Tuesday, December 5, 2017

Adieu Shashi Kapoor.

Yesterday evening Shashi Kapoor, the handsomest actor of the Hindi movies, passed into the mist of time. He was 79 years of age. A versatile actor who had stood his ground while acting with the other lead actors of his time. I can never forget Shashi Kapoor as a young, dashing Captain of the Indian Army in the movie, 'Sharmilee' opposite Rakhee. I don't think that I'd be wrong if I were to say that all the songs picturised on him and his heroine were immortalised just because of his personal charm in that movie.

I was sad and didn't really recover from it after hearing the news. It was as though I'd lost someone from the family! I shan't be listing his accomplishments as there are enough competent people who knew him personally and would be doing the needful.

RIP Shashi Kapoor. You'd enthralled an entire generation with your versatile acting and striking good looks. You shall always remain in the hearts of the people and I shall carry my personal grief along with me till my end!

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The day had begun, for us, at a quarter past 4. Packing had to be done, every item that had been taken out for use, had to be put back into its place and furniture and beds had to be covered to beat the dust. Finally, we could start off by by a half past 6. Passing through Adoor, I'd taken a wrong turn and was headed southward when Lekha had pointed out the error and I, too, belatedly noticed that the morning sun was to my left! Made the course correction quickly to avoid further loss of time and ground lost.

Breakfast was at our haunt, the Kalpakavadi Inn and the steaming 'appam and egg masala' were good. Praveen had looked after us and in my usual style, had asked him about himself. He's from the orphanage at Koonammaavu in Ernakulam. All of 25 years, he had a perceptible limp that he'd got while doing his earlier job of sales representative of a company. By his brisk service, he'd ensured that we spent the minimal time at the restaurant! Damn sweet of him.

At Alappuzha, there was a lot of time wasted in getting clearance at the 'Savakkotta Palam' as there was a long line of vehicles, waiting in queue. We reached 'Shenoy Care' by a half past 10 and after the initial administrative requirements of registering Lekha's name, paying up the consulting fees, meeting up with the junior doctor who'd inquired if she'd any difficulty and punched in the lab results into the computer, we could meet up with Dr. Padmanabha Shenoy who was pleased with Lekha's progress. We've decided to continue with the existing dosage of Folitrax. He wished us an advance 'happy new year' and we've taken up her next appointment on the 5th of March.

Since it was lunchtime, we'd gone to 'Sarovaram'. A nice place with plenty of parking space...and of course, it had a good ambiance! Our next stop was at the Naval canteen to buy our monthly requirement of grocery. We'd to wait for about half an hour before it opened its shutters for the afternoon session and in the course of our stay there, we met a few people whom we knew. And after about half an hour we made an exit through the rising number of vehicles that had come to pick up the children who were coming out of the Kendriya Vidyalaya at Katari Bagh.

The air conditioning system of the Chevy seems to be having a problem and I'd called up the customer adviser to tell him that I would be getting the vehicle tomorrow for the defect rectification. The journey was fine and we'd a tea break at the wayside facility, 10 kms north of Angamali. The Paliyekkara toll seemed to have the same problem that we'd encountered on our onward journey. They'd canceled a lane, creating confusion among the vehicles, in that lane, trying to scamper and squeeze into the nearby lanes!

We reached 'The Quarterdeck' by about a half past 6 and went about the unpacking process without delay. Meanwhile, my colleague at the Naval Headquarters, Narayanan and two other organisers of the '16 Dec - Vijay Diwas celebrations had called on to confirm my participation in the event. Thereafter, it was a quiet evening, as usual.


Tailpiece.

Mohanachandran's medical bulletin.

"Mohananchandran continues to be in the same condition as he was after the last sitrep. To begin physiotherapy, at the earliest, seems to be what everyone wants".

PS.
Was able to accomplish most of the things that I'd planned to undertake and we could meet up with all the elders while accomplishing other social necessities. We'd covered a total distance of 1,178.6 kms during the period!   
 

  

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