Home Sweet Home!!!!

Sameer let out a startled gasp when he realized that Frank Hardy was using a harquebus to avenge the loss of his favorite Pavlova. Needless to say, Chet Morton was at the receiving end. It took a while for him to realize he was still in sound company amongst the literati inside the flight, and a leaf out of his childhood favorite, Hardy Boys, was a dream. It seemed the generous portions of haute cuisine on board had made him doze off. Somehow his spirits had hit nadir and he felt the urge to locate the nearest restroom. The relief of having come unscathed through the turbulence was palpable, when he finally made his way out. Passengers (4-5 of them) who had queued up for their turn by then, didn't look very amused and Sameer thought it better to overlook their grimace and frown. Having made good his escape, he peeped into the rearside pantry only to find a few peat-like remnants on the serving tray. Disgusted he turned back to his seat and stared at the message on the control screen in front of him. It read 'distance remaining - 486miles' which meant 45 minutes of flight time left.

It was 5.10pm. The motley at Terminal 3 in Delhi was a stark difference from US airports. Sameer's connecting flight to Hyderabad was at 8.15pm. He was desparate to get through the immigration check. The inflight food seemed to have taken a heavy toll of his normally accomodative digestive system. The only thing in his mind was immediate obliteration from the discomfort. The myrtle inside the washroom at the airport was a welcome breather from the usual morbid surroundings and wet toilet seats. Finally, Sameer headed upstairs to Gate 28 and impatiently awaited the boarding call.

Joyous tears gushed down his eyes, when Simba rushed into Sameer's arms, as he trudged out of the Hyderabad airport. The re-union was more than a fresh lease of life for him. Sameer's father and Mansi were there too and tight hugs were too little to convey his happiness on seeing them in person. It was 11.30pm when they finally got into the car and headed home. At home, it was yet another saga of emotional relief. The hugs lasted a trifle too long because no one felt like letting the other go. Sameer's mother, Janki, Sarika and Sharath were all awake awaiting his arrival.The weariness of 23 hours in flight and almost two sleepless nights just seemed to be a farce.

 On Saturday Dec10th, 2 days after Sameer landed, Mansi had planned a get-together for family and friends at Nicco Park. Lunch was to be followed by unlimited accessibility to available rides for all the kids & guests. Janki was in India for the first time and most appropriately, the get-together was to celebrate her homecoming. It was an apt forum to catch up with relatives and family friends. Avik, Priti & Pramit joined soon enough and Sameer was larking in choicest company. While Sarika helped Janki slid the knife through the Barbie Doll cake from Kookie Jar, Simba was busy prancing around with a mic in hand seeking extempore involvement from guests. He was the enthused emcee for the day.

It was indeed a long and hectic day. By 6.30pm the last guest had left. Sameer planned a repertoire in the evening to unwind. It would be one of those rare moments when his, Sharath's & Pramit's families would be together along with his parents. Bacardi breezers were a perfect choice to fizzle out the melancholy of tiredness. As appetizers kept pouring in, Pramit uncorked the 12yr aged JW Gold Label which Mansi had brought from Seoul, almost 2 years back. Sameer had stowed it away for want of a propitious moment in all these years. As the glasses clinked in the myriad of golden gleam, Sameer unleashed his pent-up emotions of more than 3 months. They touched upon an array of subjects including one on the equality divide between boys and girls, which almost drove Sarika and Pramit to a fisticuff. The brouhaha continued late into the night and it was 2.30am by the time everyone assembled at the dining table for dinner. By 4am slumber had crept in stealthily marking an end to one of the most memorable days for Sameer in near past.

The next day was scheduled to be spent with the children at Ramakrishna Mission, a one-day routine every year to mark Simba's birthday. As Sameer lay beside Simba, thinking of the difference that the last 3days had made in his life, he could gauge the scourge of time gaping at him. It was just 20 days more before he would force himself out of Simba's cuddle and head back to Houston, far away from where his thoughts and mind existed!!!!

