We'd got up on the dot at 6, gone through the chores and were ready well in time. Suraaj, our chauffeur for the day, came in by 1000 hrs. Earlier, Lekha and I had a colonial breakfast of toasts, butter, marmalade and eggs. It was light but sustaining enough for such a journey.
I'd kept two things to be done before kicking off for Kochi. Accordingly, we went to the place where the 'pollution under control' certificate was issued. It was its owner who said that the Chevy's PUC certificate was valid up to 24 Nov 2020 - a fact that had gone completely out of my mind! The tyre pressure was checked at the Rajah Petrol Pump.
It was only then that we had taken off for Kochi and that, too, through Kodungalloor. What we noticed was that most of the shops were opened and doing business. People were on the roads and I got the impression that they were out to do their Onam shopping. The roads were full of private vehicles which made up for the limited number of road transport corporation buses and private buses that were plying.
We reached 'Shenoy Care' by a quarter to 2. I left Lekha at the entrance of the clinic as attendants weren't allowed inside as per the Covid protocol, currently in vogue. Lekha had finished her lunch in the car itself. Suraaj and I had our lunch - it was fried rice, salad and pickle - in the Chevy, at the parking slot.
We made a quick trip across the highway to the Chevrolet service station. The front bumper liner had to be fixed which had worked out loose from its moorings. Bodwin and Ameer had got the job done and we'd returned by about a quarter past 4. The entire servicing station is manned by a new set of people and I couldn't meet anyone of those who were there between 2011 and 2013. I only hope that they are working elsewhere and are in the various stages of their professional progression.
Dr Padmanabha Shenoy was glad that Lekha had reduced her weight through exercises - he had advised us to buy the static exercise bicycle and it was turning out to be effective/yielding results! He has told her not to worry about her ESR which is hovering around 60; the rest of her parameters are well within limits.
Lekha was out of the clinic by 35' past 5. All of us had a cup of tea each with a snack and we were soon on our return trip to Guruvayur. The traffic was quite heavy throughout and by the time we reached 'The Quarterdeck', it was a half past 8. Suraaj was quickly dispatched and we went about settling down for the evening.
It was a short, swift trip and I'm glad that we could pull it off in these times of a continuous spike in the number of Covid cases every day!
Tailpiece.
The weather was nice throughout.
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