Tuesday, September 21, 2010

...ears that can hear the grass grow!

I was never good at biology...but I guess I can safely state that cats seem to have one of the best set of ears in the animal kingdom.  I have seen cats deeply asleep (apparently!) and yet their ears seem to be on constant alert.  It's almost impossible to sneak up on a cat (though obviously there are always exemptions).  I personally hate cats, other than Garfield, but that is another topic.

Jennifer's auditory senses seem to be of a entirely different category altogether.  I have an example to explain.

Bangalore celebrated Ganesha Chaturthi last week.  Visually, it is quite nice to see lots and lots of decorated Ganesha's in the city...but the festival is hard on the ears!  There are drums, crackers, fireworks, people whistling and so on and so forth...most of which takes place from 10 pm onwards!!!  And since it is a religious festival, nobody seems to be in the mood to complain.

Obviously, the very thought of Ganesha and Divali  brings a shudder to a first-time dad.  With the entire foundations of the city quivering under the audio-assault of the celebrating masses, I always worry if my kid will be able to get a decent night's sleep.  I mean for a person who hasn't been on this earth for a year yet, these festivals might be too overwhelming.  

So, Ganesha arrived.  And it was as expected.  The mass of believers would carry out their processions only once lights dimmed in the living rooms.  Drums would start their rhythm once people turned off their TVs.  Crackers start bursting once people cosy up into their blankets.  Typical Ganesha celebration.

Jenny was already asleep by the time the spectacle started.  But here comes the shocker.  We must have had at least 6 processions pass by our window during the last one week.  Jenny hasn't woken up to a single one of them!  She just slept through them.  She didn't even turn or toss in her sleep!

And its not that she is hard of hearing...no, she isn't.  And I have an example for that as well.  The moment I cough or put on my slippers or clear my throat or do anything in these lines while she sleeps, she shows signs of waking up!  I don't know how she does it!  Crackers are fine, but dad coughing?  Or hundreds of people walking/whistling/dancing by our window is acceptable, but dad putting on his slipper?  God forbid while Jenny baby is sleeping!

I am yet to figure out this enigma that is my daughter.  And I doubt I shall ever completely succeed.  

Monday, September 6, 2010

A travelogue of sorts

People who know me and have heard of my travel experiences know that I am mostly beset by a whole range of misfortunes during the progress of the journey.  In fact, I often 'flatter' myself that I have experienced everything there is to experience in a Kerala-Bangalore journey.  Bus Journey!  Let me elaborate by sharing how this time's travel went.

It was Onam 2010.  Onam is the festival of Kerala, that is celebrated by each and everyone.  It is a ten-day celebration, that includes a sumptuous meal (purely vegetarian, for a change!), games, flower arrangements, shopping, tying up of swings and so on and so forth.  Schools and colleges are also closed for 10 days for Onam.  The capital (Trivandrum) gets into the celebration as well by declaring the Onam week and the Tourism Week in Kerala, and the entire city will be full of illuminations (colourful lights decorating the streets and buildings), and with plenty of cultural programs as well as exhibitions and discount sales everywhere.  The week culminates with a procession through the streets with different kinds of displays and decorated vehicles from all over the state, colleges and government departments.  And this is just the scenario in the city.  There are other events happening in Kerala during this season as well, the most famous of all being the 'Snake Boat Race'.  What I intend to highlight here is how festive the atmosphere is in the state once Onam comes along.  

Another detail worth mentioning is how difficult it is to travel comfortably to Kerala.  Trains are constantly overbooked.  If one intends to make a reservation by train to travel to Kerala, one really needs to do so 90 days in advance.  If one gets delayed even by a week, it's the reservation list.  Travel by plane doesn't really make sense unless one lives in Trivandrum or Cochin (where the airports are located); it would take me at least 3 hours by road to get from any of these airports to my home in Kerala.  The other alternative is to go by bus.  Now, the positive aspect about buses is that there are plenty of them.  The major flaw: there are so many of them that they have become so complacent that quality has taken a back-seat.  Bad seats, delays en route, frequent break downs, mediocre restaurants, etc.  These are all things the travellers have to adjust with.  I am not saying all bus companies are like this, but it is still a general trend.  And oh, the booking period for buses is usually 14 days.

Regular reads would know that Anuja and Jennifer had left for Kerala almost a month in advance before I could go. So, I booked my bus ticket on time and made sure everything was ready for the journey from my side.  The day of the journey came.  I reached home from office 2 hours before I needed to report to the travel office.  By bags were packed and I was good to go.  The day was Friday and it was two days before Onam.  Time was approximately 1500 and the reporting time and departure time were 1730 and 1800 respectively.  

I was about to leave office to get home, when literally out of the blue, disaster struck!  My body started heating up and I was shivering.  I got home and it got worse.  Anyways, I refused to take any medication as I feared I would fall asleep and would miss my bus.  I braved the shivers and somehow made it to the travel office.  I called my sister and her husband in between and requested them to help me depart as I felt I was too weak to do things on my own.  God bless them, they came and helped.  I got onto the bus, took my pills and off I went (half an hour late).  

Dinner was on time, which was a good sign.  We seemed to be making good progress.  How wrong we were.  At half past one, we reached the Kerala-Tamil Nadu border called Walayar Checkpost.  Ideally, it should have taken us maybe another 6-7 hours to reach our destination.  But I guess since it was Onam and the checkpost authorities were overworked (I am being sarcastic here!), traffic was not moving till 6 am!  Nothing was moving.  We were standing outside the bus in a mild drizzle till half past six, till things started moving again.  And once the sun rises in Kerala, traffic conditions change.  Roads are narrow in Kerala, but drivers are rash.  I think the reader can visualise the rest.  We moved so slowly.  We finally reached the stop before mine (where we should have reached at 7 am) at exactly 1700!  Since it was already very late, they wanted to call us a taxi to take us to the next destination as the bus immediately had to return to Bangalore with that day's passengers, who were already waiting since 1500!  So, I called my dad and he picked me up and I finally arrived home about 10 hours late!

I reached home with anticipation on how Jenny would react once she sees me.  After all, it's been exactly 3 weeks since she has seen me last.  I got home and there she was outside the door waiting in her mother's arms.  It might have taken her maybe 5 minutes to smile at me properly, but then she immediately got into my arms and things were as they were before!  

A word about Jenny.  She appeared well when I saw her.  She gained some weight and her facial features had gotten more pronounced.  But behaviourally, she had changed a lot.  If she was cuddly before, that particular trait has increased by leaps and bounds!  She would just come and lean against me, or put her head to my chest, or do similar things.  Also, she makes attempts at speaking to us.  She hasn't mastered 'mama' or 'dada' yet, but she is very close!

But I couldn't immediately enjoy all this.  The elongated trip had taken its toll on me, too.  I had to go to the hospital and got a set of medicines, antibiotics and an injection.  Apparently, I had gotten a viral fever that was doing its rounds, told me the doctor who was coughing himself!  So, out of the one week I had at home, I spent 4 days in bed, sustaining myself with pills and fluids and hating all families of viruses for not allowing me to enjoy the food nor the stay at home!

Towards the end of the week, we did a family trip to Trivandrum, visited old hostels, colleges and peers, enjoyed the illumination in  the city, had a nice coffee at the beach and returned the next day.  The trip back to Bangalore was fine, too.  We drove down and took a nice, scenic route that kept us from crowded Kerala roads and got us back to Bangalore in 11 hours!  

Thus Onam 2010 got over.  I am amazed at how much can happen in so little time.  But if I ignore all the hardships of the trip and tell myself that I suffered all this just to get Jenny back to Bangalore, it was all worth it.