On the road yet again.

2C, Panigrahi was formally handed over to the authorities by about a half past 9. After going through the informal farewells and bidding our personal goodbyes, we're off to Palakkad by about 11AM. I shall always remember our stay at the Panampilli Nagar - the best address in town - fondly. The overwhelming support that I received as the patriarch of the huge family, the random interactions with the residents which were effective feedback to fine tune decisions and the children's proprietorial attitude towards yours truly were a heady recipe for a contended stay of almost two and a half years.

The boot of our Chevy was loaded to capacity with the items that had been left behind during our last trip. As I drove off from the compound did I hear the strained tune of 'Auld Lang Syne' somewhere in the background? Or was it all my imagination, giving too much importance to the 'ahom' in me and taking myself seriously? But the occasion was overwhelming as the caretaker and the security guys gave me my last bows.

The drive was nice and the fast clip did ease the heavy feeling. And the stretch of road that has been recently surfaced made driving a pleasure. The only mismatch was when a guy driving a white Qualis prevented me from overtaking him and seemed to enjoy my predicament as could be gleaned from his side view mirror. Wonder why I and my Chevy bring out the beast in some?

We're at my sister's place by teatime and it was nice to be back with her and mom, who'd be coming to Guruvayur with us tomorrow.


Tailpiece.

Mom had cut her birthday cake made ready for the occasion by my sister. And after the celebrations, sat down with the day's newspaper to catch up on the news as I seemed to be totally out of date!    

Achieving targets despite hurdles.

I was at the Ernakulam 'sivakshetram' on the dot at 7 AM only to be told that the puja that I'd wanted to do, remembering dad, would commence at 8. I'd then sat at the entrance, reciting my daily set of prayers while watching the steady influx of people who're streaming in to pay their morning obeisance to god. Justice Krishna Iyer, along with the two young men who're assisting him, was the only person that I knew among the crowd that had passed by during my short stay in the temple premises.

The small portion of cooked rice, mixed with ghee, that was given by the priest was placed on a piece of banana leaf out at the open ground off the temple's southern entrance and I tried to recapitulate my times with dad. As I was leaving the spot, the priest who must have registered my worried looks, assured me that the crows would swoop down to take in the food on offer and that I didn't need to wait. But the question that I was asking myself was whether dad was upset about my last night's indiscretion which manifested in the crows' delayed arrival/hesitation! And I must reiterate that not a single one had come anywhere near the offering till I'd come off from the spot.

It was around 3, in the afternoon, that we'd set off to the hospital to meet up with Lekha's doctor. And boy, what a commotion it was on the roads? The members of the 'Kerala Pulayar Maha Sabha' - from all over the sate - were conglomerating at the Jawaharlal Nehru international stadium at Kaloor to attend the valedictory function of the 150th birth centenary of Ayyankali, being presided over by none other than the President of India. Vehicles that brought in the delegates had clogged the arterial road as well as the feeders and at one point I was in total despair at the possibility of not being able to keep our appointment with the doctor which was so very essential considering Lekha's condition!

As we inched forward, upon reaching the final rail over bridge before turning off for the hospital, I'd got got out of the car amid the worst traffic snarl to walk the last stretch to catch an auto rickshaw, so that I could reach the reception counter at the hospital to beat the deadline of the registration formalities.

And then God arrived.........in the form of Raju, my man Friday of yester years in his autorickshaw, urging me to clamber on. Thanks to him, I could complete the formalities and receive Lekha who'd followed in the car a while later. The queue of patients who'd come with prior appointment was indeed a long one and by the time we're home bound it was well past a half past 9. The traffic was still bad but we could fortunately move without hindrance on the stretch where the Kochi metro construction activity was at its peak.


Tailpiece.

By the time, we'd settled down for dinner with Indraneil and Upasana, our neighbours, it was 10 and I really felt bad that they'd to be kept waiting for no fault of their's!

It was a long tiring day but I was glad that whatever was planned for the day could be accomplished despite the hurdles which looked very, very conspiratorial!      

Winding up our Kochi address.

It was an early morning trip to the path lab nearby for the tests asked for by Lekha's doctor. Armed with the results, we'd be meeting him at the appointed hour tomorrow.

