The surprise element

The trip to Kerala and back this time held some surprises for me. For one, V decided to join me in the onward journey since he wanted to see his mother recovering from the snake bite. Two, there was this small-time actress sitting next to me in the train (because she hadnt got a flight ticket, and had to sit with us lowly mortals) though I wasnt sure until I asked her the next day (She turned out to be Kanya, who had acted as Siddiq's wife in Pokkiriraja which I saw recently.) Three, the train wasnt at the station even at the scheduled time of departure and the confusion (that characterises Indian railway stations) was twice as ever.

And when we reached Changanachery, the kids were a welcome surprise too - both looked much chubbier and healthier than when they had left Chennai two months back. The monsoon, expected to make a grand entry on the 31st to welcome this rain-thirsty Vezhambal, played truant and didnt make its appearance until after we left the Kerala border.

And the day we returned to Chennai, there was a death (by suicide) of someone we knew from the church. It came as a major shock for most of us who knew him since he had seemed so pleasant and energetic. Apparently he was going through a depression phase and the immediate provocation was his wife asking him why he had bought too much fish from the market. That will have some Malloo wives here worried.

I am now telling V that he not take me too seriously if I find fault/nag/shout at him.