Foreteller of death and winged messenger of ill-luck, the owl has always had a diabolic aura in the popular imagination. The bird's elusive and nocturnal nature may be to blame, as could be its horns, eerie screech and chilling lidless stare.
Ever since he turned a teenager, it had been Pierre Gagne's dream to visit Kerala. He had read it all: in National Geographic Traveller, Conde Nast and countless other magazines about the place that was described as among "50 must see destinations of a lifetime".
Widely feted for its impressive performance in the social sector, a spate of deaths of newborns in one of the state's premier hospitals has raised questions over Kerala's overall healthcare system-----
