THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: “I’ve taken your chair,” a smiling Rajeev Chandrasekhar quipped, turning to Shashi Tharoor, as the latter returned to his seat after a short speech (The NDA candidate for Thiruvananthapuram seat had in fact moved to the UDF contender’s seat to have a quick chat with General Education V Sivankutty.
As the remark triggered guffaws, a beaming Tharoor returned the favour: “That’s fine. You can take ‘this’ chair!” implying that he’s not going to give up his sitting seat. Amid the peels of laughter, the LDF candidate, Pannyan Raveendran, watched everything unfold – a few seats away.
On the day the general election schedule was announced, the capital witnessed a musical chair of sorts, as the three prominent candidates for Thiruvananthapuram constituency came together for the 84th birthday celebration of veteran port and lyricist Sreekumaran Thampi.
A slew of prominent personalities, including ISRO chairman S Somanath, was also present on the dais at Sree Chitra Home.
Tharoor, Pannyan and Chandrasekhar reflected on Thampi’s valuable contributions and honoured him with ponnada. “One of the greatest achievements of my life is knowing Thampi sir,” remarked Pannyan.
Thampi, too, played his part in the laughter riot, saying he cannot vote for any of them, being a voter of Attingal constituency.
“My life’s biggest celebration was my son, now that he’s no more, there are no celebrations,” he said.
He also expressed his desire to spend more time with the children at Sree Chitra Home. “The earth and sky are the nurturers of humankind; with them alongside, no one can be an orphan,” he said.
Sivankutty, former chief secretary K Jayakumar and foundation president Jayasekharan Nair too joined in wishing the celebrated litterateur. As part of the celebrations, Thampi’s timeless compositions were also rendered, which filled the air with nostalgia.