I'd gone to my previous office to collect mail that had collected up during my absence and to tie up the loose ends and also inquire about the things that needed to be done, if any. I could sort out SK's  minor problem regarding his accommodation - which he'd narrated to me on arrival - as the concerned person happened to be a cadet whom I'd trained at the Academy. I'd given my usual caution that I didn't want him to do anything that was out of the rules but he was cute to assure me that necessary action would be taken to set the situation right. What I could make out from the whole conversation was that it was a clash of egos in play!

Meanwhile, Lekha and my cousin had gone to the market to get small, little things for our house at Guruvayur. I could only keep my fingers crossed on two counts - (a) would the car's boot have sufficient space to carry all the stuff? (b) was Lekha aggravating her medical problem?

The evening walk was nice, as usual. Lekha's lab results show no cause for worry except for a perking ESR. It's now for her doctor to find the cause and the remedy.

The evening with Murali and Radhika was simply nice and elegant. I did not have the heart to keep away from the lovely meat preparations laid on the table as knowing her, she'd have really worked hard on it. Tomorrow happens to be dad's second remembrance day as per the Malayalam calendar and I've promised myself to go to the Ernakulam 'sivakshetram' early in the morning to offer my prayers and attend to the connected rituals. So, rightfully, I was supposed to be a strict vegetarian the previous night. A dilemma but I'm sure that my dad would understand!

By the time we'd called it a day, it was indeed quite late!


Tailpiece.

We've not been able to call on many of our friends due to a paucity of time and have substituted for them through phone calls. It's our hope that they understand our predicament!     

Time and tide wait for none!

It was an early morning get away from 'The Quarterdeck', 20 minutes behind schedule but the roads were clear and we'd a free run, almost. Our first stop was at Ettumanoor, where Lekha was to light an earthenware lamp at the spot where the urn containing kochammachi's ashes have been placed till its immersion, a year later, at the confluence of the seas off Rameswaram. She'd to do it because she was unable to participate in the ceremonies connected with kochammachi's last rites!

Lesson one.

There's no substitute for the actual event. Whatever be the reasons, it should be the endeavour to take part, otherwise one'll have to satisfy with alternate measures/substitutes that might not quite recreate the 'right' effect!

After spending a while with our folks, reminiscing about good 'ole times, we'd kicked off for Kochi. The drive was smooth and we're in the city within an hour. The first task was to locate the fridge servicing station to hand over the broken vegetable tray for possible replacement. The machine is more than a decade old, is running fine and we'd no intentions of exchanging it but for the mishap of the breakage of the tray. The item has undergone modifications, the model is extinct but the company has promised to find us a substitute - damn sweet of them. And its gonna take 10 days. To avoid lugging the broken stuff, all over again, I managed to prevail upon the young lady at the counter to have it stowed at their store.

Lesson two.

In these times of galloping technology, there's no point in preserving equipment and machinery - however costly they might be - beyond five years. Beyond that, it would be very difficult to get spares and even to find guys to service/repair the item because of its vintage. Preservation by careful use seems to be history, as repair by replacement seems to be the present day 'mantra'.

We'd reached our previous house a trifle past lunchtime. The house that was ours for the past two and a half years now appeared alien with all our personal effects having been stripped and transported to 'The Quarterdeck'. Between the two of us we reminisced wistfully about the numerous occasions and fun times that we've had in the flat that had abundant natural lighting and was our pride not long ago.

Lesson three.

We've maintained essential requirements for us to stay during the short period of its retention. But suddenly, something seems to be missing. Have we transplanted the soul entirely into our new nest, at Guruvayur, so ruthlessly? I must reckon that we have! Everything has a time and place in one's life.


Tailpiece.

After interacting with some of the folks who'd dropped by to give us a helping hand, we'd gone to see a late night movie to shake off the melancholy. But it turned out to be unsuccessful.

How I wish that there was a pause button in my life to linger on at certain milestones for as long as the mind wants? Everything is transient!

    

Driving my Chevy around.

