On assignment.

The day began at a half past 3, when Lekha's cellphone alarm had woken us up. Went about our chores and I was ready well in time. Meanwhile, Lekha and her sister had packed my breakfast (egg and vegetable sandwiches), lunch (fried rice, curd and pickle) and dinner (chappathies and curry). Well, they really put in a lot of effort. Damn sweet of them!

Had opened up The Quarterdeck for the day despite the darkness, just to make it easy for Lekha and her sister. Anto was at the gate on the dot and we sped off to the railway station. Being a weekend, the train had a lot of crowd but not to the levels as on school and office going days. There was a family of father, mother, son and daughter who were with me all the way from Guruvayur to Avaneeswaram, the penultimate stop of the train.

A word about the train itself. It had begun years back as the Guruvayur - Punalur Passenger, stopping at all stations enroute but recently, it had undergone a change over, in that, it has been made an express train and does not stop at quite a few stations, thereby, shortening the running time.

The train has the following characteristics :-

* It's just Rs.105/- from Guruvayur to the station nearest to my parents' house viz. Aavaneeswaram. Earlier as Passenger, it used to stop at Kuri Halt - the one before Aavaneeswaram, which is closer. 

* No reservation is required.

* It has only 2nd class coaches for the 'aam aadmi' to facilitate their transit to the temple town and back, thanks to the efforts of Kodikkunnil Suresh, the MP of this place and O Rajagopal, the then Minister of state for Railways!

* The journey to Punalur is performed during daytime while the return is during night time. It reaches Guruvayur by 4, facilitating an early morning 'darshan' of the good Lord. 

Had my breakfast around 8, as the train reached Ernakulam North and lunch, at Kollam at a half past 12. Reached home by 2 and the caretaker was waiting for me, with the house opened. Raj Nivas looked neat and tidy with the weeds, in the immediate vicinity of the house, having been plucked manually by two casual labourers.

Was woken up from my siesta by the caretaker with a piping hot cup of tea.

Had taken rounds of the compound; wild grass has grown up uncontrollably and their removal can only be undertaken by the end of the monsoon, which will by the third week of next month.

There were a few visitors who'd dropped by but otherwise, it was a quiet evening.

Earlier in the evening, had spent time with my parents and told them about the PN Panicker Memorial Lectures that I was gonna give in two schools tomorrow.

Tailpiece.

Another of those quiet evenings but there was plenty to read and that had kept me occupied! My caretaker had asked me as to whether I wasn't scared to spend the night in the house, all by myself. My reply was that there was nothing to worry as my parents and grandparents would look after me and ensure that no harm would befall on me.

Meanwhile, Lekha had called up to say that Rejith from the Black Swan Drycleaners, had collected our curtains and taken them away for wash.

Thottadiyil Subhash had dropped by and was with me for more than an hour, talking about his business, his future plans, what he plans for his children. It was nice to hear him talk.