Visits to 'Nana-nani-dada-dadi' have
always been synonymous with fun and happiness, isn't it? As we packed
our bags and boarded the train to Coco's nana's home, I hoped this visit will create some beautiful memories for Coco as well as his grandparents, since he is in such a cute and naughty age. Coco and I are visiting my parents and as we come to the end of this
visit, I cannot stop myself from summarizing what this visit meant to
us, since when we go back home, Coco will start play-school, and once
that happens, we will bid goodbye forever to the carefree days and long visits, and I
will have one thing more to worry about. Till now, I only checked my husband's
calendar to find out when I could take a break. From now on, I will
also follow Coco's schedule. And I will have to plan all my
vacations/visits accordingly.
Well, as we are now ready to go back, we have with us a distinct memory of a disastrous earthquake which shook us up pretty badly and left us sleepless for a few nights and restless for a few days. It was an ordinary day, with everything normal, everyone going about their day in the routine ways, when suddenly the earth shook and brought us all outside. As I grabbed Coco and ran for life, I did not for a moment realize that I was forgetting something very important. And that was my mother who was taking bath, and I did not even call out to her. When I reached a safe distance and looked back at the balcony of my house, I wanted to pull out my hair and scream at the top of my voice. It was when the building stopped shaking, she appeared at the exit of the building, all soapy and frightened, looking for us, and relief surged on her face as she saw us. During the shake, she had come out of the bathroom, looked for us, wore her clothes, switched the TV off and then came out. While all I had done was grab my baby and run barefoot, stammering random words. When I told her that I could not think about anything else except saving Coco, she laughed and said, 'Love runs downwards, like water.' She was happy that we were safe, and I was feeling guilty. To add to it was fear and restlessness. The neighbors spent two succeeding nights outside and we somehow managed to dose off indoors, while keeping our eyes and ears on high alert.
It has been more than a week now and we are reading a lot of stories
about hope, courage, fear and loss in the local papers, since camps have
been set up in this town which is close to Nepal border.
One of my friends asked me, why am I so quiet nowadays. The tone of my blog is usually happy and bright.
It's not like I did not do something happy and creative during this
time, but I just did not feel the urge to blog about happiness when my surroundings were not so happy. First rains ruined crops and eastern UP is the worst hit, and then this earthquake! These
disasters and a shaky internet connection affected my mood and I decided
to take a real break. Today, well I decided to end my break!
