As deaths go, this too was a shocker.
An explosion in a fireworks unit in Trichur should normally get a customary glance, a sigh and a shrug.
Reading through the story, first in Deepika, and spotting the name Joffy (wrongly mentioned as Josy in the ToI link), sent a slight shiver down the spine. Could this be Joffy? Our Joffy? The man, who smiles always, whom we (Rajan - now a news photographer in Qatar, and I) chased down for a story for the Dubai Shopping Festival way back in 2004?
Then, as I read that his father Devassy was among the injured, it sunk in. This is Joffy.
Here is what Joffy told us when we met him when he was preparing for the razzle-dazzling fireworks that have come to become a part of DSF now.
The headline of the story was: :"Explosives... make good pillows.'
The stand-first was: "Joffy Devassi, a technician of Zarco, which oversees the DSF fireworks displays, recounts the experiences of the ear-shattering festive splash of colours at Thrisshur Pooram, regarded as the festival of festivals of Kerala.
The story:
"As memories go, Joffy Devassi's first image of his father ED Devassi, is of the man sleeping amidst a pile of fire-crackers.
"My heart would go out to him," says Joffy, sitting in the gallery at Dubai Creek Park, where he would soon enthrall the assembled audience with a fireworks display that is efficiently interlaced into the brilliantly conceived water-laser-mutlimedia show, the Aqua Fantasia.
"My father used to say that explosives are most trustworthy. If you trust them and know how to handle them, you can make them your pillows," says the 24-year-old.
Joffy completed schooling only to join his father in a third-generation way of living - making fireworks, designing new effects and executing gala displays.
He accompanied his father, who has to his credit the independent execution of 14 of the famous Thrisshur Poorams, a high-profile cultural and tourism event hosted annually in Kerala.
Earlier, Devassi had been associated with another renowned fire-display worker in the state, Karerakattil Joseph, and assisted him in 12 Thrisshur Poorams.
Devassi develops new fire display effects every year and his ingenuity has naturally rubbed off on Joffy, who has worked on such illustrious poorams as those at Nenmara and Uthralikavu, and more recently lit up the sky of Kochi with a breathtaking array of colours as part of film actor Mohanlal's '25 years in cinema celebration.'
Joffy's brother-in-law William Gomes and close relative Francis Kurian have all worked on the Thrisshur Pooram. For the last seven years, however, they have been working under the supervision of William Prentice, operations manager, Event Manager, Zarco in Dubai.
They travel wherever Zarco's contract takes them. But come Thrisshur Pooram time, and they all want to rush home. They have missed the last two years because Devassi's licence had been stalled following an accident at the workplace.
"This year, the litigation will be over, and we are hopeful of taking part in the next Pooram," says Joffy, who has two licences to operate firework displays in the state.
Joffy is also known for his experimental streak, and had introduced several styles including Jurassic and Umbrellas in Trisshur. In Dubai, having worked with the electric firing board, Joffy now has plans to export the concept to Kerala, where manual firing is still the practice.
"We have sent across most of the equipment needed and also did a trial run over a playground using electric ignition. It worked very well," he says.
No matter his vast experience in firework execution, if there is one thing Joffy never fails to do before every display is to say a silent prayer in his mind.
"Fear will get you nowhere, you need to trust," he says.
It is a blind trust: In one's instincts and in a power beyond..."
Today, Joffy's worst fears happened - and he doesn't live to tell the tale.
Rest in peace Joffy; you made us look up in awe.
(The story was published on January 29, 2004, in Time Out of The Gulf Today)
An explosion in a fireworks unit in Trichur should normally get a customary glance, a sigh and a shrug.
Reading through the story, first in Deepika, and spotting the name Joffy (wrongly mentioned as Josy in the ToI link), sent a slight shiver down the spine. Could this be Joffy? Our Joffy? The man, who smiles always, whom we (Rajan - now a news photographer in Qatar, and I) chased down for a story for the Dubai Shopping Festival way back in 2004?
Then, as I read that his father Devassy was among the injured, it sunk in. This is Joffy.
Here is what Joffy told us when we met him when he was preparing for the razzle-dazzling fireworks that have come to become a part of DSF now.
The headline of the story was: :"Explosives... make good pillows.'
The stand-first was: "Joffy Devassi, a technician of Zarco, which oversees the DSF fireworks displays, recounts the experiences of the ear-shattering festive splash of colours at Thrisshur Pooram, regarded as the festival of festivals of Kerala.
The story:
"As memories go, Joffy Devassi's first image of his father ED Devassi, is of the man sleeping amidst a pile of fire-crackers.
"My heart would go out to him," says Joffy, sitting in the gallery at Dubai Creek Park, where he would soon enthrall the assembled audience with a fireworks display that is efficiently interlaced into the brilliantly conceived water-laser-mutlimedia show, the Aqua Fantasia.
"My father used to say that explosives are most trustworthy. If you trust them and know how to handle them, you can make them your pillows," says the 24-year-old.
Joffy completed schooling only to join his father in a third-generation way of living - making fireworks, designing new effects and executing gala displays.
He accompanied his father, who has to his credit the independent execution of 14 of the famous Thrisshur Poorams, a high-profile cultural and tourism event hosted annually in Kerala.
Earlier, Devassi had been associated with another renowned fire-display worker in the state, Karerakattil Joseph, and assisted him in 12 Thrisshur Poorams.
Devassi develops new fire display effects every year and his ingenuity has naturally rubbed off on Joffy, who has worked on such illustrious poorams as those at Nenmara and Uthralikavu, and more recently lit up the sky of Kochi with a breathtaking array of colours as part of film actor Mohanlal's '25 years in cinema celebration.'
Joffy's brother-in-law William Gomes and close relative Francis Kurian have all worked on the Thrisshur Pooram. For the last seven years, however, they have been working under the supervision of William Prentice, operations manager, Event Manager, Zarco in Dubai.
"This year, the litigation will be over, and we are hopeful of taking part in the next Pooram," says Joffy, who has two licences to operate firework displays in the state.
Joffy is also known for his experimental streak, and had introduced several styles including Jurassic and Umbrellas in Trisshur. In Dubai, having worked with the electric firing board, Joffy now has plans to export the concept to Kerala, where manual firing is still the practice.
"We have sent across most of the equipment needed and also did a trial run over a playground using electric ignition. It worked very well," he says.
No matter his vast experience in firework execution, if there is one thing Joffy never fails to do before every display is to say a silent prayer in his mind.
"Fear will get you nowhere, you need to trust," he says.
It is a blind trust: In one's instincts and in a power beyond..."
Today, Joffy's worst fears happened - and he doesn't live to tell the tale.
Rest in peace Joffy; you made us look up in awe.
(The story was published on January 29, 2004, in Time Out of The Gulf Today)
2 comments:
its a sad news,
So sad....
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