My experience beginning the day I left Kolkata

It was 13th September 2009. I have heard some people believe that 13 is inauspicious. But we had chosen that day when we booked our flight tickets coz I had to join my new company on 14th. When I look back at that day today, it’s difficult for me to express my exact feelings. As a mother, when I looked at my kids, I was unsure if they would have judged me, had they been mature enough!!! But when I looked at my career this was a major leap for me. Although I was excited about my new expedition, I dreaded the thought of my children forgetting me. How would I tolerate it??? I kept on telling Abbas,”Please tell me they won’t forget their mother”. I would tell him, “Please bring them to me ASAP no matter what”. I would repeat to myself –“This is the first and the last time I would be away from them this way. I wouldn’t let this happen again.” My eyes have turned watery now as I’m recollecting that phase. I had declared that only Abbas should come to see me off. It would be difficult for me if Mannu Tammu come to the airport. I cried a lot on the way to the airport. (I pass off to be a strong bold girl from outside, coz I don’t like revealing my weaker self to others. Only Abbas knows me in and out) Abbas reassured, consoled and tried to comfort me with all nice words, but I knew he would also cry once I vanished from his view into the departure.

God, this post is making me shed more tears than I actually shed when I was away from my kids. I had controlled my emotions to such an extent that they had extensively got accumulated somewhere in there. They poured down like monsoon rains as I wrote the first paragraph. Now I’m feeling better.

To make the moment lighter, let me come to the good part of the three weeks. Within a span of 6 days, I travelled by air thrice. After reaching Chennai on 14th I had to fly to Mumbai the very next day. While in Mumbai I had been to my friend Vanitha’s house and ate mouth watering South Indian delicacies prepared by her mom. I was eating all those preparations that I had missed out on in the past three and a half years. It was a tongue tingling treat for me, thoroughly enjoyed it. To be more honest, first time after marriage I felt a motherly gesture from someone not even related to me. Thanks Aunty for everything… Simply love you.

When I came back to Chennai, I was staying in the Company Guest House. Marvellously built and beautifully maintained. It was the second time after marriage that I was actually relaxing freely (first being my days in the nursing home before delivery). A married woman hardly gets this experience of where she could just walk off the messy room with clothes dumped only to come back and see her room and bathroom tidied; her clothes laundried. She could just come and jump into the bed, watch TV with the remote control all for herself. She is being served food on the table. After eating she could simply get up and go to bed. I really got rejuvenated to face the strenuous days to come

After my Guest House booking was expired, I moved to my Uncle’s house for a few days. It was again a new post-marrieage experience for me: Being with my relatives, speaking in Konkani after a long time and eating the kind of food that I used to have at Kundapura. Srinath Bappa and Vatsala pachchi helped me a lot right from locating a house to settling the lease agreement to buying household stuff. Their daughter Tanvi was with me when I enetered into the house the first day. We had a small “milk boiling ceremony” too. She helped in setting up the house before my family arrived.

I was to work in the graveyard shift (6 PM to 3:30 AM) beginning 5th October. They were gonna come on 6th. More to come up in my next post…