It was decided, we were not going to Manali. It was not even in the original plan for that matter. It was my dad’s Idea to visit Manali after Dharamshala. We were on the same trip but apparently not on the same page as far as our trip plan was concerned. My plan for this trip was simple, start from Agra real early , cross Delhi before the office rush hits the road , reach Swarghat via Pinjaur by evening, stay the night there and next morning head straight for Dharamshala.
On the eve of the our trip we had a few friends over for dinner and at the dinner table my father informs me that there has been a slight change of plans , we weren’t starting early morning, next day but in fact late in the afternoon and would be staying in Delhi for the night. His timing was perfect , with guest on both sides I couldn’t revolt. It was an old trick, I remember as a kid announcing my report card minutes before the guests arrival ,just as I heard them pulling into our driveway . It always worked , I just never imagined my dad pulling off a trick like that.
The next day wasn’t perfect, it was a hot day to begin with and my mom wouldn’t stop fretting about me not spending enough time with her .“But mom, I got nothing to do here ,you go to work and I get bored alone at home” I said as I got down from the stairs with my bags . “I’m not liking this one bit you know, Your father is diabetic ” she said “ and you two wont stop fighting,you both won’t last a day without me” with that ,she pulled my bag away from me and start packing it herself “yea ma, you will be sadly missed on this trip ,but it’s your decision not to come with us” “ I wanted to go Haridwar but you guys were adamant about going to Dharamsala and just look at this” she said pointing at my bag “you can’t even pack your own bags and you are going on this trip with your father " “ I can’t because you won’t let me pack and don’t worry I’ll do just fine” “ I’m sure you would , It’s you father I’m worried about” she had a point there, I had to give her that.
"stop dragging your old man to all these places , get married and take your husband around wherever you want " I can’t believe she was pulling that card on me again "If and when i do and that’s a big IF I’m talking about here,why would I take him to Himachal. " now I had her attention , she was finally listening, she kept the bag aside and looked at me " where then , Europe maybe" she said with an eager smile . " Taking advantage of her sudden interest, I grabbed my bag away from her " Mongolia actually…but that’s not the point . See i didn’t force dad into coming with me, In fact Dharamshala was his Idea and did you even look at how excited he is about this trip ". Her mind was elsewhere now, i could tell. she no longer worried about the old man ,but worried for the girl standing in front ,who wants to go to Mongolia. She sat down on the chair nearby in a resigned manner "what am i going to do with you, Manu" she said in a soft low voice. “well , try not to do anything While I’m gone” I smiled and gave her a hug on my way out.
I stopped mid-way, I was forgetting something and I had a bad feeling about it. "But Mom before you do that ,could you um..help me remember something that I’ve forgotten and then later maybe, help me find it as well” Looks cannot actually kill ,but this was not time to break it to her, “Oh c’mon Mom don’t look at me like that , see this is a game I generally play with myself on the day I’m Travelling, In fact it’s almost a tradition by now.” I’ve been thinking about christening this tradition for a long time, give it a name maybe but again not the right time to mention “ I am forgetting something that’s for sure and I do this last minute treasure hunt to find it , no biggie ” She didn't buy the treasure hunting thing for a second ,An hour and a half later , I found my Camera batteries still plugged and charging in my room and well ,few other things I rather not mention. For my mother’s sake , I sincerely wish that looks would kill , one day.
I never had to look at a watch to know when it’s Go time . The day I’m Travelling, I get yelled at for every damn thing starting from dawn .The intervals between the yelling’s keep getting shorter and the pitch higher as we approach the Go time . when its loud enough to force the neighbors out and I ‘m assured of an audience , That’s my cue.The car was out of the driveway and luggage already loaded when I burst out of the houses with my bags .
