Biju's excited call.

Biju was with me on my ship, quite a while back. He was the civilian bearer who saw to it that the uniforms were well tended and the shoes well polished. Further, he used to run essential errands when the ship was in harbour. He hailed from a place quite close to my ancestral house near Kottarakkara. After handing over command, my personal effects were being brought out to be loaded on to the vehicle that would take me to the railway station from where I was proceeding to my new duty station, when I noticed a couple of bags that were not mine among the several pieces that, by now, I was familiar with.

On query, I was told that they're Biju's who'd decided to leave the ship and tag along with me. I was flummoxed momentarily, because he was gonna be my responsibility as I wasn't entitled to a personal staff at that early stage in my career. My apprehensions notwithstanding and seeing the youngster's enthusiasm, I let him come along and soon after, had sponsored him as a candidate for entry into the IN. Rest, as they say, is history because he'd passed the examination with flying colours and is now a Chief Petty Officer in the Indian Navy, currently posted at Kochi.

He used to religiously visit my parents every time he came down on leave and it was on one such occasion that he'd insisted on my mom to initiate his elder daughter into the world of learning. And ever since, she was accepted as a goddaughter by mom, who used to take a keen interest in her academic performance.

This evening, a very excited Biju had called us to inform us about his daughter's stellar performance in the class X Board exam, where she'd scored an overall percentage of 86% and he'd attributed it to my mom's initiation of his daughter into the world of letters!

My mom was exhilarated, to say the least!


Tailpiece.

I could squeeze in my evening walk just before the arrival of Praveen and his family, who was coming to spend a day with us. His daughter, Shania who's now into the upper kindergarten, took to us as though she'd known us for many, many years! And we're seeing her for the first time........a cosmic connection, perhaps?     

Watching the rain.

Rains have begun in right earnest but the South West monsoon requires to catch up a lot on volume and fury. Due to extremely low levels of water in the catchment areas of almost all the hydel power projects in the state, coupled with the breakdowns and ongoing repairs/maintenance of the associated generators, the state electricity board has clamped a 45' load shedding and the result is that in our area, we're at the mercy of the inverters from 2100h to 2145h - not to mention that I miss out on Arnab Goswami's Newshour, in the process!

Since the rains are yet to gather the characteristic momentum, the oppressive humidity continues to bother and venturing out of the house without an umbrella would be at one's own peril. I shudder to miss out on my morning and evening walks as walking with an umbrella cramps both the style and the speed, with the constant fear of dirty water being splashed on to one's person by speeding vehicles that pass by. So exercises on the walker have become the theme.

The view of the rains, from my balcony, is pretty nice and against the backdrop of the expansive greenery in front, stirs finer feelings from deep within. Another accessory that I am fond of is the rocking chair. With a favourite book in hand, gently rocking to and fro and hearing the rains fall all around me gives an unexplainable calm - a 'bliss of solitude!'


Tailpiece.

Shakthi and Indu left after breakfast on their onward journey. Soon after, Praveen - an old shipmate - had called up to inform that he'd like to spend the Saturday with us. He's being accompanied by his wife and daughter! Yes, it's raining guests!!

The day just whizzed past!

It was a normal day like any other with the hint of a rain all through and the resultant humidity sapped one's energy. I'd ventured out in the morning for bank work and for stocking up mom's medicines for the month. We're expecting guests - my neighbour refers to them as 'bouncers' in his slang - during the latter part of the day and therefore, a few knick-knacks had to be bought from the grocer's.

It's Lekha's birthday by the Malayalam calendar and she'd gone on an early morning appointment with the good Lord - her first independent outing after our coming here, overcoming the aches and the pains - chauffeured by the efficient Anto, who's become part of the household with his winsome manners!

Our guests - the newlyweds of the family, Sakthi and Indu - fetched up a trifle before sunset and had opted to go to the temple soon after. Just like any other new couple, they seemed to have no sense of time and went about their chores at their own pace. We let them be on their own, carefully avoiding to stray into their precious moments of togetherness but had to draw them to conversation, before dinner time, to get to know more about the young lady who's joined the family!

