Rasmi :

 10th Anniversary Celebrations

Difficult Beginning: The magazine Rasmi published in the Malayalam language from the heart of Germany had just completed its ten years of meaningful existence. If you are an Indian and if you are a Keralite and if you happen to have some idea of what it means to be a foreigner in Germany you might know how difficult it is to start a periodical in an Indian language in Germany and to keep this running all these years. Germany , as you know, does not favour immigration and the foreigners living in Germany have got only two options, namely, complete integration or utter segregation and eventual expulsion. Complete integration means to be forced , more or less, to neglect or even discard the mother-tongue. Though the Church started as an act of charity a few publications here and there for the nurses and their familiy members, the first settlers from Kerala in Germany, the insatiable thirst for an independent periodical was always there in many.It was under these unfavourable circumstances that the magazine Rasmi originated.Rasmi has been no periodical kept runnung with the subsidy or financial help of any organization or institution , religious or secular. The publisher is a non-profitable registered organization called Indo-German Cultural Association.

Started in 1996 by a few culturally interested and literarily adventourous Keralites living in Germany , Rasmi is an independent bimonthly for overseas Malayalees.Its declared objective is to preserve the Malyalee culture among the Keralites living in Germany and to serve as a linguistic and cultural link and bridge between home and host countries.Unlike a few other publications started for the Malayalee immigrant community in Germany by the the German Church and other agencies, Rasmi has been able to keep its economic independence and intellectual freedom intact all these years. And this hashelped it develop into a totally different voice of the Malaylees living in Germany, a voice that is uninhibited, bold and self-conscious. Today Rasmi is read not only in Germany, but also in other European Countries, North America and the Gulf countries. Rich in contents and presenting a wide variety of items such as brilliant, in-depth analyses of socio-political problemss prevalent in contemporary Kerala, studied articles on culture and literature, interesting stories and enlightening poems, widely appreciated features on health,science and technology etc. In spite of the fact that Rasmi has had to incur the displeasure of the establishment and conservative forces on account of its bold articulation of unconventional opinions at times, today the publication can look back on an ever-widening circle of readership.