It's day five of the 'Vaayana vaaram'. I'd the privilege of interacting with a cross section of the children, who'd wholeheartedly participated in the activities organised by the Foundation yesterday, being a Sunday! There were Quiz competitions, drawing competition, recitation competitions etc that kept the children occupied on a holiday, alongwith their parents in attendance.
In my continuing efforts to etch the personality of PN Panicker, let me take you further back in time.The year was 1970 and the Kerala Library Movement that he'd nurtured was poised to celebrate its silver jubilee. With his efforts, he'd set up a network of over 5,280 libraries covering even the remotest corner of the state so much so that there's a saying that there's no place in Kerala that hasn't been covered by PNP's footsteps!
As part of the silver jubilee celebrations, he'd undertaken a 'padayatra' from Kasaragod in the north to Parassala in the south. The people of Kerala, till then used to agitational 'jathas' and processions, seeking narrow gains started taking notice of this frail, white khadi clad(Full sleeves shirt, dhoti and a crisp, folded shawl over his left shoulder), short statured gentleman with the imaginative slogan "Vaayichu valaruka, Chinthichu vivekam neduka"(Read and grow, Think and attain wisdom), that he'd penned for the occasion. The hugely popular padayatra was ultimately received at the museum square at Thiruvananthapuram by none other than C Achutha Menon, the then Chief Minister.
The UNESCO, impressed by the movement's achievements, awarded it with the prestigious 'Nadezhda Krupskaya(Lenin's wife) award for its outstanding contribution towards the well being of the society.
The slogan 'Vaayichu valaruka' which has become the Malayalee's personal slogan is but the audacious dream of PN Panicker which culminated in the state achieving cent percent literacy in 1991.
Tailpiece.
An unusual love story gleaned from today's episode of the reality show, 'Idea Star Singer'. Godly, one of the contestants, had rendered a lovely number after which his patents were called on stage. Paulose(A christian) was aghast when his lovely muslim neighbour, Pathumma was being married off to a seventy year old man. And when he got the chance, he proposed to her and they'd eloped that very night, a 31st of March and tied the knot. The next day when he'd announced to the world about their wedding, everyone took it as an 'All fools' day prank! And that was that!! They are very much in love" even now from what I observed this evening. May god give them many more years of togetherness with fond memories.
In my continuing efforts to etch the personality of PN Panicker, let me take you further back in time.The year was 1970 and the Kerala Library Movement that he'd nurtured was poised to celebrate its silver jubilee. With his efforts, he'd set up a network of over 5,280 libraries covering even the remotest corner of the state so much so that there's a saying that there's no place in Kerala that hasn't been covered by PNP's footsteps!
As part of the silver jubilee celebrations, he'd undertaken a 'padayatra' from Kasaragod in the north to Parassala in the south. The people of Kerala, till then used to agitational 'jathas' and processions, seeking narrow gains started taking notice of this frail, white khadi clad(Full sleeves shirt, dhoti and a crisp, folded shawl over his left shoulder), short statured gentleman with the imaginative slogan "Vaayichu valaruka, Chinthichu vivekam neduka"(Read and grow, Think and attain wisdom), that he'd penned for the occasion. The hugely popular padayatra was ultimately received at the museum square at Thiruvananthapuram by none other than C Achutha Menon, the then Chief Minister.
The UNESCO, impressed by the movement's achievements, awarded it with the prestigious 'Nadezhda Krupskaya(Lenin's wife) award for its outstanding contribution towards the well being of the society.
The slogan 'Vaayichu valaruka' which has become the Malayalee's personal slogan is but the audacious dream of PN Panicker which culminated in the state achieving cent percent literacy in 1991.
Tailpiece.
An unusual love story gleaned from today's episode of the reality show, 'Idea Star Singer'. Godly, one of the contestants, had rendered a lovely number after which his patents were called on stage. Paulose(A christian) was aghast when his lovely muslim neighbour, Pathumma was being married off to a seventy year old man. And when he got the chance, he proposed to her and they'd eloped that very night, a 31st of March and tied the knot. The next day when he'd announced to the world about their wedding, everyone took it as an 'All fools' day prank! And that was that!! They are very much in love" even now from what I observed this evening. May god give them many more years of togetherness with fond memories.
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