Had woken up at 4 and found that my sleep had taken a flight to, I dunno where! So, had a wash and recited my prayers after which I glided back to sleep and woke up a trifle past 6, when I saw the morning sun's rays stream in through the window of my room. Went through my chores, a quick bite of breakfast and Maman and I were off for the Foundation by 8.
A quick check of the things that were being taken, apportioning of personnel in the vehicles - the Exploratory, a car and an SUV - and we're off for Vithura, 40 kms away eastward that spread over the slopes of the western ghats! The journey took approximately over an hour and we're at the panchayat headquarters where a warm welcome awaited us. Without much ado, we went about explaining as to what we aimed by our 'yatra'.
They gave us a lovely lunch on completion after which there was a longish break and then, was the kerb side interaction at one of the most busy junctions of the place. The Exploratory, brightly painted with the theme of the 'yatra', all over its sides, was an instant hit with the young and the old competing with each another to have a 'look see' within. I'd provided a brief overview, prior to it, from the pulled out platform, from the body of the bus, at the rear.
To highlight the facets of telemedicine, two of the exhibits are the blood pressure reader and the blood sugar indicator. Once the fact was known to a few of the teeming visitors, everyone wanted a check of his/her BP and blood sugar values. When I saw that the focus was turning to a mere mobile lab activity, I decided to call it a day since it was also getting to be sunset time. My approach in my initial presentation needs to be modified, suitably, tomorrow so that the focus of the 'yatra' never shifts!
We're back at the Foundation by 7 but not before the particulars of Aji(The driver/operator of the Exploratory), Alex(The Driver of the SUV and Aji's assistant) and Komalam(The teacher interacting
with the visitors, all through) were assimilated from the interaction during our return trip!
On arrival, it was an immediate trip to a friend's sons' wedding reception - their weddings had taken place, one after the other, last week. It was a pleasant event but I must confess that I'd two reasons to feel self conscious viz.:-
(a) I wasn't personally invited but Maman had insisted on my attending the function since the
boys' father complemented the Foundation's activities.and he was fond of me and
(b) I was wearing the same rig that I'd worn throughout the day, for the 'yatra'.
We're back home by about a half past 8 and it was yakkitiyak, thereafter!
Tailpiece.
As part of the retrieval of encroached land in Munnar, a huge cross that was rigged up by the encroachers was removed by the revenue department team along with the police. The chief minister was quick to voice his unhappiness over the incident, publicly vented his anger at the poor officials which clearly showed the fault lines between the chief minister and the CPI(The revenue ministry is under its charge) regarding the matter and lo and behold, a new cross has come up in its place within 24 hrs!
Do not demoralise honest officials who're trying to bring about some semblance of fairness in the ugly land grabbing saga - that's become a continuous activity resorted to by every political party - Mr. Chief Minister! It's just not fair!!
A quick check of the things that were being taken, apportioning of personnel in the vehicles - the Exploratory, a car and an SUV - and we're off for Vithura, 40 kms away eastward that spread over the slopes of the western ghats! The journey took approximately over an hour and we're at the panchayat headquarters where a warm welcome awaited us. Without much ado, we went about explaining as to what we aimed by our 'yatra'.
They gave us a lovely lunch on completion after which there was a longish break and then, was the kerb side interaction at one of the most busy junctions of the place. The Exploratory, brightly painted with the theme of the 'yatra', all over its sides, was an instant hit with the young and the old competing with each another to have a 'look see' within. I'd provided a brief overview, prior to it, from the pulled out platform, from the body of the bus, at the rear.
To highlight the facets of telemedicine, two of the exhibits are the blood pressure reader and the blood sugar indicator. Once the fact was known to a few of the teeming visitors, everyone wanted a check of his/her BP and blood sugar values. When I saw that the focus was turning to a mere mobile lab activity, I decided to call it a day since it was also getting to be sunset time. My approach in my initial presentation needs to be modified, suitably, tomorrow so that the focus of the 'yatra' never shifts!
We're back at the Foundation by 7 but not before the particulars of Aji(The driver/operator of the Exploratory), Alex(The Driver of the SUV and Aji's assistant) and Komalam(The teacher interacting
with the visitors, all through) were assimilated from the interaction during our return trip!
On arrival, it was an immediate trip to a friend's sons' wedding reception - their weddings had taken place, one after the other, last week. It was a pleasant event but I must confess that I'd two reasons to feel self conscious viz.:-
(a) I wasn't personally invited but Maman had insisted on my attending the function since the
boys' father complemented the Foundation's activities.and he was fond of me and
(b) I was wearing the same rig that I'd worn throughout the day, for the 'yatra'.
We're back home by about a half past 8 and it was yakkitiyak, thereafter!
Tailpiece.
As part of the retrieval of encroached land in Munnar, a huge cross that was rigged up by the encroachers was removed by the revenue department team along with the police. The chief minister was quick to voice his unhappiness over the incident, publicly vented his anger at the poor officials which clearly showed the fault lines between the chief minister and the CPI(The revenue ministry is under its charge) regarding the matter and lo and behold, a new cross has come up in its place within 24 hrs!
Do not demoralise honest officials who're trying to bring about some semblance of fairness in the ugly land grabbing saga - that's become a continuous activity resorted to by every political party - Mr. Chief Minister! It's just not fair!!
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