Travails of traveling in Kerala

My professional work of designing and building houses all over Kerala including acting as Vasthu and Structural consultant  make me travel at least three days in a week that too not less than 200Km in a day.Some days it goes up to 400 Km and more.
Traveling even by car in Kerala is not a pleasurable activity if you discount beautiful nature that can be seen on the way.I will talk of traveling to different areas or zones of Kerala landscape.
1.High ranges of Kerala
About six years back,when I was called as consultant for a house to be designed and built at Nedumkandam I was reluctant mainly due to difficulty in traveling up and down in a single day as I have to be back in Cochin for the next day work.Roads to Nedumkandam are basically hair pin turns moving up the hills or down the hills when you come back.We used to leave Cochin at 4.30 in the morning.Finding a restaurant on the way for breakfast is a tough proposition as there is very few decent eatable places on the way.Some where near Cheruthoni we have located  a not so bad place .This small restaurant will give Idiyappam with vegetable stew of almost acceptable version.So we used to frequent this place always on our trips.When we go by Karimban there was another not so good place.But we will have no other option.

Looking out while travelling will make you feel proud of natural beauty of Kerala with hills and valleys coming in procession with water springs abundant coming out  from the greenery occasionally.Near Idukki dam I have once taken picture of  water falls which is the best on the way.
In monsoon period you can see trees falling on to the road some times obstructing part of road.I was told that buses and trucks plying in this road  carries tools to cut trees fallen to road  as at times these fallen trees will block the road.Some places you can see water gushing out from the higher level through road and falling down to lower level by flowing  above road.
In the mornings mist will be embracing nature around with very little visibility left at a distance.Now look at pictures.

That concrete wall is that of Idukky Hydro Electric power station catchment area.See this water fall and surrounding areas.While you move in the road,road is becoming like an intruder in the tranquil beauty of the nature.

2.Paddy fields of Kerala
Some may wonder whether Kerala still have paddy fields.Keralites do not want to do any manual labour these days.We depend on Tamilians and north Indians coming  to Kerala for work.Without them careless Keralites who get gulf money and abundant money by cultivating rubber which has price going high always,cannot simply live.With money coming without hard work or toiling in sun, drinking alcohol is becoming a usual time pass for many especially in the middle Kerala areas.While passing through Kuravilangad,Pala area,I have seen many  people drunk even at mid day.Look at pictures from middleKerala areas with  rare paddy fields  in Kuttanad and Palghat areas.

Kerala roads will test the patience of the traveller as you get dust gushing into your face while driving down the road.Potholes are quite normal.If you find good road like the one you see from Alleppey to Changanassery made by Pathibel and that between Muvattupuzha and Thodupuzha you will get surprised.

Most of the middle Kerala regions,you will find it difficult to locate a reasonably good eating place.Everywhere you have bars as if it is the essential requirement for a traveller.As I keep travelling in the same road again and again I have made a survey and located reasonably good eating places on the way.I plan trip in such a manner to be nearer to a good eating place at meal time.

Rivers and lakes of Kerala make the middle portion attractive and you have good beaches in coastal area and close to rivers you will find most of them are polluted heavily with industrial and other wastes.It appears that industries in Kerala and people in Kerala consider rivers to be dumping place for waste.Some of these waste lines from industries are placed so deep that no body will notice its presence.I think pollution control people must be making money by collecting bribe from industry people to close their eyes by allowing such dangerous waste dumping in rivers.Bribe is no more a sin.It is the right of a government official or those in power.
You can see in pictures above a crude method of ferrying people and vehicle through passages between two small towns separated by river or lake.Two country boats will be tied together and connected to a motorized boat to ferry people and vehicles.We call this Junkar service.Why don’t the authorities think of putting up bridges in these locations instead of people and vehicles to wait for hours for this risky  ferry arrangement.Recently I have waited for one and a half hours to get my turn  for getting into ferry Junkar from Cherthala to Vaikom on my way to Ettumanoor site.

Criminals gaining respectability

I was rather shocked to see in the days just passed when a criminal wanted for anti national and cold blooded murder of innocents was treated with utmost respect and Kerala rulers seeking his permission to arrest him.Police was made to wait for days together when the wanted criminal might have been negotiating with rulers of the land to find out an escape route for him with their assistance and guidance.If such a course  of action is possible for criminals with support from political leadership,what can be the fate of our democracy and democratic and constitutional institutions?

Our forefathers who have sacrificed their lives for freedom of India must have turned  restless and angry in their graves when they saw that money power can buy anything in our country.Nobody bothers about source of that money.As long as you have ill gotten or otherwise money in plenty you can buy rulers,political leadership,officials,lawyers of the highest caliber and experience and may be any one who can take decisions.

Patriotism and  refusing favours given for illegal actions have become extremely old fashioned.All political leaders cry that this man was in jail for 9 years and finally let off free.Our judicial system allows culprits to escape as it is based on the assumption that even if guilty are not punished,suspected guilty should be let free.Just because this man was let out in the earlier case,does it bring back to life 58 innocents torched to death in the bomb blast?Have they killed themselves  bringing  bombs and blasting it at a place? Who killed them? If nobody was punished does it mean that heinous act of killing was not a crime?

