Author: K. Rajendran

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Black goats of Kerala’s native tribal hill people on brink of extinction

Kerala’s small but hardy Attappadi black goat is being pushed to the fringes, thanks to climate change, human interventions and the larger Malabar variety that yields more meat and milk.

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“I drove taxis and lorries to feed my family”

When PG Deepamol’s husband became unwell, she had to drive cabs and lorries to support her family. Now she is Kerala’s first woman ambulance pilot and finds helping patients the most rewarding of all driving jobs. Read her story in her own words.

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From off-roading to healthcare – Kerala’s first woman ambulance pilot

From winning off-road jeep competitions to rushing the sick to hospital in ambulances - Kerala’s first woman ambulance pilot combines her passion for driving and service, while also being a role model for young women to follow their dreams.

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Passionate about bamboo – “the world’s panacea”

Naina Febin’s childhood fascination with the grace and power of bamboo turned into a passion. She believes the strong plant, known to stop soil erosion, is vital for her home state of Kerala, which is becoming increasingly battered by floods. Here is Naina Febin talking about planting over 2000 bamboo saplings wherever she finds the space.

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Eco-activists root for bamboo

Bamboo could be the answer to Kerala’s persistent soil erosion and deadly landslides, say passionate environmentalists who plant hundreds of saplings and sing songs rooting for greater spread.

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Kerala floods trigger more migration

With erratic and intensifying rainfall, Kerala is witnessing more deadly floods and landslides in recent years, leading to an exodus of people from vulnerable areas.

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Recurrent floods traumatize people in rural Kerala

Even as Kerala reels under yet another flood due to extreme rainfall, people in the tiny village of Upputhode in the Western Ghats are still traumatized from the loss they suffered in last year’s deluge

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Physically challenged script success with seed pens

Biodegradable pens filled with seeds provide a viable livelihood to Kerala’s physically challenged people. While offering an ecofriendly alternative to plastic pens, these seed pens sprout plants after use

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Kerala moves swiftly to treat Attapady’s tribes

The lynching of a mentally ill tribal youth has spurred Kerala to create jobs for tribes living in the progressive state, besides surveying them to identify the mentally ill, treat them and rehabilitate them

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Why farmers in this Kerala village pray for peace with Pakistan

Having seen fluctuations in the export of betel leaf to Pakistan over the years, Malappuram betel farmers in northern Kerala remain hopeful of overcoming the present impasse and resuming a profitable trade

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Salem marriages bane of Malabar girls due to dowry problem

Caught in an unenviable situation where dowry demands are unreasonably high due to increased inflow of money from gulf jobs, girls in rural Malabar are virtually compelled into unequal marriages, often with disturbing consequences

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Chronic water scarcity has turned Kulappadi’s toilets into goat sheds

Rapid deforestation and soil erosion in Attapadi Forest Reserve has led to a crippling water shortage in Kerala’s only tribal block and the Irula forest tribe has suffered the most

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Currency tsunami hits Kerala fisher village

The poor women of Anju Thengue island village in Kerala have been caught unprepared by the ban on banknotes that has seen prices crash and a near total collapse of the fish market

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Cardamom hills of Kerala face daunting drought

After the failure of both the South West and North East monsoons, cardamom farmers of Idukki in Kerala are staring at massive losses