Back in Time - A breath-taking journey through UK!

I love reading and I distinctly remember my school days when a wonderful world of fantasy unveiling in my mind through all the animated series of story books. They painted a vivid picture of castles, palaces, fairy lands, life lived to the fullest by the prince, princesses and the royals. All these and more truly came to life when we decided to explore London and Scotland through our absolutely stunning 16 days of travel through UK.

Lovely winding roads, lush green landscapes, giant but gentle mountains, waterfalls, winds that carry you in its arms, strawberry picking, historical artefacts ranging from dinosaur fossils through the mother of all diamonds Koh-i-Noor, castles, palaces and what not! We thank God for a wonderful vacation literally through a fairy land and a lovely time together as family.

Quick specs of our trip:

Date: 03 Aug to 18 Aug 2024

Arrival: 03 Aug 2024 at Stanstead Airport (LHR was absolutely not feasible to avail staff travel benefits)

Departure: 18 Aug 2024 from Newcastle Airport (Initial departure plan was Glasgow but later changed to Newcastle where staff travel could be availed. Was only an additional 3 hours from Glasgow by road)

Mode of Transport: 5 days in London - Travelled only on public transport in London. You do not really need any other mode of transport in the city since the London Underground (metro) and the suburban trains (Dockland Light Railway - DLR) are well connected and easily accessible across the city. Most of the major attractions are at walking distance to the train station. The weather was also lovely though Londoners consider this as their summer, for us when we go from Dubai, it is a beautiful weather indeed! You could either buy Oyster card which is a multi-modal transport card or simply use any of your bank cards which has as Wi-Fi logo on it which you could tap on the gunnebo gates or equivalent at the stations.

Glimpses of London

State rooms of Buckingham Palace takes you to a world of luxury you may have never experienced in your lifetime! If you love to explore everything in the state rooms, you could spend the whole day if you like. Else you could reasonably finish in 3 hours. Ten minutes from the palace is Westminster Cathedral, a 121 year old beautiful church.

A tour of Tower of London is an absolute must have! This is a castle built by William the Conqueror in AD 1078, served as the royal residence, a mint, a jail as well as a fortress where precious jewels are stored including the most famous diamond the world has ever known, Koh-i-Noor! Don't get surprised if you get a feeling on and off that you are living in 11th century. Just a word of caution, for people who are claustrophobic, you may find it a bit of a challenge. Nevertheless, it is an experience worth every moment. The greatest feeling for me personally was to see Koh-i-Noor at my hand's length! The Tower Bridge which many people call as London Bridge is at a stone's throw away from Tower of London. Natural History Museum was our next step where my kids, 12 years and 8 years befriended dinosaurs from the past and learned a few elements of animal kingdom up close and personal!

St Paul's Cathedral is the seat of Bishop of London. This is another massive and beautiful church built in 17th century. We took the famous London double decker bus to the church for the experience of it. London as you may know is infamous for its weather, hence carry a small umbrella in your bag, it will come handy if it rains. We then checked if the clock is working well by saying hi to the Big Ben and the adjacent Parliament square. Explored some more of the city and of course did some shopping at the famous Oxford Street.

From London to Scotland

After 5 days in London, we hired a car from Avis / Budget nearby where we stayed and drove to Cheltenham. Gloucester Cathedral, a 12th century architectural marvel, made even more famous by Harry Potter series, awaited us. Be aware of the risk of getting lost in the magnificence of the cathedral that if you are not cautious you will end up spending a whole day there! We managed to get out after a few hours and headed to a location where natural beauty is at its peak as the name itself says. It was Peak District National Park. After a while we headed to York, but not before stopping at a friend's place at Sheffield.

The National Railway Museum in York is the place to be if you really want to feel immersed in the olden days where steam run locomotives and other types of trains operated. Even the tallest among us will feel dwarfed in front of these massive engineering marvels.

Further up North, after crossing the coastal region of Amble we stopped at Warkworth Castle, bringing life to some of the fantasy stories I mentioned in the beginning of the story. You get a glimpse of life lived by royals during the yester years. Alnwick Castle, one of the best-preserved castles was destined to be our next stop. The life and times of Percy family unfolds here, probably one of the most powerful families after the King of UK. A pleasant surprise to see a Buckingham-like state rooms here as well.

On the road again to reach Dunfermline, which once was the capital of Kingdom of Scotland and less than an hour from Edinburgh where J K Rowling wrote most of Harry Potter. Some more shopping around in the city before heading to Cairnie fruit farm at Cupar, a 40 minutes’ drive from Dunfermline. I cannot literally explain the happiness of those strawberries when they saw us that they literally jumped into our basket! Strawberry picking is such fun! Further up, after a quick stop at a wheat farm, enjoying the cool breeze near the Tay Bridge in Dundee and browsing through unique wines at Cairn o' Mohr a local winery and passing by Lochaber waterpower project commissioned in 1929 we finally arrived at Spean Bridge, our place of stay for the next four days.

From that day onwards, we got ourselves locked in a fairy tale. This is the only way to define our days in Scotland! Everywhere you go, nature will pamper you with the most beautiful of sights that you will literally be mesmerised! The cold clear water along with countless pebbles at Loch Lochy, third-deepest lake of Scotland next to Loch Ness famous for the monster story, a small yet lovely looking waterfall at Inverness, an absolutely out-of-the world location experience gifted by Eilean Donan Castle, the simple yet sweet port town of Mallaig, watching the Harry Potter fame Jacobite Steam train in action and exploring the incredible terrains at Isle of Skye, every one of these experiences left us with lasting memories for a lifetime!

We thank all our well-wishers who prayed, helped and supported through this journey of a lifetime!

Fun Fact: This is the approximate distance from Thiruvananthapuram in South India to Taj Mahal in North India by road!

The ice cream run – Management lessons from Dad

18 years ago, I successfully completed my post-graduation in Business Management from one of the prestigious institutions in Bangalore, Christ College. Though my specialization was in Marketing, during the course of two years, I learned various aspects of business including supply chain, time management, advertising and many more.

Little did I realize that there was a time, way back in early 90s while in grade six, I was privy to a bunch of fantastic management lessons in real life. This was when my dad started an ice cream parlour named Adens in our small town of Changanacherry in Kerala. The ice cream was of a brand named Lazza and the company that made it was in Ernakulam, a city roughly hundred kilometres from our hometown. My first lesson in entrepreneurship.

