Since I knew that I would be returning to
Goa alone at the end of the seminar in Kottayam I took care to be very
observant about landmarks and other details so that I would not get
lost on my return trip. I carefully noted the locations of the railway
station, Hampankatta, which is the centre of Mangalore and the old bus
stand and the route to Aunt Monica's home. We returned at dark to a
splendid meal and went to bed early for we had to wake up at 3 a.m. for
our onward journey.
Our train left Mangalore on the dot at 4.15 a.m. We travelled all day
through green countryside, passing through Kannur, Calicut, Thrissur
and Ernakulam to reach our destination Kottayam at 3.45 p.m. We were
booked at Hotel Aishwarya. I had a refreshing bath and then as usual we
went off to explore the city but had to return soon because it started
to rain.
The seminar was at Hotel Green Park and we set out for the venue early
in the morning. We had already been registered as participants and each
of us was given a cloth bag, notebook and pen to use during the
seminar. There were many stalls selling a large number of items from
organic tea and pickles, to books and manuals.
We looked around very briefly for the organisers were already calling
out to everyone to settle down for the inaugural. All day there were
talks, most of them by scientists.
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