And finally, it rained, easing out the oppressive temperatures. I'd also received a mail from Minhaj, the son of my good friend, Captain Khan, albeit after my pungent barb for him not having replied to my earlier mail. The poor guy was actually battling it out with his personal problems what with his dad in the ICU of a Delhi hospital thanks to a problematic lung condition and his wife suddenly taking ill with an abnormally low platelet count in her blood - hope she isn't another case of SLE and have asked him to have that ruled out by the attending doctor since the illness is very difficult to diagnose! The young man and the entire family are now in Singapore and things seem to be in hand, at least for now!

And to use my neighbour's slang - in jest though - another 'bouncer' would be fetching up for lunch tomorrow in the form of my mom's younger brother. He'd called up to announce his programme late in the evening.


Tailpiece.

Yes, indeed, the day'd just whizzed past!



  

The psychology behind traffic accidents.

A union minister lost his life in a tragic road accident in Delhi. Statistics say that most of the accidents occur in the wee hours of the morning or during evening rush hours. Why do these take place despite repeated warnings and road safety regulations that have been put in place by the concerned authorities?

It's a state of mind of the people behind the wheel. Let's take the first case of accidents that take place during the wee hours of the morning. Drivers, tired after long hours of overnight driving, make a beeline for suitable resting places and in the bargain, go into bursts of prohibitive speeds to hit their destinations and in the process come in the way of the other motorists trying to reach the airport or the railway station or the bus station to catch their onward connections. They're aided by the following situations:-

       (a) Comparatively empty roads that goad them to clip at speeds that they'd have otherwise hesitated
             to achieve.
       (b) Near absence of traffic policemen on the beat at those early hours.
       (c) The blinking lights on traffic intersections give them the feeling of uninterrupted passage.

And what about the situation during the evening rush hours? The motorists are generally trying to make it to their homes or to meet a deadline for a social event or even, as silly a thing like reaching a cinema where tickets are hard to get by virtue of the popularity of the film that's running.

The sad part about the roads in our country is that even important roads do not have the centre median that would ensure separation of incoming/ongoing traffic. Enthusiastic motorists, ever on the lookout to squeeze space for overtaking other vehicles, get right many a time cutting the road's central line! And lastly, there are many motorists who neither have the civic sense nor the patience to worry about the plight of the fellow motorists and drive with a gay abandon, completely oblivious of the discomfiture that they're causing.

Cases of road rage are a result of misplaced sense of right and wrong and I do not have to speak about fatal and extreme reactions that have been oft reported!


Tailpiece.

It would be nice if all the motorists bore in their minds the fundamental aspects of being a good driver which are:-

     (a) Respect fellow motorists and avoid doing things that cause discomfort to them. The thumb rule is
          that everyone must avoid actions that would upset them.
     (b) Drive at comfortable speeds depending on the traffic density and more importantly, when the driver
          is fully sure that his/her vehicle would stop at that instant when the brakes are applied.
     (c) Never try to meet a hopeless deadline. The requirement is to start well ahead of time keeping in
          mind unforeseen circumstances that might pop up! 

Hunger pangs made me erratic!

We'd kicked off from my chittamma's place soon after breakfast. Actually, we'd upset her schedule with the doctor because of our delayed departure. There were two minor jobs to be done and they could be accomplished only by 10 o'clock when the offices opened! She'd then got her appointment rejigged to the revised time slot.

By about a half past 10, we're on the highway clipping back to Guruvayur and my aim was to reach around lunchtime. The traffic was manageable and I was sure that the milestone could be achieved and therefore, decided to forego the tea break after getting the go ahead from mom and Lekha.

We reached the temple town by 1 and tried to squeeze in a few minor work like paying up the cable operator, buying grocery from the department store and some fruits from the regular vendor. And it was while stopping at the shop that a major tragedy could have taken place because of a thoughtless act on my part.

