Trip to Kozhencherry,Aranmula-Aranmula mirror

I had a client request for inspection of existing house at Kozhencherry.House built about three years back in rock solid laterite soil is developing cracks .Owner of the house,Mr.Murali Nair who is an NRI on leave to his native place requested me to come and inspect house and find out why cracks are developing on walls . Everyday he get bad dreams of his house built about three years back with plinth area about 2800 sft crumbling down with cracks developing on walls.

While building house at Ranni and also at Thiruvalla,I have faced hostile local people assembled in large numbers for not following their generally accepted foundation construction methods.

Even if the soil is very strong laterite,they dig about six feet depth for foundation.Then on bottom of it they put concrete without reinforcement and lower mix ratio about 1:5:10 for a thickness of about 10 cm.Then they simply dumb rubble without proper packing in to that almost six feet depth and without force filling  with water and sand,they build basement with rubble using cement mortar at a ratio of 1:10.Deeper the excavation for foundation,they think foundation is stronger.If you go against this generally accepted practice,you will not be allowed to build in any other manner reducing depth of foundation.Almost every person staying at a radius about 5 Km will come to the building site and will check and supervise the work being done.

At Ranni I had to threaten to leave the work to build foundation in the proper technically correct manner.At Thiruvalla,they were more strict.I had to leave the work for not following their practices.Later when the house was completed at Ranni,all those who were against our method of work agreed that our method of work is correct and started ridiculing others following their old practices.

When I checked up cracking walls of 2800 sft house built by Mr.Murali Nair about three years  back with close supervision of a local builder who is also a close relative of him,spending about Rs.35 lakhs,I noticed that the foundation was sinking and cracks developed due to this.Naturally their generally accepted method of foundation which actually do not give proper strength to foundation is the reason behind development of these cracks.

Having reached the place,I also did a Vasthu evaluation of the house and suggested some modifications possible without spending extra money.

Look at the amount of money spent by him about three years back.He could have constructed the house with better design and better quality saving about Rs.10 lakhs had he taken care to obtain professional assistance and guidance in design and construction of that house.This house has several design drawbacks and lot of wastage of size,improper planning etc.But all those Mr.Nair will have to suffer through out life of that building.If only he could spend few thousands initially for a professional Architect,he could have obtained a better design for the house.A professional if involved during construction could have ensured proper engineering and quality of construction and finally with all these benefits,he could have saved lakhs of money

On my way back ,I passed through Aranmula famous for Aranmula mirror about which I have only heard about earlier.I found out a place where they made these special and unique mirror without use of glass.They actually use an alloy and rub it continuously using different sizes of sand paper progressively till you get mirror finish or in fact mirror quality.Major component of this alloy is brass and because of this when you touch the Aranmula mirror with your fingers,salt from your sweat will adversely affect the visibility of the mirror.So the craftsman gave me red oxide and tissue paper to clean surface of mirror after touching by hand.

I purchased a medium type Aranmula mirror costing about Rs.2000/-You can see the craft man holding that river with a smile in the picture.Bigger variety shown in picture without glass inside will cost about Rs.35,000/- with Aranmula glass inside.

They get mostly export orders as people abroad are more fascinated by this special mirror manufactured only at Aranmula and according to him this Aranmula mirror is likely to have a silent death within few years as not many are interested to learn the art of making Aranmula mirror as other jobs are more lucrative for youth of present day Aranmula.

He also told me that the belief is that if you keep an Aranmula mirror in your house,you will become more prosperous.So I am keeping the mirror in my office.Let us see whether  more prosperity will come my way.

Now look at pictures

Futile Dialogues with Pakistan

There were lot of headline news about dialogue between Pakistan and India and funny talks of trying one up man ship by both parties using verbal exercises.

