Strictly official!

I was at Thiruvananthapuram on official work. This time the journey was done by train and to my horror, I realised that while the 'Vanchinad express' took only three hours to reach Kollam, the remaining 70 kms' of distance was covered over 21/2 hrs as the train was stopped in the outer limits of the Thiruvananthapuram railway station, for want of a vacant platform! Louis L'Amour's 'Kilrone' was my companion for the journey and I was reading it for the umpteenth time - my favourite amongst his collections and I understand, his best!

My meeting with the DRM, Thiruvananthapuram was fruitful and it was the official engagement for which I'd reached the city. I'd kept the trip a secret from my aunts and relations to avoid mandatory call ons for which, frankly, I had no time. The only exception was to drop in at the office of the PN Panicker Foundation - to interact with the staff - which is situated in the neighbourhood of the DRM's office!

Lunch was the popular biriyani from the Azad hotel, courtesy my counterpart at Thiruvananthapuram soon after which I'd embarked upon my return journey to Kochi by the Janashatabdi. The journey was beset with problems like a faulty traction, bad weather in the form of a tree having fallen on the wayside slowing traffic and by the time the destination was reached, the train was more than two hours late! This time, I'd napped through most of the distance until the last couple of hours when a young lady and a management graduate got to be my co - passenger. She was quite busy on her cellphone sending messages every now and then, and boy she could do that with an amazing speed! Karthika is keen on joining the defence forces but is doubtful about her parents' consent to this wish of her's.

Kochi was afloat, thanks to the incessant rains and the traffic that had snarled for hours earlier in the evening, had untangled by the time Sebastian was driving me to my home at 9. It was 11 and quiet (Lekha is away to attend a marriage in the family) by the time I'd hit the sack. To my dismay, I found that I was pooped doing nothing the whole day!