I'd brought my Chevy to a comfortable stop, out of the road and on to the muddy sidewalk beside the shop and had opened the door to get out. Actually, I'd seen a two wheeler coming from behind on the rear view mirror but had surmised that there was ample space for the riders to pass by. But that was not to be as the driver was talking to the pillion rider and was momentarily out of focus from his primary job of driving. In the process, he'd narrowly missed his pillion rider from being hit by my car door and in rage, he stopped his vehicle and started abusing me.

It was then that I apologised to them by way of my hand movements and walked towards them, eliciting puzzled looks on their faces and they'd scooted away, wonder why? Did the driver realise that he too had contributed to the close call? Perhaps, he did after all........ Or did I look menacingly aggressive? I don't think so, because I was in no mood to be that!


Tailpiece.

I should have taken that tea break as my mind had beckoned. A hungry stomach had made me erratic and a disaster was averted thankfully by the stars, of course!    

And finally, the review!

The day had begun just like any other. The morning walk followed by the tending of the garden, a quick breakfast and by a quarter past 10, we'd set off for Kochi to keep the date with Lekha's doctor at the AIMS. The drive was without glitches and we're in the city by lunch time. After leaving mom at my aunt's place, we'd reached the hospital by a quarter to 3 and had got Lekha's name added to the long list of people waiting to meet up with him.

As I'd said earlier in this forum, I'm impressed with the doctor's dedication towards his work and his loyalty to the patients. Actually the relationship is mutual and the patients go back happy, smug at the thought that the doctor will see to it that they do not come into harm's way!

This meeting with the doctor was after a lapse of six months as we'd bucked the two earlier appointments - the first because the doctor wasn't keeping well and the second was because Lekha was in hospital for the Oxygen therapy. He's now asked her to meet him after 45 days after correcting the dosages of the prescribed medicines!

And after that it was a nice, boisterous dinner at my chittamma's place. The kids, Vivek and Lekshmi, are adorable and seemed to be thrilled at having us with them.


Tailpiece.

I was reminded of my evening trysts with their grandfather, my Narendran kochachan, who'd left us quite young. His portrait kept at a vantage spot of the house seemed to come to life, at least to me. I'm sure he's around watching as his son and my cousin, Sajeev braves many a storm in his life! And I'm sure that he'll come out with flying colours!! 

A refugee of sorts.

Over the last couple of days, the house has been awash with the wails of a kitten. With a pure white coat, it looks cute but we'd deliberately kept our affections away as we did not want another pet to fetter the freedom of our movements. The surmise of ignoring it was that it would look for shelter elsewhere in the neighbourhood.

But it was not to be. The little one definitely has perseverance and today, the animal lover deep within me decided to wake up. Accordingly, food and milk were placed in front of the hapless animal. I must admit that it did run away while I was placing the makeshift tray, laden with food. Hope it has the food and becomes our loyal ally in tackling the problem of the mice that occasionally fetch up from the green wilderness around.

The modest kitchen garden that we've been able to get up has a variety of trees at the nurturing stages. The stock include a couple of mango trees, three stalks of drumstick, a banana tree, a tamarind tree and vegetable plants like the brinjal, lady's finger, green chilly and finally, two heads of pineapple. Over and above all these, there are a couple of pumpkin creepers that seem to be dominating the small space by its vigorous spread, all over.

Watering the garden forms one of my essential morning activities after my return from the walk - something akin to Don Corleone's style(?) in the Godfather! He dies of a massive heart attack tending his garden, to jog your memories!

The kitten has been moving around the garden and generally, rests in a cardboard box containing a few of the used spares of the Chevy, kept at the porch. Hope it gains sufficient health, goes for greener pastures but keeps our surroundings under its surveillance in the days to come.


Tailpiece.

Do I've a connect with the little one from its previous birth? I haven't been able to comprehend the change in my attitude towards it that seems to have come about all of a sudden!