mayyanad sangamam tvm chapter: 12. Report of 5.4.2015 Meeting

Mayyanad Sangamam 2015 April meeting

The meeting began with an invocation song by Ms. Nitu Manilal. The gathering also observed a minute of silence in memory of members -Peter Gonsalves, K.V.Anandam and P.Sabarinad -who passed away after the last meeting.

The Secretary, Er. Manilal welcomed the Ninth New Year (Vishu) gathering of Mayyanidians, living in Thiruvananthapuram. He expressed his happiness at the enthusiastic presence of its old and new members who made the event houseful.

Briefly referring to the query, with a hint of humour, by the chief guest earlier, when they went to invite her, whether Dr.Gopimani is the same person who writes letters to the editor of Mathrubhumi (at the drop of a hat!), President Sri.D.Jayachandran in his address pointed out the difference between ‘honest’ intentions and ‘diplomatic’ intentions by giving the oft quoted definition of a Diplomat: “A Diplomat is an honest person who lies abroad for the sake of his country”. All done with honest intentions in defense of Dr. Gopimani and his socially-concerned activist writings.

After the function of Lighting of Lamp, the compeer of the meeting Ms. Nitumanilal next introduced the chief guest of the day, Smt. Vimala Menon, the noted writer and social activist. Smt.Vimala Menon has about 38 books published to her credit. The theme of innocence is very strong in her writings. In 1990 she received the Kerala State Literary Award in the category of best Children’s Literature for her work “Orazhcha” (One Week), for her sensitive depiction of the experiences of a group of children during a summer vacation to their ancestral home. She is also the recipient of the 2004 SBT Award for her book ‘Mandakini Parayunnathu’ (Thus spoke Mandakini). It paints the life of adolescents and the difficulties they face while growing up. In 2013 her book ‘Njangalkku Ithrayokke Mathiyo?’ was released by Sugathakumari, her mentor. The book portrays differently-abled children, and of the need to create a disabled-friendly atmosphere for them. Her concern is to make life all-inclusive in which the so-called marginalised members of society can also live a normal life like others, a desire she nurtured during her many years spent at the Balabhavan as teacher. At present she serves as Secretary of the Cheshire Home at Thiruvananthapuram.

Inaugural address:

Smt. Vimala Menon made an inspiring speech keeping in view that she was addressing a gathering of people who were desirous of connecting with their traditional roots. Speaking softly and with the ease of an imaginative and sensitive creative writer she quickly empathized with the audience and took them through a journey of their old memories by delving into memories of her own experiences in her ancestral home in Vadakkan Paravoor. The contours of the experiences were no different. In the ancestral home people of all ages lived together under one roof, sharing joys and sorrows, supporting each other in the true spirit of co-existence with Nature. Twenty and thirty people slept peacefully in one open space of the courtyard under the vast sky and never felt uncomfortable; though it had none of the luxuries of the modern day life. Settling in the city she realized how much of the sky she missed. It is fear everywhere, the fear of the unknown, and the consequent increase in unnatural dependence on Faith and the resorting to practices of charity. People live inside tightly closed doors even when they have neighbours all around. In the ancestral home a closed front door was seen as a bad omen. She exhorted the audience to follow the path of the ancestral life as that alone indicates that all is not lost. After your mother, the first memory will always be of your first teacher who held your hands and walked you into the ways of life. By the time Vimala Menon ended her speech she had the audience completely mesmerized, so that the next speaker Dr.Gopimani was speechless for a moment.

Felicitation speech: Quickly restoring his self, Dr. Gopimani fell into his natural grace as a seasoned speaker. He expressed his gladness at knowing that people do take note of his writings. From the space of the ancestral home that Vimala Menon had led us to, he took the audience further back in time into the vast open space of the Universe from where we could have originated some 500 crore years ago, perhaps our ‘real’ ancestral home! With reference to his recently released book, ‘Utharaathunika Saastram’, he clearly took the side of creationist-evolutionist view and denounced the rationalists and the ‘chance’ theorists. A program has to have a programmer after all!

An invitee speaker of the day was Prof.G. Raju, who recently compiled a comprehensive literature of the history of the Ezhavas of Mayyanad. With reference to the Illams of Mayyanad, he emphasized the need to research the concept of ‘Illam’, as he believed that the evidences collected will show that the history of Mayyanad dates further back in time than as is recorded now.

Ms.Sheena, Joint Secretary, proposed the Vote of Thanks.

While the new members got introduced and the members got busy in chit-chats some new singers crooned in for entertainment, although we missed the melodious voice of Aamina.

The meeting concluded with a grand buffet-lunch.