Mayor Emeritus Tom Aditya from the UK greeted Golden Jubilarian Oommen Chandy

Congratulations and Best wishes to the Indian statesman, 𝐒𝐫𝐢 𝐎𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲, who completed fifty years as an elected Parliamentarian of the State of Kerala. This is a very distinct and special achievement in the Indian political spectrum. He was first elected to the Kerala State Legislative Assembly in 1970 and continues to serve the people, winning eleven consecutive elections. He served as the Chief Minister of Kerala for two terms, the Leader of the Opposition for a term, and as a Minister for four terms since 1977. He is the recipient of the prestigious United Nations Public Service Award too. He is currently the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee. I presume Sri Oommen Chandy may be the first golden jubilee legislator from the Indian National Congress party’s 135 years history. Hence, it is a historical milestone in the Indian political kaleidoscope.

I don’t usually comment on any politicians or political parties in India, since it may not be presumed as a good practice, while I serve as a civic-representative in the UK. However, Oommen Chandy being part of my Alma-Mater – St Berchman’s College Changanacherry- and President of its Alumni fraternity, let me take this space to heartily extend my cordial greetings to him and share a humble memory about my first interaction with him.

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐎𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲:
Sri Oommen Chandy was a very popular leader and Minister, even when I was a child. He is the same age as my father. During those days, the newspapers sequentially carry news and pictures about him and he was considered some sort of a celebrity. I also heard about him from my relatives who happened to be Oommen Chandy’s constituents. Some of those stories were really hilarious and amusing about his recommendation letters. However, what I would like to jot down here is my first direct interaction with him, in midst of a train journey whilst travelling along with my parents and my younger sister during the early part of the 1980s. I was a school student at that time. Attired in his usual white khadi shirt and ‘mundu’, he came and sat beside us. He was carrying a small handbag, and a Malayalam newspaper, which he may have bought from the train station. Contrary to the current Indian politician’s entourage, there was no attendant along with him.

At that time, telecommunications technology wasn’t developed as it is now. The train started moving, but there was a constant movement of passengers through the corridor inside the train compartment. Seeing an easily accessible leader like Oommen Chandy, many were stopping by to greet him. Most of them called him ‘Sir’. My father refreshed his acquaintances with Oommen Chandy and they talked about a few people whom they know each other, which I wasn’t aware earlier. While exchanging pleasantries with my father, he mentioned that he is going to attend a meeting at Ernakulam. He initially sat by the passageway seat and I was sat near the window on the other side of the long-cushioned pew. He was relatively young at that time, presumably in his thirties with black hair and moutache. His voice was much clearer as well.

After the initial few minutes, my father understood that Oommen Chandy Sir was in a hurry to read the newspaper to update himself and to prepare himself for that day. Nevertheless, constant interruptions from passer-by’s were hindering him. Apparantely, to help him in his reading or maybe to avert the public attention near the passageway, my father asked me to move my seat for the dear leader. I obeyed my father’s order and Oommen Chandy Sir moved to the window seat. Taking his newspaper, he started flipping through the pages. Sitting beside him, I also started browsing through his newspaper. He was glancing through some of the political and religious issues at that time. He quickly scans and skips through the pages and I wasn’t able to catch up. In between, he scribbled on a small piece of paper and put that in his shirt pocket. Since I was curiously observing him, he fondly smiled at me. He may have noticed that I am a bit nosy. He affectionately chit-chatted with me. He was very calm in his mannerisms and courtesy.

In midst of this, many people came and greeted him, and some of them took that as a given opportunity to redress their grievances and concerns. I was squeezed in between the influx of these people. Many who were in other compartments came near and sat by our seats. Hence, in order to avoid discomfort to fellow passengers like us, he moved back to the passageway seat.

I deem, he was the convenor of the ruling coalition at that time but not holding any official Cabinet position. Still, amongst many who came to call his attention during that journey were government employees who were seeking transfers or solutions to their issues. Some others were ordinary folks, who wants his recommendation for a job. Some amongst them were his party men and some were his opposition party members t. On that other hand, some others came probing his availability to attend some of their future programmes, whilst another group wants to update him with their family matters. Some of them were slightly criticizing him. He only smiled at them, nodding his head, without refuting them. Most of the people treated Oommen Chandy as if they own him in some shape or form. He was not showing any qualms with them. On the other hand, he was treating them on an equal footing.