Since dad took distribution of Lazza ice cream in and around Changanacherry, he obviously had to arrange for transportation of ice cream from Lazza factory in Ernakulam to our shop. Considering the distance between the locations, he had to plan the purchase that needed to last him for the next few weeks after which there will be a repeat of this. We called it the ice cream run. The entire process had to be meticulously planned since dad was a banker during his day job and he had to plan the trips on weekends. My first lesson in planning and supply chain management.

The number of items that were required for every ice cream run was sizable enough to be carried in ten large containers. Dad knew a person who owned a van which was big enough to carry those boxes. Arrangements were made to use this van so that multiple runs could be avoided, and the trip was optimized. My first lesson in logistics.

We will start early morning and will reach the factory in Ernakulam. Dad will have a list with the categories and numbers required of ice creams needed that day. He will then sit with the factory manager and while I enjoy an ice cream there, I could hear them talk about sales and strategies towards customer satisfaction, none of which made sense to me then. On hindsight, those were the pearls of wisdom from the lovely ocean of business world. Many times, dad was also able to strike some good deals before he confirmed the order. My first lesson in negotiation.

Once the order was finalized, the boxes were offloaded from the van for the factory staff to fill them with packets of ice creams. As this activity took a while, dad always made use of the time for a quick trip to the city and buy some other items required for Adens including ice cream cones, glasses, tissues etc. which were not something you could buy from the factory. I always looked forward for this quick trip since after the shopping it will be invariably time for lunch, and it was a great opportunity for me to explore the restaurants around Ernakulam. My first lesson in time management.

By the time we returned to the factory, the boxes of ice creams were safely packed and kept ready for the trip back home. Those were the days before temperature-controlled vehicles. Hence special type of insulated boxes was used to keep the ice cream from melting and for further protection large frozen containers of ice were used which ensured that everything was ok during the transport. My first lesson in quality.

The party then headed back to the hometown and just in time to beat the evening traffic so that we reach Adens right on time to store the ice cream safe and sound in the freezers awaiting customers. Sometimes dad also got some posters with colourful pictures of ice creams which promptly went on the walls of Adens which added to the whole appeal of the shop. It was such a heartening sight to see the kids screaming and crying with joy when they saw these images and specifically asked for them and most parents obliged. My first lesson in marketing and sales.

Though dad is not around physically, these moments remain deeply embedded in my mind which continues to be my guiding light in my professional life where I need to apply the principles of management. Something which no management books in the world ever taught me…

A Chilling Farewell

It was past midnight and Dubai was at the fag end of the scorching summer on the 27th day of October 2014. My son had not turned three and was a bit restless that night which kept both Ruby, my wife and me awake. It was a period in between our little one’s disturbed sleep due to some uneasiness that was troubling him. Since I could not sleep, I tried to make effective use of the time by putting my thoughts into a story and started with that on my laptop.

I was halfway into the story and our clock tried telling me it is quite an unearthly hour with the small needle touching the number one. Nevertheless, I continued with my attempt to write. A few minutes later, Ruby came by asking if I am not sleeping since the light was on in the hall where I was seated.

I told her, I shall join soon, but for some strange reason I was getting a bit too cold unusually. I requested my sweetheart to check the thermostat of AC, which was working all well. She said everything is fine and asked if I am feeling feverish which may explain the chills I was starting to experience. She even took out the thermometer which confirmed that my body temperature was normal, but I continued to feel cold.

It was just a matter of time that the chillness gave way to shivering and I had to get a jacket to make myself feel comfortable. I tried to switch off the air conditioning, but it was a futile attempt. It was beyond any logical explanation. I tired to continue writing, but with the quivering I had no option but to shut down the laptop. All what I wanted to do was get under the thick blanket and snuggle up to my darling wife so that I feel better.

As soon as I hit the bed and felt the shivering subside, the phone rang. It was dad. Getting a call from back home in Kerala at 1:30 AM is never a good thing. The news he had to share was indeed not a happy one. My dearest grandpa, one with whom I spent my entire childhood and one who I consider close to my heart is no more. He passed away a few moments ago peacefully in his sleep. Time stood still.

The world did not wait for me. Calendars were replaced a few more times.

It was closer to midnight again in Dubai, but this time in the middle of the winter on the 15th day of February 2023. A couple of hours earlier my dad was taken on an ambulance from a hospital in Changanacherry, my hometown, to a bigger hospital in Kochi where he had earlier undergone treatment. My mom, along with my sister-in-law and my cousin brother had accompanied him. They reached the hospital, and he was immediately taken to the emergency room for treatment.

My cousin kept me posted with updates. With every message that was coming through, the tension in the air at home in Dubai was rising. Dad was truly the one bond that kept the entire family together and the happiness we shared throughout our lives was something beyond my ability to put down in the form of words. As Ruby and I was figuring out the flight to Kochi, the next message arrived. It was quite an ominous one which said dad suffered a massive cardiac arrest, but the doctors did revive him. It was followed by two more attacks and my cousin messaged saying the doctors were planning to shift him to the ventilator.

The nights of February in Dubai are when the temperature is quite pleasant outside, and we do not really need air conditioning throughout. The AC was off, but I could sense the tingling sensation coming back. Something that was familiar to me about nine years ago. I asked my sweetheart for a sweater. The chills were back, and she had to hug me since I started shaking. She covered me with a shawl and later with a jacket as well. But this time I could feel the trembling staying a little longer than last time. The next day I managed to reach Kochi and bid a final farewell to dad standing next to his bedside. He was beyond any state of recognising me, but I knew exactly when he came to me and gave me a hug. Just the way my grandpa embraced me before he started his journey back to where we all came from.

Do-Nothing Time

In the past couple of weeks, I remember having conversations with a few of my friends and colleagues about kids of the current generation. The topic was around how kids are restless these days and we all shared a common concern that idle time is something our kids do not even have in their dictionary. The conversation went on and on as how learned adults speak with the pseudo righteousness which is attributed to most of the parents across the world with young kids.

