Mumma’s First

It’s not like she didn’t go anywhere. Mumma did go out but it was always a family affair going with tour packages (that were found in the The Examiner), which meant staying at lodges and guest houses and traveling by trains and buses. Financial constraints, taking care of a sick family members had tied her down. Dadda never was able to take her or any of us abroad with him, like others who worked in the Gulf. Maybe it was the nature of his work, where he was never on land for too long, or maybe it was that he didn’t have a place of his own.

All this changed in the past year. With the passing of my aunt there was no one to care for, leaving her relatively free. Got her passport done knowing she could travel abroad to be with her daughters and visit family abroad. But before that she had her first plane ride, albeit in not too happy situation. Nonetheless she traveled abroad not once but twice with each stay better than the last one. 

Last weekend she took a trip to a place where she hadn’t been in over two decades. The last time she was here  Baba auntie, papa, Gerty nana, Tatu and dada were alive, we were not out of school and cheryl had just celebrated her 21st birthday. The last time she had been here she took an overnight train journey, with the family, and stayed at uncle Kenny’s place. This time she flew down, a journey that took just over an hour, and stayed at hotel, which she would consider as a great luxury. 

Whether she was eating a buffet meal, or relaxing in her bed, she took in all the luxuries. There was a joyous light that shown on her face as we drove from Hyderabad to Secunderabad to Sainikpuri, all the way to Kenny Uncle’s place. She took in the sights, she took in the experience, as Yash and Vipin drove her across town. She savoured the food that was prepared for us and that Yash and his sous chef Vipin prepared for her. And when I asked her how she was doing she just smiled and beamed and gave a sweet head nod.

She took in all the experiences and treasured every little moment in her heart. Somewhere I can hear my aunty’s voice telling her, in her slightly nagging tone “See what your husband couldn’t give you see my children are doing that for you” (as you see, she always considered us as her own children as she was a spinster). No matter what she would have said mumma took in every moment, her first of many first, making us proud to be enablers of this experience, this happiness.