At Raj Nivas.

Had got up at our usual time, went through the chores and was ready by a half past 9. We had breakfast and Lekha had packed lunch and dinner for me. I was still not clear as to what I should do because I'd three options viz.:-

   * Stay with Babu Syriac and Joma at Kottayam and proceed to Neelamperoor tomorrow.

   * Stay at a hotel at Changanasserry and join the proceedings in the morning.

   * Spend the night at Raj Nivas and get picked up by Maman from Kottarakkara.

I chose the last option because I'd got a LSFP from Guruvayur to Ernakulam Menaka. A young lady, Sheeja, who was a nurse in an ayurveda clinic near Mannuthi, had disembarked along with me and boarded the auto rickshaw that I'd hired, saying that she'd to catch a train to Thiruvananthapuram to be beside her mother who was seriously ill. Will I help her? Didn't bother her with too many questions, dropped her at the Ernakulam Junction Railway Station and proceeded to the Vyttila hub.

The auto rick driver, Reji from Pala, was quite impressed by yours truly and has taken my cell phone number and also my permission to call me once in a way. 

 There, after visiting the rest room, had my lunch around a quarter to 2 and boarded a Thiruvananthapuram-bound low floor a/c bus and was beginning to feel that things were going hunky dory when the bus's a/c system developed trouble and we were huddled into another FP bus bound for Kottarakkara. So, had to grapple with the humid heat all through the journey!

Reached Raj Nivas, therefore, about a half an hour after sunset. The caretaker was ready with the house opened up and all the lights on after the cleanship of the entire house and surroundings, as I'd directed him a few days back.

It was a quiet evening and I was glad that the journey was okay despite the faux pas. Well!