THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: As young Umar Abdullah rendered the nursery rhyme ‘Twinkle twinkle little star,’ Gandhian K E Mammen tapped to the rhythm and sang along. Gopika, a fourth standard student, presented him with a picture of Mahatma Gandhi. Nazreen, a first standard student, draped a shawl on him, while Umar placed the Gandhi cap on his head.
As many as 20 tiny tots from the Government L P School, Karichara, had traversed 30 odd kilometres to visit Mammen armed with a cake, a Gandhi cap, Gandhi portrait and khadar shawl to wish him on Easter Day. Mammen, who is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Neyyattinkara, bestowed his blessings on the kids and urged them to grow up into good citizens.
He made the kids repeat after him that they were neither Muslim, Hindu nor Christian and that they were Indians. The kids repeated after him with gusto. The hospital resonated with ‘Vandematharam’ and ‘Varika Varika Sahajare’ as the students rendered the songs on Mammen’s request.
As soon as the kids rendered ‘Raghupathi Raghava Raja Ram’, unable to contain his excitement, Mammen also joined in and sang along with the kids notwithstanding his flailing health. Unable to keep up with the singing after a while, he reminded the kids that he was more than 94 years old.
Later, they jointly sliced the ‘Easter cake.’ School headmistress M M Leela, PTA vice-president J M Rahim and staff secretary C S Gireesh were present.