twestival local - Tweet.Meet.Give. - March 24, 2011

 Awesome news everyone!

Kaav, the Indian trio instrumental band, based in Vypin Island,
Cochin, Kerala, is all set to perform at Cochin Twestival this year!
Formed in 2009 by Syam N Pai, Shabeer P Ali and Arun S Kumar, the band
quickly started to grab headlines with their totally different take on
music. The natural beauty and the coastal lifestyle, the Cochin way of
life, have an immense influence on the nature of the band’s music.
Kaav’s music draws influences from Indian classical music, folk music,
Rock, Metal, World music, Jazz Fusions, Blues, Prog, Psy and
Alternative.

Kaav’s first EP of three songs, produced by Baiiju Dharmajan of
Motherjane, was released in September 2010. The three tracks were
received by youngsters in a very good way. You can
listen to them at Reverbnation.

The word ‘Kaav’ means divine forests with vast variety of vegetation,
snakes, small animals and birds as part of it. It can be also called
as the natural shrines of Kerala which plays a great role in
maintaining the ecological balance. Fears, mysteries, superstitions,
religion, spirituality, evil and folk stories (Kettukathakal) are
always associated with kaav. Kerala’s ancient art forms such as
Kaliyattam and Theyyam originated in relation with these shrines. As
it was the meeting place for the human psyche, it has contributed
tremendously in the evolution of several art forms since primeval
times.

Thus, Kaav, with their unique music ensures a link to the spiritual
self that the soul of Kerala relates itself with. What more do you
want, to celebrate the spirit of Cochin, and Kerala, than the music
that is truly our own. More info of the band can be found at
www.kaav.in and their Reverbnation page
(http://www.reverbnation.com/kaav).

So people, this Twestival at Cochin, the Band Kaav performs, assuring
to leave you with the essence of the soul of the city, and give you
one musical night like never before. Be there. Twestival Local 2011 at
Cochin Gymkhana Club. March 24. 6pm. Tweet. Meet. Give. Enjoy.

We're pleased to announce that  Cochin Gymkhana Club would be the venue for Cochin Twestival 2011. Surrounded by serene backwaters, the club is set in an area of nearly 2 acres, with a lush and beautiful lawn adorning the premises. It is situtated near the TocH school, Vaytilla junction in Kochi city. (View location map here)

The Cochin Gymkhana, The Family Club, was constituted on April 10, 1991, and since then it has grown into a renowned club with close to 1200 members.

The gymkhana club site quotes:
The Cochin Gymkhana has its own building situated in a sprawling property extending to over 90,000 square feet with an excellent water frontage and a jetty. The club has two restaurants which provide the best and choicest cuisine, residential rooms, air conditioned conference hall, open air theatre, floating restaurant and facilities for indoor and outdoor games.
The nearly 65 metres of water front directly on the face of the club with an extension of back-waters running an almost straight course for more than 2 km is adorned with a water base which is very clear and neat. The club looks forward to developing the sport of rowing.
One of the highlights is a beautiful illuminated floating restaurant with an area of 1250 square feet in the lake .
At present, clubs affiliated to the Cochin Gymkhana number more than a hundred, spread all over India.

Like you can notice from the above, the ambience is gonna be one major highlight - a beautiful backwater-kissed open course, with a water-base and a jetty, which are close to the vast lawn. The famous Cheena-vala (Chinese fishing nets) are visible from here, giving something to muse about on the lines of man's hard work and nature's way of emphasising her omnipotence over everything artifical.. Such a large open space as part of the venue would be ideal, keeping in tune with the spirit of the global community and the social media significance of the event.

 

We convey our heartfelt thanks to the Cochin Gymkhana administration for their kind gesture in lending us this venue. A big thanks to Kochi Mayor Shri. Tony Chammani  for providing us support.

[ Image shows Chinese Fishing nets, traditional instruments against the backdrop of the present-day Kochi skyline. ]

Ending it on a rather physics-ish mood - Space, and time. That is, in short the crux of everything in the world. Let's look forward to having the best of both :)
 

with Love -Team Cochin Twestival 

Welcome back to our live updates :)

Like we had mentioned in the last blog post, starting today (16th March),  we will be having online contests over twitter with lots of gifts waiting for the winners.

Every day we shall be posting a question, and you shall have 24 hours to answer it.
You can reply to the questions directly over twitter, by adding the
hashtag  #CT11 to your answers.
Replies without the hashtags would not be considered as answers to the
questions (please take care of this!).

We will close the questions after 24 hours, and one selected winner
stands to win gifts sponsored by HOPE (Home of Perfect Education). The

contests have kicked off today from 09:30AM IST.

The winner can claim the prize on the day of the Twestival (24th
March) from the Twestival venue.

Stay online, and play it out and have fun :)

It's been a wonderful week so far, preparations for the much awaited Twestival are going on in full swing :) In the meantime, we have some really good news for all who are waiting for the big day to dawn: Your wait shall be short but also sweet.. It is gonna be raining contests over twitter on the days till Twestival!

We're pleased to announce that starting tomorrow (16th March) we will be having online contests over twitter. The contests kick off from tomorrow morning, 10:00 AM IST. Stay tuned, and have fun! 