Little did I realize then, the accusation is not really limited to children. The question I started asking myself was, how often do we have a time during the day when we remain idle? Isn’t there something or other we keep ourselves busy and not really have a do-nothing time for ourselves?  

The biggest irony will be, most often than not, the activities we engage ourselves could be less creative than what our kids involve themselves during their busy time. Among other things, our children may delve into art or craft, while we wile away our time among the never-ending trolls and memes across the various social media platforms.

I truly believe, the concept of a do-nothing time is in fact quite powerful. As you may be aware, when your entire body rests during the night, the brain continues to send signals to the internal organs which still need to function. A similar state will come in play when you give a break to your busy schedules and allow yourself a bit of do-nothing time. This gives a chance for your brain to take a deep breath and indulge into something that directly instigates the creative side as your logical thinking takes a back seat.

The truly magical moment will come and present itself to us if we could practice this more often. It is a busy world, and we all acknowledge that. But let us not forget the fact that the creative genius in all of us, in various forms and shapes, need to be given an opportunity to be awakened. Trust me, you’ll be surprised to see the amount of creativity buried deep down in you getting awakened and the doors indeed open for the true colours of your ingenious freedom.

Give it a chance. Have a bit of a do-nothing time. Celebrate your other self!

Red Berries in the Snow

It was an extremely cold December morning in the year 2010 when I landed in one of the busiest airports in the world, London Heathrow International. The assignment was a requirement gathering session that was expected to last for a month for the client Travelodge. Far from the hustle and bustle of London, the taxi from the airport took me to a lovely small town called Thame where I was to spend the next one month before heading back home.

Travelodge, being in the hospitality industry, was where I stayed as well. Their head office was right across the road and was a mere ten minutes’ walk from the hotel. The location itself was a cosy combination of the hotel and a gas station complimented by a Burger King next door.

It became my routine for the next few days to leave the hotel, walk past the gas station and cross over to the other side of the road passing a roundabout and then reach the office, the approach road of which was lined with a row of trees. Being exposed to my coldest winter ever, most often than not I was walking with a warm jacket tucked close to my chest and my teeth chattering in the bone chilling cold. This was even after wearing a layer of thermals under the heavy jacket. It was COLD indeed, bold, and underlined.

A few days went by in this manner. One morning, as I got up and parted the curtain in my room, I saw the whole area outside turned white. It was snowing! My first ever snow in life. I was ecstatic to say the least. The walks to office continued. The snow could not deter my spirit of professional call of duty. Deep inside me I did not want to miss a single moment of this first in my lifetime experience of being in the snow.

The path to office didn’t change either, only difference being the white snow covering the entire stretch. The route next to the gas station, the footpath across the roundabout and the final stretch to the office, everything was covered in a white blanket that seemed to welcome me with open arms. It felt as though nature was welcoming me, but instead of a red carpet a white one was being rolled out.

There was one big difference though. As I was walking past the row of trees, I noticed a bunch of red berries on them clothed in snow. It was one of the most beautiful sights I had ever seen in my life. I asked someone in my office what those berries were. They said it was an edible variety and quite a tasty one that too, but once it snows you can’t have them since the texture changes, and it no longer became edible. As strange as it felt, I wonder why I never noticed them before, as they were apparently always there but it completely missed my sight. Unfortunately, till the end of my assignment in Thame, it continued to snow, and the taste of those berries remain elusive for me.

That is when it dawned on me. These berries are like the blessings in our life which are right in front of our eyes, but we fail to see them. They come in all forms and shapes. It could be a friend who is always there for you, but you never acknowledged them, or a facility offered by your company which you took for granted.

There are tonnes of these blessings hanging around us which we just zip past through since they are not clothed in anything at present. But a day will arrive when these blessings get impacted one way or other. Your friends may migrate to a different city, and you truly miss them since there is no one like them around. You may shift jobs and then realize how people friendly were the policies of your previous organization, but you were complaining then. All these are akin to the berries clothed with the snow which you can’t enjoy anymore. You look back and regret your past with a sigh.

Wake up, it isn’t late still! Hope and faith are two magical beings which still drive the world forward. As long as you are around in this beautiful world, take a moment to stop, look around and appreciate the berries alias blessings around you. Be grateful to people and situations that bring you these blessings. Do not wait till the snow clothes them for you to have a late realization.

Let there be snow, but you still reminisce the delightful taste of red berries. 

Maturity, it isn't just age...

Picture this. You are in a meeting with your own colleagues and two of the team members from the vendor team to discuss a critical showstopper for a go live. The topic was discussed multiple times in the recent past with no solution sighted in the horizon.

The situation rapidly escalates with discussions spiralling. Temperature levels in the meeting room rises with sparks of arguments flying high. After a lot of deliberations, an agreement on the way forward is reached.

A day later, when you catch up internally, you have a major realisation. While one of the two team members from the vendor side, who was equally senior, was boiling and reacting, the other was handling the situation in a calm and composed manner, topped with a subtle smile. Though his conversations were cut through many times, he remained patient. He even changed his strategy mid-way through to buy time by promising to stop talking exactly after ten seconds. De-escalation was definitely his cup of tea.

Colleagues like these serve as a constant reminder that professional maturity is not just about the age. It is a skill that we need to gain and grow over a period of time in our career.

Some get it, others remain a pain, you know where...

 

The Final Trap – Death Defying Dad – Part 3 of 3

 

Most of the children born in the early 80’s in India, who had access to a TV at home, will recollect having just one channel in TV those days. It was a national broadcast by the government and was called Doordarshan. Obviously, the number of programs were all defined well in advance with very few live programmes unlike today, where majority of channels do live streaming.

Among the limited set of programs on TV, there was one animated series called He-Man & The Masters of the Universe. It was quite natural that He-Man became my favourite superhero for all the amazing things he did to save the world.

But even before I knew He-Man, there was another man who was already my superhero, my dad. He did the most amazing things which a child would only imagine superheroes will do for them. Be it taking you to various places in and around during vacations or buying the tiny pottery set from the local market so that we kids could play ‘family’ along with our cousins in a makeshift house creatively carved out of the cardboard box of a recently purchased refrigerator. The list was endless. 

