Chokkanayaki had barely managed to reach the airport on time.The flight was scheduled to leave at 8.20PM and she was stuck in the highway traffic on the way to SantaCruz airport.The couple had left home at 4.30 PM and the long drive from Chembur was nervewracking.Vehicles moved in snail like precision inch by inch and the slow movement was getting a little unbearable.She wondered "Was it the sheer grit and determination of its residents that made Mumbai move?"Just back from Shirdi ,the constant utterance of Sai Nama was the only solace.A bag holding the sacred udi and the samadhi flowers served as the life jacket and Nayaki was still very much grounded.She gasped for the gas of life and her hands unconsciously reached out for the non existent oxygen pump.A constantly honking ambulance added to the traffic woes and it had no clue as to where it headed. The Nayaki's chaffeur was a staunch Marthi manus with a brave heart and he waded through the procession unfazed by the string of bottlenecks.
With a restless consort by her side the Nayaki was flying.......& was slowly slipping back to her oriental days.A trip to the railway station at Howrah was equally painful in the seventies and eightys.Subbu was a meticulous planner and had a great eye for detail.Time flies and if past experiences are anything to go by......the training taken to reach the station on time was now proving to be useful for the Nayaki.Subbu had prepared her for this day ,instilled confidence and the will to think positive .Holidays were a pleasure and the Subbu family would reach the station much ahead of the departure time and wait for hours...rather than miss the train.
The drive on the Rajiv Gandhi sea link is a delight and the beauty of the Rabindra Sethu bridge over the Hooghly is unparalleled.With thoughts meandering and alternating between time zones...Nayaki was plain lucky and Sai was her saviour.Her spirits were set to soar as the TamBong watched the magnificent Arabian Sea turn into the great Bay Of Bengal......
