A rath yatra

From MAHABS chariot

On Saturday, we took the kids to a beach resort in Mahabalipuram to chill out. Some 10-15 of V's colleagues and their families were present too since his company, like many other corporate firms these days, occasionally rewards them with such freebies for meeting deadlines and targets.

Before going to the resort, we visited the Shore temple and the Five Rathas (yet again!) since another family wished to see them. The Chariot beach resort is close to the Five Rathas. The resort, much to our disappointment and chagrin is still being developed and the service and facilities were not what we had expected of a star hotel. The cottages looked a bit too dull and deserted for my liking. The tariff is almost on a par with the GRT Temple Bay nearby, but the facilities are not half as good.

The way to the beach has gravel that makes walking barefoot from the beach not an ideal proposition. Anyway, being a private beach it was clean and quiet, and we had it all to ourselves. The Marina and Elliot beaches in the city are way too dirty and crowded. Mira had the time of her life, letting the waves wash her again and again. Ash spent the first half playing with the sand, something we hadnt permitted him to do for quite some time owing to his skin condition. We then took him to the sea and let the water wash his body - sea water, people here say, has therapeutic properties.
I think it did, since he was relatively itch-free despite having a dinner that broke his diet restrictions - a lil icecream, a lil cake, noodles and other veg fare on offer. He however had the will power to stay off the non-veg fare that everyone else was feasting on.

The drive this time was stressful. As a Chennaite, a drive down the scenic ECR is one of my favorite prescriptions for stressbusting. But the onward journey suffered too many traffic bottlenecks until we reached the ECR, while a heavy downpour made the return drive quiet risky - speeding trucks, vehicles that dont dim their lights, lack of median and streetlights make it an unsafe route after sunset.

The children, after an enjoyable and fun-filled day, slept peacefully oblivious to the sound and fury of the skies.