The Candid Bliss!!!!

The daily routine at school was more of a forceful orgy than intrinsic dedication. The faculty went about their daily ritual and Sameer sat through the psalm waiting to hone his prevelant gumption. Studies and keeping up with school activities was more innate for the likes of Riya and Anamika and Sameer was forced to be in the reckoning out of peer pressure. The intermittent breaks were normally spent in the usual chats amongst Riya, Anamika and other friends. At times, Anamika would indulge in some prattle which more often than not, made him twitch brows. Ocassionally, Liz and Jenny would join them. The rigor, at times, proved more than a handful for Sameer and he found it hard to dedicate himself to people and things, high on priority for him. He inculcated two new favorite pastimes,  watching movies on youtube and looking for old school or collegemates on facebook. One such search led him to Shashank, his old buddy in school, who incidentally was in the US on work. He promptly sent him a message to catch up. Sameer realized that the existence in solitude had made him intrepid in his outlook, but his inner self was turning out to be timid due to his yearning for near and dear ones around him, which unfortunately, hardly anybody understood.

 

The exams for 1st quarter passed with its normal share of dramatics. There was a furore over the instances of cheating and plagiarism that students got involved with, in their finance exam and everyone was made to retake it on a different day at an unearthly hour. Finally, on Dec 6th, 2011, after the final exam was over, everyone headed to Hofbrauhaus at Newport to quench their thirst. Spirits ran high and everyone made merry, singing and dancing. Riya's chicken dance atop the dining table, especially impressed Sameer.

 

Kyler's wake-up call at 5am on 7th Dec, 2011 wasn't really needed. Sameer was all set and ready to head to the Houston airport. His flight to Chicago was scheduled to depart at 9.30am and the ensuing American Airlines flight to New Delhi from Chicago would be at 3.40pm. It was a long-haul flight which Sameer was eagerly looking forward to. It was more than three months that he was away from home. He hadn't seen Simba, Mansi, his parents and his near and dear ones for so long. Kyler dropped him at the airport with a big hug, promising to see Sameer back soon. After checking-in, Sameer walked across to Terminal 2 and waited for Riya and Adarsh. Riya was taking the flight to Boston for a short vacation, at 9.40am. Her flight was exactly the one after his. After bidding her adieu with their usual 'high five', Sameer came back to Terminal 3 and waited for the boarding announcement. At Chicago, as he waited patiently, Anamika called and kept him company over phone.

 

While Sameer helped himself to a warm Starbucks cafe latte, he wandered back in time, into the intricate realms that his mind had laid thread-bare. He couldn't help but think only about Mansi. No metonymy would befit her in appropriate measure. The nine years they had been together had seen its fair share of ups and downs. But seeing him always through the tempest, being with him through thick & thin, making him see reason with aplomb and unconditional love, Mansi had stood up to the test with defining ease. It was this yearning and connect that had brought them together. She was his best friend. They were now proud parents to the apple of their eye, Simba. In precisely 20 hours, he would be in their midst, feeling them in flesh and blood. He would be with his parents, whom he loved and revered so much. He was also excited about the fact that Janki, Sarika and Sharat would be there at home, awaiting his arrival. On 10th, Mansi had planned a formal 'homecoming' get-together for Janki and there he would get to meet Priti, Pramit and Avik too. With oodles of excitement about being with his dearest, Sameer stepped into the airplane impatient and eager than ever for it to traverse the distance and usher in the moment of him attaining his candid bliss!!!!

