A Kerala Studies Blog
As Ala turns five, tune in to this special episode with Ala’s editors, as we reflect on the blog’s journey so far, the motivation behind our workshops, podcast other experiments, and contemplate what keeps us going each month. We brainstorm about what we have in store for the next year, and we hear from mentors and former editors who have worked with Ala.
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We wrap up this season of our podcasts with Malavika Binny and Rekha Raj. In this episode, we explore how clothing, and by extension, the body itself, have been both sites of violence and protest in Kerala, and closely tied to questions of class and caste.
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With streaming services bringing transnational attention to Malayalam cinema, it becomes important to examine the nature of Kerala’s “new gen” cinema and to locate it in a longer history. C S Venkiteswaran, film critic, Don Palathara, film director, and Jolly Chirayath, actor, feature in Ala’s first audio essay on cinema in Kerala.
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In this episode, Ala’s Deepti Sreeram speaks with Sudha Padmaja Francis, an award-winning independent documentary filmmaker about her practice as a filmmaker and her documentary Ormajeevikal, a film that captures the city of Kozhikode through a community of music lovers
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പത്തൊൻപതാം നൂറ്റാണ്ടിലും ഇരുപതാം നൂറ്റാണ്ടിന്റെ തുടക്കത്തിലും ഉയർന്നുവന്ന കേരളത്തിലെ ഭാഷയെയും ആധുനികതയെയും പറ്റിയുള്ള സംവാദങ്ങളെക്കുറിച്ചും ലിന്റോ ഫ്രാൻസിസ് പ്രതിപാദിക്കുന്നു.
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In this episode, we speak with K.P. Girija about the modernisation of the indigenous systems of medicine in Kerala. Her recently published book Mapping the History of Ayurveda: Culture, Hegemony, and the Rhetoric of Diversity examined the history of institutionalisation of Ayurveda in the 20th century, and the complex process associated with it.
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In this episode of our ongoing podcast series on Keraleeyatha, we speak with Prof Dilip Menon and Dr Mahmood Kooria about the role of the Indian ocean in shaping the social and political history of Kerala, and revisit the limitations of a ‘terracentric’ idea of modernity and the nation-state.
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Why do we see ‘modernity’ as something that emerged only in the colonial era? What do the three medieval texts tell us about alternative strands of literature? Why do we mainstream some histories while marginalizing others? In this episode, we discuss these questions with Prof. T.T. Sreekumar.
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For two years now, a group of social scientists, physical geographers, atmospheric and marine scientists, and communications and media experts have been working closely with artisanal fishers in three villages near Thiruvananthapuram, to find effective ways to make the livelihoods of these fishing communities more secure and sustainable by improving safety at sea. In this episode, we speak with Dr Johnson Jament who is part of this team, to understand more about why this is an issue that deserves attention, and affects wider society.
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Ever since Aleena’s collection of poems, ‘Silk Route’, was published by Goosebery Publications in July 2021, her works have been discussed widely on social media, for her use of the Malayalam language in innovative ways while discussing complex politics. Aleena talks to Ala about her poems and their politics, and about using horror as a genre for poetry.
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