The unprecedented security measures at Amphitheatre (open air theatre) at Manasagangotri, where the five-day 103rd Indian Science Congress began on Sunday, did not even spare the who’s who of the society.

Scion of the erstwhile royal family of Mysuru Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar and his mother Pramoda Devi Wadiyar had to toe the line, when Special Protection Group (SPG) personnel objected, after a local police official removed the barricades to facilitate their entry from the open area in front of the dais to VVIPs gallery.

Even when a police official tried to explain to the SPG men, they remained nonchalant. The Wadiyars, who had to wait for a while, later reached their respective seats through a barricaded path for VVIPs, with security personnel making way for them.

No cellphones
As part of extensive security measures, cellphones and bags were strictly not allowed into the venue, with the security personnel at various gates remaining cold to the pleas, including that of media persons to carry them inside. As a result, the visiting delegates had to rush back to their rooms to keep their phones and other belongings, while some made temporary arrangements to keep their belongings. Some had succeeded in hoodwinking the security personnel and brought their phones inside much to the dismay of a majority of the people inside.

Still a science student
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who went down memory lane, recalling his days as a science student at Yuvaraja’s College, a constituent college of the University of Mysore, four decades ago, said, “Even today, I feel as a student of science”. He credited his public image for the values imbibed from the college, to a huge applause.

Mysuru... athithi devobhava
Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who was proud of hailing from the City of Palaces, said, “Mysuru, my hometown, is truly practicing the concept of ‘Athithi Devobhava’ (where guests are treated as gods).”