Had got up on the dot, gone through our chores and Lekha was ready well in advance! Since I'd increased the duration of my walk to 15 minutes followed by initiating the washing machinex of the bed linen, I was late, for breakfast, by my usual standards.
Lekha and her assistant were off to the Mammiyoor Siva kshetram as per their weekly agenda and Lekha had work at the LIC office, followed by collection of the statement of her account from the bank. Meanwhile, the kitchen renovation work was going on in full swing with carpenters, Anil and Asokan toiling away the whole day.
Their leader, Rajesh, had come by with the granite guy, Stephen, who was briefed by yours truly regarding the type/size/shape of the additional piece to cover the gap that had come about after the fitment of the new gas stove.
Lekha got delayed because the bank manager, Vishnu, was out on an errand. Sad, I'd given him adequate notice about her visit and he, still, seems to have given it the go by. Will have to speak to him about it because such things are not acceptable. Anyways, she could get a statement of her account which has to be sent, along with certain other documents, to the Punalur branch of the LIC.
Tailpiece.
By afternoon came the news that early this morning, around a trifle past 3, two women activists without the mandatory offering-contained-cloth bag(Irumudikkettu) on their heads, - Bindu and Kanakadurga - completely covered with black sheets just having their eyes left uncovered and escorted by policemen rigged up in civil clothes prayed at the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala shrine. They'd entered through a side entrance meant for the staff!
The chief minister was quick to hail the move and credited his government for having facilitated "women's" entry into the shrine. What he forgot in the bargain was that he'd cheated his people who had faith in him by constantly shifting his stand on the issue. It looked conspiratorial in that the clandestine entry by the women, took place soon after the 'women's wall' of last evening. If this drama had taken place before that, the number of women, forming the wall, would have been much low.
If the CM and his party are happy that they could pull off such a feat by their 'smartness'(?), they are sadly mistaken and could be in for a big shock. The repercussions of their actions were on display on the streets at many places with miscreants - taking advantage of the situation - damaging public property. I'm sure, though, violence is never a remedy. Actually, this government had got a reprieve after causing the devastating floods by their greed and a seemingly-not-so-keen-opposition to throw it off from power. They've cocked a snook for the second time and this time seem to have gloated over the fact that the ban on the entry of menstruating women into the Sabarimala shrine was a matter of deep rooted traditions and beliefs.....the upstart commies have always pooh-poohed the general beliefs of the people and trampled upon them. You got to see as to how vicious they are if one were to question their beliefs. The countdown to their electoral Waterloo has begun and they will realise that by simply getting irrelevant people like R Balakrisna Pillai, MP Virendra Kumar, Francis Antony and the breakaway Muslim League faction cannot get them votes!
PS.
Ever since I'd heard the news, there was a sense of deep despair in me. Had the police, through proper 'bandobast' taken the ladies through the trek, up the flight of the 18 sacred steps and then to the sanctum sanctorum, I'd have felt nice that the government was able to fulfill the Supreme Court verdict with elan and dignity........but to do it clandestinely, with the help of a couple of activists who are ignorant of the Sabarimala traditions and a few self seeking policemen, smacks of high handedness, chicanery, self doubt and fear.
Lekha and her assistant were off to the Mammiyoor Siva kshetram as per their weekly agenda and Lekha had work at the LIC office, followed by collection of the statement of her account from the bank. Meanwhile, the kitchen renovation work was going on in full swing with carpenters, Anil and Asokan toiling away the whole day.
Their leader, Rajesh, had come by with the granite guy, Stephen, who was briefed by yours truly regarding the type/size/shape of the additional piece to cover the gap that had come about after the fitment of the new gas stove.
Lekha got delayed because the bank manager, Vishnu, was out on an errand. Sad, I'd given him adequate notice about her visit and he, still, seems to have given it the go by. Will have to speak to him about it because such things are not acceptable. Anyways, she could get a statement of her account which has to be sent, along with certain other documents, to the Punalur branch of the LIC.
Tailpiece.
By afternoon came the news that early this morning, around a trifle past 3, two women activists without the mandatory offering-contained-cloth bag(Irumudikkettu) on their heads, - Bindu and Kanakadurga - completely covered with black sheets just having their eyes left uncovered and escorted by policemen rigged up in civil clothes prayed at the sanctum sanctorum of the Sabarimala shrine. They'd entered through a side entrance meant for the staff!
The chief minister was quick to hail the move and credited his government for having facilitated "women's" entry into the shrine. What he forgot in the bargain was that he'd cheated his people who had faith in him by constantly shifting his stand on the issue. It looked conspiratorial in that the clandestine entry by the women, took place soon after the 'women's wall' of last evening. If this drama had taken place before that, the number of women, forming the wall, would have been much low.
If the CM and his party are happy that they could pull off such a feat by their 'smartness'(?), they are sadly mistaken and could be in for a big shock. The repercussions of their actions were on display on the streets at many places with miscreants - taking advantage of the situation - damaging public property. I'm sure, though, violence is never a remedy. Actually, this government had got a reprieve after causing the devastating floods by their greed and a seemingly-not-so-keen-opposition to throw it off from power. They've cocked a snook for the second time and this time seem to have gloated over the fact that the ban on the entry of menstruating women into the Sabarimala shrine was a matter of deep rooted traditions and beliefs.....the upstart commies have always pooh-poohed the general beliefs of the people and trampled upon them. You got to see as to how vicious they are if one were to question their beliefs. The countdown to their electoral Waterloo has begun and they will realise that by simply getting irrelevant people like R Balakrisna Pillai, MP Virendra Kumar, Francis Antony and the breakaway Muslim League faction cannot get them votes!
PS.
Ever since I'd heard the news, there was a sense of deep despair in me. Had the police, through proper 'bandobast' taken the ladies through the trek, up the flight of the 18 sacred steps and then to the sanctum sanctorum, I'd have felt nice that the government was able to fulfill the Supreme Court verdict with elan and dignity........but to do it clandestinely, with the help of a couple of activists who are ignorant of the Sabarimala traditions and a few self seeking policemen, smacks of high handedness, chicanery, self doubt and fear.
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