MEIN AUNTY BAN GAYI - I

~This post dates a couple of months back~

We have all had our moments of truth – a crucial, defining moment that throws reality in the form of a baseball right at our face forcing us to swallow it. Well, I didn’t even imagine that my baseball would be thrown at me by a 6-year old darling.

I was returning back to Mumbai after over a week of vacationing at my home-sweet-home in Kerala. (‘Vacationing’ should be read as lying down on the ground in front of television and changing channels with my toes, munching nothing, anything and everything that my mother sets in front of me and if I get time off from my busy schedule I would sleep like a god-forsaken LOG which has gone into a coma for ages!!!). Every time I am about to leave home, my mother would hug me tight. First her lips would turn into a perfect inverted U, then her eyes would swell up with tears (her eyes have the incredible ability of filling up with tears right to the brim without letting it fall off onto her cheeks) and her nose would turn into a ripe tomato, making me wanna kiss it. Every time the very same scene in the very same sequence… I bid goodbye to a wet, ripe tomato poised above an inverted U and drove off with my father to the airport. The vision of my mother standing like that at the gate of my house would remain picture perfect in my mind for quite some time… every time…

My father on the other hand has mastered the art of hiding his emotions, which I have inherited. Since time immemorial women have been considered the epitome of emotions. But I feel emotions play an equal part in men and women alike. Just that we women know how to simply cry and let it out of our system. Men on the other hand just do not know what to do with all the emotions accumulated over their lifetime. They seem to be walking on a tightrope balancing all those feelings on one side and the image of a “strong man” on the other. He would hardly talk to me all the way to the airport.

When I and my father reach the airport, he would put an arm on my shoulder and say,

“Shari, mone” (“Ok. Son.” He always called me ‘Son’)
“Poyitte varu” (The literal translation would be “Go Come”, but it means something to the effect “Take Care”)

The only thing that would give away the true emotions behind these 4 words is the slight quiver in his voice as he said them. Later my mother would tell me that my father was in a foul mood that day like all the other days I left from home. I turn and walk towards the airport exclaiming to myself, “Parents!!!” :)

I was looking forward for my flight that time as it was the first time I would be flying in Kingfisher, the much heard about king of all times. Right at the entrance there was a representative greeting you and taking your luggage. It felt goooood. Come ooooon! Who wudnt like a li’l bit of pampering? When my friends had come to know that I was traveling by Kingfisher, they had given me quizzical looks which said, “Why are YOU traveling by Kingfisher???” As soon as I entered the plane I knew what they meant. The airhostesses were GORGEOUS!!! They were adorned in smart red sailor suites and I could not help but ogle at them. Errr… Mein straight che.. ;)

The seats were plush and luxurious and the designer interiors were highly attractive in luscious red. Kingfisher was indeed the king of the Indian skies especially after experiencing airborne bullock-carts like Air Deccan. But what bowled me over was when I saw Yana Gupta, in her smart mini-skirt, giving the safety instructions in a screen right in front of me. Damn! She was even speaking in an accented Hindi. My eye-balls literally popped out of their sockets and fell off into my very hands. Vijay Mallya seems to be playing the cards R-E-A-lly well - Kochu Kalla, China Thiruda, Little Robber.

I slumped back into the comfort of the seat and closed my eyes. I opened my eyes after just a moment and there she was …. A vision… A vision of big round eyes behind cherubic curls….

To be continued…

~Gosh! Now I know how powerful Ekta Khanna feels. ;)... Errrr.. That was Ekta Kapoor.. Hehe.. ~

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Hey Guys,

Thanks to all of you for the best wishes for the contest. I am taking a break from work and going off to my fav city - Hyderabad. I am hoping to surprise a dear friend. Can’t wait to be there.

Take Care… :)

..Me