Kochi: District Collector NSK Umesh and District Police Chief (Kochi City) Syamsundar were on a laughter mission as they addressed a gathering in Kochi on Friday. The occasion did the trick indeed. The officers, otherwise mostly busy managing the city’s never-ending woes, were at IMA Hall, Kaloor for the launch of a book written by their civil service colleague M G Rajamanickam.

The book titled ''Anbodu Rajamanickam'' is a memoir by Rajamanickam, the revenue (devaswom) secretary who had earlier served as the Ernakulam district collector.
Umesh and Syamsundar addressed the gathering even as the crowd was awaiting actor Mammmootty who later launched the book. The brief speeches, filled with funny anecdotes and observations, lit up the mood of the occasion.

Umesh, who considers Rajamanickam as his mentor, began his speech saying he was assigned to cover up the delay in Mammootty's arrival, and he sounded too committed to his task when he asked in between, ''did Mammootty come sir?'' The Ernakulam collector recollected how Rajamanickam made him famous when he was a sub collector in Wayanad.

''It happened in August 2018 during the floods. I was the Mananthavady sub collector and nobody knew me then. During the floods Rajamanickam sir was posted there on a special assignment. One night we were about to leave a relief camp after the hectic flood-related works. Then a van came with a load of rice. There were not many to unload the vehicle. Sir told me let’s join them and he started to carry the sacks. I actually did not want to do it but I posed for a picture with a sack on my shoulder. The picture came on the next day’s papers and I became famous as the sub collector who carried rice sacks,'' Umesh told the gathering, triggering laughter.

He then remembered seeking Rajamanickam’s blessings on his posting as Ernakulam collector. ''Sir told me it’s important for a collector to dress well and asked if I had some shirts with me. When I said no, he took me to a shop and bought a few shirts, including the one I’m wearing.'' Umesh said he had already shared the story on other occasions, but he wanted to repeat it because he had a purpose. ''When I first said the story the media reported it and after that many people bought me shirts. It has been a while since then and I wish the media report it this time too,'' the collector, all smiles, said.

When it was his turn, it looked like Commissioner Syamsundar took a cue from the collector's self-troll mode. ''I was also wondering why Rajamanickam wrote a book now,'' the police officer began, sharing his worries. He said after somehow cracking IPS and finding a good posting he was expecting to have some peace.''

But now it has become a trend among IAS and IPS officers to go abroad for higher studies and our family expects us to do the same. Not only that now our colleagues have started writing books also. Earlier Prasanth and Harikishore (IAS officers) wrote books and now MGR has joined them. Now in front of my wife I would look like someone who can neither go abroad nor write a book,'' the IPS officer said.