The road trip part 2

The homemaker has the ultimate career. All other careers exist for one purpose only - and that is to support the ultimate career. ”-  C.S. Lewis.

Ever since our daughter was born, Alice does not have a single day of uninterrupted sleep which practically means being on call every night for one year six months. In that continuous caring of our child, Alice forgets an equally important need. And that is taking care of her own self.  As a husband who delivers sleeping gases to patients and who gets partially anaesthetized in the process, I have little help to offer her in the domestic predicament of ours. So, I decide to take my wife on a road trip.

The resort is situated in an idyllic setting. The private beach is free from loitering and huge crowds. Next to the beach are green lawns with coco trees and a beach facing restaurant that serves meals. A gaggle of tamed geese run helter-skelter as we walk through the paths to our cottage. our room is few meters from the beach with the roar of the waves and the smell of the marine very appreciable.

It is early afternoon by the time we finish our lunch. We throw our bags in the air conditioned room and slip into a long nap. The long road trip has taken its toll on our bodies.

By 5 pm, we are up and ready to start our beach side stint. In Bermudas and Tees, we are out for our first sand walk. I take my camera and tripod to make some pixel memories. The coastline is a visual wonder. The angulations of the shore allow us to see structures miles away from our place. The tussle between the clouds and the sun made it amiable for our stroll. We draw pictures on the sand and the waves try to wipe them out. The water pulls us to the deep as they recede making it all the more pleasurable. Walking ignorant of the distance and clicking pictures at will, we spend hours on the sea side.

The sea humbles us. It drives even the most hard hearted among us into a mood of philosophical thought. It is huge and awe inspiring. It is powerful and reslilent. Suddenly I feel that my life with all its worries and plans is very small in the ginormic universe we live in. Somehow the sea  melts my pride and pushes my heart to worship the God who wonderfully created this world where the waves would come a distance and then retreat.

The sun begins to set turning from ochre to sweet orange as we make our way back. We have an early dinner and make plans for the next day- to explore the beach city of Mahabalipuram.

By 10 AM, we have our breakfast and the taxi is ready to take us on our itinerary. We  surf the internet, thanks to the free WiFi offered at the hotel and finalize on places to be visit.

We start with a tourist complex that comprise of an aquarium, a pearl market, a shell museum and a seafood restaurant.  The aquarium that occupies a part in the complex is fascinating.  The roof of the building has a model of an octopus that penetrates its tentacles into the building.Fish from different parts of the world are showcased- from Iran that sensitize our nerve endings as we take a dip, to fish from Pakistan that I remember only for political reasons. The sense of wonder takes us over for some time and the design on their gyrating bodies, we think, can only be possible by The Cosmic Artist. And any alternative theory at best, sounds only comic.

 We make a brief visit to a sea shell museum that is a collection of a single person for 33 years and presents over 40000 specimens which are classified and scientifically named. No wonder it is the largest in south Asia.

Our next stop is the five Rathas. These structures are one of the world UNESCO heritage sites. The efforts of the Archeological survey of India are very evident in preserving these ancient monuments. As we get down the car, there is a rush of salesman and guides offering assistance. We decline their help. They would not relent. We get a single ticket to visit all the heritage sites and ran into the Ratha campus to escape ‘the sales attack’.

The Five Rathas were built from a single rock during the reign of Pallava king Narasimha Varman 1 in around AD 680. They were so named because they resembled wooden chariots.

 The crowd comprise of students and foreigners posing for pictures inside the concavities of the Rathas. The sweltering heat makes us uneasy. We decide to move on. The peddlers would not abandon their pursuit. We explain that we do not have cash. One fellow chips in saying-‘We accept cards’. Alice and I exchange anxious looks and hurry towards the taxi.

The last stop of our road trip is the Shore temple. The guard at the entrance stops us.  He looks at us in suspicion and takes us to the office. The booking clerk enquires if we are Indian. He doubts our nationality. We show him our PAN card, driving licence, our institution ID. He is not happy. He thinks that Alice in her sleeveless shirt, boy cut and coolers is from Malaysia and is acting to be an Indian to avoid the hefty fee for other nationals. Alice turns furious and her fluent Tamil breaks his defence. He apologizes and we enter the Shore temple premises.

 The Shore temple comprises of two shrines that were collectively built by Pallava king Narasimha Varman 2. The temple is having its own share of trouble due to the rough weather from the sea. The ASI has built a grogyne wall and constructed Casuarina plantation to check the marine effect.

We are finally done. We are sweating all our water out. Alice buys an umbrella to fight the heat. We have a quick lunch of which I remember only an extremely unfriendly waiter in a seafood restaurant. The taxi takes us back to our hotel.

The next day we are back to Chennai. We have our lunch at KFC. I ask my wife if she enjoyed the trip. She blushes and I get my answer.

As I write this, she takes care of our daughter again. The tough jobs of our loved ones may not change by vacations like these. But they certainly give them a much awaited respite. More importantly, it conveys that we care for them!!!