For all the support and love shown to us over the past week, we give our huge thanks to the tweeps, facebookers and all enthusiastic people who have spread the word about Twestival through all the media possible. A big thanks goes to Twestival International, for featuring our blog - 'Spotlight on Cochin Twestival', on their homepage. A hi five to Sriram (@tuxerman) for penning the same post, which also earned us the $250 weekly prize for the most insightful/creative blog post.

It's been a lovely week for all of us, let's keep going with the same momentum :) Please continue pitching in with support, be it a facebook like, or a retweet or by donating money for the children of Adarsh.

Hoping to see you all on March 24th!
 

 I am a proud member of the group of people which looks back at their childhood with joy and cherishes the happy memories with a tingle of longing in heart. Sitting among my group of toys, breaking them apart as any good boy-child should, mixing up the pieces and playing at driving, house, trains, shopkeeper.. anything that happened to kindle the curiosity of a fresh entrant to the world. The first cycle ride, the days spent riding without the support-wheels with dad running along behind me, ready to spring into action if ever the bicycle tilted a wee bit too much to a side.. School was the corner-stone of all childhood memories. The first class, the smiling teachers, swinging in the park and longing to go home and hug mom.. Building up strong bonds of friendship with playmates smiling at us out of their fallen teeth, hitherto total strangers but now nestled together in a strange, warm way. The sand in the shoes, the cuts and bruises we used to bring home, ink-spots on shirts... each day we went back with a beaming face adorning the tired body, with a new story to tell.

We were lucky, indeed.

"I want to fly like an eagle to the sea.. I want to fly like an eagle till I'm free" [A photo from inside Adarsh, Ernakulam]  

We were lucky not to be one of the many million people who are born with brain developmental disorders which render millions (yes, the number is staggering to those of us oblivious to the fact) of children worldwide unable to attend regular school, take part in activities their friends do, or just enjoy a happy childhood like everyone else, for no fault of theirs. Children who are born with Autism or Cerebral palsy are often thought to be strange, slow or stupid. This leads to isolation, depression and life takes the dangerous course unless the disorder is diagnosed in time. Careful assesment of the child should be done and therapy and training is crucial.

Now, deciding on an NGO to support, we had suggestions pouring in from people who knew them and who had even worked with them in some occasions. A few of us had visited Adarsh, an place for children who have been diagnosed with learning disorders. We had a sample of the life experienced under the canopy of this trust, and a few hours of watching, playing with and spending time with these children was enough to etch the experience forever in our minds. It's usually perceived that making the choice of a twestival NGO is rather tough, but this time we had arrived at a unanimous decision - to let Adarsh Charitable trust be our beneficiary.

Adarsh is an institute started by a wonderful set of people caring for and enabling the habilitation of differently-abled children. They lend more than a helping hand to children who have been diagnosed with brain-developmental-disorders such as Cerebral Palsy, Autism, learning disorders which in most cases forces the children to drop out of or never attend conventional schools at all. They have grown from a modest institute looking after 7 children to an inspirational one helping over 230 children from all communities. A casual glance at their website, www.adarshrehab.com endears one to their cause. It is a work of great proportion, and the numbers involvled can definitely be increased if we pitch in with support.

Adarsh encourages children from the ages of 6 months to 12 years to be brought to their school for therapy and training, where they would be relegated to the care of trained therapists and medical consultants from various disciplines, and provided counseling. It does not end there - the children are also made to feel completely at home and equally like anyone else, by maintaining the atmosphere of a normal school, with uniforms, time-tables, assembly, competitions, excursions, etc.
 

 Crossing boundaries: Edwin Prince battled his autism, and scored begin his game with life when he got his book on cricket published

 When twestival Volunteers spent a day with the children at Adarsh. Seen here with Anjan, one of the many people whom Adarsh has helped. To the extreme right is Ciya, Head of Operations at Adarsh.

Cochin Twestival 2010, despite being the novitiate edition saw quite an enthusiastic participation from across the state, and this time we're eyeing participation, generous contributions and a jolly good time (jollier and better, if you thought last time was good) :)

As responsible citizens and tweeple of the world, we would be much more than tweeting bots if we stay online, go about our jobs, dust our  hands and retreat to our dens oblivious to many sections of society which just was not that fortunate. It's upto us to make our days meaningful and ourselves happy by contributing to this noble cause. In the words of Adarsh, A man is never as tall when he kneels to help a child.

And this is exactly why we believe that we can indeed make a difference via these wonderful  people by offering them a platform to acquire  support through Kerala's largest social-media gathering. If this has indeed interested you, or atleast piqued your curiosity, please visit their special schools at Kureekad (near Chottanikkara), and at 'Rohini', Vivekananda Road, Vennala, Ernakulam; or check our their website.

Of course, tweeple attending Cochin Twestival 2011 would have the opportunity to participate in the fund-raising activity. And your generosity helps, from an RT or a facebook Like.. from a ten or a hundred-rupee note to whatever generous gestures your wallet allows you.

So come join hands with us at this edition of Cochin Twestival, and let us use the power of Kerala's largest social media event to shout out to the world that these children are not alone.. that they have friends, love  and support from all over the world!

- Sriram (@tuxerman) for Team CochinTwestival