Sunday, December 24, 2017

At 'Raj Nivas'.

The day had begun at a half past 4, when I'd woken up Lekha. Actually, I was up much earlier around a quarter to 3 and sleep refused to return. I, then, chose my usual way of reciting the day's prayers...wonder whether God is cross with me for disturbing Him so early? Soon after, I'd drifted off to sleep yet again only to be woken up by the alarm. Sleep was, indeed, less and hoped that it didn't affect my efficiency as it was a long drive....hope the traffic's okay since the Christmas break had begun.

We could leave 'The Quarterdeck' only by a half past 6 and today, Lekha could understand as to what a 'nasty driver' was all about because there were three instances involving three different guys:-

     * The first was a WagonR, which overtook through the left while another was overtaking my                    Chevy from the right, hemming me into a close quarter situation. He doesn't know the basic
        rule that one doesn't overtake from the left while driving on the highways where the center 
        median doesn't exist and where lanes aren't demarcated!

     * The second was an ambulance that was carrying a patient judging by the lights and the siren
        that were on. I took a fraction of a minute to pull off towards the left and after overtaking, he 
        comes ahead of me and brakes hard. I, narrowly, missed hitting him. My doubt was as to how 
        dependable was the driver, who's supposed to save the life of the patient that he was ferrying,  
        if he could be so very nasty to the others!

     * The third was a glorified auto rickshaw which blocked me as I tried to ease my vehicle from
         being swamped by a vehicle, awaiting a right turn at a light, where I'd to go straight. This guy
         comes from behind with its horn blaring and in high speed, which, it couldn't sustain for long! I
         almost rammed into him!!

Despite the hiccups, we reached Lekha's sister's place where I could catch my 40 winks while the
sisters were engaged in deep conversation. By a half past 3, after tea and a snack, we're off to Raj Nivas. The surrounding rubber plantation looked neat with the JCB formed ridges converted to platforms that made the area look chiselled and well manicured. I went around the entire compound to take in the details and to appreciate the amount of work done over the past three weeks.

I'd also paused at my parents' cremation sites, prayed for them and had informed them about our programme.

Dinner was nice and adequate, thanks to Letha, Lekha's sister. It turned out to be a late night as we engaged in conversation because the one month charge of the dish tv services had ended yesterday and we'd decided not to recharge for another month when we're leaving in the morning tomorrow.


Tailpiece.

The place was all agog with excitement as the road was full of people headed for the Midnight Mass. Pleasant and soothing hymns flowed out of the church's loudspeakers. The festive mood was infectious and we're only too glad to be here to take in the lovely ambiance!

Mohanachandran's medical bulletin.

"No significant change from last sitrep". From K Vipinachandran.


      

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