After work that evening, I decided to visit Da to share the joy of the newest member of the family with him and so I picked up some flowers and Mithai and sped to his home. He was away said the watchman - I guessed he had gone to the club for his walk, swim, sauna routine and I contemplated waiting or just leaving the flowers & mithai with the watchman ... I thought again and decided to wait for him ... and so I waited ... and waited ... during which I read a bit, drove around the block 10 times chased by the traffic cops and then finally at 9PM when I was at the end of my patience and fuel, I checked with the watchman for the last time -- he said that Da had just arrived -- I sent the flowers and mithai up with him. He obliged and just as I was about to leave I received a frantic call from Da requesting me to come up. The watchman helped me to park in the traffic-packed road and I took the lift to the 23rd floor of Matru Mandir. Da looked pleased as punch and we decided to call Anj and Dhaval on Da' free computer based dial-up facility. By this time they were already thinking of names Veer, Jai, Kabir, Rohan, Arjun ... I suggested Kanha and said that I liked Arjun too.
They decided to name their little prince Arjun – I prayed that like the great Pandava Prince Arjun our little baby too would grow to be a valiant young man with all the values of the Bhagvad Gita and make all of us proud some day! The following morning we received his first picture with Dhaval holding him close to his chest. He was wearing two caps (!?) and was swaddled in a red and blue striped sheet so all we could see was his adorable plump cheeks, pouty lips and black eyes looking up at his Papa … Dhaval’ facial expressions were not a part of the picture but I can imagine the 'proud papa' look on his face :) On the following day we received another set of pictures in which a smiling Anika was holding Arjun in her lap and the two cubs were flanked by their smiley parents looking on proudly at their creations. Becoming a parent is truly the most beautiful experience and the most fulfilling achievements ever!
I spoke with Mala the day after Arjun’ birth and she said that she would be traveling to Texas in time for MaPa’ anniversary i.e. 13 October and would spend 6 days with them. Lucky bum!!!! I want to see Arjun too and mama and my darling papli and my Anj baby … :( Oh God, I wish I could just magically appear in Texas … Sigh!!! I hung on to every development, photograph and call eagerly and although I knew it was an impossible dream my heart kept feeling the need to travel the 13500 kilometers and be a part of the celebration with my family.
Two days later an investment I had made with the Post Office matured and just as I was contemplating options for a further reinvestment of the amount, Nu suggested that I use the money to make a trip to the US instead. I shot down the idea saying … ‘No way Nu, I’d rather save the money for a family holiday after Roshni' board exam … plus I doubt I’ll get leave… I dont want to enjoy by myself yaar'. Nu was persistent and so were the kids … they egged me on after a dramatic consultation they had amidst themselves and said in rehearsed unision,
‘MAMA WE BOTH THINK YOU SHOULD GO TO AMERICA!’
‘Don’t be ridiculous – if we go, we go together. Its ok beta – Masi will soon visit India with Arjun ... I would hate to leave you’ll and enjoy the baby alone’
‘Mom we'll be fine. Just think how happy all of you will be when you unite as a family …PLEASE GO na Mama … AT LEAST YOU SHOULD GO – Nana and Nani will be so happy to see you there – It will be the biggest surprise ever and the money spent will be really worth it!!!’
I dreamily replied, ‘Yes … I know that if this could actually happen they would be thrilled and it would be a fantastic reunion for the 5 Sharmas … Papli, Ma, Malee, Anj … and me (!?) … anyway I won't get leave'.
Nu said, ‘Ask your boss ...if she says yes I really think you should go – after all we work hard to enjoy moments like this – you deserve this trip‘!
