To Thiruvananthapuram.

The day had begun at 4 AM thanks to Lekha's cellphone alarm and I thought it was a sensible decision because there was plenty of time at our disposal to cross check on things that we'd to do and the things to carry, before we went across to the road transport corporation bus stand by 7. Hamid, with his auto rickshaw, had arrived promptly as directed.

Certain times one does dumb things. Today, I'd inquired about the departure time of the morning fast passenger to Thiruvananthapuram and it was confirmed to be at 0725 hrs. We boarded the bus accordingly but there was an earlier bus to the Vyttila hub, which we'd to miss because I was not very enthusiastic to change the buses, making Lekha go through the rigmarole while carting two pieces of luggage and my laptop.

The bus reached Vyttila a trifle beyond half past 10. I'd, as is my custom, shook hands with Aji, its driver before making a dash to the rest room. On return, I was delighted see my brother-in-law, Padmakumar who was there to take Lekha to their place at Thrippunithura while I left for Thiruvananthapuram by the low floor bus, soon after. The halt for lunch was at Kayankulam and it was there that I happened to meet Aji, all over again and he was surprised to see me headed to my destination after having got off from his bus. I'd to tell him that I was one who thrived on the frills of life and an air conditioned environment only added to the comfort. Did he feel let down especially after I'd told him that I liked his driving?

Pavithran, the driver of the low floor bus was an even better driver as he maneuvered the hulk through heavy traffic in a masterly fashion. I did express my appreciation after disembarking at Thiruvananthapuram and wasn't he glad? 

Reached the Foundation by a half past 4 and it was great to see Maman and our team, at work. There was frenetic activity, at the office, in preparation for the exhibition of our activities, beginning 21 Nov. Had a long chat with our horticulture expert and a disarmingly simple man, Dr. Kamalasanan Pillai. He was preparing for our visit to Rameshwaram, to take stock of our farming activity there using the latest technology, over the weekend! 

After a quick visit to the venue of the forthcoming exhibition to finalise the arrangements, we'd set off for Maman's home. Chinnu and her daughter, along with her mother, Girija, made the evening quite boisterous! It was yakkitiyak all the way!!

Tailpiece.

It was nice to see Ammayi's niece and her little daughter. Should fetch the li'l one a teddy bear tomorrow in between the busy schedule. They are flying off to Qatar tomorrow evening!