Members-only content, just visit intelligencesquared.com/membership to find out more. For £4.99 per month you'll also receive: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared episodes, wherever you get your podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series - 15% discount on livestreams and in-person tickets for all Intelligence Squared events  ...  Or Subscribe on Apple for £4.99: - Full-length and ad-free Intelligence Squared podcasts - Bonus Intelligence Squared podcasts, curated feeds and members exclusive series … Already a subscriber? Thank you for supporting our mission to foster honest debate and compelling conversations! Visit intelligencesquared.com to explore all your benefits including ad-free podcasts, exclusive bonus content and early access. … Subscribe to our newsletter here to hear about our latest events, discounts and much more. https://www.intelligencesquared.com/newsletter-signup Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Listen to a laughter-packed ride with Jazar Clickz, the Kerala-based content creator and social media star known for his viral reels and witty dialogues. In this onam special episode, he steps into the shoes of Maveli, bringing humor, stories, and plenty of fun moments along the way!

Listen to a laughter-packed ride with Jazar Clickz, the Kerala-based content creator and social media star known for his viral reels and witty dialogues. In this onam special episode, he steps into the shoes of Maveli, bringing humor, stories, and plenty of fun moments along the way!

In this episode, we dive into the life and legend of Naranathu Bhranthan, the eccentric yet enlightened son of Vararuchi, one of the twelve children of the famous Parayi Petta Panthirukulam. Known as the "madman of Kerala," Naranathu Bhranthan wandered from place to place, often ridiculed for his strange ways. But behind his seemingly insane behavior lay deep wisdom, fearless truth-telling, and a sharp eye for the hypocrisies of society.

George Kurian's journey from a modest upbringing in Kerala, India, to becoming CEO of NetApp is an extraordinary story. George worked cafeteria shifts and construction jobs to pay his way through Princeton before climbing the ranks at Oracle, McKinsey, and Cisco. In this episode, George opens up about the weight of being a “rookie CEO” responsible for 12,000 people, the discipline of saying no to 97% of ideas, and the humility it takes to lead through uncertainty. He and Ilana explore resilience, focus, and the future of AI, while revealing how diverse experiences and family values shaped his leadership philosophy. George Kurian is CEO of NetApp, a Fortune 500 data infrastructure and cloud services company. Under his leadership, NetApp has strengthened its cloud-first and data services strategy, growing into a $20 billion company. In this episode, Ilana and George will discuss: (00:00) Introduction (02:20) Family Role Models and Upbringing (06:00) Landing a Princeton Scholarship and Learning to Survive (09:20) Lessons from Oracle and McKinsey (13:50) Why George Left Cisco to Join NetApp (16:45) How Cafeteria Work Inspired NetApp's Engineering Process (19:40) The ‘30-30-30' Rule for Driving Organizational Change (22:40) George's Journey to Becoming CEO Overnight (26:30) First-Time CEO Challenges and Leadership Struggles (30:40) Why a CEO Should Say “No” to 97% of Ideas (33:10) Betting on Cloud Partnerships Instead of Competing (37:15) The Power of Choosing Your Path and Tackling Hard Problems George Kurian is CEO of NetApp, a Fortune 500 data infrastructure and cloud services company. Before joining NetApp in 2011, he had built a diverse tech career that included leadership roles at Oracle, McKinsey, Cisco, and Akamai. Under his leadership, NetApp has strengthened its cloud-first and data services strategy, growing into a $20 billion company. Connect with George: George's LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/georgekuriannetapp Leap Academy: Ready to make the LEAP in your career? There is a NEW WAY for professionals to fast-track their careers and leap to bigger opportunities. Watch the free training at https://bit.ly/leap--free-training

Listen to a laughter-packed ride with Jazar Clickz, the Kerala-based content creator and social media star known for his viral reels and witty dialogues. In this onam special episode, he steps into the shoes of Maveli, bringing humor, stories, and plenty of fun moments along the way!

