Bye bye Bapu

Children sometimes have the ability to tug at your heartstrings in the most unexpected ways and before you know it, your throat is constricted, your eyes well up and your vision blurs. This happened to me yesterday night. My son-in-law who has been on a short visit to India interspersed with work visits to Afghanistan was back in Delhi for a day and leaving again for the US last night. So Sunday was to be a long play day for Agastya and his Bapu, a day where Bapu would not switch on his computer - something of a miracle as my son-in-law is a workaholic and his computer is almost an extension of him! But he kept his promise and barring a few phone calls, Agy and Bapu spent the day together. There were motorcycle rides and games of all sorts. My drawing room was rearranged as furniture was needed to make a 'house' with the help of most of my bedcovers! Agy knows where the linen cupboard is. In the afternoon we all went to visit Utpal and Agastya had a ball jumping in all the puddles left by the afternoon rain. He who normally wants to change his clothes should the tiniest spot appear on it, was quite happy romping about in his mud stained track pants. Late in the evening the boys played with cars on all fours and the ground shook so much that I thought there was an earthquake.

But all things have to come to an end. It was past bed time and close to departure time. Bapu read Agy a story and then after brushing the teeth and the last wee wee, it was time to say goodbye.

My brave little Angel hugged his father and said: Bye bye Bapu. It was heart wrenching. You can imagine my state but I lay on the bed stoically watching the scene that was playing in front of my eyes. No camera, however sophisticated, or lensman however proficient, could have captured that moment. There were so many emotions at play that only someone who has mastered the art of seeing with his heart could feel the intensity of the moment and that too second hand. The moment passed and normalcy returned when Agy asked his grandpa to change the channel to his favourite Doraemon. You guessed right. He did without hesitation even though the Wimbledon finals were on.

Agy settled himself and after a moment turned to me and said: I hope he has a nice flight.

I do not have the words to express how I felt. I simply said: Yes he will.