Tuesday, April 25, 2017

Day 4 at Tholicode panchayat.

The day had begun on a slack note in the sense that it was a day of road shows, beginning from the Pulimoodu junction of the panchayat. Suja, Elsy and Nadia were at hand to guide us through the eight points that were slotted for our visit. In this scorching heat to meet the deadline, itself, was a scorcher. But seeing the enthusiasm of the people, we didn't have the heart to slacken our efforts and the day saw us criss crossing the entire landscape of the panchayat!

Earlier, had got up around 4, recited my prayers and drifted off to sleep only to wake up, on the dot, at 6. Alex was on time and we'd left for the Foundation by a half past 8. Komalam fetched up by 9 and Lekha, from our staff, came in by a quarter past 9. she'd three jobs viz.:-

       (a) To get my return ticket booked on the Intercity Express for the 29th, after the Board of
             Management meeting of the JSS, Kollam.
       (b) To permit expenditure to buy accessories for the Mobile Science Exploratory and
       (c) To give Alex the box of spares for the Exploratory.

We're off for the Tholicode panchayat by a half past 9. After parking the Qualis, the three of us had hopped on to the exploratory to the first road show point. The President of the panchayat, Ms. Shamna arrived a few minutes later and together, we launched the day's activities. From then on, over the entire stretch encompassing the eight points, the crowd was ever flowing. The modus operandi was that the welcome followed by my overview of the essential steps to attain e-literacy, delivered from the rear platform of the vehicle had the desired impact, encouraging many among the crowd to clear their doubts.

And I met people, who made it a point to interact with me. I'm naming just a few:-

    * Rajmohan Nair, all of 58 years, fully scarred thanks to high sugar levels in his system but who
       encourages his daughter and son to study and attain higher educational levels than him because
       he was uninterested in his studies.
    * Samoorah, all of 68 years and a keen activist who also runs a wayside hotel where we'd lunch. 
       She was enthusiastic that the grandson of her hero - PN Panicker - was at her place!
    * Umayath Beewi, all of 63 years, who had come from her house on the hilltop with her broken
       ankle and a weak left leg, consequent to a surgery for varicose veins, just because she wanted to
       see the innards of the exploratory.
    * Sushma, all of 54 years, who was thrilled that I'd taken her name to illustrate the working of
       the telemedicine.
    * Suja, the energetic 'saksharatha prerak'  who'd wanted me to bless her two sons - a humbling
       experience!

Aji, the 'saarthi' of the exploratory, his son, Anto studying in class X, Nadia, studying in class IX - the daughter of Sajida who's a ward member, Komalam, our health specialist and Alex, the 'saarthi' of the Qualis worked hard to make it a stupendous success!


Tailpiece.

We could secure only by a quarter past 6 and by the time I reached Maman's place, it was 9. Despite the hectic day, I wasn't tired at all! 

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