Three Days To Go...

With three days left for the Kashmir trip, the monsoon scare has become real. Just as it looked like we were done with this year’s (meager) rainfall, the rain gods have hit with a vengeance. It has been pouring continuously since Sunday. Today the papers reported 'the wettest 24-hour spell' of the season with large scale water-logging, traffic snarls and disruption of air and train services. A 'heavy rain alert' has been sounded for the next few days coinciding with August 31, the day the Kashmir group is scheduled to leave.
More than the possibility of a train cancellation, what is keeping everyone on tenterhooks is the outbreak of monsoon-related diseases, including new strains of malaria, pneumonia and viral infection which do not respond to treatment. Monthi Serrao (top right) has not quite recovered from a viral attack earlier this month and still complains of bouts of fever and weakness. She had got a blood test done yesterday, which has eliminated any chance of malaria. But why she gets the shivers and fever every morning remains a mystery.
Santosh Tyagi (top left) too isn’t sure of making it to Kashmir, even as she is very keen on the trip like Monthi. Her problem though, is one of loss of self-confidence. Her BP has shot to alarming levels (presumably, out of anxiety) and refuses to normalize. And then there are enough mischievous people around ribbing the Kashmir group for abandoning the cool comfort of their homes and the wonderful weather of Mumbai for the uncertainties of food and stay, possible landslides on the journey, terrorist attacks and so on. Only Tara Chand Seth has been rather encouraging towards the group while maintaining matter-of-factly that this could be their last opportunity to be visiting the proverbial ‘paradise on earth’.
Meanwhile Hari Singh Shekhawat has his task marked out as he goes about (bottom pic) tying up all loose ends for the trip. For all intent and purposes, he is responsible for the group. From keeping individual accounts to allotting seat numbers in the train to coordinating with Mumtaz Jahan in Srinagar and obtaining confirmations from all concerned, he has a lot on his plate. And time is running out…