While dad did this and many other things for me and our family, he lived through his life with one motto. Live life to the fullest. He always used to say that you are given just one chance to live and make the best out of it. He also had a deep-rooted belief that eventually when death catches up with him, it will be an instant one. And so, he lived his eventful life, till one fine day in 2021, during Covid times as the world was reeling in the greatest pandemic ever known to the history of mankind.

A bit of a blood stain in his faecal matter was where it all started. A quick test at a local hospital led to the doctors finding out something was wrong. More advanced tests followed and by the time the New Year celebrations concluded for 2021, the diagnosis confirmed that his colon had embraced one of the most dreaded diseases in the world, cancer!

I still remember the first conversation with him over the phone as soon as the news was known. His response was typical of his personality. As with most things, he simplified it as though it was a bit of a dirt on his body which needed to be washed off. That was dad.

A couple of surgeries and a few rounds of chemo followed and a year later he was declared free of the ‘dirt’. Needless to say, we all were quite happy and relieved to see even cancer bent down before his will.

Dad did get to replace the calendar at home one more time before he handed over that responsibility to rest of us.

His legacy lives on…

Part 1 - The Limestone Trap: https://trexperiences.blogspot.com/2024/06/the-limestone-trap-death-defying-dad.html

Part 2 - The Road Trap: https://trexperiences.blogspot.com/2024/06/the-road-trap-death-defying-dad-part-2.html

The Last Word

'You should pen down your life dad. There are quite a few chapters which will be absolutely amazing!' I told him on that beautiful Valentine's Day in 2023 over the speaker phone while driving to office in the morning.

He brushed off that request of mine saying, 'Poda, who would want to read about my life?'

I said, 'You have inspired a lot of people dad. Even if that book of yours is read by only ten people, it will be life changing for them. You must write.'

'OK, let me give it a thought', dad said. I could imagine him smiling at the other end of the phone. 

'Tell me dad, what's left in your bucket list? Is there anything you really wanted to achieve and couldn't?'

It didn’t even take a moment for him to respond, 'Nothing da, am all done with God's grace'.

48 hours later, I stood next to his bed in the hospital where he was in a state beyond recognizing me and bid him goodbye with my last kiss while his heart was still beating with unconditional love as always...

Happy Valentine's Day in heaven Daddy 💙

 

Colour of Horror

He was careful not to mix light colours with dark ones while placing the clothes in a bucket of soap and water. It was even more important this time since he had taken one of her prized possessions, a grey designer wear which she was planning to wear for an upcoming party that was very special for her.

All dark colours together… That was the mantra and he absolutely followed it. He mixed his son’s black shorts along with her grey dress. The shorts were infamous for its jet-black colour which every time when washed, shed a peel of black layer. Anything along with the shorts was meant to get tainted!

A few minutes later he went back to the bucket and slowly lifted the designer dress. The cloth seemed to have inherited a special hue of black. She had initially reversed and placed the dress in the laundry basket which found its way into the bucket in the same manner. When reversed, the dress looked quite a dark shade of grey. The original outer side had a pearl white colour which now qualifies to be called black pearl!

She was passing by when he was trying to hide the catastrophe. A high-pitched blood curdling scream reverberated through the house. She took the dress and reversed it to expose the outer side. The only thing that had a deeper shade than the black colour on the dress was her face. A dangerously deep shade of red it was.

Remembering their recent visit to an apparel shop where they suggested dyeing as a method to get your colour of choice, he told her, the dress will look as if it was dyed. A total silence was the response. After a few moments, everything happened exactly how he predicted. Dyed indeed was the outcome, just that it was spelt differently.

He is now the President of the elite club of HDH – Husbands Dyed in Heaven!

The Chocolate Volcano

Jim stood at the bottom of the hill and looked at the broken pieces of wood from the well that were strewn down the slope. He recently turned forty and every time he came to this spot an overwhelming emotion imprisoned him. This is where he lost his siblings, well almost. The reality of what happened still sends jitters down his spine, though his siblings were world famous after this incident. But the truth remains hidden till date and he is the only one alive who could testify the fact now.

They were just like any other chirpy kids in the neighbourhood. Jim was all of six years when it happened. Just like every other day, mother asked his brother to fetch a pail of water. As Jack got the pail from the store, his sister, Jill joined him and they took Jim along.

It was quite a climb for a six year old and hence Jack asked him to wait at the bottom of the hill. He looked up the hill, just the way he did now, and saw the well from where his brother used to draw water. Jim loved the tiny yellow flowers that were aplenty at the foot of the hill. As the siblings climbed up, he started to look around and started collecting the flowers. Their mom loved them and he always had a basketful for her every time they returned from the hill.

Everything happened in a jiffy. Jim heard some noise and as he looked up, he could first see Jack rolling down the hill with the pail of water promptly followed by his sister. He could hear their cry and almost started climbing up the hill when the cry suddenly started to fade. The sound seemed like they were far away and then it was gone, totally. Complete silence followed.

Jim did search the whole hill but was unable to locate neither his brother nor sister. He was scared to go back to his mother without the siblings and decided to wait near the well. He even tried to follow the path took by his brother and all of a sudden he tripped on a dry twig and fell down exactly how Jack fell. He started rolling down the hill and as he was half way through the slope he felt like being suddenly sucked into a hole.

He was taken down a large sand dune, the likes of which you only see in deserts. As he was made to slide down the slope he noticed the texture around him slowly changing. From the sand like form, it gave way to what felt like coarse grass and finally something quite soft and squishy was all around him.

Jim didn’t know how long he slid down through that tunnel. After a while with a loud thud he landed on a soft bed of what appeared to be dark brown mud. He was almost fully covered with it though it smelled like anything but mud. He took a bit of what was around him and brought it closer to his nose. The aroma was heavenly and something which he loved when mom made it, once a while. He was so tempted that he even took a small portion to his mouth. Voila! It was delicious chocolate!

He couldn’t believe that he was literally inside a mountain of chocolate! Without wasting much time he started to fill himself with the best chocolate he ever tasted. He was so overjoyed that he remembered about his siblings only when he heard someone calling out his name. It was Jack along with Jill who was already full with loads of chocolates and was equally surprise to see their little brother down as well.