I wonder why they conduct such meaningless dialogues once in a while.Do rulers here in India and Pakistan know that these exercises are futile? Over the last sixty years of existence of Pakistan common people living in India and Pakistan has suffered a lot.Many wars.Continuous attempts of Pakistan to thwart normal life in Kashmir.Continuous terrorist attacks in Kashmir killing innocent people.India spending nearly 1.5 lakh crores of rupees every year in defense spending .Pakistan people living with bomb blasts and very pathetic life with no hope of development of any nature.Terrorist outfits in many parts of India by Muslims aided and abetted by Pakistan.Why all these? Who get benefitted by these continuous killings and terrorist activities?

In Kerala these terrorist outfits have converted themselves as political parties and by bribing heavily leaders of front line political parties and police machinery,they manage to escape after doing any heinous crimes.Even the media propagate their cause describing them as innocents even after doing crimes and escaping punishment by law using money power.
Our media and political leaders are ready to allow any anti national anti people activities and secretly support them if they are paid well.

What is the beginning of all these ant national anti people activities? Division of India in 1947 and formation of Pakistan.Has any common man living in India or Pakistan benefitted by this partition? No.It has given them only deaths, pain and loss of money continuously for the last sixty three years and for all coming years it will give only death,pain and losses  only.

Dominic Lapiere and Larry Collins in their book “Freedom at Midnight” have squarely put blame on one man and his greed for power for the creation of Pakistan-Nehru.He wanted to be first premier of India at any cost.He was not bothered about train full people getting killed by rioting following the division.He was not bothered about people forced to flee Pakistan trying to save their life leaving everything they owned at places they were born and lived all their life and getting killed on their journey to safety.

Jinnah was not insistent on creation of Pakistan.He wanted to live his last days in the house he built”brick by brick” at Mumbai.But he could not even see it in his days after partition.Gandhi kept quiet.He did not even think of using his oft repeated weapon of “fast unto death” to prevent creation of Pakistan.May be had a soft corner for Nehru.And look at what Nehru did.He ridiculed and insulted lakhs of people who sacrificed their life for independence of India from British by installing his family rule instead of democracy In India.Due to this family rule ,we had to suffer ill educated incompetent rulers like Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi .Today a highly competent Dr.Manmohan Singh rules  India not on his own but as a proxy of an Italian nobody,thanks to power of family rule .We are sure to be driven to be ruled by a highly incompetent son of that Italian woman in the near future.

Coming back to Indo Pak talks,I can only find only one reason for such meaningless talks-Rulers of both country trying to mislead people that they are trying for peaceful coexistence aiming at welfare and peace of common man.It is only a gimmick to fool common man in both countries cheating them by giving false hopes.These rulers who do not have slightest concern for the common man are giving them hopes ,only thing they can give to hide their incompetence and lack of patriotic sincerity.

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Turning against judiciary,church and everyone else

I was rather shocked to see an almost illiterate leader of the so called party which talk as if they work to protect interests of the proletariat and in reality work for themselves shouting abuses against Judges of High court of Kerala.

Next day other similar leaders of the red who take pride in abusing courts,church leaders or any one whom society give respect,started making chorus of abuses against judges.What if such abuses are made against constitutional institutions by them when they happen to be in the powerful ruling party?

I was amused to note that for initiating contempt of court proceedings prior permission of Advocate General who is an appointee of the ruling party will have to  be obtained.Naturally he will deny any such permission and the red leaders small and big can continue to abuse anyone with choicest language without any fear of action against them.

We common people feel jittery when the last resort of justice for some one without political backing and money power is being treated like this with complete impunity.What if such safeguard mechanisms are thrown away by these barbarians? All powerful one man high command of the brigade has publically proclaimed that his underdogs are shouting with impunity and they can go on doing it.

I will not be surprised if Judges are stopped and abused  in the road by these hooligans with police and power in their hand.Police may pretend not seeing such violent acts against basic infrastructure of our democratic system.In the light of these verbal abuses and militant processions in the road,I only hope that common people will use at least the only weapon they get once in five years to throw them away from power and never allow them to talk and act in this uncivilised manner.