I slept over their thoughts and decided to give it a shot… my dreams saw me amidst my sisters, parents, lil Anika… and Arjun…
The following week was a milieu of activity - applying for leave which I got instantly since a lot of Diwali bank holidays were falling during the same period, calling the travel agent, deciding on an airline (Emirates was the final choice) and date to fly, talking to the foreign exchange agent, buying gifts for Malee, baby Arjun, Anika and Anj’ home, and thanks to Kanan (my colleague at work) ordering some interesting gifts for Mapa which were a revolving cube with all our pictures on its 6sides and two tea mugs with the kid’ pictures imprinted on them. I finally decided to tell Mala about the trip so that she would be prepared to have me over. The practical Mala was shocked at my plan and insisted that I am wasting my money and that it would be better that Anj came to India. I insisted that my mind was made up and that I was going to make the trip anyways. The plan was; I would leave for San Francisco in the early morning of 10th Oct by Emirates via Dubai and because I would gain time I would arrive there on the 10th of Oct at 1.30PM. Mala would pick me up. I would get over jetlag for two days at her place and then fly to Texas with her on the 13th in time for Mum and Papa’ wedding anniversary! With the leave approval in place, I booked the tickets, bought the requisite dollars and packed like a mad person till the last minute ... and every few moments I had time to breathe I couldn’t stop smiling to myself that the magic was actually unfolding in front of me …
On the 8th of Oct we went for dinner to ‘On Toes, Bandra’ with the Gang to bring in Raunaq and Hoju’ birthdays – they were all really happy to know that I was going to surprise the family and we brought in their birthday at Mocha Mojo’ eating a variety of chocolate desserts. My baby turned 13 ... a teenager ... I am big boy now he said!
The night of 9th Oct arrived, and so did Tuna’ bag to be delivered to Alka in SFO – it was heavy but since I was not carrying too much baggage I decided to carry it for her. We also cut a cake for Raunaq on the evening of the 9th before I left the house and I made certain that my baby got some really cool things that he had wanted as gifts … clothes, a basketball, a Chelsea clock and a bag! He was a little upset that I would not be there for his birthday celebrations on the following day i.e. Saturday 10th Oct – he had invited his gang of boys over for a movie followed by a sleepover and of course breakfast and lunch on Sunday!! Nu was for sure going to have a handful that weekend ;) The kids had all the plans to drop me off at the airport but as the clock went beyond 11 their eyes started getting droopy and they were soon fast asleep. I dressed making sure to wear my body warmers as a precaution against the unpredictable flight temperatures. Nu and I left the house at 12.30 and drove silently to the airport – whenever I leave my children may it be for a short over-night trip for work or if they are going on a tour I get this un-explainable knot in my stomach and I worry myself sick about their well-being. Just as we were reaching the airport I said, ‘Nu please love the kids more than ever for me while I am away and do find the time to talk to them on a daily basis about all that is happening in their lives and please don’t be impatience with them’. He assured me all would be well and we soon bid goodbye. We also decided that if MaPa called home to speak to me during these 3 days of my travel and stay at Mala’ place Nu would say that I am on a business trip to Pune and that the signal there is not very good. And I was off …
10th Oct 2009, INDIA/DUBAI: Check-in at the Emirates counter was pretty much a breeze. I specified to the lady at the counter that she give me a window or aisle seat or a seat between 2 ladies for the connecting flight since I was traveling alone. Then I went through the form filling before immigration check, security check and the 2 hour wait before boarding … I always love the fresh smell that comes from an international flight, however as I walked in to the much talked about Emirates Cabin, the hospitality did not strike me as 'Warm' and was definitely not a patch on the Singapore Airlines experience. I thankfully had an aisle seat and after take off (which was on time) I tuned into the ICE facility on board and watched Night at the Museum – Battle of the Smithsonian which was a fun film; ate breakfast and before I knew it we had landed in Dubai (my first stop on this soil). This airport was huge, awesome and very articulately constructed with all the choice amenities and an endless and abundant duty free … what struck me and took me a while to get used to was seeing so many Hijab clad men and women as part of the front office of each facility at the airport.
