Dateline 27 May.
Mini woke me up at 5 to inform that Ammu and Mithun had passed Haripad –
they should be getting down at Kollam within an hour. Since Sanil was in no
position to make it Rema had volunteered to come along with me but not before
she took a tumble on the uneven ground in front of our gate due to a misstep.
We’re late by about ten minutes and Mithun-Ammu were waiting in front of
the bus station. It took about 45’ to reach home thanks to the road being
virtually empty thanks to the sparse traffic at that point of time. After a
boisterous breakfast, the conversation continued with the newly wedded couple –
their outlook towards life seemed to be disarmingly simple and charmingly
optimistic!
Today happens to be Sanil-Mini’s 25th wedding anniversary.
The anniversary cake was cut just before lunchtime – didn’t it look farcical
after my thoughts of yesterday, you might ask. But a couple of hours earlier,
I’d talked it out with Sanil and made it clear to him about two aspects:-
(a) Him starting up
another life, without divorce, was unacceptable and there was
no question of it being initiated from our side.
(b) He required to
undergo a de-addiction regime forthwith(The discussions had
taken place in a
cordial manner in front of everyone, including his daughter
and son-in-law).
The cake cutting ceremony was cute and short with the cell phones taking
in the scenes. The ceremonial lunch followed soon after and by 2, the four of
us – Ammu-Mithun, Rema and I proceeded to Indira kunjamma’s house at
Thiruvananthapuram. It was to fulfil my promise to Suresh and Reshmi that I’d
ensure that the newly wedded couple would come to seek their blessings when
they’d sadly declared that they wouldn’t be able to attend the wedding due to
Suresh’s health and the consequent medical management! It was a poignant
moment!!
We’re on our return journey by about a half past 4. The route that I’d
chosen skirted my alma mater and I was only too proud to show Mithun the Sainik
School as we passed by. And we’re back home before sunset when saw the others
were ready to go to Jayan’s – Sanil’s youngest brother – house for looking up
Ayoor amma, who is all of 81 yrs and wasn’t keeping well of late and for having
dinner.
I didn’t want to deflate the prevalent mood of enthusiasm and embarked
on the next journey to Kollam after a quick wash and was glad that I’d agreed
to the idea. The way Ayoor amma’s face had lit up on seeing me did make my day!
The interaction with the others and the scrumptious dinner that followed made
it a great evening. Jayan’s wife, Ponni had really given her best!
Tailpiece.
The return drive with a continuous and lively conversation was nice and we’d
ended up rounding off a late night that, incidentally, has been the trend all
through this month.
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