Oommen Chandy had once said, “A politician’s wealth is the trust and love of the people. I get more than I deserve.” The veteran Congress leader, who is also a legislator with 53 years of experience and a two-time chief minister of Kerala, proved once again that people are his wealth with massive crowds gathering to pay homage as his mortal remains made one last trip from Thiruvananthapuram to Puthuppally, Kottayam.
Oommen Chandy passed away aged 79 at Bengaluru on Wednesday, July 18. The body was airlifted to the state capital the same day, where the public paid last respects at the Secretariat, the KPCC office, and his residence, Puthuppally house, named after his hometown and constituency. The procession to his hometown began at 7am the next day, and was expected to reach his family home in Puthuppally by late evening. However, the crowds that poured in along the 150-plus-km stretch delayed the journey by almost a day, with the bus carrying the body arriving in Puthuppally only by 6pm on July 20.
The town however, had seen people await the procession’s arrival since Thursday morning. Theatre artist Thampi Kottayam and his wife, both Puthuppally residents, had secured a seat outside the funeral venue by 9am. The couple had many stories to narrate of their leader. “When sir first contested an election, I was in fifth standard. He had contested under the symbol of a coconut palm. I had helped paint posters and walls for his campaign then,” Thampi recalled. They also recounted several instances where Oommen Chandy had helped them and their dear ones financially, especially when it was related to medical expenses. “He was a good man, there will not be another person like him,” they said. The couple walked home only by 8.30pm on Thursday night, after paying their respects to the late leader, their faces showing no signs of fatigue despite the almost 12-hour wait.
Every person in Puthuppally that this reporter interacted with had some such story to share. One resident recounted how his tumour surgery was done without a hassle, thanks to Oommen Chandy’s intervention, while another narrated how he helped his son regain hearing through a surgery.
At the Karottu Vallakalil house in Puthuppally, Oommen Chandy’s ancestral home, people started securing the best spots along the compound walls on both sides of the road, to watch the procession come in, as early as 11am. Those assembled included friends, family, well-wishers, party workers, and others, of all ages and from across the state. Neither the heat nor thirst and hunger were deterrents for them. Many in the assembled crowd joined the prayers in the house, singing aloud the hymns.
Among the crowd were eight women from Thiruvananthapuram, who live near Oommen Chandy’s residence in the capital. “We had seen his mortal remains in Thiruvananthapuram, but I wished to be a part of his last rites. For those of us who live in his neighbourhood in Jagathy, his good deeds are innumerable, especially what he did for cancer patients. Irrespective of political and religious lines, Chandy sir was a person close to their hearts for everyone in Jagathy, like a father or a grandfather. There won’t be another man like him in Kerala politics,” said Supriya, who is also the district general secretary of the Mahila Congress in Thiruvananthapuram.
Eby, a Puthuppally resident, recalled the crowds that formed outside his house in the constituency every Sunday. “After the morning service at church, sir would listen to people’s concerns and complaints here at his house every Sunday. Whenever there was something troubling us, we found comfort in the knowledge that we could take our concerns to him the next Sunday. He would have an answer or a solution to everything. Puthuppally has been orphaned with his death. There is no one we can turn to now,” he said.
The sun had set when the ambulance carrying Oommen Chandy’s body finally arrived at his family home. As the body was quickly taken to his new under-construction house in Puthuppally town after a short prayer, expressions of disappointment were heard from those that had waited for long hours. Some of them complained of having travelled from far off, only to be denied a last glimpse. However, the body was kept at the new house compound and later at the St George Orthodox Church till everyone who had gathered paid their respects.
Even on Friday, the day after the funeral, hundreds arrive at the St George Orthodox Church in Puthuppally, to offer prayers and pay respects at Oommen Chandy’s tomb.