I'd got up at a quarter past 5, went through the chores and was out of the house, on the dot, at 6. The walk was pleasant as there's a nip in the morning air these days and it's dark, still, as I turn into the home stretch. Lekha was going through her morning chores, as I watered the plants at the balcony and on finishing it, had settled down to read through the messages on the What'sApp that had accumulated after 11, last night.
It was while going through them that my mind had wandered and I realised that dad's remembrance day was on the 10th and therefore, the date as per the Malayalam calendar was somewhere around. Hoping like mad that I hadn't missed it, I'd rushed to the work area of the kitchen and browsed through the Malayalam calendar hanging there. Totally absent minded, I'd flipped the leaves and zeroed in on 27 Dec and my heart sank. Called up both my sisters to tell them about the inadvertent miss and thankfully, it was they who'd called back to tell me that I hadn't missed it as the date fell today. I'd erroneously browsed through the Dec '18 page!
Thankfully, except for a glass of water in the morning I hadn't had anything and it was a vegetarian dinner devoid of rice, last night. So, I was 'fit' in all respect to do the 'shraadh ceremony' in the morning. I'd a quick shower and made a dash to the Thiruvenkatachalapathy temple, nearby. The all too familiar 'thirumeni' was all smiles when he sighted me as the first round had just been completed and the people who'd participated in it began dispersing. I was slotted into the second round with two ladies and we went through the motions, directed and closely monitored by him. Incidentally, he'd insisted on me sitting on a biscuit tin to avoid soiling the white dhoti that I was wearing. Damn sweet of him!
After our round was over, by about a half past 7, there was a surge of people for the third round. I'd handed over the 'dakshina' to the thirumeni, touched his feet and then, wished him a very happy new year. Never had the ball of rice mixed with curd and an adequate number of chillies, given as 'bhog' to eat subsequent to the ceremony, tasted so nice! I'd have missed this opportunity to remember dad due to a carelessness on my part and wouldn't have been able to pardon me till the same day, next year.
Missing you dad!
And see the coincidence....dad passed away on Leela kunjamma's birth star of 'Pooyam' and Santhan kochachhan had passed away on dad's birth star of 'Uthrattathi'. Isn't there a cosmic connection between them, in that, they'd passed into the mist of time within three months - between end Nov '11 and early Jan '12?
Tailpiece.
Tomorrow would have been mom's birthday had she been with us!
Mohanachandran's medical bulletin.
"A sort of stalemate persists. The fever, due to infection, keeps coming off and on, with the doctors not having been able to pinpoint the cause. Mohan has spent over two months in the ICU of KIMS at Thiruvananthapuram. It must be taking its toll on the family. Vishnu, the younger son, has almost given up his job in the Gulf and has been trying for an alternate in India but to no avail...the fact being that the offers are so low because here, they don't count the time spent there in his CV! Sad!! From Suresh Laxman.
It was while going through them that my mind had wandered and I realised that dad's remembrance day was on the 10th and therefore, the date as per the Malayalam calendar was somewhere around. Hoping like mad that I hadn't missed it, I'd rushed to the work area of the kitchen and browsed through the Malayalam calendar hanging there. Totally absent minded, I'd flipped the leaves and zeroed in on 27 Dec and my heart sank. Called up both my sisters to tell them about the inadvertent miss and thankfully, it was they who'd called back to tell me that I hadn't missed it as the date fell today. I'd erroneously browsed through the Dec '18 page!
Thankfully, except for a glass of water in the morning I hadn't had anything and it was a vegetarian dinner devoid of rice, last night. So, I was 'fit' in all respect to do the 'shraadh ceremony' in the morning. I'd a quick shower and made a dash to the Thiruvenkatachalapathy temple, nearby. The all too familiar 'thirumeni' was all smiles when he sighted me as the first round had just been completed and the people who'd participated in it began dispersing. I was slotted into the second round with two ladies and we went through the motions, directed and closely monitored by him. Incidentally, he'd insisted on me sitting on a biscuit tin to avoid soiling the white dhoti that I was wearing. Damn sweet of him!
After our round was over, by about a half past 7, there was a surge of people for the third round. I'd handed over the 'dakshina' to the thirumeni, touched his feet and then, wished him a very happy new year. Never had the ball of rice mixed with curd and an adequate number of chillies, given as 'bhog' to eat subsequent to the ceremony, tasted so nice! I'd have missed this opportunity to remember dad due to a carelessness on my part and wouldn't have been able to pardon me till the same day, next year.
Missing you dad!
And see the coincidence....dad passed away on Leela kunjamma's birth star of 'Pooyam' and Santhan kochachhan had passed away on dad's birth star of 'Uthrattathi'. Isn't there a cosmic connection between them, in that, they'd passed into the mist of time within three months - between end Nov '11 and early Jan '12?
Tailpiece.
Tomorrow would have been mom's birthday had she been with us!
Mohanachandran's medical bulletin.
"A sort of stalemate persists. The fever, due to infection, keeps coming off and on, with the doctors not having been able to pinpoint the cause. Mohan has spent over two months in the ICU of KIMS at Thiruvananthapuram. It must be taking its toll on the family. Vishnu, the younger son, has almost given up his job in the Gulf and has been trying for an alternate in India but to no avail...the fact being that the offers are so low because here, they don't count the time spent there in his CV! Sad!! From Suresh Laxman.
No comments:
Post a Comment