Sarath and his Innova fetched up half an hour late because of delayed instructions but for me, the day had begun at 3. I'd thought against a bath in the morning but quickly banished the thought on realising the madness that I'd have to go through after reaching Kochi with the scheduling of many meetings with the special protection group, the state police, the administration, the public relations department and the college, which was gonna host the event.
Had picked up Baburaj enroute, fueled the taxi and set off on our journey. A few kilometres after Attingal, the rear, left tyre had got punctured and to my horror, came to know that the car wasn't carrying any spare tyre! Calls were made and another was brought all the way from the city ensuing a loss of one hour in the process. The driver was spoken to but what surprises me is that there were no checks carried out on the vehicle after the completion of the previous assignment - which, incidentally, had finished at midnight - and change over! Disgusted with the lack of professionalism!!
We're at the St Theresa's College by a quarter to 11 after picking up Anusha and on arrival, went about our task of briefing the college authorities of our programme, visiting the auditorium to make my notes of the minutest requirements, calling up the event management groups and firm up my points for the meeting with the concerned authorities. It, eventually, went off smoothly and after an hour and a half, we'd a credible action plan in our hands. Priya and Leena, the teachers of the institution, deputed with us, were of a great help.
After a quick lunch at the nearby Coffee House, the event management guys were called in and given the requirements so that they could pass on the quotes by the end of the day. A quick visit to the Sarada-Krishna Iyer Foundation turned out to be a no show and so, the setting up of our office did not take place as planned. My office continues to be the Innova for now - sounds high-tech, doesn't it?
Baburaj and I, finally, settled down at the Bharath Tourist Home, a stone's throw away from the venue and went through a debrief of the day's activities, charted out our work for tomorrow and settled down for a quiet evening, thereafter. But there was a scare in between with the special protection group toying with the idea of changing the venue - to our initially suggested one but shot down by them - as the present one was not air conditioned(?). After my gentle reminder that the Foundation did not have the money to splurge and after inspecting the new venue, the SPG boss had called me up to say that the St Theresa's College was indeed the venue. Phew!
Had passed it on to Maman at Thiruvananthapuram immediately. And wasn't he relieved?
Tailpiece.
Over dinner, poor Baburaj had to listen to my yarns. He's my new follower!
Had picked up Baburaj enroute, fueled the taxi and set off on our journey. A few kilometres after Attingal, the rear, left tyre had got punctured and to my horror, came to know that the car wasn't carrying any spare tyre! Calls were made and another was brought all the way from the city ensuing a loss of one hour in the process. The driver was spoken to but what surprises me is that there were no checks carried out on the vehicle after the completion of the previous assignment - which, incidentally, had finished at midnight - and change over! Disgusted with the lack of professionalism!!
We're at the St Theresa's College by a quarter to 11 after picking up Anusha and on arrival, went about our task of briefing the college authorities of our programme, visiting the auditorium to make my notes of the minutest requirements, calling up the event management groups and firm up my points for the meeting with the concerned authorities. It, eventually, went off smoothly and after an hour and a half, we'd a credible action plan in our hands. Priya and Leena, the teachers of the institution, deputed with us, were of a great help.
After a quick lunch at the nearby Coffee House, the event management guys were called in and given the requirements so that they could pass on the quotes by the end of the day. A quick visit to the Sarada-Krishna Iyer Foundation turned out to be a no show and so, the setting up of our office did not take place as planned. My office continues to be the Innova for now - sounds high-tech, doesn't it?
Baburaj and I, finally, settled down at the Bharath Tourist Home, a stone's throw away from the venue and went through a debrief of the day's activities, charted out our work for tomorrow and settled down for a quiet evening, thereafter. But there was a scare in between with the special protection group toying with the idea of changing the venue - to our initially suggested one but shot down by them - as the present one was not air conditioned(?). After my gentle reminder that the Foundation did not have the money to splurge and after inspecting the new venue, the SPG boss had called me up to say that the St Theresa's College was indeed the venue. Phew!
Had passed it on to Maman at Thiruvananthapuram immediately. And wasn't he relieved?
Tailpiece.
Over dinner, poor Baburaj had to listen to my yarns. He's my new follower!
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