Lekha’s younger sister, Preetha, her two little children – Govind and Sanath and her mother-in-law(she’s 71 yaers old who’s sprightly and agile) are our guests this week. Today was our trip to Agra, for seeing the Taj Mahal and we set off by seven in the morning. The heat was all pervading but the air conditioned atmosphere in the car took the brunt of the heat away. Within the first one hour of travel, Govind was down and he was better only after vomiting out what was disagreeable within his system. After a sumptuous breakfast at a roadside eatery, it was Lekha’s turn to get queasy and she too was better off after retching out the unwanted. Little Sanath is terror unlimited and the cramped confines of the car did nothing to dampen either his energy or his enthusiasm, keeping each one of us, including the hired chauffeur – Dharmesh couldn’t keep himself away from the all pervading boisterous ruckus – extremely busy over the proceedings!
The traffic was bad, soon after we left the Delhi border and at one time, there were serious doubts as to whether we’d get out of the traffic snarl at all, within a decent time. After an uneventful journey thereafter, we reached Agra and the Taj Mahal, only to be told that the monument was closed for visitors on Fridays – a sad blow, as the elderly lady was paying her visit for the first time and I did kick my shins, a number of times, for not checking out on this detail – a gaffe, that I shall never acquit myself of. And their schedule has been so packed that a second visit is not possible. The error was circumvented, in a miniscule manner, by driving around and having a glimpse of the Taj from various angles – some consolation this!
The visit to the ‘Sreekrishna Janmabhoomi’ was extensive, the four layered security cordon notwithstanding and we began our return journey around a quarter to seven. Two hours into this trip, it was the old lady’s turn to get queasy and she did get better after bringing out the upsetting stuff but what really endeared her to me was her continuing pleasantness and enthusiasm of narrating a steady stream of anecdotes to us, during the entire journey. And she was a patient and eager listener to my PJs.
We were back by 10 without further disaster. After a late night dinner and conversation what brought a lump in my throat was when the old lady- her name is Padmavathy Amma- held my arm to thank me for the wonderful day that she had with us. Was it her way of pardoning me for my gaffe, I wonder but I must confess that I enjoy every moment of mine with her and as I’d said earlier, I shall never be able to forgive myself for the fiasco, ever!
The traffic was bad, soon after we left the Delhi border and at one time, there were serious doubts as to whether we’d get out of the traffic snarl at all, within a decent time. After an uneventful journey thereafter, we reached Agra and the Taj Mahal, only to be told that the monument was closed for visitors on Fridays – a sad blow, as the elderly lady was paying her visit for the first time and I did kick my shins, a number of times, for not checking out on this detail – a gaffe, that I shall never acquit myself of. And their schedule has been so packed that a second visit is not possible. The error was circumvented, in a miniscule manner, by driving around and having a glimpse of the Taj from various angles – some consolation this!
The visit to the ‘Sreekrishna Janmabhoomi’ was extensive, the four layered security cordon notwithstanding and we began our return journey around a quarter to seven. Two hours into this trip, it was the old lady’s turn to get queasy and she did get better after bringing out the upsetting stuff but what really endeared her to me was her continuing pleasantness and enthusiasm of narrating a steady stream of anecdotes to us, during the entire journey. And she was a patient and eager listener to my PJs.
We were back by 10 without further disaster. After a late night dinner and conversation what brought a lump in my throat was when the old lady- her name is Padmavathy Amma- held my arm to thank me for the wonderful day that she had with us. Was it her way of pardoning me for my gaffe, I wonder but I must confess that I enjoy every moment of mine with her and as I’d said earlier, I shall never be able to forgive myself for the fiasco, ever!
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