Had got up at 4, thanks to Lekha's cellphone alarm. Went about our chores but was finally able to kick off from home only by 7. It was mainly because Kittu wasn't to be seen and Lekha had prepared food for him. Thankfully, he made it at the last moment and it was delightful to see him have his bowl of food. The traffic was not really heavy for a working day and hence, driving was comfortable throughout.
We'd halted for breakfast at Ananda Bhavan near Chalakkudy and had shared a 'combo', washing it down with a filter coffee. Reached Ernakulam about an hour later and Lineesh, of Titan - was at hand vide my instructions - to collect Lekha's watch for defect rectification. And as we had done earlier, we gone to my cousin's office to collect our bag which we'd forgotten during our last trip. Chatted with her for a while before resuming our journey. Jacob, the auto rickshaw driver was a great help in the ferrying bit!
Lunch was at Hotel Ripple Land at Alappuzha. The steward, Thomas, was friendly and remembered us from our last visit. Sadly, I had forgotten his name and he seemed to mind it and I'd blamed it on my bad memory for it all! Shall never forget the resumption of our journey because I'd opted for the AC Road which was under extensive repairs that I wasn't aware of. The drive was comparatively slow, what with the frequent deviations, till we reached Changanacherry.
We were at Lekha's sister's place at Kottarakkara by a half past 3. Caught up with her but her grand daughter, Devoo, refused to come to me because she was 'scared'! After spending an hour with them, we were on our last leg of the journey to Thalavoor. The roads were good and we reached Raj Nivas by a quarter to 5 where Syamala, the caretaker's wife was at hand with the house opened.
The house had been spruced up and we had settled down, without much ado, Had a short chat with my parents at their cremation spot as I'd to report to them about our intended programme. Went about the compound as the place looked neat and tidy after the recent cutting of grass and I must confess that it did give me a high! There were a few visitors who'd dropped by and the caretaker had come by to brief me about various things.
Had lit up the evening lamp at the puja room asis the custom before switching on the lights of the house. The evening was quiet as we talked about a lot of things and had dinner at our usual time. Television wasn't available as I hadn't recharged the connection.
The net was slow and therefore, I couldn't work on the computer and therefore, had to turn in for the night rather early at a quarter to 11.
Tailpiece.
Felt tremendously at peace being here, at Raj Nivas, after what's been a long while. Our Chevy was back on our courtyard, for the first time, after that major defect in end-Apr 2021!
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