Together they started to devour more and were about to take something along with them to mom when it happened. A loud rumbling sound and soon the whole ground filled with chocolate started to shake. Before they could even move a muscle, were immediately jolted up in the air and along with the rich tasty magma they were thrown out of the chocolate volcano. All of them landed on the slopes of the mountain which were now covered with multi-coloured soft chocolate pieces that trickled down from volcano that spewed out the best chocolate in the world!

Jack, Jill and Jim grabbed as much chocolates as they could and walked back to their village. It was a long walk ahead, but a sweet one indeed!

It is a jungle in here!

As the practice these days, Sandra checked her Outdoor App which still showed a red icon that meant danger. She awaited the green icon to appear, the signal for humans to leave their house safely. Ever since the crazy scientist at the genetics lab innovated and spread the animal survival virus, the whole of animal kingdom has multiplied and spread unlike any other time in the history of mankind.

People can no longer go out as they wish. They must wait for an update from a complex combing operation that keeps scanning the entire locality to ensure that none of the dangerous animals are lurking in the region. Once the safety is established a message is sent to all those in the neighbourhood informing them that it is safe to leave their house.

Even with this arrangement, the risk is always at large. There are these occasional beasts that manage to dodge the radars that are meant to detect their presence. Cases were plenty on how a quick pit stop to get a coffee turned out to be a horrendous experience for many. Too many precious lives were lost and many more at stake.

Jungles across the world were brimming with life. Amazon, Jim Corbett, Black Forest and many others across the globe were overflowing with animals. Naturally they’ll look for alternate dwelling places. Villages were the first ones to fall, smaller towns followed. Literally the animal dynasty spread its wings and conquered the places one after the other.

There was a massive exodus to larger cities which offered a safe place to stay to all. But it was only a matter of time. Giant trees now thrive where the villages and smaller towns once stood. Soon the borders of the concrete cities started to see an influx of greenery. It was as if the jungle had its mouth wide open and slowly swallowing the city from all directions.

Initially people in the cities were too busy to notice the change. By the time they realized the gravity of the situation, things started getting out of hands. The military was called in to help. But the army barracks faced an unprecedented series of attacks. Humans knew very well to fight with their race, but this was the first time they faced an enemy that was attacking totally using their instincts. It was absolutely a new experience for humanity, and they simply failed in predicting the next moves of the enemy. Finally, it reached a point where even the most powerful of the nations in the world announced Code Blood Red, the highest order of danger for human civilization ever.

When all hopes seemed to be lost, a shimmer of faith came from the deep forests of Alaska. A previously unknown strain of virus seemed to have broken out that deeply affected the survival abilities of animal species. A team of brave young scientists came together from a dozen countries across the world.

Their Mission: Save humanity and retain animal kingdom.

The work has begun.

An idea, indeed, can change your life!

Alex and Nisha had a fantastic tenth anniversary celebration recently. Unlike some of the couples from their parents’ generation, they both had agreed to share various duties at home. Among the others, Alex had the responsibility of keeping the house clean.

Generally Alex never defaulted on his duty, but Nisha had been observing a disturbing trend for the past few weeks. The frequency of cleaning seemed to be getting longer and longer. Regular reminders did not seem to be working anymore. During the last couple of weeks it reached a point where Nisha had to step in and do the cleaning herself. It was definitely a breach of duty and needed corrective action.

They stepped into their third week where the trend continued to bother her. Many a times kitchen was the worst hit with maximum activities happening there unlike various other rooms in the house. Nisha decided it was high time she did something about it. Something drastic!

Other than cleaning, Alex also had the responsibility of doing laundry at home. That day he decided that the pile of clothes had reached a dangerous level that he was sure to get a not-so-friendly reminder soon from his sweetheart. He promptly headed to the washing machine which was placed in the kitchen and loaded it with soiled clothes. As usual, he set the washing machine in the desired mode and left it for washing.

While the clothes were doing a trapeze inside the washing machine, Alex continued with other interesting activities which were more amusing than the boring chores. After a few minutes he returned to kitchen to fetch some snacks. What awaited him was something short of a disaster. Half of the kitchen floor was flooded! Water continued to rise and soon it was to reach the boundaries of kitchen threatening to flood the other parts of the house.

He frantically called out to Nisha who came running. By the time she reached the kitchen, Alex figured out that the washing machine’s outlet pipe had become lose and the water leak was the result of this malfunction. Together they quickly stopped the water flow so that the flood doesn’t get across to the other rooms.

Without wasting any moment, Nisha handed over the mop and the floor wiper to Alex. He immediately got down to work and after about half an hour the kitchen was sparkling clean! Nisha took a good look at the kitchen and felt that the whole place was never this beautiful, ever. Alex looked at her and was not sure if he noticed a slight grin on her face or maybe it was just his mind playing games with him.

There was a plastic container below the kitchen sink next to the washing machine’s outlet. As the pipe came lose, water that leaked found its way into this container. In the frenzy of clearing everything from the kitchen, Alex had placed this container in the balcony. The container had a couple of holes on it and by the time he finished with the kitchen, the balcony was flooded. They now have a sparkling balcony as well!

A few moments earlier while wiping the floor dry, Alex mentioned to Nisha that they need to find a permanent solution to the outlet pipe so that it remain fixed. Nisha nodded her head in agreement, but her brain was working extra time to think of a hundred ways by which the pipe never gets fixed!

Alex is yet to figure out if the grin on her face was real or not…

The Loop

Disclaimer: If you have not lost a parent yet and consider yourself light-hearted, read on at your own risk. The following content may be disturbing for a few.

I was a bit late to reach office in the morning. Blame it on the weird nightmare that disturbed my sleep the previous night in which my dad passed away and I went and buried him!

As soon as I reached office a bunch of grave faces greeted me. ‘Did someone die?’ I thought. One by one they came and passed their condolences. They all wanted to know how did it happen all of a sudden. Apparently, I told them two weeks back that my dad passed away and I am now back in office after burying him!

Reality struck me. It wasn’t a nightmare. It was a fact indeed. I lost my dad.

Shortly afterwards I settled down at my desk and started catching up on the mails. In a few moments I was pulled back into the time bubble and soon I was thinking of a conversation I need to have with dad. I could hear my mind reminding me to call him later today.

Later during the day, as I was planning to give a call to my dad, another of my colleague turns up with a long face and repeated the exercise that happened in the morning. The time bubble was burst again. I lost my dad once more.

