My Little Excursion With Oommen Chandy
Oommen Chandy, the man who served as the 10th Chief Minister of Kerala, passed away recently. He is a person significant to me for two reasons. I'm not a Congress affiliate nor do I think he was a great politician (he was simple and pleasant in his public behaviour; which made him popular). What makes him significant to me is that I can mimic his voice to some extent and I have travelled together with him in an airport passenger car sitting by his side having a brief conversation.
Now, regarding my impression of his voice; it's average. I have fun whenever I do it. That's all. And regarding my little excursion with him, that's an average story as well.
I was about to board a flight from Delhi to Trivandrum, and I was late. I had to plead with a desk officer to let me in and I had to rush through all checks and processing. I almost ran through the shopping areas to reach the gates. I had to run through the shopping area because the flight that I was on was an international flight ( I didn't know this as my office booked my ticket and they didn't know either). The flight went beyond Trivandrum to the Maldives, so I was supposed to check in a lot earlier.
However, the moment I reached the area where all the gates are I realised that my gate was quite far from where I got to. I didn't know I could make it to the gate on time. That was when I saw Mr. Chandy standing there with his aide.
Now, given the fact that this was a former Chief Minister of a state and that he was surely flying to Trivandrum, I was sure that they'll be waiting for him. But, I didn't know how I could reach the gate on time. I then went to the aide and asked him where the gate was. The aide just asked me (IIRC) which gate I was headed to and asked me to just wait there.
Then, after a few minutes came an airport shuttle car. I was asked to get in and I was seated alongside the 10th Chief Minister of Kerala. After a few minutes, I started a conversation with him, which I'll add here (from what I remember) in Malayalam for the sake of originality and if you want to read this while imitating his voice.
Me: സുഖമായി ഇരിക്കുന്നോ സർ?
OC: സുഖമായി ഇരിക്കുന്നു.
Me: ആരോഗ്യമൊക്കെ?
OC: കുഴപ്പമില്ല.
OC: ഇവിടെ എന്ത് ചെയ്യുന്നു?
Me: ഞാൻ ഒരു ലോയർ ആണ്. ഒരു പോളിസി ഓർഗനൈസേഷനുമായി ചേർന്ന് വർക്ക് ചെയ്യുന്നു.
Me: ഞാൻ ചാണ്ടി ചേട്ടനെ (his son Chandy Oommen was also pursuing law at the same time in a different college while I studied law) മീറ്റ് ചെയ്തിട്ടുണ്ട് .
OC: അവൻ ഇവിടെ പ്രാക്ടീസ് ചെയ്യുകയാണ്. _____________ കൂടെ.
Me: ഓ..
By then, our shuttle reached the gates.
Me: എന്നാൽ ശെരി സർ.
OC: ആയിക്കോട്ടെ
I bid him farewell and we moved to board the flight. I've never seen him in person since (never had a reason to). Once in a while, I still recite his question to me, mimicing his voice: "ഇവിടെ എന്ത് ചെയ്യുന്നു?"
Last updated on: 14 August 2026