After what has been the chaos on shifting berth, this morning I was able to go for my walk. It was still dark as I left the house, wished my neighbour who was all decked up in traditional attire of a shawl et all to go out - obviously to attend a family function - and shaped my course northward on the highway towards Kozhikode. The traffic was sparse and a few of the vehicles were driving at prohibitive speeds - probably trying to hit their destinations before sunrise, perhaps.
I was wearing my recent acquisition, the straw hat bought from Kuala Lumpur @ 70 Malaysian Ringitts. Consequently, I might have unwittingly portrayed myself as someone out on a survey of his fiefdom and received a few hellos from the little school children, sporting amused looks, that passed by, a few 'namasthes' from passersby and curious looks from the ladies on their way to college/work. Did I have a regal(?) look or did I resemble an old English character - minus the pipe - straight out of a Dickensian novel?
I must have trudged about 3 kms, reached a place called 'Choolpuram' and was passing by the Guruvayur municipality's crematorium. What struck me was that the compound was quiet with no early morning activity and a huge, comparatively new building smack at its center on the lines of a similar facility that I'd seen at Thiruvananthapuram, a couple of years back. We sure have come a long way - learned to respect the dead and provide a clean and eco-friendly environment in disposing off the mortal remains with dignity!
I'd undertaken a journey, without prior knowledge, to the place where my body would be taken ceremoniously on the liberation of my soul. Was it a sort of teaser trailer, huh? No, I ain't being morbid and I know for sure that I've a long innings to go and 'there are promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep!'
Tailpiece.
There was a lot of work tied up by me today. The most important of 'em all was the sorting out of the electrical wiring as Lekha and me had been grappling with the numerous switches over the past week. Streamlining it with an inverter back up - power interruptions are aplenty out here - was a job that had to be done and it was achieved today. Phew!
I was wearing my recent acquisition, the straw hat bought from Kuala Lumpur @ 70 Malaysian Ringitts. Consequently, I might have unwittingly portrayed myself as someone out on a survey of his fiefdom and received a few hellos from the little school children, sporting amused looks, that passed by, a few 'namasthes' from passersby and curious looks from the ladies on their way to college/work. Did I have a regal(?) look or did I resemble an old English character - minus the pipe - straight out of a Dickensian novel?
I must have trudged about 3 kms, reached a place called 'Choolpuram' and was passing by the Guruvayur municipality's crematorium. What struck me was that the compound was quiet with no early morning activity and a huge, comparatively new building smack at its center on the lines of a similar facility that I'd seen at Thiruvananthapuram, a couple of years back. We sure have come a long way - learned to respect the dead and provide a clean and eco-friendly environment in disposing off the mortal remains with dignity!
I'd undertaken a journey, without prior knowledge, to the place where my body would be taken ceremoniously on the liberation of my soul. Was it a sort of teaser trailer, huh? No, I ain't being morbid and I know for sure that I've a long innings to go and 'there are promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep!'
Tailpiece.
There was a lot of work tied up by me today. The most important of 'em all was the sorting out of the electrical wiring as Lekha and me had been grappling with the numerous switches over the past week. Streamlining it with an inverter back up - power interruptions are aplenty out here - was a job that had to be done and it was achieved today. Phew!
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