Rema, my sister, had fetched up from Palakkad last evening. We set off by the morning Fast Passenger to Edamon at 0555 hrs and yes, the lady at the counter gave us tickets to 'Kuri Halt', our destination, this time and didn't look surprised! Earlier, Anto had done the honours by picking us up at 0515 hrs in his auto rickshaw and dropping us at the railway station. Breakfast of packed idlis and chutney was at Ernakulam as the crowd eased within the train and lunch was at Kollam at a half past 1. The train was late by more than an hour because it was kept stopped at stations to let two overtaking and three crossing trains to pass through. I'd begun to wonder as to whether I could pull off this visit within the time available!
Finally, we got off at Kuri Halt and our caretaker, Vijayan, was at hand with Achankunju's auto rickshaw. Achankunju's a familiar guy as it was he who took Lekha everyday for her ayurveda treatment, many years ago. I'd asked him to take us directly to Sasi Pillai's house so that no time was wasted. Met Leela, Sasi Pillai's wife, and their children along with a host of their relatives. They're struck by three things:-
(a) That we'd come all the way from Guruvayur just to spend an hour or so with them.
(b) Our feelings for Sasi Pillai were genuine and as strong as they used to be when was
closely associated with our household and
(c) Many of the anecdotes that Rema and I narrated were new and exciting for them as they
brought out the details of the persona of Sasi Pillai, before marriage.
We entered Raj Nivas for a short while to have a cup of tea that Vijayan had bought for us. I'd my conversation with mom and dad, as usual. Were they surprised? Can't be, firstly because souls that lead eternal lives never get surprised and secondly, because their power must have propelled us into visiting Sasi Pillai's place! An auto rickshaw to Kottarakkara and a low floor RTC bus to Kollam saw us at the Kollam railway station half an hour prior to our train's arrival.
On embarking, there was a humorous incident. While we'd made a beeline for the 40, 41 and 42 seats, we found a gentleman insisting that his seat was 41 too. The TTE's trained eyes were quick to spot the discrepancy, his reservation was for the 16th and not for today - an error that was missed out at the time of getting the electronic ticket! I felt bad for him and asked the TTE to help him out which he did, luckily because there was a vacant seat!!
The train was ahead of time thankfully!
* * *
Mohanachandran's Medical Updates.
Sitreps through the day..
"Doctor had examined and said that the swelling had decreased slightly. His BP is normal
which means that the stoppage of a medicine has not affected the functioning of the heart.
The CT scan is awaited".
" The scan says there is no bleeding(Internal or peripheral) and the status continues".
" The swelling of the eye has reduced. Continues to be under sedation, however, there was a
twitch of his hand when an injection was given....a good sign! They plan to reduce the
sedation after tomorrow morning's CT scan".
The improvement is there and we hope that he'll come out of the woods, eventually. Meanwhile, our prayers continue.
Tailpiece.
Met Rakhee, a teacher at the Women's ITI near Kollam. She was seated next to us and we heard her co-ordinating a 'job fest' scheduled for the 5th of Dec. This is for the first time that an event of this nature is being organised and 200 companies/industrial units from all over the country are coming in to grab their potential staff from the campus placement! We congratulated her on her untiring efforts and she told us all about herself. She's a resourceful individual. Seeing her resolve and clarity of thought, I've promised her help on behalf of the Foundation.
All the best Rakhee for your endeavours!
Finally, we got off at Kuri Halt and our caretaker, Vijayan, was at hand with Achankunju's auto rickshaw. Achankunju's a familiar guy as it was he who took Lekha everyday for her ayurveda treatment, many years ago. I'd asked him to take us directly to Sasi Pillai's house so that no time was wasted. Met Leela, Sasi Pillai's wife, and their children along with a host of their relatives. They're struck by three things:-
(a) That we'd come all the way from Guruvayur just to spend an hour or so with them.
(b) Our feelings for Sasi Pillai were genuine and as strong as they used to be when was
closely associated with our household and
(c) Many of the anecdotes that Rema and I narrated were new and exciting for them as they
brought out the details of the persona of Sasi Pillai, before marriage.
We entered Raj Nivas for a short while to have a cup of tea that Vijayan had bought for us. I'd my conversation with mom and dad, as usual. Were they surprised? Can't be, firstly because souls that lead eternal lives never get surprised and secondly, because their power must have propelled us into visiting Sasi Pillai's place! An auto rickshaw to Kottarakkara and a low floor RTC bus to Kollam saw us at the Kollam railway station half an hour prior to our train's arrival.
On embarking, there was a humorous incident. While we'd made a beeline for the 40, 41 and 42 seats, we found a gentleman insisting that his seat was 41 too. The TTE's trained eyes were quick to spot the discrepancy, his reservation was for the 16th and not for today - an error that was missed out at the time of getting the electronic ticket! I felt bad for him and asked the TTE to help him out which he did, luckily because there was a vacant seat!!
The train was ahead of time thankfully!
* * *
Mohanachandran's Medical Updates.
Sitreps through the day..
"Doctor had examined and said that the swelling had decreased slightly. His BP is normal
which means that the stoppage of a medicine has not affected the functioning of the heart.
The CT scan is awaited".
" The scan says there is no bleeding(Internal or peripheral) and the status continues".
" The swelling of the eye has reduced. Continues to be under sedation, however, there was a
twitch of his hand when an injection was given....a good sign! They plan to reduce the
sedation after tomorrow morning's CT scan".
The improvement is there and we hope that he'll come out of the woods, eventually. Meanwhile, our prayers continue.
Tailpiece.
Met Rakhee, a teacher at the Women's ITI near Kollam. She was seated next to us and we heard her co-ordinating a 'job fest' scheduled for the 5th of Dec. This is for the first time that an event of this nature is being organised and 200 companies/industrial units from all over the country are coming in to grab their potential staff from the campus placement! We congratulated her on her untiring efforts and she told us all about herself. She's a resourceful individual. Seeing her resolve and clarity of thought, I've promised her help on behalf of the Foundation.
All the best Rakhee for your endeavours!
No comments:
Post a Comment