Malayalam Fonts Kerala, Thoolika, Matweb, ML-TTKarthika and Manorama are available here in a single zip file. Unzip and put under windows\fonts\ directory

malfont.zip

Also see the following site

Many Fonts (Mal)

Note: Links are for information only.

Kerala Model has been praised by many in the 90s.

Here is the most positive article on the issue.

Daniel McKibben

But this model has been also under scrutiny.

The Development Debacle of Kerala The Perils of Social Development without Economic Growth

Rajeev Sreenivasan On rediff

Important Annoucement: Nov 2004

Keralaforum site has been inactive except for some small news items now and then. We don't have the resources to continue this FREE site.

On the other hand Observer , known to many of the participants of Malayalavedhi Dicsussion Forum has kindly come forward to handle a column of his own. This will be called "Devil's Own Country".

The main Page is here now: God's Devil's Own Country.

Film Stars of Yesterday Just starting a Pictorial Series, September 2003

Kananachayayil aadu mekkan.. Ramanan, Changampuzha's lyrics

Ente Swapnathin Thamarapoikayil... Yesudas in "Achani"

Thalakku Meethe Sunyaakaasam KPAC dramas song...

Dr Ali MBBS Profession : Farmer (Deepika News)

Commodity PriceFall Prices of Agricultural Products in Kerala

Accidental or Planned Within two decades 5 topmost Congress leaders died unnatural pre-mature deaths. Three of them belong to Nehru family. Was there a planned conspiracy to eliminate top Congress leaders? Keralworld Article in Malayalam [External Link]

ADB to exploit Kerala Govt and the People! Govt washes the feet of ADB bosses!

Where is the Humanity heading? Article by Prof Claus Kernig, on North-South Divide (pdf format) [External Link]

Suryanelli Accuser's Wrist Chopped Gang takes revenge on the chlid rapist and Congress politician. Related news on former Congress Minister's dubious role in the affair News: 12.3.2002

Kerala Strike Withdrawn. 9.3.2002 15.40 GMTThe 32-day-old strike by over 500,000 government employees and teachers in Kerala was called off on Saturday, 9th March 2002.

We will also put all the links to all the strike related entries within this page.

Antony/Karunakaran/Murali/Padmaja Circus¦ÈAÞøcJßKß¿ÏßæÜ çºÈAÞøc¢!

Bribe Situation in Kerala A survey of bribe situation in Kerala - Full article Coming Shortly!

While Rome is burning.. Contrasting News!

Excess of IAS Officers? Doing nothing! AN outdated leftover from the Colonal times

Treatment of Women in India Veteran Journalist TJS George

Accidents on the Road Kerala Minister's reckless car - on New Year's Day

Liquer Consumption In Kerala and abroad!

namechange Cochin to Kochi - Pseudonationalism at its peak!
We come back to this issue after a long time! Dec 2001

Language Policy of Kerala CNN's top anchors Joanathan Mann and Riz Khan both can speak Hindi. Known British Actress Diana Riggs also can speak Hindi though she stayed only 7 years as a baby in India. But our own Kerala Children (modern Sahibs) cannot read mother tongue!
Article Coming Shortly!

Godmen of India Reprint of an article from Asiaweek 1997 NEW here

malayalam1.htm Malayalam Alphabet a quick look

malayalam2.htm Malayalam Alphabet Continued

Kerala Districts Maps of all the districts

Merck Manual of Medicine - Home Edition A very useful medical link from the United States

Malayalam Songs Malayalam Songs in Real Audio Format

Tharangini Yesudas' own Studio Site (Malayalam, Tamil, Hindi)

Now in this 21st century, Kerala is in the news, as the most literate region in a developing country. Kerala is also credited with the region where the villages are equally (or even more)developed compared to the cities, a status we see only in small developed countries like Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland) or Holland. Kerala is also known for religious harmony. There is no place on earth where there is a mix of three major religions in a ratio 60:20:20 living in peace (at least not in war!). [As a Polish tourist, puzzled by the sight of Hammer and Sickle flag side by side of the Catholic Church, once mentioned that you can also add Communist Party as the fourth religion in Kerala!]

Pros...

Let us look at the achievements. The state is 100% electrified, more or less. The literacy is 95% and above. There are schools in every village. The nearest College is only within 20 km or less. There are computerized public telephone boothes within 1-2 km radius anywhere in Kerala Coast. There is no exodus of people to the cities as seen in the rest of India and elsewhere in the third world. A Kerala village is more or less like a suburb of a city.

Female literacy is at 87 per cent - compared with the 29 per cent in India as a whole. Kerala women have on average two children as opposed to four. They are far more likely to go into higher education. And they hold 30 per cent of government jobs.

Religious institutions, by and large, do promote harmony. Communities are not segragated. They do live side by side, like nowhere else in the world, including the so-called 'civilized Europe'. Religious fanaticism and dogmatism is not in the mainstream.

Cons...

Let's look at the negative side. First of all the above achievements make the Malayalee proud and wrongly satisfied too early.

Poverty is still there. At least 40% of the population still live below the poverty line. The state is very rich - in terms of natural resources and spices and with the influx of the Gulf money. Then why is the poverty not eliminated?

The difference between rich and poor, though not as high as the rest of India, is still very large and still rising.

Though the literacy is close tp 100%, in higher education the state has gone backward! In 1947, Kerala ranked number one in India, and today it is a pathetic 23rd!!! There are no recognized institutes of higher learning, comparable to the IITs in Kerala. Earlier Madras with IITs and Engg Colleges went far ahead of Kerala. Now both Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are well ahead of Kerala in terms of institutes for higher learning.

Industries have been destroyed in Kerala. True for both public and private, large as well as small scale. Worthless labour strikes supported by the leftist (or all) parties in Kerala, have systematically destroyed the industries. As for the agriculture sector, Kerala can no longer claim to produce neither rice nor coconut in large quantities. Besides, the price structure of agriculture commodities like coconut and rubber have collapsed compeletely.

The most literate state seems to be fond of illiterate people leading the State's own governments! We have politicians and leaders whose culture, intelligence and integrity are far below that of a normal person.

Collapse of Normal Schools!

Normal school system is under collapse now. The sad fact is that the rich 'Gulf Malayalee' is unaware of this debacle. Neither are our educational experts! Children are not sent to the nearest school anymore. They must first go to the expensive Kindergarten (or LKG and UKG as they are called now). Then the parents must find an expensive English Medium school with or withhout CBSE syllabus! Then there is entrance exams and rat race for coaching. Then there is the search for a seat in Karnataka with donations anywhere between 100.000 to 2 million rupees depending upon the course!

Superstitions on the Increase!

One's religion is his/her personal issue. So long as it doesn't affect others, it is none of our business to comment on such beliefs. But superstitions, and cheating in the name of religion is a public issue. When Narayana Guru fought against the religious evils in the society, when he led the reformation among the people of Kerala, the objectives were very clear and unambiguous. To get rid of the superstitions, rituals and change the society. The subsequent movements were all affected by this reformation.

But, the call for change seems to have stopped since we gained independence! Especially among Hindus, there seems to be a leadership crisis. People are desperately looking for a living divine person. As if worshipping in all the temples were not enough, new godmen/women are being reincarnated or sworn in every now and then.

Whether we admit or not, what is happening is historically a prescription for a decaying society! By the time people realize, it will be too late.

These and other issues will be discussed in detail in the coming days.

This forum stands for simple sanity, truth and honesty. The forum calls for social, cultural and intellectual changes and attitudes in Kerala.