Losing someone, especially one that is quite close to your heart isn’t easy.

I’m not sure how long will time continue this game with me.

Then again as they say, time is the best healer!

Till then we’ll play hide and seek dad, just like good ol’ times.

You have a fantastic time wherever you are…

Tears of Strength

‘Be Strong’. Probably the phrase I’ve heard countless number of times since 16 February 2023, almost a month back. That’s the date when I started experiencing the strangest ever feeling in my life of four decades.

Imagine this. Ever since you were born, the starting and ending of your day has always been with the biggest and brightest source of energy known to the human race, the Sun. What happens one day, just like that, the Sun stops shining. Needless to say you’ll be slapped with darkness and gloom. Your days no longer start with the perennial hope of light. You will never be able to wish anyone a bright and beautiful day anymore.

This and many more impossible to explain emotions were having a joyful ride of their life through my mind since that day. I lost the greatest source of power in my life from the time I was born, the one that gave me hope, cared for me unconditionally, moulded me with love and taught me what life is in its entirety.

My Dad!

He was indeed a superhero for me and unsurprisingly for many others as well. People who I met and others who reached out only had good memories and great stories to share about dad. He was literally an influencer in their lives, way before social media ever existed and the word influencer meant even more than the digital motivation that we rely upon these days.

Since he knew quite a lot of people it was decided that we should have the funeral on a weekend, four days after his passing, so that they get a chance to meet him for one last time. It indeed was a good decision as the endless flow of people the day before and the funeral day was the evidence of how much was he loved.

What was particularly difficult for me was to meet a bunch of them who have been not just influenced by dad but have been a great influence in his life, about whom he has spoken to me many times. They all reminded me of the happy times dad had with them and those moments literally relived in front of my eyes each time they came over and held my hand.

Sometimes a look into their eyes, a word uttered, a gentle pressing of my hand or a hug, they all triggered a seemingly never-ending churn of reservoir of tears deep down somewhere in me.

I cried, through all those days and more.

Every instance I could recollect the precious moments of love and care he kept aside for me, welled up my eyes. I heard people saying time and again to be strong. They wanted me to remain a support for the sake of my family including mom. Some of them said do not cry and be strong.

But those were not tears of weakness. In fact every drop that found its way out through my eyes made me stronger. For me, tears are the most natural outlet for a human being especially when you are overwhelmed with emotions. Let it flow. It will only make you stronger and prepare you to move ahead.

Amidst the avalanche of tears, along with my God sent cousins, I got through all the set of activities required right from the hospital bed to the funeral day and beyond. If I am to make a list of things done, it’ll need another whole day. I truly believe it was those tears though they blurred my vision momentarily, gave me much needed clarity and power just like a windshield that is wiped clean each time after you spray water and the wiper of your car does a perfect job.

Let me end with the tribute I penned down for Dad on his 7th Day, ‘Daddy, you taught us everything except the last chapter in your book of life. We opened the final chapter today and it said, ‘The Beginning’. You left us a note, ‘for self-study’. We now begin our learning with your eternal guidance. Live in our hearts and be with us forever… To the best dad world can ever offer!’

ഒരു പിറവിയുടെ കഥ

ഓശാന തിരുനാളിന്റെ തിരക്കുകളെല്ലാം കഴിഞ്ഞ്, അന്നത്തെ ഉച്ചമയക്കം ശരിയാവാഞ്ഞതിന്റെ ചെറിയ ഒരു അലോസരത്തിൽ ഇരിക്കുകയായിരുന്നു അച്ചൻ.

പെട്ടെന്നാണ് പുറകിൽ നിന്നൊരു ശബ്ദം.

'എന്താടോ ആബേലേ ഭയങ്കര ആലോചന?'

' ഹാ, ചേട്ടായി എത്തിയോ?' അച്ചൻ ചിരിച്ചു കൊണ്ട് ചോദിച്ചു. 'പ്രത്യേകിച്ച് ഒന്നുമില്ല. പിന്നെ ഓശാന ഒക്കെ കഴിഞ്ഞതല്ലേ? ഞാൻ ചേട്ടായിയുടെ തന്നെ പഴയ കാര്യങ്ങൾ ഓർത്തിരുന്നു പോയി. അന്ന് കുറേ അനുഭവിച്ചല്ലേ?'

ചേട്ടായിയുടെ മുഖം പെട്ടെന്നാണ് മാറിയത്. ചുണ്ടിൽ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്ന പുഞ്ചിരി മാഞ്ഞു. ആ കണ്ണുകളിൽ പല വികാരങ്ങളുടെ ഒരു വേലിയേറ്റം തന്നെ കണ്ടു അച്ചൻ. മണിക്കൂറുകൾ എടുത്തെന്ന് തോന്നിപ്പിച്ച നിശബ്ദത ചേട്ടായി തന്നെയാണ് ഭേദിച്ചത്.

' ഓ എന്നാ പറയാനാടാ അന്ന് അങ്ങനെയൊക്കെ സംഭവിച്ചു. ഞാൻ വലിയ കാര്യമായിട്ട് അപ്പനോട് ഡയലോഗ് ഒക്കെ അടിച്ചു, അവന്മാരെ ഞാൻ തന്നെ നേരിട്ടോളാം എന്ന് പറഞ്ഞപ്പോൾ, 'അതു വേണോടാ മോനെ' എന്ന് അപ്പൻ എടുത്തു ചോദിച്ചതാ. ചോരത്തിളപ്പിന്റെ പ്രായമല്ലേ? അങ്ങോട്ട് എടുത്തു ചാടി. ഇത്ര വലിയ പണി കിട്ടുമെന്ന് സത്യം പറഞ്ഞാൽ ഞാൻ വിചാരിച്ചില്ല. ആ, പിന്നെ എല്ലാം സംഭവിക്കേണ്ടത് ആയിരുന്നു എന്ന് കരുതി ആശ്വസിക്കാം.'

