(at this moment greatest relief is that, idli batter is fully stocked in fridge, and all podis such as paruppu podi, karuveppilai podi and all thokkus such as tomato thokku are ready with vathal/appalam in tins. Rice & atta in good reserve, all dals there. Coffee, tea there. Channa etc., there. Broken coconuts half a dozen in freezer. Dry red chili, tamarind there. Even if lockdown is announced right now, can survive without milk for a month hahaha!)
After many years, Chennai is blessed bountifully with both the South West Monsoons (July-Sep) and North East Monsoons (Oct-Dec), because we are having this continuous wet spell right from August first week. There has not been a day when it has not rained since, that it reminds me of typical ‘kaar kaalam’ we used to have in our childhood when Monsoons did not necessarily mean cyclonic storms. Months of monsoons is happening now only once in a couple of years of more, never every year as it used to once upon a time…
Monsoons meant hot spicy bajjis and bondas and rounds and rounds of filter coffee and masala chai. From granny’s kitchen, that came steaming right from the stove nonstop. However, now to realize that you are expected to supply all this to your family in the rains is tooooooo muchhhhhhhh….! Never be born a woman!
I am tired, bored! Please just courier me hot plates of samosas with pudina chutney, onion bhajjis with sambhar and coconut chutney, strong hot & steaming filter coffee and also masala chai that i will finish my evening tiffin with!
Even Swiggy & Dunzo not working !!!
Braving your MIL and telling her in face that only Paruppu Podi saadham on menu today is not easy! Managed that! Still had to fry the papads and roast Seppam kizhangu! Also make dosa and coconut chutney! Absolutely didn’t feel like getting up from my bed this morning when it was pouring cats and dogs … but thinking of the souls waiting hungrily for your food got me reluctantly out of my comfy bed… puja is there then… Just finished the lunch assignment!
Before being summoned for next round in kitchen, let me take a break! Already working out in mind, what to do for dinner and for tomorrow’s breakfast and lunch!!! Thankfully, oily bhajji ruled out by family otherwise I must be now deepfrying Vaazhaikkai bhajji in this rain!!! Tv also taken over by MIL and the kids!
Btw, love the monsoons! 60 hours of nonstop rains is in very distant memory now. Last had it may be in 2015 when I was in Doha, so I completely missed it.
For Varada cyclone, i was returning via Dubai. In Dubai my flight got suspended and I had to spend over 12 hours at DxB but the airport is very good there. I was offered hotel accommodation but I wanted to reach Chennai fastest. Opted to stay in the airport. Slept sitting in waiting lounge. Restrooms were fine and unlimited supply of snacks provided, so I was saved. I comfortably chose a spot near the charging point.
Reached Chennai around midnight then. Neither me nor my hubby could reach anyone via phone in Chennai. Four days earlier, I called my regular cab fellow and told him about my arrival that was to have been the previous day. I walked out of the airport and couldn’t spot a taxi. Landlines alone were functioning but a long queue. My house was locked and I didn’t know where to go in the midnight. Unsure, I trolleyed my baggage to outside airport. Lo and behold, my regular cabbie waved to me, looking tired and spent! He told me, he was checking every flight they allowed after Varada after I called. I was not taking a straight flight. I flew in via DxB but I was alert enough to put in a word to him. His phone was down, he could not talk to my folks, he could not talk to my hubby or me, but he parked near Nanganallur and returned to airport for every flight landing in Meenambakkam. That is how he spotted me. His thorough professionalism and also humanity really amazes me even now.
Four days earlier I had also alerted my MIL, after which I could not reach my people via phone. She had taken cue and had arrived a day early in the storm keeping the gate open for me. She was there to open my door when I rang the bed in unearthly hours. There was no way I could call her in advance. Quite an adventure!
All the way I could spot the havoc wrecked by Varada just the previous day. Every standing tree in Chennai was down. Many roads blocked. My cabbie cleverly maneuvered his car avoiding flooded streets and those blocked with fallen trees.
I missed the 2015 flooding of Chennai but I did get to see the immediate after-effects of cyclone Varada in 2017. That was also to be the last time I flew in and out via Dubai. Soon UAE closed their doors to Qatar residents. Earlier I used to routinely switch flights in Dubai or Sharjah or Bahrain because their airlines were cheap and best. Now switching flights only in Colombo or opting for straight flight, whatever the ticket price. Hopefully with Biden, the situation in Middle East also gets resolved. Unnecessary travel hassles to third party NRIs. I miss switching flights in DxB. Facilitywise it is best. In very few airports you can last 12 to 18 hours nibbling on burgers and chips. I had my laptop, phone charger, cell phone, and the knowledge that their restrooms are clean gave me peace. We women have to factor in a lot of things. Doha airport is one level up now. We have the best, best in the league. I miss being there. How I wish my country can ensure this level of comfort to all air passengers.
Btw, i could have postponed my air travel, but the concerned airlines that I do not want to name, gave me false assurance that flights operated normally in Chennai then. They were eager to dump passengers and avoid cancellations, as I realized later. I wanted to rebook but they said onward flights were on. They weren’t bothered that I would be stranded in DxB for more than 12 hours in midnight. My fellow passengers shared a similar fate.
Flying in this weather… omg… Imagine being stranded in Colombo or Meenambakkam or even any of our local airports!!! Finished!
What I hate about men: Even in Doha or wherever, whenever we return from somewhere including shopping or walking or a tour, always trust your hubby to fix him his chai or coffee first!!! Just hate men for their insensitivity! And there they curl up to go back to sleep whereas you load the washing machine and start the next round of cooking because, after all you’ve been eating restaurant food for days when you were on holiday! And being a woman, you just can’t go to sleep without a care in the world as men do! I can’t! Unless I guess some semblance is restored in the house and the suitcases are unpacked I can’t sleep in peace just like that!
vijiravindran's 