Krazy Kochi

Every word he pronounced in his clipped British accent, over the crackle of the radio, was accepted as the absolute colour of truth. In those pretelevision days, millions of Indians hung on his every word—as he engaged with wars and disasters, announcements and deaths, upheavals and turmoils— yes, it was always the dependable voice of Mark Tully. Though he was born in Tollygunge, Kolkata and spent his first ten years in India, his ardent love affair with the country began in 1965 when he joined the BBC in their administrative department in New Delhi. And in his inimitable style, Mark Tully says, “I arrived with the Tashkent agreement.” (We like this veteran broadcast journalist for his dramatic statements.) Working out of the administrative department he first began to do pre-recorded programmes and “it was infrequent.” He explains that in those days to do a live programme was difficult. “The telephone connectivity was haphazard and it was not easy.”  After coverin...

Kerala has seen two decades of the New Generational Churches and folks are still confused. So a republishing of an old article. A cross from the Syrian Christian Marthoma Tradition “Jesus Christ was not born on Christmas Day but sometime in September. So the 25th of December is just another day!” This is not some crazy theory languishing in some isolated brain cell but is one among the many differing beliefs being preached from the pulpits of the New Generational Churches or the Full Gospel Churches. And who is listening? Plenty People. The faithful from the traditional Catholic and Syrian Christian churches are leaving in large numbers to join these churches or even form new ones at the drop of an alleluia singing hat.       In the past decade, Kerala is witness to a new phenomenon - small groups of praying people are holding hands and forming churches. These churches have no Pope, no Archbishops, no Bishops, no Priests - they have leaders who become cass...