The halt at Dubai was for 2 hours and finally it was time to go for the long haul all the way to SFO – a 16 hour non-stop journey!! I walked into the Emirates aircraft to find myself seated between a huge bulky middle aged man and a stout old lady. I felt not unlike a squished tomato!!! Damn the lady at the Emirates counter in Mumbai! Thankfully, they were both very silent for most of the journey and slept thru most of the meals and snack services – so I hogged and enjoyed the wine and watched movies galore … Taking of Pelham 123, Cheri & My Sisters Keeper – this film in particular was simply amazing and had me weeping like a baby by the end of it… the burly man to my right turned to look at me with a 'is all well' look and I smiled thru my tears pointing to the screen – that was the only silent exchange that I had with him! By the end of the journey I had concluded that the much talked of Emirates service was a real disappointment - the food was pathetic and cold, the staff was not responsive and on 4 separate occasions ignored my buzzer calls and the last straw was when I asked for a fruit and the attendant said that I could not have it as I had already had a Veg-Roll (which by the way was putrid)!? I was like ... WHAT are you saying ... please take this horrible roll back! Sorry Maam you have already opened the pack!?!$#@% I swore never to fly Emirates again!!
10th Oct 2009, SFO: The immigration officer at SFO was a cheerful black named John who was the other extreme from my fellow travelers … chatty as can be! He chatted about India and that he wanted to visit Delhi and Goa someday … he really helped in elevating my quieted spirits :) I collected my two bags after 45mins of anxiously waiting at the carousal thanks to the Emirates ground staff’ negligence – my bags had been offloaded from the carousal and hence I could not sight them earlier! Big NO to Emirates!!!! I walked out of the grey doors of the arrival hall to be greeted by a warm hug from Malee who was looking anxious as I took really long to come out! She was worried sick that something had gone wrong with me!
We headed to her new home and what a house!!! Simply beautiful to say the least and just the sanctuary for her … I can imagine why she loved it so much … I freshened up in the white guest room and took out the few gifts that I had got for Malee, had the yummy lunch she had made … Kayle, Dal, hot Rotis and curd … a perfect meal indeed! To beat the jet lag Mala suggested that we drive down to Santana Row … At SR we browsed thru some stores and Mala bought me some amazing formal tops from ‘H&M’. We then had coffee at ‘Peets Coffee and Tea’ and a little later we stopped by at ‘Sino’ for the best Mohitto ever … we were to stay for dinner too but finally decided against it. As we walked back to the car we passed by a multiplex that was showing ‘Bright Star’ the story of John Keats the romantic poet and his beloved Fanny Brawne…slow but very nice! We returned home with my head lolling all the way home…When we reached home Mala wanted to plan for the next day and probed me on my interests – I wanted to visit the temple and meet her dear friends Swami and Vir and if possible see a show like the Lion King … She searched the net to find a show that would suit our schedule – by this time I was too sleeeeepy so I excused myself and left it to Malee to figure it out.
11th Oct 2009, SFO: The next morning I woke up to the smell of steaming idlis and sambhar … Malee was already up and about and furiously cooking up a storm in the kitchen for breakfast and dinner. I first had some amazing green tea and honey with lime from Malee’ garden, and then gorged on the delicious idlis. We sped off to the Rama-Krishna Mission temple nestled in the deeply inclined lanes of SFO - we reached just in time to meet Swami … it was such a pleasure seeing him again – he has become more frail but he still could remember Roshni, Raunaq and Farrukh and asked about each of them. When I told him that I had taken the trip to surprise Mum and Papa he was wondrous as to why I would want to do that. Mala later explained that he came from such humble beginnings that he could not fathom why I would ever want to surprise anybody and the joy related with such a moment!
We also got really lucky and met Virja Prana who gave me the warmest hug ever… we could not stop giggling and yapping about the surprise while Mala was trying to head us off to the Orpheum Theatre to see the Broadway musical ‘Wicked’. The Orpheum theatre was the most awesome experience I have had in the longest time – the interiors were artistically designed and the bar and food counters were filled with a variety of drinks and eats - we had a drink before going into the show and I experienced something innovative here that I wish to share -- we also ordered a drink for the interval before the show and gave him our name; in the interval we came out and our drink was ready to have with our name tag below it on a shelf adjoining the food counter – this saved us the time of standing in a queue and also gave us more time to enjoy the drink since we could not carry the eats and drinks inside! Wicked was a musical tale of misunderstanding and triumph over evil. It is the story of the Wicked Witch of the West and the unfortunate turn of events that thrust her into the spotlight of being the enemy of all that is good. What a performance by each member of the cast, what songs, sets, lighting, costumes, make-up and above all the two leading ladies – exemplary to say the least! After the musical we headed back home feeling heady with the show we had just experienced to prepare dinner for the O’Malleys. Malee had outdone herself with a delicious spread of fish curry, Kayle, Dal, Fish Curry, Baingan, Rice, Salad and hot Rotis followed by Semiyan!!! It was great meeting with Lisa and her family – the kids more particularly Owen had grown so much and Jaya and he were squeezed by me at every opportunity! We had a lovely time chatting about the kids, the surprise, and opportunities for Rosh and Rock to come to the US for their further studies etc. The day had been awesome and I couldn’t help smile as I closed my eyes on my pillow.