“ You are late” Dad shouted as he backed his car. “I’m not” I shot back as I looked at my watch while dumping my bags in the back seat. “Still 30 seconds to 3 O’clock dad “ I was grinning at him as I settled myself in the front seat. He turn off the ignition and took one hard look at me “ what do I always tell you Manu, when you are early, you are on time , when you are on time , you are late and when you are late, you get fired” “Oh c’mon dad ,Give me a break , I’m on a vacation here and besides I’m you daughter you can’t fire me out of your life ,you are stuck with me forever .” He shook his head in disappointment and turned on the ignition as I laughed away “ let’s go dad ,lets go..and Mom.. I’ll see you soon then , in Hyderabad ?“ she stood still nervously holding on to the gate. “ I can’t promise, I have lots of work here , the roof needs some fixing ,I drawing room flooring needs work and the water tank is leaking and the maid ..” “ma…ma." I interrupted her “ try to have some fun, for once ” .
“ you take care of you father , you hear ” she sounded hassled “I still think it’s a bad Idea but what can I say, you are as adamant as your father ”on hearing this ,Dad switched off the ignition and this time to look at mom .” Oh man! Not the ignition again, Dad!!! ” I groaned and sank into my seat but I have to say it was justified this time ,mom had made a serious accusation against the both of us and it had to be addressed . “ don’t blame me, for her” he said agitatedly “ yea and don’t you credit him for my genius, I’m original” I added .
Her eyes first rested on him and then on his look alike, sitting right next to him, both in turn stared back at her accusingly. “yes, yes you both are very original , always finding new ways to make my life miserable” she gave a half laugh and with that started to close the gate behind us . “ now go on , you guys are running late already” “ Bye Mom ,love you and hope to see you soon in Hyderabad ” I shouted leaning out of my window as dad drove off. She wasn’t coming ,I knew but I was still hoping she would forget about that leaky roof and somehow make it to Hyderabad that winter.
I saw her in the rear view mirror ,as she stood at the gate watching us. I wondered what she was thinking, was she hoping we would get into an argument the minute we were on our own . Was she scared that any minute now the car would come to a shrieking halt at the street corner and I would be thrown out on the roads with my bags still flying in the air, as dad zooms off on his own ,all the way to Dharamshala. She kept getting smaller and smaller and eventually disappeared from the mirror as we took a turn onto the next street. That was when it hit me, I was going to miss her.
On the eve of the our trip we had a few friends over for dinner and at the dinner table my father informs me that there has been a slight change of plans , we weren’t starting early morning, next day but in fact late in the afternoon and would be staying in Delhi for the night. His timing was perfect , with guest on both sides I couldn’t revolt. It was an old trick, I remember as a kid announcing my report card minutes before the guests arrival ,just as I heard them pulling into our driveway . It always worked , I just never imagined my dad pulling off a trick like that.
The next day wasn’t perfect, it was a hot day to begin with and my mom wouldn’t stop fretting about me not spending enough time with her .“But mom, I got nothing to do here ,you go to work and I get bored alone at home” I said as I got down from the stairs with my bags . “I’m not liking this one bit you know, Your father is diabetic ” she said “ and you two wont stop fighting,you both won’t last a day without me” with that ,she pulled my bag away from me and start packing it herself “yea ma, you will be sadly missed on this trip ,but it’s your decision not to come with us” “ I wanted to go Haridwar but you guys were adamant about going to Dharamsala and just look at this” she said pointing at my bag “you can’t even pack your own bags and you are going on this trip with your father " “ I can’t because you won’t let me pack and don’t worry I’ll do just fine” “ I’m sure you would , It’s you father I’m worried about” she had a point there, I had to give her that.
"stop dragging your old man to all these places , get married and take your husband around wherever you want " I can’t believe she was pulling that card on me again "If and when i do and that’s a big IF I’m talking about here,why would I take him to Himachal. " now I had her attention , she was finally listening, she kept the bag aside and looked at me " where then , Europe maybe" she said with an eager smile . " Taking advantage of her sudden interest, I grabbed my bag away from her " Mongolia actually…but that’s not the point . See i didn’t force dad into coming with me, In fact Dharamshala was his Idea and did you even look at how excited he is about this trip ". Her mind was elsewhere now, i could tell. she no longer worried about the old man ,but worried for the girl standing in front ,who wants to go to Mongolia. She sat down on the chair nearby in a resigned manner "what am i going to do with you, Manu" she said in a soft low voice. “well , try not to do anything While I’m gone” I smiled and gave her a hug on my way out.