' എനിക്ക് അതെല്ലാം ഒന്ന് എഴുതി വയ്ക്കണമെന്ന് തോന്നിയിട്ട് കുറച്ചുകാലമായി. പക്ഷേ ചേട്ടായി അനുഭവിച്ചതെല്ലാം അതേപോലെ എഴുതാൻ ഒട്ടും എനിക്ക് പറ്റുന്നില്ല. അത് അനുഭവിച്ച ഒരാൾക്ക് അല്ലേ അത്ര ഭംഗിയായി എഴുതാൻ പറ്റൂ.'

' എന്റെ പൊന്നു മോനെ, ഞാൻ അനുഭവിച്ചത് എങ്ങാനും ഒന്ന് നേരിട്ട് കണ്ടിരുന്നെങ്കിൽ നീ താങ്ങുകേലായിരുന്നു, പിന്നെയാ അത് അനുഭവിക്കാൻ!'

' ഇല്ല ചേട്ടായി, എനിക്ക് ഉറപ്പുണ്ട് എന്നെക്കൊണ്ട് പറ്റും!'

അതിന്റെ മറുപടി ഒരു ചെറുപുഞ്ചിരി മാത്രമായിരുന്നു.

' അതെന്നാ ഒരു ചിരി? എന്നെക്കൊണ്ട് സാധിക്കില്ല എന്ന് തോന്നുന്നുണ്ടോ?'

' ഉം, ശരിയാണ്, ഇന്നിപ്പോ ആരെക്കൊണ്ടെങ്കിലും അത് സാധിക്കുമെങ്കിൽ അത് നിന്നെക്കൊണ്ട് മാത്രമായിരിക്കും. നിനക്ക് അത്രയ്ക്ക് ഉറപ്പുള്ള സ്ഥിതിക്ക് ആ അനുഭവങ്ങൾ എല്ലാം തന്നെ നിനക്കും സ്വന്തമാകും. പക്ഷേ നീ എഴുതി തീർക്കുമോ എന്ന് എനിക്ക് പറയാൻ പറ്റില്ല. അത് തീരുമാനിക്കുന്നത് ഞാനല്ല, അപ്പനാണ്. അപ്പനോട് തന്നെ ചോദിക്കേണ്ടിവരും'.

' അതു കൊള്ളാം, ഞാൻ ഇതെല്ലാം അനുഭവിക്കുകയും വേണം പക്ഷേ എഴുതി തീർക്കാൻ പറ്റുമോ എന്ന് ഒരു ഉറപ്പുമില്ല. ഇത് പണ്ട് ഒരു അമ്മച്ചി വന്നു ചോദിച്ചപ്പോൾ ചേട്ടായി പറഞ്ഞതുപോലെ ആയല്ലോ.'

'നീ ആരുടെ കാര്യമാണ് പറയുന്നത് എന്ന് എനിക്ക് മനസ്സിലായി. പിന്നെ, മുഴുവൻ സമയം എന്റെ അപ്പുറത്തും ഇപ്പുറത്തും നടക്കണം എന്ന് പറഞ്ഞാൽ ഞാൻ എന്തു പറയാനാ? അതാണന്ന് ഞാൻ പറഞ്ഞത് അപ്പനാണ് ഇതൊക്കെ തീരുമാനിക്കുന്നതെന്ന്.'

'ശരി, എന്തായാലും കൊള്ളാം, എനിക്ക് എഴുതണം. അതിന് എന്താണോ വേണ്ടത് അത് ഏറ്റെടുക്കുവാൻ ഞാൻ തയ്യാറാണ്'.

'എങ്കിൽ പിന്നെ നീ എഴുതി തുടങ്ങിക്കോ. ഓരോ സംഭവങ്ങൾ തന്നെ വന്നോളും. ഞാൻ തൽക്കാലം തിരിച്ചുപോകുന്നു. പിന്നെ വന്നു കണ്ടോളാം നിന്നെയും, നീ എഴുതിയതും.'

ചേട്ടായി മുറിയിൽ നിന്നിറങ്ങിയതും പെട്ടെന്ന് അവിടെ മുഴുവൻ ഇരുട്ട് വന്ന് മൂടിയത് പോലെ ഒരു മാറ്റം. മീന മാസത്തെ സൂര്യൻ പുറത്ത് കത്തിജ്വലിക്കുന്നുണ്ടെങ്കിലും അച്ചന്റെ മുറി മുഴുവൻ ഇരുട്ട് കമ്പിളി പുതച്ചത് പോലെ നിന്നു. വല്ലാത്ത ശബ്ദവും ബഹളവും കേട്ടിട്ട് കുശിനിക്കാരൻ കറിയാച്ചൻ ഓടിവന്ന് കതകിൽ തട്ടി വിളിച്ചു. അച്ചൻ പുറത്തു വന്ന് ധൃതിയിൽ പറഞ്ഞു, 'കറിയാച്ചാ, ഇന്നിനി ആരെയും അകത്തോട്ട് കയറ്റി വിടേണ്ട'. കറിയാച്ചന് കാര്യം പിടികിട്ടി. സാധാരണ എന്തെങ്കിലും എഴുതാൻ കിട്ടുമ്പോഴാണ് ഇങ്ങനെ സ്വയം ജയിലിൽ അടച്ചത് പോലെ അച്ചൻ ഇരിക്കുന്നത്. പക്ഷേ ഇത്തവണ കുറച്ച് കൂടിയ സംഗതിയാണെന്ന് കറിയാച്ചന് തോന്നി. എന്തായാലും വാതിലും ജനലും എല്ലാം അടച്ച് പുറത്തുനിന്ന് ബന്തവസാക്കി ഏൽപ്പിച്ച ജോലി ഭംഗിയായി പൂർത്തിയാക്കി.

അന്നേരം ഏകദേശം 3:00 മണി ആയിരുന്നു.

പിന്നെ അവിടെ എന്തൊക്കെ സംഭവിച്ചു എന്ന് ആർക്കും ഒരു അറിവും ഇല്ല. പലപ്പോഴും അച്ചന്റെ ഉറക്കെയുള്ള കരച്ചിൽ കേട്ടു. രണ്ടുമൂന്നു തവണ കസേരയിൽ നിന്ന് നിലത്തുവീണ ശബ്ദം കേട്ടു. പലതരത്തിലുള്ള വർത്തമാനങ്ങളും അലർച്ചകളും മാറിമാറി മുറിയിൽ നിന്ന് പുറത്തു വന്നു കൊണ്ടേയിരുന്നു. അവസാനം മൂന്നു മണിക്കൂറുകൾക്ക് ശേഷം ശബ്ദമൊന്നും കേൾക്കാതെ ആയപ്പോൾ കറിയാച്ചൻ ചെന്ന് വാതിൽ തുറന്നു.