Dr. Rajetha Damisetty explains how the entry of unqualified practitioners and a lack of regulatory oversight is impacting patient safety when it comes to skin and hair procedures being performed in India. The wellness sector is booming in India. Aesthetic, skin and hair clinics are everywhere, social media feeds are filled with advertisements and procedures such as hair transplants, skin lightening, botox and others are becoming increasingly common. In a few cases that have been reported in the news however, some of these treatments have gone horribly wrong – in May this year, two men from Kanpur died after botched hair transplants and another man in Kerala contracted a serious bacterial infection. Experts say that the problem is the lack of regulatory oversight – who is supposed to be able to perform these procedures and who is actually performing them in India? Are clinics where these procedures take place fully licensed and equipped to deal with emergencies? Are misleading claims and exaggerated advertisements contributing to the problem? And what is being done to ensure patient safety? Guest: Rajetha Damisetty, a senior dermatologist based in Hyderabad and national chairperson of the Indian Association of Dermatologists, Venereologists and Leprologists (IADVL) Anti-Quackery, Legal and Ethics Committee. Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A version of this essay was published by firstpost.com at https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/what-fuels-anti-india-hate-in-the-west-13932053.htmlI am personally very pro-America, yet I too have been baffled by the noises emanating from the Trump administration regarding India, particularly from one aide. Peter Navarro, apparently some trade muckity-muck, has had a field day accusing India of various sins. Apart from the entertainment value, this leads to a serious question: Why? And why now?There is reason to believe, by connecting the dots, that there is indeed a method behind this madness. It is not a pure random walk: there is a plan, and there are good reasons why the vicious attack on India has been launched at this time and in this manner. Of course, this is based on open source and circumstantial evidence: I have no inside information whatsoever.In this context, consider what is arguably the greatest political thriller of all time: "Z" (1969) by Costa-Gavras. It is based on a real-life political murder in Greece, where a popular left-leaning candidate for President was covertly assassinated by the ruling military junta.The way the plot unravels is when the investigating magistrate, masterfully played by Jean-Louis Trintignant, notices a curious phenomenon: the use of a single phrase "lithe and fierce like a tiger", used verbatim by several eye-witnesses. He realizes that there was a criminal conspiracy to get rid of the inconvenient candidate, with plausible deniability. Words and phrases have subtle meanings, and they reveal a great deal.Thus, let me bring to your notice the following tweets:* “India could end the Ukraine war tomorrow: Modi needs to pick a side” (August 5)* “Europeans love to whinge about Trump and to claim he is soft on Russia. But after 3 years it is Donald J Trump who has finally made India pay a price for enabling Putin's butchery.” (August 6)* Speaker: “[the American taxpayer] gotta fund Modi's war”. TV Anchor (confused): “You mean Putin's war?”. Speaker: “No, I mean Modi's war”. (August 28)Do you, gentle reader, notice a pattern?Now let me tell you who the authors of these posts are. The first quoted an article by an officer in the British Special Forces, which means their covert, cloak-and-dagger military people.The second was by Boris Johnson, former British Prime Minister. Johnson, incidentally, has been accused of single-handedly spiking ceasefire talks between Russia and Ukraine in 2022, when there was a possibility that the whole sorry spectacle of the war could have been settled/brought to a close.The third is by the aforementioned Peter Navarro on an American TV channel, Bloomberg Television.I don't know about you, but it seems to me that these three statements are lineal descendants of each other, one leading seamlessly to the next.This is how narratives are built, one brick in the wall after another. In reality, India has not contravened any sanctions in buying oil from Russia, and in fact has helped maintain a cap on oil prices, which were rising because of the Ukraine-Russia war. But then who needs truth if narrative will suffice?My hypothesis is that the anti-India narrative – as seen above – has been created by the British Deep State, otherwise known as Whitehall. First from the spooks, then from the former Prime Minister, and then virally transmitted to the American Deep State. It is my general belief that the British are behind much mischief (sort of the last gasp of Empire) and have been leading the Americans by the nose, master-blaster style.Britain has never tasted defeat at the hands of Russia; while France (Napoleon) and Germany (Hitler) have. Plus the US Military Industrial Complex makes a lot of money from war.A malignant British meme, intended to hurt Russia, is now turned on to India, which is, for all intents and purposes, an innocent bystander. Britain has had a thing about both Russia (“The Great Game”) and now India, and it was precisely why it created ‘imperial fortress' Pakistan, with which to trouble, and if possible, hurt both.Then there was the second set of tweets that took things one step further. Navarro, all warmed up, blamed “Brahmins” for “profiteering by buying Russian oil at the cost of the Indian people” in a broadcast on September 1. Why he would be bothered about the “Indian people” is a good question. But what was far more interesting, indeed hilarious, was the near-simultaneous, and absurdly wrong, set of tweets by a whole group of INDI Alliance mavens.They ‘explained', in almost identical words, that what Navarro meant was not “Brahmins”, but “Boston Brahmins”, a term coined in 1860 by Oliver Wendell Holmes, a doctor/essayist, to refer to traditional US East Coast elites, generally WASPs (White Anglo Saxon Protestants) who dominate the corridors of power in the US. Many claim to be descended from the original Pilgrims, Puritan extremists from Britain, who arrived in Plymouth on the Mayflower in 1620.They go to private (‘prep') schools like Philips Exeter Academy, then Harvard or Yale, then Goldman Sachs, then Harvard Business School, and generally end up running the country as a hereditary, endogamous caste. It is very difficult for outsiders to marry into or enter this circle, although money helps. For example the Irish Catholic Kennedy clan is part of this caste because they made big bucks (partly by smuggling liquor during the Prohibition era), even though the Irish are generally looked down upon.I have long claimed that America is full of castes like this, which include the investment-banker caste, the lawyer caste, the doctor caste: all go to the same schools, the same colleges, marry each other, etc. In fact they do form the kind of exclusionary group that the western narrative imputes to India jati-varna. Anyway that's a long story, and that's not the point: it is the tweets by, for example, Karti Chidambaram, Sagarika Ghose, Saket Gokhale, et al.They were so ‘spontaneous', so near-identical, and so outright idiotic that it is impossible that they came from anything other than a ‘toolkit' supplied by the usual suspects: the regime-change specialists. And their claim was not even accurate: Navarro was indeed targeting Hindus and Brahmins, as is evident from the following tweet. There is no earthly reason for him to choose this image of Modi, other than that he was coached into doing so.So we go back to the original question: why? Who hates Hindus so much?There are a number of other incidents where Indians (in particular Hindus) have been targeted in various countries: Ireland recently; Australia some time ago and again now, see below an anti-immigration (particularly anti-Indian) rally on August 31st; Canada with its Khalistanis running amok (lest we forget, 40 years ago, they downed Air India Kanishka).Let us note the curious coincidence that these are all countries where the British have influence: Canada and Australia are in effect their vassals. Ireland is not, and I suspect the British are hated there, but somehow in the last few weeks, this British prejudice has spilled over with “Irish teenagers” physically attacking Indians (including women and children). I wonder if the “Irish teenagers” are really British agents provocateurs.So let's put two and two together: who hates Indians, Hindus and Brahmins? Why, Pakistanis, of course. And they have been burned a little by Operation Sindoor. Pahalgam didn't quite turn out the way they thought it would, considering it was scheduled during the India visit of J D Vance accompanied by his Indian/Hindu-origin wife, Usha Chilukuri Vance. That might explain why there's a sudden explosion of social-media hatred by ISI and CCP bots against Indians.Pahalgam was Phase 2 of the regime-change operation. By so visibly targeting and murdering Hindus in Pahalgam, the Pakistanis calculated they could induce massive rioting by Hindus against Muslims, which would be an excuse for “the rules-based liberal international order” to step in, exile Modi, and um… restore order, as in Bangladesh. The usual playbook.Alas, “the best laid schemes o' mice an' men gang aft agley”, and Pakistan got a whipping instead, and some of their (US or China-supplied?) nuclear assets apparently went up in smoke. But make no mistake, the regime-change gang will redouble its efforts.Phase 1 had been the 2024 elections where there were surprising losses by the BJP. Phase 3 is the ‘vote-chori' wailing by the INDI Alliance: odd, considering nobody knows which passport(s) Rahul Gandhi holds. Phase 4 is the ongoing ‘Project 37' in which renegade BJP MPs are supposed to bring down the central government.Pakistan, and its various arms, including the Khalistan project, participate with great enthusiasm in these various phases. And for all intents and purposes, the UK has now become a Pakistani colony. Recursive master-blaster, as I conjectured: Pakistani-Britons control Whitehall, Whitehall controls the US Deep State. Here's Britain's new Home Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, in the words of a suddenly-awake Briton on September 6th.An Emirati strategist, Amjad Taha, asked a valid question: why is there more terrorism in the UK than in the Middle East?Wait, there's more. Here's a loudmouth Austrian who wants to dismantle India, long a Pakistani dream. And the map is by some Jafri, which sounds like a Pakistani surname. The Austrian also wants Rahul Gandhi to be the next Prime Minister.Pakistan is itself unraveling, as can be seen in Balochistan which is in open rebellion. Their Khalistani dream is new, but Kerala and the Northeast as Islamist entities were standard memes even from Chaudhury Rehmat Ali who dreamt up Pakistan in the first place in the 1930s.Pakistan just got a boost, however, with OSINT identifying a US C-17 (a giant military cargo plane) arriving to resupply Nur Khan Airbase. This raises the question again: were US personnel and assets decimated there by Indian missiles during Operation Sindoor? Is that why the US got so upset? Did Trump read the riot act to Modi, which led to the ‘ceasefire'? Now did they replenish the F-16s etc that were blown up? See, no Pakistani losses!I imagine this goes well with the newly announced “US Department of War”. I only hope the war target here is China, not India.Speaking of US internal politics, it was utterly laughable to see Jake Sullivan, President Biden's NSA, coming to the defense of India in Foreign Affairs. He directly engineered the vicious regime change in Bangladesh, but now he's full of solicitous concern! Nice little U-turn!From a global perspective, I believe that both China and the US are intent on knee-capping India. That is the logical response from an incumbent power when there is a rising insurgent power: the Thucydides Trap idea. It is a back-handed compliment to India that it is in splendid isolation, and has to pretend to rush into the arms of China because of Trump's withering assault.India will survive the hate; but Indian-Americans may find themselves in some jeopardy as the MAGA types are now focusing their ire on them.It is, as I said, the Abhimanyu Syndrome: India is completely alone (the RIC lovefest is just marketing). That is the bad news, and also the good news. If everyone (the US Deep State, Whitehall, CCP, ISI, Soros) is against India, it means India matters. Someone said India is the ultimate swing state. No: India is the incipient superpower, the only one that can make it a G3 rather than a G2. Naturally, the G2 is not very happy to let one more into their cozy club.1910 words, 7 Sept 2025 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com/subscribe

