Last drops of elixir!!!

Where did I stop? Oh yes. We reached Kukke Subrahmanya at midnight on Saturday with the help of some adept driving amidst the downpour. I learnt from our driver later that we had lost our way somewhere in between and were put back on track by a helpful truck driver. I had dozed off gloriously through the entire episode.

The bed seemed cozy and I hugged it tight. It wasn't long like always, before I fell asleep that night. Early next morning my aunt woke me up after quite some struggle. We reached the temple and performed anga pradakshina. We had splendid darshan and were also fortunate enough to take lunch inside the temple. Satisfied thoroughly, we started back from Subrahmanya at half past two.

Our train back to Chennai was scheduled to start from Bangalore on Sunday at 11.30 pm. We had to make it by then. And Mysore had to be visited enroute. That day, I realized what Murphy's law (fate) is. Our van broke down in the ghats on a steep hairpin bend. A nut had fallen off from somewhere near the gearbox and had rolled down the incline out of reach. Our driver got down to work at once, for he understood the urgency. A nut was pulled out from one of the rearview mirrors and substituted. A leech feasted on his blood happily, which he pulled out after donating some. My grandpa's snuff served as makeshift medicine. An electric pole had fallen on the road, which had to be avoided carefully as the road was narrow and one side of it led to eternal peace. All this had happened because our driver had come down on the brakes all of a sudden to avoid a buffalo. Time was flying. Most of us got down from the van to ease it's load during the ascent.

We reached a small but exquisite town called Shanthihalli later in the evening and stopped there for coffee. The place was unusually cold and I was almost shivering like a typical Madrasi to whom chill weather is a rarity, why, something lesser than hot is a luxury. The coffee went down like a fireball and brought life to numb organs. How pretty the place looked is impossible to explain and inevitable to cherish. We started again, with tension mounting slowly. I did not bother in the least for I was having my holidays and a day's delay in reaching Chennai meant more timepass. But there were others who had more purpose in life and I had to act as if I was tensed to prevent them from pushing me into the roaring waters of the Cauvery at Kushalnagar.

It was half past eight when we reached Mysore. My uncle had arranged for food packets which the rest of us could carry to Bangalore. The tension overshadowed hunger and none of us ate. I had to behave myself and go hungry. Bangalore was three hours away and I was enjoying the thoughts of us running behind the train as it just deserted the platform. The train would start from the fifth platform that had to be reached by crossing an overbridge. With my grandparents, this was not possible. It was eleven twenty five when the bus screeched to a halt and I was shaken to existence from my sleep with my dad glorifying me. There was no time to say goodbye to all. Everyone descended from the van and ran with us. My grandparents showed their interest by climbing as fast as they could. The clock struck half past eleven and we reached the platform. The initial intent was to entrain. But since the train hadn't moved, we thought we could walk further till our compartment. We finally boarded our own compartment and the train had not budged. The train started finally at quarter past twelve. All were thankful. Hypocrisy I thought. Had they been on time and the train started late, families and ancestral lineages of government officials would have been cursed. This situation turned in their favor and increased their faith in God. What better purpose than to hold a train for six of his "devotees" would God have?
The next morning, we all woke up much to my disgust and to others' relief. It was back to the same mundane existence in Chennai. What to do? When you don't have work, you curse others who do. Exactly my state then.