What I noticed throughout that journey was that Oommen Chandy was busy juggling from one issue to the other. Even though, draining with many things, he patiently listened to the people and expressed empathy towards their issues through his typical mannerisms and gestures. In some cases, he gave a few instructions or and, in some cases, he will ask them to contact the appropriate person with his reference. Whilst some of the issues were difficult and challenging, I felt as if he really enjoyed handling such issues. 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢-𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐜 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦-𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐜𝐡. When the train reached Ernakulam, Oommen Chandy politely bid farewell and went off. We noticed that a large group of people vacated our train compartment too. It was as if a carnival ground was deserted all of a sudden. Although, I was only a teenager, watching Oommen Chandy at a close distance gave me the 𝐝𝐚𝐳𝐳𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 and instilled in me an urge to serve the people selflessly.
After my school life, I happened to study the same subjects for graduation on the same campus in which Oommen Chandy Sir studied. During those university days, I was a resident of Newman’s hostel in which the ever-green hero of Malayalam movie ‘Prem Nazir’ was a resident earlier. Even though I was closely involved with student’s union activities at that time, I wasn’t connected with Oommen Chandy or his politics. Still, we used to see Oommen Chandy when he visits our college as a guest of honour or when he attends any public functions. But I never bothered to talk to him about my first impressions, since Oommen Chandy Sir was quite busy with many major issues.

After my university days, I worked as a banking professional and as a management consultant. During one of my journeys in 1997, I happened to travel along with Oommen Chandy again on a train from Kottayam to Ernakulam. On that particular day, Mr Sitaram Kesari who was President of Congress withdrew support to Gujral’s government at the Centre and I wasn’t favourably disposed towards the frequent withdrawal of support by Indian National Congress towards the central governments. Congress party had months earlier withdrawn support to another government. During that journey, I openly criticized Oommen Chandy and his party for playing a destabilising role and cautioned him that his party’s selfish move will damage the democratic standards of the country and his party. He heard my criticism in a serene manner and gave his justifications to that issue yet treated me solemnly. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬. In the Indian context, such courtesies are quite unusual.

After I moved to the UK, the contacts became sporadic. Time progressed faster and changes happened in many spheres of life. In between, I was elected as a civic representative in England and Oommen Chandy became the State Chief Minister. Meanwhile, I undertook a mission to save an innocent Malayali, sentenced to death in the UAE. I sought the Chief Minister’s appointment and met him. I had a long conversation with him in order to seek his government’s support to do release him. He supported me in that mission. With help from a few good souls in London, I was able to rope in a very famous international human rights organisation towards that issue and we were able to save that innocent Malayali in Abu Dhabi. When the mission was successful, he sent a message of appreciation. When I met him in 2014, he also told me that he is worried that many expatriate prisoners who completed their sentencings in the Middle East countries’ jails are still stuck there due to a lack of interest from their own relatives and family members; and asked me whether it is possible to involve the international human rights organization’s help to commence repatriation of those abandoned people. I agreed to it, provided the Kerala State government unearth such cases, and handover it to the international human rights organisation. I hope it has been done.

Many times, I read in newspapers, Oommen Chandy’s efforts to save people from war-torn places and for his help in humanitarian relief operations. 𝐎𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝. He has strong networking skills and grassroots connections. That’s why he was able to survive rain or wind or any weather conditions. His perceptions and positive community-oriented attitude enable him to always search for innovative ideas and initiatives. It propels him to be flexible and always keeps himself refreshing. His extensive experience as a people’s representative gave him a consensus approach towards issues. Oommen Chandy seems to be very soft in a way, but I felt as if he is very determined on the inside.

𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐰 𝐮𝐩, 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐎𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐲’𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬, 𝐲𝐞𝐭 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐜𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩. It is doubtful whether there will be any top leader in India who has got such direct mass contact with people at the grassroots level. He is liked by people of all political persuasions and socio-cultural backgrounds. He is a unique leader in Indian politics. I realized that his golden jubilee is celebrated massively by his friends, colleagues, and well-wishers. I extend my hearty greetings to all of them. I could assimilate that his family might have sacrificed a lot to build up his public service track record. 𝙄 𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙝 𝙊𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙚𝙣 𝘾𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙮 𝙎𝙞𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮, 𝙜𝙤𝙤𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙩𝙝 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙟𝙤𝙮𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙡𝙞𝙛𝙚 𝙖𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙙. May his service be continued. Our respects. Stay blessed. Best wishes. Thank you.

Tom Aditya, UK