95. Singapore Boys and Girls in NIT Calicut

Thus,  the  MoU  for the India Immersion Programme  of  Ngee Ann Polytechnic  students at  N.I.T. Calicut  has  been signed by both the  Directors and we returned to Calicut after  a bit of sight seeing. Effectively, it was a programme  to ‘Discover India’. As  Coordinator  to assist   me in the  implementation of the  programme a senior member  of faculty  of ECE  department,  Dr.Ramkumar  Sreedharan Pillai was  nominated. (Unfortunately,  he is not  in NITC  now, as he has joined some self-financing college ). He was very helpful  in the  organization and execution  of the  project. Even  though  I was  insisting that he discusses all important  matters  with me, he conveniently ignored this. In spite of this, he was capable enough to do everything on his  own and I was very happy  the way  programme  is  arranged. The  programme was  from  March 8, 2009 to April 5  2009.

Under  the  scheme, 30   students  including  boys and girls and two members  of faculty were to be  in our  campus  during  this period. We did  not have the  facility in our hostels  to accommodate all these students  in our hostels as the academic session was in full swing. Moreover, as per the  MoU, they had to be provided with air-conditioned  rooms. As per the agreement, all  expenses  were  to be borne  by the  Ngee Ann Poly authorities. We had a  separate   International hostel  constructed  out of the  funds allotted during  two batches  of students  from Ethiopia  were educated  in REC Calicut with single  rooms.  However, this building as usual was  not good enough  and the wiring  was not be able  to withstand  the additional load  due to air conditioners in each room. Moreover, it was  not easy to provide  proper air seal   to these  rooms due to the poor  quality  of construction. So, in consultation  with the  Director, it was decided to  fix AC units  in all the  rooms  in the  institute  guest house. Urgent  purchase  of AC units was arranged and they were  installed in all the   rooms  in the guest  house. Even  tissue stands and new curtains were  fixed . It was decided  to accommodate  boys and girls  in the  two wings  , students  in double  rooms and faculty   members  in single  rooms. Guest  house  manager  was asked whether  he can provide  food  as per special  menu to them  under  his  management. As he  refused, canteen  manager  Vijayan  agreed to provide food  with  Chinese and Indian cuisine as  per  the  special menu  prepared in consultation with  the  faculty accompanying  the students. Food  was prepared  in the canteen and served  in the  guest house. The  girls  students  were  advised  to  avoid  the  ultra-modern  dress while  moving out and the teachers agreed  to do the  needful. It must   have been for the  first time such a large number  of foreigners  were   seen together in our campus and we wanted  to avoid any mischief  by our students on the  guests, especially  girls in the group.

The  next task was  to prepare  the  lesson  plan for the students. The lessons  were  part of a course  the students  had to undergo in the  semester and Dr.Ramkumar  in consultation  with  other   senior faculty  members  prepared a curriculum   which includes  history, culture, fine  arts, women  empowerment programmes like  Kudumbashree, rural   banking , etc. Eminent  speakers  like  M G S Narayanan , V K S Menon    were  invited to take class  for them. Short  trips  were  planned   in the  week ends . Classes  were  arranged in a room fitted with AC  in ECE  department.  The  plan included  visits to  Kannur, Bakel fort, Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram, Kalamandalam   etc. Enough  opportunity  to see  Theyyam , Kathakali, kalaripyatt (Martial arts) all were included. Visits  to Technopark, TVM and  Info park, Kochi  , FACT, TCC  and other industries were also arranged .

We  decided to start  the tour with a  move around  Kozhikode  to begin with. Vijayan had arranged for  a meals packet  with  the  boys and girls. First  place  to visit was  the  V K Krishna Menon museum.  There  was  practically  nothing to see there. Some toys and a  machine   gun were  available. They took some photos sitting on the  machine gun. By that time, it was  lunch time.  The lunch packet had already been consumed  by the boys and girls and they said  they are  hungry. We checked up with the Sathkar  restaurant  in Nadakkave  whether  they can provide  chicken biriyani  for  about 40 persons. When   they told they can, we   went to the restaurant by about 2PM.  All  the   students enjoyed the good meal of chicken biriyani  with  salad and pickles.  After  lunch, we  moved  to Kappad beach  where  Vasco da Gama was supposed  to have  landed , being a historical  place the event that  led to the  Western  reign  over India. Students  were not very much interested  in the  history but enjoyed  the   walk  on the  sea side touching the waves. Photos and videos were   taken in plenty.

Now , we  had a  problem, the real  nature’s call. Some girl students wanted to go to the toilet. As  is common at many  tourist spots  in our country, there was  no place  where  the girls  could attend   to the natures call. We approached  a hotel  available there and they were kind enough  to permit the girls to use  the toilet and the  problem solved. On the  way back, we went to a Kalari where  kalaripayatu was  being taught . The  guru   arranged a  short demonstration  of the  Kerala martial art -kalari payatu for the  guests .

Second  day, we  were lucky to  see a  Kathakali performance at Chinmaya  mission auditorium  under the Thodayam kathakali club in which I was a member. I requested the organizers  to   permit our boys and girls to see the performance. The story   was   Karna shapatham which is the remarkable story from Mahabharatham . A few  days  before the start  of the  Kurukshethra war, Duryodhanan was chit- chatting with his wife Bhanumathy. She was worried about the  outcome  of the  war which will ultimately decide the end of the Kaurava  or Pandavas. While  Duryodhana  was consoling her that nothing will happen, Karna, his closest friend reached there. He assures  Bhanumathi, that so  long as  he is alive, nothing will happen to Duryodhana and he is capable of killing all the five Pandavas single handed. In the second scene Karna was  sitting on the  banks of Ganges  for evening prayer, But he is not able to concentrate on his prayer and is  worried about who his real parents are. Even though he was given the  role of a king , thanks to Duryodhan, he did not know  who his real parents are. He was  worried  that he will have to end his life without knowing who they are. Then  Kunthi, mother  of Pandavas  approaches  him and asks  for a wish. He promises  that whatever possible by him will be given, she being an elderly lady whom he respects. Then she slowly tells him the truth that he is her own  eldest  son and Sun is his father .Karna  becomes  unconscious for a while  hearing this news, but recovers  soon  and asks why   did you tell him this earlier. She explains the circumstances  under which as an young lady she experimented on the boon and got a  child even though she was not married. Afraid of the  scandal, she had to  leave the child in a box in the Ganges.  She begs   him to  join Pandavas and lead them  in the war. She promises him that he will be the king after the war. But  Karna says he will never  desert his   dear friend Duryodhana. But he promises  her that he will not kill any of the Pandavas other than Arjun.

As the  story was  such that  most of  the different  types  of characters in Kathakali were coming on stage and even though they could not make much  about the story line and the  special symbols or mudras used  in the  art form,  they were happy to take  photos and videos  from the performance . With all the  hard music with Chenta, Maddalam   etc, probably  for a person who is  hearing this for the first time, it must have  been a   terrible experience but they enjoyed the change.  We  contributed a reasonable amount  to the organisers and returned to the campus  by 11PM after a  memorable experience.