The
thought of a train travel is often more enjoyable than the actual journey. Because,
sometimes you get a seat near the toilet, sometimes a side berth and your legs inescapably
jet out while sleeping, and others get past them at will to disturb your well
deserved sleep.
But
this time we enjoyed the actual journey till we hit the bed. As the train was
about to move, we saw the passenger seated next to us thanking God a little
loudly. “Anything special, sir?” I asked him. “No, you know we just saw that
man with literally no legs negotiating his way on a wooden plank with castors.
I thanked Almighty for not putting me to such an ordeal, though I met with
three accidents affecting my right leg. The first time it was a bike accident
that hospitalized me for a year, the second time a vehicle that hit ours from
behind throwing us off board, and the third time when our vehicle overturned,
all in a span of five years. Still I am okay, I just can’t bend my right leg
beyond this, he continued, as he demonstrated, and shared how despite these he went
ahead with his business venture. Count your blessings.
Whenever
we visit temples in Kerala, our main grouse is that we can’t book for Neyyappam
prasadam in any temple. Mostly they take booking in the morning, and deliver after
8 in the night. And unfailingly we recheck each time hoping that they might
have changed the pattern. No way. This time we were lucky that some benevolent
guy from Tamil Nadu has given standing instructions to Guruvayoor temple
authorities to prepare at his expense one lakh Neyyappam on a particular day at
the end of every month and distribute them to devotees. And the temple authorities
would decide on the quantum based on the crowd. This time they distributed to
each three Appams. Yes, sincere wishes seldom go unheard.
Consider
yourself lucky if while in Kerala you are not caught in a lightning strike. Yes
this time it was the turn of all the hotels and shops to stay closed. Earlier it
was because a prominent worker of a political party was done to death, and earlier
than that it was something else. Fortunately cars and buses were allowed to
ply. All we had to do was to buy some food articles the previous evening to
last till the next evening. There is always a way out.
As
is our wont, we had good darshan at Guruvayoor, with an extra darshan allowed impromptu,
just before closure. Will of God.
For
the marriage at Palakkad for which we went primarily, I was bestowed the honour
to play brother to the bride, and give her a handful of rice-corn three times to
be offered to agni for the couple’s eternal
happiness and prosperity. According to custom, the hand that gave rice-corn to
the bride is rewarded with a gold ring. And I was given cash instead. Didn’t
feel justified to accept the windfall, but at the same time couldn’t decline.
So quietly I slipped that amount also into the gift envelope that we handed to
the girl. The highlight of this however is that I, the bride’s brother, happen
to be older than her father. Expect the unexpected.
The
different kinds of delicious food offered at each occasion associated with a
marriage tempted me to relocate to the village, or at least buy a small place,
and spend some months there every year. But the non-peaceful co-existence with
the mosquitoes over the night forced me to shelve the project. The grass is
greener on the other side.
Guests
were treated with fruit juice and lassi
at regular intervals during the ceremony. I was not sure if the water they used
for this was purified or not, but at the same time didn’t feel like declining. Also
earlier, I had to visit temples bare-body. It was drizzling too. All told, I
got temperature at night and sore thought. Can’t ascribe which one caused it.
All in the game.
A
visit to your native place always makes you overjoyed. But you are no less
happy to return home. In fact, the countdown begins half way through and, on
opening the door of your house, you unwittingly announce, “Home Sweet Home”.
V
V Sundaram
Maple
3195
5
Nov 2017
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