Memories over the Years by Dr. V. Venkateswaran

  History Fascinates - Visit to a Synagogue in Cochin,  Kerala By Dr. V. Venkateswaran  Mattanchery Synagogue There is an ancient Synagogue in Cochin, Kerala, West India, which I visited.   History is fascinating, but people never learn from it, a pity. In the early 1500s, people of the Jewish Faith migrated from the Middle East to Kerala in India because of atrocities against them in the Middle East. They were both white & black Jewish people. The king/chieftain of Cranganore welcomed them & gave them asylum & they were happy.  But in 1505, the Portuguese landed in Ceylon & soon found their way to India too. Initially, they colonized Goa. They also moved  down to the Cranganore area & with the help of the local population (a large number had been converted to Catholicism by then) committed atrocities on the existing Jewish people. They were chased away & ran away by sea to...

 By Dr. V Venkateswaran Thoughts on the flight  Qantas ,  L.A.  -   Sydney, Oct 2003   ‘Frisco – “the city on the bay” Watering hole of the gay, “City of the sinner & the saint’, So also she has been named.   Leaving San Francisco, With memories galore, We fly down under With thoughts to ponder   Nobody is grime, Nor is it a crime. If one decides to be gay, It’s quite okay. If a man takes a man And not a woman, If he doesn’t want a wife, That’s his own life.   If both as a pair Have decided to dare Need they care About the HIV scare?   Perversion or preference What’s the difference? It’s the semantics Used by the skeptics.   Whether pardoned Or whether condoned, Turning a blind eye We hope it will pass by. To condone Or to pardon, It’s up to you, Depending on your view.   But is it being seen By somebody unseen To be condemned Or to be pardoned?   We’ll never know. Perhaps it’s meant to be so. It’s greater suspense in ...

 By Dr. V. Venkateswaran NSW   Vandanava 2012, a Sequel to Vandanava 1947”             If there can be block buster movie sequels and best selling book sequels, why not a Vandanava 1947 sequel? As I ended almost abruptly the “Vandanava 1947”, let “Vandanava 2012, be a sequel to Vandanava 1947”             People, conditions and attitudes had changed, so must the places. The time is fast forwarded to 2012 January and it's not Poson time anymore. There were only two of us, my wife and I, and we were certainly not in our first decade of like, where everything was found for me and I was told what to do and I did it. Perhaps that part hasn't changed much. Now my wife tells me what to do and I do it!! Childhood stubborn nature and obstinacy have given way to intolerance of fools and hoodwinkers. I have become street wise. We came from Sydney as foreigners and not from Galle....

By Dr. V. Venkateswaran      II. My Life at SAC,  by   Dr Venki Venkateswaran          Venki as sturdy as ever  (www.thuppahi.com) One day in 1945 my Father told me, “Let’s go to College and meet Fr Gaspard. I tagged along.  There he was in the Parlour, downstairs in  the Father’s bungalow, a portly looking priest in cassock, surrounded by a haze of cigar smoke, chomping on an expensive cigar, a pleasant fragrance, a two toned beard, and the most captivating thing about him was his piercing blue eyes that looked right through you with an inscrutable expression on his face. My Father, who was a member of the staff, explained to Fr Gaspard that he wished to have me admitted to the school. He looked me over, patted my head and told my Dad that I should do fine. Luckily I never let him down during my entire stay.  I was assigned to Mrs. Ernest's Std. 3 E  Class. A very kind hearted lady but could be strict and...