Chief Secretary V.P. Joy was the Ernakulam District Collector when Queen Elizabeth II visited Kochi 25 years ago and the top bureaucrat on Friday recalled that she was very enthusiastic to know about two things — the culture and history of the port city and the life of its people.
She visited Kochi in 1997 when the country was celebrating the 50th year of its Independence and the senior IAS officer had accompanied her to various places in the city.
During her stay here, she visited the Jewish Street and Paradesi Synagogue, the oldest Jewish place of worship in the Commonwealth, at Mattancherry, near here.
