Had got up at a half past 6 and had gone down to the restaurant to fetch tea for us when Sudhakaran gently reminded me that it would be available only by 7. Went through the chores though I was unhappy with the brackish water that was available, with the effect that I felt that I really had not had a bath at the end of it all! Moreover, the morning was stiflingly hot.
We'd commenced our coverage of Thrissur district. The panchayats with which we'd our trysts today were:-
(a) Koratty.
(b) Meloor.
(c) Kodakara.
(d) Parappookkara and
(e) Puthukkad.
The proceedings in each of the panchayats were good and fetched better crowds than yesterday. It could have, however, been better but for the long weekend that people must have availed because of the holiday on account of Sivarathri tomorrow.
Sumesh, the district DYFI president and a panchayat member said that it was PN Panicker's library movement that had veered the Malayalees from superstitions and baseless beliefs. Come to think of it, he'd scored a bull's eye and I congratulated him for it. He was effusive in his thanks and took leave of me before casting off. Nice of him!
At Kodakara, we're glad to see that our idea of honouring the poor and the common people had been adopted by the panchayat. And it was nice to be in Chelat Achutha Menon's - one of the charismatic chief minsters of the state - constituency. But approaching the panchayat had its pitfalls, in that, the small roads had overhead electric and television cables that hampered the Science Exploratory's smooth movement. After making a late entry at the panchayat, a quick move to the rest room saw me take a bad tumble because of the slippery floor and for the rest of the day, till I came into our night halt at KILA(Kerala Institute of Local Administration) and had washed my clothes!
The receptions at Parappookkara and Puthukkad were short affairs as the audiences were comparatively less, though enthusiastic. The common thread in all the panchayats of the day had a majority of female elected representatives, running the administrations and one felt nice.
Tailpiece.
1. There was another mishap involving me. Had a narrow miss while I was trying to get the vehicles in order at the Paaliyekkara toll, my right leg had almost gone under our car's rear wheel. I howled at Manu for his faux pas.
2. Lekha is at 'The Quarterdeck' today as she's moving with her sister and family to the Thirumaandhaam kunnu temple. She'll return to Kottarakkara tomorrow.
We'd commenced our coverage of Thrissur district. The panchayats with which we'd our trysts today were:-
(a) Koratty.
(b) Meloor.
(c) Kodakara.
(d) Parappookkara and
(e) Puthukkad.
The proceedings in each of the panchayats were good and fetched better crowds than yesterday. It could have, however, been better but for the long weekend that people must have availed because of the holiday on account of Sivarathri tomorrow.
Sumesh, the district DYFI president and a panchayat member said that it was PN Panicker's library movement that had veered the Malayalees from superstitions and baseless beliefs. Come to think of it, he'd scored a bull's eye and I congratulated him for it. He was effusive in his thanks and took leave of me before casting off. Nice of him!
At Kodakara, we're glad to see that our idea of honouring the poor and the common people had been adopted by the panchayat. And it was nice to be in Chelat Achutha Menon's - one of the charismatic chief minsters of the state - constituency. But approaching the panchayat had its pitfalls, in that, the small roads had overhead electric and television cables that hampered the Science Exploratory's smooth movement. After making a late entry at the panchayat, a quick move to the rest room saw me take a bad tumble because of the slippery floor and for the rest of the day, till I came into our night halt at KILA(Kerala Institute of Local Administration) and had washed my clothes!
The receptions at Parappookkara and Puthukkad were short affairs as the audiences were comparatively less, though enthusiastic. The common thread in all the panchayats of the day had a majority of female elected representatives, running the administrations and one felt nice.
Tailpiece.
1. There was another mishap involving me. Had a narrow miss while I was trying to get the vehicles in order at the Paaliyekkara toll, my right leg had almost gone under our car's rear wheel. I howled at Manu for his faux pas.
2. Lekha is at 'The Quarterdeck' today as she's moving with her sister and family to the Thirumaandhaam kunnu temple. She'll return to Kottarakkara tomorrow.
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