On Saturday morning, a 45-year-old man died in Kerala of amoebic meningocephalitis. This is the fourth death reported in Kerala in less than a month of this rare but deadly infection, colloquially known as brain-eating amoeba. This year alone, over 40 cases have been reported in the State, with 11 people undergoing treatment in hospitals at present. The Health Department has invoked the Kerala Public Health Act to launch preventive and control measures, as it emerges that perhaps all waterbodies — wells, ponds, canals, swimming pools, water theme parks — could be a potential source of amoebic infection for people using them, unless these are regularly cleaned and maintained in good condition. What is this brain-eating amoeba? Why is a rare infection being seen in dozens of people across one Southern state? How is it diagnosed and treated? And how can water be used safely? Guest: Dr Aravind Reghukumar, Head of department of infectious diseases, Government Medical College Thiruvananthapuram, KeralaConvenor of Kerala State Medical Board Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a bonus audio version of our Youtube Spoiler Review of Param Sundari Follow, like and subscribe to ⁠our Youtube Channel ⁠for more videos from the Khandaan crew You can also support us and interact with us by joining our PATREON community on: https:///www.patreon.com/khandaanpodcast This week, the Khandaan Podcast takes on Param Sundari, a film that promised a breezy rom-com but left audiences scratching their heads. Starring Janhvi Kapoor as the titular Sundari and Sidharth Malhotra as the clueless “investor” Param, the movie combines poor writing, botched cultural representation, and inexplicable creative choices — like coconut tree confessions and Tamil Nadu boats showing up in Kerala. Amrita unpacks why the portrayal of Malayalis is not just lazy but offensively bad, pointing out how none of the cast seemed to have received even basic language coaching. Asim reads out savage Letterboxd reviews and admits the movie makes nobody look good — Punjabis, Malayalis, or otherwise. Yet both hosts find surprising moments of charm: Janhvi's sweetness in songs, her occasional Sridevi-esque mannerisms, and Sidharth's hotness (if not much else). They also debate the bigger picture: Bollywood's ongoing struggle with authenticity, the lack of genuine rom-coms, and why films like this end up being more “streaming filler” than theatrical event. Still, in a world of War 2 and endless action clones, Asim controversially admits he'd rather watch Param Sundari again than some of Bollywood's recent blockbusters. Funny, sharp, and slightly irreverent, this is Khandaan at its best — spending more time thinking about a film than its creators ever did. #ParamSundari #JanhviKapoor #SidharthMalhotra #BollywoodPodcast #BollywoodReview #BollywoodFans #KhandaanPodcast #HindiCinema #IndianCinema #BollywoodHotTake #BollywoodDiscussion Follow us on our socials:   / khandaanpodcast    / khandaanpodcast    / khandaanpodcast   Visit our merch store at REDBUBBLE: https://www.redbubble.com/people/khan... You can listen to Khandaan - A Bollywood Podcast on all podcast platforms: Team Khandaan Is: Asim:   / asimburney   Amrita:   / amritaiq   Sujoy:   / 9e3k  