I stopped mid-way, I was forgetting something and I had a bad feeling about it. "But Mom before you do that ,could you um..help me remember something that I’ve forgotten and then later maybe, help me find it as well” Looks cannot actually kill ,but this was not time to break it to her, “Oh c’mon Mom don’t look at me like that , see this is a game I generally play with myself on the day I’m Travelling, In fact it’s almost a tradition by now.” I’ve been thinking about christening this tradition for a long time, give it a name maybe but again not the right time to mention “ I am forgetting something that’s for sure and I do this last minute treasure hunt to find it , no biggie ” She didn't buy the treasure hunting thing for a second ,An hour and a half later , I found my Camera batteries still plugged and charging in my room and well ,few other things I rather not mention. For my mother’s sake , I sincerely wish that looks would kill , one day.
I never had to look at a watch to know when it’s Go time . The day I’m Travelling, I get yelled at for every damn thing starting from dawn .The intervals between the yelling’s keep getting shorter and the pitch higher as we approach the Go time . when its loud enough to force the neighbors out and I ‘m assured of an audience , That’s my cue.The car was out of the driveway and luggage already loaded when I burst out of the houses with my bags .
“ You are late” Dad shouted as he backed his car. “I’m not” I shot back as I looked at my watch while dumping my bags in the back seat. “Still 30 seconds to 3 O’clock dad “ I was grinning at him as I settled myself in the front seat. He turn off the ignition and took one hard look at me “ what do I always tell you Manu, when you are early, you are on time , when you are on time , you are late and when you are late, you get fired” “Oh c’mon dad ,Give me a break , I’m on a vacation here and besides I’m you daughter you can’t fire me out of your life ,you are stuck with me forever .” He shook his head in disappointment and turned on the ignition as I laughed away “ let’s go dad ,lets go..and Mom.. I’ll see you soon then , in Hyderabad ?“ she stood still nervously holding on to the gate. “ I can’t promise, I have lots of work here , the roof needs some fixing ,I drawing room flooring needs work and the water tank is leaking and the maid ..” “ma…ma." I interrupted her “ try to have some fun, for once ” .
“ you take care of you father , you hear ” she sounded hassled “I still think it’s a bad Idea but what can I say, you are as adamant as your father ”on hearing this ,Dad switched off the ignition and this time to look at mom .” Oh man! Not the ignition again, Dad!!! ” I groaned and sank into my seat but I have to say it was justified this time ,mom had made a serious accusation against the both of us and it had to be addressed . “ don’t blame me, for her” he said agitatedly “ yea and don’t you credit him for my genius, I’m original” I added .
Her eyes first rested on him and then on his look alike, sitting right next to him, both in turn stared back at her accusingly. “yes, yes you both are very original , always finding new ways to make my life miserable” she gave a half laugh and with that started to close the gate behind us . “ now go on , you guys are running late already” “ Bye Mom ,love you and hope to see you soon in Hyderabad ” I shouted leaning out of my window as dad drove off. She wasn’t coming ,I knew but I was still hoping she would forget about that leaky roof and somehow make it to Hyderabad that winter.
I saw her in the rear view mirror ,as she stood at the gate watching us. I wondered what she was thinking, was she hoping we would get into an argument the minute we were on our own . Was she scared that any minute now the car would come to a shrieking halt at the street corner and I would be thrown out on the roads with my bags still flying in the air, as dad zooms off on his own ,all the way to Dharamshala. She kept getting smaller and smaller and eventually disappeared from the mirror as we took a turn onto the next street. That was when it hit me, I was going to miss her.
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