Thiruvanthapuram | Trekking in the forests of Keralam, curling up with a book by Nehru or Orhan Parmuk and sampling the diverse cuisines of his state - for Chief Minister V D Satheesan, these are a few of his favourite things.
But he is also quick to point out that when it comes to food, he will only fill half his belly before leaving the table. And oh, don't ever ask him to dance. That he will leave it to his AI avatar.
A conversation with Satheesan -- at first laden with heavy questions on politics, democracy, secularism and economics -- veered after an hour toward his passions, likes and dislikes, and habits. With the three cameras of PTI Videos still rolling, Satheesan's personality began to unpeel.
"If you were to spend one day as an ordinary tourist in Kerala, which would be that place" was the question.
Without hesitation, Satheesan, 62, answered: "First of all, of course, the forest. I'm a trekker. From the age of 18, I started trekking in the forests. I'm very passionate about trekking. I go to the forests whenever I get an opportunity. Kerala's forests are very beautiful. I have trekked in all the forests of south India."
Satheesan got interested in politics when he was 15 and started reading the works of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister. Nehru came up again during the conversation when we asked him to name three people, living or dead, with whom he would want to have dinner.
"It's a great question. Living or dead?" After a pause, he said: "Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru number one. And the second Orhan Pamuk, my favourite writer. Then third, third of course, Gabriel Garcia Marquez." When pointed out that he is very fit and lean, Satheesan acknowledged that he is disciplined about his diet. "Yes. I'm taking only half (of the food needed to satiate his hunger). Then I stop."
What in his view is a typical Malayali trait? "It varies from community to community, from place to place. For example, in Malabar, northern Kerala, they will invite you for a coffee. When you are going to take coffee,on the table, dining table, (there will be a) complete spread.
Maybe more than 50 items." What about other places such as Kochi. What do you get with coffee? "I am from Kochi. (In Kochi) if you are lucky, you will get a biscuit also," he replied with a grin.
Satheesan then went on to expound on the variety of food on offer in different areas of Keralam.
"Thalassery is a place for biryani and other things," he said, adding that Thalassery people are often found working in other states across India, including as bakery owners in Pune and Mumbai.
"And in Thrissur, the Christian communities ... they have their own specialties. Like, fish items, meat and everything. And in Christian denominations also... it varies from, uh, denomination to denomination. The Syrian community make one dish, the Jacobite and Orthodox another. And the Latin community yet another.
"Tastes are different. And in the Kuttanad and Changanassery areas, the central part of Kerala, they make duck dishes." Christians comprise 18.5 per cent of Keralam's 3.3 crore people.
Moving on, Satheesan said his ambition when he was in school and college was to become a Supreme Court lawyer. After completing his graduation and post-graduation, he started practicing in the Kerala High Court.
"But after completing nine years, I became an MLA in 2001. I have now completed 25 years as an MLA. But I still love the legal profession. I'm very passionate about legal issues..." This was a good point to segue into a question about Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, whose "cockroaches" remark has upended Indian politics in recent months.
What does he think of the CJI?
"The chief justice of India is a senior lawyer and a senior judicial person I know. I can understand what is the intention of your question. He made a statement. Politicians as well as judicial personalities should take care while making statements when they are in a chair. I also should be very careful when I am making statements," he noted.
Social media, Satheesan said, has the power to amplify everything, positively or negatively.
For example, the AI-produced morphed video of him dancing? He was not offended by the video and did not want any legal action to be taken against the young people who produced it.
But does he actually dance?
"No... I have made (done) dancing when I was in college only. After college, I couldn't. When a college student... (I did) just ordinary dance, was not a dance expert. But this dance was very good. Because it was created by AI, two youngsters, two young boys from Thrissur, they made it. And I enjoyed a lot.
"And small children told me that they thought that this is a real dance. Some small children told me that you are dancing better than Vijay (Tamil Nadu chief minister and Tamil movie star), my colleague in Tamil Nadu. He is a famous dancer and has fans in Kerala as well." The Congress leader then dwelt on the dangers of AI.
"… You cannot misuse the new technologies. Artificial intelligence can be misused like anything, especially in the social media. We should be very careful." It was time to wind up so we asked if, after becoming the chief minister, he has changed the way he deals with friends or how they treat him.
"No, no. They are all my good friends from my college days, my close friends. They are, um, criticising me in many things also. If I am doing (what they consider wrong), they will call, 'What you are doing man?' Uh, and if I'm using an (incorrect) word or vocabulary (in public), they are all watching. 'No, don't say it like that. We don't expect from you'," he said.
Does he take Sundays off?
"Sunday is the busiest day! Sunday at 5.30 am, my house will be filled with people, those who are visiting. I have to wake up at 5. Then only I can meet the people." Even so, he is not attached to the post.
"I am taking this, the chief ministership, as a responsibility, not as an ornamental post. This is an assignment. I take it as a divine assignment. I'm a believer."