it was back in 1997, everyone was playing holi, and me, my mum, and my brother had another reason to smile, my dad was coming back from germany in the very same month of march, after staying away from us for the last six months.
My brother was busy with his friends, and me and mum were at my place. i always tried to avoid holi, not because, i din't like it, but because i found it very tiring when after the colors, i had to spend hours to wash them away.
I was helping my mum in the kitchen, when the door bell alarmed us, i went to open the, cautious, not to be targeted by the mob of my friends. what they would is ring the bell, you open the door, and they will color u in a moment.
anyways gathering all my guts, i opened the door..
"namaste uncle" My uncle was standing outside the door.
"namaste beta"
i opened the door and greeted him in, i hugged me and wished me happy holi, i called mumma
He relaxed himself on the couch.
There was someething in his eyes, something was not good.
i felt uneasy , but i was just 9 years old so i had to look at him and i decided to stay mum.
i remember his words
"bhabhi ji, Ajit ka project 3 mahine or chalega, woh ab june tak waapis aaega...."
that was it, before the tear in my eyes could flow down my cheek i saw my mum dropping a tear.
This was the first time i saw her cry, before this it was only me who handled this business.
The evening was quiet, we did not have a telephone then, so my father used to call our neighbours.
Our neighbour called mum, as dad had called them to tell them he will be calling again in 5 mins.
we waited, each tick of the second sent throbs. the phone rang,
aunty was already aware that dad won't be coming this month, they moved out of the room, and my mum cried on the phone...
I was happy to see my brother telling her that its just a mtter of 3 months, he was only 13 years old.
It certainly wasn't a long time, and it was june, the best part was, that we had our holidays, so we went to delhi, at IGI airport to pick him up, the flight was to land at 02:00 am, and we were waiting
It was announced, the flight had landed and a few minutes later i saw my dad, with two huge bags in his trolley going directly inside a shop.
He came out with one more big polybag.
Few years later i came to know that ,that shop is better know as the custom free shop.
The best thing was to see him again after 10 months.
I still have the letters i used to write him, he kept them all, this holi 2010, my mum showed me the letters
The first letter said
"papa, aap mere liye ek remote waali car leke aana, or bahut saari chocolates bhi..."
the last letter said
"papa, aap gift karidne mein time mat waste kariye, jaldi aa jao.."