I've this mental frame whenever I drive my Chevy. I find that the roads are far too narrow, the traffic so badly snarled and the usual space that gets to be available is not adequate enough to maneuver, consequently finding me park quite far away from the intended destination. For me, her safety while staying parked and availability of plenty of space for other vehicles to move past to avoid any close quarter situation, resulting in ugly overtones to my car are a must!

Today, I'd taken a professional driver with me to take us through comparatively narrow roads, packed on either sides with shops. In fact, it was the same guy who'd taken me to Ettumanoor the other day. He did it with enormous ease, driving through narrower roads than what I've ever driven through and parked at impossible places where I didn't think that there was any space at all to pass through, let alone parking. But all the same, I knew that he was right because he wasn't giving anyone else any difficulty as there were no harsh sounds of the horn behind or anywhere near - more specifically, at us! And he was cool as a cucumber while going about his job. He took his own time to do things too and others simply didn't seem to mind!!

Why can't I be like that? And that too with the experience of having driven through many places all over the country? Am I too cautious? Or am I too careful about my car? Because wrong things can happen when one is overcautious and when one doesn't anticipate the other's actions/motives or even mistakes!

Guess what? I need to have more kilometers under my belt and need to be more deliberate while driving and be just cautious and not a wee bit more!


Tailpiece.

Tomorrow's gonna be a long day and a long drive as we've many milestones to achieve(no pun intended!).

A collage of thoughts.

Yet another day when things did not make much headway. Much have to be achieved though quite a lot have been done. The inertia inherent in everything, the near misses and the feeling of not having achieved anything while doing an audit of the day's activities get to bug me. I suppose these are essential everyday glitches that one needs to pass through. I'm jotting down a few things that came my way today:-

   (a) The first of the Malayalam calendar month, 'Dhanu'.

    Today's the first day of the month of 'Dhanu' on the Malayalam calendar and hence considered auspicious.
    I mean, it's believed that whatever happens today would set the trend for the events of the month. Well,
    the vegetable tray of our fridge had slipped from the hands of Lekha's new understudy and help, Sathi,
    and fragmented into pieces for which she was apologetic, blaming herself for the bad 'omen'. We'd to
    convince her that we did not believe in such things but all the same, the fridge being a decade old is
    vintage stuff and its spares are no more being manufactured by the company and the buying of a new
    one has become inevitable!

    (b) Uthradom Thirunal Maharaja.

    The affable and the epitome of regality, coupled with a rarely found humility, Uthradom Thirunal Maharaja
    passed into the mist of time in the wee hours of the morning. I'd the privilege of interacting with him on a
    couple of occasions in connection with the PN Panicker foundation's activities about which he used to
    keep track of, much to my pleasant surprise. Greatly revered by the Malayalees, his sane advice will be
    missed by his passing away at the age of 91.

    RIP, Your Highness. May your soul guide this state for the years to come. My humble salute and prayers
    for a thorough gentleman and a fountain of knowledge.


Tailpiece.

The land line telephone connection along with the internet has finally reached us. A small reason to be elated amid the slow pace of work on other fronts!     

Good bye, 'Pim'!

It's sad to hear that yet another classmate of mine has passed into the mist of time. And it's
another name struck off from a get together that we've been planning.

 Let me try to remember P Mohan from the picture that I've of his, deep within. Roll no. 405,
who'd joined school a year earlier than me. The first thing that comes to my mind is CKC sir, master in Malayalam, addressing him as 'Pim' and in return, he used to give a thin lipped smile that was his hallmark. I must admit that we used to move in different groups and hence, weren't close friends while at school. And he used to be well groomed at all times.

Another thing that I remember was the continuous ribbing that he used to be subjected to by some among us about his almost non-existent butt, augmented with artificial ones and the beauty about him was that he neither got upset nor got angry at his tormentors. Probably, he was far more mature than most of us and considered our childishness as something that needed to be endured as a matter of course. I also remember him to be extremely shy who studiously kept away from the limelight.

It's a sad revelation about his divorce and perhaps, that must have taken a toll on him, his health. One would not expect such a thing even on one's enemy! He's two daughters.

RIP, P Mohan! I consider it as a privilege to have been your classmate.


Tailpiece.

Must endeavour to contact his daughters and convey our condolences. They need to also know that his clutch of classmates do care and would like to make them an integral part of this large family.