12th Oct 2009, SFO: The next morning I started the day with my favorite green tea, honey and lime and grabbed a quick sandwich of cheese spread and fresh garden plucked tomatoes which I munched while walking around Malee’ backyard. We left the house by 10 to visit the Stanford University International Students office where we probed opportunities for Roshni and Raunaq. I got an answer to most of my queries but couldn’t help sigh at the premium fee structure and the fact that if we applied for scholarship it was likely that we would not get admission as the competition was very high in this bracket. We then took off for Carmel … what a beautiful boutique city this is! Lunch at Hog’s Breath Inn (once Clint Eastwood’ place), with its old west ambiance consisted of a huge Portabella mushroom burger and a Bloody Mary … sumptuous and refreshing but too big for me to finish. We then walked the lanes browsing thru the innumerable art galleries and crockery/cutlery stores all of which, I wanted to take back home to my kitchen :) It was thankfully a sunny day and hence the ‘Carmel-by-the-sea’ beach with its panoramic view speckled with beautiful sea gulls was awesome; the air felt crisp while the clear sky reflected a blue water ahead of us. We took in the scene for a while and took some pictures.
We left Carmel at about 4pm and Mala took me across to Alka’ home by about 7.00 PM where I met her parents, her husband Gaurav Garg and her lovely daughters … they were all in a festive mood for the upcoming Diwali celebrations they were having in their home on the 16th evening – the kids had been furiously practicing their steps for a Bollywood medley as Gaurav and uncle painfully strung colorful lights in the garden. Alka treated me to some awesome non-cheeze pizza that we took-away from a restaurant at Santana Row. The shopaholic Alka also made me stop by at Crate & Barrel and Best Buys. I picked up some beautiful Crockery from both the stores and then we went back to her home to have some Margarita that Gaurav made for us and the Yummy Pizza …
By the time I got home it was 12.30 in the night only to find Malee sulking … she was really mad and we had a bit of a spat as I had gotten so late. The fact was that I was on holiday and hence not really bothered about getting late but a bigger reality was that … I was late, more so considering that I had a flight to catch the next morning at 6AM which meant that I was to reach the airport at 5 AM and since the airport was about an hour away, we had to leave home at 4AM and hence at best I needed to get up at 3AM!!! It was already 12.30 in the night … two hours of sleep was all that we were going to have! I packed profusely by myself as Malee continued to sulk and watch Jodha Akbar if you please! When I was done and needed to pack some of the delicate stuff in her bag I walked up to her saying, ‘In which bag can I put these?’ When she got up and showed me the bag I knew that the worst of her mood was over. We finished the rest of the packing within the next half hour and then crashed with our respective alarms on for 3AM … oh lord what a long two and half days these had been in SFO …GROWL … But awesome too :)))
13 – 19th Oct 2009, SFO/Texas/SFO: I had barely slept and … ttrrrng ttrrrng … I slammed the alarm shut and jumped out of bed, quickly washed and dressed and went into the hall. Mala was already up and about fixing my cup of tea and packing a sandwich and some fruit for my flight… she truly is one of the most thoughtful persons I know of. I hugged her saying, ‘Thanks Malee… and sorry about last night’ ‘Its okay’ she said in her playful nasal voice, ‘lets move fast or else we are going to be really late’. ‘Please remember to take your camera Malee as I would like to video capture the surprise’. I had a 6AM connecting flight San Jose-Denver (with an hour’ stopover)-Texas and Mala had a direct flight at 9.00AM. On board the flight from Denver I had the company of a young and cheerful black US Marine. It was amazing talking to him. He had the look of an open minded soul and was so sincere about his queries and really passionate about his work, his fitness, his soon and his wife. He was the first person who had so much praise for Bush and his war causes as they were always to improve the state of being of a land. He also wanted to know more about India and hoped to visit some day. The plan was to meet Malee at the baggage carousel in Texas as her flight was landing in Texas fifteen minutes after mine. Mala came to the carousal as planned in Texas and as we collected out bags my stomach started knotting with anxiety for the upcoming surprise that we were going to give MaPa and Anj We took a taxi to the house and en-route Anj called to find out where Mala was. She wanted to know if she would reach before 3PM so that she could go along with her to pick up Anika from school. We passed by her as she was driving out and she called Malee:
‘Hey was that you in the cab that just passed by? Sorry I had to leave as I would have got really late – I will see you at home soon. Mama and Papa are waiting for you’
We soon arrived at the Sejpal residence and Mala took out her Camera, I nervously rang the bell and heard Mum’ voice,
‘Jangee Jangee Mala aagaye hai shayad … come fast’
The door then opened and Mama popped her head out smiling, ‘Hiiiiiii’ … her face then shadowed as she realized that it was me she was looking at. She then sighed with a shocked look saying, ‘Haaaainnn … Priya???’
I leaped forward into her shaking arms as she broke into a stream of tears … sobbing uncontrollably bringing tears of joy to my eyes too.
I looked up and on top of the stairway was Papa looking shocked and saying ‘Arrrey… how come … tu kaise aa gayee beta?I rushed up the stairs and hugged him saying, ’Aap logon ki yaad aa rahi thi … so I just decided to come – HAPPY ANNIVERSAY’
Mum was still weepy but by now they were tears of joy (I guess the initial outburst was more emotional) and excitedly jabbered about how they had called Farrukh in the morning as they could not get thru to my mobile and he had said that I had gone to Pune for work :) It had worked out like clockwork after all … God had magically made my dream come true!
We then tip-toed into the room and we feasted our eyes to the latest addition to the family … Arjun Sejpal. He was in deep sleep and buried under loads of covers. I lightly touched his cheek feeling his warm soft cheeks … we were shooed out by Papa. We hugged and kissed some more and then Mum fed us some yummy khana. I had just finished eating and we were talking about the whole surprise when we heard the front door opening and Anika ran in saying, ‘I’m home from school’.
I screamed, ‘So am I’ while running out of the kitchen towards them and Anj who was still standing at the doorway took a few seconds to realize that it was me and screamed, ‘WHAT, WHAT WHAT … what are you doing here. What is this? How come you are here??’
I ran into her arms and we hugged and kissed with tears of joy rolling down our cheeks and the mad Sharma hysteria unfolded the second time around. Anika looked adorable as ever but was shy, speechless and unsure of what to make of this outburst of emotion from all of us mad hatter Sharma’s and when I hugged her she wanted to go back to her favorite Mala Masi’ lap.
Arjun soon awoke from his deep slumber and Mala and I took turns in squeezing him. The afternoon was spent in talking, laughing, replaying the plan for the surprise and finally sharing the gifts that I had got for all of them. After some hot chai in the evening, we anxiously awaited Dhaval’ return to come a full circle on this well orchestrated surprise! Anj called him at the end of the day and he said he was going to be home in 10 minutes. The rest of them quickly assembled in the hall as I hid myself in the living area of their home which also leads to the garden and the garage. Quite contrary to our plans Dhaval suddenly opened the garage door and walked into the house. I saw him turned and ducked. ‘ Hey ... arrey why are you hiding, what's going on’ He thought I was Anj for a few seconds – meanwhile the rest of them came charging from the hall and Dhaval gathered in the confusion that I wasn’t Anj. ‘Wait a minute, don’t tell me … is that Priya?’ I turned and gave him a big hug while he bursted with disbelief, ‘Oh my God … it is Priya! What is this? How? I can’t believe this! This is awesome’. And we were all jumping and screaming with joy and hugging and kissing each other for the third time around … Oh my God! What a perfect surprise it had turned out to be! Dhaval had brought a cake for MaPa’ anniversary and Mala opened a bottle of red wine she had carried from SFO. We all cheered, had yummy mama-khana, clicked loads of pictures, sang songs, yapped, laughed like hell generally having a blast ... and in the middle of all the excitement I missed my three poopies back home like anything!
