The week that was

It’s over a week since I’d posted my last random thought. Since there was a requirement to go out of Delhi to attend an important function, I’d been out of my normal frequency and hence, the change of rhythm.
Last week was a hectic one by the sheer number of people that I was able to meet and exchange my views with. It was physically draining but mentally stimulating and in the process, didn’t realize as to how time had flown – these days, I’ve become very conscious of the passage of time, wonder why?
Subi, on a month’s leave from Muscat, had reached by the afternoon of Monday(09 Aug) and the tale of his tottering marriage was heart rending to hear and I’d mentioned about it in my earlier posting. MP(Joe) Joseph who’d come on an official errand, dropped in the next evening to spend a couple of hours before his flight for Bombay and reluctantly, I had to skip my evening walk and had a ‘sundowner’ with him. And by Wednesday(11 Aug), our programme for Thiruvananthapuram had crystallized and consequently, a lot of last minute tying up was required to be done. Drove through a bad traffic snarl, thanks to a heavy shower after working hours, to help Subi reach the railway station for his short trip to Kanpur.
Thursday(12 Aug) was the longest day for me in the recent past. We’d to get up at 3, early morning, to be on time for the 0725h flight to Bangalore and for an onward flight to Thiruvananthapuram, soon after and reached there, thankfully, on the dot by lunchtime. After settling Lekha at my aunt’s place, I was off to the PN Panicker Foundation to pitch in with my bit. From being a chauffeur to playing the host to picking up appropriate gifts for the special guests to decorating the venue of the event and finally, to being a script writer for my Maman’s welcome speech, I put in my mite into the preparation process and finally, flaked out at 3, in the wee hours of Friday(13 Aug) morning, after going through four rehearsals of speech delivery by Maman!
The Rashtrapathi’s inauguration of the concluding activities, in connection with the ‘PN Panicker Birth Centenary Celebrations’, which was spread over an hour and forty minutes from 1200h to 1340h at the Kanakakkunnu Palace, went off with a clockwork precision. The other guests included RC Gavai,the Governor of Kerala, MA Baby, the state’s Education Minister, PJ Kurien, Rajya Sabha MP, Shashi Tharoor, the MP from the constituency, Sivankutty, the MLA of the constituency and LV Saptharishi, the Chairman of the Federation of NGOs of rural India.
In the last minute as a stand-in for Pannian Raveendran, ex-MP, I'd to propose the ’Vote of Thanks’ and I must admit that there were two glitches – when I'd unwittingly, changed Omana Chechi’s gender while thanking her for her mellifluous rendition of the Invocation at the beginning and the author of the compilation on my Muthachan, that was released during the occasion, was wrongly named. Was I daft, scared or careless? I really, can’t give a precise answer but a BAD SHOW, it was, on my part! I would like to believe that neither was I overwhelmed by the occasion nor was I suffering from stage fright.I could only hear the final round of applause just prior to the singing of the national anthem.
Saturday(14 Aug) and Sunday(15 Aug) saw the both of us meeting many of our friends and relatives, whom we’d not interacted with during our last leave. It was exhilarating and thoroughly enjoyable. We left Thiruvananthapuram for Delhi by Sunday evening and reached our house by 2200h and was well in time to guide little Megha, coming from her parents currently in Paris, for her onward trip to Madras on Monday(16 Aug) morning.

There’s never a dull moment out here!