അകത്തു കണ്ട കാഴ്ച ശരിക്കും ഭീകരമായിരുന്നു . അച്ചന്റെ ഉടുപ്പ് എല്ലാം ആരോ കീറിപ്പറിച്ചു വച്ചിരുന്നത് പോലെ. ഭയങ്കരമായ ഏതോ ഭാരം ചുമന്നതുപോലെ അച്ചൻ തളർന്ന് ആവശനായിരുന്നു. കറിയാച്ചൻ അവിടെ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്ന മറ്റുള്ളവരെ കൂടെ കൂട്ടി അച്ചനെ ഒരു കട്ടിലിൽ കിടത്തി.

ആ മുറിയിൽ മുഴുവൻ പതിവില്ലാത്ത ഒരു ഗന്ധം നിറഞ്ഞു നിന്നു. കറിയാച്ചൻ അച്ചന്റെ മേശയിലോട്ടു നോക്കി. അവിടെ അച്ചൻ എഴുതിവച്ചിരുന്ന കടലാസ്സുകൾ പരന്നു കിടന്നിരുന്നു. അവിടെ നിന്നാണ് ആ മണം വന്നിരുന്നത്. കറിയാച്ചൻ അതെടുത്തു നോക്കി. എഴുതിയിരിക്കുന്നത് അച്ചന്റെ പ്രിയപ്പെട്ട പേനകൊണ്ട് തന്നെ. ചെൽപാർക്ക് മഷിയുടെ നീലനിറം ആ പേപ്പറുകളെ അലങ്കരിച്ചിരുന്നു. പക്ഷേ ആ രൂക്ഷഗന്ധം അതിൽ നിന്ന് തന്നെ ആണ് വന്നിരുന്നത്. കറിയാച്ചൻ ഒന്ന് ഞെട്ടി! അത് ചൂട് ചോരയുടെ മണം ആയിരുന്നു.

പെട്ടെന്ന് കിഴക്ക് ഭാഗത്തുള്ള ജനലിന്റെ പാളി തുറന്നു ശക്തിയുള്ള ഒരു കാറ്റ് വീശി. മേശപ്പുറത്ത് കിടന്നിരുന്ന കടലാസുകളെല്ലാം തന്നെ കാറ്റ് പറത്തിക്കൊണ്ടു പോകുന്നതിനു തൊട്ടുമുമ്പ് കറിയാച്ചൻ അതിന്റെ തുടക്കത്തിൽ എഴുതിയിരുന്ന വരികൾ കണ്ടു, അതിങ്ങനെയായിരുന്നു.

കുരിശിൽ മരിച്ചവനെ

കുരിശാലെ വിജയം വരിച്ചവനെ...

The Receiving End

Twenty beautiful years. That was what I was blessed to be with my parents and my brother, day in and day out, physically. Ever since I was born and till the day I completed my graduation, I stayed home with my family in our small town of Changanacherry in Kerala. Post graduation took me out of my town for the first time and since then I came back home for vacations which were some of the most cherished moments in life.

Coimbatore, a city in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu was the first one in the list where I had to stay in a hostel for three years till the end of the PG course. This was followed by Bangalore for further studies followed by my first job and eventually I landed in Dubai.

During the Coimbatore days, each time after a vacation got over, I used to travel back from Changanacherry to Coimbatore by bus. There was an almost religious sequence to those sent offs. Mom and dad packed food stuff like pickles and snacks which I’ll take back to my hostel. Dad would’ve already booked the bus in advance and on the day I had to leave, with absolutely no exception, he will drop me at the travel agency office. It didn’t stop there.

Buses to many destinations stopped there at the office to pick up passengers. There were always a few boys or girls like me in the waiting area or outside the office awaiting their buses. Almost all of the girls had their parents or at least their fathers waiting along with them for the buses to arrive. That was rarely the case when it came to boys. For most of them, it was either their parents or sometimes a friend or a relative dropping them off and wouldn’t wait for their departure. This was where my dad was an exception.

Dad would drop me at the travel agency, parked his Maruti 800, the cutest car India produced those times, came to the agency office and stayed with me till the time my bus arrived. The waiting time could be anywhere between half an hour to one hour, sometimes more, depending on the traffic conditions on the road. I thank God now for allowing me to be born in early 80’s before mobile phones became popular that I spent all those waiting time talking to my dad.

After a while, the travel agency owner would announce the arrival of the bus in the next five minutes. That’s when I’ll get ready with my bags and wait for the bus to show its face. The agency office was located at a place where you could see the bus coming from a distance. As soon as dad spotted the bus, he would prompt me to get ready for departure. He’ll ensure that I didn’t forget any of my bags and once the bus arrived the same assurance is made for the luggage to be tucked in the belly of the bus safely and I was seated comfortably inside the bus.

The most precious of all those times were the last moments when I bid goodbye to dad before boarding the bus. I had never seen him cry, but always felt his deep love for me welled up in his heart as he looked into my eyes and uttered probably the shortest word in this world, ‘OK’. That ‘OK’ had everything included in it and I knew he didn’t have to be vocal to express that. Ironically, I am just the opposite when it came to expressing love and emotions. Even though dad was not quite comfortable with public display of affection, I always ensured that I gave him a tight hug and a loving kiss on his cheeks and told him to take care till we meet again. He will nod his head and smile. And that’s how we parted.

I loved the fact that I am the one who was leaving and not staying back, as I always felt seeing off someone is more painful than being sent off. The one who is going away will have new experiences to look forward to including the travel itself whereas the one who is seeing off will go back to the same life minus the loved one whom you just sent off. That hurts.

I guess dad got tired of being the one who was seeing me off all the time and decided on a bright and sunny day on, 16 Feb 2023, to allow me to see him off. This time I was the one who was speechless, though my tears did all the talk as dad was on a journey that had no return. But I did tell him for one last time to take care till we meet again in eternal life. He didn’t nod his head but had that smile on his face as always.