MAY Day is the day of struggle, solidarity and also celebration for the working people all over the world. It is 125 years that the day is being observed, celebrated internationally For me, this year’s participation in May Day celebrations was a unique experience. Among other functions on this May Day, I had an opportunity to be in a village, Pampadi, in Kottayam district of Kerala. It was two years ago, I had heard about the May Day celebrations in that village. And when I was invited to be there in Pampadi, it had roused my expectations. And, what I had experienced was far beyond my expectations. It is for more than three decades now that this village has been literally celebrating May Day. A group of young working class leaders took the lead then, and in a few years, May Day in Pampadi had become a festival day for the whole village. By the time I had reached the village, traffic on the main road had come to half. And on both sides of the main road, on the terraces, on the varandhas of closed shops, and many in the hot sun are anxiously waiting. There are men, women, young and old and a huge number of children. It was hard to believe that they are all waiting for the May Day procession. A van slowly moves in, announcing the arrival of the procession. With literary fervour, the Comrade gives details about Chicago Martyrs, followed by the details about the colourful procession. From a distance itself, we see the flags fluttering. It is red everywhere. About 30 boys and girls, may be between the age of 7 and 15, skating in full speed, making different formations and suddenly speeding up in a row, form the front of the procession. Then comes a vehicle transformed into a decorated chariot, with the photographs of Marx, Engels and Lenin and with a red flag fluttering on it. Leaders of the CITU and of the organising committee were marching behind the main banner leading the thousands of men and women and waving to the greetings of those who stood on both the sides. Every man and woman, behind their respective banners had flags or placards or photographs of departed leaders in their hands. In between, there were huge floats depicting various aspects of life, history and struggles, past and present. Some of them are well known scenes from the epics also. Looking at these floats, I was wondering about the labour that has gone into all these floats, many of them fit to be contestants in national level competitions! In between these, are different groups of drum beaters – traditional and western and also a large number of traditional folk dance groups. Though the participants are locals, many of the items were well-known in different parts of Kerala. These include the traditional martial art groups performing on the roads, to the highest satisfaction of those who have been waiting in the scorching sun. On the whole, the entire procession gave a colourful depiction of various cultural heritages, irrespective of caste or religion. It took almost three hours for the procession to reach the local bus terminus, which has been temporarily turned into a meeting place. A pandal was also there, but it could accommodate only a portion of the people taking part in the procession. Actually the celebrations had begun the previous day with many competitions. It had started early in the morning on April 30 with mini marathons, for men and women. Then there was a painting competition for children separately for primary, upper primary, high school and higher secondary students. There was also a `tug-of-war’ for women! It was around One o’clock, the public meeting started. There came the panel of judges who announced winners among the floats. There were trophies to be won and also cash prizes. The first prize went to the float depicting the theme, `Workers of the World Unite’ and the second to a float on the crisis in the Rubber Plantations. Senior leader of CITU, VR Bhaskaran gave away the prizes. 32 students from the village, who had obtained A+ grade in all subjects in this year’s SSLC exams, were felicitated with mementos. Almost all of them were from the families of workers. The organisers reminded the participants about the great tradition of the village celebrating May Day for the last three decades and how the unique celebrations with whole village coming to the streets, either as a participant or as a viewer. Viewers were much more than the number of participants in the procession. It was really a `Gramotsav’ for Pampadi as the chairman of the organising committee and the initiator of these celebrations, VN Vasavan who is a national working committee member of the CITU and well known leader of Kottayam district, noted. When I was asked to speak, I began by heartily congratulating and thanking them for giving an opportunity to be amongst them in this unique celebration. Organisers were very proud to inform me that many of our national leaders had been there for these celebrations earlier. According to them, the BBC had once broadcasted about these celebrations noting its huge, popular participation. May Day is observed with the participation of a larger number of people in many centers. But, for a village to celebrate May Day in this way, I felt, is unique. The whole village co-operates in these celebrations but the financial part of it is mainly through the collections from the CITU members. I greeted the villagers, participants and leaders of the organising committee – VN Vasavan, chairman, KM Radhakrishnan, secretary and all others involved in making this a grand success.