Kottayam: “The first Malayalam song I ever heard was the nursery rhyme Kaakke Kaakke Koodevide,” said District Collector Chetan Kumar Meena.
The bureaucrat, a native of Rajasthan, was inaugurating the district-level observance of Malayalam Day and the Official Language Week celebrations here on Saturday.

“It was a teacher who had come to take a class at the Civil Service Academy who sang that song. I liked it instantly. Later, when I looked it up online, I realised it was actually a song meant for children,” he recalled with a smile.

“At that time, I too was a child when it came to Malayalam. Even today, that song remains one of my fondest memories of learning the language,” the Collector added.
According to him, governance becomes truly effective only when the language of administration aligns with the language of the people.

ADM S. Sreejith presided over the function. Prof. Aju Narayanan, Deputy Director of General Education, Honey G. Alexander, District Information Officer, Justine Joseph, Saksharatha Mission District Coordinator, Dr V. V. Mathew, and Information and Public Relations Assistant Editor E. V. Shibu also spoke. Binu John, Joint Director of the Local Self Government Department, administered the Official Language Oath.