I have reached Kannur to attend the All India Conference of AIBDPA to be held on 6-7 February 2013. To-day, the working committee will held by evening.
It is after some time that I am visiting Kannur. Kannur ( the British called it Cannanore and the name continued till a few years back) is the northern most district of Kerala except Kasargod, bordering Karnataka.
I was initiated in to the P and T Trade Union movement from Kannur. I joined in the P and T Department in 1958 at Kottayam in the southern part of Kerala, but got transferred to Kannur in 1959. The telephone exchange was accommodated in a small building on the side of the Fort Maidan, near he District Hospital at that time. The Telecommunications were developing only at that period. It was CB mutiple exchange with about 300 – 400 numbers. The NFPTE, the only union at that time, was strong in Kannur as in the nearby Calicut etc.
The NFPTE leaders at Cannanore at that time was Coms. T.M.Janardanan ( Janu Master),N.P.Padmanabhan (Tellicherry) N.O.Ananadan Master, P.Narayanan(at Payyanur) and others. While the first three were in Postal, Com.P.Narayanan was in Telephones, and was Branch Secretary. He was an ex-service official and was very stict disciplined both in the work and in the union.
The first time I met Com.O.P.Gupta, then General Secretry, E-III Union was at Kannur. Com. OPG came along with Com. Narayanan to Kannur, probably in 1959 itself. It was very contrasting to see the tall and hefty OPG with Narayanettan who was rather small in height. Both are not with us now. OPG passed away recently and PN much earlier.
The 1960 strike and the suppression of the same by the government and the hard experiences during the period made me devote my full time to the union activities. I was kept out of work for some period, disciplinary action taken and reduced to minimum of the scale for leading the strike in Cannanore.
I worked at cannanore and nearby places like Kanhangad, Payyanur, Baliapattam etc. on deputation also. I was elected as Branch Secretary of Cannanore and continued as such till I was transferred to Calicut in 1964 as part of victimisation for organising a local strike.
There are a lot of incidents and union agitations which comes to my mind when I recollect the period. About that later.
I will be at Kannur today, tomorrow and day after. I hope to see many comrades, who worked with me and local leaders. It will be a pleasure to meet them all.