A memorable call!

It was yet another leisurely day. We're ready well within time and raring to go. This morning's pleasant work for us was to call on an 85 yr old lady, who's Saly's mom. We'd heard about her travails from Jojy and Saly after her return from Dubai, where she was with her son and his family.

The roads were comparatively devoid of traffic and hence our journey was smooth, without any hitch whatsoever! To our pleasant surprise, we saw a very lively lady who was eager to interact with us and she was sure that Lekha was one of the young girls that had grown up in the vicinity of her daughter's house! She gave me one of those rare smiles when I'd told her that she was beautiful - and no ain't pulling a fast one, she's indeed cute and during her heydays must have been quite a head turner!

Her son, his wife and their daughter were in accompaniment and it was a pleasure meeting the entire family. We left the place after spending more than an hour but the persona of the old lady was impressionable! Do we have a cosmic connection?

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We'd picked up lunch enroute from a favourite haunt. Back at home, it was reminiscences about the good 'ole times......... The smiling visage of the old lady continued to linger all through the day.

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There's this story of a mother who's worried about her daughters, in their late 20s, for not having found suitable boys for them to be married to. The fact remains that these take place at the time and space that they're intended to happen. Any amount of worrying can be of no help but I suppose when these things happen for the others, with seemingly relative ease, the apprehensions tend to rise. As good friends the hope that things will finally end up favourably needs to be continuously bolstered!


Tailpiece.

It's another quiet day.

With Jojy and Saly.

After a leisurely morning and interaction with everyone, we'd set off for Shenoy Care to buy the medicine that was not decipherable on the doctor's prescription slip. My cousin had uploaded it on What'sApp for a reliable chemist who, too, couldn't make it it out and hence, we'd to make a trip to the clinic! From there we'd made it for lunch at Jojy-Saly's place.

It's great being with them yet again. The evening's 'pot luck' gathering was a nice affair and it was great catching up with everyone. Vasudevan, our 'saarthi' of the Uber Taxi Service, was a nice guy who drove well, made interesting conversation had a tough time with the horrible evening traffic. He's a graduate doing a two year course on IT and he drives the car belonging to his friend - who's currently vacationing with his family in Spain - just for pleasure.

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It has been raining off and on out here. The movements were, therefore, restricted to avoid driving with what I like to call as 'wipers on' driving. Had called up my sister and mom to tell them about our changed programme thanks to Lekha's Monday morning appointment with the dentist. I will also be able to do some work for our Kollam outfit by virtue of being at Kochi.

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Lekha's cough continues unabated, having picked up in intensity since this morning. It's a continuing source of worry though the doctor brushed it aside as a minor allergic reaction. Hope the intake of the new medicine will make the difference. Incidentally, my bad throat has become all right. Phew!

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Got an opportunity, during the day, to explain to a small group of people about our ongoing e-literacy campaign. Many of them were keen to help us in our endeavour because they're sure that it was not only a noble cause but also contemporary. Their reactions did give me a nice feeling.


Tailpiece.

Catching up with the news is always tricky when one's on the move. From that viewpoint, I've been comparatively blank!

From my aunt's to chellakkili's.

The movie had finished by about a half past 2 and by the time we'd hit the sack, it was almost 3! The movie was nice; it was about the meeting of two who relate to each other as soulmates right from the first instance that they come in contact with each other. Mammootty and Huma Qureshi make a great pair and the countryside of London is seen at its scenic best. Perhaps, a bit more trimming down would have made the movie even better! (My little nephew, Vivek, had warned me at the outset when he was going to fetch the tickets with, "Uncle the movie is slow and it isn't attracting crowds", but his parents were pretty clear that his remark was because of the fact that he was an ardent Mohanlal fan!)

The house was agog with activity this morning at a half past 5. Sajeev had visited the nearby temple, along with his wife, gone about his final checks on the luggage that he was carrying and left by the Uber by 8 o'clock. Lekha and I'd made it a point to cushion the family's angst on account of the farewell - that was the least we could do in the circumstances!

We, too, left the house by about a half past 10 and drove straight to Lekha's doctor. We'd spent a total of an hour and a half at his clinic during which the results of her liver function test were carefully analysed and steps taken to roll back the reading that had exceeded the limits, albeit, marginally. The intake of Folitrax has been trimmed down by 5 mg and she's to revert back for the next review after two months and accordingly, the next visit has been fixed for 07 Oct. The dental surgeon, who was to see her tomorrow, was apologetic when he called up to say that her appointment was being shifted to Monday as he was taken up with a sudden change in his schedule and did she mind!

