Saturday, May 28, 2016

Reminiscences.

It's a leisurely day to begin with. Lekha'd to pick up grocery for the month. Usually, she prefers going with her assistant and catches an auto rickshaw, clubbing a host of jobs together. Last time I'd seen her coming back with a whole lot of things and I'd made a mental note, then, that I'd drive her around for the job from then on.

And so, we set off by about a half past 10 and our first point of call was the dry cleaners. I seriously doubt as to whether these people carry out 'real' dry wash with petrol et all, but being left with no other option, they were the best bet! Lekha put across to them rather nicely that two pieces of ours viz. a dhothi and a kameez had been misplaced and demanded an early solution; the proprietor who happened to be there has assured her that he'd right the wrong at the earliest.

Our next stop was at the department store where I decided stay in the car itself while Lekha picked up the items. I'd seen her preparing the long, comprehensive list over the past couple of days to ensure that she didn't miss out on anything. I was reminded of similar lists, compiled by my grandmother, when we used to stay in a joint family at Thiruvananthapuram, years back. I was studying in class IV and it was mine and and my younger uncle's duty to collect the monthly grocery requirements from the provision store nearby - this job went away from me when I'd become a boarded in the Sainik School in class VII!

My sister from Palakkad walked in as I parked the Chevy at our porch. My youngest aunt fetched up from Thiruvananthapuram an hour after teatime and after a quick wash and change, had gone along with my sister to the temple. They did have a tough time in getting a peek at the good Lord as the temple was packed with a huge influx of pilgrims!

And then, it was reminiscing time and we caught up from where we'd left last. Mom was an active participant as she chipped in whenever the conversation was of interest to her.


Tailpiece.

Mom's cryptic comment at the end of it all, "My kid sister talks a hell of a lot, so much so that she doesn't have the patience to listen to the others." I couldn't agree with her more!
  

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