As a man of the masses, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy may be too busy to have a hobby. In this case, he is not a loner as three of his colleagues in the UDF and the Assembly are without any hobbies, according to the ‘Who’s Who’ published by the Assembly Secretariat.
R Selvaraj, the Neyyattinkara member who shifted to the treasury benches, former Minister T U Kuruvilla and C Moyinkutty are the others in the list.
A majority of the members of the 13th Kerala Legislative Assembly, including Speaker G Karthikeyan and V S Achuthanandan, have reading and film watching as their hobbies.
Agriculture Minister K P Mohanan’s love for Kalarippayatt is not a secret, as it is a legacy handed down from his father the late P R Kurup, who was an exponent of the martial art form.
Former Minister A K Balan might be a seasoned Marxist, but he has faith in ‘extra sensory perceptions’. Palmistry and magic are his favourite pastimes.
The hobbies of Kalpetta MLA M V Shreyams Kumar, a member of the ‘green brigade’, include ornithology and visits to foreign countries. According to the book, he tops the list with a maximum of 42 visits to foreign countries.
Congress member T N Prathapan and CPI member V S Sunil Kumar may be seated on opposite sides in the Assembly, but both share interest in bird watching.
CPM member from Kayamkulam C K Sadashivan is an ardent fan of boat race and has captained the team from United Boat Club, Kainakari, which won the prestigious Nehru Trophy several times.
Kuttanad MLA Thomas Chandy has swimming as his favourite pastime.
G Sudhakaran, an outspoken poet is a rare collector of wedding cards and programme notices while Home Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan is a philatelist.
Minister M K Muneer, a multifaceted personality, is both a philatelist and numismatist. Minister for Cinema and Forests Ganesh Kumar has a collection of remote controlled toys while E P Jayarajan collects pen and watches.
S Rajendran, the CPM member from Devikulam, visits the tribal settlements as a way of spending his pastime.
Though he is the president of the Kerala State Elephant Workers’ Union, Kunnamkulam MLA Babu M Palissery’s hobby is online chatting. Shafi Parambil, one of the youngest members, has included social networking as his area of interest.
P K Jayalakshmi, a former state champion, shares her passion for archery with I C Balakrishnan, the fellow member from her neighbouring constituency.
For Deputy Speaker N Sakthan, C P Muhammed and Kovoor Kunjumon, a game of chess is the answer.
Therambil Ramakrishnan, P Thilothaman, A T George and K V Vijayadas have agriculture as their hobby, while C Divakaran and his former comrade K N A Khader of the Muslim League have opted for gardening. E S Bijimol has taken up cooking while for Koliyakod N Krishnan Nair watching kathakali is the best pastime.