Today has been a day of rest.

Yesterday the day started quite early with a train journey of three and odd hours, followed by a bus journey of an hour or so. A few minutes of waiting at our destination and the houseboat which would be our home for the day, arrived.

What followed was a fun-filled day with friends. We were seventeen in all. Games, dance, chatter, good food, scenic beauty, birds on a wire (mostly whiskered terns and bee eaters), bird in the water (mostly little cormorants and ducks), birds on the banks (egrets of all kinds and pond herons)…we enjoyed it all. Well, I enjoyed the birds, I don’t know about the others.

It was almost 10 p.m. when we reached home after a fulfilling day. Even the return journey had not felt tiring. We were as full of spirit as in the morning. But today morning was a different story. I woke up today feeling all tired, happily so and extremely lazy. The day was spent lolling in bed playing FarmVille and WordCollect. I got up only to feed myself and of course, the L&M. Can’t have him going hungry!

Tomorrow, I get back into the groove after this day of rest and rambling again. This is not exactly much of a ramble, is it? This week has a lot in store for me. There’s a painting workshop. The Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters is to start in four days time. I am hoping to attend and listen to some of the speakers.

In the meantime here are some pictures that were clicked while sailing on a houseboat in the Ashtamudi backwaters.

©️ Shail Mohan 2024