First, we talk to The Indian Express' Shubhangi Khapre who talks about Maharashtra, where the government has invoked a 1918 Hyderabad-era gazette to address the long-standing Maratha reservation demand.Next, The Indian Express' Nikhila Henry explains how a family rift within the Bharat Rashtra Samithi has escalated into a full-blown political crisis as K Kavitha, daughter of party chief K Chandrashekar Rao, was suspended and later resigned, accusing her cousins of a conspiracy. (11:48)And in the end, we go to Kerala, where a 61-year-old farmer has stalled one of the state's largest mall projects by challenging the conversion of protected paddy land. (24:19)Hosted by Ichha SharmaWritten and produced by Shashank Bhargava and Ichha SharmaEdited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

Join us on this inspiring episode of TBCY as host Ashutosh Garg sits down with Kurian Jacob—a retired international banker turned gold medalist at the World Masters Games 2025 in Taipei, Taiwan. From his humble beginnings in a village by the river in Kerala to becoming an international master swimmer and wellness enthusiast, Kurian shares his unique journey, his passion for fitness and swimming, and the secrets behind his success at an age where most slow down.Discover how he overcame unique challenges as a senior athlete, his insights on India's national sports policy, strategies for mental strength, his daily wellness and intermittent fasting routines, and his thoughts on gut health. Kurian's story proves it's never too late to chase excellence—whether in sports or wellness.