I do not understand why such a person should be given all these extra importance and reverence.Once let off from a crime,any criminal will try to repeat the crime this time with more precautions to escape punishment.What if he has the law enforcing authority willing to do anything to hide and save him come what may?

This is exactly what is happening in Kerala.Both opposition and ruling party is contesting each other to give extra care , protection and chances to escape punishment to those who arrange killings and anti national activities.All they need is money and votes in election.For that they will do anything.I hope at least Karnataka will have more honest police officials ,politicians and other judicial services

Futile Dialogues with Pakistan

There were lot of headline news about dialogue between Pakistan and India and funny talks of trying one up man ship by both parties using verbal exercises.

I wonder why they conduct such meaningless dialogues once in a while.Do rulers here in India and Pakistan know that these exercises are futile? Over the last sixty years of existence of Pakistan common people living in India and Pakistan has suffered a lot.Many wars.Continuous attempts of Pakistan to thwart normal life in Kashmir.Continuous terrorist attacks in Kashmir killing innocent people.India spending nearly 1.5 lakh crores of rupees every year in defense spending .Pakistan people living with bomb blasts and very pathetic life with no hope of development of any nature.Terrorist outfits in many parts of India by Muslims aided and abetted by Pakistan.Why all these? Who get benefitted by these continuous killings and terrorist activities?

In Kerala these terrorist outfits have converted themselves as political parties and by bribing heavily leaders of front line political parties and police machinery,they manage to escape after doing any heinous crimes.Even the media propagate their cause describing them as innocents even after doing crimes and escaping punishment by law using money power.
Our media and political leaders are ready to allow any anti national anti people activities and secretly support them if they are paid well.

What is the beginning of all these ant national anti people activities? Division of India in 1947 and formation of Pakistan.Has any common man living in India or Pakistan benefitted by this partition? No.It has given them only deaths, pain and loss of money continuously for the last sixty three years and for all coming years it will give only death,pain and losses  only.

Dominic Lapiere and Larry Collins in their book “Freedom at Midnight” have squarely put blame on one man and his greed for power for the creation of Pakistan-Nehru.He wanted to be first premier of India at any cost.He was not bothered about train full people getting killed by rioting following the division.He was not bothered about people forced to flee Pakistan trying to save their life leaving everything they owned at places they were born and lived all their life and getting killed on their journey to safety.

Jinnah was not insistent on creation of Pakistan.He wanted to live his last days in the house he built”brick by brick” at Mumbai.But he could not even see it in his days after partition.Gandhi kept quiet.He did not even think of using his oft repeated weapon of “fast unto death” to prevent creation of Pakistan.May be had a soft corner for Nehru.And look at what Nehru did.He ridiculed and insulted lakhs of people who sacrificed their life for independence of India from British by installing his family rule instead of democracy In India.Due to this family rule ,we had to suffer ill educated incompetent rulers like Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi .Today a highly competent Dr.Manmohan Singh rules  India not on his own but as a proxy of an Italian nobody,thanks to power of family rule .We are sure to be driven to be ruled by a highly incompetent son of that Italian woman in the near future.

Coming back to Indo Pak talks,I can only find only one reason for such meaningless talks-Rulers of both country trying to mislead people that they are trying for peaceful coexistence aiming at welfare and peace of common man.It is only a gimmick to fool common man in both countries cheating them by giving false hopes.These rulers who do not have slightest concern for the common man are giving them hopes ,only thing they can give to hide their incompetence and lack of patriotic sincerity.

Turning against judiciary,church and everyone else

I was rather shocked to see an almost illiterate leader of the so called party which talk as if they work to protect interests of the proletariat and in reality work for themselves shouting abuses against Judges of High court of Kerala.

Next day other similar leaders of the red who take pride in abusing courts,church leaders or any one whom society give respect,started making chorus of abuses against judges.What if such abuses are made against constitutional institutions by them when they happen to be in the powerful ruling party?

I was amused to note that for initiating contempt of court proceedings prior permission of Advocate General who is an appointee of the ruling party will have to  be obtained.Naturally he will deny any such permission and the red leaders small and big can continue to abuse anyone with choicest language without any fear of action against them.

We common people feel jittery when the last resort of justice for some one without political backing and money power is being treated like this with complete impunity.What if such safeguard mechanisms are thrown away by these barbarians? All powerful one man high command of the brigade has publically proclaimed that his underdogs are shouting with impunity and they can go on doing it.

I will not be surprised if Judges are stopped and abused  in the road by these hooligans with police and power in their hand.Police may pretend not seeing such violent acts against basic infrastructure of our democratic system.In the light of these verbal abuses and militant processions in the road,I only hope that common people will use at least the only weapon they get once in five years to throw them away from power and never allow them to talk and act in this uncivilised manner.

