There are eighteen types of people who shouldn`t be reading this blog post and one of them is: Those who get nightmares in which huge frogs with wet, spotted backs chase them down the street even as they slip on the road while running for safety.
Handling a frog can be tricky even for men. Leave alone the women!
Before you proceed any further you should go through the map of my father in law`s house. Notice, that the frog lives in one of the bathrooms. Also, notice that there is a forest zone in my father in law`s house…which makes life all the more difficult for a son in law whose only interaction with nature was watching ‘natural` Brooke Shields in the Hollywood movie titled Blue Lagoon many times over.
Map of ‘Kedaram’ – my father in law’s house in Cherrukunnu, Kannur, Kerala. For a bigger map Click Here
Anyway, after reaching Calicut by a Jet Airways flight we boarded in Mumbai, we had to take a 180 minutes drive to Kannur in an old Ambassador to reach my father in law`s house.
It all began when we reached Kedaram, my father in law`s brilliantly named house. Kedaram is a raga in music (or so I am told) and it also means a place where prosperity resides.
Since I am suffering from what in medical parlance is also known as the King`s Urinary Bladder Syndrome (OK, I made that one up!)….I had to pee like a race horse when we reached home. After dumping my bags on the verandah, I rushed in. My mother in law was blocking the way, ‘Where are you going she asked?”
“If I were going for a cup of tea, would I be so hurried?” I asked.
“No.”
“How about coffee?”
“No.”
After 24 such questions, my mother in law guessed right that I had to use the loo. That`s when she turned towards my father in law and asked him: “Do you want to tell him now?”
This triggered a pensive look on my father in law`s face. And when that expression didn`t break after three mins, I broke it for him: “Do you mind….I have been holding back diluted urea for the last three hours…what is it guys?”
At this my mother in law intervened and broke the news: “There is a frog in your favourite bathroom!”
“So?” I was indignant. “I can always take a broom and push the guy out. Or maybe pour some water and slip him out of the washroom.”
It was my father who gave me the bad news: “Rajan, we have tried that many times over in the last six months. This guy doesn`t go.”
“What are you saying? Where in the washroom is he?”
“He lives in the closet.” My mother in law added.
Ever since that fateful day when this frog dude flew in from the window and lodged himself (or herself – I am yet to see the frog`s gender) my in laws haven`t used my favourite washroom. Many attempts have been made to retrieve the lost land but to no gain. So much so, the territory occupied by the frog has been codenamed ‘Tiger Hills` so that it doesn`t understand my in law`s plans when they are discussed. Pity actually, for I found a major disconnect in the codename….why name it after a hill, when the territory in question is a shallow potty?
For a casual reader, the answer would be simple: ‘Use the other bathroom!”
But is the answer to this issue as simple, if I told you that bathroom two was my favourite because a snake lives in the closet of bathroom one?
Now you know why Kerala is God`s own country – because man and animal live as one!
Other Vishu related stories
Year 2005:
# Vishu Visit: The pre-interval story
# Vishu visit – post interval story
Year 2006:
# This, that and a Vishu trip
# Vishu Visit: How it all began
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