Woke up at 4, a meticulous yet quick run through the chores and we're out of 'The Quarterdeck' by 6 past 6. Breakfast at our usual haunt and by 9, we're at Ernakulam. It was a twad early but we still decided to wait for about 20 minutes to pick up the monthly stock of grocery from the store. A quick dash in an autorickshaw, after parking the Chevy at a safe place - driving through Kochi, these days, will make one go mad thanks to the already narrow roads getting narrower because of the ongoing work of the Kochi Metro - to pick up a few things and we're at my cousin's place, in time, for lunch.
Ramakrishnan's mom was alert and responded to our queries with a twitch of her eyes, a few guttaral sounds and gave us a beautiful smile before she went into another round of sleep. She's batting at 102 and has been reduced to a bag of bones!
The afternoon siesta was comparatively longer, probably due to the exhaustion of the early morning wake up followed by the drive. We're at Lekha's doctor's clinic, half an hour before the appointed hour of 2000h and saw a fairly large crowd waiting patiently, to meet him. Parking was tricky, but the old security man, Jose, turned out to be a sweetheart, in that, he ensured that I got a decent space amid the grassy space, wet with rain and waterlogged at many spots. At the counter, much to our horror, we're told that the 102nd patient was with the doctor and could estimate our rough wait that we'd to go through because Lekha was at serial 165!
Though we knew that everything was under control through the lab results, the expression on Padmanabha Shenoy's face on seeing Lekha, said it all. He was genuinely happy to see her, after five months, with the problem of the non healing ulcer having been sorted out. After a few pleasantries - we couldn't take up his time because there were almost 30 patients, still, waiting to see him and the time was 2130h. With Jose's umbrella, we could defy the rain and get into the car. The car was, in between, parked at a comfortable spot on his prodding!
As I thanked him and slipped a tip into his pocket, I wondered as to whether we'd a cosmic connection from the past, in the friendly manner that he'd received us from the start. And despite his age, he was agile and fit! Without much ado, we drove to my cousin's and over a late supper, could finally have a lengthy conversation with everyone, upsetting their usual routine in the bargain!!
Tailpiece.
Lekha's next appointment with her doctor - 1000h on 08 Dec! It was fixed before we'd left the clinic!!
Ramakrishnan's mom was alert and responded to our queries with a twitch of her eyes, a few guttaral sounds and gave us a beautiful smile before she went into another round of sleep. She's batting at 102 and has been reduced to a bag of bones!
The afternoon siesta was comparatively longer, probably due to the exhaustion of the early morning wake up followed by the drive. We're at Lekha's doctor's clinic, half an hour before the appointed hour of 2000h and saw a fairly large crowd waiting patiently, to meet him. Parking was tricky, but the old security man, Jose, turned out to be a sweetheart, in that, he ensured that I got a decent space amid the grassy space, wet with rain and waterlogged at many spots. At the counter, much to our horror, we're told that the 102nd patient was with the doctor and could estimate our rough wait that we'd to go through because Lekha was at serial 165!
Though we knew that everything was under control through the lab results, the expression on Padmanabha Shenoy's face on seeing Lekha, said it all. He was genuinely happy to see her, after five months, with the problem of the non healing ulcer having been sorted out. After a few pleasantries - we couldn't take up his time because there were almost 30 patients, still, waiting to see him and the time was 2130h. With Jose's umbrella, we could defy the rain and get into the car. The car was, in between, parked at a comfortable spot on his prodding!
As I thanked him and slipped a tip into his pocket, I wondered as to whether we'd a cosmic connection from the past, in the friendly manner that he'd received us from the start. And despite his age, he was agile and fit! Without much ado, we drove to my cousin's and over a late supper, could finally have a lengthy conversation with everyone, upsetting their usual routine in the bargain!!
Tailpiece.
Lekha's next appointment with her doctor - 1000h on 08 Dec! It was fixed before we'd left the clinic!!
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