Today is Muthachan's 104th birthday. To celebrate the occasion, the foundation had organised a programme at the Kanakunnu Palace at Thiruvananthapuram announcing its campaign to attain 100% e-literacy in the state, over the next 33 months. The programme is being organised under the auspices of the state's education and the local self government ministries and the Pallichal and the Manickal grama panchayats of the Thiruvananthapuram district came into the ambit of the programme on the occasion.
As is usual in any programme connected with my grandfather, there were leaders from the entire political spectrum on the occasion. The chief minister and the leader of the opposition had graced the occasion. The finance minister had endorsed the government's blessings on the initiative. The most poignant moment of the programme was when litterateur, Puthusserry Ramachandran sir recounted a public meeting - held years back in the late '50s - in which the then education minister of the first communist government, Prof Joseph Mundasseri, irked by my grandfather's all out efforts in getting the 'Kerala Library Movement' going, vainly announced that he'd see to it that PN Panicker was sent back to his old job of teaching in a primary school in a remote corner of Pala! Puthusserry sir had strongly objected to the statement despite the fact that he and the education minister were good friends. And as he put it, it was because the people of Kerala had by then realised that PN Panicker's efforts were genuine and irreversible.
A day well spent and the family had the occasion to interact with a wide cross section of the society.
Tailpiece.
1. It was also noteworthy on two counts:-
(a) The audience had a larger percentage of women than men and the hall was packed to capacity.
(b) The nuances of the computers, the internet and its applications were explained to the simple
and ordinary people, from the two panchayats, by specialists in the field through power point
presentations.
2. Muthachan would have been really very happy, had he been around!
As is usual in any programme connected with my grandfather, there were leaders from the entire political spectrum on the occasion. The chief minister and the leader of the opposition had graced the occasion. The finance minister had endorsed the government's blessings on the initiative. The most poignant moment of the programme was when litterateur, Puthusserry Ramachandran sir recounted a public meeting - held years back in the late '50s - in which the then education minister of the first communist government, Prof Joseph Mundasseri, irked by my grandfather's all out efforts in getting the 'Kerala Library Movement' going, vainly announced that he'd see to it that PN Panicker was sent back to his old job of teaching in a primary school in a remote corner of Pala! Puthusserry sir had strongly objected to the statement despite the fact that he and the education minister were good friends. And as he put it, it was because the people of Kerala had by then realised that PN Panicker's efforts were genuine and irreversible.
A day well spent and the family had the occasion to interact with a wide cross section of the society.
Tailpiece.
1. It was also noteworthy on two counts:-
(a) The audience had a larger percentage of women than men and the hall was packed to capacity.
(b) The nuances of the computers, the internet and its applications were explained to the simple
and ordinary people, from the two panchayats, by specialists in the field through power point
presentations.
2. Muthachan would have been really very happy, had he been around!
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