Masala Dosa and Mutton days await….

Masala Dosa and Mutton days await….

I wake up in the morning

And the sun begins to shine

The day did sneak up on the night

I see your face and I see myself

And I get a little taste of life

I try to stand it for a while:      In trance, Scorpions

I did wake up in the morning even before the sun began to shine and the day was just clawing its way in. It was too dark to see her face but I did see myself in the mirror, and the taste I got of life was way different from what it was just a years ago. I wish I could continue to be in trance.

We have monkey romping the streets and on the balconies as we stay indoors. This is a fair picture of the times.

Waking up in the morning I used to go for a walk. On the way out I would meet Johny and Rajesh Mathachan, a duo addicted to wearing all too short shorts. Maneesh and Sameesh would meet me on their way in. It was as if they were a fixture in my morning program. At the lift I would meet Jeevan the Assistant caretaker and the all in all, in the midst of his busy schedule. The caretaker, Vijayakumar himself would be at the lobby and we would have a few hearty words. I have never seen Rasheed outside a car and still the story is the same. He still has not purchased a mask.

At the corner café, I would sneak in to add a couple of vadas to my morning repast.

Today the short shorts of the Johny-Rajesh Mathachan duo and Sameesh and their crude jokes have disappeared. Maneesh is seen rarely now. There will also be the peaceful and everr so calm Raju (Abraham Mathew). The caretaker is still there with the blood curdling stories of COVID and adds chill to my already frozen blood. Dr Arun J is the only person, in the whole world who still sticks to his exercise regime, short, tracksuits and all. One the way, to Swasthi, with mouths watering, we look sadly at the corner café at Kuravankonam.

At Swasthi, I feel tired, early in morning itself, seeing the daily face of Mohan. Not only does his face tire you, his words, stopping me from buying even life’s essentials, leave alone goodies from the bakery, has started driving me bonkers. And imagine a day with your ears glued to the phone with incessant calls from Swami Gururatna Jnana Thapaswi, Swasmi Sookshmananda, Jiji Thomson IAS, P H Kurien IAS, A Hemachandran IPS, Dr Lakshmanan IASMarkose Abraham, S Gopinath IPS, Condor Shivaprasad, Ravi Joy (Kanam Latex) Dr. G L Muraleedharan, Dr Jassi Gift, Ishaan Dev,  Gokul Govind, Manoj T, Bibin, Madhupal,  Joshi John, Deepu S G, Ajith N V, V Karthiyayani, Manju Pillai, Dimple Mohan, Ambili Jacob, Devi Mohan, Lakshmi Jayan. Asha Subramanyam, Shirley Stewart, Lakshmi Jayan and the true part of our daily life   Dr K K Manojan, Dr. Babu Mathew, Dr George Koshy, Dr Mary , ,Dr Chandranohan, Dr Anil Peethambaran, Dr Devin Prabhakar, Dr Premlal, Dr M S Jayasekhar, Dr Jayakrishnan, Dr Boban Thomas, Dr . Sreejith R, Dr Feroz Ahmed, DR. Sheeja Manojan, Dr. Anuja Varghese, Dr Karthika Gopan, Dr Soniya Feroz Dr Kavitha Devin, Dr Kalavathy and someone who has made an impact in the current scenario Manoj T, Director of Coconix, Abhilash and Kesav Komath from B Hub, keep me on my toes and do not let me be bored. Those who call be from the political side need a whole new article for them and I will keep them off for now.

The part of the day that that I used to love the most was my Karate lesson under my Guru, the one and only Hanshi. V V Vinodkumar. Waking me up in the morning he would take me to the morning workout along with the then ex and now elected MLA Sivankutty, and the sumptuous eat session at Indian Coffee House. To be remembered are the trips to LNCPE to meet Dr G Kishore for the sake of practise which really was for the tasty mutton session after that. There was even one day when I overdid and lay frothing after the session, spoiling the entire session for all. These have all now become memories and sweet and sorrowful memories. Sensei Vimal and Sensei Santhosh come calling on my mind now. The guru continues to call, but that is about it.

There also need be continuing mentions in these days of distancing of His Beatitude Cleemis Catholicos, Maj Dinesh Bhasker, Jagadeesh, Fr. Manakkarakkavil, Fr. Mathew Jackson, Fr Bovas Mathew, Fr. Thomas Koshy, Fr. Shanthan Charuvil, Sajan Veloor, Shankar Kesav, Biju Cherian, Taj Nasser, Ravindranath (H R GM of Asianet Broadband) who as very close despite the physical distance.

There is just one thing that keeps me from cursing the COVID close down. Owing to the layoff of all the projects that kept taking my time away, I found time to write a complete book which awaits publication shortly. This are a few thought that I have always wanted to put on paper and never really gotten around to doing. Once published, I would join the pantheon of authors.

The day calls it quits now and little bit earlier than before. There are a million things that I remember that used to make up my evenings. Now the only thing I look forward to, is the tasty dinner my wife has in store for me. I have definitely learnt to savour her cooking.

Yet in spite of all this, with the world crumbling under the weight of a deadly fate, there are people who give us the impetus to live a full life despite what happens around. HRH Pooyam Thirunal Gowri Parvathy Bayi Thampuratti is one such person I have met who can make life worth living in spite of all the ills around

End of the day, I tell myself with conviction that the days of yore, just a few months old, will come calling again and the masala dosa at ICH will still see me at the table, as will the practise session at LNCPE and the mutton after.