The Backwaters of Kerala by Radio Islam

The word Tantra essentially refers to a set of texts, or a genre of spiritual literature in which we encounter profound philosophies, intricate visualizations, techniques for meditation involving the phonetic power of language and various other tools for spiritual practice. In short, the tantras (also called the āgamas) present an entire system of spiritual practice designed to lead the aspirant to the fullest realization of Reality in which all her bliss and fulfillment can be found, in which all her suffering is transcended. Tantra is a scientific (and artistic path) to God and the tantras (the source literature) come in many, many flavors to account for the many different dispositions and proclivities in the heart of the many aspirants who enter into its many living lineages. In this talk, we explore a few of the different flavors of Tantra and then present our community's paddhathi (ritual manual) for daily contemplation and practice. We say a few things about why this resource is really at the heart of the Tāntrik tradition. discuss how our role as a Tāntrik community (a kula) is really to refine this resource for the generations to come. The Kālī paddhathi is unique to our community but it draws from so, so many resources. So many streams pour into it: my upbringing in Tamil Śaiva Siddhanta in my family gurukula, at the feet of my paternal grandfather, my upbringing in Malayalee Śaktism from the jungles of Kerala (from my Mother's side of the family), the paddhatis from the Hollywood Vedanta Temple Kālī Pūjā paddhathi and from the Kali Mandir Laguna Beach as part of my involvement in the Ramakrishna lineage, the paddhathi from Abhinava Gupta's Tantrāloka, from Chaitanyananda Nathaji's (Ayyaji) Śrī Vidyā paddhathi and of course from my study of the tantras throughout my life, in general. But you know what? While this paddhathi has inherited so much from all the paddhathis that came before, it is a living, growing, breathing resource that responds to the needs, desires and unique expression of our community. Each of you contribute your presence to the guru-mandala (the circle of instruction and practice) and that in turn will affect the paddhathi, the mantras, the sequence, the flavor, and the outcome. As we grow, it grows. For in truth, the paddhathi (ritual manual), the priests/priestesses (that is, the practitioners in tthe gurukula using the paddhathi for daily ritual and practice) and the Deity (Kālī) are all part of one dynamic reality, the trinity (trika) of worshipper (pūjāri/pūjārinī), the worshipped (pūjyā) and the act of worshipping (pūjā) reconciled in the Non-Duality of Consciousness which is your essential nature, the sole Reality that inheres in all things as all things! The ones that came before walked so we could run. They gave their lives to this so we can pick up from where they left of. Let us now live up to that legacy and strive to contribute what we can to the ever deepening treasury of resources regarding the worship and veneration of our Divine Mother! May this be my constantly evolving and deepening offering to you. May this be our offering to each other. May this be our offering to the world at large and to all those that will come after us! May Her will be done! Support the showLectures happen live every Monday at 7pm PST and Friday 10am PST and again Friday at 6pm PST.Use this link and I will see you there:https://www.zoom.us/j/7028380815For more videos, guided meditations and instruction and for access to our lecture library, visit me at:https://www.patreon.com/yogawithnishTo get in on the discussion and access various spiritual materials, join our Discord here: https://discord.gg/U8zKP8yMrM

