Kerala's terrorists and darlings

If you have been reading of Keralites being linked to terror in October 2008 and fretting about it, let me tell you not to lose heart.

Yes, indeed, police in Kerala are saying there are enough reasons to believe that youth from Kerala have links to terror in Jammu and Kashmir. For proof, they had the bodies of a few Keralites who got killed in J&K.

October's incidents must have agonized some parents, and the society in general.

But I would reassure them that very many good things as well are happening with youth in the state.

A few young men got killed in J&K apparently playing the terror game. Let me tell you what some other young men in Kerala did in October, bringing pure delight to the state.

A group of just over a dozen engineering graduates from different engineering colleges in Kerala have spurned attractive job offers and got together to float an IT company. The team is working in the domain of artificial intelligence, and their first product targets reduction of phantom power loss, which is power that is lost when gadgets are kept in stand-by mode without completely cutting off power supply to them, as in a TV put off by remote control without putting off the switch.

With their device they hope to save precious power, thus tackle the global warming in whatever little way, and of course chase their dreams in doing these.

I could see the young men had fire in their eyes. Not the fire that their peers who went into terrorism had. But a deep desire to do something positive with their lives, even taking the risk of refusing attractive job offers to pursue the dreams of their hearts. If only the ones who took the needless risk of being cannon fodder in J&K could be similarly inclined!

Smile!

Introduction

Hello everyone

We are Joe and Lekha and this is our blog on Kerala.
I am a journalist with nearly 25 years' experience in the media.
My wife Lekha is a homemaker, a wonderful cook who has won
city-level cooking competitions on multiple occasions, and a dress maker.
We have three daughters, all school children.

This is our personal diary that we would like to share with all who are
interested in Kerala, particularly with Keralites who are presently based abroad
and are keen to follow developments in a land of which they cherish fond memories.

Being a diary, we would talk of just about everything that we feel would be of interest
to those who keep an eye on Kerala, but will particularly focus on social issues and
Kerala cuisine.

If you find that a curious combination, that is what this blog is hoped to be -- one that
discusses interesting facets of Kerala and the ubiquitous Malayali.

Welcome on board.
Thank you for your time.