FROM THE LE MERIDIEN, KOCHI...................4

FOR HER, DUTY COMES FIRST!

The 'Best Employee of the Month' award sat softly on Parvathi's shoulders for the second time. In the Town Hall held on last Tuesday (27 October 2015) she accepted the cash award and the certificate gracefully. She is a load bearing pillar of the horticulture department of this hotel.

The hotel has 18 acres of land and the annexe has another three acres. The greenery that is bestowed all around the hotel campus is stunningly spectacular. Perhaps, no other hotel in Kochi has such a huge land bank as the Le Meridian.

Parvathi joined Le Meridian, Kochi along with her husband Mahalingam (44) on September 12 2008.  She lapped up her first ‘Best Employee of the Month’ award in 2011.

Madurai born Parvathi lives with her husband, who also works in the horticulture team. Her daughter Muthulakshmi got married last year. Parvathi is very committed to her work. She reaches the hotel campus at 8.00am every day. During the bus strike in Kochi in September this year, she made it a point to walk three kms every day from her home to the hotel. She lives in Vyttila which is around three kms away from the hotel. Even on a ‘hartal’ (Bandh) day, soon after ‘Onam’ she made it a point to walk down to the hotel. For her, duty comes first.

                 

One good thing I found in Parvathi is that she can easily handle the gardening machines also, which are generally handled only by men. Secondly, Parvathi and her husband both play an important role in the upkeep of the hotel vegetable garden. This is located on the southern side of the "Latest Recipe" Restaurant, the all-day dining venue. Guests can see the garden through the glass doors of the restaurant. Brinjal, Ladies finger, Beans, Corn, Papaya, Banana and Red Spinach are some of the star attractions from this vegetable garden. The seeds are procured from Tamil Nadu.

What are your hobbies? I asked.

"Because the TV at our home has conked off, I can't watch my favourite Tamil serials" chuckled Paravathi. Watching TV serials is her main hobby. She likes both Malayalam and Tamil serials as well as movies.

Fifth passed Parvathi speaks fluent Malayalam too other than her mother tongue Tamil.

The Le Meridian Horticulture team is indeed one to write home about. Of the 15 member strong horticulture team Pradeep, Prasanna Babu, Joseph (Manager of this team) and Sindhu have been also honoured with the ‘Best Employee of the Month’ Award since the hotel started its operations in 2000. Parvathi is the fifth.


Text & Pictures: R Kesava Mallia in Kochi