For us, it calls for another quick visit to Ernakulam at the start of the next week! Well, life can be full of unexpected changes and everything doesn't take a textbook ending, however, much one has done one's homework. One can gnash one's teeth in disgust but the wise thing would be to accept the situation as it turns out to be! I think I've become more flexible as days pass by!!

A quick visit to the canteen for groceries, sundry shopping at the 'Broadway' and we're at chellakkili's - my cousin - place before sunset. She did fetch up a bit late from her work but made up for it by sitting late into the evening with us, spinning yarn!


Tailpiece.

Ramakrishnan's mom @ 103 years seldom reacts these days. Touched her feet and saw her tired body that has emaciated further! But what is important is that Ramakrishnan is happy that his mom is with him!!    

At Kochi.

Am punching these thoughts, sitting at the bright and colourful lounge of the PVR Cinema, at the Lulu Mall at Kochi, awaiting the commencement of the film that we're gonna see.

Had got up as usual and went about the morning chores. I wasn't fully in my beans as the cough has been taking its toll over the past few days - the latest form of viral fever this season. I knew that the long drive required for the present assignment is gonna delay the healing process but, then, there was no short cut!

It's raining in the morning as we got ready to leave Palakkad but by the time we'd kicked off soon after breakfast, the rains were holding and we'd a dry passage. There was an initial doubt as to which route we should take as I'd been hearing about traffic slowdowns on the Kuthiraan route because of the ongoing repair work on certain stretches, closer to Thrissur. I didn't want to take a chance and therefore, headed for Guruvayur to press on further on the comparatively narrow NH17. The other reason was that it gave me easy access to Leela chittamma's house without having to get into the crazy traffic of the Ernakulam town!

The drive was nice and we came across occasional rains and the one that lashed while we passed through the temple town of Kodungalloor was the harshest! We're at my chittamma's place a trifle late for lunch but it was fun, breaking bread with one's close relatives, after what seemed to be a long time; in fact the last time that we'd ganged up here was over two years back just before her son, Sajeev, was moving abroad on work.

He's doing well and is currently, on a two month leave that is finishing tomorrow. The family -consisting of his mom, mom-in-law, wife and two children - will get back to its normal routine from tomorrow.

We'd gone out, after dinner, for the Malayalam movie, "White", at the Lulu shopping mall, which is a stone's throw away from my chittamma's place. Well, the great thing was that we'd chittamma coming out of the house after years - thanks to her varicose problem and the knee difficulty.

.........A nice, leisurely day!


Tailpiece.

Was it right to have spent the evening with them? Did they wish to spend the evening with Sajeev on his penultimate day at home before he went for his assignment? I'd not checked on that aspect of 'intrusion' on my part.....the duffer, that I am!        

Divine Intervention?

The Mridanga Saileswari Temple is an ancient place of worship in Kerala's northern district of Kannur and is situated atop a hillock. The belief among the faithfuls is that one gets whatever one wishes for by visiting the temple and praying there!

Someone had sent me a short audio clip where an ex-DGP had spoken about this temple on What'sApp. The facts that he's divulged, about the strength of the deity, sounds astounding but they were based on incidents that have taken place.

It starts from when he was posted quite a while back at Kannur, in the earlier days. When the worth of the deity was said to have been evaluated at Rs.1 crore, he'd insisted on setting up a tight security cordon around the temple which the local temple administration did not take very seriously. A few years later, the deity was stolen but the police got a note along with the stolen deity in a sack, roughly about a 100 kms, south of the temple, within a short span of time. The thieves had abandoned it, informed the police for an early retrieval and consequently, it was reinstalled back in the temple.

A few years later, the deity was stolen for a second time. It was again abandoned, this time, just about 25 km away and the thieves had left a note giving the exact spot where they'd abandoned it saying that the deity should be installed back at its rightful place. For a second time, the deity was reinstalled with a longish 'puja' ceremony that lasted for about a week.

