Had got up around a half past 6, went through the chores and was ready well in time. The sad part was that except for the handkerchief, none of the clothes that I'd washed last evening, was dry. Had to keep them spread inside the boot of our car, along with the luggage, for the rest of the day. We're out off the hotel by a trifle after 9 and headed straight for Panamaram panchayat. Earlier, I'd directed the entire fleet of our vehicles, to the venue, after about a half past 8.
Young Arjun, then, steered us towards our destination. After meeting up with the panchayat President and the Vice President, we'd gone to the nearby hotel for breakfast and I'd puries with vegetables, for a change.
The proceedings had begun in right earnest around a half past 10. The huge hall was full but the audience neither was interactive nor did they seem to be bothered. Or was it my imagination? After the interaction, the Janamaitree Police team had put up their show. The crowd was melting away - while the stage show was on - to attend a bank loan mela that was set to begin and was called back by the panchayat leadership.
The panchayats with which we'd trysts with today, were:-
(a) Panamaram.
(b) Pulpally and
(c) Mullankolly.
Our next stop was at the 'Gram Sabha' of ward 3 of the Pulpally panchayat. I was getting this rare privilege because the gram sabha is the fundamental legislature - the sanctum sanctorum of a democracy - after which comes the state Assembly followed by the Lok Sabha. The strength of attendees was about 200, a trifle more than the requisite quorum of 10% because the ward's population was about 1,300. As we're entering, we heard one of the attendees grilling the Ward Member and the Panchayat President regarding the action taken by them to meet the prevailing drought conditions(Already? I asked myself because it was only the third week of Feb and the summer was still a long way off).
The interaction with the ladies and the gentlemen were lively and interesting. We broke up after two hours of satisfying interaction! Incidentally, this was the same panchayat in which the naxalites had stormed into the police station and killed policemen, way back in '65. It, definitely, has come a long way from those days and has become friendly!
Lunch was at a hotel in the middle of the town and it was nice. Soon after, I'd got three of the big vehicles fuelled before pushing off to Mullankolly. The irony of this panchayat - that's facing near drought conditions - needs to be understood:-
(a) It's the closest to the Karnataka border.
(b) River Kabini, full of water, passes just 3 kms away and
(c) The forest is just close by and wild animals find their way into town in search of food, water!
The crowd - though not very substantial - took time to form up and we'd a short, yet good interaction. The Panchayat President, Girija Krishnan, was a young lady from the scheduled tribe and quite acceptable to the population.
Tailpiece.
Our halt for the night was at the Hotel Kabini in town that reminded me about the old accommodation in the naval messes. It's, however, neat and clean and young Bipin ran the errands for us.
Young Arjun, then, steered us towards our destination. After meeting up with the panchayat President and the Vice President, we'd gone to the nearby hotel for breakfast and I'd puries with vegetables, for a change.
The proceedings had begun in right earnest around a half past 10. The huge hall was full but the audience neither was interactive nor did they seem to be bothered. Or was it my imagination? After the interaction, the Janamaitree Police team had put up their show. The crowd was melting away - while the stage show was on - to attend a bank loan mela that was set to begin and was called back by the panchayat leadership.
The panchayats with which we'd trysts with today, were:-
(a) Panamaram.
(b) Pulpally and
(c) Mullankolly.
Our next stop was at the 'Gram Sabha' of ward 3 of the Pulpally panchayat. I was getting this rare privilege because the gram sabha is the fundamental legislature - the sanctum sanctorum of a democracy - after which comes the state Assembly followed by the Lok Sabha. The strength of attendees was about 200, a trifle more than the requisite quorum of 10% because the ward's population was about 1,300. As we're entering, we heard one of the attendees grilling the Ward Member and the Panchayat President regarding the action taken by them to meet the prevailing drought conditions(Already? I asked myself because it was only the third week of Feb and the summer was still a long way off).
The interaction with the ladies and the gentlemen were lively and interesting. We broke up after two hours of satisfying interaction! Incidentally, this was the same panchayat in which the naxalites had stormed into the police station and killed policemen, way back in '65. It, definitely, has come a long way from those days and has become friendly!
Lunch was at a hotel in the middle of the town and it was nice. Soon after, I'd got three of the big vehicles fuelled before pushing off to Mullankolly. The irony of this panchayat - that's facing near drought conditions - needs to be understood:-
(a) It's the closest to the Karnataka border.
(b) River Kabini, full of water, passes just 3 kms away and
(c) The forest is just close by and wild animals find their way into town in search of food, water!
The crowd - though not very substantial - took time to form up and we'd a short, yet good interaction. The Panchayat President, Girija Krishnan, was a young lady from the scheduled tribe and quite acceptable to the population.
Tailpiece.
Our halt for the night was at the Hotel Kabini in town that reminded me about the old accommodation in the naval messes. It's, however, neat and clean and young Bipin ran the errands for us.
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