Down the river of no return

A bewildering SMS received yesterday reads:

‘I am leaving forever, never to return. I don’t know how you feel about me. Hope you carry fond memories of our time together. Goodbye.’

Before revealing the sender’s name, let me tell you briefly about my trip to Cochin. I was planning to stay there till the 4^th of Jan but had to return to Chennai earlier on some urgent matter. That was a pity because the weather is pleasant in Kerala and there are so many weddings and functions on these days which I would have loved to attend.

First I tried to get an air ticket on the 30^th, but the price quoted ranged from Rs.4,700+ to nearly Rs.10,000. I decide that it was too much and asked for a ‘tatkal’ train ticket. A couple of hours later when I switched on the TV there was a news flash saying the some airlines were cutting fares by 35% to 82%. That is how it goes!

Anyway, it was a pleasant surprise when the travel agent came back with a regular 2AC ticket, senior citizen concession and all. Saved Rs.4000 by not buying the air ticket!

I suppose that people do not like to spend New Year eve on a train. Or was it a fear of terror attack? There was a warning about an assault on our aircraft carrier Virat, but the Alleppey Express, I felt, was too insignificant a target. I reached back safely.

In my ‘Merry Christmas’ post on 25^th December I mentioned that liquor sales for the festival was reportedly low. Well, Blogger Nebu has pointed out that the same evening the Kerala Beverages Corporation announced an all time high sales of Rs.41 crores (410 million) worth of spirits on Christmas Day!

Apparently, I had spoken too early. I should have known my Keralite brethren better.

By the way, ‘River of no return’ was the title song of a popular movie of the 1950s starring Marilyn Monroe.

Now about the SMS. The sender’s name was given as ‘2008’ !

A HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR to all of you.