A similar lost-and-found incident had taken place for the third time with the thieves repeating what their 'predecessors' had done and the deity restored at its original abode. The police were able to apprehend the three sets of thieves after a lapse of time and they're curious to know as to why their behavioural patterns, consequent to the theft, had been identical! The revelation astounded them and this is what had intrigued me too viz.:-

     (a) On moving away from the scene of crime, the thieves lose their sense of direction rendering
           them helpless and scared.
     (b) Their bowel movements get affected because the efficacy of the sphincter muscle is rendered
           useless in each of the culprits.

A case of divine intervention? Was this knowledge the reason for the temple administration's unenthusiastic response to the setting up of the security cordon?


Tailpiece.

We'd set off for Palakkad soon after lunch around a half past 1. The traffic on the road was sparse and we're at my sister's place before 4, just in time for tea. Rema, meanwhile, had gone to her coaching center!

Retrieving my Chevy.

After the usual morning chores, I was out of the house on my way to the service station to collect our Chevy. I'd clubbed a few more jobs and most importantly, handed over mom's prescription to the chemist that I frequent to have her monthly stock of medicines packed up and kept ready for collection by the time I returned.

The journey by the bus was okay but I got caught on the wrong seat with the sun falling directly on me throughout the easterly journey! The Chevy was ready as Manikandan had taken me to show it parked at the test bay. The battery had been changed, the tinkering and paint work that were carried out gave it a spanking new look. The on board computer had been corrected but the front bottom liner was to be set correctly and he'd immediately got a mechanic to do the needful.

Since we've to go to Kochi, for Lekha's medical review on the 5th and the 6th, a total of about 500 kms will be logged for the entire trip. The mandatory servicing after having run 60,000 kms will be carried out after the return........ The return journey was nice with sparse traffic and I'd picked up the medicines enroute.

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Earlier, before I was leaving from the auto rickshaw stand in the morning, one of the drivers, Ramesh, thrust a a speech written by him, to be read by his daughter on the occasion of the Independence Day. He wanted me to translate the Malayalam script into English, "Adding/slashing as you deem fit, sir", he'd said. Now, that's a darned serious stuff and great responsibility that he has thrust upon me!

The little girl is studying in a convent nearby and her school is conducting a competition on the occasion of the Independence Day. Every kid is being asked to read out something on the occasion and her dad has sought the help of yours truly! And that's that!!


Tailpiece.

The cough thanks to a viral attack has been persistent and harsh. Am on home made remedies.
    

The beginning of August.

Another August to begin with. The three of us - mom, Lekha and I - were looking forward to this day as Preetha, our maid, was coming back for work after a hiatus of over a month and her absence was felt by us, everyday, for the last so many days. What was nice to know was that she, too, missed coming here all these days!

The sky was overcast most of the day with rains pouring now and then. I could go out for my customary walk in the evening despite the fact that my throat was not all right with the threat of a deadly cough looming large. The results of the lab tests on Lekha were brought in by a half past 10, this morning and we're now ready for her review on the 5th at Kochi.

Our Chevy, at the service station, was ready by 1700 hrs but I decided to collect it tomorrow as I felt lethargic. There was no hurry.

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The gang rape off Bulandshahr has been getting prime time space on the television channels. What saddens me is that those ladies have gone through the ignominy and are being subjected to further mental torture by a few including the obnoxious, Azam Khan, who finds a conspiracy against his party through the incident. Doesn't this guy have a family of his own? What would he have felt if someone were to say the same thing if, god forbid, a similar incident had befallen on someone from his family? Just because he's from a minority community, doesn't mean that he has the licence to utter gibberish. Will this guy ever grow?

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Hafiz Saeed has gone one step further after his latest India bashing, near the Wagah Border, by saying that his terrorist outfit is gonna agitate in Pakistan if our Home Minister, visited Pakistan on 03 - 04 Aug in connection with the SAARC summit. Well, it's up to the Pakistani government to tackle this issue but what amazes me is that Nawaz Sharif, despite our Prime Minister's personal visit - a few months back - to a function at his house, despite our security agencies' misgivings, has not been able to reciprocate the goodwill. Is it because he's afraid of his defence forces? Any meaningful debate that he might like to initiate with India will be misconstrued as weakness in his country which will find reason for another military take over?

Pakistan, in the doldrums on all fronts, has not been able to get off its India-centric foreign policy which is orchestrated by its armed forces. But why are we giving too much of our time discussing Pakistan? Why can't we just blank out that country from our psyche?


Tailpiece.

I can foresee a lot of travel during the month. Hope the rains are completely over by then!