Fluent Fiction - Hindi: From Chaos to Celebration: A Hostel's Unforgettable Onam Find the full episode transcript, vocabulary words, and more:fluentfiction.com/hi/episode/2025-09-01-22-34-02-hi Story Transcript:Hi: अभी-अभी पतझड़ की शुरुआत हुई थी।En: The fall season had just begun.Hi: कॉलेज का हॉस्टल रंग-बिरंगे फूलों की माला से सजा हुआ था।En: The college hostel was adorned with a garland of colorful flowers.Hi: हर तरफ़ ओणम की ख़ुशबू बिखरी हुई थी।En: The fragrance of Onam was spread all around.Hi: आरव, प्रिय और रोहित के लिए यह विशेष समय था।En: For Aarav, Priya, and Rohit, this was a special time.Hi: आरव, जो अपनी सांस्कृतिक जड़ों से गहराई से जुड़ा था, इस साल ओणम को ख़ास बनाने की इच्छा रखता था।En: Aarav, who was deeply connected to his cultural roots, wished to make this year's Onam special.Hi: आरव ने अपने दोस्तों से कहा, "दोस्तों, हमें इस साल ओणम को यादगार बनाना है।"En: Aarav said to his friends, "Friends, we need to make this year's Onam memorable."Hi: प्रिय ने उत्साह से सिर हिलाया, "हाँ, आरव! हम सब मिलकर करेंगे।"En: Priya nodded enthusiastically, "Yes, Aarav! We'll do it together."Hi: लेकिन रोहित ने आरामदायक अंदाज में कहा, "इतना क्या तामझाम आरव? थोड़ी मस्ती काफी है, ना?"En: But Rohit said in a relaxed manner, "Why so much fuss, Aarav? A little fun should be enough, right?"Hi: पर आरव की नज़र ऊँचे लक्ष्य पर थी।En: But Aarav had his sights set high.Hi: उसे पता था कि बजट और समय की कमी एक चुनौती हो सकती है।En: He knew that the lack of budget and time could be a challenge.Hi: कुछ छात्र भी उसमें उत्साह नहीं दिखा रहे थे।En: Some students were not showing much enthusiasm either.Hi: आरव ने एक योजना बनाई।En: Aarav made a plan.Hi: उसने प्रिय से मदद मांगी कि वह सजावट की व्यवस्था करे और रोहित से कहा कि अपनी आकर्षक शैली से छात्रों का ध्यान आकर्षित करे।En: He asked Priya for help with decorations and told Rohit to use his charming style to attract the students' attention.Hi: "चिंता मत करो, आरव। मैं अपनी पूरी कोशिश करूंगी," प्रिय ने वादा किया।En: "Don't worry, Aarav. I will do my best," Priya promised.Hi: रोहित, थोड़ी अनमने ढंग से ही सही, पर तैयार था छात्रों को उत्साहित करने के लिए।En: Rohit, albeit a bit reluctantly, was ready to enthuse the students.Hi: जल्द ही, हॉस्टल में हलचल मच गई।En: Soon, there was a buzz in the hostel.Hi: छात्रों ने अपने अपने तरीके से मेहनत शुरू कर दी।En: The students began working hard in their own ways.Hi: कुछ पारंपरिक केरल भोजन तैयार करने लगे, तो कुछ संगीत और नृत्य की अभ्यास में जुट गए।En: Some started preparing traditional Kerala food, while others got busy practicing music and dance.Hi: जैसे-जैसे समय बीतता गया, आरव की मेहनत रंग लाने लगी।En: As time passed, Aarav's efforts began to bear fruit.Hi: आख़िरकार, ओणम का दिन आ ही गया।En: Finally, the day of Onam arrived.Hi: कहीं से अचानक खबर आई कि एक महत्वपूर्ण नृत्य प्रदर्शन में शामिल कलाकार बीमार पड़ गए हैं।En: Suddenly, news came that the artists involved in an important dance performance had fallen ill.Hi: आरव के मन में कुछ तनाव सा छाया।En: A sort of tension loomed in Aarav's mind.Hi: ये समारोह का महत्वपूर्ण हिस्सा था।En: This was a crucial part of the celebration.Hi: लेकिन उसने हार न मानी।En: But he didn't give up.Hi: उसने प्रिय और रोहित के साथ तुरंत एक योजना बनाई।En: He quickly made a plan with Priya and Rohit.Hi: उसके त्वरित निर्णय ने सबको प्रभावित किया।En: His swift decision-making impressed everyone.Hi: रोहित ने कुछ छात्रों को और जोड़ लिया और प्रिय ने जल्दी ही नई तैयारी शुरू कर दी।En: Rohit gathered more students, and Priya quickly started new preparations.Hi: रात को, जब ओणम समारोह अपने चरम पर था, हर तरफ़ ख़ुशियाँ और हर्षोल्लास का माहौल था।En: At night, when the Onam celebration was at its peak, there was an atmosphere of joy and rejoicing everywhere.Hi: आरव की आँखों में संतोष की चमक थी।En: There was a gleam of satisfaction in Aarav's eyes.Hi: समारोह ने शामिल सभी को जोड़ दिया था, और सभी का कुशल सहयोग उसे अपने प्रयास में सफल बनाता नज़र आया।En: The celebration had united everyone present, and the efficient collaboration of all seemed to make his efforts successful.Hi: उस रात, जब सारी गतिविधियाँ समाप्त हुईं, आरव ने प्रिय और रोहित की तरफ़ देखकर कहा, "शुक्रिया दोस्तों। मैं अकेले ये नहीं कर पाता।"En: That night, when all the activities were over, Aarav looked at Priya and Rohit and said, "Thank you, friends. I couldn't have done it alone."Hi: प्रिय मुस्कुराई और बोली, "आरव, असल में तुमने हमें जोड़ा।"En: Priya smiled and said, "In fact, it was you who brought us together, Aarav."Hi: और रोहित ने कहा, "विशाल योजना बनाने में तुम्हारा कौशल अद्भुत था, आरव।"En: And Rohit said, "Your skill in making grand plans was amazing, Aarav."Hi: इस अनुभव ने आरव को ये सिखाया कि जब हम मिलकर काम करते हैं, तो बड़ी से बड़ी चुनौती भी आसान हो जाती है।En: This experience taught Aarav that when we work together, even the biggest challenges become easier.Hi: उसने अपनी नेतृत्व क्षमता में विश्वास हासिल किया और मित्रों के साथ एक अनमोल याद बनाई।En: He gained confidence in his leadership abilities and created a priceless memory with his friends.Hi: ओणम समारोह वो क्षण था जिसने हॉस्टल में सभी के दिल को एक छोर से बांध दिया था।En: The Onam celebration was a moment that connected everyone in the hostel with a single bond. Vocabulary Words:adorned: सजा हुआgarland: मालाfragrance: ख़ुशबूcultural roots: सांस्कृतिक जड़ोंmemorable: यादगारenthusiastically: उत्साह सेfuss: तामझामenthusiasm: उत्साहchallenge: चुनौतीdecorations: सजावटcharming: आकर्षकreluctantly: अनमने ढंग सेbuzz: हलचलtraditional: पारंपरिकbear fruit: रंग लानाtension: तनावswift: त्वरितdecision-making: निर्णयimpressed: प्रभावितgleam: चमकrejoicing: हर्षोल्लासunity: जोड़नाcollaboration: सहयोगleadership: नेतृत्वpriceless: अनमोलbond: छोरefficient: कुशलcrucial: महत्वपूर्णlooms: छायाcapacity: क्षमता