Fuel price hike-War against people

Common man in this country which is supposed to be having a democratically elected government “for the people,by the people” is helpless.Whatever these rulers of the country (who call themselves as servants of people but in reality looters of the country)do ,common man will have to suffer as none of them are not even bothered about common people of this country.Whether you rise price of petroleum products to any level and whether inflation goes so high to make our currency a valueless paper,these rulers are not affected.They get money in tones by looting the country and all their personal needs and comforts are taken care of fully by the state machinery.This is true whether the party ruling has a khadi uniform or saffron uniform or a red blood colour uniform.None of them are bothered about the people or even the economic health of the country.

The other day I was talking to an old friend of mine who has just recently retired as CMD of a large public sector undertaking of Kerala.I met him at the corporate office of a private sector company possibly for discussions to get an assignment in that company at a senior level. I asked him-“Why you did not try to get an extension or a posting in any other public sector undertaking?”His answer was not surprising to me.

“The central minister in charge is extremely corrupt.How long I can sign on the dotted lines sanctioning or abetting his looting?” I know my friend to be an upright honest man.In an earlier occasion when a high ranking person from Delhi representing a Dutch MNC contacted me for  assistance to approach this man for a murky deal,I have straight away refused without even contacting my friend knowing his integrity and honesty.
Funniest part of the story is that this particular central minister is not even considered as corrupt by the media who are eager to get any such story.Gone are the days when corrupt deals of few crores like Bofors  get headlines in news.Now they loot in lakhs of crores and still nobody bothers.Can you imagine these crooks ruling the country taking interest in lives of you and me?They are not bothered even if diesel price is made double and one tea or coffee price reaches Rs.100 or more.

Look at price structure of petroleum products.Almost 50% of the cost is taxes and duties.When you pay Rs.41 for a liter of diesel,price which the oil company gets is only Rs.20/-This price of Rs.20 itself has got in it inputs of import duty on crude oil and uncontrolled heavy overhead expenses of public sector oil companies merry making without any competition.More than 25% of the crude oil is indigenously manufactured and it does not have any  price to be paid or import duty.Who bothers about all these?

When Kerala ruling party declares yet another Harthal threatening people with dire consequences if they move out on daily chores from their houses as a protest against petroleum price hike,I wonder why they are not even thinking of reducing 25% local tax on price of diesel if they have even the slightest concern for the poor helpless people of this country run by political crooks including them?

They will not reduce taxes and will consider petroleum products as the easiest route to amass maximum tax revenue knowing  very well that common man will have to buy it whatever may be the cost.

How to escape after doing anything

There are few people who try and become VIPs on their own.They manage money somehow.As long as you have money power nobody bothers to ask you how you got it.Once you have enough money amassed,then you need political power.What better way than forming a political party? If you have money ,you can get people to shout for you,and very recently two people even pretended to do suicide for the “great leader unable to hear possibility of him getting arrested.” Luckily they got what they wanted(media coverage) and they escaped unhurt in the attempt to self immolate them for fear of their” undisputed leader getting arrested”!

Look at what all the great achievements of this great leader.More than 55 innocent people killed in bomb blast at Coimbatore are forgotten by every one.Nobody is punished for the great crime for “lack of evidence”.Our judicial system has got the basic principle that it simply do not bother if a culprit of heinous crimes is left out.Funniest part of the story is that the culprit start talking as if the bomb blast has taken place without anybody doing anything for it.Probably those people died in bomb blast are punished by God for their sins without any of the great “leaders” doing anything for it.

After escaping jail,the accused is treated as a saint.Great Pinaray talks as if he is innocence in human form.One more Kalamassery bus torching and now Bangalore bomb blast.With the help of money power and political power that follows he is still eloquently talking as if he is innocent.Probably he will again manage to obtain no evidence for this case also.One more bomb blast and several innocent people die.But who cares for them? people behind such anti national activities are acclaimed as innocent VIPs!There is not a single political or otherwise leader in Kerala willing to call a spade a spade.Those dead in bomb blasts are simply forgotten.They have no money power or political power

What we can do for you

1. Architectural Services
For building your dream house in Kerala or for building any other type of building, we can design your building by providing you effective guidance and design for
a)Preparation of Plan of the building
b) Elevations both two dimensional and three dimensional
c) Submission drawings to local authority
d) Engineering Estimate specifying cost for each item of work
e)Structural Engineering drawings for execution of the work
f) Detailed architectural drawings for the work
g) Interior design
h)Landscape and exterior work details
i) Site visits as and when required for guidance and supervision
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For purchase of land or building in Kerala, we can provide you the following services:

a) Locating land or building for purchase with the assistance of our Real estate division ( in and around Cochin only).
b)Architectural, structural and legal evaluation of the property to be purchased
c) Verification of title documents of the property by legal experts
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f) Periodic maintenance of the property if the property is in and around Cochin
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We can guide you on Vasthu before developing plan of the house and during construction also.
We can also inspect your existing building for Vasthu compliance and suggest suitable modifications to obtain better Vasthu compliance.
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7. Land scaping and other services
Our experts can convert your vacant space into more useful space and enhance its appearance and utility. Land around your house can be converted into more useful space with better appearance and aesthetic look.
    .
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We have qualified experts with experience in building more than 200 houses in different parts of Kerala and outside state and we have designed and remodeled much more houses.  
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