CET61-66 Get together Kanyakumari 2014

Dwindling Numbers

Our fourth get-together (2014) was scheduled at Kanyakumari on 23^rd and 24^th of October .  When we assembled in NT Nair’s office Kuruppachan  confirmed  that  the total number  was 22. Is the crowd gradually becoming thinner?? Where  are AK Mathew and Kartha?? Have they lost interest in the old ”guys and gals”? Even Raechel travelled all the way from US. People trickled in, and had a cup of tea or coffee each for a start and began yapping.  Our friend Prasanna Panicker was present to welcome all, and we were sad to know she was dropping out due to unfavourable conditions at home. But her gesture of coming to see off the crowd touched our hearts, more than words could convey .

The Journey

The luxury bus was very good and free from shocks, but the AC temperature often went down close to zero, converting our sweat to ice flakes. The driver chose to avoid Highway 47 and took some serpentine roads preferred by contrabandiers and fugitives from Law. The journey to Kanyakumari had never taken so long. We oldies were reluctant on fun and frolic, and did not even try to sing our good old “Unda-pakkada Mala-pakkada Hoi, Hoi, Hoi”. We realized that crossing 70 is not a small event  and that age tells upon your mood. As it was getting late, far beyond lunch hour we demanded a stop on the way for some “Interim Relief”. I had half a mind to dip into Ayyappan’s bag which would surely have bundles of snacks of various descriptions popular across the border. But before I did that our leaders bought us air filled packets of salty snacks and bottles of water to quench the resultant thirst. It was 2 O’clock before we checked in to “Sparsh” (means Touch), a star hotel facing South towards the Indian Ocean.

The Southern Tip: Cape

In Kanyakumari the sky had the colour of sadness, a dull grey with an impending shower hanging in the air. This fabled Southern tip of India seems to have lost its charm and glamour. The beach is fenced up and tiled at two levels with a promenade and sparsely positioned benches. On the South East corner you see the beautiful Vivekananda Memorial, dwarfed by a monstrous statue of the poet- sage Valluvar, a symbol of Tamil Ego. The whole place looks prosaic- there is nothing interesting- and I do not desire another visit. We drove to Vivekananda Centre where there is a permanent  exhibition of pictures of historical events. There is no effort on the part of government to improve the exhibition to modern standards. Then we went to the temple where the most impressive sight was the diamond on the nose of Devi Kanya Kumari that shines like a First magnitude star, visible from the outer sea.  It is said that the Eastern door of the temple remains closed permanently to avoid misleading of seafaring vessels.

Attendance

By evening we assembled in the conference hall in full quorum.  Seven members had come without family:  U Mani (whose wife had passed away), Sundareswaran, Murukesan (Pulse), KN Thomas (Thin Thoma), Sreedharan KA, Thomas Jacob (Mech- first time) and Krishnan Asari (Elect. First time).  Those with family were Kuruvilla, Jogan, KNC Kurup, NT Nair(with his wife and sister in law), Murukesh Babu,  KC Thomas (Thick Thoma), Raechal, Ayyappan, Sivamony Moorthy (with wife and son) Kesavan kutty Nair,  Madhavan Nair, Janardhanan, and your humble MPC. Madhavan Nair reached Kanyakumari separately with his wife Radha and a contingent of black cat commandos.

The Newcomers

Although we never did any ragging in our younger days, people wanted to put on stand the newcomers first. Krishnan Asari (Electrical) hailing from Attingal confessed his unpardonable offence of not attending any of the earlier meets and promised he would not repeat the crime. He was acquitted honourably.  Thomas Jacob (Mech) was another first timer who was sporting an excellent camouflage in the form of a whitish beard. But his camouflage is too thin for old friends `when he beams that good old smile. Both these fellows had come single, probably for a reconnaissance survey to check whether the crowd is safe enough to bring respected families. The third to be put on stand was Kesavan Kutty, who claimed he had attended a meet earlier, precisely the one that I missed out. He was pardoned because he had his sweet wife Usha with him. Both of them were wielding cameras of different makes and sizes she using a small point- and- shoot model and he a formidable one frowned upon by i-pad users like Sivamany Moorthy.  Kesavan Kutty is settled in Canada with his wife and children. He has the look of a respectable old gentleman, suddenly transformed from a soft spoken gentleman student, obscuring the gap of 48 years.  The last we met was in 1968, in Kottayam  when he was selling Kirloskar diesel engines. We spent some time together, leaving my bag in his office, until he put me on a KSRTC Bus to Calicut. We never met or wrote after that. It was a great reunion.

