Hundreds of Kochiites and people from different parts of the world crowded Fort Kochi beach on Wednesday night, waiting to welcome the New Year and to watch the burning of the massive ‘Pappanji’. While the celebrations were exciting and colourful, missing from the scene were the women of Kochi.
As an overwhelmingly male crowd milled around the effigy and on the beach, a few women who decided to have a fun night out on New Year’s Eve were pushed to the fringes of the massive crowd. The New Year’s Eve and carnival celebrations at Fort Kochi have developed a reputation for being unsafe for women due to several incidents of women being groped and molested in the crowd, prompting women to stay away from the area. The city police have been on a mission over the last few years to dispel the notion and ensure a safe experience for women. But the fear persists.
Thoppumpady resident Teena was among the few women who attended the celebrations. “I’ve always wanted to watch the ‘Pappanji’ burning. This time, I decided to go and take my family along no matter what,” she said. Women like her found the presence of several police officers on the beach and premises comforting. “We didn’t go to the centre of the crowd, but we were able to watch the celebrations comfortably. There was some trouble though when we were heading back to our parked vehicle from the beach. As the crowd was leaving the area, some men tried to grope us. We stayed within our group and were alright. This happens everywhere there is a large crowd,” she said.
A meeting that wasn’t
Trying all possible options to oust the opponent may be common in a fight but it may not always hit the bull’s eye.
A few syndicate members of Cochin University of Science and Technology would agree as their move to up the ante against the vice chancellor by roping in Chief Minister Oommen Chandy missed the target completely.
Mr. Chandy himself went on record and rejected reports that he had invited the syndicate members to resolve their differences with the vice chancellor especially on her decision to record the syndicate proceedings.
The warring faction was also quick to spread the word that the vice chancellor was not invited to this meeting.
A few syndicate members remained clueless about such a meeting even though the rumour mills worked overtime by even announcing the time schedule of the Chief Minister’s meeting with them.
The grapevine has it that some members tried desperately to involve the Chief Minister in the issue but could not win his confidence. The Chief Minister’s office also made it clear that he would never mediate in an issue without inviting all the aggrieved parties.