Send us a textIn this episode of Third Eye Roll, Justine and Scarlett dive into the messy, mystical, and often misunderstood world of lineage. From the Sanskrit idea of paramparā—the living flow of wisdom from one to another—they challenge Western obsessions with certificates, credentials, and “lineage flexing.”Instead, they frame lineage as a relationship: teacher and student co-creating, transmitting, and transforming wisdom across time. Expect mythic riffs on Vyāsa and Gaṇeśa, Jyotiṣ insights from Magha Nakṣatra, and personal stories of their own root teachers—from yoga in Southern California basements to long afternoons in Ayurvedic pharmacies of Kerala.The duo also explore the shadow sides of lineage (authority games, spiritual branding, exploitation) while celebrating its heart as an alive, relational, embodied current. And yes, they still find time for their pop-culture picks: thrifted vintage as “wearable lineage,” DJ Drez and Miles Davis as remix-gurus, and Star Wars' Jedi council as the ultimate metaphor for transmission gone cosmic.Lineage, it turns out, isn't a receipt you can wave around—it's a flame you keep alive by tending it together.Support the show

‘Karnataka's money belongs to Kannadigas, not to Gandhi family's political fortunes,' said Karnataka BJP chief on Siddaramaiah-led govt's disclosure & demand for additional funds.  

“I want people to understand South Asian art as broader than a single gallery or a single artist, but as a larger cultural movement. I want people to encounter art in all parts of their lives, and I'm constantly thinking about new ways to achieve that. I was very aware, as someone launching a South Asia-focused gallery, that this was the cultural dynamic that undergirded the way that most people in the West were thinking about art from the region. Taking that on directly and inviting artists to work with that theme was a really important ground for setting the ethos of the gallery and the types of critical questions we wanted to tackle with the work we were doing.”My guest today is Rajiv Menon, a gallerist and curator who is carving out a distinctive space in the contemporary art world. Based in Los Angeles, Rajiv Menon holds a PhD from NYU, where he studied global media and visual culture, and he's also a passionate collector of South Asian art. He founded Rajiv Menon Contemporary with a clear mission: to bring artists from South Asia and its diaspora to a wider audience, and to cultivate a new generation of art collectors within these communities. His exhibitions have tackled fascinating themes, from the exuberant and sometimes overwhelming world of the Indian wedding through Viraj Khanna's intricate textile art in Why Did I Say Yes?, to a deep dive into the creativity of Kerala in Three Steps of Land, and a compelling look at how artists transform nostalgia into an aesthetic movement in The Past Is a Country. His work resonates far beyond the gallery walls, aiming to shift our collective culture. He's also recently been honored by the City of Los Angeles for his contributions to the arts. @rajivmenoncontemporaryEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I want people to understand South Asian art as broader than a single gallery or a single artist, but as a larger cultural movement. I want people to encounter art in all parts of their lives, and I'm constantly thinking about new ways to achieve that. I was very aware, as someone launching a South Asia-focused gallery, that this was the cultural dynamic that undergirded the way that most people in the West were thinking about art from the region. Taking that on directly and inviting artists to work with that theme was a really important ground for setting the ethos of the gallery and the types of critical questions we wanted to tackle with the work we were doing.”My guest today is Rajiv Menon, a gallerist and curator who is carving out a distinctive space in the contemporary art world. Based in Los Angeles, Rajiv Menon holds a PhD from NYU, where he studied global media and visual culture, and he's also a passionate collector of South Asian art. He founded Rajiv Menon Contemporary with a clear mission: to bring artists from South Asia and its diaspora to a wider audience, and to cultivate a new generation of art collectors within these communities. His exhibitions have tackled fascinating themes, from the exuberant and sometimes overwhelming world of the Indian wedding through Viraj Khanna's intricate textile art in Why Did I Say Yes?, to a deep dive into the creativity of Kerala in Three Steps of Land, and a compelling look at how artists transform nostalgia into an aesthetic movement in The Past Is a Country. His work resonates far beyond the gallery walls, aiming to shift our collective culture. He's also recently been honored by the City of Los Angeles for his contributions to the arts. @rajivmenoncontemporaryEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I want people to understand South Asian art as broader than a single gallery or a single artist, but as a larger cultural movement. I want people to encounter art in all parts of their lives, and I'm constantly thinking about new ways to achieve that. I was very aware, as someone launching a South Asia-focused gallery, that this was the cultural dynamic that undergirded the way that most people in the West were thinking about art from the region. Taking that on directly and inviting artists to work with that theme was a really important ground for setting the ethos of the gallery and the types of critical questions we wanted to tackle with the work we were doing.”My guest today is Rajiv Menon, a gallerist and curator who is carving out a distinctive space in the contemporary art world. Based in Los Angeles, Rajiv Menon holds a PhD from NYU, where he studied global media and visual culture, and he's also a passionate collector of South Asian art. He founded Rajiv Menon Contemporary with a clear mission: to bring artists from South Asia and its diaspora to a wider audience, and to cultivate a new generation of art collectors within these communities. His exhibitions have tackled fascinating themes, from the exuberant and sometimes overwhelming world of the Indian wedding through Viraj Khanna's intricate textile art in Why Did I Say Yes?, to a deep dive into the creativity of Kerala in Three Steps of Land, and a compelling look at how artists transform nostalgia into an aesthetic movement in The Past Is a Country. His work resonates far beyond the gallery walls, aiming to shift our collective culture. He's also recently been honored by the City of Los Angeles for his contributions to the arts. @rajivmenoncontemporaryEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

