A Slice Of Life

It was just going to be a four month stay for my parents at my sister's home in Torronto. But, I kept thinking about my lonely days at Chennai. I felt terrible of the fact that they have to be gone for four long months. It meant that I do not have the privelege of speaking or meeting my mom and dad any time I wanted to! 

The next couple of weeks was  the window period to program my brain that they will be gone. Eventually the day arrived and they were leaving India. By this time, I was prepared to send them off to Torronto and so I accompanied them to the airport.

I decided to stay outside and wait until the security check was over. It was a long sleepy wait as it was almost past one in the morning. As I stood there,  already missing my parents like a small child, I wondered how many of those waiting there felt the same.  I looked around, I saw most of them having happy smiles, a few having serious conversations, some others rearranging their stuff from the suitcases and some having blank empty looks on their faces.

A family of three girls and a man caught my attention. The girls wore bright coloured festive gowns. They had also decked themselves with glittery jewellery. The man who I assumed is the father wore a wrinkled shirt and an old pair of trousers. They looked tired and exhausted. The fancy clothes and shinning jewellery failed miserably to hide the dishevelled look of the children. 

The eldest girl stood there with almost no expressions and her eyes were blank as if she knew from the beginning this is what it will come to. The younger sister kept nervously meddling with her beautifully embroidered skirt. It looked as if she was about to run away to escape the heaviness of the moment while the youngest of the siblings had her arms around her father's shoulder holding on as tightly as she could. She did not want to let go of her dad. She was looking at her mother who stood in a long que waiting for her passports to get checked. The mother's eyes were filled with tears and she looked away avoiding her Children's gaze. She tried her best to stomach her sadness  trying to be calm for the sake of her three beautiful girls who are going to miss her terribly.  

The man kept talking to his wife about how easy its going to be once she is inside the terminal. In a desparate last attempt to reassure her that all was well,  he called out to the man standing behind her in the que to help her with the immigration process. The stranger nodded his head half willingly but he did not even bother to look at the mother and say a few words to her.  

It was time for the family to say goodbye to the mother when the youngest kid broke down and wept uncontrollably. The father in an attempt to soothe her down, spoke words of courage while the other two girls stood there as if they knew very well how life is not going to be the same without their mother around. 

My head kept spinning around contemplating the reason for the mother to leave her three very small girls. What was so important?  Was she going to visit a relative? Was she going to take care of someone who's sick? Was her travel  a desperate last hope to make their ends meet? 

My thoughts were with them and my heart too. The continous ringing of my phone shook me back to reality.  My dad informed that they had cleared the security check and asked me to return back home. 

On my way back home,  I just realised 

"What a privelege it is to live the wonderdul life I am living!"