Afreen again!

Ah! I had a lovely evening to an otherwise boring day. Nas (my friend) called up to tell me that the moment they reached home-London, her lil one and my sweetheart Afreen, asked her “Isn’t Suzie maasi coming home with us?” And since then the apple of my eye has been inquiring about me everyday.

Afreen kept asking her mom for the phone to talk to her “Suzie maasi” (Uncannily she always knows when it’s me on the line.) She started chattering away nineteen to a dozen in her baby language which I was valiantly trying to keep up with. She kept giggling when I enquired about her and I promised her that I’d visit her soon and I’d take her to the park-which happens to be her favorite place.

She refused to let go of the phone, and I had not the heart to end the conversation. I hated it when I had to bid her goodbye. And when I finally said I had to go, she gave me a dismal lil bye, but refused to get off the phone. Nas had to take the phone from her to get her to get of the line.

I never cease to wonder how relationships develop - Afreen was here only for a few days, and in those few days we developed a bond. I have met a lot of children but share such a bond only with my niece and nephew. And Afreen made a place in my heart.

Well hopefully, if all goes well, I’ll be meeting up with my 3 lil imps this December. That is, if all goes well.

The Rains and I

Well this year the rains and I seem to be at loggerheads. It’s been pouring the last few days and today was no different as it poured through the morning. I got ready as usual for work and waited for the rains to subside so I could leave. My auto driver too had not arrived and I watched the news to check if it was safe to venture out.
The rain subsided in a while and my auto driver arrived, so I left.

We reached good old Aarey, and the area near the bridge was flooded and vehicles were wading through the water there. We managed to get through that one obstacle and to my dismay I saw the stretch ahead was flooded too. A car came from the opposite direction and shot up a wave of water which thoroughly drenched me. There was a car immediately behind this one, which not wanting to be left out, decided to do the same just to ensure there was no dry spot left on me.

By then I was fuming and asked my auto to retrace back home. Due to the flood we were barely snaking forward. If not for the fact that I didn’t recognize which was the errant car, I would have got out and given that car driver an earful. To add to my woes my auto driver gave me the good news that water had entered the brakes and the brakes had failed.

I was on tenterhooks as Kashi (my auto driver) kept his auto moving in the already jammed street and managed not to hit any vehicle. I heaved a sigh of relief when he turned into my lane and safely dropped me home. Both Kashi and I decided to call it a day. I rushed up home and showered.

The rain has stopped, the sky has cleared out. But I am not too keen on venturing out again. For all you know, the rain may decide to play truant again. I sms’d my boss to excuse me for today and have decided to work online. Me not taking “panga” with the rain today!!!

A Dreary start to a day

I woke up this morning in a dismal mood. To my surprise I heard the sound of thunder and on looking out of the window saw that it was raining. The sky was overcast and gloomy. It made me all the more morose. It hadnt rained for a couple of weeks and seeing it rain continuously was not a welcome thought.

The rain abated in a while but the gloomy weather didn’t go away. It was cool for a change and I decided to go for a walk. Everything looked clean and spruced up outside. It wasn’t crowded as it often is and it was good to just saunter by and look around. On my way back it began to drizzle a bit but I didn’t open my umbrella and walked on home.

It is noon now and the clouds have begun to clash against each other again at a higher frequency. It’s raining and it looks like the gloom is not going to lift up. Gosh, my spirits need some uplifting.

Afreen

In my world of friends and relatives, there are but a few who mean the world to me. Of those, two happen to be Nas & Rak, my best friends. N & R were my colleagues, however we were from different departments. We interacted with each other but only officially. It was only in 1998 when we came together on a Project and have been inseparable since. In the intervening 8 years we moved on in life professionally and personally, however our friendship only strengthened. We would still make it a point to meet and have a blast.

Nas went over to her sister’s place in London where she married and settled there with 2 daughters Afreen-2 ½ years and Khadijah-9 months. Rak still in Mumbai delivered a baby girl Simone just last month. Rak and I still met up in Mumbai, however with Nas phone calls were the only option. We would conference our calls to Nas and reminisce old times. We would make plans to go over to London to meet her but they never materialized.

Eventually Nas gave both herself and us a big surprise by coming down 4 weeks back with kids in tow. I would often speak to Afreen on the phone and hear her baby prattle. But what I didn’t expect was to fall in love with her when she landed in Mumbai. She had the most delightful mischievous grin and we both got on like a house on fire. My weekends were spent with Nas & Afreen either shopping or sightseeing. And when at work would call up to listen to Afreen excitedly prattle on the phone.

Last night I met Nas, lil Afreen & baby Khadijah to bid goodbye as they readied to fly back to London. As usual Afreen who by now was my favorite insisted that I carried her around. I had traveled from work to Bombay Central where Nas paternal home is. It was around 10pm when they accompanied me down as I headed back home. We hailed a cab and I handed over Afreen to Nas and kissed both of them goodbye. Afreen stared at me with her doe like beautiful black eyes but didn’t wave goodbye trying to figure out why I had so unceremoniously dumped her in Nas arms. That’s when I realized how much I was going to miss her. She eventually came around and waved me goodbye, but not before bringing tears to both Nas and my eyes.

My lil Afreen, I have already begun missing you. Well I guess this vacation; I’ll be heading off to London to see my lil darling!