Repaying the Society

The discussion soon took a serious turn when NT Nair reminded us that we had paid a paltry sum of Rs.2100 towards fees for five years whereas the public exchequer had spent something like 3.5 lakhs  to educate every one f us. Now it was time to think of repaying the Society in cash or kind.  Many ideas came forth, beginning with Sivamony Moorthy, the youngest looking  person among us. He wanted to improve the health of people by propagating Naturopathy. The speech was slightly autobiographic as the example of health, happiness and prosperity he projected  was the evergreen Sivamony himself. I was at a loss to fathom how the whole batch could take it up as a mission, many of us swallowing dozens of tablets every day for Sugar, BP, cholesterol and various other ailments . Ayyappan suggested an inexpensive method to improve the health of next generation (forget the present one, it is already incorrigible), by concentrating on children yet to be born. The work, simple and inexpensive,  should begin from the womb: just apply a dot of transparent “kumkum” on the forehead between the eyebrows of the  woman exactly during the seventh month of pregnancy (just as they do in what is called Seemantham). He promised a chain reaction in the woman’s body that would ultimately bring out a healthy, intelligent and handsome baby.  Sorry I do not remember the names of various glands in the body that would participate in the chain reaction. Those who want the predicted results should contact Ayyappan directly instead of going by the second hand description by one who is extremely poor in biology. Then Sundaresan the Chief Engineer turned farmer made an impassioned appeal to all of us to return to Nature and enjoy the thrill of farming. The tragedy is that some of us have only a few square feet of concrete floor on the fifteenth floor where farming could only be a dream for the next incarnation.  Madhavan Nair suggested that we begin a “Centre for Innovation” catering to the creative strata of engineering students using our collective expertise. NT Nair wanted to offer it free, but MPC thought that anything offered free will not have a perceived value among the recipients. Finally we decided to hold detailed discussions on the nuts and bolts of the programme.  

Jogans’ Concert

Before dinner Jogan and Elizabeth entertained us with a couple of songs. The first “Number” was ... “Pearly shells...From the ocean...Shining in the sun...Covering the shore...When I see them...My heart tells me that I love you more than all the pearly shells....”  The second number was, of course our familiar “Ayyappante Amma Neyyappam Chuttu...” and all that happened to the neyyappam.

Then we had a nice dinner and well deserved sleep..only to wake up next morning expecting an enchanting sunrise on the cape.

The Sunrise

Unusually the second day was more hectic than the first. The spectacular thing about Kanyakumari is that you can watch both the sunrise and sunset on the same beach.  Many tried to watch the sunrise on the Tower, but the cloudy weather wouldn’t allow any such luxury. “Come again another day” was the reply from Mother Nature.  My wife Nirmala complains that she has a lazy husband and failed to reach the tower on time. By the time we reached the beach the sun was already fairly up in the sky.  We walked along for some time and joined the crowd for breakfast.

Sightseeing

At 9O’Clock we checked out and headed for Vattakkottai, just a few minutes’ drive from the cape. The fort, built in granite was jutting into the sea. This one housed a garrison of Travancore Maharaja. History has it that the friendly Dutch Captain DeLenoy strengthened the fortress and trained Travancore soldiers to march in Western style. I should pay royalty to Murali Mohanlal for the authentic piece of history that I was ignorant of. From the fort we moved on to Thukkalai, to visit the famous Padmanabhapuram palace, erstwhile headquarters of Travancore Maharajas till they moved to Trivandrum. The palace is a heritage site with exquisite architecture of Kerala, intricate wood carvings, unique artefacts and facilities to feed enormous number of people. Too many visitors and too little maintenance are showing up as slow decay of the structure. If it continues like this, this exquisite place will soon fall apart.

Lunch and dispersal

Hungry and tired, we proceeded to Trivandrum, right along the National Highway 47. Our organizers could locate an excellent vegetarian hotel on the way that provided delicious food although we descended on them like a ton of bricks after lunch time. Three cheers to Kurup, Murukesan and NT Nair. One by one people started saying good bye, the largest contingent leaving at Thampanoor railway station. Most people had reserved their seats by the train leaving at 5 O’clock. Rest of us went to NT Nair’s Office where many had parked their cars. Jogan took us to our place of sojourn as they were living nearby.

Parting is always sad, but we are firmly resolved that we shall meet again next year.