“I want people to understand South Asian art as broader than a single gallery or a single artist, but as a larger cultural movement. I want people to encounter art in all parts of their lives, and I'm constantly thinking about new ways to achieve that. I was very aware, as someone launching a South Asia-focused gallery, that this was the cultural dynamic that undergirded the way that most people in the West were thinking about art from the region. Taking that on directly and inviting artists to work with that theme was a really important ground for setting the ethos of the gallery and the types of critical questions we wanted to tackle with the work we were doing.”My guest today is Rajiv Menon, a gallerist and curator who is carving out a distinctive space in the contemporary art world. Based in Los Angeles, Rajiv Menon holds a PhD from NYU, where he studied global media and visual culture, and he's also a passionate collector of South Asian art. He founded Rajiv Menon Contemporary with a clear mission: to bring artists from South Asia and its diaspora to a wider audience, and to cultivate a new generation of art collectors within these communities. His exhibitions have tackled fascinating themes, from the exuberant and sometimes overwhelming world of the Indian wedding through Viraj Khanna's intricate textile art in Why Did I Say Yes?, to a deep dive into the creativity of Kerala in Three Steps of Land, and a compelling look at how artists transform nostalgia into an aesthetic movement in The Past Is a Country. His work resonates far beyond the gallery walls, aiming to shift our collective culture. He's also recently been honored by the City of Los Angeles for his contributions to the arts. @rajivmenoncontemporaryEpisode Websitewww.creativeprocess.info/podInstagram:@creativeprocesspodcast

After three years of negotiating, talks over a global plastics treaty came to an end in Geneva last week with no agreement in place. So why has it been so difficult to get countries to agree to cut plastic production? Madeleine Finlay hears from Karen McVeigh, a senior reporter for Guardian Seascapes, about a particularly damaging form of plastic pollution causing devastation off the coast of Kerala, and where we go now that countries have failed to reach a deal. Help support our independent journalism at theguardian.com/sciencepod

In today's digital-first world, your personal brand is your most valuable asset. Whether you're an entrepreneur, coach, creator, or professional, how people perceive you online directly impacts your opportunities. If you've been searching for the best personal branding strategist in Kochi, Kerala, one name stands out—Krishnalal KJ.

First we talk to The Indian Express' Amrita Nayak Dutta about India's military academies, where hundreds of cadets over the years have been forced to leave training due to life-altering disabilities and what happens to cadets who are medically discharged.Next, The Indian Express' Arun Sharma talks about Kishtwar in Jammu and Kashmir, where flash floods swept through a crowded yatra route, destroying bridges, camps, and leaving dozens missing. (14:01)And in the end, we look at Kerala's newly released draft policy for elderly persons, which outlines a multi-pronged approach including local care cadres, a dedicated Vayojana Commission, and a budgetary mandate for elder welfare. (24:25)Hosted by Ichha SharmaProduced and written by Shashank Bhargava, Niharika Nanda and Ichha SharmaEdited and mixed by Suresh Pawar