The day had begun comparatively early and the first thought that came into my mind was as to what would have Muthachhan looked like had he been alive today. His love and affection towards me came in waves of memory. He was just too good!
We're supposed to get out of the house by 0730 hrs but some snag made Maman, advance the timing and consequently, I'd literally run into the waiting car with my shirt sleeves open and to my horror, I found that my fly was open which was corrected soon after, without damage. We reached the Kanakakkunnu palace and the last minute things were slowly put into place. Meeting Annasahibji, after a long time - he'd been invited for the function - was a poignant moment. We remembered Leelatai - his wife. She was fond of me and we'd met for the first time at the Somatheeram at Kovalam quite a while back - who'd expired a couple of years back. The guests kept trickling in but the programme kept getting delayed because the Assembly was in session, there was ruckus going on between the treasury benches and the opposition and by about 1215 hrs it was passed on to us that the chief minister would not be able to make it. The bus was flagged off by M Vijayakumar, the former Speaker, ultimately. I'd be kidding if I said that it didn't dampen our enthusiasm because the CM's presence would have enhanced the coverage of the entire event which was one of the intentions!
Anyways, I'm sure that the Mobile Science Exploratory will attract crowds in the days to come and will eventually, become the talk of the town. The accompanying lunch and the interactions made it look like a great 'mela'! In the evening, we're invited to an impromptu inauguration of a 'Khadi Fest' where one of the other guests was my classmate at the University College, years back. Meeting Chandrahasan (Chandru) after a long time was nice.
We had, then, proceeded to the Foundation and went through a quick debrief of the day's proceedings and soon, it was time for the meeting with the stakeholders towards the concept of a 'National Mission for Reading' - the Delhi-based NGO, 'Katha' and the IPLM - at the Pankaj Hotel, where we'd two back-to-back meetings punctuated with dinner. It was a productive set of interactions and it was amply clear that everyone wanted this partnership to take wings, at the earliest!
We're back at home by about 2300 hrs and after a quick interaction with my Ammayi and cousin, it was time to call it a day, take a critical stock of the day's activities.
Tailpiece.
A worthwhile visit and in the process, could remove a lot of unnecessary clutter!
We're supposed to get out of the house by 0730 hrs but some snag made Maman, advance the timing and consequently, I'd literally run into the waiting car with my shirt sleeves open and to my horror, I found that my fly was open which was corrected soon after, without damage. We reached the Kanakakkunnu palace and the last minute things were slowly put into place. Meeting Annasahibji, after a long time - he'd been invited for the function - was a poignant moment. We remembered Leelatai - his wife. She was fond of me and we'd met for the first time at the Somatheeram at Kovalam quite a while back - who'd expired a couple of years back. The guests kept trickling in but the programme kept getting delayed because the Assembly was in session, there was ruckus going on between the treasury benches and the opposition and by about 1215 hrs it was passed on to us that the chief minister would not be able to make it. The bus was flagged off by M Vijayakumar, the former Speaker, ultimately. I'd be kidding if I said that it didn't dampen our enthusiasm because the CM's presence would have enhanced the coverage of the entire event which was one of the intentions!
Anyways, I'm sure that the Mobile Science Exploratory will attract crowds in the days to come and will eventually, become the talk of the town. The accompanying lunch and the interactions made it look like a great 'mela'! In the evening, we're invited to an impromptu inauguration of a 'Khadi Fest' where one of the other guests was my classmate at the University College, years back. Meeting Chandrahasan (Chandru) after a long time was nice.
We had, then, proceeded to the Foundation and went through a quick debrief of the day's proceedings and soon, it was time for the meeting with the stakeholders towards the concept of a 'National Mission for Reading' - the Delhi-based NGO, 'Katha' and the IPLM - at the Pankaj Hotel, where we'd two back-to-back meetings punctuated with dinner. It was a productive set of interactions and it was amply clear that everyone wanted this partnership to take wings, at the earliest!
We're back at home by about 2300 hrs and after a quick interaction with my Ammayi and cousin, it was time to call it a day, take a critical stock of the day's activities.
Tailpiece.
A worthwhile visit and in the process, could remove a lot of unnecessary clutter!
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