A hectic day for Lekha as her folks had arrived by breakfast time, to pick up the trousseau for her cousin, Laxmi, whose wedding has been scheduled during the second week of December. After a noisy breakfast, they'd left for their task, a trifle after 10, leaving me and my mom behind. And I knew that it was gonna be a long drawn out affair as was the experience, in a similar exercise, about a fortnight back.
The day had passed off like any other Sunday, with me catching up on close relatives. Ramjee had fetched up, as per earlier arrangement, to do the needful. His daughter and her two children, are with his family, back home in his village in Bihar and he seems to take solace from the fact that his rogue son-in-law has been out of sight and remained incommunicado, all this while.
The shoppers had returned by about 7, a trifle earlier than the last time and soon after, had departed for their destinations. And it was left for us to finish the last social obligation of the day - to celebrate my aunt's 78th birthday. The celebration was on a low key as three of her four children couldn't fetch up due to their preoccupation and had substituted for their absence with lengthy, long distance calls!
This time, we'd decided to do something different and accordingly, draped a shawl around her shoulders for her contributions to the family and the manner in which she has held the family together. While I spoke a few words on the occasion, I saw that she'd a continuous stream of tears, through smiles, thankful for our efforts - hardly any, if you ask - in her short yet cute thanksgiving speech. And of course, there was a round of photography to capture the prevailing mood for posterity.
Tailpiece.
Today, also happens to be the 90th birthday of VS Achuthanandan, the veteran and firebrand communist, currently the Leader of the Opposition in the state's Legislative Assembly. In an interview given on the occasion, I was aghast to know that his party's stand during the Sino-Indian conflict of '62 was to exhort their volunteers and party workers not to donate blood for the Indian jawan!
Shocking, to say the least! The Indian jawan was only protecting his country from the aggression unleashed by China and what the comrades seemed to have missed was that their own existence would have been in jeopardy had the Indian soldier flinched from his responsibility. There can be no substitute for each and every citizen's loyalty to his country.......it's simply not negotiable.
I felt bad for those numerous men in uniform who'd willingly given up their lives while giving a stiff fight to the unmerciful Chinese onslaught. Sad!
The day had passed off like any other Sunday, with me catching up on close relatives. Ramjee had fetched up, as per earlier arrangement, to do the needful. His daughter and her two children, are with his family, back home in his village in Bihar and he seems to take solace from the fact that his rogue son-in-law has been out of sight and remained incommunicado, all this while.
The shoppers had returned by about 7, a trifle earlier than the last time and soon after, had departed for their destinations. And it was left for us to finish the last social obligation of the day - to celebrate my aunt's 78th birthday. The celebration was on a low key as three of her four children couldn't fetch up due to their preoccupation and had substituted for their absence with lengthy, long distance calls!
This time, we'd decided to do something different and accordingly, draped a shawl around her shoulders for her contributions to the family and the manner in which she has held the family together. While I spoke a few words on the occasion, I saw that she'd a continuous stream of tears, through smiles, thankful for our efforts - hardly any, if you ask - in her short yet cute thanksgiving speech. And of course, there was a round of photography to capture the prevailing mood for posterity.
Tailpiece.
Today, also happens to be the 90th birthday of VS Achuthanandan, the veteran and firebrand communist, currently the Leader of the Opposition in the state's Legislative Assembly. In an interview given on the occasion, I was aghast to know that his party's stand during the Sino-Indian conflict of '62 was to exhort their volunteers and party workers not to donate blood for the Indian jawan!
Shocking, to say the least! The Indian jawan was only protecting his country from the aggression unleashed by China and what the comrades seemed to have missed was that their own existence would have been in jeopardy had the Indian soldier flinched from his responsibility. There can be no substitute for each and every citizen's loyalty to his country.......it's simply not negotiable.
I felt bad for those numerous men in uniform who'd willingly given up their lives while giving a stiff fight to the unmerciful Chinese onslaught. Sad!
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