It was the second day of Onam and the all important 'Thiruvonam'. My first job outside the house, early in the morning, was to detach a clutch of the Labernum flowers - yes, the tree is in bloom at this time which is unusual - from the courtyard, to place it at the puja room as per Lekha's wishes. She, had also used the petals of another clutch to create a floral pattern on the verandah at the front!
She'd, then, made a quick trip to the Mammiyoor Siva kshetram and back. Since the crowd wasn't much, she had returned soon after.
Over the whole of the morning, she was busy in the kitchen preparing the familiar spread of the Onam lunch. The maid would not be available for three days, with effect from today, as she is celebrating Onam with her family. Selvam, the pressman, had come by for pressing a huge backlog of our clothes and he got to be our guest for the ceremonial lunch. He preferred to sit at the verandah and as I was helping Lekha serve the lunch, our neighbours passed by not before pausing to wish us a happy Onam.
Had called up relatives and family to convey our Onam greetings and it was a great interaction. By connecting under the pretext of wishing each other on an auspicious occasion, the pauses in communication are erased and the interaction enables one to catch up with each and everyone!..... The lunch was on banana leaves and I ate myself silly.
Did resume my evening walk that was interrupted for over a month because of the monsoon and in the process, met a few of the people that I come across, usually, on the stretch and every one of them wanted to know as to where I was all this while. I told them that my walk was restricted to my house thanks to the rains and some of them even wanted me to confirm that I would be a regular from now on, making me wonder as to whether they missed me so much?
On return, short of 'The Quarterdeck', I came across Shobha, the eldest daughter of the Warriath family. She and her husband narrated the horror of the floods that they were subjected to. Their house, at Aluva, was inundated with four feet of water though they did manage to clear off at the appropriate moment. They'd saved important documents. Their daughter, along with her two small children were with them, down from Dubai, on vacation! The entire range of household items and furniture have been destroyed and they seemed to be totally dejected!
Could only tell them that they're lucky not to have had any mishap and that I was sure that they would make up the loss within no time. I'd also advised them to fill up the relevant papers regarding their losses and put them up to the revenue authorities, to claim compensation from the government. However, I must hasten to add that I've my doubts whether they would receive help because they would be categorised as an affluent family!
It was a quiet evening thereafter.
Tailpiece.
Lekha's left knee and the foot did give her pain due to prolonged standing in the kitchen, doing work. Massage, knee cap and crepe bandage were used to mitigate the pain. Hope she overcomes the aches and the pains by tomorrow morning!
She'd, then, made a quick trip to the Mammiyoor Siva kshetram and back. Since the crowd wasn't much, she had returned soon after.
Over the whole of the morning, she was busy in the kitchen preparing the familiar spread of the Onam lunch. The maid would not be available for three days, with effect from today, as she is celebrating Onam with her family. Selvam, the pressman, had come by for pressing a huge backlog of our clothes and he got to be our guest for the ceremonial lunch. He preferred to sit at the verandah and as I was helping Lekha serve the lunch, our neighbours passed by not before pausing to wish us a happy Onam.
Had called up relatives and family to convey our Onam greetings and it was a great interaction. By connecting under the pretext of wishing each other on an auspicious occasion, the pauses in communication are erased and the interaction enables one to catch up with each and everyone!..... The lunch was on banana leaves and I ate myself silly.
Did resume my evening walk that was interrupted for over a month because of the monsoon and in the process, met a few of the people that I come across, usually, on the stretch and every one of them wanted to know as to where I was all this while. I told them that my walk was restricted to my house thanks to the rains and some of them even wanted me to confirm that I would be a regular from now on, making me wonder as to whether they missed me so much?
On return, short of 'The Quarterdeck', I came across Shobha, the eldest daughter of the Warriath family. She and her husband narrated the horror of the floods that they were subjected to. Their house, at Aluva, was inundated with four feet of water though they did manage to clear off at the appropriate moment. They'd saved important documents. Their daughter, along with her two small children were with them, down from Dubai, on vacation! The entire range of household items and furniture have been destroyed and they seemed to be totally dejected!
Could only tell them that they're lucky not to have had any mishap and that I was sure that they would make up the loss within no time. I'd also advised them to fill up the relevant papers regarding their losses and put them up to the revenue authorities, to claim compensation from the government. However, I must hasten to add that I've my doubts whether they would receive help because they would be categorised as an affluent family!
It was a quiet evening thereafter.
Tailpiece.
Lekha's left knee and the foot did give her pain due to prolonged standing in the kitchen, doing work. Massage, knee cap and crepe bandage were used to mitigate the pain. Hope she overcomes the aches and the pains by tomorrow morning!
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