Cath had an early flight to catch. We said goodbye to her at 5.45am. I managed to fall back asleep despite the church music and sermons. This time they didn’t stop after 90 minutes and were still going strong when Helene and I left.
We took a tuk tuk into town. I was going to the Legislature Assembly sitting and Helene to work.
My new friend, Sunil, said he would get me a permit to see the assembly proceedings in action. I messaged him. He was at a funeral but had arranged for his colleagues to do the paperwork.
The security at the Legislature Assembly building was even tighter than last time. I had to remove all electronic items, passport, wallet, tissues, and anything else in my pockets. I could take in only Indian rupees and the clothes I was wearing!
The Assembly meeting had started by the time I got to the public gallery. The person at the entrance told me some house rules. Almost everywhere you go there are rules that seem somewhat random. For example, I was not to cross my legs; I had to face the assembly; and, more understandably, I was not to say anything.
The building being octagonal, there are eight galleries on the third floor. I was surprised how few spectators there were in my gallery. In my section, there were just seven people. The VIP section was packed. A bit later, many young women sat in another gallery. It may have been a women’s only gallery.
The meeting itself was mostly sedate. Every now and then, someone would say something that would prompt their fellow party members to enthusiastically thump their tables and mutter something.
When a new person starts speaking, a photograph of them and some information (in Malayalam) is shown on the two TV screens. A timer is started. I assume there is a maximum time the person is allowed to speak.
Speeches were usually no more than 6-7 minutes. Proceedings heated up when an opposition member gave an 18-minute speech. There was lots of table-thumping from his side of the house.
However, the ruling minister, who seemed to field most of the questions, spoke for over 20 minutes. Again, his party members were thumping their tables in support.
After this explosion of excitement, I felt things couldn’t get any better. I left.
I took a tuk tuk to Cafe Saawaa. I had about seven hours before having to leave for the airport. My flight was at 2025.
At the cafe, I read some more of my new book, Klara and the Sun, and reviewed my photos from the weekend. I had the same lunch as last time: lime juice and grilled sandwiches. I was able to have a latte, which has usually not been the case because few cafes have non-dairy milk.
Towards the end of the afternoon, someone near me ordered some freshly made chips. They looked good. I ordered some too. I also ordered a smoothie. I decided this would be an early dinner. Airports rarely have something to my liking. And the flight was only one hour. No meal would be served.
When the smoothie came, it was in a bowl. It looked like a Swiss muesli. It tasted good! I later learnt this is called a smoothie bowl. It’s more substantial than a smoothie drink.
It was time to go to the airport. It’s a toss-up between ordering a car and a tuk tuk. Cars are more expensive and more comfortable, especially if they have air-conditioning. Tuk tuks move more quickly through traffic. It was now rush hour. I ordered a tuk tuk.
I reached the domestic airport in good time. On entering the building, some people’s luggage was scanned. I asked someone what was going on because it seemed too early to encounter security. He said they were scanning checked-in luggage (for our airline) but not carry-on luggage yet. After passing through that, we checked-in our luggage then went through security, where our carry-on luggage was scanned.
The gate areas were packed. It didn’t help that our flight was delayed by 30 minutes. That reminded me of the person who told me about the initial security check. He had had his flight cancelled earlier in the day. Unlike me, he’d booked months ago. He had been moved to this later flight. The person, who was studying aeronautical engineering, said that there was a fair going on in Bengaluru (Bangalore). He wasn’t going to that but to a friend’s wedding.
Apart from the delay, the flight was over quickly. At Bangalore, I opened the Uber app but it already knew about my destination. I may have entered it to check pricing since the accommodation was over an hour away. Although I’d not pre-booked a cab, Uber had generated a PIN and directed me to the Uber queue. It told me to present the PIN to the driver. This was very slick.