The morning weather was nice and nippy as I went on my walk. The familiar cluster of walkers was missing today - was it because of the weekend? The shutting down of 'The Quarterdeck' was done progressively. Couldn't meet the newspaper boy today too; I'd wanted to tell him about the calendars and Lekha's copy of the 'Vanitha' magazine.
We're out of the house by 10, our first stop being the petrol bunk nearby. Krevka, as usual, filled up the tank and checked the tyre pressure with her trademark efficiency, coupled with a smile. Our drive to Radha's cousin's place near Patturaickal took about an hour through directions given by her over the cellphone. Met up her Parkinson's Syndrome ridden cousin, Usha and her 89 year old mother. The house had an array of dogs because Usha's daughter runs an NGO that provides shelter for the stray dogs!
We're off to Kochi soon after. Lunch was at Ananda Bhavan, a new eatery on the NH with adequate parking space, a nice ambience and I shall never forget the soft chappathies that they'd served us. Thankachan, the person on security duties, was an eager attendant who guided the guests adequately well, giving tips regarding the choice of parking slots and consequently, I managed a naturally shaded one. The trip onward was a short one with us fetching up at the Hotel Golf View by about a half past 2. There were already a few of my classmates who'd fetched up and slowly, over the next couple of hours, the quorum was complete. Savio's - from Chicago - conversation with each one of us was nice that had a personal touch!
As I'd said earlier, the numbers could have been more but it didn't dampen the conglomeration's enthusiasm. The beginning of our get together began with the 'breaking-the-ice step' where we prayed for Mohanachandran's early recovery and the participants were briefed about his latest medical position. The interaction from then on was enriching and helped us to update ourselves about each other. The first decision taken was to have the get together once every year instead of the existing 'once-in-two-years' frequency. Lekha gave us her memorable, 'Chandrakalaabham chaarthividarum theeram....' and I'd everyone sing, "Periyare, periyare.....' along with me! Jojy and Josekutty had us in splits with their skit.
Our room is 204 which has a west end view from the hotel of the traffic and we could see the continuous, fast moving, incoming traffic to the airport which seemed to be more voluminous compared to the outgoing one. Or was it an illusion?
Tailpiece.
A great start to a reunion that was eagerly looked forward to!
We're out of the house by 10, our first stop being the petrol bunk nearby. Krevka, as usual, filled up the tank and checked the tyre pressure with her trademark efficiency, coupled with a smile. Our drive to Radha's cousin's place near Patturaickal took about an hour through directions given by her over the cellphone. Met up her Parkinson's Syndrome ridden cousin, Usha and her 89 year old mother. The house had an array of dogs because Usha's daughter runs an NGO that provides shelter for the stray dogs!
We're off to Kochi soon after. Lunch was at Ananda Bhavan, a new eatery on the NH with adequate parking space, a nice ambience and I shall never forget the soft chappathies that they'd served us. Thankachan, the person on security duties, was an eager attendant who guided the guests adequately well, giving tips regarding the choice of parking slots and consequently, I managed a naturally shaded one. The trip onward was a short one with us fetching up at the Hotel Golf View by about a half past 2. There were already a few of my classmates who'd fetched up and slowly, over the next couple of hours, the quorum was complete. Savio's - from Chicago - conversation with each one of us was nice that had a personal touch!
As I'd said earlier, the numbers could have been more but it didn't dampen the conglomeration's enthusiasm. The beginning of our get together began with the 'breaking-the-ice step' where we prayed for Mohanachandran's early recovery and the participants were briefed about his latest medical position. The interaction from then on was enriching and helped us to update ourselves about each other. The first decision taken was to have the get together once every year instead of the existing 'once-in-two-years' frequency. Lekha gave us her memorable, 'Chandrakalaabham chaarthividarum theeram....' and I'd everyone sing, "Periyare, periyare.....' along with me! Jojy and Josekutty had us in splits with their skit.
Our room is 204 which has a west end view from the hotel of the traffic and we could see the continuous, fast moving, incoming traffic to the airport which seemed to be more voluminous compared to the outgoing one. Or was it an illusion?
Tailpiece.
A great start to a reunion that was eagerly looked forward to!
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