Jab We Met

Never in my entire life had I felt such a strong urge to get away by myself somewhere, anywhere, far from the daily grind. I realized that I badly needed a break if I were to be able to function normally without the bitterness and the grouses.

Something else that had been brewing up for a while, suddenly failed to materialize, and I felt lost for a while until one morning. I chanced upon this ilander and chat friend of mine, BASANTHI(of the chal dhanno / SHOLAY type), on rediff messenger (by fluke, since we meet on gtalk later during the day) and we got talking. And after a while she asked, “Hey Misty, why don’t you come to my home?” Was I surprised? That is an understatement. Coming from her it was a TOTAL SHOCK. (Later she told me that she had shocked herself too by inviting me and was later even more shocked when I accepted her invite to go to an unknown destination, thousands of miles away to meet a couple of virtual entities.) Well, we had never met before, only chatted and seen each others photos. Sheer madness? Yes, under normal circumstances.

For once I had this urge to be just MYSELF, not a wife or mother or daughter or a daughter in law. No carrying any emotional baggage with me on this journey.

I asked her if I could invite our common friend (the ilanders’ AKKA) and she said, “Fine with me, you ask her.” And, so the call was made to Akka who asked her hubby for permission. After some initial hemming and hawing he agreed to let her go. Her excitement was crackling, this was her first time too.

And hence the plan was put into motion, dates decided and railway tickets booked. Akka got her tickets confirmed to and fro, while I was in the waiting list both ways.

Tensions began…………… will I get the reservation or not? Coz, it was a 30 hour journey by train. Travelling without a reservation would be no joke.

Tried my luck in the VIP and emergency quotas thru’ two sources and informed my friends about this element of uncertainty. Basanthi secretly thought I was making an excuse, trying to wriggle out of the trip. She would say, “Misty, tell me anything except that you are not coming,” while Akka, who was equally looking forward to the trip, said, “Misty, if you cancel then my hubby won’t send me alone. It is because of you that he has agreed to send me” (as if we were traveling together) but, WOW, must say that felt great.

The suspense of my getting the reservation lasted until 45 minutes before I boarded the train. As we were boarding the local suburban train, hubz asked, “Misty, what will you do if you don’t get the reservation? Will you cancel and come back home?” And at that moment I decided, “Reservation or not, I am going”, I was too excited to back out now and decided to brave it all. Also I did not want to burst their bubbles because of me. We were all looking forward to meet each other.

Someone up there was certainly smoothening things for me. It turned out that Myname was there in the 3 tier AC list. Which of the two contacts in the railways had made this possible, I don’t know, but one thing I knew for sure, that this trip was going to be a grand success. Immediately I called up Basanthi and Akka and told them that I was on my way. Throughout the journey I found myself smiling away, happily, for no reason.

Next day at 9.00 in the night, I arrived, and Akka reached an hour later. We three met like long lost school friends. All hugging and smooching done with, we proceeded to Basanthi’s abode and chatted thru’ half the night, eating delicious gob-stopper laddoos that Akka had brought along.

The next four days ( and nights too) were among the best in my entire life. We were like forty year old adolescents, doubling up with laughter, giggling, teasing, sharing, caring, photographing and going totally berserk, without a care in the world. Basanthi took us sightseeing, and together, we sinned twice at an icecream parlour called Jack Frost which serves yummy-licious ice-cream cakes with loads of nutty sprinkles. And yes, heavy issues like our weights, were conveniently forgotten.  

Akka and I spent a whole day together by ourselves visiting the lush Arakku Valley and the famous Borra Caves. And when we came back, a delicious hot meal awaited us.

The best thing about this trip was that there was no man in the house whose whims and moods we had to anticipate, fear and pander to. And believe me, it can be quite taxing. After Basanthi’s daughter was packed off to college at 8 a.m., there were no worries at all. Another factor that helped was that we did not go with any kind of expectations from our hostess, and neither did she expect much from us, hence we were all at  at ease with each other.

What we ate, when we ate, when we slept, when we woke up, where we went, how we traveled, was all apni marzi se. Basanthi’s daughter soon realized that her mother and her friends were all cuckoos. Basanthi and I discovered we had a lot of other similarities too besides being jokers.

On the last day, we didn’t want to part. We wished we had one more day together to enjoy and laugh and tease Akka, who took it sportingly, realizing  that she had no choice. I, for one wanted to have some more of Basanthi’s kerala cuisine, especially her masala allus, avial and Akka’s rich coffee, which we demanded as a matter of right whenever we felt like it.

Neetha Nair, Meena Sundar and I, Misty, parted with intentions of meeting up again next year, God willing. But even if we don’t ever meet up again, I know for sure that the three of us will remember these carefree days of pure camaraderie with nostalgia, when three impulsive women did something totally crazy and bizarre.

Meena and I will never forget Neetha’s palpable excitement, her endearing and heartfelt invitation, her disappointment when she felt that all this may just be a pipe dream and above all her caring for us total strangers.

Thank you Neetha and Meena for being my friends. And to you Krish, for encouraging me to go out by myself to start with..