God's 'Quid-Pro-Quo'

Time elapsed slowly. Weeks passed with the same mundane routine of 4 days of class in a week, catching up with friends in between, cooking, cleaning, laundry and above all skype with family on weekends. Life had turned topsy turvy for Sameer in 2 months. Back in Hyderabad, he used to come home to the effervescent smile of Simba, update on Mansi's day in office and news of relatives from his parents. Dinner time was big on quality topics & content thereof. At times it used to stretch as long as almost 2hours. Weekends used to be for fun activities or long drives after getting done with Simba's Saturday morning dance sessions and ocassional doctor appointments. If not anything else, it would be a movie outing preceded by lunch at the mall food court and pizza dinner from Dominos or Pizza Hut. Once a month everyone would head for monthly groceries & provisions from Spencer and the ritual would end with 'Fillet-o-Fish" and cheeseburgers from McDonalds. Sameer missed all these so badly now.

 

The winter chill started with mid November in Houston. The week before, Sameer and his new classmates in the MBA program got together at Helena's place in Glendale over dinner. Apart from the food, the frolic they had was a welcome breather.  The ensuing week Sameer was invited to Corwin's place at Hyde Park for dinner. Corwin & his wife Mandira were expecting their first baby in a few weeks from then. As promised, Riya picked him up in the evening and they first proceeded to Sam's Club to grab a bottle of wine and a cheesecake which was meant for Mandira. In addition, Riya had also cooked a vegetarian dish which she announced proudly with a disclaimer to ensure exoneration. A few others from their school had also joined for dinner. It was indeed special for Sameer to be in good stead amongst jovial and fun-loving friends like Kyler, Venessa, Brendon, Corwin, Mandira and Riya. In fact two of Mandira's family friends were also there. It was also the first time amongst school friends in US that Sameer had to divulge his age (in response to Mandira's question), unwillingly.

 

With time, Sameer, Riya & Anamika got to be known as the threesome in school for their steadfast friendship. Anyone seeking information about Sameer would know whom to ask and so on for Riya and Anamika. Once during recess in school, Sameer, Helena, Rima, Riya & Anamika were seated on the sixth floor, working together on some assignment. On a discussion pertaining to the University, Riya suddenly got agitated and shouted at Sameer since he was trying to prove her wrong about what she knew. Sameer was embarassed and hurt at her reaction in front of so many (there were others too seated at different tables close by). He tried cajoling himself to normalcy and walked back home. Even before he had reached, Anamika called on his cell, trying to pacify him. In fact, in the ensuing couple of days she did all possible to bridge the gap between Sameer's hung face and Riya's cautious observance and truce between the make-believe foes was finally attained in the basement hall. Riya's tears made Sameer rethink, probably there was a connect which hitherto he had missed because she had no business reprimanding just about anybody. Yet another instance of her sponteinity was after the 1st quarter Economics exam when Riya and Sameer were waiting in the hallway for Anamika. While tallying answers for a specific question, it dawned they shared a common answer. Riya immediately yelled and said, "Give me a hug! Give me a hug!" With so many students around, Sameer was actually more than startled to react. Although a normal means of PDA in US, back in India, a hug, especially between a  boy and girl would be looked at in a sense more than the obvious. He was hardly used to them among friends, all the more if it was from an opposite gender. Unsure of how to react, he stood still, and true to her smart self, Riya was prompt to take a cue. Riya was also Sameer's gateway to USPS, retail stores for provisions and other such urgent errands in and around campus. She was his closest guide to reference and relevant information around Houston or otherwise. Apart from being a good friend she would don the role of his mentor, resume-builder, task-master and problem-solver (study matter and beyond),  among others with aplomb and perfect ease, time to time. It was sheer trust and reliance, gaining strength with each passing day.

 

Sameer's life in real sense, in the form of his family, was miles away from him. Nothing could replace or make do for what he was missing temporarily in his tryst with destiny. But what seemed ironical was how things were evolving around him in Houston.  It probably was God's way of Quid pro Quo; in return for what he had lost momentarily, he had gained happiness, solace and pride in  the form of a true friend in Riya, who was mature enough to be looked up to unconditionally, a friend who would stand by him in his hour of need or otherwise and who had the grit to see through any odds even in the fiercest tempest.