After a pleasant night's stay, we'd got up at a half past 6 this morning gone through our chores and were ready well in time. Looked for Devadas, who looked after every need of ours last evening and early morning today but had gone off duty by the time we were casting off this morning. We'd wanted to tip him for his services but it turned out to be futile! Shall always feel bad at having missed that opportunity because he was a genuinely good and hardworking guy.
The private buses were off the road because of the owners' unhappiness over the revised ticket rates announced by the government. From now on, as per the government's latest announcement, the minimum ticket is gonna be @ Rs.8/- and there's no increase in the student ticket rates. I, too, feel that the student ticket rates must be revised periodically but the governments are scared of the student organisations as they are not gonna let that happen! This is a fairly regular flop show that we are witness to!! It, incidentally, had a direct effect on the size of the crowds in our programme, all through the day.
We left by 9 for Vettathur, the first panchayat of Malappuram district. We're received and given a sumptuous breakfast with the President, Vice President and Secretary going all out to put as at ease. The audience was okay - though the leadership did emphasise that it would have been better but for the strike - and very interactive.
The panchayats with which we'd our trysts with today, were:-
(a) Vettathur.
(b) Melattoor.
(c) Karuvaaramkundu and
(d) Chungathara.
At Melattoor, the crowd was again sparse but were very active. The panchayat insisted on giving us lunch while the next panchayat had also kept it ready. It was a difficult choice for us but we, finally, decided to have it at Melattoor itself.
Karuvaarakundu had a decent crowd that interacted well with us but Chungathara, on the other hand, had a disappointing crowd. Because of this reason, the police did not go through the street play, 'digitalkerala.com' for the entire day! We secured by 7 after settling the team in Hotel Elite and the three of us stayed at 'The Tamarind', four kms away from the town.
Tailpiece.
1. In Malappuram district the distances, between the panchayats involved, are great and hence, the reception programmes by the ten are spread over three days.
2. Jaffar, our co-ordinator in the district, had to report to his office by lunchtime and hence, Anil - a smart youngster - stood for him.
3. My throat seems to be holding.
The private buses were off the road because of the owners' unhappiness over the revised ticket rates announced by the government. From now on, as per the government's latest announcement, the minimum ticket is gonna be @ Rs.8/- and there's no increase in the student ticket rates. I, too, feel that the student ticket rates must be revised periodically but the governments are scared of the student organisations as they are not gonna let that happen! This is a fairly regular flop show that we are witness to!! It, incidentally, had a direct effect on the size of the crowds in our programme, all through the day.
We left by 9 for Vettathur, the first panchayat of Malappuram district. We're received and given a sumptuous breakfast with the President, Vice President and Secretary going all out to put as at ease. The audience was okay - though the leadership did emphasise that it would have been better but for the strike - and very interactive.
The panchayats with which we'd our trysts with today, were:-
(a) Vettathur.
(b) Melattoor.
(c) Karuvaaramkundu and
(d) Chungathara.
At Melattoor, the crowd was again sparse but were very active. The panchayat insisted on giving us lunch while the next panchayat had also kept it ready. It was a difficult choice for us but we, finally, decided to have it at Melattoor itself.
Karuvaarakundu had a decent crowd that interacted well with us but Chungathara, on the other hand, had a disappointing crowd. Because of this reason, the police did not go through the street play, 'digitalkerala.com' for the entire day! We secured by 7 after settling the team in Hotel Elite and the three of us stayed at 'The Tamarind', four kms away from the town.
Tailpiece.
1. In Malappuram district the distances, between the panchayats involved, are great and hence, the reception programmes by the ten are spread over three days.
2. Jaffar, our co-ordinator in the district, had to report to his office by lunchtime and hence, Anil - a smart youngster - stood for him.
3. My throat seems to be holding.
No comments:
Post a Comment