I spent the next 5 glorious days at Anj' home with her lovely family, Ma Pa and Malee … all of us yapping, hogging, watching movies, each of us contributing our own tips to make the besan ka ladoos for diwali and finally the ladoos turning our quite fine; celebrating diwali together after so long with papa and ma reciting the prayers and all of us joining in for the arti -- I missed my poopies on diwali night as I watched the festivities, lights and sweets and said a silent prayer for their well being; playing with Anika and telling her stories every night and day; bathing Arjun after he had done the largest potty by a baby ever and then swaddling him in fresh clothes; singing to him and putting him to sleep, going to the park with Anika and Mapa as she ran from one swing to the next and playing hide-n-seek with her, visiting her school for a diwali party where we met Anj’ mother’ group – Tanya and Andrea her sisters in the US are adorable and their babies absolute dolls – the school was a dream project that I wished I could make my Rosh and Rock also go thru by rewinding their lives to babyhood once again.
Anj took the trouble to talk to an amazing lady called Jenny Voigt who in turn met with me so warmly and was unbelievably supportive in answering all my queries about career opportunities in the United States. We also visited University of Texas and met the international students coordinator about the admission process for Rosh and Rock. On the morning of Diwali, Preeti Rangachary my friend from school called and again with her I chatted on options of the kids coming to study in the US. I also shopped with Mala and Ma Pa at Crate & Barrel (where I loved a red blown glass bowl) and World Market. On Sunday morning 18th Oct, Mala returned to SFO and D, Anj and I went to the Outlet Mall with the kids where I went insane shopping at GAP, Adidas and Eddie Bauer. On the last day, Anj and I drove out with the kids in tow to shop at Old Navy where again I picked up some lovely stuff for the kids. As always, Anj/D and Mala and even MaPa pampered me with loads of gifts for the kids, Nu and me and our home. Last but not the least, we met with Nikhil – Anika’ lil sweetheart :) and his family Abhi, Vicky and Sachin. Departing from Anj was as emotional as meeting her. She is like a lil baby to me and always will be, even though she is now a mother of two. She wept not wanting to let go and leaving her was the most difficult… D, Ma and Pa dropped me off at the airport while Anj stayed home with the kids to take Anika for her swimming class. I arrived in SFO late that night and Malee fed me with some yummy frozen Aloo Paranthas and Dahi. She had also bought me the red blown bowl we had seen at C&B and loads of chocolates to take back. I packed furiously needing to exchange bags as my bags were just not big enough to carry all the goodies I had bought or had been gifted.20th Oct, SFO: The next and last morning in the US was more than pleasant. I sat in the garden and enjoyed breakfast of eggs, bread and juice with Malee, who shortly after, left for the office. I dressed in time to meet with an ex-colleague from Invest India called Poonam Karnani who dropped by and like old times was as giggly as ever – it was good to see that she has settled well in the US. A little Malee returned from her office and the bell rang again -- it was one of my one time best friend from St Joseph’s school, Nalini Bamba with her 1 year old son. It was fun to catch up with her again and she looked as lovely as ever! Soon after Vir called to say goodbye and I shared all the details of the surprise with her ... needless to say she was as happy as us about the whole plan ... it is always so refreshing talking with her and some how I feel this unexplainable bond between her and the family. We then had lunch of fish Malee had made for me with some yum Pakistani masala, kayle, moong dal and rotis… Awesome awesome awesome!!!! Malee dropped me off at the airport and it was then that we spoke about her ... her plans for life ahead, her dreams and a lot lot more … As expected both of us were emotionally strung by the time she was to leave… I love my sisters so much and feel blessed to have them in my life … My first ever vacation on my own and that too all the way to the US, after all the initial speculation and hesitation, was a HUGE SUCCESS … thank you God, thank you my world, thank you Nu, thank you my babies and thank you the great Sharma family for making this trip so beautiful...and making it so MAGICALLY PERFECT!
