Meet refreshes memories of Mas Hotel

KOCHI: On Monday, a

hotel

premises in Kochi witnessed a unique get-together. The

Mas

Hotel near north railway station saw many, who had once been residents, gathering once more just before the building was being pulled down.

Ever since its construction in 1962, the hotel had witnessed many political, cultural and other developments, especially the ups and downs of many Congress leaders.

Almost all the Congress leaders in the state had stayed at the hotel. It is the same hotel which became the venue of ‘split’ in the ‘A’ faction of the Congress. A K Antony had been staying in room number 35 for years. Later, Oommen Chandy, who became his first lieutenant, joined him.

"Antony is a man of discipline. Chandy, on the other hand, would reach along with an army of his friends and others. Fed up with this, Antony finally asked Chandy to vacate the room. It was a witness to the moment,” said Benny Behnan.

Then, Chandy moved out to room number 136.

Vayalar Ravi

was another prominent resident of the hotel.

When the hotel was constructed, its original name was Noor Mahal. "Later, it was renovated and renamed as Mas Hotel. The then Union industries minister Fakhruddin Ali Ahmed, who later became the President of India, inaugurated the renovated hotel,” said Noorudheen Mather, son of K C M Mather, the founder of the hotel.

"Former Prime Minister Morarji Desai had once stayed in the hotel. He was AICC president at that time. I had walked along with him. He was too fast for us to catch up with him,” Noorudheen recalls.

"Prime Minister Indira Gandhi also had scheduled her stay in the hotel in the late 1960s. But she had to cancel her Kerala tour due to emergency related to a train tragedy in Andhra Pradesh,” he said. The hotel was home to many artists like P J Antony, who was first to win Bharat Award, playwrights O

Madhavan

and K T Mohammed.

"Then, we had a Minerva car, a German-make. P J Antony would sit inside the car for writing stories and plays,” said K M I Mather, son of K C M Mather, and president of Kerala Football Association.

Many leaders, including Vayalar Ravi, K V Thomas, CPM leader M M Lawrence and K Babu, attended the meeting held on Monday.

As per the plans, a residential-cum-shopping complex would be constructed after demolishing the existing building.