The ceremonies connected with Leela kunjamma's remembrance day had begun in right earnest, in the morning, and the house was teeming with close friends and relatives. The entire compound looked clean thanks to the neatly cropped grass and pruned trees. The neighbours were thrilled to see the house inhabited and full of noise/high decibel conversation which was being missed all the while.
An old lady had asked me as to where my dad was and when I told her about his passing away, she's surprised. And then she'd added, as an afterthought, that the person - meaning, Leela kunjamma - who used to give her nuggets of information, about the family, was no more there. I could feel her agony.
And soon afterwards, post lunch, we're off to drop mom, my sister and niece at the ancestral home before pressing on for Kochi. The journey was uneventful but I must say that I was rather amused by a Mercedes Benz keeping station with my Chevy, almost through the entire stretch. We'd, incidentally, entered one of the 'highway inns' simultaneously and reached Kochi a trifle past sunset and saw that the Diwali celebrations were on, in our residential area, with full pomp and splendour. And I must reiterate that the enthusiasm among the participants - from the children to the elders - was a few notches higher than what I'd seen last year.
For me the celebrations were muted because there were three 'farewells' within the family but the crowd wanted me to join them and I did just that because there was no reason to disappoint them. I'm sure that Leela kunjamma, Santhan kochachan and my dad did not have any issue on this aspect! I did indulge on the numerous sweets that were in circulation and thoroughly enjoyed the company of the excited children. Their enthusiasm was infectious. By insisting that I meet up with everybody, my status as the 'patriarch' was being accentuated!
And boy, it was a noisy, mad, colourful and a long, long evening!
Tailpiece.
I will have to resort to some spirited exercises and longer, brisker walks over the next few days to knock off the additional 'kgs' that I've added on thanks to the intake of sweets! But it was an experience of a lifetime, what with all the attendant love and affection that were showered upon, so generously. Yes, I'm proud to say that it's my huge, big family! Just simply mine!!
An old lady had asked me as to where my dad was and when I told her about his passing away, she's surprised. And then she'd added, as an afterthought, that the person - meaning, Leela kunjamma - who used to give her nuggets of information, about the family, was no more there. I could feel her agony.
And soon afterwards, post lunch, we're off to drop mom, my sister and niece at the ancestral home before pressing on for Kochi. The journey was uneventful but I must say that I was rather amused by a Mercedes Benz keeping station with my Chevy, almost through the entire stretch. We'd, incidentally, entered one of the 'highway inns' simultaneously and reached Kochi a trifle past sunset and saw that the Diwali celebrations were on, in our residential area, with full pomp and splendour. And I must reiterate that the enthusiasm among the participants - from the children to the elders - was a few notches higher than what I'd seen last year.
For me the celebrations were muted because there were three 'farewells' within the family but the crowd wanted me to join them and I did just that because there was no reason to disappoint them. I'm sure that Leela kunjamma, Santhan kochachan and my dad did not have any issue on this aspect! I did indulge on the numerous sweets that were in circulation and thoroughly enjoyed the company of the excited children. Their enthusiasm was infectious. By insisting that I meet up with everybody, my status as the 'patriarch' was being accentuated!
And boy, it was a noisy, mad, colourful and a long, long evening!
Tailpiece.
I will have to resort to some spirited exercises and longer, brisker walks over the next few days to knock off the additional 'kgs' that I've added on thanks to the intake of sweets! But it was an experience of a lifetime, what with all the attendant love and affection that were showered upon, so generously. Yes, I'm proud to say that it's my huge, big family! Just simply mine!!
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