THE SUMMIT

It was already 4.30 a.m and Chengalpet railway jn was coming to life. And Dec 24th was dawning.We all[me,my dharma pathni,my mother,and my pet son,three generations from the mukkani family] alighted the Mangalore express and bussed our way to Anupuram,the Ayyappa temple bus stop to be exact,and the trademark suprabhathom from the temple led us to the venue,a sort of community hall where our third Ghalatta koottam get together was being hosted by Janaky chithy family for the next three days .

As we gate crashed along with with the ushas, the first of the fifty ghalattianns who were all assembling from all the eight directions, we were greeted with full blown smiles from the chithy family,Raaja,Raaji,Raamu and Raami. And it was this lovely smile that was going to be the hallmark of this get together, nothing more nothing less. As usual in any alien land , I loitered around to zero in the source of caffeine so essential for my survival and made friends with the head cook from Tanjore and relieved , went for my te ta with the Family.Till noon time swept around greeting the new arrivals and the ghalatta began in right ernest after the rahu kal at around noon with the lighting of the ceremonial lamp by the elite of the clan,.

I am not getting in to the details of the scheduling of the programmes or what happened in the summit as we all have experienced the same and also documented with the photos and videos at hand. But I have been entrusted with the hardest or harshest or the thankless job of evaluating the whole summit and shall give my 100% objective rationale analysis not as a member of the koottam but as a third person only .

Being the third get together there is always going to be a comparison which no body can escape.The first one being the first had an element of surprise ‘since no one knew what to expect and everybody just jumped in and enjoyed in spite of many goof ups .Everybody was in a mood to forgive ,for being together. But from then on for the second one, people started to expect. The great success of the second one was the application of technology and the Galaattakootam website was a trend setter and also the souvenire was a blessing in disguise for the clan to communicate and bind each other. This communication aspect was a real innovation of the second summit.

Coming to the third one, the innovation that surprised me was the get together getting outdoors, I mean going out of the homes to the auditorium. I had my suspicions whether it was going to work or whether it will be cost effective. On both accounts it came trumps up ,though a few more bath rooms would have made a lot of difference.. The food was good and as Raja commented in the beginning that the meet was dedicated to the stronger sex, I mean the ladies and it proved to be 100%true.They didn’t have any job to do, one,because there were plenty of labour, nother thing it was not in home. The hall was more condusive for entertainment programmes and also the youngsters used it as an indoor stadium for the cricket. Off course everybody felt the absence of a sound system .Nother thing worthy of mentioning was the almost 100 % attendance which I think is going to be unbeaten. Off course everyone missed the authority of my father and the jovialness and humour of Madras chithappa. As some body commented sarcastically the photos on the stage keeps mounting,the nature has its own way of compensating ,Rithvi occupied the centre stage and entertained one and all with her smiles and theatrical cries and what programmes to compete with her.?

T he children were in the forefront and enjoyed, as well as ,entertained all with their bold performances in the stage. Now a days the children have no stage fright. The Kummiady was a sight to see. The greatest surprise for me was Remani’s hindusthani music,the ramaswami iyer family is really blessed with talent. The main attraction of the mobile ghalatta was the the swim suit at the lake.The arattai arangom turned out to be an eye opener for the parents, all of whom thought that they were the best parents and the children did a lot of damage to their egos stripping them before the crowd., except for one Radhika who came to her parents rescue and got the best actress award from the gallery,for her histrionics. I felt the children were growing up hastier and unsure and less matured.

As for as I am concerned the the the striking feature of this meet was the hospitality,the special care and attention given to the delegates by the hosts—‘ that was unmatched ‘ and full credit to Raja and Ramu and chithy.

My only positive comment is regarding the flask presented to all of us ,of which I nursed great hopes, for upkeep of my daily quota of coffee the great nourisher,my hopes were dashed when I put it in to use. Now I am using it to thaw the frozen Milma MILK from the freezer . Did you note the made in’ PAIRS’ caption.? [Sorry Raja, I couldn’t help it This allegation is for YOU withdrawing the promised subsidy in my bill].

As I sat back in the Mangalore express on the midnight of 28’ th December 2009 , the pestering LONELINESS was back, even though I felt proud for being a part of a great family, a great show , I have to wait for nother two l----------------ong years before the next union, my only motivation for SURVIVAL.