Spontaneity seems to be the new permanent thing in my life. That explains a trip back home planned out of nowhere. This was an unusual week where I had almost no classes, so without a second thought I flew home. I was in time for the Navami Darshan, after two years. I have never been to Calcutta during pujo, or otherwise. From what I have heard and seen on TV, the city assumes an amazing form. However, for me, Bombay during Navratri is very special. Dandiya and Garba are more popular here than Durga Puja, but the city lights up brilliantly and it is a wonderful span of 9 days. Being Navami, the last day of the navratras, it seemed that the entire city was out on the roads. It took me nearly an hour to get home, which is double of what it takes usually.
Telepathy is a strange thing. My son - to the world he may be my pet dog, to me he is my child and much much more - had sensed something, as he does every time I return home. He had not left the sight of the door since the time I had left from my campus in Nagpur. After crawling through the traffic for so long, and in the meantime having fought thrice and laughed like a maniac all through the way with my kid sister in the car, I finally reached home. He could not wait for the door to be opened. If he could, he would have darted straight out of it. As my mother struggled with him to open the door, he came rushing straight into me and I also spotted our resident cat hopping with little concealed enthusiasm. She would never openly confess, though, that she was happy at my arrival. The next thing I knew was that my son was talking animatedly to me in his own language, which I justifiably claim to completely understand, and we were on the floor, face to face. I couldn't help welling up a little when my sister said that this was the happiest they'd seen him in a very long time. I just stood there and watched him going ballistic with our cat who also was in the prime of her excitement with all the activity. I had to sneak out a brief second to wish my mother who was beaming at the chaos. It was the best homecoming, as it is every time.
~
~
